Pinkbikini

On plan totally today! No cheats. Under 20 carbs. Going to shoot for 6 more days like this!! And i worked out 45 min to boot! go me :)

 

pinkb

Hey all, I've had a really stressful few weeks. My hubby had to have another minor surgery (which of course is major when you're dealing with a whiny man who doesn't think the vicodin is helping!) and it's been stressful for me. I've broken down and eaten several waffles and even fast food the other day to try to calm my own nerves. I am truly an emotional eater. Trying to be good... Pink

We sailed NCL Sun in December. The service was outstanding, the meals were above average in the dining room and AWFUL at buffets (except for the wok and indian station), and the choc buffet while great to look at was not tasty at all. The shows were wonderful and we also went to a few of the games which were fun. We did a cooking class and I worked out daily in the gym which was GREAT! Their ellipticals had pulse monitors which really kept me going and they had great music so I belted out to Gloria Estefan when I was alone in the gym (many morning at 0500 because they're open 24 hours).

 

If Dawn is anythign like Sun you should have a great time once you get your bearings! Have a great week all...

Kreeb- Don't forget to come back and post how successful your workouts at Curves have been :)

 

It's been so hard to exercise in the cold winter (Even with workout equip in our living room) but the holidays bring stress and temptation with them. I have a looooooong time til my next cruise but know that I can focus on getting into shape to be at goal before our 1st year anniv. We may take a mini-vaca somewhere. And if I can pickup some overtime we may do some 1 nighters before November just for fun!

 

I found a 48 oz tub of ricotta at costco last week. Disappointed that mixed with blueberries it did not sub for cottage cheese which I do enjoy. Plan to try pancakes and lasagna (low carb of course) this week to use it up. Will report back here with recipes if they're successful!

 

PINKB

Not enough exercise and not enough water...and boy if I don't count those carbs I pack on a pound/day!

 

Thanks for the pasta and tortilla suggestions. Once I get myself back under control again I will branch out and get some treats. Unfortunately my little daily treats have been too high carb as of late and with the lack of exercise I pay for it. Even without exercise I lose/maintain when I stay on plan (30-40 carbs/day) but if I go over, I'm done for!

 

We have so long until our next real vacation. Hoping to get in a weekend or two away between now and then. But the added pressure of classes again this semester is a lot to deal with!!!!!!!!

 

Just trying to be better about checkin in again... not havin the net at home anymore is a downer on my nights off! Used to love to catch up and post at 3 a.m.

 

Jean, how did your surgery go??? Are you feeling well??

 

Take care all,

 

PINK

 

PS To those who have cruised princess (we're sailing island princess in november which seems like forever away from now), any suggestions? NCL was our first cruise this past December... and we liked it a lot!

Hello out there.

 

I apologize... havent posted since, before my cruise, I believe. We had a wonderful time and have already booked again with Princess (although we had a great time with Norwegian the princess itinerary dates were just better!) for November.

 

As for atkins, I'm still in premaintenance and trying to wade through the difficulty of what I can and can't eat without causign weight issues. I'm within my goal weight range now and hoping to achieve the lower number which I've come close to several times but not yet hit. Premaintenance is surely the trickest part of the whole plan.

 

This weekend my husband had emergency surgery and I ran to the grocery store for soft foods for him (he's recovered well now for anyone who got concerned just then) and picked up pasta for myself. Good old enriched white pasta... and i didn't like it. It didn't taste as good as I remembered it being... that's how I feel about most cheats. I love my dark choc and my sugar-free hot choc and my low carb choc bars. I drink cherry coke zero for a treat once in awhile. But I don't miss sugar or white flour at all.

 

Still working on the bread issue...trying to find a low carb bread/tortilla that won't do me in... it is a struggle. I don't believe we'll be buying the bake mix anytime soon though my husband has offered to bake if I breakdown and buy it.

 

He is not atkins... he is trying to gain weight :) So he usually eats what I eat with a side of toast, ramen (his choice, yuck) and white rice. I am hoping to add wild rice in small quantities to my diet next month which will bring us closer to eating the same meals and cooking 1 meal instead of too. The crockpot and large wok have been lifesavers for us!

 

I hope all is well with everyone here and apologize but our net went down in Dec and we disconnected it because the service was so unreliable. However I'm starting classes again and will have net access at least 1-2x/week to do homework. And of course I'll need study breaks. I will post when I try some new recipes for all to share!

 

PinkB

Sorry, it's been awhile since I posted...busy with the holidays and all...

 

I am 3 lbs from goal. So close... I am working on improving my pre-maintenance ways but it's hard because it's not a carte-blanche to eat WHATEVER but sometimes it feels that way... it's just difficult moving up a level and being so close to goal.

 

I did well on Thanksgiving. It was just the 2 of us. I had cornish hens, homemade pumpkin macadamia soup, beets, and asparagus. I didn't make the faux mashed potatoes because hubby didn't like them and we opted out of stuffing for this year because I felt any bread would be too tempting and I'd either over do it or end up on a bread binge with his stuff in days to come. He had the same dinner except I got him a can of skillet corn which he ate instead of beets. It was plentiful and tasty and we had leftovers!

 

But this month overall was a flop. I have trouble resisting cookies at work approx 1 day/5 each week...the other days I do fine but one stressful comment or day and whoosh, the right baker has cookies in there and I go to town. Even 1 and I feel bad but still. Plus I had some car issues and had to have it fixed a few times which created stress and led to cheating... but we survived!

 

I tried 3 vegetables this week: brussel sprouts (from green giant- yummy!), butternut squash (from mackenzie's- also yummy), and creamed spinach from linda's recipe site. The creamed spinach was awful. I also picked up mackerel at the store (the kind meant to eat as an appetizer- way too salty and fishy- very yucky- but I choked it down for the omega 3 benefits at a half fillet a day and also becuse I hate throwing food out!).

 

Hope y'all are well... 1 week til my cruise! 3 lbs to go... I'm moving back towards induction eating for the next few days to see if I can get these last 3 lbs to budge... I know its cheating but I DON'T CARE!!!!

 

Have a great weekend.

Gooselace-

 

Were you looking at the celebrity cruise out of Barcelona? There's one for a week for approx $700 that goes all around Italy that we were looking at. We've decided to go to Europe for 10 days next Nov instead and explore on foot/train d/t the high prices of the excursions that we would have to take (Pompeii, Rome, Sicilian vineyard) to get out of the port cities. But it looks like it will be a great cruise and would have only been $500 pp for airfare from NYC... we may consider one for the year after if we travel in the fall again. Just wanted to share because I'd done a lot of research to find that one and thought it was a really good deal!

 

PinkB... 5 lbs from goal this a.m.

7 lbs from goal...3 lbs from upper limit of goal...would be happy with 3-4 lbs before the cruise sets out on dec 8th... can I do this???? 3 weeks or so???

I'm really struggling with the road to maintenance... I think I've FINALLY found my CCLL and at 40 carbs/day I'm sort of maintaining (up a half pound, down a half pound). Going to officially move to pre-maintenance this weekend in pursuit of the CCLM. I'm skipping the alcohol until I find where I gain to make sure that I can add it in later and see if I still lose... this atkins business is so tricky. I'm a few pounds from the top of goal and 7 or so from where I'd like my final goal weight (my low end of goal) to be.

 

I did have a piece of chocolate cake for breakfast on a particularly stressful morning a couple days ago and then followed up with Taco Bell. I figured if I was going to have a blowout I might as well have a good time with it so I wolfed down about 6 tacos (but no soda) as well as a couple of my husband's french fries from his fast food choice... so once I've "reinducted" my weight loss I'll resume on OWL :)

 

Hope you all have a good weekend. Off to clean our apartment!

 

PinkB

Jean,

 

I'd say you can eat ANYTHING YOU WANT after surgery. Puree it. Get those veggies in via soup, pureed really well so nothing gets caught. Heck, you could blend in chicken or beef if you want to get protein in there too.

 

Best of luck in your surgery!

Greetings!

Did everyone survive HAlloween? I had dark chocolate (about 4 carbs per couple squares thanks to Lindts 85% Excellence bars-yummy) and that was it. So proud of myself. And we went to visit my folks and daddy dearest made me eggs and steak for breakfast so I stayed on plan there! It felt good not to cheat cause gosh, it's easy in other people's houses! I am only 6.5 lbs from goal. So close. Can't wait to get there as I climb these rungs with NO SIGNS OF LACTOSE INTOLERANCE. My only tummy issues lately have been due to spinach that was a day or two expired (we're not going that route anymore) and after sfs's shake with eggbeaters.

[COLOR=black]Shakes[/COLOR]
I wanted to share that I tried sugar free sheila's shakes a few weeks ago and didn't feel so well each day that I tried them (I tried em on 3 days spaced 1 day each apart). I don't know if it was the eggbeaters or what... but they tasted funny and made me feel not so well. So, I substituted 4 oz milk (OWL appropriate but no longer induction friendly) for the eggbeaters and voila! No more tummy aches!! The consistency is a little thinner but they're still awesome. And might I recommend Raspberry (I also use 2 tbl of da vinci's sugarfree syrup in mine cause the flavor is stronger and tastier for me that way) and then I call them 10 carb shakes due to the milk and extra tbl of syrup. So, definitely a splurge item. I have like 1x/week now but yum. Way to go Sheila and thanks for sharing your recipes.

Jocelyn-- Please share details of your cruise when you have a chance. 5 weeks left till mine and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

Stay strong through these holidays everyone. We picked up cornish game hens the other day for Thanksgiving...any suggestions for preparation? We're working on the actual day but will cook them up the weekend after to celebrate... I'm working on a new side dish every week so that we can have a table full of dishes. I tried sheila's pb pie which hubby hates but I like. So I guess I need to try a new dessert for us to share... it's hard feeding someone so used to lots of sugar a dessert thats sugar-free... cooking for someone who is off plan will certainly be a challenge. At least we're sharing main courses now (chicken fajitas- I eat mine without a tortilla, steaks, omelettes, chicken curry- I eat mine without rice).

Have a great weekend all!

PinkB

Congrats Lisa on your race. Way to go!

 

I'm doing well. I'm about 2 lbs from my "upper goal limit" and closer to 10 lbs from where I want my "lower goal limit" to be. I am enjoying moving up the OWL rungs because the variety is so nice. I keep buying too much food each week and not getting around to all of it- carrying over recipes from one week to the next. I'm starting in on berries this week-- yeah!!!! So excited to have them with my yogurt.

 

My wt loss has slowed to less than half a pound/week even with 5 days/exercise. I'm only at 40 carbs this week. I'll be interested to see how high I can go. I really thought my limit would be closer to triple digits due to my ave-high wt loss in induction despite only having about 25 lbs to lose from the get-go. But I know I can eat well, even on 40 carbs, so I'll be content wherever I land.

 

Also wanted to mention that my tastes have changed quite a bit. For example, I'm loving my Lindt 85% dark chocolate soooooo much that I had a mini-krackle bar the other day and it was absolutely disgusting. I loved those once upon a time... my tastes are definitely changing. Hubby and I tried a new burger place last week. I had a diet coke and it was so sweet and yummy. I don't drink them, except for the occasional restaurant outing, and I was shocked. WOW. My tastes have changed quite a bit, it's amazing.

 

Have a happy Halloween everyone. Good luck this week. Stay strong!!

Thanks all for the fiber and Thanksgiving suggestions.

 

I have approx 4-5 cups veggies/day (usually 2 cups spinach and 2-3 cups of bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms or something else occasionally like celery or cauliflower).

 

i think my avocado was keeping me regular during induction and early on... thats why I was hoping for something else. Thanks for the suggestions!

Hey all.

 

Just wanted to check in... no wt loss to report this week but I've also been um...well, not "regular" so I think I'm gaining from not... "losing". I'm feeling ill when I eat flax seed now which I used to eat daily. I can barely stomach it...it's hard to chew because I wretch when I chew the seeds. I only have about 3 weeks of it left in the bag. I'm going to try to keep choking it down daily but...uck, I am going to switch to flax seed oil on my salads (maybe mixed with my 2 carb balsamic vinaigrette as a dressing???). Any other suggestions to keep me regular?

 

Anyway, I'm still about 9 lbs from goal... enjoying rung 3 of nuts- almonds and sugar free peanut butter on celery sticks (though its not as satisfying as creamy jif on toast) Any other suggestions for my PB to go on? Celery isn't one of my favorites but I can't think what else to put my PB on...??

 

Just wanted to give JOCELYN a shout- HAVE A GREAT CRUISE! My visits here can be sporadic depending on work (which has been really stressful lately) and trying to stay off the computer in the a.m. and get on the elliptical instead. Ha ha!

 

Hope everyone here is having a great week. Now is the time to get into exercise to sustain through the holidays. Be strong! Let's make an extra effort to support each other through what I imagine will be a VERY trying time. I've never had to restrict myself from food...esp not at holidays. Our culture is consumed by shopping and eating. It's everywhere. Temptation lurking behind every corner...

 

Anyone doing Thanksgiving dinner planning yet??? Just curious... hubby and I are cooking for 2 this year. I think we're celebrating it on Friday night since we work Turkey Day and then have the weekend off afterward... we're not sure how much turkey to buy. The time I tried to surprise my family by cooking it when I was a teenager I undercooked it (cooked it by the price weight (like $5/lb) instead of the actual weight) and served it frozen. Wanted to try some recipes in advance of the big day to prepare so that we have a feast we actually enjoy and not a tableful of food we have to choke down. But we're cooking for 2 so it's a little awkward... I look forward to anythign you guys have to share...

 

My first cruise is in less than 2 months!

 

PinkB

Thanks all.

 

I had a full physical this summer and my female problems directly coincide with ketosis. My goal is that by maintenance I can be consuming enough carbs that my body won't gain or lose and will also not bleed anymore!

 

I am down 3 lbs from last Friday. HOORAY! I am approx 3 lbs from the top of my goal range and 8.5 lbs from the bottom of my goal range. I am moving up the OWL ladder to do nuts this week and looking forward to it. I am going to keep increasing carbs till I hit my CCLL. Lost very well at 35 this week! However, I do think the dairy may be a diet culprit triggering strong cravings and some increased anxiety for me which I didn't have before... so, out it goes until I'm done with OWL.

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Sheila,

 

Thanks for the links! I look forward to checking them out!

 

PinkB

Ack, my net connection failed and I lost my message. Oh well, I'll try again.

 

I am currently down 4 oz this week and below my pre-vacation weight (from 3 weeks ago) finally! I got off track on those 4 days which led to very intense cravings. It was coincidentally the time I got on dairy and I thought my increased anxiety and cravings may be due to dairy rung. However, I’ve found that I am not having cravings anymore because I returned to my induction style eating of FAT, FAT, FAT. I now incorporate fattier snacks into my lunch daily again (1/2 avocado EVERYDAY) and fry all my meals in butter whenever possible. This has helped kick the 5 a.m. cravings that were causing me to eat off plan (or at least to want to) and made me feel better about this WOE again.

 

I have a theory that my TOM/continuous bleeding is somehow r/t being in ketosis. I can’t find anything online to collaborate with this theory. However, I find if I eat off plan for a day and kick myself out of ketosis that within a day it clears up. Then of course I go right back to induction eating and within 2 days it is back with a vengeance. I wish I could find someone else online with similar problems but I have a feeling that if I get to maintenance (10 lbs to go!) it will clear up because I won’t be gaining or losing… and I’ll be out of ketosis then, right?[/color]

I am currently having a little dairy in addition to my 4 oz cheese everyday and doing great. NO CRAVINGS at all and anxiety is way down. Now I just have to grow back the left hand of nails I bit off… ha ha ha. I haven’t decided whether to eat off plan for some or part of the cruise in early December. I want to make a conscious decision ahead of time and not just “see what’s there…” because I know in the heat of the moment I’ll likely find a reason to eat off plan everyday.

As for recipes, I’m looking forward to eating some of them that have been shared here lately. One of my fave snacks lately is my half cup cottage cheese with a dash of cinnamon and half tsp splenda! It’s like a sinful dessert! Yum!

Tammy,

 

Your leg cramps are likely a potassium deficiency. Find potassium-rich foods you can add to your diet and they will likely go away. Pre-atkins I had several cokes, bananas, yogurt and other great sources of potassium each day. Now, I eat tuna, spinach and fage yogurt or dairy daily and haven't had cramps in a few weeks. I still get them occasionally.

 

Here's a quick link but you'll have to scour your own food for potassium content and see if you can bulk up a bit on it. Recommended amount is something like 4-5000 mg/day (depending on the source you reference) while a half cup of spinach is merely 400mg (just for reference).

 

Good lunk!

pink

The good, the bad and the ugly:

 

The good-

My husband is so supportive of me. He helps me when I feel like cheating to stop and think about it and he encourages me by telling me I look great and how much better I look in the past few weeks whenever I feel like throwing in the towel for good.

 

I lost another 3 inches in the past month even though the scale isn't moving. I was feeling down because I've been struggling quite a bit this month with staying on plan. This is a pleasant surprise. To celebrate my goal we're going to get 3 new da vinci flavors tomorrow at TJ Maxx!

 

The bad-

I'm feeling very out of control of my eating habits lately. I'm going to do my best to get back on track with OWL, rung 1, and just focus on veggies that I've had before.

 

The ugly-

I think I may be incapable of food cheats until I hit goal weight. Then I can reexamine. These planned monthly cheat days aren't working out for me right now and that is soooo disappointing.

 

Plus, my TOM just will not end! Ugh, stupid hormonal imbalances!

 

It's great to come on here and read how all of you are staying on plan. Very encouraging when you want to break down. Wish me luck as I continue on my OWL journey towards permanently learning to eat this way...

Hey All.

 

I'm still having my TOM... we're going on almost 3 weeks now. I need these new seasonale pills to kick in and stop the bleeding soon or I'm just gonna die. Uh, anyway, cravings have been awful this week. I had a couple dark chocolate bars over the last week (prob about 12 carbs/serving). I still lost about a pound this week but it's not satisfying to be craving all the time. So now I don't know if it's dairy or TOM causing my cravings. Anyway, I'm cutting off dairy this week and going back to rung 1 again for a week to see if I can cut the cravings. If I do then I tearfully have to assume its the dairy causing cravings and despite the fact that I'm no longer lactose intolerant (no tummy cravings with any of it-- including the milk and ice cream!) I'll have to let it go and stick with cheese.

 

I love omelettes and have several a week. Some of my faves are 1)cheese, chicken, spinach, 2) mushrooms and cheese and 3) ham and cheese. But I don't eat them every day. What else do you guys eat as a filling breakfast on cruises? I don't like pastries much but I do get tempted by waffles, pancakes and crepes. What do you guys eat???

 

I'm really bummed about this dairy thing. On a related note...

 

Jocelyn,

I still go through days when I feel deprived. I wish I could offer advice that was more soothing but... hang in there! You'll find lots of things you can have in your diet that you used to restrict. And I allow us to spend more on our groceries now than I did before (used to buy lots of rice and pasta to keep things cheap) and I enjoy the fresh veggies, fruits and meats much more than the cans. I figure if I'm restricting what I'm eating then I might as well enjoy the best I can eat!

Thanks for the great ideas everyone. I stopped bringing macadamia nuts to work a few weeks ago after induction...trying to wait "till the nuts rung"to intro them again. But now, after all these little temptations, I've decided to bring them again. 1 oz macadamias tastes sweet and salty and keeps me full till I get home to atkins-safe food again :)

 

I'm introducing dairy this week and hoping for a good weight loss anyway!

RockNSoul-

Those are GREAT pics! Thanks for posting them... it makes me so excited for my upcoming cruise :)

Getting back on track since returning home has been so difficult. It was just awful. The bad news is that I'm up 4 lbs. It is my time of the month and I have been weak so many days since I got home when work got stressful and chocolate beckoned from the back room.

 

Fortunately, for the past 2 days I'm back on track and I plan to stay that way!

 

I got some low-carb dark choc to take to work every night (I don't eat it every night but it's there at 3 carbs/piece for the bad nights next time I have one so I don't fall prey to the baked goods). I know it's going to get tougher and tougher with halloween and the holidays coming up. Families just love to feed their nurses :)

 

Does anyone else have any tricks for avoiding the treats esp at work during stressful times?? Foods you eat that help curb the cravings at these times? I know,as my husband has so lovingly pointed out, that I'm eating from stress at these times and not out of hunger. I'm hoping this will work-- last night I avoided some orange and black m&ms... I felt so strong!

 

Here's to a return of my weight loss this week so I can get back on track and start climbing those rungs again... dairy is next and I'm so looking forward to it!

Hello All.

 

Vacation was very difficult. My MIL pressured me to keep eating off plan. I only slipped twice but as we know, slips, are deadly. It's not like ooh, I just had a nibble of a low carb bar. 1 fried and breaded fish lunch sets you back 2 days minimum. 1 alcoholic drink 2 days later with dinner sets you back another 2 days. Those were my only 2 big slips.

 

However, I found I had a very difficult time eating on plan. I know I will manage eventually if I can get up to 60 carbs/day or something on maintenance but less than 30 on vacation... no way. For example, we would go out to eat. I would avoid bread, mashed potatoes or rice, etc but I would get a steak, salmon, or chicken...it easily came with 2-3 cups/veggies each time. Same with the omelettes. I made the healthiest choices I could and avoided the stuff I knew I should not have as often as possible. But you never know how much cheese is on a caesar or in an omelette. And I desperately wanted to try some local things but only ate what I was supposed to. But the times I did cheat I realized after that it wasn't worth it.

 

And I had diet coke and several cups of coffee/day. I haven't drank soda since early August. It was disappointing but I needed the caffeine to keep going. At least I drank my coffee black.

 

MIL told me she is surprising us with an anniversary cake on our cruise in December. She asked "You aren't going to still be on this no sugar, no cake kick are you? You will have a slice won't you?" I assured her I would but now I'm having second thoughts. My skin is completely broken out. I'm up 2 lbs instead of down any...

 

I did my best but... yuck! Hope everyone else had a better weekend. Back to induction eating for me for a few days to get into ketosis and then I plan to advance to dairy this weekend.