Diet, Day 36

I know that I am feeling better, mentally & emotionally, about myself right now. So I don't know if the fact that I seem to feel better physically is just an extension of that, or if I am actually feeling better. I have more energy, which I attribute to 2 things. First, B12 shots. Simple medical fact- they increase energy levels. Second, I am just excited about the progress I am making. Even when my knees ache, I am eager to get on the exercise bike because I continue to see results. No matter where the root of my improved outlook & seemingly improved health may lie, I am glad for it.

Oh... in a few weeks, from April 25 thru May 5, I'll be on vacation. For part of that time, will be going to North Carolina with many of the nation's MINI Cooper clubs to take on U.S. highway 129, a.k.a. "The Tail of the Dragon." 318 hairpin mountain curves in 11.8 miles. This trip has become an annual tradition for me. Even though I now drive a Mazdaspeed3, the MINI club (at least here in FL) is still very welcoming, and it's not really about the cars for me anymore- I've made a lot of good friends and have no plans to leave them behind, so I am glad they still wnt me around, too.

The reason that comes to mind now is that I know I won't be able to stay on this diet while I am in the mountains of NC/TN. So I am planning to take that week or so of from the diet and enjoy myself a little. I'm not going to go eat 3 pints of Ben & Jerry's every day, but I will probably enjoy my first Guinness of 2009 and eat some old favorites like pasta, Chinese, Mexican, and sushi. All in moderation, of course- just enough to enjoy each one.

So I ran this by the medical assistant at the doctor's office yesterday & asked her if all I would need to do is revert to Phase 1 of the diet (all protein) until ketosis kicks in again. She said that's exactly how to handle it. So I am going to ask for some more ketosis test strips in the next few weeks and see if I can escape 10 days of vacation time without gaining weight while I enjoy some of my favorite foods. Anyone wanna start a pool? LOL

Today, 3/31/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz tilapia (8 vlp) ad 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)

Meal 2- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp) and 1 cup raw red bell pepper (1 veg)

Meal 3- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp), 1/2 cup cooked green beans (1 veg) and 12 black raspberries (2 fruit)

Meal 4- 2 oz turkey bacon (2 vlp)

Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 4 servings veg, 2 servings fruit. Holy cow, you huckleberry!!! (RIP Phil Rizzuto)

Diet, Day 35 & Doctor's Visit #6

I am happy to report that I continue to waste away at a brisk pace! Weighed in at 275 today, down 6 pounds from last week. Body Fat also measured in under 50% for the first time... again, I'll buy that if it stays below 50 for a few weeks running. Blood pressure also continues to look good, 120/62. Would like to get that top number down 5-10 points. All in good time, I suppose.

I bought another 2 cans of the salt-free green beans today, even though they are a crime against taste buds. I figure I'll try them out with that Goya ham seasoning & see if that makes them edible. The ham seasoning has a little less salt in it than a can of green beans with 50% reduced salt. So if I go with salt free beans, then add less than half that salt back, I'm still better off than eating the lower salt beans by themselves.

I have noticed a minor, odd problem. It's a lot less annoying than having your own measurable gravity field, but embarrassing nonetheless, and something I knew I'd have to face sooner or later. The skin on my thighs & midsection, where most of my extra lard resides, is starting to feel slightly... loose. That may not be the right term. It's just feeling less than full. I guess the fat is exiting the building faster than the building can contract.

So no matter how difficult it is, I am eventually going to have to get to working on toning my midsection, back pain be damned. I really don't want to go to a gym & work with a trainer, so I am going to see what sort of exercises I can do at home- maybe some modified situps, crunches, etc. But I think I have some time yet before that becomes imperative.

Today, 3/30/09:

Weight: 275 (Net 31 pounds lost in 5 weeks)
Body Fat: 49.8%
BP: 120/62

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 1 cup each yellow bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, measured raw (3 veg)
Meal 2- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp) and 1 small Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Meal 3- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. On like Donkey Kong!

Diet, Day 34

One of my mother's friends who is on a different diet told her a great trick to add flavor to green beans. Goya makes a Ham Seasoning that comes in packets. No fat, no carbs. I put 2 cans of green beans in a pot with 1 packet of the ham seasoning and honest to goodness, it's darned near as good as cooking the beans with bacon. I'm sure I will find more uses for that seasoning.

After taking a day off from cardio, my legs & knees felt very strong today, even on the bike. Maybe I just need to know my limits & not push too hard. 7 days a week is not required, after all.


Today, 3/29/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 4 oz ground sirloin (4 lp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 2- 4 oz chicken (4 vlp) with 1 cup bell peppers, measured raw (1 veg)
Meal 3- 8 oz tilapia (8 vlp) and 1 cup cooked green beans (2 veg)
Meal 4- 1 small Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. The kick is up, and it's good!

Diet, Day 33

Very tired this morning, and I have a lot to do today (tonight, when I am awake). So I'm just going to keep it short & sweet...

Today, 3/28/09:

All supplements taken as directed except final appetite suppressant, as I am goint to bed early, so no point in it.

Water: 1 gallon

Cardio: Taking today off.

Meal 1- 7 oz chicken (7 vlp) with 1 cup each: bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, measured raw (3veg)
Meal 2- 5.1 oz hot dogs (5 vlp) and 2 cups raw cucumber (2 veg)
Meal 3- 1 cup fat free cottage cheese (4 vlp) and 1 small Granny Smith apple (1 fruit)
Freebie: 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 5 servings veg, 1 serving fruit. Slam dunk.

Diet, Day 32

Nothing interesting to report. Last night was the first without the optional extra supplements. Easier to track them this way, at least.

My legs are getting a little achy from the exercise bike. I only really notice it when I get ON the bike, but it's there. I'm having to try a little harder just to get my 30 minutes in. But I am determined to keep getting it done. I'm allowed to take Aleve on the diet, so I may make it part of my regimen, because years ago, the prescription forerunner of Aleve was my arthritis medication. Hoping it'll help.

I ran short of options for vegetables, and was out of fruit last night, so there's not much variety in the meals. Gotta go shopping today.

Today, 3/27/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 45 minutes, just to spite myself. Hehheh.

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 2 cups mushrooms & 1 cup spinach, measured raw (3 veg)
Meal 2- 3 cups mixed red & green bell peppers, raw (3 veg)
Meal 3- 1.25 cups fat free cottage cheese (5 vlp)
Meal 4- 3.4 oz hot dogs (3 vlp)
Freebie- 1 sugar free cup-o-Jell-O

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 6 servings veg. DONE.

Diet, Day 31

***WHOOPS... when I wrote this yesterday, I must have hit "Save" instead of "Post." Oops. here it is, a day late...

I took the last of the optional Omega 3 & Polyphenol supplements this evening, so those are off the list unless I decide to re-up them later. So going forward, the daily regimen will include 1 multivitamin (which smells like ass covered in dead fish), 3 doses of phentermatrazine appetite suppressant, and 2 doses of calcium pyruvate fat burner. I'll try to pay attention & see if dropping the extras makes any difference. If it does, and I decide to reintroduce them, I will try to find them from a cheaper source.

Side note about this darned blog formatting... from one day to the next, I can never get the line spacing the same. I haven't made any changes to the default format, yet yesterday a carriage return skipped one line, and today, it skips 2. More annoying than that, I cannot go back & delete the extra blank lines- the editor sees them as single carriage returns, but spaces them as double.

Today (Yesterday), 3/26/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 35 minutes

Meal 1- 8 oz chicken (8 vlp) with 1 cup each spinach & mushrooms, measured raw (2 veg)

Meal 2- 2 cups raw bell peppers (2 veg)

Meal 3- 4 oz turkey bacon (4 vlp) and 4 oz low fat sharp cheddar cheese (4 lp)

Meal 4- 2 cups raw broccoli (2 veg)

Totals: 12 servings very lean protein, 4 servings lean protein, 6 servings veg. Fish in a barrel.

Diet, Day 30

So yesterday, I set my alarm for 5pm to get out to the MINI club meeting. But I also set 2 more alarms for 7:40-7:45pm, incase I couldn't bear to wake up at 5 & skipped the MINI club meeting. Well, I shut off the 5pm alarm & crawled back into bed. I remember thinking/dreaming that it was getting late, but I was asleep, so what did it matter? Well, my phone rang. My phone wakes the neighbors, it's so freakin' loud. I sat bolt upright, saw the clock- 9:35 pm. I knew it was my Mom calling to see if I was awake. (We share a house) Looks like I set the time, but didn't activate the darned alarms. Grrrr.

I usually leave the house between 10-10:15pm. Waking up at 9:35 & having to cook/prepare 2-3 meals, pack them, count out the supplements, take some, pack some, fill my water jug, shower, shave, brush teeth, etc.? Not good. I was like the Tasmanian Devil, flying all over the house. And I found a way to pack food I didn't have to cook, which really saved me as far as the diet goes, since I can't exactly use the Taco Bell drive-thru as a substitute when I am in a hurry. So here's how it went down...

Today, 3/25/09:

All supplements taken as directed

Water: 1 gallon +

Cardio: 30 minutes

Meal 1- 2 hard boiled eggs (2 vlp) and 2.5 cups raw broccoli (2.5 veg)
Meal 2- 5.1 oz hot dogs (5 vlp) and 2.5 cups raw red bell peppers (2.5 veg)
Meal 3- 4 oz tuna (4 vlp)
Meal 4- 1.25 cups fat free cottage cheese (5 vlp) and 1 cup raw celery (1 veg)
Freebie- 1 dill pickle spear

Totals: 16 servings very lean protein, 6 servings veg. Preeeeee-cisely.