Carb Counting...The Highs an the Lows

I have been "low carb" for about 2 and a half months now. I jumped into this with both feet and mind open. I said, "I'll try ALL the foods!" 

First thing's first, what the doctor did NOT tell me. She said "it's easier said than done." She did NOT say, "you are most likely addicted to sugar and you will go through withdrawals and feel like you might die." She probably refrained from saying this for fear I would have not even tried it. She would have been right. During the first two weeks, the "induction phase", I was pretty sure I was either dying or pregnant. I was weak, nauseous, starving and cranky. I'm sure my family was ecstatic. A ray of sunshine I was not. I did not realize that: 1) I was actually addicted to sugar....I mean we say it jokingly but I REALLY was! 2) I would feel this bad! I almost gave up! After about a week and a half I started reading online about symptoms of sugar withdrawal. I had lots of them. Apparently I could have slowly weaned myself off over a period of weeks. Now I find this?! I'm already a week and a half in! I'll stick it out thank you very much! 

Right at the two week mark I decided I'd try exercising...gently. I workout with a group of awesome ladies who constantly push themselves. I explained that I was going to be slow so just leave me behind. I got so tired and winded from the get go! But I was there. Burning fat....slowly. At the very end someone who had already finished her workout came back and got me and encouraged me and I pushed and I did it! I felt great! I went home, made my breakfast talking to my husband all stoked about my accomplishment. I kissed him goodbye and out the door he went. I was bringing my breakfast to the table when the world went dark. I decided I'd better sit down before I fell down. So there I was, plate of breakfast in hand, on the floor. The dog was unsure if he should come steal my food or give me my space. I had pushed a little too hard. Note taken!

Within that first two weeks my husband and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. Coincidentally that same weekend was when my digestive system decided it did not like my new diet. My IBS flared and I stayed sick that whole weekend. Romantic right? What's worse is that I know only one thing that can steady my belly when it's like this. Grains. Easily digestible CARBS! I had to go off my eating plan and get myself better, then regroup and come back at it with a belly friendly plan. But would I really try again? After stepping on the scale at the end of the two weeks I determined I would.

At the end of the first two weeks I had lost 12 pounds! I took this to mean my doctor was correct in her assumption about my body's insulin resistance. I also figured I must be on the right track. Now to figure out what I can and can't eat. With carbs and IBS working against me I was afraid my list of foods to eat would be rather small. 

Next time I'll write about the food I have eaten...the good, the bad, and the OMG what was I thinking?! 

A Visit To The Doctor

It was that time again. Every year around my birthday I go and visit the doctor like a good girl. I get my check up and my blood work done. I nod and smile while she gives me helpful suggestions about improving my health. I don't usually follow this advice because, while I am and have been VERY overweight for some time, I'd always say to myself that my blood work is normal so it's fine.

Last year we did our dance at the doctor. She asked if I was doing anything for exercise. I told her I wasn't really. She said I should and I agreed. My blood work came back fine. Last year though, I wondered how many more years my blood work would come back normal before the effects of years of abuse caught up with my insides like it was with my outsides. Last year I got real.

This year I went back to the doctor 20 pounds lighter. All 20 of those pounds were lost in the first 6 months of trying. Then, it STOPPED. No matter how hard I tried (and boy did I try) the weight will not budge! I have lost 2 pounds in the past 6-7 months. Two. Whole. Pounds. I told my doctor this. When she had asked enough questions and was satisfied that I was, in fact, trying (I mean it's not like I had a past record of trying...) She uttered the exact two words I did not want to hear, "low carb."

You know that part of a movie where the hero sees someone falling to their death and there's nothing they can do so they just reach out toward the person and yell "NOOOOOOOO" in slow motion? Yeah. That was me. Reaching toward cake...and cookies.....and chocolate....

The doctor said something that had to do with insulin resistance and the single largest cause of weight gain and retention being high carb diets. I didn't catch it all because my poor little brain still had the words "LOW CARB" echoing through it. I nodded and smiled and thanked her for her advice on the way out of the door.

So what now? Was I going to give up because the possible solution was within my grasp but seemed too hard? Or was I going to fight? For my health, my family? Be a role model for my kids? I chose to fight.

I read. Article after article about "low carb lifestyles". At first I was a little miffed that I was even considering going against what I had always believed to be bad: restricting a food group. The more I read though I realized my perception of "low carb" and what it actually is are two different things. Low carb is not throwing out every carbohydrate and never eating it again ever.....solely existing on steak and eggs. (I have an uncle who does this. He smells perpetually of egg salad.) It's not called "no carb". It's LOW carb. That's when I thought, "hey, I can maybe do this and not die."

I chose a discipline to follow because I can't imagine taking all the information I read and compressing it and turning it into a diet. Once I chose one of the more popular plans I put it's free tools to use. There was a database of hundreds of recipes to choose from. I was pretty sure that if I didn't plan every meal and have it readily available, I would never be able to stay on track...at least for the first couple of weeks. So I made a menu and I went shopping...

Ignore the yogurt. It's for the kids.

That's what a week's worth of low carb meals looks like. Oh. Except for the apples. I'm not allowed to have those yet. Those are for the hubby. And I got the low carb candy bars just in case I have a weak moment. It's that time of the month and I usually consume copious amounts of chocolate. I was afraid to have no options and fall off the wagon! I will admit, I'm really moving out of my comfort zone with some of these recipes. I bought goat cheese people....

I totally blew my grocery budget this week because of all these fancy things I don't usually buy because I'm a sale shopper. I've got to figure out how to do this on the cheap. Because you guys know me. If I'm one thing....it's cheap! So, grocery budget gone and from what I'm reading I really need to be taking supplements while on this type of diet. Fabulous. Enter the birthday money. I was saving it for skinny clothes, but if I never lose weight....

So this happened.

Bye bye birthday money. I have to give huge props to the dude at GNC. He was super helpful, concerned about my health but also my pocket book and was not condescending at all to the chubby girl with two kids in tow. He even offered my kids samples. I mean I know it's his job and all but he was exceptionally good at it. The whey protein is actually for recipes that I have planned this week. Then I bought super ultra vitamins and a chia chew. The chew is supposed to supplement Omega-3 fatty acids as well as provide a little soluble fiber for my IBS tummy. I took my supplements with breakfast this morning like a good girl. Some of those pills are huge! I saved the chewable for last and it kinda felt like I was getting a treat. This made me happy. If I swallow all the giant vitamins like a good girl I get a Starburst....with crunchy chia seeds in it....

I had set for myself a deadline. Monday would be the day the "low carb lifestyle" would begin. So yesterday was kind of an all bets are off day. We went out to lunch after church with friends. I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a ciabatta bun AND a ton of fries.....

And then this happened...

What?! I HAD to get it out of the house so I wouldn't eat it this week! It was sooooo good. I have been told that after a certain amount of time living a low carb lifestyle (trying not to use the four letter word...diet!) I will find myself able to say I don't even want these types of things. I have my doubts. Chocolate is....well it's chocolate! And sugar is....yummy! We shall see. 

Saturday my totally awesome and supportive husband helped me prep all the stuff for the meals and bag it up so that all I have to do is pull it out and cook. This will be especially helpful for breakfast and lunch since I'm accustomed to pulling out something quick and easy for these meals. He kind of likes the idea of pre-prepping things anyway. He says it will make my life easier. I think I agree! It seemed to work very well this morning. I pulled out my bag labeled "Monday AM", threw the recipe together and ten minutes later I was sitting munching on turkey breakfast sausage, and sautéd bell peppers all smothered with cheese! I like cheese. That is definitely something I'll eat again. Probably next Monday. 

One thing I thought about, and I'm not sure how I feel. Meatless Monday will be kind of suspended until further notice. I need meat. Beans are too starchy right now so they're out. Meat and eggs are going to be my protein. Meat is a lot harder for my body to digest. I'm trying to balance it out with lots of soluble fiber filled veggies. I hope I can do it. If my digestion slows down I'm going to have to rethink my menus. I've  got to make it work though. Because nothing else has. I've got 45 extra pounds dragging me down. They've GOT to go! 

Do you have experience with a "low carb lifestyle?" I'd love to hear your encouraging words about your successes....or even warnings about your failures! What did you do to stay on target? What caused you to fall off the wagon? Let me know in the comments!

Sugar....and being 29.

So today is my birthday. I'm 29. My body is in better shape now than it was ten years ago. But WHY. CAN'T. I. LOSE. WEIGHT?! Ahhhhhh!

Okay. I'm done yelling. But seriously. I have lost two pounds in the last 4 months, and I have fought hard for those two pounds. I'm thinking it may be my addiction to refined sugars. I stay within a certain calorie goal that will (supposedly) enable me to lose two pounds a week. The scale stays the same. Even with working out HARD three times a week. 

At first I chalked it up to losing fat but building muscle at the same time. Now I'm not so sure. I've read recently that simple carbs (read: sugar!) can trigger an insulin spike in our bodies which, in turn, causes a starvation response. The body is like "Omg! When is she gonna eat again? I'd better save all this fat just in case! Hmm. Where to put it? Oh look her butt could use more padding!" 

Now I'm not going crazy and saying all carbs are bad. There are carbs everywhere (including fruits and veggies) and our bodies need those complex carbs to be balanced. But doughnut carbs are not the same as strawberries and Greek yogurt carbs. Doughnuts, while they may have the same calories do not have the same nutritional value. And that's a shame. Because man they're good! But one thing I'm learning is that eating is not just about feeling good or tasting good. It's about fueling the body. Now to convince my sugar addicted self of this concept. 

So the "no refined sugar" experiment will begin....right after I have birthday cake......

The Day The Freezer Died

My resolve to eat at least one veggie meal a week wavered. We had fallen back into the super carnivore lifestyle. It's just easier to make a meal revolve around meat!

Then something happened. My small chest freezer.... My less than TWO YEARS OLD chest freezer.....died. And I did not realize it died until it was far FAR too late. I had at least two months worth of meat in that thing. I'm a bargain shopper so I stock up when it's on sale. So I said "today's a good day for stir fry..." We've had three meatless meals this week. Well yesterday's was almost meatless. I had a few pork pieces I put in a pot of black eyed peas for flavor. Today we eat the last roast we had in the inside freezer.

I don't think the untimely death of the chest freezer was entirely bad (I mean besides the hundreds of dollars of food we lost). It forced me to get creative and pull out some of our old favorites. Like Pad Thai and Penne Rosa. We've had both this week. And tomorrow I'm thinking a good old stir fry is in order...that would mean 4 meatless suppers this week! Plus a bonus on leftover night Sunday...the kitchen closes on Sundays.

I still have not lost any weight but I HAVE lost inches. I'd rather see pounds but inches will have to do for now. I really need more cardio. And I really hate cardio! Especially running! And what am I doing Saturday? Running/jogging/limping in a 5K. Because I want to say yep i did that. I have lost. My. Mind.......

Life....Enhanced

I've turned another corner in my journey. I went from a fairly unkempt "scenic byway" to a "state highway". I ramped the speed up a little.....okay a lot.....but it's not exactly smooth sailing like an interstate. Potholes abound.

I've gone several months without any weight loss. I've been carefully tracking calories eaten and burned but still no success. At first it was cute. Now? I'm just annoyed. So I took a look at what I could possibly be doing wrong. When I examined my habits I was a little surprised by some of them.

First, I was most likely dehydrated and what I was thinking was hunger might actually be thirst. I was in the habit of only drinking water when eating or working out. I got, on average, 24 ounces of water per day. You're supposed to drink at least 64 ounces per day!
Second, I was addicted to sugar. Everywhere! From sweets to bread to pasta. Simple carbs and refined sugars were a HUGE part of my diet.

I decided to start with those two birds and try to kill them with one stone. I determined that every time I wanted to munch (my munchie of choice is always sugary) I would drink instead. The first day I nearly floated away (90 oz!) and actually stayed kinda hungry all day so a new approach was in order. On day two I found the plan that could work for me. Drink every time I wanted to munch, but instead of 3 larger meals throughout the day I chose to do five smaller  . The challenge with this approach (for me) was keeping the number of calories per meal on a fairly even keel. I've pretty much gotten it down though. I'm already up to 40 ounces of water today and I'm just now starting to get the rumbly in my tumbly that tells me second breakfast is near.

Another change I made was changing the intensity of my workouts and adding in some strength training. I kid you not when I say that right now it hurts to sneeze. Every last muscle group I have is sore! I've only made these changes for about a week now so there are two things yet to be seen....whether I'll stick with it and whether it can get me results. I hope so...I'd hate to think my eyeballs are floating right now for no good reason!

My Veggie Valentine

Ahhh Valentine's Day. Yesterday we celebrated it the way that we usually do...at home. I sequestered the children in another room with a stack of DVDs and all the popcorn they could eat. This way we only have to hear "Mooooom?!" Every five minutes while we have a nice romantic dinner together.

Valentine's Day being the wondrous day that it is, I spent the entire day coaching a second grader through school work. "Stop playing with that. Pay attention. You're doing school work remember?!" Then, once that was over I got up and remembered that, the day before, I started adding strength training to my workouts. I tried all the things. Now my arms are so sore I don't want to move. Joy.

I prepare a feast fit for a vegetarian king. I was so proud. We have recently discovered that portobello mushrooms are good. We like those in stuff better than the white button mushrooms. So I said to myself, "self, you should get those big portobello caps and pretend they're chicken or something and make portobello Parmesan. That would be awesome!" So that is what myself did.

I made a marinara with freshly chopped onions and bell peppers and celery. The chopping went something like this "ow, thunk, ow, thunk...." I coated the portobello caps in a mixture of panko and regular bread crumbs, salt and pepper, basil and oregano and Parmesan cheese. Then I lightly pan fried them in a little olive oil until the coating was crisp and golden brown. I put whole wheat pasta coated with marinara on the plate with my mushroom caps and topped it all with a sprinkling of mozzarella. It was so good! I was proud of myself!

Then dessert. Because you cannot have Valentine's Day without dessert! But even dessert was good for you! I made vanilla soufflé, which is much easier than one would imagine. But all I have to say is thank God in Heaven I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer because I had to beat egg whites until they had stiff peaks and I'm positive I'd have never survived the pain! Just folding the egg whites into the rest of the mixture went something like, "ow...oh ow...ooooow....." The soufflé came out light and airy which was good because portobello can sneak up on you! I'm all "I'm eating a vegetable...it's such a light meal! I'm starving I'll eat the whole thing!" Then afterwards I'm saying, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing...ooooh that mushroom was more filling than I thought!"

So our wonderful delicious Valentine dinner ensued. Peppered with a little "no you can't have that. Where's your water bottle? Go back and watch the movie now." And you know? It was perfect. Now. Excuse me while I go amputate my arm and get the pain over with already!...

Manic Mondays

Oh man the busyness! The weekend before last my husband ran his second ever marathon, AND did it 15 minutes faster than last year! That was the Sunday. The day before, our almost seven year old ran a 1.2 mile race. I was so proud of them both that I stood at the finish line crying the whole time. I was emotional...


Have you ever had one of those days where nothing....and I mean NOTHING goes right? Yeah. I had one of those on Friday. I just wanted to give the whole thing back and start over! But, after Friday, things started to look up...I mean at that point where else could things look? After the massive fail that was Friday, I threw my sister-in-law a baby shower and it turned out rather well (if I do say so myself). Then Sunday came and I enjoyed it because Sunday probably is my favorite day of the week. We get to go to church and worship and sit and listen to what the man of God has been given to say....This week he stepped on my toes just a little. I am a champion procrastinator. Guess what the message was about? So yeah, I've determined I'm going to stop wasting so much time. I started UN-procrastinating by getting up and going to the gym this morning (like I always do) but instead of showering and crawling back in bed like usual I ate breakfast and started straightening up the mess that is my living room. By the time the first kid woke up I was standing in the middle of the room feeling pretty accomplished!

Last week we had a delicious pasta dish on Meatless Monday (I love pasta). I adapted a recipe to be meatless AND to not use oil to sauté the veggies because...uh...calories! It's called penne rosa. It's a tomato cream sauce but instead of using cream and butter it's got fat free yogurt. Everyone enjoyed it even more than the spinach walnut penne I've made and everyone (even the picky three year old) said they'd eat it again. Score one for Momma! Look for the recipe on my recipe tab.

Speaking of going to the gym this morning (which I did somewhere up there) I set the stationary bike on a harder program that I normally do. Halfway through this program I did the math and was like "alright! If I keep going like this I'll go farther than I've ever gone!" But shortly after that I was pretty sure I was going to die. I slowed way down and it looked like I wasn't going to make it as far as I thought after all. I heard the little voice in my mind say "nope. You're not going to do it." Then, I felt determined. I said to myself, "It's possible...pig...that I don't have the strength to finish strong" But I kicked in the afterburner and said "drop your sword..." Then I grinned like a crazy lady...because I'm hilarious....and because I was going to finish strong because I wanted it...I wonder if anyone around me noticed the crazy person grinning at her internal conversation with herself. I hope not. I'd hate to get kicked out of the gym for creeping the other people out.....