My New Weight Loss Motivator!

I have been looking around for some nice outdoor cargo pants and happened to find 2 brand new pairs of cargo pants at the thrift store yesterday! They were only $10 bucks a piece! But....they didn't fit! I liked them so much I decided to make them my motivator to help me get back down to my lowest weight and then some!  I don't have too far to go and hope I can get into them once I lose about 20 pounds or so! I have a 4 inch gap to make up! Fingers crossed!!

My 2 new pairs of Cargo Pants! I'm pretty sure I got a great deal on these!

As you can see, they don't button now, but hopefully they will in the near future!!

I fell in love with these Cargo Pants! I can't wait to get into them!

 

I'm Back! Sorry For Being MIA!

I am finally finding a moment to get back on and post! I know I haven't posted since April 11th. Life has just been a little busy. I've had a lot going on and a lot of challenges over the last couple of weeks. Right after my last post I went to my daughters college event at the Culinary Institute Of America in Hyde Park. She will be attending school there in the fall. They had such delicious food to sample there!! But I did ok. Then my Scrapbook Retreat was the following weekend and I got through that ok, too! Right after the Scrapbook Retreat we headed to my camp this past Monday and returned home last night! 

I am pleased to say I was at 180.8 this morning! I think I have done extremely well considering all the events I have been to in the past couple of weeks! My lowest weight on the 11th was 179.2. So I am not too far off track! Yes, it would have been nice to lose some weight over the last 2 weeks, but I am not complaining.  I am just glad I pretty much maintained at this point!

I have a major challenge ahead of me for the month of May. I will be attending the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis, IN. The show is 2.5 days long and we will be gone from May 12-17. I am going to utilize my kids for tasting so I will only taste items if absolutely necessary! I have 2 weeks to get as much weight off as possible before we head out!

I have a new incentive to help motiviate me to get back to 172 and continue to lose the rest of my weight beyond that and get to my ultimate goal of 145 pounds! I will share this new incentive in my next post! Stay tuned!!

Down Again!

I was pleasantly surprised to be down again this morning. Just .4 pounds but I'll take it. Especially with all the trouble I had in March with fluctuating! It's always nice when my weight continues to go down a day or two after a fast. Then I know the loss was not temporary!

I did give in and had some chocolate yesterday. I was craving it all day. I also was really tired yesterday afternoon and went to bed at 8:45pm! There is a bug going around and I am hoping I am not getting it! Fingers crossed as I am going to a college event with my daughter this weekend. Today I will make sure I stay out of the chocolate! 

Finally Back In The 170's!! Woohoo!

I am so excited to report that I am finally back in the 170's as of this morning! I am so happy about that. My weight has been 180.6 for the last couple of days, so not much movement. I was able to successfully fast last night and I think that helped my weight finally drop. Since my last weigh in in March I am down over 4 pounds which is great progress! Let's hope I don't hit another brick wall and I can get a few more pounds off this month! 

Finally I Have Broken Through This Plateau!

 Yay! Finally under my lowest weight reached in March! Woohoo! I'll take it! Hopefully the 170's are in my near future!!

04/06/24 - Down Again This Morning!

Down again this morning! Hopefully this is a good indication that I'm breaking through my plateau! Fingers crossed!!

I ate good yesterday but didn't do anything special so maybe my hormones are finally giving me a break! Lol! Who knows, but I'll take this loss! My lowest weight in March was 181.4. Hopefully I will get below that number soon. For now I will celebrate my small victories.

After Easter Check In

 I finally found some time to check in tonight. It's been an interesting week so far with my weight. I'm glad to report my weight is actually under what I was right before Easter. This is the lowest I have been since 3/27 when I was 182.6. I did great over Easter! I had a couple of servings of chocolate and a nice brunch as my main meal that day. I was really good all this week. My weight still decided it needed to be all over the place. I was 184 yesterday! But I have been eating pretty well since Easter. Carbs have been a little high but under 50 and I'm still in moderate ketosis. I've been below my burned calories everyday, including Easter and most of the time at least 1000 calories below. 

I think I am pretty much done trying to figure out my body. I am just trying to keep eating healthy like I have been. I will try to start eating under 20 grams of carbs again starting on Monday. I bought some strawberries, as they looked really good, so I want to eat those up before trying to stay under 20 grams again. 

Here is today's weigh in:

I am happy with that and hope I can continue to head in the right direction as my period is mostly over at this point. March 27 was the last day of meals I checked in with. Here is a general synopsis of how I did:

March 28 - 975 calories 17g carbs

March 29 - 1417 calories 70g carbs (Friday Ham Dinner)

March 30 - 1136 calories 53g carbs (Out With A Friend All Day, Had Popcorn)

March 31 - 1896 calories 57g carbs (Easter)

April 1 - 682 Calories 11g carbs

April 2 - 1491 Calories 35g carbs

April 3 - 1032 calories 29g carbs

April 4 - 1278 calories 43g carbs

My high carb days were during Easter weekend but I am really proud of how well I did! I have been really really hungry this week so I am glad I've done as well as I have! Here is how my weight has been. 

3/29/24 - 183.8

3/30/24 - 183.8

4/2/24 - 183.46

4/4/24 - 185

4/5/24 - 182.4

March Totals: 

3/1/24 - 185.6

3/30/24 - 183.8

Loss Of 1.8 pounds!!

Hey, at least I lost something during the month of March rather then nothing at all or worst yet gaining! So I'm glad to at least see some type of loss for the month! Since I started on 2/24/24 I have lost 12.4 pounds as of today. 

It's interesting because when I was in the lower 180's when originally trying to lose my 100 pounds I struggled to get down to the 170's then, too. So hopefully once I hit the 170's again I will continue to drop! I don't have a lot going on that should disrupt my diet so hopefully I will enter a downward trend in the coming weeks! Fingers crossed! 

Analyze, Refocus, Succeed!

 I really need to take the time to anaylzye & refocus at this point so I can be successful! I reviewed some of my older posts and it seems that most of my plateaus were food related! Some of the signs that I am eating the wrong food is I get hungry when I get home and want to snack immediately! Well that has returned this week so clearly some of the foods I have enjoyed over the weekend and the last few days are beginning to sabatoge my progress! I was just starting to drop down again and then I went a way for the weekend! I have no regrets though. We did great with our eating and really enjoyed ourselves! The key is, if I enjoy a few of my troublesome low carb foods while on a trip, I need to be sure to cut them out of my diet immediately once I return home! Because it is nice to enjoy a few of those items but not for too long! 

Anaylze - I need to make sure I stay away from sugar free Jello, nuts, peanuts, popcorn, yogurt and cottage cheese! The 3 last foods on my list I have stayed away from. But the nuts and Jello have snuck back into my diet! I really really really need to get those foods out of my diet right now! The only exception will be Easter when we use almond flour in our biscuits & I plan to have Chocolate Covered Jordon Almonds. But Monday, they will be gone from my diet again. That's a promise!!

Refocus - I need to really stay focused on what I am eating and recognize if my habbits change. It seems I usually can spot issues once I begin to crave things again. I really do want this weight loss so I will change my diet and keep these foods out for as long as I can. I do think I can have these foods but I can't let them become a habit. They need to be a once and awhile treat, like Easter, until I lose all the weight!  Fluctuating up and down, within reason, once I meet my weight goal is fine, but I'm not going to lose weight doing that at this rate!

Succeed - I will succeed and get to my goal! I have no doubt about that. But the only way I am going to do that is if I make these changes so I can break this plateau! Hopefully this is the reason for my plateau and these changes will yield some results in the next couple of weeks! Here's hoping that April goes much better!!

The Saga Continues

I just can't win this month! I was up to 185 this morning! I didn't even record it because I was just so frustrated. I mean geez! I did have more calories than usual yesterday but nothing to warrant this weight gain. It HAS to be hormones! I am on my period and have been hungrier the last few days which is why the nibbling occured yesterday. I have to think that this is what is playing with my weight! I was at 182.6 yesterday morning! I should be going down, not up! For crying out loud! Something's got to give. I have not gotten anywhere this month! I have been trying to be patient with these fluctuations but now this is just getting rediculous! 

I will do my best to keep my diet as simple as possible.  I have been snacking on nuts & peanuts the last few days, so starting as of now, those will stay out of my diet for the next couple of days. I did have a half of serving of almonds when I got home, but no more today, tomorrow or Saturday! I've had under 1000 calories today and will stick to that at this point! I'm hopeful for a drop of some sort tomorrow! 

I do have a ham dinner planned for tomorrow night but I will stick to just the ham and veggies! Easter is Sunday and I do plan on eating a few extra carbs but plan to stay under 50 for my own good! I may attempt longer fast on Saturday as well! 

Keto Nachos!!

Keto Nachos! 

I have been wanting to try this recipe for awhile now! It's rather simple actually! I made some cheese chips to repalce tortilla chips but had all the traditional toppings for delicious nachos!

Ingredients ~ 

Chips

4 ounces cheddar cheese cut into squares about the size of a wheat thin. 

Nonstick Spray

Toppings

1 Pound Ground Beef 

1 Packet Taco Seasoning

Chopped Tomatoes

Chopped Onion

Salsa

Sour Cream

Jalapenos

& Anything Else You Love On Nachos That Is Keto Friendly!

Instructions - 

Fry up the ground beef until brown and then add the taco seasoning and continue to cook as directed on the taco seasoning package. Once done, set aside.

Spray a medium sized frying pan with cooking spray. Once the pan is warm begin frying your cheese. When the cheese begins to get golden brown, remove and set aside on parchment paper or in my case a slightly buttered paper plate. Continue to do this until all the cheese is fried. 

Layer your cheese chips on a plate, add your beef and then your favorite toppings! That is all there is to it! These were amazing!! This will definately be one of our favorite party/snack foods going forward and of course they will make a great dinner now and then, too!

The best part is they are not anymore calories then regular nachos. The cheese chips were 440 calories. But we would be replacing at least 2 servings of tortilla chips at 320 calories and a serving of cheese sprinkled on top which is another 110 calories! So essentially, this dish was about 10 calories more then traditional nachos! Pretty nice, huh?

Photos From Camp

Here are a few photos of our camp weekend. We had such an amazing and relaxing time. It was really nice to have 4 days for us to both reconnect as a couple. We both worked Thursday & Friday morning and my husband Saturday morning. I chose to go Easter shopping for my kids while he was at work. That was a fun ride as we got a foot of snow on Saturday, but no one was at Wal-Mart, which is about 25 minutes from my camp, and it was a nice peaceful drive with not too many people on the road. I have a Jeep so I had no issues and just used common sense to stay safe on the roads. 

We both had Sunday off so we enjoyed going absolutely nowhere from Saturday afternoon until we headed home at 7pm on Sunday! With no kids & no pets to take care of the evenings were so relaxing and serene at our quiet little peace of heaven in the Adirondack Mountains. 

We are looking forward to doing it again in a couple months. But next time we will do it Satruday - Tuesday so we can take all 3 days off completely from work and only work Saturday for part of the day! We are both self employed so that's not always easy, but those 3 days are slower and tend to be easier to be away! I've got my eye on May for our next getaway with just the two of us! 😉

Did Great @ Camp!

 My husband and I had a great time at camp! We did so well with our eating. I am proud of us both. We never went out to eat once but instead spent time relaxing and cooking together at camp. We had such a great time and hope to plan another 3 day trip in the next few months. 

I did go up in my weight Monday morning to 183 from 181.4 the morning I left for camp. Not too bad. I did start my period yesterday so I am guessing that is a contribuing factor. I pretty much stayed below my burn and had the highest calories on Sunday but still did well! My highest carbs was also Sunday at 44. But I am happy with how I did. 

Here are my food diaries for Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday. 

I made up for my carbs and calories quite a bit yesterday! 

My weight:

I was happy to see a drop to 182 this morning! I am so close to getting back into the 170's. I really hope I can do that before Easter Sunday! Just 2.1 pounds, that is all I need. I will do my best! 

I started going to the gym with my daughter today. Got a good 45 minute workout doing the sit down eliptical, the stepper and the treadmill. Feels good and I am already almost at 10K steps! I didn't do much exercise last week but I figured I wouldn't going to camp. The whole point was to relax! 

Coming up next...a few photos from camp & my Keto Nacho Recipe! 

I made a delicious sweet version of my biscuit recipe tonight at camp. They were so good! Used them to make Strawberry Shortcake! But they were just as good without anything with them! Super easy and a must try!

Keto Cinnamon & Sugar Biscuits

Servings: 18 

Calories: 156

Carbs: 4

Ingredients ~

2 Large Eggs

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour

4 Teaspoons Baking Powder

8 ounces mozzarella cheese

6 Tablespoons Splenda Or Your Favorite Sweetner

1 Tablespoons Cinnamon

Butter

Ziploc Bag

Makes: 18 Biscuits

1. Combine the sweetner of your choice & cinnamon in the ziploc bag. Shake the bag to mix. Set aside. You will have some left. You can save it for other recipes. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray or use parchment paper. 

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream & salt. Using a rubber staptula, mix in the almond flour, the cheese, cinnamon and sugar mixture & the baking powder. 

4. Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, place 18 mounds of the dough on the prepared baking pan. Do not flatten the mounds. 

5. Bake until golden, 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and rub butter on top of biscuits while still warm. Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar over the top of the biscuits. Serve warm. 

I decided to try this recipe at camp. We have a very small stove that doesn't regular heat very well and a limited amount of dishes. So I made these biscuits in a cast iron pie pan rather then individually on a cookie sheet. A regular cookie sheet doesn't fit in our oven here at camp. LOL! Posting this tonight was an after thought, so my pictures were taken on the fly. 

Camp Day 1

 Had a good first day at camp yesterday. Arrived about 5pm last night. I was busy at work most of the day so I didn't eat much until arriving at camp. My husband and I enjoyed a quiet evening. We cooked together, relaxed and watched some TV. We are both really enjoying this time together. Life is good! 

Finally! A Drop!

Finally dropped down to my lowest weight from last week this morning! I am back down to 181.4 and that feels great! I am very happy with that. That was my goal I mentioned just a few days ago. I was hoping to drop back down this morning before my trip to camp! 

This plateau lasted about a week. Not to bad really. I am hopeful to have a drop on the scale next Monday morning when I come back from camp. We are both looking forward to it. It should be an amazing time! 

Looking Forward To The Weekend!

My husband and I are going away to our camp starting tomorrow through Sunday. We both still plan on working Thursday & Friday but will head out early so we have time to spend time relaxing at camp. Our camp is about 45 minutes from our home & work, so not a bad commute. The plan is for the both of us to just relax with no kids or pets to take care of! The kids will stay home, my daughter will get them to school and both our kids will take care of our zoo! LOL! 

What is my plan for heading into this weekend when it comes to my diet? My husband and I both agreed that we would rather stay in and eat. So we have no plans to eat out which should really help us both stay on track. All our food needs to be brought to camp so we will stick to our favorite meats, veggies and of course eggs! As a treat I may make us some Keto Crustless Cheesecake & bring some berries to enjoy. That is our plan and we are sticking to it! Hopefully when I weigh in Monday I will have a lower number on that scale then before I left! 

Up & Down But I'm Still Feeling Good!

 Well I managed to fast from Sunday at 6pm to Monday at 6pm. My weight dropped back to 182 yesterday morning after that. I had hoped I would have gotten down to at least 181.4 but I didn't. I ate out yesterday at Texas Roadhouse. I did well with calories but my sodium could have been better and my carbs but I did do well considering I ate out. I jumped up to 182.2 this morning. Not much of a change but a clear sign my body doesn't want to let go. I haven't been getting in my typical 10 glasses of water a day. So I'm going to make sure I do that as a priority today before I have any soda. I am also going to try to keep an eye on my sodium even more. I've been better, but with eating out, that didn't help!

I still feel fantastic! So I'm not allowing myself to worry about this plateau. I will just continue to work on different things to break through it and eventually something will give. But until then, I am staying positive! My calorie intake has been perfect for me and I don't feel like I am starving, so continuing to eat with a 1000 calorie deficit below my burn everyday has not been too difficult at all. So I'll just keep doing what I am doing while making minor adjustments to help get through this plateau. 

I was in a rush again this morning so I didn't get a picture of my 182.2 on the scale. I don't know about you, but I am having a tough time with the time change this year! Hopefully that will get better! Perhaps it is the Keto Flu not helping as fatigue is a part of that. But since I am going into week 5 next week. I am hopeful that I will start feeling better there!

A New Week

My plan didn't go 100% perfect yesterday. My sodium was still around 2600 mg and I had more calories then I should have. Still under what I burned but too high to amount to any loss. We had planned a fun dinner for St Patrick's Day so I enjoyed it. I had a little corn beef and a couple slices of bacon so that didn't help my sodium levels. I weighed in at 184.2 this morning. I really didn't drop much, if at all. 

Today begins a new week! I am in my fourth week of being on Keto and I feel really good about that. This weeks challenges: I'm going to camp to spend a few days with my husband Brad starting on Thursday. It should be a fun and relaxing time for both of us. Biggest thing for us is staying on track! We do have plans to mostly eat in and I do think that will help. 

I'm not going to over analyze this weight gain but just try to keep moving forward and get that number back down. So today my main focus is to keep my calories reasonable and to stay hydrated and keep my sodium intake down! Hopefully by doing that I will drop back in the right direction. Fingers crossed I will at least be back to my lowest weight of 181.4 by Thursday morning!