Overnight Trip Fun Without Consequences

Had a great time Friday & Saturday as I took a friend on an overnight trip for her birthday! I did a great job getting exercise and eating! 

I was down another pound this morning!! Woohoo! Just about 95 pounds down. Life is good! 

The Dropping Continues

 I dropped below my lowest weight this morning. I am now 178.4. I am creeping slowly to my next goal but I am at least headed in the righ direction! Couldn't be happier right now! Life is good!

Fasting Was Effective!

 I weighed in this morning at 179.8. I am headed back in the right direction and only have 1 pound to go to be back at my lowest weight! I had a successful longer fast yesterday. I had to take my daughter to get braces today and didn't eat until almost 2 o'clock so my total fast was almost 27 hours which was actually unintentional! LOL! 

I was so hungry when I got back to work I forgot to check my ketones. But I'm pretty confident they continued to rise. I will check tomorrow! 

I am going on an overnight with a friend for her birthday tomorrow night.  I will do my best to stick with my plan so I can continue to drop weight to reach my 100 pound milestone. 

The Opposite End Of The Spectrum

This past Saturday I dropped some weight and was very pleased. But now I'm on the other end of the spectrum. I have popped up to 183 pounds this morning. My weight has steadily gone up over the last few days. I have also been kicked out of Ketosis for the past 2 days. Probably the worst I have yet. My ketones were down to .3! I have also been very hungry and tired the last few days.

This was my reading from yesterday.  This is the most I have been out of Ketosis yet! 

Something is going on with my body, but now I have the challenge of trying to figure out what! I have not really been staying under my calories for a 1000 calorie deficit this week because I've been really hungry. So I'm not sure what is going on. Perhaps it's the hormones again! Who knows!

My plan for today is to try to fast or at least stay in my correct range for calories. I don't want to fast if I am hungry. So we will see how the day goes. I have been eating Macadamia nuts the last few days. I know, I'm supposed to stay away from nuts, but I thought I would give those a try. So no nuts or popcorn for awhile until I get my weight back under control. Just in case! Popcorn and nuts are the only 2 things I have brought back into my diet but only once and awhile and not on a daily basis. I have continued to avoid yogurt and cottage cheese. 

Hopefully this weight increase is very temporary and I will drop back down quickly! Onward!

Pleasantly Surprised

 I weighed in on Saturday to discover I was down another .08 pounds! My husband and I decided to go away a couple of nights last week, Wednesday & Thursday night, and we enjoyed some chocolate and extra snacks. So I was not expecting a drop on Saturday morning. So that was amazing news!

Of course with yesterday being Mother's Day, I had a full day of calories. LOL! Enjoyed a little chocolate, had a giant breakfast made by my husband and kids and enjoyed some wings for dinner. So I wasn't suprised to be up this morning. Another factor with my weight gain is I did start my period on Saturday. 

Today I will get back on track and try to hit my 100 pound milestone soon! 

I'm In The 170's!! Woohoo!!

 Weighed in this morning at 179.8!! I couldn't be happier!! I have surpassed my lowest weight that I reached in 2015! I am now the lowest weight I have ever been as an adult! This is such an amazing milestone for me! My BMI is now 31.1 and I am at the lower end of the scale in the obese range. Once I hit a BMI of 30 I will then be considered overweight and no longer obese. When I hit that point, it will be the first time in my adult life I was not classified as obese. That milestone will be another amazing moment along my journey! 

By using an BMI calculator I should fall below an obese BMI once I hit around 174 pounds! That is just over 5 pounds to go to reach that goal! That just makes me thrilled!! Once I get to 145 pounds I will be at a normal weight and no longer overweight at all! My ultimate goal is to reach 142.2 which will bring me to a total weight loss of 130 pounds! As I drop more weight, if I am more comfortable being a little higher then that, I may choose to not go all the way to 142.2. I just can't imagine myself too skinny. LOL! But we shall see how I look and feel when the time comes! 

180.4 This Morning Woohoo!

Weighed in this morning at 180.4! Super excited about that. I am so close to the 170's!! I fully intend to not mess up this time around like I did 7 years ago. I will get to the 170's and it will be very soon! 

Exactly 7 Years Later & Here I Am Again!

I lost a lot of weight 7 years ago and weighed 182 pounds around April 20th of 2015. Here I am this year hitting 182 on April 11th! Kind of a weird coinsidence I would say! But I am soooo happy to be back here once again. I never made it past 180.3 which has been my lowest weight as an adult. I hit that weight in mid May of 2015. Then my weight started to go back up slowly over the last 7 years. 

Here are some picutres from April 2015. This was me all dressed up for a wedding. 

I am more determined then ever to lose more this time and keep it off. For the first time in my life I actually feel confident that I can get to my goal weight of 144 pounds which would be a healthy BMI for me. I am almost out of the obese range with my BMI. Just a little more weight to go. I am feeling good that the rest of my journey will go well! I just have to remember how fabulous I feel and not allow the weight to get away from me again!

Back To My Lowest Weight

Weighed in this morning and was back down to 181.4! Definately good news. Now to work on getting into the 170's! 

Had Fun This Weekend!

Happy Monday! I had a great time at my scrapbook retreat. Although I didn't end up doing any scrapbooking because I misplaced the drive all my scapbooking projects are on. So instead I built Legos. LOL! 

I weighed in this morning and was up to 182.6. Only a 1.4 pound gain over the 4 day weekend! I would call that a win! I hope to drop back down pretty quickly. Hopefully today I will get in a successful 22 hour fast in and we will then see how my weight does tomorrow. 

Scrapbook Retreat This Weekend!

After Easter I have finally fallen below my lowest weight of 182. I weighed in at 181.4 yesterday morning. I am so close to the 170's!! Yay!

I am hosting a scrapbook retreat this weekend and will try my best to stay on track but also allow myself to have a good time. I actually brought a couple of lunches with me, which is something I never do. LOL! So this is certainly a sign of my commitment. I did bring a few treats as well to keep me from the carb heavy snacks I provide my participants. I brought a couple of cups of popcorn, almonds, macadamia nuts and a few of my favorite See's candy as a special treat. I will consume all of this in moderation of course and hope to keep my carbs down below 30 grams each day. 

Low Carb Lasagna Casserole

I came up with this delicious version of Lasagna for us on Easter. I loved it! Yes, my kids missed the pasta BUT they did like it. So everyone did enjoy it. 

Low Carb Lasagna Casserole

Ingredients ~ 

2 Pounds 85% Lean Ground Beef

1 24oz Jar Of Marinara Sauce*

10 Oz (2.5 cups) Cheddar Cheese

10 Oz (2.5 cups) Whole Milk Mozzarella 

3/4  Cup Parmesean Cheese

1 16oz Bag Frozen Cauliflower

*Choose a marinara sauce that is 7 grams of carbs or less per serving. I chose a sauce that was 7 grams per 1/2 cups serving. 

Directions ~

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef in a skillet. While beef cooks, cook cauliflower as directed until the cauliflower is just fork tender. 

Once beef is brown add your marinara sauce, bring to a boil and let simmer 5 minutes. 

Marinara I used.

In a 9x13 pan add the beef marinara mixture. Stir in 8 ounces of cheddar cheese and 8 oz of mozzarella into the marinara sauce. 

Then add 1/2 cup parmesean cheese making sure everything is mixed well. Once the cauliflower is cooked, drain well and pat dry with a paper towel, otherwise your lasagna will be watery. Add the cauliflower to the casserole dish and stir well. 

Top the casserole with the remaining cheese. 

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until casserole is bubbling. Once done, remove the aluminum foil and bake another 5 minutes. 

Makes 11 - 1 cup servings