Well, I'd love to tell you about my weight loss but I have no idea.
What does that mean?
One morning I got on the scale and I was down all the weight I gained.
The very next day, I'm up again. Then down. Then up.
SO, I don't know.
I wish I could tell you it was good news, but I really truly have no clue.
What else to tell you, not really much right now. No walking due to the snow.
I have been back on my bike, so yay!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
This is the type of bar I'm talking about!
As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been having issues with chocolate. A conversation between two friends ended up with a recommendation that has turned things around for me.
One of the things I've eaten often in the past are Protein bars. I tend to favor Atkins Chocolate Peanut Butter bar and Zone Perfect's Greek Yogurt Vanilla Berry. While the Zone Perfect is my favorite one, it never fills me up. The Atkins bar is good too but the sugar alcohols mess with my stomach.
For those of you unfamiliar with Sugar Alcohol and their effects, just read this for a quick study: The Effects of Sugar Alcohols
(READ THE REVIEWS. Those are not jokes, TRUST ME!!)
So they were talking and long story short it got mentioned about my issues and this new brand of bars were recommended. Good Greens bars. They're made by a local company and are not like the rest of the bars out there.
First off, almost all, if not all, of the bars contain 100% of your daily fruits and vegetables.
Then they're Vegan friendly, gluten free, 10-12 grams of protein, antioxidants, probiotics, and most are low glycemic.
Being the awesome neighbor that Sarah is, she stopped to pick up a few for me.
Let me tell you right now, these things are heaven. They are full of delicious flavor. They are completely void of sugar alcohols. And I now can have a chocolate fix with minimal impact to my diet.
There are so many flavors. To name a few: chocolate mint, chocolate raspberry, chocolate coconut, chocolate peanut butter chocolate chunk, wild berry and the greek yogurt bars: banana nut, blueberry bliss, apple crumb, and pumpkin spice.
I have tried: chocolate raspberry,chocolate peanut butter, chocolate coconut, chocolate chunk, banana nut, and apple crumb.
All delicious. Rich has tried the blueberry bliss and swears by it.
So I'm going to do a quick side by side comparison of the Atkins PB bar and Good Greens PB bar.
Net Carbs: 2 for Atkins & 19 for Good Greens. Yes, that may seem high but take into account the processed items that are in the Atkins bar, not to mention 11g of Sugar Alcohols.
One of the things I've eaten often in the past are Protein bars. I tend to favor Atkins Chocolate Peanut Butter bar and Zone Perfect's Greek Yogurt Vanilla Berry. While the Zone Perfect is my favorite one, it never fills me up. The Atkins bar is good too but the sugar alcohols mess with my stomach.
For those of you unfamiliar with Sugar Alcohol and their effects, just read this for a quick study: The Effects of Sugar Alcohols
(READ THE REVIEWS. Those are not jokes, TRUST ME!!)
So they were talking and long story short it got mentioned about my issues and this new brand of bars were recommended. Good Greens bars. They're made by a local company and are not like the rest of the bars out there.
First off, almost all, if not all, of the bars contain 100% of your daily fruits and vegetables.
Then they're Vegan friendly, gluten free, 10-12 grams of protein, antioxidants, probiotics, and most are low glycemic.
Being the awesome neighbor that Sarah is, she stopped to pick up a few for me.
Let me tell you right now, these things are heaven. They are full of delicious flavor. They are completely void of sugar alcohols. And I now can have a chocolate fix with minimal impact to my diet.
There are so many flavors. To name a few: chocolate mint, chocolate raspberry, chocolate coconut, chocolate peanut butter chocolate chunk, wild berry and the greek yogurt bars: banana nut, blueberry bliss, apple crumb, and pumpkin spice.
I have tried: chocolate raspberry,chocolate peanut butter, chocolate coconut, chocolate chunk, banana nut, and apple crumb.
All delicious. Rich has tried the blueberry bliss and swears by it.
So I'm going to do a quick side by side comparison of the Atkins PB bar and Good Greens PB bar.
| ATKINS | GOOD GREENS | |||
|
NUTRITION FACTS
|
NUTRITION FACTS
|
|||
| Serving size 1 bar (60g) | Serving size 1 bar (50g) | |||
| Value | Value | |||
| Calories | 240 Kcal | Calories | 195Kcal | |
| Calories from Fat | 120 Kcal | Calories from Fat | 80 Kcal | |
| Total Fat | 14 g | Total Fat | 9 g | |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g | Saturated Fat | 2 g | |
| Trans Fat | 0 g | Trans Fat | 0 g | |
| Cholesterol | <5 mg | Cholesterol | 0 mg | |
| Sodium | 190 mg | Sodium | 65 mg | |
| Total Carbohydrate | 23 g | Total Carbohydrate | 24 g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g | Dietary Fiber | 5 g | |
| Sugars | 1 g | Sugars | 14 g | |
| Sugar Alc. | 11 g | Protein | 10 g | |
| Protein | 17 g | |||
Net Carbs: 2 for Atkins & 19 for Good Greens. Yes, that may seem high but take into account the processed items that are in the Atkins bar, not to mention 11g of Sugar Alcohols.
Additionally, full day's fruits & vegetables in the Good Greens. I personally think the extra carbs are worth it. Then again, anything without sugar alcohols makes my day.
The big bonus here is that they taste wonderful. I get my chocolate fix without the guilt or stomach upset.
The big thing for me is the taste and curbing of my chocolate cravings. Read about Good Greens here: http://www.goodgreens.com/
Sunday, January 19, 2014
It's Sunday!
Hi, yet again.
I'm hoping to get back to my regularly scheduled Sunday posts. As you can see, I've been chatty the past few days. I can't guarantee that I will continue to be so, but I promise to try. If you've taken the time to come check in and read, I could make the effort to give you a little something.
Well, yesterday I was back on focus. I didn't make it under my calorie goal, but I was not too far off. That's improvement to me.
I did jump on the scale this morning. I think I may have lost a lb. It's in the right direction, so I will take it.
Duchess is doing her part. This morning, almost all morning long, she's been hyper. She and I played on the floor for awhile. She did several laps around the living room and still wanted to wrestle a bit more. On top of all that, she has been whining big time to my face. So, as trained as I am, I got all wrapped up in layers, grabbed my boots, and her leash and off we went.
We walked in the snow (as the sidewalks and streets are still covered). It was a work out to me as trying to walk in those boots and snow was definitely extra effort. It wasn't as long of a walk as I'd have liked to burn her energy, but I'm still watching the knee.
She still has plenty of energy to burn so I may end up taking her on another later on. She really needs a play mate. :(
Well, to keep some things positive, below was taken from my medical record. This is a graph of my weight . This pretty much sums up everything I've been blogging about. You see the weight loss and then the plateau with slight gain. Still, look at that slope!
I'm hoping to get back to my regularly scheduled Sunday posts. As you can see, I've been chatty the past few days. I can't guarantee that I will continue to be so, but I promise to try. If you've taken the time to come check in and read, I could make the effort to give you a little something.
Well, yesterday I was back on focus. I didn't make it under my calorie goal, but I was not too far off. That's improvement to me.
I did jump on the scale this morning. I think I may have lost a lb. It's in the right direction, so I will take it.
Duchess is doing her part. This morning, almost all morning long, she's been hyper. She and I played on the floor for awhile. She did several laps around the living room and still wanted to wrestle a bit more. On top of all that, she has been whining big time to my face. So, as trained as I am, I got all wrapped up in layers, grabbed my boots, and her leash and off we went.
We walked in the snow (as the sidewalks and streets are still covered). It was a work out to me as trying to walk in those boots and snow was definitely extra effort. It wasn't as long of a walk as I'd have liked to burn her energy, but I'm still watching the knee.
She still has plenty of energy to burn so I may end up taking her on another later on. She really needs a play mate. :(
Well, to keep some things positive, below was taken from my medical record. This is a graph of my weight . This pretty much sums up everything I've been blogging about. You see the weight loss and then the plateau with slight gain. Still, look at that slope!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
New breakfast
Well........ I tried my new breakfast. First, let me tell you, those shakes are going to take some getting use to. They aren't exactly nasty but they are not an Atkins dark chocolate Royale shake(which I love). I had to pull out some wheat thins flatbread crackers to help me down the shake.
This will take time. Afterwards, I followed up with an egg. We'll see how that works . The crackers added 60 calories, but otherwise not too bad.
Then again, check back with me in an hour to see how my hunger is at that time.
Friday, January 17, 2014
After the appointment
Welcome back. After days of silence, you get treated to 3 posts in one day. Aren't you just special?
The appointment with the dietitian went very well. It was very productive and informative.
First off, the weigh in. I was about what I was when I was last there, but still up from my logged weight. I told her all about the holidays and the knee. We discussed it all and she pointed out I should not be beating myself up. I still have done well and even mentioned notes from my PCP about how awesome I'm doing.
We went over how badly I was eating since Thanksgiving and how my knee has hindered all my usual work outs: walking and my bike.
I told her I was optimistic as I had a shot today and that I should be back on my feet soon. We spoke about getting me to a pool on the bad days. There is a pool in the rehab/rec facility practically across the street from us that is $7 a pop. I am going to start TRYING to visit that as well.
Secondly, we discussed my diet and how I'm starving all the time. We went over everything I eat and I mentioned some of the things I was struggling with (chocolate) and needing to get refocused. Something I learned in our discussion that apparently I'm taking in too many carbs, which is a big reason I'm probably still hungry all the time.
She made some awesome suggestions and I'm going to incorporate them into my eating plans. One of the suggestions was a new Protein shake. It has a few more calories than I have been taking in BUT it has 30 grams of Protein. The ones I had been taking only had 12 so this, if I like them, should work. Plus they are chocolate and we're hoping this helps with my chocolate cravings.
Additionally I'm changing one of my snacks. I eat pretzel crisps (small bag = 110 calories). We're switching out those for PB filled pretzels. 2 less on the amount I can have plus 20 more calories BUT...this is a big but, higher protein.
Another change we're implementing is I'm going to start having a hard boiled egg with my yogurt in the morning. This will bring on more protein and hopefully leave me feeling fuller.
If I still run into issues, by my next visit, I will discuss with her being put on this special diet. It's an "intense" short term physician monitored low carb diet. From what it sounds like, it's Atkins induction on steroids. This would help me get my kick started into weight loss again. I'd rather not but it is an option. I'm still NOT choosing the surgical route. That is last resort for me.
Thirdly, before the mini blizzard hit, I was able to walk the girl. She was quite happy to be out and about. It wasn't one of our long ones as I didn't want to push the knee and truthfully, it was effing cold. I did do it however and with 22 minutes to midnight, I'm sitting on 9200 steps. Way to go me. I haven't hit this high in ages.
I most likely will not be getting more steps this weekend if history repeats itself. Usually the day after my shot, my knee is so painful and swollen, I don't do much.
I can tell right now that it's starting to act up again. Fingers x'd.
I'm hopeful and we'll see how focused I'll be starting tomorrow morning.
Have a good night everyone....
The appointment with the dietitian went very well. It was very productive and informative.
First off, the weigh in. I was about what I was when I was last there, but still up from my logged weight. I told her all about the holidays and the knee. We discussed it all and she pointed out I should not be beating myself up. I still have done well and even mentioned notes from my PCP about how awesome I'm doing.
We went over how badly I was eating since Thanksgiving and how my knee has hindered all my usual work outs: walking and my bike.
I told her I was optimistic as I had a shot today and that I should be back on my feet soon. We spoke about getting me to a pool on the bad days. There is a pool in the rehab/rec facility practically across the street from us that is $7 a pop. I am going to start TRYING to visit that as well.
Secondly, we discussed my diet and how I'm starving all the time. We went over everything I eat and I mentioned some of the things I was struggling with (chocolate) and needing to get refocused. Something I learned in our discussion that apparently I'm taking in too many carbs, which is a big reason I'm probably still hungry all the time.
She made some awesome suggestions and I'm going to incorporate them into my eating plans. One of the suggestions was a new Protein shake. It has a few more calories than I have been taking in BUT it has 30 grams of Protein. The ones I had been taking only had 12 so this, if I like them, should work. Plus they are chocolate and we're hoping this helps with my chocolate cravings.
Additionally I'm changing one of my snacks. I eat pretzel crisps (small bag = 110 calories). We're switching out those for PB filled pretzels. 2 less on the amount I can have plus 20 more calories BUT...this is a big but, higher protein.
Another change we're implementing is I'm going to start having a hard boiled egg with my yogurt in the morning. This will bring on more protein and hopefully leave me feeling fuller.
If I still run into issues, by my next visit, I will discuss with her being put on this special diet. It's an "intense" short term physician monitored low carb diet. From what it sounds like, it's Atkins induction on steroids. This would help me get my kick started into weight loss again. I'd rather not but it is an option. I'm still NOT choosing the surgical route. That is last resort for me.
Thirdly, before the mini blizzard hit, I was able to walk the girl. She was quite happy to be out and about. It wasn't one of our long ones as I didn't want to push the knee and truthfully, it was effing cold. I did do it however and with 22 minutes to midnight, I'm sitting on 9200 steps. Way to go me. I haven't hit this high in ages.
I most likely will not be getting more steps this weekend if history repeats itself. Usually the day after my shot, my knee is so painful and swollen, I don't do much.
I can tell right now that it's starting to act up again. Fingers x'd.
I'm hopeful and we'll see how focused I'll be starting tomorrow morning.
Have a good night everyone....
1.17.14
Answer to the last question is Panera salad.
I sit here in the waiting room for the dietitian. I am going to be begging her to help me get back on track. I need to find that focus. Once I have it, I'll be good. I just nerd a plan with foods that will fill me up so I'm not so freaking starving.
I went to the orthopedic doc and since there were no severe injuries, they think it just was my arthritis acting up. I got a shot, so I will be able to walk with little or no pain and become active again.
I've been averaging between 4-6k steps. Not good.
In doing this from my phone but I do have a lot to say when I get home.....
Hungry.
What does one eat when on the go in between doctors and the last one being your nutritionist?
Monday, January 13, 2014
Sorry
I meant to post yesterday, but then I was distracted.
How is your new year treating you? I hope well.
Let's fill you in on my struggles. First, the knee is still bad. I had my mri and go this Friday to discuss the results and action plan. I hope it's just arthritis soi can just get another shot. I want to walk without pain again. This one has derailed me in a way I hadn't anticipated. Fingers crossed.
Second, total weight gain ended up being 7 pounds total. Booo. Hiss. So I am first going to do a loss count of the seven before I get back to total Last. So as I said for the time period of Thanksgiving to New Years, seven pounds were gained.
Third, amount lost. Small progress. I have lost two of the seven. Baby steps. I need to kick it in gear if I am to win the diet bet. I met with the dietician on Friday also. I really need to work with her to get focused again.
Suggestions? What exercises do you do that do not require the use of a knee? I'm looking to start on that.
I do want to say to those of you who actually look forward to reading this each week that I am sorry I've slacked as of late. I mentioned my knee has derailed me and I mean that. I have been so bummed about the gain and pain that I have not felt like writing.
Losing a significant amount of weight is hard. Especially when trying to avoid the surgical route. I just want to be healthy and active again. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed walking until I was unable to. I will try harder. Keep with me.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Diet Bet
Well, my neighbor suggested it & is doing it, so I am as well.
DietBet is exactly what it sounds like. I'm joining 2 days late to the bet but I'm hoping with my usual VIGOR, that I can make up for it.
I needed motivation. I gained 7 lbs. That makes me so mad at myself. What better way to push myself than to put some money down on it. IF my stupid (I mean awesome) husband would wake up, I could get my other weigh in picture taken & submitted..
I have 4 weeks to lose 4%. This is going to be tough with my knee preventing me from walking but I will persevere.
So on with the DietBet!
DietBet is exactly what it sounds like. I'm joining 2 days late to the bet but I'm hoping with my usual VIGOR, that I can make up for it.
I needed motivation. I gained 7 lbs. That makes me so mad at myself. What better way to push myself than to put some money down on it. IF my stupid (I mean awesome) husband would wake up, I could get my other weigh in picture taken & submitted..
I have 4 weeks to lose 4%. This is going to be tough with my knee preventing me from walking but I will persevere.
So on with the DietBet!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Happy New Year
Welcome to 2014 everyone. I hope you all had a safe and wonderful new years celebration.
Today I'm going to talk about My New years Promise. To me, promise Sounds so much better than resolution.
Resolutions are broken all the time and usually within days' So I'm going to use -Promise' instead
my 2014 Promise to myself is the following-
-- I'll wholeheartedly recommit to my healthier eating
-- I'm going to find ways to exercise even with a bad knee
-- I will lose 10 more lbs. by Jan 31.
-- No matter what, I will try to remain more positive
-- l will walk at LEAST one 5K
-- l will be supportive to my other lifestyle change friends
--I will lose the rest of the weight in 2014!!!
what about you guys? What are your promises to yourselves?
Thank you! Thanks to all my readers & supporters this past fall. your kind words and support have meant the world to me. I appreciate you for taking time to follow me and just be supportive .
Happy 2014!
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