Dear Barry and A Year Of Memories

I guess April was just too much of a crazy month for me, because I forgot a couple A year of Memories posts. The day in question was April 8th, 1999, but I wont be writing about it after all because it wasnt a very good memory for Barry and I. After the years had passed, we always laughed about it, but Id still rather not write about it. And with that....

Dearest Barry,

Today was May 1st. You know what that means!!!

We missed you so much this weekend. Friday night the kids and I had cake, like we always do on April 30th ;-), and a special dinner. Maybe not super special this year, but the kids wanted pizza, so I picked up our favorite frozen DiGiornos, and a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (because that has always been your favorite) for dessert. Before we ate, I dug out the black candles and lit the big black pillar for you, and placed it in the middle of the table. As we ate, I had all of us go around and say a special memory we had of you. Mine was how you laughed like a little girl, and the kids also mentioned how you stank up the bathroom, snored all the time and farted a lot. Leave it to our kids to remember that stuff, lol. We all had a good laugh at that. A refused to talk, as always. I also read to the kids a bit about the history of this weekend!

This morning we woke up to a breakfast of orange breakfast rolls with icing, and chocolate milk. It was fabulous! We got ready, and then headed out to North West Trek. Do you remember how you and I were planning on going for Es birthday in October? You really wanted to go see the Cats! :) The kids and I had been talking about what to do for this weekend for months, and it was their idea to go to NWT because we knew you had wanted to. So we did that today, and celebrated the day just as we would had you been there! It was our tribute to you, darling, because you couldnt be there in person.

We spent all day there, and I got so many pictures. I am quite positive you knew we were going, because ALL the animals were out, and I got so many pictures. I took over 450 pictures today! So many of the cats too. Oh, they were gorgeous Barry, you would have loved them! We spent a long time at the Cougar enclosure :)

Our plan was to eat at KFC for dinner, but the kids wanted Subway! On our way home, we picked it up and ate at home, ending our special day. I will be continuing this tradition with the kids for as long as is possible...forever I think, and we will always be doing something fun, as because of you, this tradition started.

Tonight after dinner, I made this stupid mistake of reading your twitter page. I resembled a raccoon by the time I was done, as I was sobbing uncontrollably. I MISS YOU. Oh how I miss you darling. It was so neat to see your tweets though, to see your witty self coming through those words on the screen, but it only made me feel worse. I dont think Ill be reading it for awhile again though. What really made me cry though, was reading your tweets when you were sick, saying you had a killer immune system etc etc. And then your very last one, saying you were in the hospital with pneumonia, ending it with an FML. You didnt know, did you? sigh. I wish we could turn back the clock and pause forever in August and early September. If only we could, right?

Well my dear, Doctor Who is on and I have to go. You know how that is ;-) I love you and adore you, and miss you so much. Ill see you in my dreams, I hope.

Love forever and always,

Me

xoxoxoxp

p.s. As I was reading your tweets, I found the one you wrote to me last summer about Hades licking the blinds strings in the old house. And guess what? He does it here too! LOL I had to laugh the other day when I saw him doing that. Crazy cat!!

*************

Every year from April 30th-May 1st, we have a family day. If May 1st even falls on a school day, the kids are taken out of school. It doesnt matter, that is the protocol for our family. That is how important this day is to us. Every year we do something fun, and last year we went to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Last year too, we were behind schedule, same as today! haha Guess that has also become tradition :)

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NUTRITIONAL KETOSIS RESULTS BY WEEK AND MONTH

Here are all the posts that give my results with my Nutritional Ketosis way of eating:

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 1 Results
 

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 2 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 3 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 4 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 5 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 6 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 7 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Week 8 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 2 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 3 Results 

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 4 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 11 Results 

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 12 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 13 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 14 Results

Nutritional Ketosis - Month 15 Results

Less Protein - More Fat - "The Optimal Diet"

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DAY 14 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015

Today is Day 14.

Weight goal - 151.4 or lower
Actual weight - 148.6

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose - 89

Today is a Feast Day!



For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb.  Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

Yesterday, I had eggs with onion and salami friend in coconut oil and butter with cream cheese for breakfast, guacamole made with avodaco, salsa and sour cream with pork rinds for lunch, and homemade chicken salad with real mayo, green olives and dill relish for dinner.  I also drank a couple of glasses of water and a couple of glasses of water with lime juice and Stevia.

13 DAYS DOWN.  78 DAYS TO GO.  11 FEAST DAYS AND 3 FAST DAYS.

5.4 POUNDS GONE.  12.6 POUNDS TO GO.  30% OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL!

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have had to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click on charts to enlarge)

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

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BACON AND ONION BISCUITS

Which objection to the low carb, high fat way of eating do we hear the most?

       a) Its unhealthy to eat saturated fat.

       b) That diet is unbalanced.

       c) If you dont eat bread, what do you use to sop up your egg yolk with breakfast?

If you guessed "c", you have a one in three chance of being right.  Just in case that is your objection, or youre missing bread, here is a recipe that I came up with this morning after getting in on a conversation on Facebook about low-carb flours.  I usually dont eat any kind of "bready" things, like, uh..., bread or, uh..., breaded things.  Plus, even the low carb flour is still pretty carby at 22 grams per 1/4 cup.  But just talking about how I dont eat bready things, got me in the mood for a bready thing, so I whipped up this version of the standard MIM (Muffin in a Minute) and I think this would be a great thing to use to sop up those egg yolks, or just sop up melted butter, which is what I just did!  I thought about using sauteed onions in the biscuits, but they are pretty carby and I am really low carb right now, so I used onion powder, and the taste was great!  The biscuits are obviously a little heavier than your common, flour-driven biscuits, but they fit the bill for me.  Add 1 Tbs. of butter to your biscuit, and you have a great, high fat, low carb treat!

BACON AND ONION BISCUITS

Recipe makes 6

Cooking spray (I use organic coconut oil)
3 oz. (3/4 cup) finely ground flax seed
3/4 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp. baking powder (aluminum free)
1/8 tsp. sea salt
3 eggs
6 drops Stevia sweetener (optional)
3 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. melted bacon grease
3 thick slices uncured, nitrate/nitrite free bacon, cooked crisp and chopped finely (I use my mini food processor).

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Spray a muffin top pan (6 muffin size) with cooking spray, or grease generously with butter, olive oil or coconut oil.

3. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl.

4. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, Stevia and water.  As you continue to beat, drizzle in the bacon grease.  Stir in the chopped bacon.

5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.

6. Divide the batter evenly in the muffin pan and let rest for 2 minutes before baking.

7. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan.  Refrigerate leftovers in a sealed container.  They are great right away, and the bacon flavor gets even better after refrigeration, in my opinion.

Nutritional information for one biscuit:
187 calories
14.6g fat
9.2g protein
4.7g total carbs
3.8g dietary fiber
0.9g net carbs

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BODY BY SCIENCE DOUG MCGUFF MD AND JOHN LITTLE

Starting today, I am doing slow motion weight lifting as taught in the book Body By Science.

In the book, they suggest that you use Nautilus equipment, but for those who do not or cannot belong to a gym with Nautilus, they also have an at-home workout that uses free weights.  This is what I am doing.

Today, I did the Free Weight Big Five at home. I loaded up 23 pounds on the barbell (including the 13 pounds that the bar alone weighs) and used it for each exercise, just to figure out how much I can do.

Bent-Over Barbell Row: 5 reps in 90 seconds TUL (Time Under Load). I did not get to failure. When I do this again next week, I will add some weight.


Standing Overhead Press: 5 reps and got to failure after 85 seconds TUL. This one was hard! The first time I started to lift it up, I thought, "Uh oh!"

Dead Lift: 5 reps in 90 seconds TUL. I did not get to failure. When I do this again next week, I will add some weight.

Bench Press: 5 reps in 95 seconds TUL. I did not get to failure, but one more rep would have done it. When I do this again next week, I will add some weight.

Squat: I had real trouble with this one! I can do regular squats all the way to the ground and back up, holding my hands in front of me, or a Prisoner Squat, or even a dumbbbell squat. But trying to squat with the bar across my back put me in such a weird position that it was hard to go down at all. I did 7 reps halfway down and back up, but only lasted 70 seconds TUL. Next time I do this, I will lighten the weights and try to get my form right, and be able to get all the way to 90 seconds TUL before failure.

Anyway, when I got done, even before I got done, I was feeling very shaky and a little sick to my stomach. And all that just for about 8 minutes of work!

Im on my way!

I was really helped by these two videos posted by a man to show how to do The Free Weight Big Five:






I made a comment to the man and he said that his form on the overhead press was not great, so I adjusted mine.

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DAY 19 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015

Today is Day 19.

Weight goal - 150.4 or lower
Actual weight - 147.4

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose - 80

Today is a Feast Day!




For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb. Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

Yesterday, I had a cup of coffee with Stevia, a cup of chai with Stevia, a cup of beef broth with sea salt and a large glass of limeade made with water, ReaLime juice and Stevia. 

I hit a new low for my weight, which is always nice!

18 DAYS DOWN.  73 DAYS TO GO.

15 FEAST DAYS AND 4 FAST DAYS.

6.6 POUNDS GONE.  11.4 POUNDS TO GO.  

37% OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL AFTER ONLY 21% OF THE DAYS!

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click on charts to enlarge

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

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I CAN Do It MYSELF

I know Ive been promising this post for awhile. I dont have time to write it, but Im making time.

Through ten years of marriage, I became quite dependant on Barry. He was always the one I relied on, we always discussed major decisions and I probably was a bit too dependent. I know that now, and I knew that then too, but oh well, it was me! That was me for the longest time, and now Ive had to forge a new me.

This new me has been FORCED to become independent. There is no one else to rely on but myself. And I hate it. I despise it. I abhor being the responsible one. I dislike having to make all the major decisions. I hate this aspect of widowhood with a passion. I have made so many decisions in the last almost 5 months that I have become overwhelmed.

To add insult to injury, many things have gone wrong too, which just adds to me having to do things on my own. Like with my van. In the last couple weeks, Ive had an alignment done, the door actuators fixed, an oil change, the tires rotated, and now replaced, brakes fixed, a radiator leak fixed, and the rear bumper replaced because someone hit me. Ive grown tired of seeing my friends at Midas. Today should be the last day, my tires are getting replaced as the tread on them is pretty low. But, the van has had those tires since before we bought it three years ago, so I suppose its time to do it anyway.

But you know, I CAN do it all by MYSELF. I dont like it, but I can and am doing it. Ive bought a house on my own too! Ive handled all the van repairs on my own. Ive filled out countless forms for life insurance and death certificates. I planned the funeral and wrote the obituary (with some help I might add) and even spoke at Barrys funeral by myself.

Ive also outfitted an entire house by myself. This house stuff though has been the most stressful I think. Just the simple act of purchasing furniture has had my head spinning in all different directions. On tuesday at the furniture store, I really started to shut down towards the end. I couldnt do it anymore. I was able to pick out furniture for my living room, my bedroom, and the great room. But I spent a good 4 hours in the Macys store! Thats all done though, finally. Wednesday afternoon I went to another store and picked out my book shelves and TV stand, and a clock. I could feel myself shutting down again though, so I decided enough was enough and left. Tomorrow the kids and I are going back there to pick out V and Es beds and dressers, and As dresser, and my computer desk. After that, we will head to Sleep Country to get mine and V and Es mattresses. I still have to get minor things like dishes and some decor items, but the major stuff is done...except for a Piano. That can wait. Today I even picked out all my blinds for the new house, by MYSELF. I didnt even have my Realtor help, haha. I made all the decisions with the vendor, by MYSELF. Can I share a secret though? if I could, I would have hired an interior decorator/design person to do it all for me.

I can pack an entire house by myself. I can move into a new house by myself. I can pick out furniture and bedding and all that by myself. I can handle van repairs by myself. I can de-clutter a house by myself. I can make all the important decisions, like the kids changing schools, and where A will go to pre-school by myself. I can decide that its not a good idea for us to go to DC/PA, but that it is a good idea for us to go to Disneyland, by myself. And I can go to a movie tonight by myself...first time for everything, right?

I have often found myself wondering what would Barry think of all this? Would he like the decisions Ive made, would he like what I have picked out? But then I have to remind myself that while I value his opinion, hes dead. Hes not here anymore, and I cant constantly base my decisions on what he would have done. Im alone now, and though hes with me in my heart, and in my mind, hes not here in person for me to rely on. I cant ask him what he thinks of this piece of furniture, or that one, or what bed to get the girls, what tires I should get on the van, Ive had to do it by myself. Its a bit freeing though, to be completely honest, knowing that I CAN pick and choose what I want and not worry if he would like it or not. I had all these ideas of what I wanted to buy for my new house, the colors and all that stuff too, and when I went to pick it out, I went completely opposite of what I had in mind. Its so different from what we would have picked out together, but I think thats good in a way. Most of our stuff is being replaced, but the one piece I am keeping in the house, which doesnt even match my new kitchen all that well, is the table and chairs we bought a year ago. He and M put it together, and while it doesnt match my cabinets, that doesnt matter...he put it together. His hands pieced it together with the help of our son, and it will stay in my kitchen as our family table for a very long time.

Barry would be proud of me, proud of all the decisions Ive made on my own. He would say "I knew you could do it Joanna, and I am so proud of you! I always told you you could do it on your own, you never needed me to make all the decisions".

Ill tell you though, I am amazed that I have done it all by myself. Ive wanted to crawl into a ball and rock myself sometimes due to all the stress, but I havent. I will keep on keepin on, and get through this. Things will settle down eventually, the stress will dissipate and I will continue to do things on my own. I will develop a stronger skin, I will become even more independent than I already am, and I will get through it.

One day at a time, I can do it by myself.

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Low Carb Cauliflower Pizza Casserole

I am a pizza addict. There. I said it. I love cheese, I love pepperoni. I LOVE pizza. But Im trying to watch my carbs, so pizza is usually a craving that goes unfed. I have tried low carb pizza, and it was pretty good, but Im always looking for pizza recipes that I dont have to feel guilty about eating. So last week I stumbled across a recipe for a pizza casserole. I looked it over and it looked pretty tasty. I made some adjustments and decided to give it a try.

Ingredients:

Puree 
1 medium head cauliflower
1 tablespoon butter
6 tablespoons light whipping cream
6 low sodium pepperoni
garlic powder to taste
onion powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
12 slices low sodium Pepperoni
12 small slices Canadian Bacon
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
Chop broccoli into small florets. Place in a microwave safe bowl add two tablespoons of the whipping cream and a tablespoon of butter to the bowl. Microwave for 10 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir to coat cauliflower in butter and cream. Mircrowave for six more minutes. In a blender combine cauliflower, the rest of the cream, pepperoni, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Spread cauliflower into the bottom of a small casserole dish. The dish I used was about 6x8. Top with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, pepper, and cheeses. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

This recipe makes four servings. Each serving is 270 calories, 7.5 net carbs, and 17 grams protein. If youre trying to cut down on fat, use skim milk instead of whipping cream, and cut down the cheese by half. You can also use turkey pepperoni instead of original.

Recipe adapted from: IBreathImHungry.com

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And Its All Thanks To HCG Triumph

If one year ago I had been approached by someone from the future and told how much my life was about to change, I wouldnt have believed them. If they told me I was going to lose the weight of a European supermodel, I would have laughed in their face. So how did it start? How did I go from an obese diet skeptic to a much healthier diet blogger? Simple. It all started with HCG Triumph.

HCG Triumph is one of the few legitimate HCG brands left. Despite a lot of misconceptions, HCG Triumph drops still contain the HCG hormone, but more than that they contain a powerful blend of amino acids that help support your body during the low calorie portion of the diet. I did a lot of research before I decided to start the diet. I read a lot of articles on HCG and calorie restriction, and when it came down to it I knew that using HCG Triumph would be healthier than resigning to a life of obesity.

The HCG Diet was hard, but it worked. What a lot of people dont understand is that when you have over 100 pounds to lose, losing a pound a week, while better than nothing, makes the task seem impossible. With the HCG Diet, I lost about 1 pound per day. Each morning I felt rewarded for my hard work and suddenly losing all that weight seemed doable. And even though my caloric intake was restricted to two meals of lean meat and fruit and vegetables, I felt satisfied because of the amino blend in the Triumph drops.

Day by day and pound by pound I conquered my weight loss. I lost, 100 pounds, 90 inches, revamped my wardrobe on a couple occasions, and dieted through every holiday and social event imaginable. I survived the HCG Diet, and whats even better: the HCG Diet gave me my life back. I no longer have to worry about living in discomfort, shopping in the plus size section, or not being able to cross my legs and its all thanks to HCG Triumph.

HCG Triumph made me a new person. It has transformed me and hundreds of others completely. Now imagine what it could do for you.

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DAY 5 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015

Today is Day 5.

Weight goal - 153.2 or lower
Actual weight - 150.8

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose -85

Today is a Feast Day.



For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb.  Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

Yesterday, I had two cups of coffee with Stevia sweetener, one cup of beef broth with sea salt and a glass of water. I always think fasting is going to be harder than it turns out to be. I only really felt hunger one time in the mid-afternoon, and it passed quickly. It helps that I was working all day, so that kept my mind off of it.

4 DAYS DOWN.  87 DAYS TO GO.  SO FAR, 4 FEAST DAYS AND 1 FAST DAY.

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals for the next three months. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click charts to enlarge)

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

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DAY 15 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015

Today is Day 15.

Weight goal - 151.2 or lower
Actual weight - 147.6

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose - 86

Today is a Feast Day!



For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb.  Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

Yesterday, I had Bullet Proof Coffee with chocolate protein powder for breakfast, eggs fried in butter with cream cheese and sea salt for lunch, and roast chicken with butter sauce, Brussels sprouts with bacon grease and sea salt, and pork rinds with sour cream for dinner.  I also drank a couple of glasses of water.

14 DAYS DOWN.  77 DAYS TO GO.

12 FEAST DAYS AND 3 FAST DAYS.

6.4 POUNDS GONE.  11.6 POUNDS TO GO.  

36% OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL AFTER ONLY 16% OF THE DAYS!

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have had to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click on charts to enlarge)

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

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DAY 3 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015

Today is Day 3.

Weight goal - 153.6
Actual weight - 152.8

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose -100

Today is a Feast Day.



For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb. Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

(Note:  I didnt add in the requirement for lower blood sugar for the first few days, so that is why it seems that I broke the rules.)

2 DAYS DOWN.  89 DAYS TO GO.  SO FAR, 3 FEAST DAYS AND 0 FAST DAYS.

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals for the next three months. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click charts to enlarge)

 

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

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DAY 9 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Today is Day 9.

Weight goal - 152.4 or lower
Actual weight - 148.6

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose - 68

Today is a Feast Day!


For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb.  Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

Yesterday, I had water, beef broth with sea salt, coffee with Stevia and chai with Stevia.  I did not have fun fasting!  I was a little depressed all day and kept wishing I could eat, even though I was not really hungry.  Starting in late afternoon, I just felt like going to bed.

8 DAYS DOWN.  83 DAYS TO GO.  SO FAR, 7 FEAST DAYS AND 2 FAST DAYS.

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click charts to enlarge)

 

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

Read More..

DAY 12 2016 WEIGHT LOSS AND BLOOD GLUCOSE CHALLENGE

Christmas Eve 2015

Today is Day 12.

Weight goal - 151.8 or lower
Actual weight - 147.6

Blood glucose goal - 89 or lower
Actual blood glucose - 68

Today is a Feast Day!


For me, that means a ketogenic diet - high fat, moderate protein and very low carb.  Each day, I will weigh in, check my fasting blood glucose, find out if I will feast or fast that day, update my chart and post it here on the big blog. Im posting it to motivate myself not to give up, and if I think that anyone is looking at this, it will help to keep me accountable.

Yesterday, I had coffee and chai sweetened with Stevia, and water.  It was so cold outside that Bill and I took the day off and sat by the fire, watched movies and surfed the web.  Fasting was pretty easy yesterday, even with smelling the food that Bill fixed for himself!

11 DAYS DOWN.  80 DAYS TO GO.  9 FEAST DAYS AND 3 FAST DAYS.

6.4 POUNDS GONE.  11.6 POUNDS TO GO.  36% OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL!

I made a few charts to track my progress.  The orange lines are my goals. The blue lines are my actual results.  The last chart is a little heat map to show at a glance how often I actually have had to fast to achieve the results I am after.

(click on chart to enlarge)

 

This is a personal challenge just for me, but if anyone reading would like to join me, please talk to your doctor and make sure that it will not conflict with your current medical condition or medications.  If you are taking the challenge, please be sure to let me know how you are doing!  Thanks for reading!

To find out more about this challenge - the rules and how it started - click here.

Read More..

Blogging Break

As shown by my recent lack of posting, I havent had much to talk about in our lives.  

Life has slowed down dramatically for us, since we havent been busy with moving, and we are just enjoying living in this new house.

Life is good right now, and I am enjoying it.  Ive passed the 7 month mark, and I feel different.  I feel less grief most of the time, and I feel more at peace with what has happened to us.  Last night for the first time, I was able to say to someone, frankly and bluntly..."Barry is dead, and hes not coming back".  I need to get on with my life!

We have some exciting events happening in the next month!  The kids got accepted into their grief camp, so we have the welcoming pizza party for that on the 26th, and then they go to camp June 11-13.  Im going to see Jim Norton in Seattle on the 28th, which I am extremely excited for.  I plan to take a sharpie and have him sign my boobage! Yes, I totally am going to do that! And this upcoming week, I will be booking our trip to Florida, so that is going to take some time for me too, with all the logistics of car rentals, and hotels and flights etc etc. 

I dont feel that I have anything to write right now, so I am going to take a break from blogging.  Not long Im sure, I just didnt want to leave this blog unattended, and have everyone wonder where I am.  Im here, just living!   Ill be back soon!! 

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Low Carb Thai Stir Fry With Chicken and Shrimp

I dont know what my deal is, but Ive been craving Thai food like CRAZY lately. Oh the carbs. I love massaman, and panang, and pad thai, and this week I was determined to find a yummy protein and veggie packed recipe with some thai flavor. I ditched the rice and noodles and stuck with Spaghetti Squash. <3 Good ol squash. :) Check it out fellow fit-meal foodies.

Ingredients 

1 pound Boneless skinless chicken breast
1 pound shrimp, pre-cooked and deveined
garlic powder, to taste
onion powder, to taste
1 large spaghetti squash
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, shredded
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro

Sauce
1/4 cup low fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 fresh lime, squeezed
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup Tamari*
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cut spaghetti squash in half longways. Remove seeds and pulp. Fill a glass casserole dish with an inch of water. Place spaghetti squash middles down in the dish and microwave for 15 minutes, or bake on 350 for 45 minutes.

While squash cooks, chop chicken and cook in chicken broth and season with garlic powder and onion powder in a LARGE skillet. When chicken is mostly done, add in shrimp. Cook until chicken is done and shrimp is thawed.

While the chicken and shrimp are cooking, combine sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on low heat (it does not need to boil.)

Add the red pepper, carrots, onion, garlic and cilantro to the chicken and shrimp mixture.

Once the squash is done, use a fork to scrape it out of its skin and into a large bowl. Add meat and veggie mixture, top with sauce. Mix together and enjoy!

This recipe makes about eight 1 cup servings.
Each serving has 257 calories, 31 grams protein, 16 net carbs

*If youre watching your sodium, use low sodium Tamari.

This recipe was adapted from Hello Healthy.

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BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK AND IN A PRETTY DRESS

If you scroll up and look right, you will see a before and after comparison of me at my heaviest in February 2009 on vacation and me in June 2010 at a family wedding.  Underneath, you will see my body fat percentage when the photos were taken.  Lately, my body fat has been above 34.4%, but today - TA DA! - I hit that number again!  I was so happy that I put on that same dress and had my husband take a pic to celebrate.

So this is me, with a different do, no makeup and wearing my cheaters, and no, I am not referring to a push up bra!

Im just happy today and feeling skinny...

(To hear the song, fast forward the video to 0:45.)

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2012 HCG Before and After Pictures

Losing weight has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. In fact, I was incredibly stubborn about my weight for several years. When I started working for HCG Triumph I had no intention of starting this program. I was scared, I was prideful, and I was misinformed about HCG.  

As I started doing research about the HCG Program for my job, I learned that a lot of what the media tells us about HCG is inaccurate. Many people say that youll always gain back what you lose, but this isnt true at all. Weight loss with HCG is permanent when you are willing to change your habits. I also learned that people just like me were doing this diet with incredible success. 

I started reading success stories, and I stared at countless before and after pictures. I was astonished at the results people were seeing because of HCG Triumph. I knew I had to give it a try. 2012 has been a year of change for me, I finally took losing weight into my own hands, but Im not the only one.

Below are a few of the many success stories Ive used to motivate myself along my weight loss journey. If they can do it, if I can do it, so can you. 

In 2012 Leah lost 78 pounds using HCG. 

Lauren lost a total of 83 pounds in 4 rounds using HCG!

Charlene used HCG to lose 71 pounds and totally transform her body!

Not many men use HCG, but Eric lost 60 pounds and proves that the program works well for men.

Crista lost 50 pounds in 2 rounds and is successfully maintaining!

Hey, thats me. :)

And then there is me. Finally I came to terms with my pride. My weight problems were my fault, and they were mine to deal with. June 2012 marked the beginning of my weight loss. So far Ive lost 79 pounds. :) Only 44 more until I reach my goal weight. 

The beginning of the new year is the perfect time to change your life. I started, now what are you waiting for? 

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IM A MEAT EATER MITCHELL AND WEBB

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Four Days And Counting

Well, moving day is certainly creeping up on me, were at four days and counting till the BIG DAY!!

It kind of hit the kids and I this morning at breakfast. Suddenly there was excitement in the air at breakfast, little whispers and squeals about moving in four days. Questions about when their beds would be taken apart, and how would we pack all the rest of the stuff. I really have confidence that the packing will be done by Friday morning. There isnt that much left at all to do, especially since I have thrown away SO much stuff. I have filled up our household size dumpster 3 times. Yes, you read that right, THREE times! I still have it and will keep it for another couple weeks because there will be residual stuff left here, including some dressers I have to demolish yet.

I cant believe that this journey I started back in January is almost done. This house was the 2nd house I looked at, but I didnt want to put an offer on it because I was set on having bigger bedrooms. But after many failed showings, the houses just not being right for us, my realtor surprised me Feb 11th and brought us back one time. I was feeling defeated at this point, as a house I had put an offer on had fallen through because the seller filed bankruptcy, so when we went to look at it again, I put an offer on it. The offer was accepted and the house was mine on February 12th. And now I am so incredibly excited. This gorgeous house is mine, I can call it mine and do what I want to it.

Tomorrow starts the flurry of deliveries and appointments. I am so excited to see all the stuff I bought put into their rightful spots, and I most certainly can NOT wait to show pictures of everything!! I have deliveries scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. We are all so excited to have our stuff in the house.

I am a little afraid of Thursday night. It will be our very last night sleeping in this house, the very same way Barry left it...despite all the chaos with boxes in it. There will never be another night in this house again, never another night with my bed set up the way he did it. As much as I dont like living here, I will miss it because it was our last home with Barry. I know this wouldnt be a forever home, as it is older and just a rental, we would have moved eventually regardless of what happened (as we were planning on moving to PA this summer), but it is still going to be an emotional time for us. I dont know if it will hit me so much on Thursday, but perhaps Thursday night as I lay down. And most definitely Friday when the movers take away everything. Whats funny is that the house wont even be empty when the movers leave, as I have Habitat for Humanity coming next Wednesday to pick up all the old furniture. Perhaps it will really hit me on Friday night as I lay down for the first night in my new house, but only time will tell.

Honestly, my biggest fear is that he wont come with us to the new house. I am scared I wont feel his presence there, surrounding us with his love. I can feel him here from time to time, I know hes watching over us. I just want him to come with us, to move to the new house with us. Or perhaps hell haunt and terrorize the new tenants...hahaha. Thats so him too ;-) I really do just want him to come with us, and help make our new home a peaceful home as well.

Back to packing!

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