Cookies and toffee

Holiday baking has started, this is when I get to really see what my character is made of ;)

So far I've baked spritz cookies and 'Lussekatter' (a swedish traditional pastry with saffron) and on the agenda for today is gingerbread cookies. So far I've managed to keep my raging cookie addiction in check... we'll see how it fares as December goes on. I also made some chocolate toffee yesterday and I may or may not have tasted a piece even though it was protein Thursday though I can't confirm nor deny this ;)

I worry about the holidays quite a bit. I'm worried that I'll go off the rails and eat way too much. I'm trying to keep the food I make here as Dukan friendly as possible, but we will also be going to other dinners and I don't want to seem rude and not eat what's offered. I know it's normal to gain a few pounds over the holidays but I would really like it if I could avoid doing that.

Here's the obligatory weekly weight recap:

11/30/2013  137.2 lbs Celebration meal: home made cheese/bacon burger, fries, icecream.
12/01/2013  138.6 lbs (was sick, barely ate anything)
12/02/2013  137.8 lbs Ate extra bread instead of whole wheat pasta
12/03/2013  138.4 lbs Cheated with 5 cookies *shame*
12/04/2013  139.0 lbs Homemade wholewheat pizza with light cheese (sort of a CM but healthy.)
12/05/2013  138.6 lbs Protein Thursday
12/06/2013  136.4 lbs

Uneventful week

Had a visit from the red plague and as a result there was some weight gained this week. Most of it was water weight though and has since come off again. I'm definitely starting to see a pattern now where I gain 3-4 pounds in the first days of the period and then it just sheds right off again once it's over.

This was my first week in part two of consolidation. I've struggled a little bit with the transition, it feels like I don't have the TIME to eat all the new things. I know it's just a matter of getting used to things, but I don't do well with change.. it'll likely take me a few weeks to get a hang of things.

Weekly weight recap:

November 23:     137.2 lbs ( day after my second protein day from last week )
November 24:     140.0 lbs ( the red plague visit and also celebration meal: meatballs at Ikea)
November 25:     140.6 lbs (ate 5 cookies *shame* )
November 26:     139.2 lbs ( whole wheat pasta lunch. home made pizza supper, 2nd celebration meal)
November 27:     138.2 lbs
November 28:     138.4 lbs ( protein Thursday)
November 29:     136.6 lbs

Protein... birthday?

Yesterday was my birthday and also protein Thursday. I though about it for a while and decided to honour the protein days and do my celebrations on the weekend instead. I was doing so well the whole day.. up until the evening where (to my surprise) the men in my life had planned a birthday supper at a restaurant. Usually I'm always aware of what goes on so this really took me by surprise.
 I was attempting to stick to the protein rules but as soon as the menu came out that went out the window. I ate 1 piece of garlic bread with cheese, filet mignon (rare) with pepper sauce, caesar salad and some rice and potatoes. I did show some restraint with the rice and potatoes and only ate one bite of each.
 I was expecting to have gained or at least stayed the same weight as the day before but I did end up losing a little bit. Not as much as I usually do on a pure protein day but enough. I am right now contemplating if I should make today a protein day as well to make up for the birthday cheats or if I should continue as normal but as of this moment I haven't quite made up my mind.

Weight recap for the week:

November 16: 137.0 lbs (celebration meal: cheese/bacon burger, fries, ice cream sandwich, chips)
November 17: 138.4 lbs
November 18: 139.4 lbs
November 19: 138.3 lbs (whole wheat pasta day)
November 20: 138.6 lbs (I baked cookies... I should know better)
November 21: 139.8 lbs (cookie shame weight gain along with the botched protein day)
November 22: 138.4 lbs

Another week down

Time is moving surprisingly fast these days. One more week and I will enter part two of the consolidation phase. I'm hoping I'll be able to continue showing the same restraint as I've managed up until now with the added carb intake that part two brings with it. It scares me a little bit just like going from cruise to consolidation did but I hope that fear is unfounded and things will continue to go well.

Next week my protein day might be on a different day than normal, depending on what plans are made. Would be the first time I deviate from that rule.

Here's the past weeks weight recap:

November 9:   137.4 lbs (Celebration meal: Home made pizza, ice cream sandwich, some chips.)
November 10: 139.4 lbs (Bingefest 2013: Candy edition *much shame*)
November 11: 139.8 lbs (Whole wheat pasta meal with leftover steak)
November 12: 139.2 lbs
November 13: 138.6 lbs
November 14: 137.6 lbs (Protein Thursday)
November 15: 136.0 lbs

Bingefest 2013: Candy edition

This weekend was bad. Bad bad bad bad. I received a care package from my mom, she sends one every year and it's awesome. Got some candy from home. Candy from home is much tastier than candy from here. I ate WAAAYYY too much. While it tasted good eating it I'm not feeling great now. Not about the little weight gain, I knew that was coming, but just not good in general.
 I think that having been detoxed from the sugar back in March has made my body less happy about receiving it now. I'm feeling sluggish and my head hurts a lot. Also got a zit, my first in months. My skin has been incredibly clear and radiant on this diet.  Today I'm going to stick to the rules and try to drink more water than usual to flush the bad out as fast as possible.

Almost at the halfway mark

Two more weeks and then I will be in the second part of consolidation. This will mean two celebration meals per week. I'm hoping the diet will continue to work as well as it has been up to date. I'm still surprised it's worked as well as it did considering my blatant lack of exercise the past 3-4 months. I'm almost hesitant to start walking again for fear of losing too much weight.

I lacked cooking motivation this week and mostly ate canned tuna, boiled eggs and cold sliced deli meats (yikes sodium) for my protein intake, along with steamed veggies and my daily fruit/cheese/bread meal.
For the celebration meal I ate home made pizza. My first time having pizza since March. It was quite delicious.

This week in weight:

November 2       138.4 lbs (Celebration meal. Pizza. Ice cream sandwich. Cookies.
November 3       139.4 lbs
November 4       139.0 lbs
November 5       138.2 lbs (wholewheat pasta meal)
November 6       138.0 lbs
November 7       138.4 lbs (protein Thursday)
November 8       136.0 lbs

Trick or treat

Yesterday was Halloween. To have 'Protein Thursday' on a day filled with sugary goodness was a whole new level of torture but I made it without any cheating. The kids are happy with their loot and will be set for candy for months.

There was some weight gain this week compared to the one prior but I blame 'time of the month' for that. I tend to swell up like a balloon in the days prior and the first few days of it.

I made the most delicious chicken this week. Took a whole chicken, peeled off the skin and rubbed it with a spice/herb mix (salt free). It was then cooked in the crock pot for about 8 hours together with some carrots, celery, onions and garlic. It was the most tender and juicy chicken I've ever eaten and it will most definitely be made again.

Here's my weekly weight recap:

October 26      137.6 lbs Celebration meal: Cheeseburgers/fries (home made). Chips for desert.
October 27      138.2 lbs
October 28      138.8 lbs (time of the month started)
October 29      139.2 lbs Whole wheat pasta with leftover chicken
October 30      139.2 lbs (I cheated and ate 4 oatmeal cookies)
October 31      138.4 lbs Protein Thursday
November 1     137.6 lbs

Not the whole roast

I made a roast yesterday and would probably have eaten it all if I hadn't stopped myself. Roast is my very favourite kind of meat. It's nice and browned and spice rubbed on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. During the cruise phase I did eat a whole roast on one of my protein days but it did feel somewhat like overkill so yesterday I only ate half :)

It's been a good week weight wise. No giant water retention gains and not really a lot of cravings either. I did eat some forbidden things. I've been watching a lot of TV shows about weight loss and reading tons of weight loss blogs over the past year and it is true what most say that, even though you've lost so much, you always see yourself as the fat person. Not that I was morbidly obese or anything, but I was large and very uncomfortable with my body image 49 pounds ago. (That's right.. 49!!) I've struggled to get over that but it still lingers and tries to bring me down. Well, yesterday I had a bra disaster and had to go buy some new ones. I went to a store I've never been to before and in the dressing room they had mirrors on every wall, not just one. I saw myself from every angle and finally saw what other people have been saying (and what I DO know from the scale each morning) that I am in fact kind of skinny now. That was a huge boost to the self esteem. Oh and I did find bras that actually fit. It's a miracle.

Here's this week in weight:

October 19      136.8 lbs Celebration meal. Cheeseburger, fries, icecream sandwich and some chips.
October 20      138.0 lbs
October 21      137.6 lbs Wholewheat pasta meal. Ate it with a stirfry this time instead of meat patties.
October 22      137.2 lbs
October 23      137.0 lbs
October 24      137.0 lbs Protein Thursday
October 25      136.0 lbs Lowest weight yet. Wooo!!!!

Brunch and cake

Here's my weekly food recap and confessional:

There was brunch and cake on Sunday, my littlest one turned 5. Used my celebration meal for that. I ate a delicious breakfast plate with eggs, bacon, home fries, pancakes and toast. Home made cake for dessert. I may also have gone a little off course over the following couple of days.. leftover cake is a dangerous but oh so delicious thing.

Weight recap:

October 12     137.6 lbs
October 13     138.6 lbs Brunch/Cake celebration meal
October 14     139.0 lbs
October 15     138.6 lbs Whole wheat pasta meal
October 16     138.6 lbs (I ate cake  /shame)
October 17     139.4 lbs (protein Thursday)
October 18     137.2 lbs


I was watching a program on the TV the other day about the dangers of sugar. I knew a lot of things have added sugar but I had no idea it was THAT bad. This definitely reinforces my need for making things from scratch. I already do make all my own bread and cook most of the food from scratch with fresh ingredients but there are definitely areas where I can improve on that too. I'd like to keep my kids away from sugar addiction as I know how bad it can get.

Weekly recap

I haven't felt motivated to write any meaningful blog posts lately. This will be just a weekly recap of food and weight and such.

October 5       138.2 lbs  Celebration meal: Meatballs, home made wedge potatoes. Ice cream sandwich.
October 6       138.2 lbs
October 7       137.8 lbs  Whole wheat pasta meal
October 8       138.0 lbs
October 9       136.6 lbs  (no idea what happened to cause that weight drop). Forgot to eat fruit this day.
October 10     138.0 lbs  Protein Thursday
October 11     137.0 lbs

As you can see my weight is still holding steady. Consolidation is definitely working so far. One more month and I'll be in part two of the consolidation and I'm hoping it will work as well as this first part.

Have a birthday party coming up this weekend. Brunch and cake planned for Sunday. Nom nom!

Week... I lost count.

The chocolate is finally out of the picture. All in all it didn't cause too much damage weight wise. I gained 1-2 pounds total and they've come off again now that I'm not stuffing my face any more. I'm feeling a little bit ashamed at my lack of discipline but it's over and done with now and not worth dwelling on.

This week in food has been very lacklustre. I've been unmotivated to cook anything major and thus I've been eating mostly eggs, cold sliced meat and canned tuna and of course veggies. Had a couple of days where I ate my standard turkey patties as well.

Next week I think I'll make some salad. It's been a while since I had salad, not sure why it just sort of slipped off the menu.

Here's the weight recap for the week:

September 28:     forgot to write it down. Celebration meal of cheeseburger, fries and ice cream dessert.
September 29:     140.2 lbs  (Time of the month started, responsible for the jump in weight)
September 30:     139.4 lbs
October 1:           139.0 lbs Whole wheat pasta meal.
October 2:           138.6 lbs
October 3:           139.0 lbs Protein Thursday
October 4:           137.4 lbs

About chocolate

Chocolate seems to be right up there with cookies. That hockey fundraising chocolate in my fridge has been calling my name and I listened. I ate four bars this past Wednesday. I'm so weak. Though after having spoken with my mom on the phone yesterday I feel a little less guilty about it. We are, after all, only human.

It's been a pretty uneventful week, chocolate gorging aside, with no exciting new meals to talk about and no real fluctuations in weight. Have another kid birthday coming up in two weeks which means more cake. Maybe this time I'll manage to not eat too much.... yeah right ;)

The weekly weight recap:

September 21      138.0 lbs Celebration meal: Rotisserie chicken, fries, BBQ sauce. Chocolate bar.
September 22      139.8 lbs 
September 23      138.6 lbs
September 24      137.6 lbs Whole wheat pasta meal. 
September 25      137.6 lbs 3 chocolate bars *shame*
September 26      138.6 lbs Protein Thursday
September 27      137.6 lbs

Surviving cake and chocolate temptations

This week has been absolutely terrible for cravings. There has also been more yummies than normal around.

We had the birthday party for my son on Saturday, Made a huge Lego block shaped cake, tons of icing and filled with vanilla paste. We had gone out for breakfast in the morning and I used that as my celebration meal. Bacon, eggs, home fries, pancakes and toast. So much sodium and fat in that breakfast alone to last me months.... but it was delicious nonetheless. Had the birthday cake for dessert. It wasn't attached to the meal itself this time, for logistics reasons, but was eaten in the afternoon. I may or may not have had two pieces...

The day after the party, with all the cake leftovers in the fridge, was a true test of willpower. I ended up caving in and taking out a piece in the evening though after eating two spoonfuls I decided it's not worth it and stuck it in the trash instead.

There was also chocolate temptations aplenty. My son is selling chocolate to raise funds for his hockey team. Three boxes with a total of sixty bars. As parents we are expected to buy some, obviously, luckily for me half the box had bars containing almonds (which I am allergic to) so I ended up buying half a box to be supportive. There are now 15... strike that.. 14 bars of chocolate in my fridge. I had a weak moment and devoured a caramel chocolate bar. It's hard resisting the temptation to eat more. This is pretty nice quality chocolate... and I'm a chocoholic. It also doesn't help that I'm the only one in the house who actually likes chocolate.

I should probably also confess, now that I'm confessing all my sugary sins, that I haven't bothered to take a walk in the past two months.  /ashamed

Here's a recap of my weight for the week:

September 14     138.9 lbs (Celebration meal and cake)
September 15     138.8 lbs (cake slip up)
September 16     139.2 lbs
September 17     138.8 lbs (Whole wheat pasta meal)
September 18     137.6 lbs (chocolate incident)
September 19     138.2 lbs (Protein Thursday)
September 20     137.0 lbs

Consolidating away

I'm past the cookie incident now. Decided to stop beating myself up about it and just move on and stick with the consolidation rules.

Tomorrow is my sons birthday and we are going out for breakfast. He likes to have fancy French toast for his birthday. I'll make this my celebration meal of the week. I'm very excited about the prospect of eating bacon for the first time since March... and pancakes. There will, of course, be cake as well but in the afternoon so yeah maybe a little rule bender on the dessert being together with the meal but it's a birthday so I think an exception can be justified.

This week in food has been fairly uneventful. I haven't made anything super fancy meal wise. Just same old same old. I looked at a bunch of the recipes in the Dukan book but nothing really jumps out at me. They all look so pretentious and fancy. I'm not a food hipster that drizzles a light balsamic vinaigrette on my meals and eats with my pinky sticking out.. ya know? I'm more of a meat and potatoes kind of person though the potatoes are, naturally, out of the picture for right now.

I saw my brother in law this week for the first time since I started the diet. So in essence he saw the entire 46 pounds being gone right at once and not gradually like other people. His reaction was a HUGE boost to the self esteem. He said I look fantastic and that it was amazing that I had such discipline and was able to lose it in such a short period of time.

Here's a recap of my weight for the week, I did have one square of dark chocolate each day:

September 7    137.6 lbs  (Celebration meal. Cheeseburger/fries. Ice cream sandwich.)
September 8    139.0 lbs
September 9    138.4 lbs
September 10  138.0 lbs (Starchy meal. Whole wheat pasta)
September 11  138.6 lbs
September 12  138.4 lbs (Protein Thursday)
September 13  136.6 lbs

Cookies

This past week I went on a cookie bender. I made the mistake of thinking I could have just one when clearly I can't.. since cookies were the number one reason I had gained all that weight in the first place.

I had baked these oatmeal-cinnamon cookies for the kids and it smelled so incredibly delicious I decided I should have some for my CM dessert. This was a mistake. I can't have just one. Cookies are like my heroin. I kept coming back for more hits over the next few days until they were all gone. Now that there are no more cookies my craving is gone so the best thing, I think, is probably to stop making cookies or make banana flavoured ones (I'm allergic to bananas) so that I wont eat them. It's not like I'm completely lacking self control. I went on this diet successfully and that takes an enormous amount of self control and discipline... it's just... cookies... *sigh*

Cookie bender in mind I have not gained any weight this week. In fact I lost a little more from last Fridays weigh in. My husband is concerned that I'll lose too much and become a walking skeleton. I am not too concerned just yet. I think it's more of a momentum thing. I was losing weight at such super huge pace/rate that it takes a while to slow down

Here's my weight recap for the past week:

August 31        138.6 lbs
September 1    138.6 lbs (CM. Cheeseburger, fries, cookies, ice cream sandwich)
September 2    138.6 lbs  (5 cookies)
September 3    139.8 lbs  (5 cookies)
September 4    138.0 lbs  (Whole wheat pasta)
September 5    138.2 lbs  (Protein Thursday)
September 6    136.4 lbs

I'd like to specify that the last day of the week listed where you will normally see a big drop in weight is mostly water weight lost. The protein only day that comes prior is great for getting rid of excess water.

One month of consolidation

It's been 4 weeks on consolidation now and I can safely say that it works. I've been maintaining my weight losing a few more pounds in the process while eating bread and fruit every day (except protein Thursday of course) one guilt free celebration meal per week one meal with whole wheat pasta per week and even some of that dark chocolate.
 On top of these items I eat a lot (and I mean a LOT) of meat and vegetables. Lately I've been partial to the ground turkey patties and steamed veggies but a nice beef, turkey or chicken stir fry is also a nice option. I don't eat as much steak as I used to, mainly because I'm pretty fed up with all the chewing.

I'm still being a slacker when it comes to the exercise. I have had zero motivation to get started, but so long as it's not impacting my weight I'm not going to freak out too much about it. I've learned over the years that if I force myself to do stuff when I'm not motivated it just wont last. I was super motivated to lose the weight, which is why it's worked so well, but since the slacking off with workouts doesn't have any effect on the weight it seems (at least in my head) that it's of less importance right now. Now it's not like I don't move at all. I do walk to places and do vigorous cleaning fairly regularly.. and then yard work.. and running after kids. Maybe I'm getting enough just from that.

Anyhow... Here's a recap of the past week in consolidation:

August 24 138.8 lbs (celebration meal: rotisserie chicken, fries, BBQ sauce, chips for dessert)
August 25 140.0 lbs
August 26 139.8 lbs (whole wheat pasta meal)
August 27 140.6 lbs (slipped and ate an oatmeal cookie)
August 28 138.4 lbs
August 29 138.2 lbs (Protein Thursday)
August 30 137.6 lbs

Dark Chocolate Love Affair

It's the end of my third week in the consolidation phase. I had a weak moment last Friday when I was at the grocery store picking up weekend snacks for the other family members. I saw these really fancy chocolate bars on sale and I picked one up. Dark, dark chocolate.

 I remembered I had read one of the Dukan forum ladies say she ate one piece of dark chocolate every day and did not gain any weight from it. I decided to try and see what happens. The willpower it has taken to limit it to just one square a day is worthy of a medal. This is quite  possibly the most delicious chocolate I've ever tasted.
 At the end of the week I can safely say it hasn't affected my weight. It did, however, affect my cravings. I've been craving more sweets since that little introduction of sugary stuff. It seems the dark chocolate was both a blessing and a curse. It's good for the heart though... Google said so.

Here's a weight recap of week three:

August 17: 139.2 lbs
August 18: 138.2 lbs (CM: Homemade burgers, fries and a small bowl of chips for dessert)
August 19: 138.8 lbs (Starchy meal of the week. Whole wheat pasta)
August 20: 140.0 lbs
August 21: 139.8 lbs
August 22: 138.6 lbs (PP day)
August 21: 137.6 lbs

Hopefully I wont keep losing a pound a week on consolidation, that would make me way too skinny. I assume it will level out soon though.

Second consolidation week is done

I've got through 2 full weeks of consolidation now and I'm feeling more and more relaxed as the time passes. There was that one incident with the McDonald's food, which I don't think will ever happen again, but other than that I've felt great and have had no issues food wise.

I've been eating the usual breakfast every day, a grilled sandwich of some variation (mostly ham/cheese/tomato) with steamed vegetables for lunch and protein (turkey patties, chicken, steak etc.) with salad or steamed vegetables for supper. Also drinking my prescribed amount of liquids, plus at least 3 cups of tea per day.Black tea in the morning and green tea at night.

I've found that, since I started consolidation, some of my cravings have returned. I blame this on the introduction of carbs and the celebration meals. It's hard to only have that ONE time per week when you're allowed something 'forbidden'. Lots of self control is needed. It's mostly sugar I crave.. my old nemesis. I can't let myself fall back into old habits again though because there'll be no stopping it then.

Here's a recap of week two:

August 10: 141.2 lbs
August 11: 141.2 lbs (The CM of doom)
August 12: 142.6 lbs (I blame fast food)
August 13: 141.2 lbs (Weekly whole wheat pasta allowance eaten for supper)
August 14: 140.6 lbs
August 15: 140.2 lbs (PP day)
August 16: 139.0 lbs (!)

As you can see I'm now lower than when I started. I'm not concerned yet but if I continue to lose I might up my carb intake slightly. I don't want to be a walking skeleton.

So I did it

I had my second celebration meal. Was a fairly hectic day with lots of yard work and no time to cook anything big so we got some junk food. Ate my first burger/fries combo since March. Also had an ice cream sandwich for dessert since I skipped dessert last week and sort of missed not taking the opportunity. I'm feeling very heavy right now. So much grease and salt. It really wasn't as good as I remember it and I'm probably not going to make it into a habit again. I'm OK living without fast food. There will be the occasional one, I'm sure, but not regularly like I used to be.

 All in all I think it was good that I did eat it because now I know I wont feel good afterwards and it's much better to aim for a more well prepared celebration meal instead. Hopefully the scales wont be too mean to me tomorrow morning.

Here's the summary of my first week on consolidation:

August 2: 140.8 lbs.
August 3: 140.4 lbs.
August 4: 140.2 lbs.
August 5: 141.4 lbs. Celebration meal at Ikea. No bread/cheese.
August 6: 141.4 lbs.
August 7: 141.8 lbs. Whole wheat pasta for the starchy meal of the week.
August 8: 141.2 lbs. PP
August 9: 141   lbs.

I ate my bread, fruit and cheese every day except the one day where I skipped it because I just wasn't hungry.

It does seem, at least from the first weeks results that the process works as promised. I'm going to trust in the program and keep with the rules and hopefully I'll stay where I am weight wise.

My first PP day on consolidation

Weight has been hovering around 141-142 all week, this morning it was 141.2.

 I ate my pasta allowance yesterday for lunch together with my grilled ham/cheese/tomato sandwich. Next time I'm going to make a sauce for the pasta, eating it plain was a little.. boring and tasteless. I felt super full after having eaten it all, 225 g of cooked pasta was more than I had thought it would be.

Didn't sleep well last night due to a super crazy thunderstorm that passed by. I got maybe 3.5 hours total of sleep. Needless to say I feel like flattened poop today and it being a PP day is not helping. I'd just gotten used to having the fruit and veggies every day and now my stomach is very angry at me for not providing.

For breakfast this morning I ate my usual yoghurt/oatbran, tea and hard boiled egg. For a snack I had 5 slices of low fat deli ham. For lunch (and supper) I am making the lovely ground turkey patties made with Dijon mustard and many many spices. For my afternoon snack I will probably have some tuna or more eggs. Also drinking Coke Zero, diet ginger ale and water to make up the daily fluid intake.

Hoping that my weigh in tomorrow morning will have me back to where I started the week. That way my first consolidation week will have been a total success as far as the weight goes and I will probably feel more calm and stop obsessing so much about the scales.

Had my first celebration meal

Started consolidation on Friday. Today is Tuesday. Had my first celebration meal, yesterday lunch, at Ikea. Ate meatballs with mashed potato, gravy and lingonberry jam. Did not have dessert because everything they sold had the potential to contain things I'm allergic to. I'm not at all sad I missed dessert. The food was so delicious it was enough to have just that.  I skipped the bread yesterday because I just wasn't hungry for it. I will eat it again today though. Planning to make a ham and cheese grilled sandwich on my George Foreman grill. Yummy!

At some point before Thursday (PP day) I have to fit in my one starchy meal of the week. It will probably be some whole wheat spaghetti as a side with my usual protein.

 I was very concerned about weight gain this morning (really have to stop obsessing so much) but it was the same as yesterday morning so no need for panic. I've set an acceptable weight range in which I am allowed to fluctuate up and down without concern. My range is between 139-144 lbs and this morning it was at 141.4. The weight range idea was recommended to me by the ladies at the dukan forum I frequent and also common sense.. no one stays the exact same weight every day of their lives. You go up and down all the time depending on your activity level, water retention etc. etc.

I did my 30 minute walk again this morning. I have to admit I've been a slacker with exercise lately. It's hard to fit it in when school is out and kids are around all the time. This morning though I dragged my son with me, he brought his scooter, and he actually had a good time. We might try to do this every morning when the weather permits.

 Once school starts up again and I have more time to myself in the house I am planning to start up my actual workouts again. I have this great Xbox 360 game that's like a personal trainer with customizable workout circuits. She yells and berates you when you're not performing (it's through Kinect) the moves the right way and it makes me so pissed off to hear it I get more stubborn and actually get a better workout that way because I refuse to quit and let the mean computer lady win.

Got a new weight loss graph set up, for some reason it cuts off the first number of the weight (it's in lbs not kg's) but it's more fun to look at than the other one.

Original goal reached

 This morning the scale showed exactly 141 lbs. This is the TW (True weight) calculated by the Dukan calculator and what I've been working towards this whole time. I did decide a couple of weeks back though that 141 as an odd number would bother me tremendously and that 140 sounds a lot more pleasing to my OCD senses. So officially I'm at my TW but not quite done yet.

 Today is Thursday and also a PP day. It may happen that tomorrow shows 140 and in that case I will start consolidation then. I've already bought the stuff I need. Whole grain bread, cheese, apples. The thought of having a fruit for the first time since March sounds incredibly appealing.

 For those who are less familiar with the phases of the diet the Consolidation phase is what you do when your weight loss is finished and you want to start maintaining. Maintaining really is the hardest work which makes this phase the most scary.
 Up until now it's been fairly straight forward with pure protein one day and protein/veggies the next. In the consolidation phase every day is protein and veggie with the addition of 2 slices of whole grain bread, 1.5oz of hard cheese and one serving of fruit per day. The consolidation phase is divided in 2 segments, part 1 and part 2. In part 1 you are also allowed 1 serving of starchy food per week and one celebration meal per week.
 The celebration meal can be anything you want as long as you only eat one serving each of appetizer, entrée and dessert. In part 2 you are allowed 2 servings of starchy food and 2 celebration meals per week. For the entire phase you will also adhere to one day a week of pure protein, generally Thursdays. The consolidation phase lasts 5 days for every pound you lost in the Cruise phase. For me that will mean 225 days.

 So far I have not been able to decide what i want my first celebration meal to be. I know that it has to include garlic bread with cheese, because garlic bread with cheese is something I've sorely missed. For dessert I'm thinking either something chocolate or possibly a small serving of my favourite chips. I still have no idea about the entrée which probably proves how much of a junk food eater I am.. screw the food bring me the yummies!

Here, too, are my "final" measurements as I doubt they will change by any considerable amount by 1 pound:

Waist started at 98 cm and ended at 73.5, a loss of 24.5 cm (9.6")
Tummy started at 108 cm and ended at 82.5, a loss of 25.5 cm (10.04")
Hips started at 112 cm and ended at 93.9 cm, a loss of 18.1 cm (7.1")
Thigh started at 64 cm and ended at 50.8 cm, a loss of 13.2 cm (5.2")
Upper arm started at 31 cm and ended at 25.4 cm, a loss of 5.6 cm (2.2")

Start weight:

185.2 lb

Weight change:

Lost 44.2 lb

Current weight:

141.0 lb

BMI Status:

Normal

Goal

Goal weight:

141.0 lb

% Goal Complete:

100.0%

% Time Complete:

85.9%

Days left:

21

	Weight Trends (Pounds)
	7 day	30 day	90 day
Change	-2.4	-9.0	-27.8
Average	142.4	145.2	154.9

The girls

142 lbs this morning. Getting so close now.

Today I'm talking boobs. As you lose weight your boobs will inevitably change their mass as well. I'm not overly concerned with their size. They could cease to exist for all I care and then I wouldn't have these problems.

 What problems you ask? Well let me tell you. I can not find a bra that fits. It's impossible. I've tried on every bra in every size available in retail stores in my area and none of them fit. My old bras are naturally too big now so I NEED new ones desperately. I've scoured the web for bra discussions, measuring techniques, bra fitting guides and so on. According to them all there is this one specific size I should try on, with a few options around the same range.

Did you know bras have sister sizes? I didn't know that either. Apparently a 34DD has the same cup volume as a 36D or a 32DDD but different band size. Well.. a 36 band size is now too big for me, so I have to go with a 34 which fastens and supports just fine.. but a D is too little and a DD is too big. The girls in the store were completely stumped. They had me try on a 36D, which was way too big in the band and kept riding up in the back. Eventually they admitted defeat and mumbled something about a speciality store in the next town over. Having checked out this speciality store I'm thinking they have no idea what I need.

I've considered online shopping, but then there's the dilemma of not being able to try stuff on before buying it and having to deal with returns. Plus, all the online bra stores I've found are ridiculously expensive. I don't see myself paying $95 for a bra... ever. Trying to keep the costs low and finding a weird size do not go hand in hand.

My quest will inevitably continue over the next few weeks.

Weight Tracker Stats

Start weight:

185.2 lb

Weight change:

Lost 43.2 lb

Current weight:

142.0 lb

BMI Status:

Normal

Goal

Goal weight:

141.0 lb

% Goal Complete:

97.7%

% Time Complete:

83.9%

Days left:

24

	Weight Trends (Pounds)
	7 day	30 day	90 day
Change	-1.4	-9.6	-26.4
Average	143.0	146.1	155.6

Still stubborn

Yesterday I was at 142.6 and today it's back at 143.

 Seems my body is dead set on keeping these last few pounds for as long as possible. I read somewhere that sometimes when you're losing weight you reach a weight that you had maybe been at for some time before gaining, like a reverse plateau, and that as you come back down to it it's as a comfort zone for your body and it will take longer to break through. I don't have any scientific proof of this, just something I've read on random blogs and weight loss resource sites.

 The size 9 shorts do feel a little bit looser today, even though the weight is mostly the same. This could normally be attributed to stretch due to wear.. but they were newly washed when I put them on this morning. Maybe water retention is still the culprit. I've been chugging green tea like my life depends on it over the past few days so we'll see if it has any results.

For breakfast today I had my usual sugar/fat free Vanilla flavoured Activia with the 2 tbsp of oat bran stirred in and a cup of Earl Grey tea. For lunch I had leftover ground turkey patties made with low sodium soy sauce, dijon mustard and delicious Mr Dash spice mix. For supper I plan to make oven baked chicken breasts with just some pepper and oregano on top, sometimes less is more when it comes to spice. It's a PP day so the menu is not all too exciting. For snacks, if I get hungry, I'll likely have a boiled egg or some tuna.

Weight Tracker Stats

Start weight:

185.2 lb

Weight change:

Lost 42.2 lb

Current weight:

143.0 lb

BMI Status:

Normal

Goal

Goal weight:

141.0 lb

% Goal Complete:

95.5%

% Time Complete:

81.9%

Days left:

27

	Weight Trends (Pounds)
	7 day	30 day	90 day
Change	0.0	-8.4	-28.6
Average	143.5	147.0	156.8

The last few stubborn pounds

143.4 this morning.

 It's been up and down on the scale over the past few days, some days 143, some 144 and then in the middle like today. My body is being incredibly stubborn about giving up the last few pounds. In all reality I'd be fine with the weight I am right now and could move over into consolidation any time but I really want to see the diet through the way I had planned. 3 pounds shouldn't be this hard to lose when I already dropped closer to 42.

Yesterday I made a delicious turkey stir-fry with broccoli, cauliflower, onion, carrots and some sugar/salt free spice mix from Mr Dash (and a sprinkle of low sodium soy sauce). I made enough for lunch that I could eat it again for supper. The days when you only have to cook once are the best kind of days.

Today I'm planning to use my ground turkey to make some patties or meatballs, it's a PP day so I wont put any grated veggies in them this time. I do usually mix it with some low sodium soy sauce, pepper, one egg and dijon mustard and it tastes great that way. The meatballs I make in the oven and the patties pan fried in a non stick pan.

Weight Tracker Stats

Start weight:

185.2 lb

Weight change:

Lost 41.8 lb

Current weight:

143.4 lb

BMI Status:

Normal

Goal

Goal weight:

141.0 lb

% Goal Complete:

94.6%

% Time Complete:

80.5%

Days left:

29

	Weight Trends (Pounds)
	7 day	30 day	90 day
Change	-2.0	-8.4	-28.8
Average	143.9	147.6	157.4

Water retention is evil and smaller pants are good for the morale.

The past three days have been incredibly frustrating. I gained close to 3 pounds overnight Thursday and needless to say there were a few curses uttered to the scale Friday morning. Saturday morning I was up 1 more pound. I couldn't figure out why, but was hoping water retention was the culprit.

The only thing I'd eaten that was different was some sliced turkey, which had low fat and very low sodium content, so I figured it was OK. Reading the ingredients a little closer though I noticed it had some sugar in it so I quickly discarded it, I had only eaten maybe 3-4 slices so I don't think it did much damage. I had also used a tiny bit more salt than usual when making a roast and also a little bit of salt for a boiled egg I ate for a snack.

I decided to cut down on the salt and up my green tea intake and it seems to have done the trick. I was back to 143 lbs this morning. 3 pounds left until I enter consolidation. So, again, green tea has saved my butt. Green tea is like the superhero of dieting.

In other news I went to a thrift store this past week, because ALL my clothes are too big (and thrift stores are awesome when you're on a budget). I was able to get a pair of size 9 shorts on.. and actually button them AND able to sit down in them without cutting off the blood supply to my legs. In other words.. they fit!! I also picked up three shirts size medium, I can't ever remember wearing medium. So for now, from a size 14-15 to a size 9 pant and from XXL tops to Medium. Not bad at all if I say so myself :)

The stomach pillow

Let's discuss the stomach pillow. I know I'm not the only one who uses it.

The stomach pillow is the pillow that you put on your stomach when you're on the couch (or where ever else you sit) to watch TV.
I always assumed that when I lost the weight I wouldn't feel the need to use a stomach pillow any more because now there's nothing to hide. Wrong! I still feel the need. It has become like some sort of a security blanket. I need it there. I can not physically sit and watch TV without having something padded across my tummy.

In other news... 143 pounds this morning. A loss even after a PV day. I had fully expected to gain weight yesterday because I felt super bloated so seeing this number was a huge motivator.

I took new measurements this morning. Here they are:

Waist 30 inches/76.2 cm      (-8.58 inches/21.8 cm total)
Thigh 20 inches/50.9 cm       (-5.2 inches/10.2 cm total)
Hips  37 inches/94 cm          (-7.09 inches/18 cm total)
Tummy 35 inches/88.9 cm    (-7.52 inches/19.1 cm total)

Weight Tracker Stats

Start weight:

185.2 lb

Weight change:

Lost 42.2 lb

Current weight:

143.0 lb

BMI Status:

Normal

Goal

Goal weight:

141.0 lb

% Goal Complete:

95.5%

% Time Complete:

76.5%

Days left:

35

	Weight Trends (Pounds)
	7 day	30 day	90 day
Change	-4.0	-12.2	-31.4
Average	145.9	149.4	159.4

So close...

This morning the scale showed 143.6. I'm so close to my goal now.

The goal, again, is 141 pounds.. but I think I'm going to make it 140 so as to not aggravate my need for even numbers. 140 would make me feel better than seeing 141 every day.

I've found myself having more cravings lately. The other day I wanted chips so bad. Lay's kettle cooked sourcream onion... yummah! I also wanted fresh baked bread a few days ago. This is really the first time I've had serious cravings. I didn't give in though. Going to stick through it and not go off diet for silly things.

So with the consolidation phase inching closer (see what I did there?) I've found myself in a bit of a panic mode. I worry about the introduction of bread. I've been a carb addict for so long I have these fears of just inflating again as soon as I take a bit of a sandwich. I know, of course, that I'm not instantly going to regain 44 pounds just from one bite of bread but the anxiety about it is still there. I've been looking for forum posts and blogs that deal with the consolidation phase but most seem focused on attack and cruise. I'm going to do my best to keep my blog updated as I move through the next phase, as a resource for other people.

Weight Tracker Stats

Start weight:

185.2 lb

Weight change:

Lost 41.6 lb

Current weight:

143.6 lb

BMI Status:

Normal

Goal

Goal weight:

141.0 lb

% Goal Complete:

94.1%

% Time Complete:

75.8%

Days left:

36

	Weight Trends (Pounds)
	7 day	30 day	90 day
Change	-4.4	-11.8	-32.0
Average	146.5	150.0	159.8