weight today: 133.5!!!!

This is awesome! It took two months to gain the weight and it looks like maybe I can lose it in about the same amount of time. this is HUGE! last year I gained five pounds over the holidays and it took me 6 months to lose it.

food yesterday: 800 kcals 99 grams protein, 22 carbs.

B: hot tea ( no cream) protein shake

s: 4 frozen strawberries, slightly thawed and mashed with splenda and 1 Tablespoon milk

L 3 oz steak, green beans, coleslaw ( my coleslaw dressing is vinegar, horseradish and splenda--no mayo)

D: chicken breast, brussel sprouts, marinated cucumbers, 4 cherry tomatoes.

snack: apple microwaved with splenda and cinnamon. so YUMMY! Caffix beverage (Like postum)with 1/2 T cream

I did lower body weights yesterday AND my sculpting studio in FINALLY cleaned and organized from moving it this fall so I got to start working on my dolls again yesterday. I do love it so much!

Getting Real

Info Alert:

there was a fabulous post this Morning on Marks Daily Apple ( one of my favorite health blogs)

You have any questions about my health/eating philosophy?--its all there!

Fabulous Friday

weight: 134.5

I decided on Wednesday to try cutting calories severely and see what would happen. When I tried this before I got my thyroid checked and medicated it did nothing, so this was something of a test.

If low carb+low calorie didn't shift anything then I could be pretty sure there was a hormonal issue somewhere that would need attention.--but only 2 days of cutting back on the cheese and I'm down aapound to pound an a half! I was prepared to try for a week before giving it up but this is very heartening.

So the plan now is to stay with this for 2 weeks. then cycle up to a normal calorie load and then cycle back down if I still have weight to lose.

Eating plan:
Breakfast is a protein shake ( from Costco; yummy)30 gram protein, 2 carbs. 180 cals

Lunch and dinner are 3-4 oz of meat or fish and up two 2 cups veggies or salad. no added oil or butter--lemon juice or vinegar only.

3 snacks:- snack can be a portion of fruit--half a dozen berries or half an apple or orange--or five almonds or pecans. with some tea or water or coffee.

As much calorie free drink as you want water tea etc.--splenda is allowed.

this comes in at around 600 calories--maybe as high as 800. The idea is once you force your body to access the fat deposits, ( only possible if insulin is kept low with limited carbs)you don't feel hunger.

very restrictive , but there is a kind of freedom in not having to make too many decisions or choices. and two weeks shouldn't cause any major muscle loss or metabolic slowdown.

the biggest sacrifices for me are not having cream in my tea and having no cheese. I can do it for a while though.

I'm changing my weight training schedule as well. Once a week, while perfectly effective, isn't as much fun--I do love lifting. so I'm going to a Mon/Wed/ Fri schedule alternating upper and lower body. That gives about 5 days for recovery between body parts and lets me lift more often. HIIT on Tues/Thurs and weekends off.

Caleb sorry about this taking me so long  here is a link to the recipe on about.com:  Lemon bars

this recipe is exactly the same as the one we always used.  i've got some recipes for things to do with meyers lemons that I'll get to you later.  Got to take Lennon to school right now.

Wacky Wednesday

I'm not happy.

weight is up ( 136 for second day)  not DOWN.

I swear I haven't been cheating at all.   And I'm not overeating calorie wise either.  sucks.

do not know what to do.

last time I just waited and kept on with eating plan,  I was stalled for over 5 months. Then I found out about the thyroid and got on meds.  but my meds are fine.

don't know whether to get hormones tested again and go back on Bioidenticals or try something else.

I was hoping the iodine supplement would help as there is a bunch of literature indicating that it can but, so far anyway, no real shift.

Monday monday

weight today 135.5

over the weekend I moved the weight cage up to the top floor to its new home ( thanks Pace and Stacey! ) it was a
lot of work so I didn't do a weight routine yesterday as scheduled--I will do it today.

B: hot tea, Lo carb strawberry shortcake ( it was so GOOD!) 4 carbs

L: protein shake 1/2 oz almonds 3 carbs

snack: 8 cheese " crackers", Seymour's homemade Baba Ghanoush and a diet root beer.
( the crackers are american cheese split into quarters and microwaved for about a minute on parchment baking paper. crisp and good and about 1 carb for 8 of 'em!) 2 carbs

D:chicken w green chili sour cream and cheese sauce. stir fried cauli-rice ( no rice just finely chopped cauliflower it's yummy) green beans and cherry tomatoes. 10 carbs

strawberries and cream w splenda for dessert and maybe a bit of hot cocoa later. 5 carbs

I did my weights today--added weight in all exercises--yeay me!

start weight Jan 1: 140

Today Jan. 25: 135.5 I actually reach this weight on the 15th but then---

On Seth's birthday we all went bowling and I confess to 3 very small pieces of pizza and a half glass of beer. I gained back up to 137 and stayed there for 4 days. Then on Friday I had Bailey and Lennon and fixed Kraft Mac and cheese for them.

I ate half of it.

silly me. again went up to 137 but was back to 135 this morning. so.
NO MORE CHEATS. I just cannot do it!

I have added several supplements to my plan. I take an iodine supplement now--started that on the 11th. I take my thyroid , of course, and also an adrenal support supplement ( has a bunch of herbs in it) plus Potassium, magnesium, 1,000mgs vitamin C, Chromium, 7,000mgs of Vitamin D3, DHEA and Cod liver oil too.

food today:
Breakfast: hot tea and two lemon " scones" 4 carbs.
lunch: chocolate protein shake and a frankfurter w/ sugar free Ketchup--45 gram protein, 4 carbs
snack: 1 oz almonds, 1 piece sugar free coconut candy --3 carbs
snack 2: tea, cinnamon scone 2 carbs
dinner: chicken thigh, tossed salad w/ walnut oil dressing strawberry shortcake. ( lo-carb scone, homemade strawberry freezer jam. whipped cream)

total 25 gram carb, 80 grams protein

It's a whole New Year

As I mentioned in an earlier post--I managed to gain 15 pounds from Nov 1 to Jan 1. while I was away from home all those weeks--in Utah and Oregon--I did not follow my low carb eating plan and it had serious consequences!!! And as a post menopausal, hypothyroid woman--losing it is going to be daunting.

So here is the plan:

I am eating a VERY basic induction style low carb plan. 30 or less carbs ( subtracting fiber) per day.

For fitness I subscribe to the primal blueprint rules set out by Mark Sisson ( see his blog link in the list to the left--Mark's Daily Apple) i.e. Move around a lot slowly. Lift some heavy things. run really fast occasionally.

Hence I have committed to a weight lifting program:
Once a week on Sundays an intense session ala the book "Slow Burn" ( by Fred Hahn and the Eades's--check the links on the left)
this is a great plan as it takes about 30 min, one set only of each exercise and3-4 reps at super slow speed--ie 10 seconds up and 10 seconds down--to muscle failure. it kicks your a$$!!!!

I am doing a program of sprints twice a week. go as fast as you can for as long as you can go up to 30 seconds. then rest till you can breath again. then repeat for up to 8 sets. currently I stair climb ( its right handy there in the house!) when I started I could only go up and down 3 times before I had to stop. yesterday I did seven ! I can only do about 4 sets before I'm exhausted.

the ultimate plan is to work up to doing these as Tabata Sprints: 20 seconds on as fast as you can, then 10 seconds rest and repeat 8 times. Takes four minutes total. but what a workout!

you can do these sprints with anything--running, biking, stationary bike, jump rope --even pull ups or jumping jacks.

Then everyday that I don't weight lift or sprint I go for a walk or use the rowing machine or our stationary bike in a leisurely manner for a half hour or so.

I'll be reporting my stats and success ( or failure) here as a bit of accountability.

4,3,2,1

Okay I'm bored with this--it's taken me too long to get through it and the pictures are all still hiding on Seymour's computer.

4 is all the nice Christmas music--I love the more classical stuff-- King's Singer's, Ancient old English carols. the only contemporary album/artist that i like is the Carpenter's Christmas Portrait. and MAYBE Bing Crosby. Sometimes. There is a fabulous classical Christmas music station on XM digital radio that we get with our satellite system. Love it.

3 movie premiers On Christmas day Seymour and I, Seth and my sister Stacey went out to Breakfast to the Jewish Deli Restaurant, Zaidy's (One of the few that was open) and had a great time. then we all went to THREE movies. we saw Benjamin Button--which we all loved, The Day the Earth Stood Still in IMAX, which was fun--but it's a pretty lousy movie. and Slumdog Millionaire--which everybody but ME loved. (I acknowledge that it is a well made movie--it just didn't do it for me--too much torture of children in it.) It was a fun way to spend the day since our big family celebration was still to come.

2: number of days I spent sick as a dog. some kind of stomach bug. kind of took some of the fun out of the holiday for me!!!!

1 TA DA--The family party. on the 28th--which happened to be the last day of Hanukkah--we
had all the kids and grandkids over for Roast beef and Latkes, Candle lighting and gift exchange.
6 grandkids opening presents is always pretty crazy--they are so cute. Then the adults do a round robin type exchange-which is always too polite for my taste--nobody steals much, which is what leads to the most laughter--which IMO is the point!!

We did all have fun.

somehow the holidays this year seemed to go on and on and --for the first tiime in my life--I was glad to have them done. I still haven't' com;completely recovered!!! LOL

5 people Tubing

For the past 16 years ( Ashley was 6 years old the first time we went) One of our most cherished traditions has been going tubing at the Christmas season..
At first-- up until just a few seasons ago, it was our Christmas Day activity. after opening presents, we would drive up to Winter Park--about a 2 hour drive from Denver, through spectacular scenery--to the
Frasier Tubing Hill. You rent a tube for an hour ( which is all the fun you can stand!) and there is a lift that drags you back up the hill. Over the years we have only missed about 3 years--once or twice because of snow storms and once we just were not in the area when I was in
Grad School. but we try very hard to go every year.

In recent years we have had to move the day we go around to better accommodate everyone--this year we went on Dec 24th--Christmas Eve day. Patience, Calvin, Rigel, Seymour and I went this year. Next year Bailey and Lennon will be able to go. ( Kids can ride with someone at age 3 and have their own tube at age 7) And we are working very hard on Seymour's kids to get them to start coming with us.
It is an absolute BLAST!!!


I'm pretty sure this is Calvin on the slope.
























and this is Rigel ready to go








and this is Seymour



I tried to get some pictures of the Scenery on our ride home and this was the best of the lot. though it doesn't really do it justice. It was like driving through a Christmas Card.

This is my FAVORITE holiday tradition

6 Hanukkah menorahs

We do indeed light six menorahs--at least for our big Hanukkah family celebration-- one for each of the grand kids that lives here to light.
(alas I have no Pictures as yet. they are all on Seymour's camera in Raw form--which won't work on this computer so he's got to process them before I can post them--but I wanted to get on with this!!!!)
I love the Hanukkah celebration and have been enchanted to add it to my holiday. The ritual of lighting th candles-with the Hebrew prayer is very moving--adn then you have all the candles. Very beautiful.

I will talk more in a later post and hopefully have a picture to add to this one soon.

7 :christmas movies

the movies I watched this year:
It's a Wonderful life--3 times
White Christmas--3 times
Miracle on 34th street the new one--twice
Miracle on 34th street the old one--twice
A Christmas Story -just once!
Love Actually
Little Women
A Christmas Carol--the one with Alistair Sims
The Muppets Christmas Carol
Scrooged
AAAAND....
my number one favorite:
Scrooge--the musical with Albert Finney
so I guess i should have put this at the 11 spot!

8:Perfect Fudge

You've all gotten a lot of fudge pictures this year. And here is another!!! I started scooping a tiny bit early but the later pieces are perfect. and so was the taste and texture. This will probably be my last year making it--I made it for Ashley--next year she can make her own

I just eat it. And I gained 15 pounds over the hols this year. Gotta stop

for those of you who wanted it here is our recipe. It is basically just the recipe from Hershey's cocoa, with slight variations at the end.

Rich Cocoa Fudge

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Line 8-or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Butter foil.

2. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil. Boil, without stirring, until mixture reaches 234°F --(IMPORTANT--we do it to 232 only!) on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water, forms a VERY soft ball which flattens when removed from water. (Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.)

3. Remove from heat. pour onto a large platter on which the butter butter and vanilla has been previously place. DO NOT STIR. Cool at room temperature to 110°F (lukewarm). Beat with a wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss. Quickly scoop with a teaspoon onto waxed paper. It helps if you have two people to do this. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature. About 36 pieces or 1-3/4 pounds.

NOTE: For best results, do not double this recipe.

9 :christmas cookies

making and decorating Christmas cookies Started for me when I was a small child and continued through my children --and now to theirs. As you can imagine--there was fierce competition among my artistic children ( and me) to make the most beautiful, clever or silly cookies. Caleb usually won. he made the CRAZIEST cookies !

Ashley demanded I send a large package to her. These are not them. (I didn't take any pictures of mine this year, though they were very beautiful if I do say so myself LOL) This picture is courtesy of Dr. Mary Dan Eades ( co-author of my favorite low carb books)--posted last year on her blog. close enough to mine to make no never mind and be decorative on the blog!!!

10: English Toffee

My Mom always made English Toffee at Christmas. she would make one batch and hide it in a high cupboard and each day for about a week or so we would each get to pick ONE piece! It was soooo good!


Way to create an overwhelming desire for something Mom! lol.

She never had one recipe but was always looking for the perfect one.
The one I used this year was very very good. and I sent it ALL to Ashley and Scott.( well, mostly all!!)

English Toffee

2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water

combine this in a large heavy sauce pan. bring to a boil stirring till sugar is melted and then boil till syrup reaches about 260 degrees.

add 2 cups of butter (4 sticks, cut into one inch pieces) a few pieces at a time stirring till melted and incorporated.

cook at a nice rolling boil till syrup is a rich brown--about the color of a brown paper bag--and the cold water test yields very crunchy, tender strings of candy. I can't give you an accurate temp, but it is over 300. the look and texture in water is a better test of done-ness. IMO

pour the candy out onto a buttered cookie sheet and let cool. Melt milk chocolate and spread over surface then cover with chopped nuts of choice. I like pecans the best.

I usually only do one side of the candy with chocolate and nuts. it doesn't need both sides, but you can if you want. crack the finished candy into pieces by hitting it with something heavy-ish like an Ice cream scoop or knife handle and you are done.

11 New Decorations

AT LEAST Eleven!!! I got tired of my tree theme. It"s been the same for over 20 years. gold and white with touches of mauve and purple: very elegant, very Victorian and covered with a TON of babies breath. I really liked it but it seemed time for a change, And I had a bunch of cute whimsical tree decorations that I had accumulated but never used ( cause they weren't gold or white or mauve or Victorian! LOL)

So enter the new tree theme. Santas ( mostly) with a touch of contemporary whimsy. bright lime green and red balls. It's really fun!
















I collected Santas from every Place we went in Oregon!

It became the theme of the tirp and I had to buy an extra bag to get all my new treasures home.

I have animal Santas and ship's captain Santas and naked Santas


this little guy is holding a banner that reads, "When you stop Believing in Santa--you get underwear for Christmas!"

there is still lots of room for more on the tree so I expect I'll be adding them for a few years.