Quasi Duathlon

Duathlon? DUATHLON?

What in the world is a Duathlon?

Well, basically it is two out of the three Triathlon events; typically running and biking only you do two running portions and one long biking portion.

On Saturday, my plan was to do a quasi Triathlon but the storm in the  middle of the night and my baby girl kicking me while she slept (I didn't) made me rethink the Triathlon....I just couldn't get out of bed to take the kids to swim so that I could get the swimming portion of the Triathlon in. Sorry folks, but I do not do open water swimming. I may run open water swimming events for local teams but I do not get in the water. 

But I got my butt in gear later that morning and decided to do a Duathlon instead!

My Duathlon consisted of a 5K on the treadmill, then an 18 mile bike ride, followed by a 5K at the Stockton University track.

What am I going to earn by completely the Duathlon? I decided that I would earn my Practically Perfect medal that's been waiting for something good!

This is such a beautiful medal and I absolutely LOVED earning it. I can't wait to get the capri pants and running shoes that match my Practically Perfect tank! PSSSS, I ordered them today, Tuesday! Don't tell Chuck! 😜

This was me after the first 5K on the treadmill. 

Going to eat some of my Pumpkin Oatmeal and then 

off to do the 18 mile bike ride around Galloway!

I'm not going to lie that bike ride was TOUGH! But I persevered and got it done! Typically I would wear a bike helmet for such a long ride but I couldn't find mine and Chuck's was too big, it just would not fit. I'm a risk it!

I only got ALMOST hit 6 times; twice by the same person. But who's counting! The fact is I made it through and that's what matters.

A few years ago I would ride my bike 16 + miles every week back and forth to weight watchers so I knew I could do this, but dam, that took it out of me. And the thought that I still have a 5K more to run before my Duathlon is over is about to send me down for the count! A bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water later, I was ready for my 2nd 5K.

I was hoping that Jesse would join me for my 2nd 5K of the day since I was running at Stockton, but he wanted no parts of it. Oh well, off to run by myself!

Not much of a smile on my face, but I did 
just complete 24.2 miles of exercise!

After having done this Duathlon, I think it is way more difficult than a Triathlon. NOW, if I had completed open water swimming for a Triathlon I may think differently, but open water swimming is just not for me.

Next time, I'm going to get my butt out of bed no matter what and do that quasi triathlon!

QUASI Triathlon - YUP!!!!!

Quasi Triathlon??????

As with true Karen form, because I do nothing easy... I do mean NOTHING, I am going to do a Quasi Triathlon this weekend on my own.

What does that mean you ask?

Let me tell you!

It means I'm a crazy ass woman who thinks starting a new exercise program means jumping in with no common sense and just "Gettin' It!". It's pretty much how I roll on most things!

YUP! While the kids are at practice on Saturday, I'm going to do my own Triathlon just to say "I did it!" And you know, why the hell not! I've got some time to kill and want to have a steak dinner with my Aunt Karen on Saturday night; so I've got to burn some calories! Not to mention I think it will be fun!

Did you say fun?

Yupppers, I SOOO did! I think exercise, all exercise, well except for burpees and mountain climbers is fun! Burpees and Mountain Climbers are NOT fun! Seriously, they are not, I don't care who you are. You may just be crazier than me if you enjoy those things!

So this Saturday I'm going to swim 1/4 mile in the pool (18 laps..lengths depending on how you like to say it), bike 11 miles around Brigantine, and then run a 5K (also around Brigantine). By the time I'm done the kids will be done practice and I may need a nap!

Who wants to join me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, who wants to join me?

A 500 Calorie Day - It's tough! 1000 Calories....still tough!

What's your Calorie Intake number?

Can you eat just 500 calories a day? What about 1000? Some swear by 1300....others say "who cares"! I've been trying to figure out the best number for me for years. It's not an easy number to figure out and to be honest it's not an easy number to stick to. 

Off and on for 6 years, has it really been that long, I've been using My Fitness Pal (MFP) to help track my calorie intake. After about a month I get so frustrated that I stop for a while and the cycle repeats. I actually just had to check when I started using MFP. It was the day after my mom's birthday, February 26, 2012. I'm sure, I was on a serious eating bender the day, probably the week before, as I have done almost every year since she passed away in 2003. As the years go on the eating benders have pretty much stopped around her birthday which I call a success. I've been celebrating her life and accomplishments more than I have been mourning her loss. I truly believe that is all part of the grieving process. BTW, don't comment on my grieving process; because it's MINE! We all grieve in different ways; no one person's is better than the other! =)

If you've read my blog over the years you know that I occasionally do the hCG diet, low carb and keto way of eating. For those that don't know, the hCG diet has the person injecting the hCG hormone once daily and then eating just 500 calories a day for 26 or 46 days depending on the amount of weight you need to lose. After the 26 or 46 days you are allowed to increase your calorie intake, up to 1000 calories per day, for the next six weeks. In that time you determine if you are going to do another round of the hCG hormone injections or if you are going to move on to maintenance. The one thing you are NOT supposed to do is go back to your old eating habits. Not an easy task! Unless of course you go right back to your bad habits...then it's easy peasy lemon squeezy! OK, WHO CAME UP WITH THAT SAYING?

Let's not kid each other, THIS IS TOUGH! It is! There's no denying it! However, the results are amazing. But, in my case, I can fall off the proverbial wagon WAY TOO EASY! Can anyone say Emotional and Stress eater? Yep, you can point my way!

My OB/GYN had been offering me the hCG diet for several years. I finally decided to do it when I saw a picture of myself dancing with Zoey in the Magic Kingdom in February 2014.  I was so disappointed in myself. Here I was about to be 40 years old and I didn't like what I saw in that picture. So about a week after I got back from Disney, I talked to my OB/GYN about the hCG diet; and I started the following week. Over the next several months I lost 53 lbs! I felt amazing, I looked amazing, and I was well on my way to a better me. That year I did what I thought was impossible, something I didn't think I would ever be able to accomplish. I ran the Atlantic City Marathon!

Ladies and Gentlemen that is 26.2 miles of running!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was my 40th birthday present to myself; Yep I'm crazy! But it was a feat I am so happy I did. I don't think I would have been able to do it without first losing that much weight and I thank Dr. C for suggesting it to me.

So fast forward four years to February 2018 and unfortunately I am right back where I was in February 2014! Over weight and on several maintenance medications; DAMMIT this is not where I want to be!  So I talked with a friend who has done hCG several times herself and she recommended an online pharmacy for the injections. It's a lot cheaper and I don't have to go to the Dr's office every week. Well that made me very happy and after the first half of the summer being a crazy merry-go-round this is exactly what I needed. I was hoping, seriously hoping, that I would have the exact same results this time around that I did back in 2014.

Well the first week was a huge success! I lost 10.6 lbs and 17.5 inches. HELLS TO THE YEAH! I was so dam happy and said "This is it; I'm going to make it!" And then the next week only 5.2 lbs and only 7 inches lost. Not too shabby! and then Nadia Food came into the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's talk my typical day of eating for a moment. 

A typical day for me is doing intermittent fasting where I don't eat anything until between 11 AM and Noon. In which I have about 200 calories, give or take for lunch.

Iceburg lettuce, sauteed chicken (in water) with spices, one mini cucumber, Walden Farms Salad Dressing and one melba toast. Believe it or not this fills me up. 

My lunch varies, but it's typically always a salad with a mini cucumber, some type of fruit (strawberries, mandarin oranges, apple, or grapefruit), walden farms dressing, and one melba toast. FYI, I do not put the grapefruit on the salad; let's face it that would be NASTY! But I do eat it on the side.

I eat a snack between 2 and 3 PM that consists of a granny smith apple or natural applesauce. If I have apples on my salad I do not have apples for snack. I will eat one of the other fruits instead.

Followed by dinner between 5 and 6 PM of again around 200 calories give or take.

I could not finish this meal! I was so full! I only ate about half of the asparagus and about half of the onions with all of the fish and salad. 

Here we have a salad with one mini cucumber and Walden Farms dressing; 3.5 ounces of Cod Fish with a light coating of cajun fish fry (definitely not part of the diet but oh so tasty and added 30 calories), sauteed asparagus (in water with spices), and some sauteed onions (in chicken broth). 

Dinners vary as well. I have fish once a week as I'm not a fish person and I have veal once a week. The rest of the week I have beef in some form or another.

Then the intermittent fasting starts again and follows through to lunch the next day.

Eating this way takes a lot of preparation and discipline. Being a stress and emotional eater doesn't always work with this way of eating. Let me say that again!

Being a stress and emotional eater doesn't always work with this way of eating.

Too many times during this round of the hCG diet I have found myself CHEATING!!!!!!!!! I was actually doing REALLY well, REALLY WELL, until my hubby needed a Nadia order! You all know, or at least have heard of our friend Nadia, Moroccan Chef.

And here we are back to Nadia and her wonderful food!

You all know, or may have guessed, that I ❤ Nadia's cooking! She's been talking about all this bread pudding that she's been making for the Hard Rock Casino and Chuck fell in love. So what does he order......well I have to order because he has a thing about talking to people, even those he knows! ;)

Bread pudding
Corn Bread
Hasha (OK so I put this on the list for the kids)
Pasta Sauce (And yes I put this on the list because Jesse and I LOVE IT)
Corn dogs (Mary wanted these)
Nadia includes homemade ice cream....I think it was banana and it was delicious!

The food smelled so good I seriously think I was put into a trance.  I am picturing one of the old Scooby Doo cartoons where Scooby and Shaggy are in a trance walking around while a Zombie (AKA some weirdo) is terrorizing innocent people). 

By the time Chuck and I got the food home I don't know how I was functioning. Guess what? I wasn't! I could not stop myself from eating, and eating, and eating, and eating. This food was in the house for several days and I just could not control myself.

WORD TO THE WISE FOLKS.....do not get Nadia food (or whatever food you love) when you are trying to diet and behave yourself. IT DOES NOT WORK! That is your PSA for the day!

It's been almost 2 weeks and I have seriously struggled to get back on track. No matter what I seem to do I can't get myself to get back tot he 500 calories a day. Well, I managed two days to do it but they weren't in a row. I am scheduled to finish my injections on August 30th and I am in fear that I will have no weight loss to show for this at all. And to be fair "Why should I"; I haven't follwed the program the way that I'm supposed to.

Here's one of the biggest downfalls for the hCG Diet and ME! I love to exercise! People look at me and they see a large woman. Their immediate thought, I know because some folks are so sweet to actually say that thought outloud, is that "wow, you don't exercise at all!" On the contrary you wonderful people! I love to exercise. I run, swim, bike, do workout videos, etc. However, when you are on the hCG Diet and only 500 calories a day you are NOT SUPPOSED TO EXERCISE but a casual walk no more than 20 minutes. Let me tell you that is very difficult for me.

My stress level and basic mental needs required me to exercise. SOOOO, since I can't seem to stick to the 500 calories a day anyway, I'm going to do an experiment with hCG.

Starting yesterday I upped my calories to 1000 per day, continued my injections, and started exercising again where I burn a minimum of 500 calories but would prefer more than that. I'm not eating those extra calories.

Now I do weigh myself every morning and I was happy to see that the scale did move in my favor this morning, albeit, not as much as I would have liked but I'll take it! Tonight I'm going back to Body Combat and can't wait to do that workout.

As for what a 1000 Calorie day looks like for me; here you go...

Intermittent Fasting until Lunch where I have a salad just like before but more of it. I could not finish this salad yesterday. I ate all the good stuff and left about 3/4 cup of the lettuce. I was just stuffed!

What's in there? 

Craisins, Shredded Carrots, Chicken, Pecans, Mandarin oranges, Walden Farms dressing

Snack was an applesauce and yogurt. I got the yogurt from the cafeteria and it was more calories than I had hoped for so I will be searching the grocery store for my own yogurt this weekend.

Dinner last night was homemade chili! Now that I am upping my calories I can go back to several of my keto friendly dishes that I love. I'm looking forward to that!

This chili is YUMMY and so EASY to make. I gave it to Mary and the kids too. 

Mary, Jesse, and I all enjoyed it. Zoey wasn't thrilled but she really doesn't like anything that isn't PBnJ or Pancakes! 

3.5 ounces of 96% lean ground beef, 1 cup crushed tomatoes, cayenne pepper, black pepper, chili powder, minced garlic, onion powder, cannelloni beans (I didn't have any kidney beans), fat free cheddar cheese and light sour cream. SO GOOD!

Don't get me wrong eating just 1000 calories a day is still seriously tough. It takes a lot of discipline to eat that little. Most folks don't realize that when you snack on cheese, nuts, and anything else you find while you are making dinner that you are putting several hundred extra calories into your system. This is an issue I have all the time!

All in all my experiment is under full swing. It's DAY TWO and we'll see how it goes from here!

Medal Monday a few days late; more like.....

...TWO MONTHS LATE

OK seriously, I started writing this post more than two months ago! WOW, just WOW! 

Every Monday morning I see all my running friends across the country posting these fabulous pictures about their weekend runs ahem....races and I rarely get the opportunity to post some medals I've earned over the weekend.

Last week, JUNE...we're talking JUNE folks, was just crazy and the weekend crazier! After several full days of travel, work, school, swim practice, and packing Chuck and I were stressed! All day on Saturday, June 9, 2018, I kept saying "When are we doing our Goonies Run?"

We had scheduled this run over a month prior on this day.

So at 8PM, dog tired, puppies barking...we headed to the Ventnor Boardwalk!

Chuck, Jesse, and myself set out around 8:30 PM to complete the Copper Bones Virtual 5K.

Here we are before our run!

What a surprise Jesse is running topless!

Chuck went for his power walk.....I can't typically keep up with him. Jesse and I did walk/run intervals and had a great Mother/Son conversation during the whole run!

When we were just past half way back Jesse looks at me and says "WOW, you are really sweating!" Thanks kid! "Of course I am, I'm old Jesse! This takes a lot of work." He replies "meh, I haven't broken a sweat yet!"

I proceeded to shove him to the other side of the boardwalk while he laughed his cute little butt off! He laughed for a good long time!

We passed Chuck a couple of times and each time Jesse says "Hi Daddy, Bye Daddy!" Jesse also, waved hello to everyone that we passed or who passed us.

When we were close to being done Jesse says "Let's sprint!" Ummmm, sorry dude but Mommy is not interested in sprinting...nor do I think I can do that. 

So Jesse sprinted the last quarter mile and yelled "WHOO HOO" when he finished.

So of course, he had to have a muscle shot at the end of the run!

Well Mommy has to have a muscle shot too! How could I not? 

Chuck finished not too far after Jesse and I. To be honest his 

power walk is like a jog for most people. He's got some powerful legs!!!!!!

My little dude with his Goonies medal and running bib! Now if I only have the time to put of his medal rack he got for Christmas! I KNOW PEOPLE, we are so behind on everything!

Chuck earned his medal too!

Can't forget the old lady; sweatin' up a storm! Man was it humid!

As always we had an excellent time and enjoyed each other's company. I know it's two months later, plus some, and Jesse has been itching to go on another boardwalk run with me. We've got to get to it! I have several Hogwart's medals to earn!!!!!!!

My Weight Loss Spreadsheet

From my Whoomp there it is 25 lbs GONNEEEE!!!!!!!!  post yesterday morning I've had several folks asking if they could have the spreadsheet I created. You most certainly can! I'm a spreadsheet junkie and LOVE to play around in Excel. It's not perfect but it's perfect for me!

Feel free to grab the spreadsheet and save it for yourself. Modify it any way you want and make it your own. Please note, that if you make changes to the formulas the spreadsheet is now yours as I won't be able to help you with any issues.

With that being said, if you don't make any changes to the formulas, you are welcome to post questions and I'll help when I can.

My original "Can you say Sreadsheet Junkie" post back in March gave some insight into this spreadsheet and how I am using it. So I won't go into that much detail here but I'll give some highlights of what you can modify, what you should modify, and what you shouldn't.

The "Intro" page gives the overall view of how you are doing. All of this information can be modified, but shouldn't. Anything in the light yellow fields are fair game and should be modified for your use. Anything in a colored or gray field should not be modified as these are formulas or values used in calculations. Definitely read all the notes I have on this page. It will help!

Definitely change your Start Date, Start Weight, and Height. Also, set all of your Weight Goals. Feel free to change your months (yes they are in gray). Keep in mind that the tab names are set in the order of the months under the weight goals, so you'll need to do some tweaking (not twerking....can you believe autocorrect tried to change that).

On the first day of each month you'll need to modify the formula in the "Current Weight", Total Lost,  and "Current BMI" fields. I haven't figured out how to get them to do it automatically so it's the one manual thing I do on the 1st of each month.  Right now the formula is "=INDEX(MAY!B3:B33,MATCH(TODAY(),MAY!A3:A33,0))". On June 1st I will change it to "=INDEX(JUN!B3:B33,MATCH(TODAY(),JUN!A3:A33,0))". Until I have some time to figure out how to have this change automatically, this is a simple change once a month.

If you look at any of the Month tabs there is one hidden columns, Column F. This column is used to help calculate the BMI and should not be changed, modified, or deleted.

In the "Weigh-In" column, I have put in projections for myself of how much weight I'm hoping to lose each day. This allows me to see just how much weight I can lose, if I work hard enough, that month. My ultimate goal is to lose 10 lbs a month. But sometimes, like this month, I'm ahead of my goal, so I set a new goal to see if I can reach it. This is all done with my projection.

To do this, all you do is go into the "Weigh-In" field and subtract a certain amount of weight within the formula. I know I said not to change any formulas! But these formulas you can change.

So for example....The B12 cell, which is the Weigh-In for tomorrow, 5/10, says that I want to lose 0.75 lbs from today's weigh-in; "=B11-0.75". If you don't care about that and just want this to be zero each day before entering your weight, you can remove the formula and it will be zero. I personally like to see the projection. You can also remove the "-0.75" and just have it equal today's weigh-in. You will be manually entering your weight in this column each day, so the formula will be overwritten anyway.

Leave everything else alone on this and all other tabs, with the exception of the initial date. The first day in the first month should be modified to the date you are using. I would recommend using full months. Everything else should auto populate.

The yellow borders, every 2 weeks is my day off! LOL! So you can get rid of that if you want. ;)

I haven't made any changes to this spreadsheet in a while and February was my trial month with it where I was working out all the kinks, so if there are errors, and I'm sure there will be, let me know and I'll take a look at it.

Again, the file can be saved from here. Have fun and enjoy!

Whoomp there it is! 25 lbs GONNEEEE!!!!!!

WHOOMP There it is

or should I say 

WHOOMP THERE IT GOES!!!!!!!!!!

I have officially lost 25 lbs in just over 3 months!

I started my current journey on February 5th weighing in at 240.4 lbs. UGH! I really never wanted to get to that point again, but it happened. Life happens, it gets in the way, and it is our job to work back and improve things for ourselves. If we want it!

Well, improve I have! 

I'm down 25 lbs (I know, I already said that....probably gonna say it again) and am now in the "Obese" BMI range. Considering I was in the morbidly obese range, or in the "REALLY OBESE" range as I like to call it, this is a huge accomplishment. And one that I have no problems shouting from the roof tops!

I'm in the OBESE BMI range! WHOO HOO!

Yes, yes I am a bit odd! You can think I'm crazy being happy to be obese, but I'm moving in the right direction. So why not sing the praises as I reach them?

I'm completely on track to meet my weight goal this month of 210 lbs. As you can see in my "Weight Goals" picture above 210 is listed twice. I was in Disney World for two weeks last month so I was really just trying to not gain any weight. I did really well and was still able to treat myself from time to time. If you are looking for something to eat at Disney World while doing a low carb, Keto way of eating, check out my "Low Carb/Keto WOE at Disney World" post. Another post will be coming soon about all the things I actually ate while there. At least the items that were low carb! ;)

When I got home, I feel as when I went off the deep end. I wanted SUGAR! I kept going for the chocolate chip cookies, needless to say I've told myself that these are POISON, and should not be eaten. It might work?!?!?!?!?! Maybe!

Now, of course, there are some nay sayers out there that keep telling me "we don't care about your weight loss", "you're going about it all wrong", "you need to eat this or eat that", "stop telling everyone".

Guess what? 

I don't care what you have to say if you are going to be a Negative Nelly! Listen, noone liked Nelly on Little House on the Prairie, so be nice! Encourage, be happy for someone, don't be a downer! If you are saying these hurtful things, maybe take a look in the mirror, and realize that those words were probably for yourself. Not saying you need to lose weight, or even change anything about yourself, just saying maybe there is something about yourself that you don't like and you are reflecting it on me.

I'm not listening (fingers in my ears)!!!!! Want to know why? I lost 25 lbs channeling Frank Sinatra because "I did it my way!" Maybe I was channeling Michael Jackson, since I'm starting with the woman in the mirror, I'm asking her to change her ways. 

Seriously, I stopped worrying about mainstream diets, and what the doctors are telling me to eat. If it was up to my doctors I would be on the Chicken, Lettuce, and Dirt diet. What is that you ask? Well, it's those three things and nothing else. Nothing fun, nothing appetizing, just nothing! YUCK YUCK YUCK! I have tried this and I was absolutely miserable! No one, I repeat, no one likes a Kranky Karen! Just ask my hubby, he'll tell you that Kranky Karen is hell on wheels.

Forget the nutritionists, who've been giving me bad advice, in my opinion. Everyone doesn't respond the same way to everything. We are all living proof of that! I've never been to a nutritionist who didn't know I was a diabetic, that's why I was there, and who didn't give me a huge list of foods that were full of carbs that they wanted me to eat. I just could never understand that!

So I've been eating low carb/keto, for the most part, over the last 3 months and have been exercising most days. I've been trying tons of new recipes....gotta give a shout of to Mellissa over at I Breathe I'm Hungry. I absolutely LOVE her recipes and make them all the time. My family is enjoying most of them as well. I visit several facebook pages that have to die for recipes, such as Yum Yum Delish LCHF Recipes and Keto Low Carb Support & Recipes Group. Also to the Keto at Disney facebook group.  On all of these pages you'll find blog posts for recipes and plenty of support.

People ask, how many carbs a day do you eat, what are your macros? You know, my counts and numbers aren't going to be the same as yours. This is trial and error. Each person has to figure out what works best for them and then go for it. But since you asked.....I try to stick to 20 carbs a day. Now I can tell you that some days I'm at 10 and other days I'm probably at 50 maybe even 75. It depends on the day, how I'm feeling, what my blood sugar count is. All I know is that I'm eating what I want, when I want, in decent proportions, I'm exercising, and I'm Feeling Good, channeling some Nina Simone.

Live your life the best way you know how! Don't worry about what the next person is doing. Don't worry about the small set backs. Think positively and move forward! Take each failure with a grain of salt and learn from it.

Here's to the next 25 lbs to lose and a better, healthier, Karen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey there race fans!!!!!!!!!!

Race? What race?

WHO KNOWS!!!! 

But it was fun to say "Hey there race fans!". 

As I'm sure many of you know I was away on vacation for the past two weeks in the wonderful and oh so magical Disney World. I have posted tons of pictures to Facebook and we just had an amazing time. To be honest I think the whole family wishes they were still there! We go back in October! WHOO HOO!

We walked 115 miles in 14 days, 13 of those days were park days. On our rest day while Chuck and the kids played in the resort pool and lazy river, I ran 5 miles on the treadmill.

I have tons to post about our trip and that will have to come later this week, probably not until the weekend. But the cool news is I'm super duper close to having a BMI that is in the "Obese" range instead of the "Really Obese" range, or what my doctor calls the "Morbidly Obese" range. I'm not fond of the "Morbidly" term so let's just say "Really". MMMM K!

Now some folks might say, "Really"....ha ha ha.....you are excited to be "obese". Well, dam skippy I am excited because I have 1.5 lbs to go and I will have reached 25lbs lost. Let me say that again....

I have 1.5 lbs to go and 

I will have reached 25 lbs lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a huge undertaking and well a seriously fantastic, over the moon, achievement! Waking up each morning and noticing that I feel lighter is so euphoric. I can feel the days where I didn't lose anything and the days where I did.

Since we've been back home from vacation, I've added some carbs back into my diet. Specifically my Granny Smith Apples. Now, of all the carb choices to add back to one's low carb diet, apples was not the best choice. HOWEVER (sing songy voice there....did ya hear it?), apples are my friend and I absolutely love them. I was so unhappy without them. 😭

So my carbs have gone from 20 or less per day to between 50 and 60 per day. What I've noticed since doing this:

• I'm happier! I sometimes dance when I'm enjoying an apple slice. 
• I've been able to have a BM much easier. TMI for some but, whatevs! A girl has got to poop! 😌
• I've been losing roughly a pound a day. This is not normal, but YEAH ME!
• Did I say I was happier?

Weight loss and the Low Carb way of life is not an easy one and I don't take any of it for granite. With that being said, I know myself very well and know that I cannot sustain a 20 carbs or less way of eating for long periods of time. I know that if I have a craving, it's best just to fulfill said craving and move on. 

I don't know how others are but when I crave something bad enough I will eat everything in sight until I have what I was craving. SOOOO, I say eat that Boston Creme Donut and get it out of your system. Or better yet, eat 2 bites of that donut, give the rest to the kids, your spouse, or throw it in the trash. But cover it with yucky stuff! Then move on about your business, don't sweat it, or better yet. Go sweat it off!

Get out there and take a walk, go for a run, bike ride, anything. Just go move!

Speaking of moving......yesterday I walked over 10 miles between 3 different walks. OK, wow, even I'm a bit confused by that statement. I walked 1 mile at work two different times, a friend and I walked 2 miles during our lunch break, that's 4 miles for those just waking up....and then I walked over 6 miles while the kids were at swim practice. I have Disney legs right now and my body needs the activity. I wanted to go for a run yesterday afternoon but apparently I got a blister during my lunch time walk. Very surprising.....so the 6 miles was slower than I would have liked.

Can you believe that my watch actually told me to "MOVE!" about an hour after I finished the 10 miles! 

I'm not kidding, it did, and I scolded my watch! I seriously think that it should know that I already did 10 miles today and therefore did not need to move at all for the remainder of the day! My husband laughed at me for talking to my watch. However, even your watch needs a good talking to every once in a while. If I had a newspaper, I may have swatted it's nose! 😏

A lot of folks ask me what I eat. I typically eat something different every single day. However, there wasn't a lot of food in the house after vacation and I seriously did not have the energy to be creative. SO, my hubby made me chicken salad from a rotisserie chicken and I picked up some cheese and pepperoni. For the most part, my eating has been the following this week:

• Breakfast: EAS AdvantEdge Carb Control Chocolate Fudge shake 
• AM Snack: 3.5 oz of granny smith apple
• Lunch: 3/4 cup homemade chicken salad (nothing fancy here, chicken, mayo, spices), 4 slices of Cracker Barrel cracker cuts, and 1/2 oz of slices deli pepperoni (about 5 slices). 
• PM Snack: 3.5 oz of granny smith apple
• Dinner: This varies but trying to stick with grilled chicken or something small, low carb and around 500 calories. 
• Bedtime Snack: Only if I need it, I'm a diabetic, so I'll have about 3 oz of granny smith apple slices. 

All of that roughly comes to about 1100 calories per day. Now, there are days, like yesterday when I ate a little more, but so far this has been the gist (do you ever have to look of that spelling....i have to all the time) of my diet this week. I keep track of everything in My Fitness Pal. 

Have a fantastic day every body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Losing weight is not easy! But I'll take the bumps in the road!

Losing weight is just not easy! I've been down this road so many times in my life and I would love for it to be easy just once! ONCE! That's all I'm asking. Why is that so hard?

BECAUSE IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure we all remember my "Hematological Mess", aka Take #432, post a couple months a go. Well although I have lost 20 lbs.....said so nonchalantly. 

YEP!

I'm gonna say it again!

20 LBS PEOPLE!

If I could have made that blink and flashy and fireworks going off I would have. Because dam! 20 lbs is a lot! Just losing 20 lbs I feel better and have dropped a pant size. Which that alone should be having me dance!

It's been a roller coaster over the last 2 months but the weight is coming off!

Courtesy of MFP weigh ins. 

I unfortunately am still a Hematological MESS! Now the doctor is only watching my white blood cells and platelets at the moment; they've been elevated and the other numbers will take a couple months to come down.

My white blood cells and my platelets don't have anything to with my weight, at least not that I'm aware of, but they are a mess and I now have to go back to my Hematologist. I'm not at all happy about this. There is no explanation other than my Essential Thrombocythemia acting up again. You said what?  Yes, I have a blood disorder called Essential Thrombocythemia. It's a mouth full I know. In a nutshell I have an unknown reason for high platelets.

Last week I was having a horrible time showing any signs of weight loss so I started doing an Intermittent Fast, IF. This helped kick my body into gear and I was able to get several pounds off and keep it off. Although I was only eating between 10 AM and 5 PM I still managed to eat around 1300 calories each day.

We leave for Disney soon and I plan to follow the same way of eating, IF and Low Carb (LC), the whole time we are there. 

My goal was to lose 10 lbs each month and I unfortunately missed that goal by a week for March. But no worries, I'm sticking to my goal of reaching 210 lbs by the end of this month. That is a lot to take in and achieve while being on vacation but I am up for the challenge.

My trusty spreadsheet and MFP will help me stay on track.

My mini goal will be to reach the "Obese" BMI category. I know, I know, some of you are saying "Why in the world does she want to get to the OBESE BMI category?" It's super simple! I'm in the REALLY OBESE BMI category right now!

If was a rough start this month, you can see the roller coaster here. But if I can stay on track I will reach the Obese BMI category, orange BMI, by Monday, April 16th! I so want to reach this goal! This is just as important to me as it was to lose 20 lbs. Being able to step down in the weight and BMI ranges is huge! ABSOLUTELY HUGE!

Seeing the "Current Weight" and "Current BMI" numbers on this page go down will be fantastic! And I for one can't wait to see that happen. It will take another month to get that "Current Weight" into the dark orange range, but that "Current BMI" within the orange range is within reach. I can taste it!

Family bike ride....wind, drizzle, hail, ramps

Who doesn't enjoy a nice quiet family bike ride on a Sunday morning. Well the Bown family does! We were all set to ride our bikes over to Stockton University for a couple of hours Sunday morning.

It started to drizzle a couple of times but stopped so we didn't think anything of it.

Unfortunately we only got about a half mile from home and Chuck says "I can't go anymore....my hands are numb from the wind. " The kids and I had worn gloves but Chuck only had his riding gloves on which means his fingers were not covered. Normally this isn't a problem at all but the wind was really strong and was whipping every where.

We decided to turn around and let the kids go on the "really big hill" that they wouldn't stop talking about. I wasn't really sure what they were talking about but after some fairly bad directions from Jesse we figured out where he wanted to go.

Once we arrived, Jesse, Chuck, and Zoey all took off down the "ramp". I on the other hand could just see myself wiping out on this snow/ice covered ramp. The picture doesn't show it that well but that was quite a bit of snow and ice. But with some egging from the kids I managed to go down the "ramp". It's actually more steep than it looks.

On the other side of this path is another ramp, which is definitely more steep that the first one and have a foot plus drop off at the bottom. I mention this to Chuck and he's "oh cool, that's more fun" and takes off.

The kids and Chuck took several turns going down each ramp but the skies were getting darker and darker.

We were a few blocks from home when the skies opened up and it started to rain. By the time we were inside it was hailing! I don't recall the last time I saw drops of hail like we had....at least not in this state. But what do my kids do?

Zoey grabs her umbrella and yells "I'm going to Kiera's" and Jesse says "I'm heading to Mo Mo's". They didn't care at all!

I managed to have a 5 minute conversation with them before the ran off.

Maybe next weekend we'll have decent weather and we'll get a real family bike ride in.

Can you say "Sreadsheet junkie!"

Don't worry if you can't say "Sreadsheet Junkie" because apparently I can't spell it, or type it rather! I typed out the heading of this post at least five times and every time I spelled it wrong. SOOOO, what's a junkie to do...just leave it and move on!

This is one of those times that my Type A personality says "meh, Ima be a diff type for the moment".

So as you ALL know, I've been getting my health back on track. Feel free to roll your eyes.....feel better? Good! Getting back on track means I spent time on a new spreadsheet to help me to get to my goal.

Some ask "Why in the world of everything that is holy do you do that?" Well, I'm gonna tell ya!

I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!

BECAUSE I CAN!!!!!!!!

Geez, there are a number of reasons but to be honest do I really need to have a reason? Some folks draw, paint, whathaveyou as a hobby or a way for them to get motivated. I like to create....and one of those ways is through a spreadsheet! Now some may feel that a spreadsheet (whoo hoo, spelled it right twice in a row...look who's on a roll!) is not creative. My feeling is you don't know all the fun tricks you can do if you feel that way....IMHO!

So here's the first page of my new spreadsheet (look at me three times the charm).

Yes, these are my stats as of February 5th. I'm not ashamed to post these numbers. Just looking at me would tell you that I've not been living a healthy lifestyle.

However, what the next page shows is that I am working on it. And that right there is worth its weight is gold!

Someone has to be saying "What's with all the Christmas Colors?" Well, like any good spreadsheet junkie the proper colors to use are red, green, and yellow. Now, since I have some intermediary stages I've also used orange. And well noone likes death, so that is listed as blue (see first image). The blue on this picture is light blue, representing the info from the previous month or starting point.

The red in the "Weigh-in" column indicates that I have not met my overall weight loss goal. But that's OK. I'm working on it and I lost 7.8 lbs in February. This picture also shows that my BMI is still in the "Really Obese" range as I like to call it. I also didn't meat my Monthly Goal of reaching 230; however, I wasn't that far off and I feel really good about February.

March is half over and the month is coming along nicely. Some fun things are happening on this sheet! First, the current date is in PURPLE! I like this because I know exactly where I need to go to enter my weight for today. Yes, there were a few days of red in the "Amt Lost" column so far. You know, when its shark week, sometimes things just don't flow. EWWWW! LMAO!

What you also see is that I have projected my weight loss (the whole month isn't shown here). BUT, if I continue to lose about a half pound a day, which is completely doable on my Low Carb way of eating (WOE), for the rest of the month I will meet my "Monthly Goal". See how it is in GREEN!

Now once, the month is over the, all the projections will be gone and the actuals will be reflected. 

If I keep working hard I will jump out of the "Really Obese" BMI range and enter the "Obese" range by the beginning of April. WHOO HOOO! That is a huge accomplishment and one I am really looking forward to celebrating!

What will I do to celebrate? I know! Go to Disney World!  I know, I know, I'm already going to Disney in April, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate my successes! I've already mapped out a plan on what to eat while at Disney so I can stay on track. If you didn't see that post, here it is!

NOW, provided I don't go ape shit crazy at Disney, and do stay on track, I will meet another milestone in May! I know, how can she be hitting another milestone already? Well, it's called planning and projection my friends. I've set myself a goal to lose 10 lbs per month. Now, I have a lot of weight to lose and I don't feel that losing 10 lbs per month is an unrealistic goal. But, if I find that this goal is just unattainable for whatever the reason, my handy dandy spreadsheet here will allow me to adjust my projections to see what I can do and when I'll be able to do it. 

June has me hitting two big milestones and I couldn't be happier! One, I'll have reached under 180 lbs and two, I'll have entered the "Overweight" BMI range. Now, for those of us that struggle with our weight, being in the "Overweight" BMI range instead of the "Obese" or higher range is HUGE, MONUMENTAL, just WOW! 

So I'm going to take that WOW moment and enjoy it. Again, if I don't make this in June, it's not the end of the world. It just allows me to continue to work hard and enjoy my spreadsheet! ;)

There's just so much green in August and I don't mean MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! 

I mean I will have hit my final two goals! Get to 150 pounds AND, AND, be in the "Mary Poppins" BMI range! yes, ladies and gentlemen I will be "Practically Perfect in Every Way!"

Now I don't know about you but I would LOVE to be Mary Poppins! BTW, one of my all time favorite movies! Can't wait for the new one to come out!

Now, what happens if I can't stop losing weight....HA HA HA HA HA HA HA....but seriously, that does happen to some folks. Their bodies just don't know when to stop. Take my hubby for example. He's still losing weight and hasn't tried for several months. He's eating more and more and still the weight is coming off, slowly, but it is. 

So I have BLUE as a bad area to be in, as in Code Blue! Yes, you see green because I'm losing but you see Blue in the "Weigh-In" and "BMI" columns because THIS IS NOT GOOD! Time eat a samwich or 2 or 3. 

My spreadsheet is set up by month and goes until January of next year. My ultimate is goal once I lose the weight is to keep it off. That will be the hardest struggle of all.

So this Mary Poppins in training is signing off to go run before the kids get home! Then the family is heading out skating! Times to break in my new purple skates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SKATES?????

Last week the Bown and Davis gangs went roller skating. Chuck and I haven't stopped talking about it and decided to purchase roller skates for ourselves. Chuck's should be here by Thursday and mine arrived yesterday.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these new skates. First the color is amazing! Second, I won't have to wear the rink skates anymore. 3rd, I've got a fun new way to get in some exercise.

I think Zoey might be a little jealous of these skates. When she saw them she said "OOOOHHHHH, can I....". I cut her off and said "No, you cannot try them. No, you cannot touch them. Mommy wants this for herself!". Zoey immediately tried to give me a pout and I simply replied "That only works on Daddy!".

Chuck had the same roller blades for 20 years and they broke about 2 years ago. He purchased some pretty snazzy ones!

Jesse really needs new skates too but he's out of the size that can be purchases at Toys R Us and he doesn't like Roller Blades. That doesn't leave us with many choices locally. The ones he found on Amazon don't have any ankle support. So we're going to see how he does with his current skates this week without having the ankle buckled. If he does OK, then we'll let him get the skates that look like sneakers. If not, we'll have to keep looking.

Here's to hoping Chuck's skates come in so we can go roller skating on Thursday night!

Could this be what helped the scale?

I changed a few things this week:

• Had a cooking weekend so I was well prepared for the week. 
• Started walking on the treadmill for 20 to 30 minutes each morning before work. 
• Continued walking with the hubby each night. 
• Got MFP Premium so I can really focus on the macronutrients and make sure I'm not going over any of my limits. 

What has this done for me?

Well, I contribute the couple of pounds I've lost so far this week to these changes. My total weight loss is currently at 11.2 pounds in one month! It's not as much as I wanted but I will take it!

My daily exercise is consisting of:

• Walk before work
• Walk at lunch
• Run or Swim after work
• Walk with hubby before bed. 

I'm getting in an average of 6 miles a day of exercise. As soon as the weather breaks I'm going to start biking as well. 

Tomorrow night, the family is going roller skating. I can't imagine what my thighs are going to feel like after 2 hours of skating! I'm looking forward to it!

Here we go, on the road again

Another month has past and another month I have messed up! I do such a great job at the beginning of the month. I'm gung ho! Ready to put my best foot forward only to miss step along the way and tumble to the ground. Well, maybe it's a loud crash! But that's neither here or there! It's definitely "THERE"!

Yesterday was an extremely LONG day. Between waking up early, working, Dr.s appointments.....I left my house at 4:30 AM and did not arrive home until 7 PM. I felt like a Zombie walking into the house. After 30 minutes of watching the voice I felt better but really just wanted to go to bed. Chuck convinced me to go for a walk. Although I was tired when we got back, I mentally felt better. Kudos to the hubby for getting me out there! I finished my 2018 Gold Challenge with a 3.2 mile walk!
As of the end of February, my 1500 miles for 2018 standings are....drum roll please!

Not too shabby! I'm staying in the 100+ miles per month. 

During the marathon of events yesterday Mary and I talked about a lot of things. One thing that came to light is she is now pre-diabetic. DUN DUN DUNNNNN! This is not a horrible thing! We can fix this! Mary did not look impressed as we began to talk. 

SOOOO, as we sat at Outback last night, just the two of us, eating a Bloomin' Onion, Bread, Filet, and a Baked Potato we discussed her eating habits. OK FINE, MINE TOO! You don't have to point fingers. ;)

Now, talking about how we need to cut back on our carbs while stuffing our face with carbs is SOMEWHAT on the ridiculous realm, however everyone has to start somewhere!

I had one bad day that led into another that lead into way too many and well February is now GONE! For another year I won't have to deal with her. SOOOOOO..........

Here we go, on the road again

Like a band of Gypsies we go down the highway

We're the best of friends

Insisting that the world keep turnin' our way

And our way is on the road again

I just can't wait to get on the road again

Just so you know, I want Mary and I to now dress like Gypsies! 

We are crazy enough to pull it off. 

What's the plan Stan? I don't know who Stan is but I love the saying. Anywho, after Mary's Dr's appointment on Friday we are going to her house where I'm going to clear out her pantry, freezer, and fridge of all things that she should not be eating. I'm also going to find the secret chocolate stash and purge that too! 

Of course, I'm going to blame it on the Gremlins and Chuck. I did nothing and you can't prove it! Actually, Chuck offered to come over and help once he gets done work so I really can blame it on him! YEAH BABY YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

Now that Mary has to get things under control, I actually have someone very close to me that needs to eat the same way I'm supposed to (Did you catch that? "Supposed to", I meant "the way I do"). And since we do tons together, including go on vacation together, it should help us both out a lot!

We already have a plan to make food and share it with each other so we aren't both cooking all the time or eating the same foods. 

Our goals.....for the month of March, Mary is starting on Friday, we are going to stay under 30 carbs a day (not net carbs, total carbs) and I'm also going to try to keep my calorie count below 1200. 

For now, I want Mary just to focus on her carb count and not worry about the calories. I'm going to help her with her menu choices. Mary is also going to get back to walking 30 minutes a day. I suggested she go to the mall and walk. By helping Mary with her menu and carb count, it will in turn help me stay on track!

Here's to March!

Keto Krate...I tried it...I liked it

While searching through numerous low carb, Keto, and Paleo friendly blogs and websites over the past few weeks I came across something called Keto Krate.

I was skeptical about this but at the same time quite intrigued. These krate and box deals are popping up all over the place. It's 100% possible that they've been around much longer than I've noticed them.

So I gave it a try, expecting to not receive my first box until early March. Well low and behold they sent me the February box. WOW! There were so many interesting items in this box and I didn't know where to start.

They send you this flyer, on very nice printed cardstock that tells you about each product in the krate, gives you a discount code and the information to where you could buy more if you wanted to. The discount codes don't expire for at least a month or more which is quite nice. This is one side of the card. The other side had more products and even provided a low carb ice cream recipe using two of the products in the box! I didn't realize this until after I had eaten one of the ingredients but will pay much closer attention next time.

Some of the items in the box are just not for me, but that's ok, I knew Chuck would try them too. So off to taste testing we went. 

Chuck and I both tried the Keto Carne, but neither of us were a fan. Chuck also tried the Olives and again not a fan. HOWEVER, he loved the Slim Jim....I know it's not the name but I can't remember what it was called and the paper is at home.

Everything else has been quite delicious. I was especially happy with the Milkadamia!

When going back to a low carb diet, the thing I miss the most is always my milk. I absolutely LOVE milk, so to not have it makes me sad sometimes. I tried the Milkadamia by itself and also with the low carb protein shake provided in the krate. Both ways were quite good. At 50 calories for 8 ounces and zero net carbs you cannot go wrong with this milk. I bought 6 boxes using the discount code on Amazon just yesterday. I'm looking forward to this order arriving!

The chocoperfection......OMG.....for a sugar free and everything free chocolate bar I WAS IMPRESSED! This was so good. Now, I try to limit my sweets, even the sugar free ones, a lot while on a low carb diet. For me this is a big bar, but luckily you can break off a square and it satisfies that sweet tooth. I will be eating the same bar for at least another week. I did however make an order from the ChocoPerfection website for the variety pack again using the discount code provided in the Keto Krate.

The last item I purchased was some SmartCakes and SmartBuns from Smart-Baking! The krate provided the Tangerine SmartCake and it was absolutely delicious. There were two cakes in the package. Although I ate both at the same time I would have been much happier with eating one and saving the other one for a day or two later. Sugar alcohols don't always agree with me so I need to spread the wealth as it were. Going on the Smart-Baking website allowed me to see all their other items and I purchased two of the variety packs with includes an assortment of SmartCakes and a package of SmartBuns. I've been missing sandwiches and I thought this could help me out. I'll be sharing these with Mary when they arrive.

All in all I'm very happy with my Keto Krate for February and can't wait to see what arrives in the March krate.

Minor Setback

Well it was bound to happen and just like that I gained 2 lbs! WHAT?!?!?!?!?! I know! I'm not thrilled about this BUT ..... I WILL NOT FEAR FAILURE! This is my body telling me "Hey, you need to adjust to the changes you've been making!".

Just a few minutes please.....my watch, and friendly reminder on my work calendar told me it was time to get up, walk, stretch, and grab some water. Be back in a few minutes.

That was REFRESHING!

Step 1 - Get myself back on track with my water intake. During the week, drinking my water is not a problem. Well, it's not a problem while I'm in the office. Once I leave the office, all bets seem to be off. Time to step up my game and keep up the water in take even when I'm out and about or at home.

Step 2 - Stop obsessing about the scale. When I was on the hCG diet I was losing a pound or more a day. I think I have that mindset right now and it is sabotaging me....insert scene from Pitch Perfect when Bumber threw the burrito and Fat Amy and yelled "SABOTAGE!" SOOOOO, no more sabotaging myself. If I get a scale win, bring it, love it, celebrate it. And if I don't, well Poo Poo on the scale and I will continue on my merry little way. Eventually I will see another scale win.

Step 3 - Be consistent with exercise. I have not been consistent with my running or swimming. Trying to get in my swim workouts is difficult because I can't always get there before practice and keeping my kids waiting until I can get in 2000 yards after their practice isn't fair to them or ideal. So I need to find a happy medium! My right ankle has been giving me some trouble lately and so the running has been slow. I've been able to walk just fine but I really want to pick up my running game.

Step 4 - MEAL PLAN. I did great with a meal plan the first two weeks and then UH OH didn't want to plan anymore. I've got to get back to that. This weekend we'll be away for a championship swim meet but hopefully I'll have some time on Sunday night to at least prepare for a couple of days.

I'm sure others out there are struggling just like me, but keep your chin up and dust yourself off when you fall.

To count it or not?????

So the scale was extremely nice to me on the first day of our four day weekend and showed that I was a 1/2 pound away from losing 10 pounds. The next day, it was mean...very very mean...and said I gained 2 lbs. Which is quite odd because I didn't do anything different. The third day it said, there's no 2 extra pounds, and I'll throw in some extra weight loss and you are now at 10 1/2 pounds lost! WHOO HOOO!

HOWEVER, this  morning the scale decided to say that I gained 2 pounds again! Once again, I didn't do anything that would have caused that. Plus I swam 2000 yards 2 days in a row, plus running. So I'm quite perplexed at this!

BUT, I'm not going to let this get me down as I know weight can fluctuate from day to day. My water in take was all over the map throughout the four days off as well. That's one good thing about being in the office is that I can watch everything I drink and eat much more closely.

Bottom line, I counted the weight loss and will continue to watch it. If the scale doesn't even out I will adjust accordingly.

1 Week In; 8 lbs Down!

This morning marks a full week completed of changing my life, again. 😉 But you know what? If we didn't keep trying we wouldn't get anywhere. There's something to be said for the statement
"Don't fear failure!" And I am no exception to that rule. I'm constantly telling my kids the same thing. It's OK to fail, it's OK to fall....except in Zoey's case she breaks things, or sprains them, or twists them....you get the idea! In all seriousness....It truly is OK to FAIL and it's Ok to FALL. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, clean up the blood if necessary, but KEEP TRYING! With all that being said I keep trying!

1 week in and 8 pounds down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In Kid Rock's words "Somebody's gotta feel this" because it feels great. I've been in a serious Kid Rock mood at work lately. I can truly see a difference in my body. I know most folks don't think you can see a difference with a small amount of loss but I can. I see it in my hands and my belly. My belly is where I have most of my weight; I'm what they call an apple shape. So this here apple, has lost some of her fiber! LOL!

What to do when you don't have a @mastersswimming workout to do? You ask your 10 y/o son to write one for you. This was a great workout and I truly enjoyed it. Jesse enjoyed "coaching" his mom! Zoey was trying to start me off for each set. It was cute to see her getting involved in the workout.

This picture is a bit off, but there were about 20 kids on deck getting ready for practice to start and I was trying not to trip over a kickboard and fall into the pull fully dressed. LOL!

After my workout and the kid's swim practice if was off to drop Jesse at home and to take Zoey to Urgent care. This wrist is just not getting any better. She had to bail out of practice early because it hurt too much. They did an xray to determine that it is not broken; however, they recommended we see Ortho because there may be something else going on with it taking this long to heal.

So Zoey is sporting a shiny new ace bandage and needs to take it easy for a few days. I'll give her until Friday morning. If she continues to complain it will be off to Ortho for us. 😢