Week 8 - Notes

Keys to success:
1. TRACK WHAT YOU EAT!  Note the S/C value for everything I eat.  Do this no matter what.  Write it down on a scrap paper if necessary, just be sure to write it down.

2. Automate your meals - Setup a few specific options for each meal that is 5/2.  This makes it easy to eat.  Make specific meals for takeout or on the run.  Plan ahead of time what meals you can eat on the run from various restaurants.

My Breakfast -
A) 2 slices of WW Bread with 2 eggs scrambled, 2 slices of canadian bacon, 1/3 cup of uncle sam's cereal, dry sprinkled with Swerve and a few blackberries (5/2)

My Lunch -
A) Pizza - WW pita with mozz cheese, pepperoni; and pringles single pack (2/2)
B) Wrap - WW Wrap filled with Romaine Lettuce, cheese, chicken (grilled or chicken salad) (2/2)

More options to come later.

3. Create meals you can repeat.  This is kind of the same as #2.

I'm Back

Unfortunately I have stepped away from the program for a time.  Not entirely, but from the blog and from my daily log of meals.  I have still been eating properly, just not recording it or discussing it.  The results still have not changed.  This started last week when I lost ZERO and this last week, while I was thrilled to finally see a change on the scale, although it was just 1 pound.  But I am still nowhere near where I thought I would be by now.

But I am determined to continue.  I am listening to the success stories and reading others stories and I am going to try to maintain a positive attitude about myself and this program.  I do afterall feel better and am down a pant size from when I started and have lost and kept off 14 lbs in 7 weeks.

In evaluating myself, I have found a few open issues:
1. I still eat emotionally.  And this often occurs at night.  I used to count the number of crackers or chocolates to make sure I stick to the serving size, but over time I figured I know what 55 goldfish look like, or 1 serving of chocolates.  Realization: I need to go back to counting and putting them in a cup.

2. I need to go back to keeping a physical log of my diet.  How many carb servings and how many sugars. It will be easy because I do have a good idea of what is in what.  But I did this week 1 and lost big time.  Do it again.

3. Another damper I found is when I would find a new product and think it is great, only to learn later that it actually has HFCS or sucralose or any -lose.  What a bummer.  To be honest I would tell myself it's still better than eating the real sugars.  But I need to realize its not.  And it may be worse so avoid them both.  For example I found bread that I thought was the best only to learn it has sucralose - Ugh!  Throw it away and find something else.

4. As bad as the above issues seem, my biggest issue I think might be this: I'm not drinking enough water.  Ever since someone told me not to guzzle so much water in the morning and instead to sip it thru-out the day, I have been off track.  I'm not a sipper.  I don't like to sip.  I'm not a huge fan of drinking so much water.  I have always struggled with that and found guzzling it was my success to getting it down. I'm going to go back to this.  Rest assured, I am not OD'ing on water.  A 16-oz bottle when I wake, another bottle with breakfast.  Another before lunch.  Sobe during lunch.  And another before or during dinner.  That's 64-oz a day.  If drinking 16-oz at a time is going to be a health issue, kindly let me know, but for now that's what I'm going back to.  Otherwise I have probably only been having 16-24 oz a day of straight bottled water.  I do drink Sobe Lifewater and zevia soda also.  But these are the only things that make up my liquid intake.

By the way... I recently found that Sobe has at least 2 new flavors.  And Zevia Soda now comes in Black Cherry and it is yummy.

Well these are my open issues and I will start making some changes.  Starting with drinking a bottle of water right now.

New Meal - High Fiber / Good Protein (3/2)

This morning I had a Wrap for breakfast.  I need to go food shopping and had to make due with the food I had in the house.  This was my mmm meal:

Mission Fiber Burrito Wrap (0/2) + 21g Fiber + 8g Protein

Chicken Salad - Mayo and Chicken

Baby Spinach

Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

And my Probiotic pill.

Also 24-oz of water sipped slowly during the meal and after.

Since I had the sugars to spare, I had my VitaCraves multivit (3/0).

By the way, last night I was craving cheesecake but instead had some cream cheese on a celery stick.  It satisfied the cheese and the crunch and was decent replacement.

ThinkThin Protein Bags

Has anyone tried these?


A friend recommended them and they are in line with the "Protein Priority" but are a 0/2 for a full bar with 20g of Protein.

Below is a link the the item found at Amazon.com:  (I joined the Prime Membership to get free shipping on all orders - it's an annual fee of $79 but you get 2-day shipping for free on all Prime marked items, which includes many of the hard to find food products on our program.

thinkThin Variety Pack, 2.1-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 20)

My Priority is Protein

Listening to the class today I figured I'd take notes here to help me review...

Tips for eating out:

• Make PROTEIN and healthy fats the PRIORITY.
• Skip the bun / Skip the sauces -- I can do that!
• Make smart beverage choices (Water)
• Avoid fruit-based sauces
• Skip the fruit
• Realize you are in control - make smart substitutions and don't be afraid to ask.

Bring your own snacks for travel:

• Walnuts / Cheese / Hard-boiled Egg

Night Snack:

• Cucumber - to satisfy the need for Crunch

Losing inches but not lbs?

I am noticing that my waist is shrinking but I am not losing much weight. I lost 10 lbs in the 1st 2 weeks but then minimal 0-1 then next few weeks. However, I am not entirely discouraged because my waist is shrinking (down 2 inches off my belly). People are noticing and that is exciting to talk about the diet.

I am hitting the high fiber mark daily and taking a probiotic, and having a big salad almost daily which helps I think. I am struggling to drink the water. It was suggested I sip thru out the day instead of guzzle it but I find that hard to do.

Down a Pant Size - Woo Hoo

This morning I decided to try on an older pair of pants as my jeans have been loose lately.  They fit well, not even tight.  Woo Hoo.  I am not noticing a weight loss (from the scale) but this shows that at least I'm losing inches.  I haven't fit into these in over 2 years.  WooHoo.

Sucrose vs Sucralose

I found a great explanation of the difference that I thought I would share...

Sucrose is sugar.  Sucralose (Splenda) is chlorinated sugar; a chlorocarbon.

The term 'Chlorocarbon' is used for any chemical compound that contains both atoms of Carbon, and Chlorine. Cholocarbons are typically poisons.
Sucralose is a molecule of sugar which is chemically manipulated to surrender three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) and replace them with three chlorine atoms.

Recall what Jorge says about Chlorine to better understand the problems associated with Sucralose.

Resources:

NIH Site: Sucrose

NIH Site: Sucralose

NIH Site: Erythritol

Daily Log - Day 29 - 11/23

Ok - My morning meal today is 6/2 + 10g Fiber.

I had 2 scrambled Eggs, with 3 slices of Canadian Bacon, and a dash of sharp cheddar cheese.  That was all good protein and all 0/0.  I had 2 slices of Weight Watchers Multi-Grain Bread (0/1) + 4g Fiber.  And 1/2 Cup of Fiber One Honey Clusters (0/1) + 6g Fiber.  Also had my vits which are 3/0.  I may try to find some small vits I can swallow since I don't want to use up my sugars on these.

By the way, I had 8-oz water before breakfast and 8-oz during, so by 10 am I have had 16-oz water.  Also had my Pro-biotics for the day.

Lunch Meal - 8-oz water before meal (24 for the day so far).  Made a left over burrito: 0/2 + 21g Fiber.  Puts my day so far at 6/4 + 31g Fiber.

Be Careful about Comments

Be Careful about your Comments.  Talk about emotional eating.  Water drinking is tough for me and I was so proud of the fact that I was doing so good with water drinking until someone commented on my blog to be cautious about drinking too much water too fast.  That one comment sent me in a tailspin.  I knew in my mind that it is ok for me to do what I'm doing, but for some reason I let that comment affect me.  Maybe it's because I'm not seeing the results I hoped to see by now - I don't know.

I checked in with the BFC team and while they recommended drinking 8-oz at a time instead of 16-oz at a time, they said this is not a cause for alarm.  I am still only doing about 64-oz a day.

I'm not discouraging comments but please just be aware that your comment can have an effect.

Review: Uncle Sam's cereal

Eh -- soso.  I found this yesterday at Wegman's.  It's  (0/2) and very bland.  I am having it dry tho, without milk or anything.  I read another blog where they tried it with a Truvia packet.  I had bought the packets but hadn't used any yet.  I added a tiny bit and it helps but its still very plain but the value is very good so maybe I'll add this to yogurt or something another time, or maybe mix this with FiberOne cereal which is also high in Fiber but has some sugar (and tastes really good).  We'll see.

Review: Whole Wheat Tortilla

I had found this and bought this a week ago or so but the high fiber value actually scared me from trying it.  Again, 1 tortilla contains 21g of fiber.  I had had tacos on Friday night be dinner (on Ortega's Whole Grain Taco shells - yummy) and had left over taco beef.  So I put a little cheddar cheese and a bunch of romaine lettuce and the taco beef on a tortilla and made it into a wrap.  It was very tasty.  It was also very effective.  I had this with 16-oz of water and a Zevia Root Beer. (1/2) with 21g Fiber - Wow.

Yo-yo

I had recently starting logging my food again on thedailyplate.com.  And also logging my weight there.  The interesting thing is the pattern is typical yo-yo over the years.  See chart...

The beginning point was Oct 26, 2007 and I was on the tail end of the 6-week body makeover course.  the course worked well but the restrictions were too much and as you can see it didn't take long to go back up, even higher than when I started.   Then in April, 2008 I dieted again but that didn't last long either.  At least I didn't gain it back as fast as I had before.  In Dec, 2008 I setup a Biggest Loser Contest with some friends and while I was successful in a short time span, I wasn't l did gain it all back again over the next 7+ months.  The other factor I recall from these other diets was that the inches and pounds I lost was not so much where I needed to lose it, which is the belly.

So now I am into my 4th week of the Belly Fat Cure and have lost a total of 12 lbs so far and unofficially I think 2" off my waist.  I am ready to go down a pant size and am excited about that. I still have a ways to go but do believe I can just about reach my goal by the end of the year.

Back on Track

Woke today and did my chores.  Then had breakfast:
- 32-oz of Deer Park Water
- 1 chewable Probiotic Pill - 500,000,000 Bacteria
- 1 Cup of Fiber One Honey Cluster cereal - dry (6/2) + 13f Fiber
- 2 Fiber Gummies 
- One-A-Day VitaCraves (3/0) - for my daily vitamins


So far I am 9/2 + 18g Fiber and 32 oz water.  I know I am high on the sugar but I figure 2 things:
1) The earlier in the day the better for this is probably good.
2) I have been very good about not having sugars the rest of the day, so I can handle it.


Sometimes I have a hard time drinking the water.  But if I can do half my volume first thing in the morning, I am in good shape.  Today I downed 32-oz already (before 9am).  I feel good about that kind of start.

Off Schedule Day for me

I got out of my routine today.  I was out of the house by 6:30 am and came back at 1pm.  I ate breakfast later than normal but stayed on target with 2 scrambled eggs, bacon, and wheat toast with butter.  (0/2)  8-oz Water to drink.  But being outside for the morning, I did not drink as much water today as I should have.  In fact, I probably only had 8-oz all day.  At lunch (from home) I had a ham and cheese sandwich on the Arnold's Wheat bread I mentioned in another post (0/1) with a zevia cola (which I really like now by the way).  I also had a serving of Whole Grain Goldfish for a snack (0/1).  But all day I feel out of sync, off my routine, my schedule.  It's 8:30 pm and I'm not hungry but know I should have some dinner.  For the day I am (3/4) with 12g of Fiber.  The 3 sugars are from the One-A-Day Vitamins I take.

Probiotics: Probiotic Acidophilus 30-pk

1 Serving = 1,000,000,000 (1 Billion) good bacteria.

I have taken 4 servings of this in the last 6 days and they work.  That's all I'll say on the matter.

Fiber Find: Arnold's Bakery Light 100% Whole Wheat

 

My New favorite Bread. (2/1) + 5g Fiber for 2 slices.  Yes, the serving size is 2 slices which is great.

Today I had this with 1 slice of Provolone, and 4 slices of lunch meat, toasted and with a spinach and romaine salad on the side. Yum.

Daily Log - Day 23

Morning Meal:

Breakfast is FiberOne Cereal dry.  One-a-day gummy vite & 2 Fiber Gummies.  (9/2) + 18g Fiber

Plus 32-oz of water.

Mid-Morning Hunger - made 2 eggs and bacon (0/0).

New Fiber Find: VitaFusion Fiber Gummies 0/0

I'm a big fan of Gummy Vitamins as I have always had trouble swallowing pills.  I think it's great that so many products are coming out in chewable and gummy variety.

Ordered 2 Cases of Zevia

Ordered 2 cases of Zevia -- 1 Cola and 1 Root Beer from Amazon.  I am a Prime Member so shipping is free.  The price per case of 24 cans was $25.  This is better that the 6-pack price from my local Whole Foods, and much more convenient.  Links to this are on the left.  Other Amazon items I found but have not ordered yet are on the bottom.  The soda is due to arrive tomorrow.  I am out of this now.

I also noticed that the Sobe Lifewater is popping up in more places.  Maybe I should buy stock in Pepsi.
Found it at Wal-mart for $1 each.
Target is $1.02 each.
BJ's has them by the case of 12 for $14.99 (no deal).
Wegman's has a few flavors at $1.59 each (no deal).
I will keep my eye open for sales on this as it is a new staple in my diet.  I really like the Yumberry and Fruit Punch now.

Downloadable Daily Log Sheet

I created this PDF to help log my daily scores.  I find it helps so I can label the meals I create.  Also tracks my water and fiber intake.  Feel free to use it.

Click here to open/view/save/print the PDF file.

This image is a sample of how you might fill it out.  Values and info are not real.

Daily Log - Monday 11/16 - Day 22

Today is Weigh In Day for me.  No loss / No Gain.   I will try to stay on target better this week.  Not sure what I am doing wrong to cause no loss.  I did note a day when I stepped off the wagon but it was temporary and should not have caused a no-loss for the week.  I hope this week's results will be back on track.

Morning Meal:
Breakfast is FiberOne Cereal dry, with 3 slices of Oscar Mayer Center Cut Bacon for some protein.  Went full serving today so my morning start is 6/2 with 13g Fiber.  Also had 16-oz Water.

Lunch:
Spinach and Romaine Salad with Newmans Oil & Vinegar Dressing, + left over Chicken for protein.  (0/0)

Dinner:
Had Pepperoni Pizza - My way:
1 Weight Watchers Pita - (0/2) + 9g Fiber
Ragu Pizza Sauce - 1/2 Serving (2/0)
Mozzarillo (sp?) Cheese
7 slices of pepperoni
Mmmm - This is becoming a favorite - (2/2) with 9g Fiber.

Fell off the wagon today - Ugh

I look forward to next week's emotional eating video.  I started bad in the morning at 12/3 with 18g of Fiber, and Probiotics in yogurt.  Bad start sugar wise.  For lunch I had 15/1 by foolishly splurging at lunch but I will try to watch the rest of the day so I don't fall too hard.  Total so far is 27/4.

I think I'm partially depressed since I got on the scale this morning and gained 2 pounds back after losing 10 in the first 2 weeks.  Monday AM is my official weigh in day so I hope by then I will be able to post some loss at least.

New Fiber Find: Mission Tortilla -- WOW

Whole Wheat Tortilla from Mission Foods.  Each tortilla contains 21g of fiber.  Haven't tried them yet but plan to maybe tomorrow.  We'll wait and see how it goes.

New Fiber Find: WW Pita Pocket Bread

100% Whole Wheat Pita Pocket Bread - by Weight Watchers.
Contains 9g of Fiber in 1 Pita.  (0/2)

My first meal with this was a PIZZA.
I spread 2 tbsp of Ragu Pizza Sauce Homemade Style.
   (Serving size is 1/4 Cup (4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup))
   So this is 2/0 for 1/2 serving of sauce.
Topped with mozzerella Cheese and 7 pepperoni slices.


Total S/C = 2/2 with 9g of Fiber.   I suppose I could add broccoli for added fiber.


Another meal I had was cutting the pita open and stuffing it with lunch meat.  The meal was 0/2 with 9g Fiber.  I always try to down a 16-oz bottle of spring water before and after my meals.

Daily Log - Day 19 - Find: Fiber One Cereal - Mmm!

The idea of a Daily blog seemed good until I forgot my password and didn't wait for the recovery.   But I'm back now.

I watched the Week 4 Video although, since I'm a week behind I'm not yet in Week 4.  But what I learned was that I need to increase my Fiber intake.  I also need probiotics and prebiotics and I need to find sources of these that will work for me.  I'm not really into suppliments and pills.  Always had trouble downing even a little pill and have you seen the size of some of these horse pills out there?  Any suggestions to get around this would be welcome.

Anyway, yesterday was the first day I went over 15 sugars.  I fell off the wagon, but not too hard.  My total for the day was 27/8 instead of 15/6.  But I did have 36g of Fiber.  But it seems that I need to get the pro- and pre-biotics too.

As I've said before, Whole Foods is not a fun trip for me and I feel lost and alone in that store.  I stand there reading labels while everyone else seems to know exactly what they want.    I did look online to see what other stores might carry the items I need.  The site said Wal-mart sells Uncle Sam products, but they weren't at my local Wal-mart.  However, I did find an alternative which I think might be better: Fiber One Honey Clusters - 13g of fiber.  The official serving size is 1 Cup but if you have 3/4 Cup instead it would be 5/2 with 10g fiber.

The best part is it tastes good and when I say good I mean like normal food good, not the good that healthy people say is good.  You know what I mean.  "oh try it, it's really good" -- "but its green and lumpy" -- "oh no just drink" -- "uh ok... Blahhhh!"

Then again, that was how I first felt about Zevia Cola and now I actually like it.  So I guess as we are being trained to eat better our tastes are changing too.

Daily Log - Day 15

This morning I started with an 16-oz of Deer Park Water, and a homemade Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich (2/2 with 5 Fibers, and 27g Protein).

Here is what I used:
Arnold Select Multigrain Sandwich Thins - 1 Roll
2 Scrambled Eggs
3 Slices of Oscar Mayer Center Cut Bacon
1 Slice of Provolone Cheese

See Label For Custom Meal...

Mid-Morning, I had 16-oz of Deer Park Water.

For Lunch, I had some cooked Ground Turkey and Cheddar Cheese (0/0) with 39 Whole Grain Goldfish (1/1) making the meal a 1/1.  My subtotal for the day is 3/3.  I also downed another 16-oz of Deer Park Water.

What to do about dinner?

Eating Out: Bertucci's

Star Rating: 5 out of 5!

Went to Bertucci's and ordered the Seasonal Fall Special: Bistecca...

Grilled butterflied 8 ounces of prime beef sirloin, cooked to medium, served over baby field greens and surrounded by diced plum tomatoes flavored with our Italian herb-infused oil. $13.99

Bistecca Link

Here is a Coupon for $5 off $25 or more.

This was Very Very Good.  Figure it to be a 0/0, unless you have a role with the meal.

Product Review: Zevia Cola Root Beer

Rating: 3 out of 5


Tried the Stevia Cola and to be honest.  I didn't like it from the first sip.  It was supposed to be similar to real colas.  Nope.  I debated about the Root Beer or Cola. Guess I should have went with the Root Beer, maybe it would have been better. 


Also, at Whole Foods, I had to buy a 6-pack which was $5. Wish they had sold by the can instead.



REVISED - I had 5 cans left and decided to give it another chance and after 2 weeks of low sugar eating, this actually wasn't so bad.  I can't say I enjoyed it but I was able to drink 1/2 a can and it wasn't bad.  I suppose its an acquired taste.


REVISED Part II - Bought the Root Beer and I actually think I like the cola better although the Root Beer is good too.


It is now a decent alternative to the SOBE LifeWater.