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26 October 2009

5-HTP update...

Ok - so I just wanted to post a very quick update.
I started taking the 5-HTP on Thursday evening. I really didn't sleep that night - but I didn't expect it to work THAT fast...

Friday night & Ssaturday night - WOW! I actually slept through most of the night!

Sunday night was decent - but I woke up around 5 a.m. that I remember...

I don't know if I'd say i've had an AWESOME night's sleep the last 3...but I can tell you it was NOT broken up by me tossing and turning and waking up at 2, 4, 6...that I can remember - and THAT is saying a lot! :D

I am still just going to keep taking 100 mg for now - and maybe in a week and a half, after being on it for 2 weeks I might up it to two 200 mg pills.

But so far so good!

I would like to also add in L-Tyrosine for the focus issues...but we'll see. I REALLY need to cut down on spending $$. :P

25 October 2009

wow...THIS is what eating FAT has done to me...

Ok - so I went clothes shopping today. I've been "putting it off" mainly because we really don't have the extra $$$ to spend - BUT honestly I've only got like 2 pair of dress pants that even fit me any more - as all the rest are getting HUGE on me. Not that I'm complaining - but we just haven't had the $$$ to buy new clothes (and probably didn't today, but I'll figure it out - lol).

Anyways - I went to Kohl's and they were having their usual "lowest prices of the season" sale (you know - the one they have EVERY week, lol)...

I took this picture of me in a pair of SIZE 10 - yes I said SIZE 10!!!! slacks! and this AWESOME button down shirt while in the dressing room.

Normally I do NOT wear button down shirts because they don't lay right and the buttons always tend to "buckle out" and just don't look right because of my darned wide shoulders...but I bought this one because - if I do say so myself - it looked FABULOUS!!!

Now - here's my comparison shots...
Me - now - today - Sunday October 25, 2009 - 165 lbs

&

Me - beginning shot - January 03, 2009 - 197 lbs




Seriously THIS is what eating FAT has done to me?!!! It just kills me to think - WHY didn't I do this sooner??!!! I wasted YEARS of eating low-fat JUNK FOOD and never enough calories - always trying to do what "they" say to do...and yet I could NOT lose the weight...yet now I'm doing the OPPOSITE of what the gov't and the "food pyramid" says - I'm eating LOTS of yummy healthy for you FAT - yes even SATURATED fat. I do NOT eat grains (c'mon 6 servings a day???!!!!!!) - I eat TONS of red meat - and THIS is what it's done for me!!! :D

Who knew that actually EATING REAL food with FAT in it and NOT micromanaging every morsal of food that went into my mouth could do this?! lol. :D

It really is amazing. I will NEVER go back to ANY other way of eating EVER again! :D

23 October 2009

The Diet Cure / Mood Cure pt 2

Ok - so I have these books at home and I KNOW I'm going to have to order them off of amazon!

I'm a few chapters into the Diet Cure and it just makes SO much sense! Right now I'm only taking the 5-HTP. I got it yesterday in the mail and took one 100 mg pill last night around 5.

I think it was making me feel in a good mood last night - but that coulda just been placebo affect. lol

I didn't sleep at all last night - but I never do...I'm sure it'll take a while for it to really work into my system to get the sleep-thing goin' better. :D

Plus - I'm thinking I'll take 100 mg /day for the next two weeks then up it to 200 if I don't feel any different after two weeks.

But seriously - these books are just awesome. I think, too, I might look into L-Tyrosine in the future (for the focus thing) but not til after I completely finish these books and decide whether or not I truly need it.

that is all for now. later!

18 October 2009

"The Mood Cure", 5-HTP and other vitamins...

Ok so I try to take vitamins I think I need...obviously (for the most part) vitamins that people take are taken of their own accord and not necessarily what their doctor told them they need or are deficient of.

I WAS taking a multi-vitamin (centrum silver) but I threw those out today. I actually only took a few of those total and I haven't taken really any since my surgery. My ear doc told me to stop all vitamins two weeks prior to and two weeks post of my surgery...so the multi I'd only JUST bought before they told me to stop them...and really even when I began slowly bringing my vitamins back inTO my diet, I just didn't really start the multis...for some reason the centrum silver just makes me feel weird. :(
So as of right now I am NOT taking a multi-vitamin.

Here is the list of vitamins I currently take and why I THINK I need them...lol. :P

Omega-3 Fish Oil 1200 mg - 2/day (total 2400 mg) - 1 in the morning and 1 at night
One reason I take fish oil is because my eye doctor suggested I take Fish & Flaxseed for my dry eye.
Clinical studies also show that DHA and EPA help lower triglycerides, slow the buildup of atherosclerotic plaques, lower blood pressure slightly, as well as reduce the risk of death, heart attack, and arrhythmias.
Fish oil can also help with fat-burning.

Flaxseed oil - 1300 mg - 2/day (total 2400 mg) - 1 in the morning and 1 at night
Flaxseed is another omega-3 oil and again, my doc recommended I take this to help with the dry eye.
The cells of the body need omega 3 fatty acids because cell membranes are built from omega-3's and they help protect the membranes as well. The brain is largely composed of fats made from essential fatty acids and they are called phospholipids. These oils are essential for the function and structure of the brain. Cognition, memory, moods and concentration can be improved with these oils.

btw, I have dry eye since having lasik surgery done in 2003 (I am also on a prescription eye drop)...

Tonalin XS-CLA - 1 g - 5/day (total 5 g) - 2 at breakfast, 2 at lunch & 1 at dinner (only taking these for about 1 week now)
The first reason I started CLA is mainly for it's ability to reduce body fat. CLA is a fatty acid essential to the human body. It stands for Conjugated Linoleic Acid. Again, it has been shown - through studies - that CLA greatly helps reduce fat and promotes lean muscle mass.

Vitamin D - 2000iu - 2/day (total 4000 iu)
Basically, most people are deficient in Vitamin D. So knowing that I burn very easily from the sun - and the sun is the best source OF Vitamin D, I take this in pill form.

L-Glutamine Powder - 4500 mg/heaping tsp - 1/day - at breakfast in my hot tea or coffee
The first reason is that in the book, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution - Dr. Atkins suggests using L-Glutamine to help with carb cravings.

NSI CoQ10 + Alpha Lipoic Acid + Acetyl L-Carnitine - 1/day at lunch
  • Acetyl L-Carnitine - 250 mg
  • Alpha Lipoic Acid - 250 mg
  • Co-Enzyme Q10 - 200 mg

L-Carnitine is known for being a nutrient that helps the body turn fat into energy - basically a fat burner.
Alpha Lipoic Acid is known for being a nutrient that helps the body convert glucose, blood sugar, into energy.
Co-Q10 helps fight diseases and helps with energy.

Super B Complex with C - 1/day - at lunch (I only JUST bought these yesterday...)
this has:
  • Vitamin C - 150 mg
  • Thiamin (Vitamin B1) - 10 mg
    Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) - 10 mg
  • Niacin - 25 mg
  • Vitamin B6 - 4 mg
  • Folic Acid - 400 mg
  • Vitamin B12 - 15 mcg
  • Biotin - 30 mcg
  • Pantothenic Acid - 5.5 mg


B-Complex supports energy & helps offset stress. Plus it will help with the 5-HTP

And here's a list of what I JUST ordered and am waiting for these to arrive in the mail...
NSI BioAsteri Borage Oil - 1300 mg
NSI 5-HTP - 100 mg
NSI Green Tea Extract - 500 mg

The Borage Oil will help with fat burning alongside the CLA as it's a GLA - Gamma-Linolenic Acid

The 5-HTP is 5-Hydroxytryptophan is an amino acid that is used as an antidepressant, appetite suppressant and a sleep aid. I'm VERY excited about the sleep-aid part as it is supposed to help with Seratonin levels AND Melatonin levels.
My sleep is AWEFUL! I do have insomnia and some nights I'm lucky to get 3 hours total of sleep. Usually it's like this: "hey - it's 2 a.m....look it's 4 a.m....look at that it's 6 a.m...."

And the Green Tea Extract is for its anti-oxidant properties as well as fat-burning properties.



NOW - the "Mood Cure"...I have been researching this book all weekend - as it was suggested on my low-carb friends board (along with the 5-HTP. What I know about this book so far is it has REALLY helped a LOT Of people with their emotions and sleep habits. Now I'm not sure if I need to have the stress/anti-depressent properties, but I will admit some days I am TOTALLY stressed out, especially about money - so I think it'll be an added bonus...

Here's a link to the amazon page: The Mood Cure

Right now I've only reserved it at the library - but we will see, once I read it, if I decide to buy a copy.

WHEW. that was a long post! ok - time for sleep (haha, if i can get any...btw - I also use Valerian Root to sleep)..

10 October 2009

A good saturday & I <3 Sam's Club!!!

I had such a wonderful day today!

First - we had our most fabulous new washing machine delivered!!! When we moved into the house last year, we were 'blessed' with the house coming with ALL appliances...problem was - most of them were/are like 30some years old...we already replaced the nasty fridge with a beautiful side by side about 2 months ago...we still need to replace the dishwasher (but it does work for now. There was a washer & dryer in the basement - we got rid of the dryer immediately upon moving in as we had just bought a new dryer a year before while living in the apartment (had a washer that worked)...and got rid of that washer as it was pooping out on us, and we didn't want to drag it down the basement stairs in the house...so anywhoo - the washer that the house came with - started pooing out oil in the past couple of months, all over the floor (we need to really clean the floor) and we finally bought a new one the other night!
I'm usually not one to do the laundry (which he hates that I don't...) but I did ALL the laundry today and I LOVE this new machine! It's big enough to put our comforter in! whoohoo!

Then my fiance and I went to Menards and FINALLY got a new storm/screen door for our breezeway. Both doors in the breezeway needed/need to be replaced. We were only able to afford one - but we fixed the one that was the worst right now. Seriously - the door we replaced was falling apart and the screen had so many holes - and there wasn't a glass/storm window with the screen. it sucked. But that door is gone and the new one is AWESOME!!! :D
And I have to add that my incredible fiance spent alll afternoon installing it for me instead of watching his football! lol. :D

After we went to Menards, we went to Sam's club (right next door to Menards)...we've decided to finally really USE our deep freezer and try to stock up on meat when we can. I don't like the fact that I'm buying from Sam's - due to the fact that I'd MUCH rather eat all grass-fed beef/meat all the time - but we are on a strict budget and Sam's does have good prices on their meat...so I am turning a blind eye to knowing what commercialized meat goes through. :(

HOWEVER - that being said - I am SO happy with the amount of meat we bought today!
Ground Beef - about 6 pounds for about $14
Pork Chops - got about 14 big size chops for about $14 (these were on special)
Chicken - got about 8 big breasts for $10
Eye of Round Steaks - got 6 of these for $13
Spinach & Asiago Cheese Sausages - 18 for $9

So yeah - $60 for all that meat!!! And I LOVE having my food saver. Came straight home and portioned everything out into bags for the freezer.

This should hopefully last us about a month and a half! :D

Ok - that is all more later! :D

09 October 2009

Boneless Buffalo Wings & Taco Salad

Ok - so as promised, here is my post about the WONDERFUL induction-friendly boneless buffalo wings that I made. :D

I am also including pictures of the OMG incredible Taco Salad I had for dinner tonight.



So the Boneless Buffalo Wings that I made, I found here - on the thread for "Induction Food Porn" (about 1/3 of the way down on the page) on the LowCarbFriends.com website.

The side dish is "Fried Green Beans" - which was basically a bag of frozen green beans, fried in some olive oil with some seasoning (whatever you want) sprinkled on. Cook about 12-15 minutes.








So next...tonight I made the Zucchini Taco Bowl from the most fabulous Chleocatra's blog.

This bowl was SO crispy and OMG amazing!!!!

For the salad, I used:
Ground Beef
Shredded Lettuce
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Pico De Gallo
Chopped Cilantro
Sliced Avocado

Here is the "dough" flattened out on the cookie sheet:


Here is the "dough" on the bowl, put back in the oven:


And here is the bowl out of the oven:


Finally - the finished product:






More and more every day i really truly love low-carb - because of recipes like this - I can practically make (almost) anything low-carb!!! :D

08 October 2009

grrrr. hidden carbs...and re-commitment

ok - so I keep bouncing back and forth from 165.5 to 169.

i HATE seeing that 169 stare at me on the scale. :(

I know I've been lax on my exercising lately...as I'd rather just get home and make dinner to make sure it's ready for my fiance when he gets home...

BUT I need to re-commit myself. both to exercising and counting carbs.

I've posted above a link to "My Daily Plate" Which I will TRY to keep updated - but no promises, lol...as I just find it so nice to NOT "micro-manage" my food anymore...

BUT I keep telling myself if I can even count for one week just to make sure I'm not eating hidden carbs - then I'm good to go...

For example - I realized this morning - I switched to the lower fat mayo at whole foods - and there's 2 g carbs in it! The higher fat/regular has none...
and, of course, I've been using my trader joe's bread a bit more than usual lately - specifically the last few days for breakfast - I prefer to eat my eggs as a SANDWICH...

so I entered in all my foods today on the daily plate and I just ate 12 carbs for breakfast! That doesn't include the 3 g fiber so it's only 9 net carbs for breakfast - but that's WAYYYYY too many.

So back to the freezer my bread goes (only to be used in emergencies) and this weekend, damnit, I am going to make some GOOD atkins revolution rolls/oopsie rolls to be able to eat my egg sandwiches with in the morning!!!!

Also...even though I have finally realized that fat *is* good for you - I do think I'm eating a little too much at breakfast...

This morning - adding everything up, I had 488 calories - 37 g fat - 12 g carbs - 2 g sugar - 3 g fiber - 27 g protein...

12 g of that fat came from the Jimmy Dean's sausage patties I went back to buying...as I stopped buying the sausage links from whole foods that are a LOT less lower in everything - AND there's no antibiotics, etc in them...but truth be told - we're a little strapped for cash and so forking out $5 / box at whole foods compared to $2.50 at wally world for the jimmy dean...yeah - it sucks.

so I'm going to have to either A. do the right thing and fork out the extra money OR find something else to have for breakfast, sausage wise...

One good thing is that my belt - which has holes around the entire belt...when I first started back in January, I could BARELY use the second set of holes...now I'm at the hole sets 5 and/or 6 depending on the jeans I am wearing! :D

But I just want to get down to 160 so dang bad! I NEED to re-evaluate - start counting again (even if it's just for a short while) and really re-commit back to exercising.

I REFUSE to start slipping back and gaining a little bit here and there. NO damnit. THIS is my new lifestyle - but I just again need to re-evaluate as I feel I've gotten a little lazy and lax and allow too many little "cheats" here and there.

So again - I don't promise that my daily plate will 100% be filled out ALL the time, but I'm going to try.

Same with my bodybuilding.com that I will repost in a bit too. :D

05 October 2009

Boneless Buffalo Wings & CLA

Tonight I made the most incredible boneless buffalo wings. I will post more about these later (with food-porn pics! lol).

They're not as good as buffalo wild wings, but they're damn close! now if only i could figure out a way to make buffalo chips low carb. hehe. :D

there's enough, too, left over from dinner for me to make a salad tomorrow :)

I ordered some CLA from vitacost.com today. I've been reading a LOT about how good CLA is for you - so all I can do is take it and see!

I will post my boneless buffalo wings soon! :D

04 October 2009

Revolution Rolls, L-Glutamine & Fish Oil.

Ok, so I tried making the Atkins Revolution rolls again and they just don't turn out the way I want them to. :(
when I finally DO figure it out, I will post pics. :P

So - this week I have decided to try and hit the gym 4 out of the 5 work-days this week.
I have a jar of L-Glutamine powder I need to use, as it has been known to help with weight loss. That, and - I need to keep on with really taking my fish oil day and night too.

I weighed in this morning at 165.5 and I am still in my size 12's. I have 5.5 pounds to go to get to my goal and I just want to be in those size 10's SO bad. It's been about 2.5 months now that I've been going between 165 and 169 and now it's time to start my weight moving again. So we shall see! :P

02 October 2009

Just a quick post - Friday 02/Oct/2009

Ok - so my last post was about all the whining I just felt I needed to get outta my body - lol. :)

This is a quick post to say that I am going to really start making sure I've got "convenience" foods (so to say) for this WOE so that I will make sure I have "easy" pick up and go lunches for work.

My thing is - due to the amount of people my company has hired as of lately - there's been a huge problem with parking. There's a 'remote' parking lot we can park at but I don't like to. I used to get here at 8:30 (left house at 8) and work til 5.

Now, though, i have to make sure to leave by 7:30 or else I don't get a parking spot where I want to...the PRO of this is that I also get to leave by 4:30 p.m. - but the con is I HATE waking up early in the morning! If I could just literally get up, get dressed and leave - I would!

But - I have to feed the cat (she eats in the basement)...get dressed...make breakfast...and try to have something ready to brown bag for lunch. If I don't - I usually end up spending $$$ at the cafeteria (and I'm just sick and tired of their food cuz it's always the same and I only have so many options there being low carb...most everything on the main line is fried carbage.)

SO. Normally - in the past, before finding this fabulous new woe - I was TOTALLY into convenience foods. Lean Cuisines & Smart Ones were my lifesaver! If not those then grab a sandwich and baked chips.

I've tried to have leftovers from the night before - but since I'm trying to save $$ on dinners I normally don't make enough. (I need to figure out something here, make more than needed at night...)

But one thing I TOTALLY miss are my sandwiches...I've tried the fabulous Chleocatra's OOPSIE rolls...Oopsie Rolls on Low Carb Friends

But they just don't turn out the way I want them to. :( (need more trials! lol)

I honestly didn't realize that this recipe came from the ORIGINAL Atkins Revolution Rolls. I will be trying these and posting how they come out.
Here's the link:
Atkins Diet Revolution Rolls

But I'm hoping, if I can get mine to turn out right - that these would be GREAT to have on hand for sandwiches at lunch time. The chips - now that's still something I need to figure out...

Another recipe I MUST try is one I found on the boards for Country Fried Steak.

I will let you know how these turn out! :D