Weigh In week 15

Note: this was edited at 5PM.

Well, down another pound! I'll take it!!




See? 27 pounds to go now!!

This past week I decided to sharply cut back on carbs, total as well as "junk" carbs. I've been keeping my carbs as close to 20g/day as possible, not going over 30g max. No artificial sweeteners, no sugar alcohols. No breads too.

I have been having a shake almost every day for breakfast. I use EAS Myoplex Carb Control Ready-to-Drink, mostly strawberry but also an occasional chocolate. I mix in egg whites and heavy cream to increase the fat and protein. I get about 1/2 my daily protein needs in just this drink. I take 1/2 my supplements with breakfast, so will occasionally have an ounce of peanuts also, to help push the pills down. Most days this isn't an issue, but if I have trouble I have to have something solid, or I'll end up with horrendous indigestion (I have esophageal spasms and other issues, which can make swallowing tough)

For lunch and dinner I have some kind of meat, usually beef, and veggies. I've been having burgers, meatloaf, roasted duck, and short ribs for my meats and mushroom, cucumber, salad greens, tomatoes, green beans and asparagus for my veggies. One day I had a second shake for dinner, but that was because of a late and large lunch (salad plus an 8oz burger with cheese and bacon).

I've been taking my supplements, and have been watching my nutritional levels in Fitday. I added Calcium and Iron to my supplement lists, as these are 2 things I was a bit deficient in. The only other deficiency I see in Fitday is in carbohydrates and fiber!

When I started this, last Saturday, I decided that on day 7, Friday, I would allow myself some kind of a treat. Well, I did that last Friday, having some (thin crust) pizza and a couple of Atkins Endulge bars. Felt lousy going to bed, and was 3# up in the morning, so next time I'll be a bit more careful. I am going to continue allowing 1 treat a week, but only one.

I still haven't measured myself, can't find my tape measure, but I have 2 pair of pants that now fit! I think I'm going to run down to WalMart and see if I can get some new pants for work. I need lightweight cotton, or maybe some jeans.

5 PM
Oh wow!!! I just got back from the store, and boy, and I happy!!!

First I went to Target....nothing. None of their tops did anything for me, and all of their pants were either Capri pants (I have very heavy legs) or heavy (winter) long pants!!! My goodness, it's not even July!!! I did, however, get a neat hand mixer for mixing my shakes.

The handle swivels for different kind of mixing.

After leaving Target, I was pretty disappointed, but decided to check out Walmart anyway. I started out looking in the Women's department, regular sizes, then went to the Plus sizes, then went BACK to the regular sizes!!! I bought 3 pair of pants, size 16, and 6 tops, all size 16/18.


I cannot tell you how excited I am!!! I literally cannot remember the last time I was able to buy clothes in the "regular" women's sizes!!!

Week 3 weigh in

Another pound gone!!! Yippee!!!

I've been following plan all week, didn't have any falls or mis-steps. I am now very comfortable in my size 18 jeans. I'd love to buy a few more pairs, but I refuse to until I get down 1 more size.

Went back to the doctor's with Brian today. It was very busy and we ended up being there for about 3hrs. Once again they took XRays, and once again there's no sign of this stabilizing. He has to have another MRI to see if there's any spinal cord or nerve root damage going on.

Brian has weakness in both hands. One of the tests the doc does is to have him gram his fingers (2 fingers) and squeeze as hard as he can. Without a lot of effort the doc can remove his fingers from Brian's grip. The doc thinks the weakness might be one of the effects of the initial injury, but it's not getting any better. He stated that if anything, Brian should have some shoulder pain, but he doesn't. He's ordered another MRI to compare with the first and see if there is anything new or worse. He also stated that if he had seen the first MRI himself he would have said Brian needed surgery!!!

This is a bit disconcerting, as we were told in the ER that the "attending orthopedic" saw the MRI and declared everything fine....pristine is actually the word they used, "his spinal cord is pristine". Now we find that it was, in fact, the radiologist that read the films.

So....once again we wait. This time to see what, if anything, the MRI shows.

The President is giving his State of the Union speech right now. I'm half listening as I write this. To me it doesn't sound as much like a SOTU speech as it does a campaign speech!!! I'm going to bed soon and will listen to the commentary on MSNBC.

Some interesting news online lately!!!

The company I work for has a web-site for Case Managers. Canopy Central is a page that's available to all, and is where the user's log in browser is redirected to when they sign into our product (Canopy). One of the things we have on that page is news articles related to medicine. I have a bit of an influence here and have been able to get a few of these articles posted there. All I do is send an email to our Marketing Director (who happens to be the woman I car pool with) and she puts the articles I send on our Canopy Central page. (Actually a link with a short description of the article).

Here's some of what's on Canopy Central today:

Carbs may explain ethnic variations in cholesterol. Ethnic differences in levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol, may be due, at least in part, to diet, a new study from Canada suggests. 01/22/2007
This is an excellent article in that it, for once, takes other things into consideration when determining how cholesterol levels are related to heart disease. Surprise surprise, it looks like carbohydrate intake is the important factor!!!

U.S. Cancer Deaths Drop Again. Cancer Deaths Down Second Straight Year, Though Still No. 2 Killer 01/18/2007
The numbers are dropping and the cures are increasing. Always good news.

The Cure for Diabetes. What if the American Heart Association endorsed the trans-fat diet? Problem, right? 01/11/2007
This is a repost of the article about Dr Mary Vernon and how she treats diabetics.

This is another article I've sent to be put on our Canopy Central page:

An Old Cholesterol Remedy Is New Again.
An interesting article about using Niacin to improve blood lipid levels.

Let's see....anything else?

Oh yea!!! My latest order of ChocoPerfection dark arrived today!!


So, I'm going to stick with what I've been doing. Following my plan and taking my supplements and weighing myself once a week.