R1 P3 Day 17

So I've pretty much skipped phase three in my book. I guess you could say that I've pretty much moved on to eating whatever I want. I haven't really dived in yet but I may as well have. I weighed in at 1.5 lbs over my LDW this morning. I'm not surprised that I gained. I was thoroughly expecting a steak day. Maybe tomorrow. Not that I'm trying to have one, but I'm not exactly trying not to have one. I had an apple this morning and then the other half of my Kneader's sandwich this afternoon for lunch. I also had a frozen juice. Later, I had pretty much a whole chocolate bar minus what little I shared with my little one. I had another frozen juice and about a handful of almonds today. I had an Izze also. For dinner, which was late, I had an omelet with red bell peppers and salsa. I am tired and I just realized that I did something to my hip so my relay race is going to suck. I really should get going on running but I haven't done anything as of yet and the race is in about a month. Good thing I got the short leg or we'd be really screwed. I hope tomorrow will be a better day all the way around.

R1 P3 Day 16

So, today I weighed in at 0.5 lbs over my LDW. That is awesome considering what I ate yesterday. I have been giving myself too much liberty when it comes to food because I think I just figured that I ate junky yesterday and I was okay.  I really need to stop that frame of mind. I had a large bowl of strawberries this morning. I had a few cups of frozen juice, ham and provolone probably two or three times, 4 squares of chocolate, an Izze, half an apple, and half of a turkey, bacon avocado sandwich from Kneaders. I also had a few sips of a Kneaders smoothie. Junk. All day. I just snacked. I didn't really eat any veggies at all today except what was on my sandwich. It's sad, really. All this work and then I go back to eating junk. I did talk myself out of french fries though. I just couldn't bring myself to eat that. It really just seemed gross to me. No burgers either. I don't actually know why I even bothered to eat out. I think I'm going to have to make more of an effort to put out food or eat more vegetables. I will definitely have to find another vegetable to eat other than cauliflower mostly because I have been piling on the cheese. I am replacing one kind of junk with another. I clogged up my intestines with all the cheese and it made itself known today. I felt awful. Hopefully I won't have shot myself in the foot tomorrow. I don't have much hope though.

ETA: I forgot that I ate a lot of roasted almonds today. That's always iffy for me.

R1 P3 Day 15

I don't remember what all happened this day but I know I weighed in at 1 lb over my LDW. I walked again this day but only a short one. It was probably only two and a half miles. I know I ate junk. More pizza, apples, chocolate, and cheese. Nothing good. I think if I can just curb how much I am eating, I'll maintain or even lose weight. I guess we'll see.

R1 P3 Day 14

I gained another 0.5 lbs to put me 1.5 pounds over my LDW. I played with fire today. I had an apple late this afternoon and then an omelet with salsa. Then I had mad sugar cravings so I had 3 squares of chocolate. I drank a grapefruit Izze today, had another apple, a little bit of sandwich ham and then to make my day worse, I had 2 slices of hawaiian pizza for dinner. It's the first time since I started this diet that I've have any kind of bread. I also had one slice of Italian cheese bread. These came from Little Caesar's. I think I'm going to be hating life tomorrow. The only saving grace that I have is that I went for a one and a half hour walk this morning. It wasn't terribly brisk but I pushed a stroller. Not a jogging stroller, it was a baby stroller which was rather heavy. I am still thinking that tomorrow is not going to be great. Blech!

R1 P3 Day 13

Today wasn't terrible but I did have a gain. I guess it's more of a fluctuation. I weighed in at +1 lb above my LDW. Considering how I ate yesterday I guess I can't complain and tomorrow will be even worse for me. I see a steak day coming soon. I think for me it is more of watching my caloric intake and actually even paying attention to it. This morning I had 2 apples, later I had an omelet with salsa. I had a small amount of pistachios and cauliflower with cheese and hot sauce. I had some greek yogurt. for dinner I had a bratwurst with tomatoes. I think sheer volume will do me in tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot, I had a mad sugar craving so I had one square of chocolate. I know that's bad right now but I just did it. I guess it'll be a steak day tomorrow.

R1 P3 Day 12

It's been almost two weeks! Weird! Because I was really getting antsy to begin phase four and now I see that I'm almost there. I may still keep bread out of the picture but I would really like some rice and maybe some oatmeal. This morning was better even though I ate some questionable things yesterday. I think it's because I didn't eat as much yesterday as I have been on other days. I really haven't been keeping track of my calorie counts or carb counts because I haven't eaten out and I typically make my own food. So I just assumed that I was okay. I weighed in at my LDW again for a loss of -1.5 lbs since yesterday. I had two apples for breakfast. It seems like apples have become a staple for me. Well, an apple a day... For lunch I had cauliflower and cheese with hot sauce. And then again for an afternoon snack. I had salmon and a salad for dinner with an apple. I hope things stay at my LDW tomorrow. I would like to see some continuity regarding my weight but I haven't yet. I guess I've really only been within two pounds but still, I'd like to see my LDW for a week straight. That would be awesome. Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.

R1 P3 Day 11

This morning was pretty much what I expected. A gain, and not in a good way. I went up +1.5 lbs above my LDW. I blame the pistachios and the chocolate. Well, among other things. I guess I need to figure out a way to curb the munchies without resorting to snacking all day long. That is probably why I have gained so much weight in the past few years. I am still wondering what the guy meant in "pounds and inches" when he said "violent fluctuations" regarding weight changes after phase three. Today was interesting. We went on a day trip so there was not much sitting down to eat. We didn't eat out so that was good. I packed my own snacks but some of it was iffy. I had an apple and a half on the way, drank some water, and when we got to our destination, I had some beef jerky. I still have the munchies so I had two pieces of string cheese and then we had a late lunch of grilled chicken, salad with a sweet vinegrette dressing, and some dutch oven potatoes with carrots. I only had a little bit of the potatoes. I had another third of a piece of jerky on the way home, two more apples and a grapefruit Izze. That had 29 g of sugar in it but "no added sugar" so it claims it all came from fruit juice. We'll see what tomorrow brings. It was late when we got home but I was still hungry. I resisted the urge to eat.

R1 P3 Day 10

I guess the steak day really does work. I went back down -2 lbs back to my LDW. I had no lunch since I got up late. I had cauliflower and cheese with hot sauce for lunch with a slice of pastrami. I had a snack of greek yogurt with 2 packets of stevia. The stevia added just a little sweetness which I would have been fine with one packet normally but I was having a craving for something sweet. I had the munchies all day long it seemed. I had an apple and for dinner I made sausage with peppers. I did break down and have a little bit of pistachios earlier in the day and then to add insult to injury I had a little bit of 50% chocolate. I really should think about these things. It will not bode well for me for tomorrow.

R1 P3 Day 9

So this morning I was back up +1.5 lbs so I tried another steak day. I did eat something bad, really bad this morning at 5 am and then I didn't have anything until around 4:30 or 5:00 which was an apple. I failed to drink enough water again. I had a steak around 7:30 with broccoli and zucchini. I also had an apple and some pistachios. I really need to stop eating nuts because I think that is what is putting me over the top. They have so many carbs and I think that is making me go haywire. I will try not to eat anymore but once I start it is hard to stop. My littlest one likes them too so it's hard when I'm feeding the little one. I hope tomorrow works out better.

R1 P3 Day 8

So today I came in at +1 lb which puts me 1.5 pounds over my LDW so I almost made it to a steak day today. Thank goodness I didn't. Today did not help though. I had breakfast at Ikea with the fam today so I had eggs and bacon with just a couple pieces of potatoes. Maybe 3 or 4 at the most. Then, for lunch I had cauliflower with cheese and hot sauce. I went dress shopping today and came back and had the munchies so I had my frozen orange juice to cool off and try to reduce some of my water retention since I didn't have anything to drink while shopping. I had no fruit today, strangely, and I had a slice of pastrami. For dinner this evening I had chicken and cabbage. I might have over eaten because I was pretty stuffed afterward. I also had some pistachios. I hope my carb load doesn't put me over the top again or The Man and I are going out tomorrow and I'm doing a steak day. I really don't want to do that. Maybe I should just start drinking water and stop eating junk. I hope tomorrow is better.

R1 P3 Day 7

Today was better. I have been stressing about maintaining just because I don't want to have to start over. I came in at -1.5 lbs so I am back to half a pound over my LDW. Today I was still tired. I don't quite understand what is going on. I have been eating junk today. I had a 3 egg omelet with cheese and peppers. For lunch I had cauliflower with cheese and hot sauce. Do you see a pattern here? I even had cottage cheese today. I opted for some pistachios which I'll have to check the list to make sure that they are okay. I should probably get into the habit of doing that first. Duh! I had some orange juice today because I was having a craving for sweets. For dinner I had bacon and an apple. See...junk. I don't think I had a very redeeming day and I think it is going to show again tomorrow because I was already retaining water earlier today. Even my fingers are showing it. Earlier, I could tell my ankles were somewhat swollen and my legs too. I hope I am drinking enough water to counteract that, but probably not. I have not been in the mood to do much lately as far as household chores go. I've done laundry and cleaned off my fridge but I have so much to do and no motivation whatsoever. I don't know if I'm depressed or what. Who knows. Maybe I just need some sun. Whatever the case may be, The Man has some time off and I'm going to make the most of it. I hope.

R1 P3 Day 6

Epic FAIL!!! Today I earned the right to do my first steak day and I didn't even do that right. I was so good all through phase 2 and then I think I just got lazy on phase 3. I found out that my almonds were mega carb loaded and I'm sure my juice didn't help. So this morning I weighed in at +1.5 lbs and since I was already up half a pound that put me at my 2 lbs over. So I had every intention of doing a steak day today and I made it all the way to 4 o'clock this afternoon then I don't know what came over me. I wasn't even hungry. I was making The Man lunch for work and then I just started snacking. I had cheese and pastrami then later I had a bowl of cottage cheese. I had my dinner of steak (beef...I don't know if you can really consider it steak) and tomatoes. I had two romas. I think I even had two apples today. I don't know what is wrong with me. I hope tomorrow is better or I am really going to have to do a steak day. I took some herbs and fiber to get things going because they really aren't. I don't know what is up with that. I upped it to the highest dosage so that hopefully things start moving. I've had a headache all day and I've been having dizzy spells even after I ate. That being the case, I have been trying to drink enough water to make up for things. I'm pretty sure I was unsuccessful. So, tomorrow will be a crap shoot again and I'll probably have to do another steak day. I really hope that I don't, but it's not looking good. I really need to start exercising again. Nothing has been going on because of the weather and frankly, I've been so tired lately that I have a hard time staying up during the day. All I want to do is go back to sleep after I get the kids off to school. I'm exhausted!

R1 P3 Day 5

Today was non eventful in that I came in with no loss, no gain. I still have about 20 pounds that I would like to lose. I find it ridiculous that I have to get down to "high school skinny" in order to be at a good BMI for my height. I have been totally lazy on the exercise front. My relay race is going to suck if I don't get on it soon. At least I am doing the short run. But still, I don't want to take forever to do it so I'm going to have to step it up if I want to even be able to run the whole way.

This morning I made myself a pig by eating a 4 egg omelet with cheese and peppers again. I don't know why it seems that I am pushing the envelope every chance I get but it really seems like I am. I have been snacking on almonds all day and frankly, I finished the package. I don't know how much it was, but through the course of the day it was probably around a cup of almonds. I had a heaping spoonful of cottage cheese but mostly I had three large cups of frozen orange juice. I think that is my favorite way to have it because it's like a popsicle but it has less sugar. I know I'm not supposed to do oranges, but I really wanted some juice. I could probably make myself some lemonade as I bought some stevia but I haven't even opened up the package yet. I suppose I didn't eat lunch other than all my snacking but for dinner I had leftover beef again and tomatoes. That did it for my day so we'll see what tomorrow looks like.

I am almost done with my cycle so I hope that will help my drop any water weight I might have picked up.