Working up a storm....

so far? We have two rooms emptied and stripped, ready for paint. Tonight? I am not sure what room the husband will go after, or where I will sleep. But it is temporary, so I am trying to keep that in mind. We are trying to be as neat as possible under the circumstances, but when your office has been moved to the kitchen, it leads to some rather interesting furniture arrangements! I couldn't see being without the computer for ten minutes, let alone ten days, so until the last day, I will have access!

I forgot to eat lunch, so we had a "treat" supper. PC White Cheddar Mac & Cheese. Instead of the 1/4 cup of butter? I added two teaspoons, just a touch for flavour. Beet pickles are my favourite accompaniment, and since 3 slices are 20 calories, I am not ashamed to tell you that I ate as many as I wanted, and then one more!

Breakfast: 2 eggs, toast & butter, skim milk (which, is a perfectly balanced meal for me 37% fat (that's why I sometimes forget lunch...it keeps me balanced 27% protein. 36% carbs. The rest of the day, I eat complex carbs and a little protein. And of course, the new found MUFA addition to help get rid of belly fat!)

Snack: almonds

Lunch: roast beef sandwich, apple, diet pop

Supper: Mac & Cheese, pickled beets, too many chocolates, Eating Right potato crisps

Good Friends and French Chocolate

What a perfectly lovely day we have had today! We put off doing the work we have to do, and had friends join us for supper. It was a 'make do' kind of meal, so it was easy to relax and enjoy our visit. It was a real treat, because although we live in the same city, we rarely have an opportunity to get together. We had raw veggies and a meat platter to tide us over until our supper was cooked - each meat bite was 30 calories or under. Of course, I indulged and enjoyed a little beer, and yep! A little Bailey's in my coffee. My dear, sweet friend brought some wonderful dark chocolate that I have never,ever bought in my life. This was chocolate at its finest. Dark. Rich. Sooooo good - almost as good as the people who brought it!

Breakfast: eggs, toast, skim milk

Lunch: woops - for the first time in absolutely ages, I baked lemon cupcakes. SO, of course, lunch was half a lemon cupcake!

Supper: nibbles first ~ raw veggies & a tsp of dip, one slice of roast beef with horseradish sauce - very pleased with the way that worked out. One slice is only about 30 calories, including a smudge of sauce...mmmmm good! Tossed salad with *oil and vinegar dressing, 1/2 of a ciabatta bun, 1/2 bottle of beer, a chicken breast, half a cup of curried rice salad - for the first time, I replaced the sugar with Splenda, and it was still very, very good. For dessert? 1/2 cup of mixed berries, with a generous teaspoonful of coolwhip, and a lemon cupcake. And then? Oh my. Be still my heart. French dark chocolate. Creamy. Rich. Dark. And OOOOOOOO so good. With a good cup of coffee and 3/4 oz of Baileys Irish Cream? Could there be a better party for your palate?

Doesn't this sound like I bit the dust today? But no. Drum roll please.
Calories: 2011 calories, or 41 WW points. The fat grams were high, but for a walk on the wild side? It was well worth it! There go the Flex points!

For a great oil and vinegar salad dressing, try this one - I added tiny diced onions.

Mix all ingredients in a bottle and shake to combine:
• 1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 Cup rice vinegar
• 3 Finely minced garlic cloves (I use the stuff in a jar)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste




Then?

And just when things were going soooooo well....

My reward for good behaviour arrived in the mail yesterday. A Soprano east-west handbag, in a brass shade. Holds everything really nicely, and came with a little makeup case so you can always find your mirror and lipstick,too! The lining is an animal print, so things are much easier to see than in the traditional 'black hole'. Thank you Shopping Channel! I only have three handbags in my closet now...brass, black and my little red one. This has been my greatest challenge.
I had to go and have Chinese food last night! HOWEVER we ordered two dishes, one was diced chicken and vegetables with almonds, and chicken chop suey. But I am sure they were both loaded with salt. The scale showed a gain this morning, but I refuse to acknowledge it!

Today, I attacked the closet. I have a pile of clothing a mile high on my chair, waiting to be sorted through and folded. Next job is to wrestle into some stockings, and try on all of the shoes! I am only keeping the absolutely fabulously comfortable shoes. Amazingly, one pair has super high heels, but go figure. They feel wonderful, and I can walk in them...not forever, but long enough to get where I am going!



Hubby's office closet is now the storage area for out of season clothing, purses, bedding, shoes and boots. I am going to keep only what I use at hand in my closet, which, as it turns out? Is still far too much stuff! I really only need a few well coordinated outfits, but you have to buy a half dozen to get one that really works, it seems. While I am changing sizes, I am shopping sales only, and refuse to pay full price for something that I hope will be gone in six months!

When you are a plus size, it is very difficult to find clothing that is good quality, fit and price. The manufacturers have a captive audience and they know it. That is why you still see ghastly prints in chubby sizes. Who told these people that getting fat made you go blind? So, as I was trying on absolutely every item in the closet, I realized how many things I purchased because "it sort of works". I realized that the majority of things I bought "anyway" (colours were off, cut not quite right) are the things that languished in my closet for ages. Lesson learned mistake will not be repeated.

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk and coffee
Lunch: roast beef sandwich
Supper: ?????

Today's Menu

Yesterday I was a bit of a rebel, but today, more structure. Besides, the man is coming home and will likely have all sorts of expectations, one of them being a home cooked meal. So, here is my meal plan.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 toast, 1 butter, 1 milk 22 almonds

Lunch:1 cups of strawberries, with Splenda, of course, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Snack: Five prunes

Supper: roast pork tenderloin with potatos and gravy, salad (with olive oil) mixed veggies (celery, cauliflower, peppers, carrots - whatever else I can find to throw in the mix! I have a dandy little steamer, if I am in the mood to fish it out of the cupboard, I layer in the veggies, longer cooking ones first. Then, pour it all out on a platter to serve with butter and kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. The other favourite, is to do the veggies all together on a cookie sheet in the oven, tossed with a bit of olive oil and seasonings)

Snack: olives, antipasto and crackers
Some how, though, I am sure that Swiss Delice will slip in there too...

Now this is exciting!

I woke up this morning, and guess what? ANOTHER pound is gone. That has to be a record! I have been keeping a sharp eye on the ratio of fats/carbs/fats, and rather than not eat butter on my toast, I added a Cheerios snack at night! Not only am I losing the pounds all of a sudden, my sugar levels are better. Ah ha. That could be it. My sugars are happier, so they let the fat cells go? I am like a dog with a bone on this one...I have to figure out what the heck is going on and why I have had a plateau that has lasted just about a year! So far, this seems to be the theory du jour.

The problem with Weight Watchers, as I see it, is that it isn't specific enough. For the money that you spend, it wouldn't kill them to have a site as good as Fitday to track your calories, etc. I guess for most, it works, but FD seems to be the answer for me. After the first few days of entries, you are set up to keep track of every morsel that goes into your mouth. There is a "custom" feature that lets you enter the exact nutrients for each food you eat, so there are no "guesstimates" necessary. I have already entered my breakfast. Everything including my multivitamin pill! I have noticed that magnesium and potassium are lacking so I am going to try to remedy that - the strawberries in the frig will be a tasty lunch and source of the missing nutrients! How easy it is to choose what to eat, if you have a bit of knowledge.

You know, I thought I was eating well before...now? I am eating even even more, and more often. If only I could keep up the pace of these past few days! These pounds would vanish pretty quickly! But, I do expect ups and downs to come my way again. My one wish for the fall is to fit into my Cotton Ginny jean outfit, no matter what my weight! So far, my goal of losing eleven pounds by September 30 is looking very possible!

There is a feature in the program, that lets you set your weight goal, adjust the date and it gives you a calorie amount to aim for in order to reach that goal. Even if you are a couch potato you burn enough calories to "buy" luxuries in your diet, like butter on your toast or a scoop of ice cream. You know, I really don't need a lot, but boy, do I need quality! Knowing exactly what I have to spend makes life so much easier!