Friday

Well, we end 2011 about 3 pounds lighter than we began it (at least, my January 3rd entry shows a weight of 150.3; today, I saw 147.0).  I can live with that, although I would prefer to be in the 140-145 range just now.  And I probably will be, once the sugar season ends.  I finished the toffee yesterday, thank heaven.  Talk about a siren song!  That stuff practically reached out of the drawer and grabbed me.  But it's gone now, apart from the weight I'm carrying today.

Actually, today feels like inflammation - I woke up aching from head to toe after a night of sleep interrupted by toes cramping up (the old style) and the cat walking on my hair.  I know I was awake shortly after 1 am, with toe cramps that I thought I'd got to subside before falling asleep the first time.  Not so much.  I was able to get back to sleep, but it was pretty low quality stuff, and this morning, my shoulders ache and my fingers are swollen, and I feel fairly crappy.  Took 2 Advil and 2 fish oil with breakfast, and am hoping that will help.  I think a massage is on the books for this weekend.

Here's the day's eating for yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• sausage patties
• the usual supplements
• tea with cream
• cheese
• toffee
• more toffee
• chicken breast meat
• salad with dijon vinaigrette
• white wine (1-1/2 glasses)
• Brach's mint thingies (about 5)
• strawberry ice cream (Haagen-Dasz tiny container's worth)

I should really be grateful to have only gained 0.7 pounds from that. 

Thursday

Yesterday was a serious junk-food fest; I don't know how else to describe it.  And yet, I'm down another half-pound, which is definitely a could-be-worse scenario.  146.3 this morning.  Here's the rundown:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• tea with cream
• cheese
• toffee - possibly as many as 5 pieces
• potato chips - to break the toffee chain
• deli chicken
• salad with blue cheese dressing
• dark chocolate - more of the Dove things
• Brach's mint thingies - 2 or possibly 3
• more cheese, I think

Most people would look at that list and think it was somewhat normal.  To me, it felt like wallowing in pig slop.  For which mindset I'm terribly grateful of course.

No migraine this morning, but my left eye has a slightly dilated pupil, making it feel unfocused.  My sinuses are a bit messed up this winter, so I'm blaming them for most of it.  Things could certainly be worse - I haven't caught cold in about 2 years, and whatever Lee had for the past two days has mercifully left me alone - but I would like the congestion to go away and stay away.

I misspoke yesterday about having no aches and pains; they just hadn't shown up yet.  By mid-morning, I had a bit of a hitch in my git-along from the inner and outer thigh machine.  Not much more than that, though. 

All in all, I really can't complain.

Wednesday

Hm.  Another migraine aura in my left field of vision this morning, similar to the one last Tuesday.  I may see a pattern.  Here's yesterday's eating:

• the usual supplements
• tea with cream
• cheese
• two pieces of homemade toffee (to die for good stuff)
• taco salad
• two Lindt milk-chocolate truffles
• three Brach's mint thingies
• half of a small bag of potato chips

I'm at 146.8 this morning, so the fasting is working to remove the traces of Christmas.  I had breakfast today; Lee is feeling somewhat better and was able to cook and get up at a more conducive hour.

Elizabeth and I went to the gym last night - I went partly to start ramping up for the boot camp stuff, and partly to get her to go - she needs a gym buddy or she won't go.  I walked about a half-mile at a rapid clip, then went downstairs to lift a bit - did abs, triceps (arm extensions, anyway), inner and outer thighs, and leg extensions.  Some mild stiffness in my delts or trapezius muscles this morning, nothing more than that.  Took a couple of fish oil to help with it.  We worked out fasted, and I didn't notice anything in particular - and my "fasted" state was after eating the cheese and toffee, so not all that fasted.  But I was rather hungry.

We'll keep it up, I think.  I also bought the boot camp app for my phone, to see what they think I should be doing.

As for the pattern to the migraines, I had 3 Lindt milk-chocolate truffles the day before my last one - can't say that they're "it" for sure, but it is suggestive.  I think I'll avoid them for a while.

Tuesday

Five day holiday weekend.  So, let's see.  I weighed myself on Sunday morning and was excited to see 144.9.  Unfortunately, I think the scale may have been resting on the base molding again; either that, or I pigged out big time at Christmas dinner (also a possibility), because yesterday morning, it said 149.0.  Twice - I double-checked.  Fasted breakfast more or less, yesterday, had lunch, and had cashews and cheese in lieu of dinner.  148.3 today - a slight improvement.  Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• Monday supplements
• cheese (around 10:30 am due to actual hunger)
• naked "philly cheese steak" burger at Ted's (opted for beef)
• iced tea
• a half-sour pickle (we think these are naturally fermented)
• a few spoonfuls of some really weird coleslaw
• cashews
• more cheese
• lots of hot tea throughout the day

I'm feeling like I'm fending off a cold, sort of - a bit stuffy, some vague things going on at the back of my throat, stuff like that.  Have been doubling down on the Vitamin D for the past few days, and I don't think it will get any worse.  But my throat was on the verge of sore last night, and noshing on cashews, with their salt, seemed to help a bit.

Christmas dinner was ham, cheesy-sauced potatoes, greek salad, ambrosia salad, green beans, a slice of challa (for my sister-in-law's challa, I eat wheat - and it's only once a year), and an ice-cream dessert thing.  Also wine and several glasses of champagne, so the weight makes total sense.  Apart from that, we ate pretty well over the weekend; a few sausage balls (carby, but using gluten-free Bisquick), some corn bread, and a little candy - not much at all, really.  And the weight is already backing off.

I fasted again this morning because Lee is sick (sick to his stomach; possibly food poisoning, possibly a virus of some sort) and was kind of restless last night, so I opted for 15 minutes' more sleep over food.  I think it was the right choice.  I have cheese with me, and we'll probably have taco salads for dinner; everyone (who is eating, anyway) is looking to knock at least a few pounds off.  I might go to the gym tonight, as well - maybe, anyway.  Our boot camp thingie starts in two weeks, and I'd like to be marginally strong to start out with.

Wednesday

And so we roll around to the final day of this shortened work week, with two further short weeks to go - got Monday off for Christmas and then for New Year's.  Family arrives tonight, and, if I'm honest, I am anticipating a not-so great weekend.  Too many people around, and I'm not good with crowds.  I am trying hard not to be irritable in anticipation - it may turn out fine - but I can feel it lurking in a corner, waiting to spring on me.  Paleo eating can only fix so much.

That said, here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• walnuts
• dark chocolate
• a cookie (homemade, contained wheat, I'm fairly sure)
• hot and sour soup
• teriyaki beef skewers with Chinese mustard
• popcorn (a small one, they said, but small is the new pretty big, if you ask me)
• two Brach's mint thingies
• more chocolate
• more walnuts

I brought stuff with me for the movie - we went to Sherlock Holmes after a Chinese dinner - but wanted just a small amount of popcorn.  There's no such thing anymore, apparently, and I failed to exercise self-restraint and did finish the bag. 145.7 this morning, no surprise

I think we are doing another movie tonight - Mission Impossible, before we can't on account of company with small children.  But dinner at home, first - if I heard right, stuffed peppers.

Off starting tomorrow, so I think there will be cooking in my future, as well as one Mexican dinner out, and Christmas with family.  I will try to take it easy.

Tuesday

Someone is toasting raisin bread nearby.  One of the SAD foods that I do miss occasionally is toast of any sort, but raisin toast is just piling on a bit.  I had breakfast this morning, so I'm not hungry, but it does smell good.

Back to normal yesterday, mostly.  I did eat all the cheese I brought to work and, well, here's the full scoop:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• Lindt milk chocolate truffles - 3 of them
• Meatballs with spaghetti sauce and provolone cheese
• salad with meat and dijon vinaigrette
• dark chocolate - some with blueberries
• 2 Brach's mint thingies

I believe that was it.  145.2 this morning, so much of the retained water was shed.  However, I'm still suffering from some level of inflammation this morning, I think - had an abrupt migraine aura (arcs made of sparkly triangles in my left field of vision) after drying my hair.  Took 3 advil and 2 fish oil, and ate breakfast in the dark, and it had mostly gone.  I can feel the headache threatening a bit, but think I caught it in time.  I completely buy into the threshold theory of migraine triggers, and thinking back over my long weekend, I suspect I was piling up quite the stockpile of triggers - stress, lack of/bad sleep, less-than-optimal diet, dehydration.  I'm just glad that I have a very recognizable aura, and that it's very responsive to intervention of some sort.

Had breakfast this morning - eggs-and-bacon.  I brought walnuts with me to work today, rather than cheese, since I think they're a bit less inflammatory.  It sounds as if we are eating Chinese for dinner and going to a movie after, and I'll just have to go easy on the Chinese.  Probably some hot-and-sour soup and the teriyaki beef skewers for dinner, and I'll bring more walnuts or hazel nuts to the movie.

Monday

My four-day roadtrip is complete, and I am very tired.  Thursday we brought the contents of a two-bedroom apartment down from the second floor via stairs, and out through the complex into a trailer.  Friday we attended graduation ceremonies, and Saturday and Sunday, we drove.

I ate well on Thursday, I believe; eggs and bacon, tacos?, pork osso buco and a big salad, a bit of creme brulee.  Friday was similar, although I did have an order of fries for "lunch"; dinner was chopped steak with onions and mushrooms over mashed potatoes, and I ate most of it.  Saturday I managed a naked double quarter pounder with cheese at lunch and then had Mexican food for dinner (lotsa corn - and I could tell overnight; corn seems to be very inflammatory in my system).  Sunday was eggs and bacon for breakfast, and junk food throughout the day - chocolate blueberries, a few roasted hazel nuts, and fries for lunch (which were tasty).  We had chicken and salad for dinner, and all of us went to bed well before 9 pm. 

I'm at 146.6 today, much of it general inflammation.  My feet are swollen, and I ache pretty much everywhere.  I preferred to stay in bed an extra 15 minutes this morning, so I could say I'm fasting right now, but anticipate eating later - I have cheese with me.

One thing I did notice; despite hauling quite a few boxes down the stairs on Thursday, I wasn't in the least stiff on Friday morning; I actually felt pretty great.  I hope it all qualified as "lifting heavy things" and will be interested to see the effects on my upcoming "boot camp" program, starting in about 3 weeks.

Back to the routine (sorta - not like next Sunday isn't Christmas, and not like we don't have family arriving Wednesday).  Meatballs for dinner tonight, with either spaghetti sauce or stroganoff sauce.  And more salad, I think.

Wednesday

Bummer - I didn't post a weight yesterday.  I think it was 143.3, but I could be wrong.  At any rate, it was 143.5 or .7 this morning, after a fairly intense fast.  Easy, but I didn't eat from about 8 pm Monday night to nearly 7 pm Tuesday, give or take.  Drank lots of tea, though.  Here's the details:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• double quarter pounder with cheese, no bun
• 2 peppermint nougats
• 2 dove dark chocolates
• the last 1/3 of the small bag o' potato chips

That was it.  I was still peckish when I went to bed, which is where the chips came in.  They helped - and may have helped water retention overnight.  I woke up this morning about 3:00 am, just achy - sore back and sore calves.  I don't think I've been doing much, although hauling the animals around last night might have had an effect.

Leaving tonight for Phoenix for 4 days (of which, 2 are on the road back).  Probably won't be eating wonderfully, but not an excuse to slack off, either.

Tuesday

I ended up going Christmas shopping instead of eating anything organized for dinner last night, which resulted in a not-fasting assortment of finger foods in the end.  Here's the day:

• fat-bomb smoothie
• the usual supplements
• tea with cream
• cheese
• dark chocolate
• more tea with cream
• cheese
• walnuts
• a small portion of potato chips
• peppermint nougats (only 2 last night!)
• Dove dark chocolate (also only 2)

I was not hungry this morning and needed to wrap presents (they wouldn't have got done tonight, for sure), so I fasted.  Tea with cream and supplements only - and I didn't bring any cheese with me to work.  If it gets unbearable, the dark chocolate and hazelnuts are available - but I may try to make it to dinner tonight.  Or past it, come to think of it - after getting home tonight, I have to:

• get the dogs to the kennel
• get the guinea pig to my sister's house
• rearrange the cat's feeding setup to make it easier for the neighbors to feed her
• pack for me (not much; most of my stuff went by car over the weekend)
• tidy the house
• set timers as necessary/possible
• wrap any additional items that show up in the mail/UPS today
• print my boarding pass
  
• set out the maids' Christmas bags so that they'll notice them
  

I'm sure there's more - or will be, once I get home and think of things.  What I don't see in all that is time to eat.  Hmm.  I'll figure something out, I guess.

Monday

Stevia is extremely sweet.  Almost nauseating - no, it IS nauseating in its sweetness.  I made a fat-bomb smoothie yesterday (a batch, actually) and put 3 minuscule scoops of powdered stevia in it - I'm assuming that the scoop is the equivalent of a teaspoon of sugar, or is meant to be.  The half I drank yesterday was ghastly sweet - rather like drinking pure powdered sugar.  I put more berries in the other half this morning, and it was better, but still too sweet. 

Finally tried the pickles I've been brining on the floor of the pantry - and a) they did not kill me, or make me sick, and b) they're pretty darn good!  Salty rather than sour at the moment, tasting of dill and garlic, and with a nice crunch.  And good for me - what more could anyone ask?

Here's yesterday's eating, which led to a weight of 144.4 this morning:

• fat bomb smoothie
• cheese at various times throughout the day
• a smallish portion of potato chips
• dark chocolate - about 4 pieces
• Brach's peppermint nougats - about 4 pieces
• walnuts
• half-pound burger patty with a great crust on it (just sayin)
• salad with vinaigrette

I was at 143.9 yesterday morning.  I blame the candy.  No idea what's in a peppermint nougat - I'm sure it's mostly not food - but they taste like Christmas, all by themselves, so I bought a bag.  Trying to keep consumption light - aiming for no more than 3 pieces per day.

I think that's it.

Friday

I am ecstatic to say that the dogs have returned to behaving nearly normally - I was able to get them into the backyard single-handedly last night, and they went readily again this morning.  One thing down.  Oh, and one of them ate a gift tag off a present under the tree - a very normal thing around our house, I'm sorry to admit.

Nothing particularly noteworthy yesterday; I succumbed to boredom eating and consumed the last of the fundraising candy yesterday afternoon, and it was very good.  Milk chocolate and almonds always tastes vaguely toffee-like to me.  We went out to eat again, but to a steak place, so the ingredients were more readily identifiable, and as a result, I'm still at 145.3 this morning.   Here's the breakdown:

• Paleo banana bread
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• chocolate bar (the whole one)
• almond flour shortbread cookies
• steak
• wedge salad with blue cheese dressing and bacon bits
• iced tea

That was it.  We got back rather late, watched a bit of football (not sure why, but we seem to watch it by choice this year, regardless of who's playing), and crashed for the night.  Slept well (such a blessing!).  And here I am again today, with 8 hours ahead of me, utterly unstructured.  But no chocolate handy, so maybe I will eat a bit better.

Oh!  We checked the brine-fermenting pickles last night, and the brine has clouded up properly, so I think they are working.  I'll taste one on Saturday to see how things are going - and with luck, won't die of it.  Leaving things to sit out and sort of rot on purpose is a bit scary in this day of antisepsis.  But if they worked and taste at all good, they'll be perfect for helping Lee recolonize his gut after his antibiotics run out.  He's been eating probiotic yogurt things, and they seem to be helping a bit, but the pills are intended to win in the end.

Thursday

Yesterday was another longish workday, so I did end up eating more chocolate than I would have if I'd been busy.  Not bad, otherwise.  The dogs seem - finally! - to be settling down a bit, and we got more Christmas shopping done.

Here's the day's eating:

• Paleo banana bread
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• an entire fundraising chocolate bar
• half a strawberry shake
• naked bacon cheese burger with blue cheese crumbles
• fries
• two almond-flour shortbread cookies

That was it.  145.2 this morning.

I am very happy to say that my sleep is improving - I don't think because the cold has set in outside, either.  The hot flashes have subsided again, without my having to get hormone supplements started, for which I'm grateful - not sure I really want to go there.  They may return - and they may not.  I think I'll just be glad for now that they're gone and I'm getting rested up again.

Wednesday

I realized, when the alarm went off this morning, that this was going to be one of those long weeks - it's Wednesday, and feels like we should be at Friday, already.  Two days in a row with not much to do at work, where my day's work was pretty much complete by 8:30 am.  Boredom eating prevailed yesterday - I brought cheese with me, but had chocolate and nuts as well, just to pass the time.  I hope today won't be a repeat, but it's another fairly unstructured day.

Here's yesterday's eating:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• dark chocolate (Lindt's 85%)
• hazel nuts
• pork tenderloin
• salad with meat and cheese
• blue cheese dressing
• more tea
• almond flour shortbread cookies
• more cheese
• more chocolate
• walnuts

Nothing out of the ordinary.  I am still at 145.5 this morning, which is fine.  We had banana bread and bacon for breakfast - I figure, with six eggs in the recipe, a slice is nearly the same as eating scrambled eggs.  Okay, not quite, but I probably had an egg's worth.

The dogs are behaving slightly better, but still require more maintenance than usual.  They have until Saturday to get over it - after that, it's just me at home with them; Lee's headed to Phoenix for moving the kid back and Graduation - I'll be headed there next Wednesday night (another reason it's a long week; by contrast with next week).  I don't know how much fun it will be to handle them on my own, but I'm already figuring on fasting breakfast the three workdays - it just isn't worth the trouble to even try to eat.

Tuesday

Yesterday was just a giant bowl of suckage; our dogs have been acting beyond strange of late, deciding the back yard is off limits to them, among other things, and they hit the apex of strange yesterday morning while I was in the shower, leading to a lot of stuff like carpet cleaning that normally doesn't happen before I go to work.  Since we didn't know - still don't - what was bugging them nor how to make it stop, it left me with a sense of frustration and general blues all day.  They spent the day at the vets, being looked over to make sure it wasn't an illness.  I spent the day at work, wishing I could go home, crawl into bed, and cry a bit.  Doesn't work that way, but I did what I could by going for Mexican at dinner and finishing the chips and also the rice.  Carbs are sometimes rather comforting.  And weight-inducing - I'm at 145.5 this morning.  So be it.

Here's yesterday's eating, as I can recall it:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• dark chocolate
• hazel nuts
• chips
• salsa
• cheese enchiladas with green chile
• spanish rice
• iced tea
• more chocolate

I think that was it.  By the time we got home, things were getting less strange.  One possible cause of the dogs' sudden venture into psychosis was a chirping unplugged smoke detector that had been sitting in the garage - I noticed the chirping just about the time they started fearing our back yard, so maybe there was a correlation.  The device has gone off to the dump, and we've found a way to force them outside that doesn't involve too much running, and they seemed a bit less freaked out this morning.  It doesn't help that it was -3, either, but that's not something we can control, short of moving to Florida.

Pork Tenderloin tonight - possibly from a recipe in Paleo Comfort Foods (maybe without the nut butter sauce, though?).  And Brussels Sprouts, sauteed or something.

Monday

It is 9 degrees outside.  Fahrenheit, that is.  Above zero.  Does that mean it could be worse?  Why yes, it could, but it's plenty bad enough, thank you very much.  We are still wandering around on layers of snow/ice from last week, because it's been too cold for that mess to melt and evaporate (the latter being the important bit).  On Friday, on the way from work to the car, I stepped on an invisible patch of ice with one foot and found myself losing my balance in very slow motion.  Probably that's a good thing, but I hit the ground, nonetheless, on my right hip.  Took an epsom salts bath or two over the weekend, but I still feel a bit stiff and achy and swollen.  I should have taken fish oil.

144.5 this morning - no idea where the pound came from, unless it is water from falling and becoming stiff.  I had a few carby foods over the weekend, I think, but not many.  Mashed potatoes and gravy (didn't eat all of them) on Friday night, cottage fries on Sunday morning, that I recall.  Here's yesterday's eating, which consisted of breakfast and snacks, really:

• Paleo banana bread (best batch yet, but it took nearly all the mixing bowls in the kitchen to get it that way)
• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• cottage fries
• a bit of french onion soup (no crouton, just broth)
• a swallow of pinot noir (did I mention that this was at breakfast? - we were out to brunch with friends)
• cheese
• walnuts
• potato chips (a half-cup, all told)
  
• more of those fantabulous almond-flour shortbread cookies - maybe 3 all day
• chocolate
• strawberries

I'm thinking that was it - but I could be wrong; it was a weirdly scattered day and I don't recall it clearly.

During a shopping outing on Friday, I saw that Adidas is producing "toe" shoes, similar in design to Vibrams.  But not that minimalist, either - the bottoms are very stiff and thick.  I don't think my feet would be strong enough to take advantage of the individual toes - it would be like wearing regular tennies with toe pockets in them.  Still, it's interesting that they're becoming that mainstream - and kind of a bummer to me, because I rather like wandering around in them and having people who notice them do a double-take.  On the other hand, if they do gain better acceptance, maybe the gym will allow them in the weight room again - apparently, they're verboten there just now.  And I want to wear them for our boot camp thing next month, so things could get interesting.

I have started a jar of brine pickles in the pantry - following the instructions for fermenting vegetables on the Perfect Health Diet site.  Cucumbers cut into chunks, garlic, and dill weed, in a brine that used pickling salt.  I have no idea if it will work or not, but am hopeful that I can produce something not unlike the ones at Ted's Montana Grill, which are different from your average jar-o-pickles from the grocery store.  I couldn't get unwaxed cukes, though, so the whole thing may not work.  Should be interesting, even if it doesn't produce food.

Friday

I'm getting pretty good at sleeping through hot-flashes.  I'm fairly sure I had at least one last night, and I'm equally sure that it did not wake me up.  My first awareness of being awake at all was at 4:11 am, and I went right back to sleep from there.  A good night.  It probably didn't hurt that it was well below freezing outside; I've always found that the absolute best weather for sleeping.

We ended up eating Chinese last night, although tonight a meat loaf is in the plans.  I had stuff I didn't think would result in weight gain, but I was wrong, a bit.  143.5 this morning.  Here's the day's eating:

• scrambled eggs
• turkey bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• 1/2 of a chocolate bar
• almonds
• hot and sour soup
• beef with broccoli (I think the sauce was cornstarch based)
• two spoonfuls of rice - probably less than 1/2 cup
• hot tea
• cheese
• walnuts
• chocolate

We had turkey bacon again this morning, so I'm guessing I'll be struggling with hunger again later today; it's just not very satiating, not nearly as much as bacon.  It is less trouble to cook, though, which is, I think, why we're having it just now.  I think if it continues, I'll have to double up on the heavy cream in my tea or something - maybe have cheese with breakfast, instead of (or in addition to) mid-morning/lunchtime-ish.  Some of yesterday's mid-day eating was sheer boredom, and I'm facing something similar today.  I will have to plan for ways to work around it, somehow.

Thursday

We did end up eating at home last night - Lee made nekkid cheese steaks, using a sirloin or ribeye or something, sliced up more like for Chinese food than steak sandwiches.  They tasted quite good - very authentic, expecially with the jar of Cheez Whiz to dollop over them.  That and a salad was dinner.

I did not have any cheese at work with me yesterday, which might have been a small mistake.  Instead, I ate almonds, peanuts, half a chocolate bar, and the last of the Godiva chocolate pearls that I had stashed - I was on a minor bender, actually.  143.0 this morning, so some of the Mexican food weight has gone away.  Here's yesterday in full:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• salted almonds
• half a fundraising chocolate bar (dark with almonds)
• bag of peanuts
• nekkid cheese steak (steak, peppers, onions, provolone, cheez whiz
• salad with blue cheese dressing
• a square or two of dark chocolate, possibly with pomegranate stuff

I think that was it.

I have cheese with me today - probably important, because we had turkey bacon instead of the real stuff, which means the fat content of breakfast was lowered a good bit.  It's cold out, snowing, and likely to do so all day.  I'm not looking forward to the commute home, although getting to work was not as bad as it could have been (so many things aren't).

It occurs to me that the Social Living thing we signed up for, to do 3 weeks' worth of Boot Camp, starts next month.  I should probably get back to doing wall pushups and squats or something.  Soon.