Monday

New Year's Eve.  Normally in years past, I'd be thinking of resolutions regarding eating better and losing weight.  And again, this year, not so much.  We'll be doing some tweaks, but we've been tweaking all along, so hardly a resolution.  And I'm trying to figure out how to get some strength-improving exercise going, but if I had to bet, it will not be done at the gym - we just can't get there regularly right now.  

149.2 this morning, but no idea if that's actually an improvement over Friday or not - our scale crapped out on us and this is from the new one.  I think it is, though.  I ate pretty reasonably all weekend.  Not sure I can recall yesterday, but here's what I remember:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• wine (prosecco and pinot noir)
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• steak
  
• a few fried potatoes - maybe five
  
• mint chocolate chip ice cream
  
• two raspberries
  
• ham
  
• green beans
  
• chocolate (one almond dark chocolate cherry cluster and one meltaway square)
  
• a spoonful of coconut oil
  

I feel like there might have been more than that, but what the day amounted to was a noon brunch on an empty stomach that left me quite full for much of the rest of the day, and a very light dinner.  I don't recall snacking, but I might have done some.

Bought a copy of the Perfect Health Diet yesterday, while killing time at a bookstore before brunch.  I've always liked their website and the Jaminets seem to be level-headed and sane.  The book is also level-headed and sane, and makes a fairly compelling case for upping carbs a bit, using starches - rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tapioca.  So I'm thinking about making a slight shift.  Not sure if I want to do it now, or after Mardi Gras, though - really don't want to risk the dress not fitting if the starch should add weight initially - apparently, that happens.  In any event, the book got me considering taking coconut oil more regularly, so I added the spoonful last night and had some this morning in lieu of breakfast.  Their principle is, essentially, that if we provide ourselves with balanced nutrition, all the items that we're designed to need, hunger will diminish and we should start overcoming illnesses and what-not.  Makes sense to me.

I am fairly sure I've hit ketosis again - haven't been all that hungry over the past couple of days, which is nice.  I was easily able to sit through Les Mis on Friday without any movie snacks, and didn't miss them in the least.  So I think we're on the right track, basically.

I will be exploring the details of the tweaks I want to make here, before implementing them, I think.  One of the things that helped me so much when I first went Paleo was to have defined what I intended to do before I did it, so that I had something to base decisions on.  Of late, I've been floundering a bit, and it shows, I think.  In general, I would like to improve strength in my arms and legs, particularly, and lean out just a tad.  And nutritionally, I think I need a little less emphasis on the fatty acids and a bit more on plants.  So I'll be thinking through a plan to achieve both of those.

Friday

Back to routine yesterday - work and all that.  150.6 this morning - I've been juggling around a handful of pounds since forever, it seems.  And will continue to juggle until I drop everything - or something.  Anyway, here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• bacon (4 pieces)
  
• the usual supplements
  
• chocolate (2 stale pieces of See's candy - which I should have resisted)
  
• cheese
  
• coconut flakes
  
• beef with snow peas, no rice
  
• hot and sour soup
  
• chocolate (1 piece of a filled milk chocolate thing that Lee got for Christmas)
  

I think that was it.  We spent the evening getting drape-clad headshots of the girls for a news article about the Mardi Gras court, which was a fine distraction from boredom eating.

I started today with a fat-bomb smoothie that was light on the berries - seeing if coconut oil will be more filling for me than bacon fat.  This is based on Jamie Scott's latest post about calories and ketosis - the gist is that different people have different nutritional needs based on muscle fiber type and other body comp details.  He suggested a bit of experimentation to see what does and does not work - so I'm experimenting.  Also trying to figure out what to do about exercise - my shoulder is feeling enough better that I think it might be a good idea to lift a bit - so maybe I'll get the free weights going at home again, since our schedule makes the gym really impractical.

Thursday (I think) - first day back from vacation

A week ago, it appears I weighed over 151 pounds, and after a week of being at home with the cheese and sausage and candy, I'm down to 150.0.  It's been a struggle, but I have finally made it back into reasonable ketosis, and am hoping to start losing again.  Had leg cramps last night, and while I'm groggy this morning as a result of the lost sleep, as well as stiff and achy, darn glad to see them.  Weird, I know.

No idea what I ate yesterday, I'm sorry to say.  Bacon, cheese, chocolates, nuts, part of a filet and a salad - that might have been it.  Oh, and carrots with Alouette cheese. 

I'm thinking we need to find a way back to the gym for the next month - after all, within that period, the ball takes place, as does the parade and the cruise, and I would like very much to be in shape for all of them.  And I'm not just now.

FWIW, though, my shoulder seems to be settling down at last - the Rolfing is helping with that and lots of other things, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to work out without pain.  Going to try, anyway.

Thursday

Bona-fide fast yesterday; just tea with cream until dinner.  Gained about a pound.  Go figure.  I effing HATE menopause.  It's water - I can feel it in my ankles.

Here's the list:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• pizza-top from 3 slices - double meat, double cheese
  
• two pieces of cheddar
  
• about 8 chocolate blueberries
  
• 1 dark chocolate candy thing
  
• walnuts
  

I think that was it.  Seriously - no way I ate enough to gain weight.  And I was starving this morning; not helpful, since the dog woke us up at 3:22 am throwing up and it took the rest of the night to get back to sleep, so of course, we skipped breakfast. 

Grrrr.

Wednesday

Into ketosis yesterday morning, and right back out of it.  Three meals (unusual for me), mashed potatoes and mousse at lunch (office party), chips and salsa at dinner, chocolate after.  That's all it took.  Fasting today - on purpose, so I intend to go until dinner.  See if that helps.  150.2 this morning.  Could be worse.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements
  
• salad with Italian dressing
  
• a tomato with dressing, balsamic vinegar, and mozzarella on it
  
• pork loin, slightly gravied, probably a roux
  
• about 2 Tablespoons mashed potatoes
  
• Chocolate mousse with bits of cake clinging to it (it was embedded in the cake; I was trying to eat around that)
  
• chips and salsa
  
• guacamole
  
• chicken fajitas without tortillas - guac, sour cream, pico de gallo
  
• a little green chile
  
• about 6-8 chocolate blueberries
  

So not a great day.  My intent, through Mardi Gras, is to make most of my dinners along the meat-and-leaves lines - either a main meat dish with salad, or meat in a big-ass salad.  I'm probably still going to buy a Spanx, though - just in case.

Tuesday

I may be moving this to my Springpad; depends on whether gmail stays available from work or not.  In any event, 149.6 yesterday; 150.0 today after a semi-fast.  

Thursday

I've been off work most of the week - at home, but on vacation.  Had a physical Tuesday and wanted to report some of the results.  

• Weight at the doctor's, fully clothed, but barefoot: 152 pounds.
  
• Blood pressure: 100/70.
  
• Resting (sitting) pulse: 56.
  
• Respiration: 12 (I assume breaths/minute).
  

Haven't got the lipids back yet - possibly tomorrow.  That morning, without clothes, I weighed 150.0 at home - seems likely that jeans would weigh over a pound, so we're close.  Today, I weigh 148.6.  Good trend.

I'll be very interested to see the rest of the tests - 2 years and a bit later.

Working hard at ketosis this week - and fighting cravings.  My body really wants cookies, I think.  Fortunately, we don't have any.

Monday

Possibly the only post this week; I'm on vacation starting tomorrow.  Weight continues to hover in the upper 140s - 149.6 today after a weekend with 150.0 and 149.2, not in that order.  Working hard this week on ketosis - for me and for Lee - although we're going out to dinner with visiting family tonight, for Mexican, so things may not be good.  I'm aiming for fajitas with a side of green chile; if I'm really strong, without the side.  We shall see.

Made coconut macaroons yesterday - surprisingly easy, and sweeter than I would actually have liked.  I think I can cut down the maple syrup component a lot more if we continue to use sweetened coconut (the only kind I could find in thin shreds).  Anyway, worth another try, I think.  They had vanilla bean scrapings in them as well, and that's always good.

I cannot come up with a list of what I ate yesterday, but the macaroons may have been nearly the only carbs.  Well, maybe also the potato starch in meatballs, which were dinner.  Fairly low, I think.

Friday

149.4 this morning.  So I guess the fast was somewhat useful.  Sleep last night was not so great; the cat woke me up at 2:30 and I wasn't able to get back fully asleep  until around 4 am.  So the alarm was a rude awakening, literally.  As a result, we skipped breakfast again, and I may well skip lunch while I'm at it.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese
  
• vegetable soup
  
• cashews
  
• chocolate (milk with almonds, and chocolate coconut bark)
  

I'm fairly sure that was it.  

I can't be sure, but I think the hot flashes are looming again.  On the one hand, that should mean I can drop some weight.  On the other hand,... hot flashes.  Blecch.

Thursday

It's not like I don't know that McDonald's is a bad idea in general, so the fact that I'm up 2 pounds (151.0) from yesterday shouldn't be a surprise to me.  Double QP with cheese, no bun, small fries, small Eggnog shake for lunch.  Delish.  And maybe I don't regret it much.

Fasting today - looks like I'll make it until dinner, which will be beef-vegetable soup (it's in the Crock-Pot).  I had a brief craving for Skittles earlier today, but since I have a lot of meetings today, I wasn't able to act on it - and won't bother now (it's 3 pm).

Slept crazy-good last night - went to bed around 8 and didn't last 10 minutes, I'd guess - and slept pretty much right up to the alarm at 5:30.  I begin to think I had a lot more pain than I'd realized until the Rolfing session.  Another effect I noticed today: I can sit in an armless chair for an hour without feeling like my upper body is on fire.  This is new.  And I wish now that I'd tried it years ago.  I'll be very interested to see how the remaining 9 sessions affect me.

Yesterday also included our standard breakfast and a dinner of chicken and salad, and a chocolate candy (Godiva truffle thingie), some bark, and the last of my most recent batch of homemade eggnog  (still trying to capture the elusive "eggnog" flavor that I don't have in it) with a dribble of rum (which was not the elusive "eggnog" flavor).  So not the greatest eating day on earth.

Wednesday

I had my first Rolfing session last night - the one that concentrates on breathing, of all things.  When it was done, I stood up and felt like I'd been issued a new body.  Wow!  I'm a little stiff this morning, but not in pain, and I'm finding that I'm no longer feeling pain I didn't even know I had - that's the best way I can describe it for now, anyway.  Kind of amazing.

149.0 this morning; here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• beef jerky
  
• a bag of M&Ms (started to type, "a gag of M&Ms"; maybe that would be a better description)
  
• Chipotle barbacoa with salsa, guac, cheese, and sour cream
  
• iced tea
  

That was it.  Not quite a fast, but not much, either.  Effective in shedding a pound of something.

Tuesday

150.0 this morning; here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
  
• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements
  
• beef jerky (2 bags)
  
• taco salad with sour cream and cheese and beef
  
• egg nog (1 glass, homemade)
  
• cashews
  

I think that was it.  My head is less stuffed up and nasty, and for that, I'm grateful.

Monday

148.8 yesterday morning, the second day of reduction after a night on Advil PM (that is, I took it Friday night).  I think that the "PM" component, which is an antihistamine, has some diuretic properties, since taking Advil PM seems right now to be the ONLY effing way to make the weight go down.  150.8 this morning, and my head is stuffed up and decidedly uncomfortable.  I did some sinus irrigation yesterday that seems only to have made things worse - yippee.  So I feel like crap, I cannot get the water to go away for more than about 24 hours, and I'm frustrated.

I ate things like bacon, cheese, coconut oil, and meat and salad yesterday - the only carbs were 1 (yes, really) Nacho Cheese Dorito and a twice-baked potato half, and whatever carbs are in homemade eggnog (2 Tbsp sugar, and whatever is in 1.5 cups of milk, divided among 6 portions).  Granted, the coconut oil was in chocolate bark, but it was made with Lindt's 85% and a piece of bark probably has about 1/2 square of the chocolate in it, which equates to maybe 1 g carb, I think.  I don't have an exact list of what I ate yesterday, though; my head is so stuffed up that I can't do justice to coherent thought today.  I don't think it's an illness, but it is annoying.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow.  

Friday

Ugh.  I am in ketosis - verified that last night via some Keto-stix I had at home.  I am also swollen up and bloated and mildly constipated.  I do not feel particularly well.  Not pleasant.  And I gained weight yesterday - I'm at 150.8 right now.  Things are not going well.

But I have faith in ketosis.  I know it has worked in the past, so I am persevering.  Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• chef's salad (ham, turkey, cheese) with blue cheese dressing
  
• two or three pieces of cheese (dinner)
  
• about 2 servings of coconut flakes
  

Broken down, I'd say I had maybe 20g carbs yesterday - possibly less.  I know that I'm retaining water through some sort of hormonal hell, but I don't want to contribute to it any more than I have to.  And I successfully resisted chocolate cravings last night, so that's something.

Thursday

Dammit.  Back up to 150.2 this morning, after a day of perfect low-carb eating yesterday.  Very excruciatingly annoying.  Here's the list:

• bacon
  
• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese (gruyere)
  
• a bit more cheese (cheddar)
  
• more tea with cream
  
• hot and sour soup
  
• beef with green pepper, no rice (gummy-nasty sauce, though)
  
• more cheese (gruyere and cheddar)
  

High fat, low carb - the carbs would have been in the cheese (minimal) and the soup and the sauce, and that's it.  And the net result was 0.8 pounds up.  Irritating.

However, I read Peter Attia's blog entry yesterday, all about how ketosis works, and I will keep on with the very low carb stuff to get back into it; my brain was mush yesterday, probably indicative of low-carb flu, and I want the sharpness of ketosis back.

Wednesday

I don't know if I weighed myself yesterday or not.  Regardless, I'm at 149.4 this morning, so some improvement from Monday.  Here's yesterday's eating:

• ham and cheese omelet
  
• bacon
  
• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cashews
  
• two string cheeses
  
• beef stroganoff (no starch, just meat, mushrooms, and sauce)
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• red wine
  
• two pieces of cheese
  
• and a stupid fundraising chocolate bar
  

I'm still having trouble getting those last carbs out the door, unfortunately. But it was generally a good day, so I won't complain.  No idea what we're doing for dinner tonight.  I need to plan better, I think.  The stroganoff was composed of onions, butter, mushrooms, beef stock and wine, sliced filet mignon, and sour cream, and was oh-so-good.

Monday

I suppose that a Thanksgiving weekend where one comes out only 0.4 pounds heavier than one went in should be termed a success, but I'm still bummed.  The water, it will not leave!  150.4 this morning.  I saw 149.2 one of the mornings over the weekend, but don't recall which.  I know it's hormones, but it's annoying, and rather painful, and I want it to stop.

We did the Turkey Trot on Thursday - 4 miles in just over an hour - 1:07:55, I think.  Not bad, given that we all walked together and had the dog with us - and he was very well behaved, considering it was his first walk and first (with us, anyway) experience with large crowds.  Biz was a bit lingeringly stiff, but that might have been illness - she's been fighting a cold or something for about 3 weeks, and four days' rest gave the virus a chance to win, it appears.  Lee and I were very mildly sore on Friday, and pretty much had it all gone by Saturday.

Yesterday's eating was all over the board.  Here's a list:

• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• link sausage
  
• tea with cream
  
• cheese
  
• turkey leftovers
  
• Junior Mints (oops)
  
• steak
  
• brussels sprouts with bacon and pecans
  
• red wine
  
• raspberry ice cream
  
• a handful of cashews
  

I'm fairly sure that's all of it.  Fasting today - I need to get back into ketosis, and stick with it for the rest of the year.  I have let out my ballgown in the hips, which was fairly easy - doing the same with the waist would be much more difficult, so I would prefer not to have to do that.  So today's fast is very intentional and serious, and no matter how hungry I get (stomach growling at the moment, for that matter), I'm sticking with it until dinner, which can be meat-and-veg but nothing else.  The plan is to be very low to zero carb the rest of the week.

Wednesday

Fasted yesterday.  No weight change - still 150.0.  It's all hormones, and I hate not being in much control.  Nonetheless, I will plug on.  Sleep last night was, well, adequate, I guess.  Nothing more.  I woke up at about quarter to 4 for no reason other than discomfort.  Not in the shoulder I've been slowly healing - it's been fine recently - and not in the other shoulder that produced a nasty knot yesterday morning.  In my lower back.  Go figure.  I'm still not entirely sure what that was about, but I got back to sleep, and it wasn't obviously there the next morning.

Neither of us was hungry this morning - odd, considering how little I ate yesterday, anyway.  Here's the list:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese (1 piece)
  
• salad with chicken, and blue cheese dressing
  
• a peppermint-chocolate-chip shake (at Chik-fil-a)
  
• a glass of homemade eggnog
  

So, a lot of fat, a little sugar, and the rest meat-and-leaves.  In any event, I just won't eat until I'm actually hungry today - and unless that occurs while I'm out around lunchtime shopping for leggings for the road race tomorrow, not until dinnertime.

Pie-making starts tonight. I can at least get the crust started - maybe not blind-baked.  Time is so short right now.  Yikes.

Tuesday

I ate fairly well yesterday until evening, when a significant potato chip craving hit.  And I didn't put the chips in a container, but brought the bag out with me.  Bad move.  150.0 this morning.  Still stiff and swollen, but I gotta cut that sort of thing out.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
  
• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements
  
• three almond-flour chocolate chip cookies
  
• stuffed pepper
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• raspberry ice cream
  
• 1/4 of a fundraising chocolate bar with caramel
  
• some substantial number of potato chips
  

That was it.  Sleep was okay last night, although I did have a leg cramp at some point - it didn't wake me up enough to care about what time it was, though.  Lots of dreams, which I tend to attribute to the melatonin.

Fasting this morning for convenience.  Don't know if it will last all day or not, since I have not much of anything to do today - boredom could take over my willpower.

Monday

Took Friday off and worked around the house - got a lot done in three days.  However, I also culminated my weight gain for the week at 150.4 both Saturday and yesterday.  So I guess it's a relief to see 149.0 this morning.  Nonetheless, not a good weight.

Much of it's water, and that's hormonal, I guarantee.  Right now, I ache all over, and I'm pretty sure that's all water.  Just took a couple of Advil in hopes of making it stop.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• Cracker Barrel low-carb double meat breakfast (eggs, bacon, bacon, tomatoes)
  
• cheese
  
• cashews
  
• an almond-flour chocolate chip cookie
• homemade eggnog
  
• steak (grassfed sirloin)
  
• salad with balsamic vinaigrette and blue cheese
  
• homemade ice cream (raspberry this time)
  

Wow.  Seemed a lot worse than that at the time.  I spent yesterday working with eggs and dairy.  Made a cooked custard eggnog recipe that came out pretty tasty, although not quite "eggnog" flavored - still working on what that might entail.  And ice cream - this time from raspberries and a bit of raspberry liqueur, on top of a custard base.  I much prefer the texture from the custard base than one from straight cream - not sure whether it's the egg yolk or the milk that does it, but it's quite good.

Saturday I made salad dressings - thousand island for Lee and blue cheese for me.  We had giant chef's salads for dinner that night.

Stuffed peppers for dinner tonight.  I had breakfast today, so my goal is to avoid snacks until then.  I'm hoping all the fat I had yesterday will help me by putting me most of the way into ketosis today.

Thursday

This is not fun.  Sleep continues to be crap - I woke up three or four times last night - and I'm gaining weight.  Granted, yesterday was not a fast day, but still - I'm up to 148.4 this morning.  With bulgy ankles, so it's water.  Add in cranky and achy, and I suspect I know what comes next.  Does that mean that the hot flashes are hovering over the horizon again, too?

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• double quarter-pounder with cheese, no bun
  
• small order of fries
  
• pork roast with maple dijon glaze (that mostly vanished)
  
• salad with blue cheese, walnuts, and cranberries (balsamic vinaigrette)
  
• three almond-flour chocolate chip cookies
  

I think that was it.  I was really hungry at lunchtime yesterday, which is why I grabbed McDonalds.  Probably should have skipped the fries, but they tasted amazing.  

I may know one reason for the bad sleep - the window over my side of the bed was closed tight the past few nights.  Lee's been cold, but that seems a bit extreme.  I opened it about an inch; we'll see if that allows both of us to sleep comfortably tonight.

Day off tomorrow.  I need it.

Wednesday

I'm taking off Friday from work, so of course, this week is lasting far too long.  Sleep last night was fairly awful - woke at 11:00, certain it was morning.  Also 2:38 and some time around 4:00.  The water retention has begun in earnest, too, so much so that my toes are sore, just from lying in bed.  148.0 again this morning after a partial fast yesterday - I had peanuts around 2:00 in the afternoon because I was very hungry.  Here's the details:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• peanuts
  
• cheese (a total of 3 pieces)
  
• hot and sour soup
  
• beef with green peppers
  
• a square of chocolate caramel bar (fund-raising chocolates)
  
• walnuts
  

I think that was it.  Woke up with some indigestion, so we skipped breakfast again this morning.  I might eat lunch - going out to run errands at that time, at least.  We shall see.

Tuesday

I thought I did better yesterday; suspect some of the 148.0 I saw this morning is water, and the usual delayed reaction to my eating habits.  Fasting this morning; Lee was not feeling well and it wasn't a big deal to eat or not - in fact, my stomach is mildly upset this morning, so a rest is a good thing.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
  
• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements
  
• beef jerky
  
• the last (!) two Ghirardelli dark chocolate mint squares
  
• meatza with pepperoni, canadian bacon, and mushrooms
  
• the last half-handful of M&Ms
  

See?  Really not all that bad.

It doesn't help that they're having a "free smoothie bar" at work this morning, for some bizarre reason.  In conjunction with a book fair.  Fortunately, a smoothie doesn't even sound remotely appealing - neither did the lobster mac and cheese featured on Triple-D last night, although it had Lee going.  And I wasn't tempted by the baked goods one of my team brought to work - well, maybe I was tempted to respond with almond-flour chocolate chip cookies; I might have to make some of those tonight and bring them in tomorrow to share.

Monday

I've had a horrible, dragged-out case of the munchies for the past few days.  I have found myself with a distended stomach just after a meal, wanting to chew on something crunchy.  So, it's probably not too surprising that I'm at 147.4 this morning.  Combined with the reduction in hot flashes, I suspect that I'm going through another weird fluctuation in hormone levels - I'm also rather cranky this morning.

Not sure I recall everything I ate yesterday, so I'm not going to list it.  Lots of nuts, 3 meals (I hate weekends, because if Lee wants lunch and I don't eat, he gets mad, so I eat lunch), M&Ms (which, thank heaven, are nearly gone).  And I wanted cookies and pizza and cinnamon rolls and mashed potatoes in the worst way - and had none of them.  So I guess that's good.

Sleep is obviously improving, although I can tell I'm not over the time change just yet - I keep waking up well before 5:00, thinking it's time to get up for the day.  Hoping that this week will take care of that.

Friday

Well, that was weird.  I ate pretty crappy yesterday, and slept hardly at all (work intervened), and got on the scale with eyes averted, expecting bad news.  Instead, down half a pound - 146.0 this morning.  Some things are just mysterious, I guess.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• 3 Ghirardelli mint chocolate squares
  
• chicken and broccoli in Alfredo sauce (cream butter, cheese, garlic)
  
• salad with cranberries, walnuts, blue cheese, balsamic vinaigrette
  
• two handsful of M&Ms
  
• a handful of cashews
  
• two pieces of cheese
  

Eliminate the chocolate, and it would have been a very good day.  And my calves were fasciculating throughout the late evening, but did not cramp outright.

We also went walking last night - I did about a mile and a half.  My shoulder is a little irritated this morning - I may need to find something else to do for a while until it's fully healed.  Maybe stationary biking.

Weekend starts today.  Not sure what we have planned, other than a visit to the vet for dog shots and something for my uncle's birthday.  Weather is supposed to be inauspicious.  Probably should braise something.

Thursday

Better eating day yesterday, for the most part - but not perfect.  I'm not sure, come to think of it, what perfect would look like.  146.4 today; glad to be holding steady at that lower number this week.  Here's the day's eating:

• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese
  
• salad with chicken and blue cheese dressing
  
• cottage cheese
  
• meat loaf
  
• green beans
  
• broccoli with cheese sauce
  
• fudge
  
• M&Ms (1 handful)
  

That was it.  We ate dinner at Country Buffet - not a Paleo destination restaurant, certainly, but it permits a mostly-Paleo meal if done carefully, and if one looks away from seed oils and what-not.  I managed to avoid snacking during the day, and will shoot for that again today.  Had a leg-cramp at some point last night, for what that's worth.

Sleep continues somewhat dicey.  Had a fair amount of night-sweats last night, although not much during the day.  I'm sort of hoping that it's easing off again.

Chicken and broccoli with Alfredo sauce for dinner - a recipe involving meat, veg, and dairy exclusively.  Should be good!

Wednesday

Fasted until 2 pm yesterday, but was hungry and stressed, and ate jerky and one (only one) mint chocolate.  146.4 this morning, so a little improvement.  Here's the day:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• beef jerky
  
• a Ghirardelli dark chocolate mint square
  
• cheese (6 pieces altogether, I think)
  
• walnuts
  
• one handful of M&Ms
  
• one handful of potato chips
  

I think that was it.  Not at all good nutrition, but Lee had a meeting at dinner time and the evening and election results stressed me out so badly I'm surprised I didn't go buy and eat a bag of cookies or something.  Have had breakfast today, and have meetings straight through until 12:30 this morning, so I will try to keep from snacking today.  When I do, I lose weight.  And I would like to go into Thanksgiving about 3 pounds down from here, give or take.

We are doing the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving - a 4-mile run-walk thingie.  Should be fun.  Wonder if the snow will hold off?  Because if not, the Vibrams are likely to be kind of cold - and I no longer wear running shoes. Toe socks and the Sprints?  Maybe.

Tuesday

Note to self.  If I need to shop at lunchtime, I should avoid stores that sell candy.  Went to Bed Bath & Beyond for a new ironing board cover yesterday and ended up with Ghirardelli dark chocolate mint squares as well.  Ate 3.  They were very good, but unneeded.  146.8 this morning.  Here's the full picture:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• 3 Ghirardelli dark chocolate mint squares
  
• a bag of beef jerky
  
• taco salad
  
• cheese
  
• two or 3 handsful of (dark) M&Ms
  
• a handful of cashews
  

Could have been worse; could have been better.  Today will be better - we're fasting.  My plan is to make it until dinner.  So, no shopping at lunchtime.

Monday

The weekend was good.  Fairly unstructured and calm, which we desperately needed.  146.0 this morning.

Here's yesterday, best I can recall.

• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• cheese
  
• M&Ms (more than I should have had - several handsful)
  
• potato chips (a small handful)
  
• chicken
  
• salad with balsamic vinaigrette, blue cheese, walnuts, and cranberries
  

That was it.  Spent much of the day sewing, which keeps me from eating.

Sleep has been going okay.  Not great, but not the worst ever, either.  Added a blanket to the bed over Saturday and it's probably too warm for me, but so be it.  Menopause has devolved into multiple daily episodes of sweating like a pig - disgusting, really.  Nothing seems to help, and my sense is that adding hormones to the mix would just delay it all.  Guess I'd rather get over it all now - but I would like now to be shorter.

Friday

Okay.  Fasted yesterday until dinner.  Slept better last night.  The dog stress issues are starting to settle down, we think, so I can stop worrying about that.  This has been a hellish week.  Massage this weekend, if I can get one scheduled.  And not much else.  Maybe some sewing.  Life has been just too bloody frenetic of late.

So here's yesterday's eating (resulting in 146.4 or .2 this morning - I cannot recall which):

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• cheese
  
• meatballs with spaghetti sauce with cheese
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• two handsful of M&Ms
  
• a small portion of potato chips
  
• possibly some walnuts
  

And that was it.  Back to breakfasting today, with chicken breasts of some sort for dinner.  And we'll go on from there.

Thursday

147.2 this morning.  Ate crap yesterday.  Stressed beyond belief right now, to do with dog training and the looming election.  Slept like garbage last night.  Fasting for convenience today.

Tuesday

Sleep is not going so well, just now.  Sweat a bit, intense crazy dreams, wake up thinking it's nearly morning - 11:32 pm.  My shoulder isn't painful - so maybe that's something.  But, ugh!

147.2 again this morning; fingers swollen and stiff.  Not surprising.  Here's yesterday:

• fat-bomb smoothie
• cheese
• Wendy's double with cheese, no bun
• more cheese (about 3-4 pieces total)
• effing chocolate blueberries (half a box)

Stress much?  Elizabeth has a new dog.  He is sweet and smart and charming, and a holy terror when left alone.  We kept him at our house yesterday, since he barks when in a crate, and she was worried about fellow apartment-dwellers not liking that much.  Crated him in our room, cleaned off most horizontal surfaces, closed all doors, in case he got out of the crate (which was quite secure).  He got out of the crate.  He got out of the room.  He destroyed about half of the house's window treatments, a ceramic pitcher, the glass on a picture in our room, a box or so of dog treats.  Generally created chaos.  We think he was terrified at being alone in the house.  Anyway, I came home to the devastation.  We took him to a vet for an exam and to discuss tranquilizers, and she has a prescription for Prozac.  In the meantime, he's in a crate, that has been fortified with tie-wraps, on the back porch with the other two dogs (which he escaped from once before when left in it without the crate).  I don't think he can get into the house from there, but we know he can get out of the porch, since that's already happened.  Still, that's much less messy than what happened yesterday.  I just ordered new curtains for the living room, at $518 including shipping.  They'll be here just before Thanksgiving.  I think we can re-hang the dining room stuff - need to get new brackets is all.  And we'll be buying blinds at some point.  They're the least critical.  Golly.  So at the end of the day, I was a wreck, and I went for the mindless chocolate consumption.

Here's hoping today will be better.

Monday

Gruesome.

I weighed 144.6 at one point this weekend.  Assuming it was Saturday, because it wasn't yesterday, and it certainly wasn't this morning - 147.2 today.  

Ate like a pig yesterday - chocolate blueberries, M&Ms, potato chips, all sorts of crap.  Stress eating, all of it.  And slept accordingly crappy.

New start today.  Fat bomb smoothie for breakfast, and nothing else until dinner.

Friday

I survived yesterday, but it was somewhat brutal.  My shoulder just ached like crazy until dose number 2 of Advil, in the afternoon.  No idea why.  It feels fine this morning.  I'm under orders to stop doing the exercises if it gets inflamed, and I had every intention of not doing them today, until I woke up and realized it didn't hurt anymore.  So I did them.  Whatever.

Yesterday turned out to be a sort of fast.  I had breakfast, but dinner was a bit, well, odd.  Owing to the gymnastics meet I'd promised to go to, which started at 5, I managed only a piece of cheese at dinner time, and had a bit more later.  145.0 this morning, as a result.  Here's the details:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• sausage patties
• cheese (in total, 3 pieces)
• cashews (1 handful)
• walnuts (1 handful)

The second two pieces of cheese and the nuts were consumed at bedtime, basically.  Ketosis is a wonderful thing, I must say.  Apples were on offer, and I didn't even want one.

Sleep was adequate.  I am waking up around 11:30-midnight a lot, thinking that I've had a full night's sleep, but being able to fall back quite quickly.  Not sure what that's about.  And this morning, I woke again at 4, was awake for most of the ensuing hour, and fell asleep during the half-hour of radio we allow ourselves before getting up.  I feel fairly well rested this morning, so I guess it could be worse.

Weekend coming - no idea what I'll be able to accomplish.  But I might turn my dried carrots into carrot powder/flour and attempt a few cupcakes.  Maybe.

Thursday

Don't know why I was so eager for it to be Thursday this week.  Thursday brought snow and traffic snarls this morning and seems likely to deliver more before the day's over.

I achieved ketosis yesterday, for certain.  The fast lasted until dinner was made, and I wasn't all that hungry when I got home, truly.  And my calves are fasciculating, bless them.  Had me launching out of bed last night like a rocket, once - but only once.  Other than that, I slept very well.  And I'm at 146.0 this morning.  So there.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• Big-Ass Salad (tm) with roast beef and feta and Greek vinaigrette
• two almond shortbread cookies
• a Ghirardelli chocolate square
• a handful of potato chips
• two chocolate almonds

By the time I hit the bed, I could tell that cramps were imminent, so had the chips (yeah, that's why!).  I don't think they worked all that well.  However, once the one cramp hit and was vanquished, I slept like a log until 5:27, so I don't mind much.  And of course, now I'm really tired and achy.  My shoulder is stiff and tired - I don't know if the exercises are making the muscles being exercised ache, or if they're irritating the ones at the root of the problem, or what, but I wouldn't mind spending a couple of weeks not using my right arm at all.  I think Advil is in my future.

Maybe fasting lunch and dinner today, again for convenience; going to my niece's gymnastics meet directly from work.  Shouldn't be too much of a burden not to eat.  Glad to see 146 again this morning.

Wednesday

This week is crawling!  Every morning I wake up thinking it should at least be Thursday by now, and it's not.  Tomorrow, perhaps...

Ate reasonably well yesterday, although it included Mexican food for dinner.  147.2 this morning.  Here's the scoop:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• chips and salsa
• 3 cheese enchiladas with green chile
• iced tea
• one almond shortbread cookie

I think that was it.  Fasting-for-convenience today, and probably another Big-Ass salad (tm) with meat for dinner tonight.

Sleep improved, by the way - back on the Menopause support version of melatonin - not sure what else they put in it, but I'm able to sleep much better with it than with plain melatonin, so I will continue to purchase it.  Shoulder is doing really well.  

Tuesday

Got some sleep last night.  I changed back to the menopause-specific melatonin; don't know if it had to do with that, or if I was just bloody exhausted, but I don't remember much between, say, 10 pm and 3:47 am, when I woke up for a very short time.  I will take it.  More, please!

Eating yesterday was an improvement on the weekend, although no weight was harmed - still 147.8 this morning.  And I'm still pretty swollen up, so figure it will go when that stops.  Here's the breakdown:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• cheese
• a chef's salad (turkey, ham, cheese, blue cheese dressing, on lettuce)
• a couple of almond shortbread cookies
• a handful of potato chips
• a handful of cashews

So, as I said, better.  Not perfect, but an improvement.  We also walked before dinner - on the cheese and cashews, as I recall.  I got in a couple of laps past a mile at racewalking pace/form, which seems to have been mostly okay with my shoulder this time.  I ended up doing the shoulder exercises twice yesterday - once in the morning and once after the racewalking, though possibly not soon enough after.  Anyway, my shoulder is a little achy today, but not bad at all - feels more like post-exercise than injury, which is where we want to keep it.  And the rest of me, that was so nasty yesterday, is fine now.  The walk seems to have fixed my lower back and hamstrings.

Onward!

Monday

Not tremendously great weekend.  I did about 2-3 hours of garden cleanup on Saturday, and I'm still feeling the effects, which are painful.  Possibly even a twinge of sciatica - some shooting pains down both hips.  Sleep Saturday was fine, thank heavens, but last night was wretched.  I put some pain-relief cream on my hamstrings, and the capsaicin in it caused them to burn most of the night.  And I wasn't smart enough or awake enough to get up and do anything about it at that time.  It was just rough.  Eating over the weekend was okay - not great, but not horrid.  147.8 this morning, up from 147.4 yesterday, and my fingers are very swollen, so I think it's mostly water/inflammation.  Here's what I can recall of yesterday:

• tea with cream
• menopause supplements only (not working much right now, either)
• an almond shortbread cookie
• two brats with sauerkraut
• a few potato chips
• cheese
• roast beef
• mashed potatoes with gravy (rice-flour roux)
• salad with blue cheese dressing
• peach ice cream
• a couple more almond shortbread cookies
• a glass of Gewurztraminer

I think that was everything.  I mean to get back into ketosis this week and calm things down, so probably a chef's salad or the like tonight for dinner, maybe after a gym trip with Elizabeth.  And no snacks during the day, either - I have beef jerky in the car, but if I get monstrously hungry, I'll go have another cup of tea or bouillon.

The roast was perfect yesterday - I did the dry-brine, slow-oven approach from Cook's Illustrated and got a rosy-pink, tender, delicious result.  So nice to have found a way to do it that works reliably.  The gravy was less wonderful - not sure if the rice flour dampened the flavor or if the lack of drippings was an issue - the liquid was mostly commercial beef stock.  And trial 2 of peach ice cream was a disappointment.  First, it needs the egg yolk (I omitted that this time), and second, peach is just not a very assertive flavor.  The result isn't bad, just a bit bland.  Next up, raspberries or strawberries, I think.  Either in a French vanilla base as fruit, or in a French vanilla base as the main flavor.

And, I think I have enough dried carrots to make flour now.  Crossing my fingers that it works roughly like coconut flour and can be used as a cake base; I will give cupcakes a trial some time over the next week or so.  One egg's worth of batter, however much that might make.

Friday

Weird eating day yesterday.  I thought I wouldn't be eating dinner, so I had the rest of the trail mix - about 2 portions as I've been eating it all week.  Come to find out, Lee and Elizabeth were eating very late at Red Robin, and caught me on the way home from shoulder therapy.  I joined them, and had a lot of starch - details below.  147.0 this morning.

Shoulder is better, I think, and I now have exercises to protect it.  I will be doing them religiously to see if I can't get this mess cleared up.  On the other hand, the hot flashes didn't get better last night at all - I think there were about 4 episodes that woke me up, starting around midnight.  All I can do is keep plugging, I guess, but it's hard.  Sleeping in tomorrow.

Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• 2 portions of trail mix
• a double-decker burger with sauteed onions and cheese and bacon
• fries
• mustard and catsup
• chips and salsa and guac

I'm fairly sure it stopped there, but it wasn't a stellar day's eats.  I think next week will be a strict ketosis week - that's my stated goal, anyway.

Thursday

Apparently, I'm now heading into the "exhausted" phase of something.  Had a really hard time waking up this morning, although I was aware that the radio had started to play.  About 40 minutes later, I finally got out of bed.  Freezing.  Only one hot-flash incident overnight that I recall; I did the black cohosh thing at bedtime again, and am hoping that the more frequent intake will settle things down.  On the weight front, back to 146.8 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• caesar salad (no croutons)
• the insides of a roast beef sandwich (beef, greens of some sort, blue cheese)
• two strawberries
• 1/2 cup of trail mix
• meatballs with spaghetti sauce and cheese
• one Ghirardelli square thingie

I think that was it.  

Not much else to report today.  Going in for another shoulder treatment tonight, and happy to say that the pain I was having is nearly gone.  We'll see if this will settle things for a while - and I'm to learn some exercises to help strengthen it against future injury.  Which I promise to do - I need to.

Wednesday

I may have found the key to getting my sleep back in order, although it's a bit too early to tell for sure.  I had thought that the menopause support supplement I'd been taking only had melatonin in the nighttime pill; it didn't.  It has black cohosh as well, as does the daytime one.  Took a daytime supplement along with my other melatonin last night, and while I still woke up a couple times with hot flashes, I think things were a bit more manageable.  So I will do that again tonight, to see if it continues to improve, and if it does, I may just go buy some bloody black cohosh.  

Eating yesterday was weird.  Lee was sick or something, and didn't get up, so I had just cheese for breakfast.  Then I didn't want beef jerky, so I had trail mix - twice - as my daylight meals.  I find the trail mix interesting - it's good, but not addictive.  My guess is that the lack of salt is why I can eat until not hungry and then stop.  But I don't know for sure.  Anyway, I think it might be a keeper.  147.0 this morning, so we're still working off the whatever-it-was from Sunday.  Here's the breakdown:

• tea with cream
• cheese (two pieces)
• the usual supplements
• about 1-1/2 cups of trail mix
• gyro meat with tzaziki sauce
• one Ghirardelli square with milk chocolate and almonds
• one more piece of cheese

I think that was it.  We walked after work last night, and before dinner, and I wasn't crazy hungry - and that shortened the evening eating window, as usual.  To keep my shoulder quiet, I didn't race walk, just strolled for a mile and went home.  Good decision, I think; things are pretty quiet in the shoulder pain department this morning.

A more normal eating day today, I think - although I have a lunch user group meeting thingie today at a pasta restaurant.  I may find myself explaining my eating style if the options available don't include anything I can actually eat.  Whatever.

Tuesday

In case I hadn't stated it before, I will not be having beans again any time soon.  My stomach was all kinds of messed up yesterday, until mid-afternoon when I got hungry.  This morning a chunk of the mystery weight was gone - 147.4 - so the inflammation/swelling from Sunday is subsiding, although my fingers are still swollen up some.

Sleep last night was some better - slept until 3:00ish and it took a bit over an hour to get back to sleep - I vaguely remember 4:25 but think I sorta woke up to see it.  I'll take it.  Lee's all tired today - not sure why, but he lost 4 hours from 11:00 - 3:00ish.  There are viruses going around right now, and exhaustion may be how we get them.  Way better than vomiting, if you ask me.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements (anti-inflammatory heavy - fish oil and turmeric)
• beef jerky
• about 3/4 cup of my trail mix
• cheese - 4 pieces total
• chips and salsa

I don't know if it was an overdose of cat dander from the house cleanup Sunday or what, but I did a sinus rinse in the morning and spent the entire day with a runny nose.  Did it again at night and things are better today, although I sneezed about 4 times on the way to work this morning.

Started today with cheese - Lee was so tired that he hadn't got up at all when I left for work, and I didn't really want to fast again.

What else?  The 3 am wakeup was entirely hot-flash related.  I'm moving into the no-thermostatic-control phase again - was recently standing in a well-heated room wearing a wool sweater (less than an hour ago), with my skin feeling as if I were standing naked in a walk-in freezer.  Now I'm sweating again.  I'm beginning to understand why old women are crabby.

Monday

Ugh.  We had an extended-family workday yesterday and my Mom made chile for lunch - with beans.  I should avoid beans.  I'm suffering this morning from them - and have been since about 1 am.  Not a good night's sleep - the stomach ache and hot flashes combined to make it a challenge to get back to sleep after waking at 1.  No breakfast today.  I'm swollen up from the work and abnormal food - 148.6 this morning.  I'd been 146.6 both Saturday and Sunday.  Here's yesterday's eats:

• bacon
• tea with cream
• only the menopause supplement
• chile (with beans)
• a ham-and-cheese roll-up, no bread involved
• pickles and olives
• grapes
• cheese
• walnuts
• 1 square Lindt 85%
• pork tenderloin with a wine-dijon pan sauce
• green beans
• trail mix - an experiment made of almonds, coconut shreds, raisins, and dark chocolate M&Ms - probably too much of it

So not a great eating day, and I'm paying for it - or some of it, anyway.  We will be going to the gym and eating better this week, I believe.

Friday

I. Am. Effing. Exhausted.  

Up last night until midnight for work (my hatred for IT grows daily, but it's what I know how to do, and it pays well).  Up at 5:30 for vomiting dogs - we gave them the spent bones from making stock last night.  We should know better.  I had a coconut milk fat-bomb smoothie for breakfast, and I am hoping to get through the day on ketones and willpower, but I don't know.  145.2 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• a vending bag of M&Ms (had a bad taste/heartburn thing going on and was trying to overlay it - unsuccessfully)
• 3 shredded beef tacos, with shells - Fuzzy's finally opened in our town
• about 6 chips with queso
• peach-pecan ice cream
• something north of 20 chocolate cherries as midnight approached - for stress.  They were unbelievably nasty.

I may be over the chocolate cherries.  Ugh.  I really don't know why I ate them, except that I'd been up since 5:30 am yesterday and it was midnight and I was up trying to herd cats and get a stupid deployment pushed over the line, and I was pissed off at being in that position, especially as I'd just spent last weekend herding the same mob.  Very not paleo.

Thursday

Pretty ordinary eating day, yesterday.  Sleep, not so much - the work on my shoulder made me intensely aware of it all night and I spent a good deal of time being not-quite-asleep as a result.  145.8 again this morning.  With an ordinary day planned today, I hope to continue seeing numbers of that sort.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• about 6 chips
• some sort of spinach and cheese dip
• iced tea
• steak-and-wedge salad with blue cheese and tomatoes

That was it.  After dinner, I left for my shoulder treatment, and once that was done, it was bedtime.  I would really like more at-home time right now, but it appears that it's just not possible.  

Wednesday

Wow - just declared it "Monday" again in the title; I don't think I need another one this week, thanks.  Sleep and Menopause symptoms improving a bit - probably a strong causative relation between those two (the latter causing the former, I mean).  Apparently, Black Cohosh works for me.  And I'm darn glad of it.  Fasted breakfast yesterday due to not wanting to get up, and because we were having a celebratory lunch thing at work.  Unfortunately, the latter consisted of pasta, bread, cookies, cupcakes, and salad with "lite" dressing.  I ate salad with "lite" dressing, but ugh.  It caused indigestion that lasted until bedtime.  145.8 this morning, though - and I thought I ate crappy yesterday.  Here's the list:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• salad with "lite" ranch dressing, cranberries, and nuts (type unspecified)
• a vending bag of M&Ms (the cookies and cupcakes got to me)
• cheese
• a fortune cookie
• two squares of Ghirardelli salted dark chocolate with caramel
• Half a small bag of Zapps potato chips (kettle cooked, from New Orleans) for the salt

I think that was it.  The indigestion dictated the starchy stuff - the cookie and the chips - and maybe they got rid of it.  Anyway, despite discomfort from that and a minor stress about my work phone having died, I got to sleep easily and slept right up to 5:30 this morning.  That's something.

Getting some MAT therapy on my shoulder tonight.  I wish it would calm down for good.

Tuesday

I spent yesterday feeling drained and exhausted and slightly dehydrated - like I was coming down with something.  Got home after work and hit the couch and never moved again until bedtime (unless the dog wanted to go through the door one way or the other).  However, that meant that I spent a chunk of time eating chocolate cherries - too many of them to count.  Not good.  146.8 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• beef jerky
• Altoids (several very small ones, because my mouth tasted funny)
• chili (no beans, made yesterday)
• cheese (2 pieces)
• chocolate cherries, as mentioned above
• peach/pecan ice cream - after a day in the freezer, it mostly tastes like butter-pecan. Definitely need more peaches next time.  But the texture is perfect.

That was it.  Slept better last night, I'm glad to say - fewer temperature fluctuations, although during the day yesterday I honestly felt feverish.  It was just nasty.  I hope today's better.

My shoulder is bugging me again - guess I'm headed back in for more treatments.  I wish it would calm down and stay that way.  I'm wearing eau-de-IcyHot this morning - covered my entire shoulder, pec muscle group, and upper arm with the stuff.  It's still cold after about 2 hours.  Also took some turmeric this morning and will repeat tonight.

Monday

Weird weekend.  I had a long deployment for work that ran from Friday evening through Saturday dinner, during which I definitely leaned on the chocolate cherries as food-of-choice.  Did a bunch of cooking; we had a pot roast for Saturday dinner and a roast chicken yesterday (finally got one to work!!!), and made chili (for tonight's dinner, and to freeze) and peach ice cream with salted pecans.  Most of it was quite good, although the pot roast lacked salt.  Anyway, I'm at 146.6 this morning; was at 145.8 yesterday.  Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• chips and salsa
• two cheese enchiladas with green chile
• roast chicken
• brussels sprouts (roast with worcestershire sauce and dijon mustard)
• peach/pecan ice cream

That was it.  Lunch wasn't so great, carb-wise, but the rest should have been okay.  The ice cream was pretty darn good - two-to-one ratio of heavy cream to milk seems to be a sweet spot for texture.  I cut the sugar down from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup and eliminated corn starch and corn syrup from the recipe, relying instead on the peaches (and a bit of peach schnapps) for sweetness.  I would do more peaches the next time, as the end result wasn't all that peachy, but it was otherwise perfect.

I also made/am making stock from the chicken bones - roasted them at 400 for an hour this time, which should darken things up a bit and add some caramelization flavors.  Tonight, I'll clean the crock pot and start a load of beef bones.  Guess I should go buy more freezer containers.

Sleep last night, however, was utter crap.  Temperature fluctuations all over the place, and when the alarm went off, I was curled in a ball trying desperately to get warm, despite the down comforter and the mattress pad heater.  Menopause is getting very old.

Friday

Groggy as all get out this morning - I took a couple of advil PM last night to erase some of the sleep debt, on top of which it was perfect sleeping weather (in the 30s outside - welcome, Fall).  I was up to 146.0 this morning, but felt very swollen up, so I suspect some of that, at least, is water.  I walked just over 2 miles at the gym yesterday at a good clip - sub-15s, anyway.  And am a bit stiff, as a result.  Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• cheese
• taco salad with grassfed beef, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, and salsa
• 2 chocolate cherries

Wow, was that it?  Seemed like more, somehow.

As it probably froze last night, I ran out and grabbed every last tomato I could find - regardless of color - and brought them in.  Not yet sure what I'm going to do with them all; there were a lot!  Green tomato salsa verde, possibly - found a recipe for that.  In any event, I'll be on house "arrest" all weekend for work and should have plenty of time to tinker.

Thursday

Weird eating day yesterday - I worked from home during the afternoon, and was hungry, so I ate then, rather than in the evening.  Lee had what turned out to be a dinner meeting, so he ate at that, and I had the odd snacky thing.  Whatever I did, it was fairly successful - 145.2 this morning. Very glad to be getting back into that vicinity again; I could live with 150, but it feels unsafe - too close to being heavier.  This feels safer - and the low 140s will feel safer still, thank you.  So I guess I'm sort of dieting at the moment.  Yeah, whatevs - cause it's so hard (not).  Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• cheese (about 4-5 pieces total)
• turkey (2 slices)
• potato chips (a disciplined portion)
• chocolate cherries (8)
• walnuts (not too many - I'm getting a bit bored with them, truly)
• a Ghirardelli chocolate caramel thing

That was it, in the end.  Not fabulous, but better than it felt at the time, as seems to be the case these days.

Fasting this morning for convenience - I had a political junkie moment last night and was up a bit late listening to post-debate analysis, so we opted to get up later and skip the eating thing.  Probably won't take it through the entire day.

Wednesday

Walked again last night before dinner, and remembered to stretch out my left hip flexors at the end - I think that helped with sleep a bunch, since that side has been bothering me enough to cause uncomfortable wakefulness at 3 am the last week or so.  A reasonable eating day, I think, and 145.8 this morning - not keen on the direction things went, but I like that it didn't go anywhere much at all.  Here's the breakdown:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• a piece of swiss cheese
• burger, no bun, with guacamole, swiss, and jalapenos on it
• the pickles
• chocolate pecan blueberry ice cream

That was it for the day.  The ice cream was homemade - my experiment from the weekend - and tasted a lot like ganache, which is not a bad thing at all, really.  Very rich, and no sugar other than what was in the chocolate, so I think it should have been pretty low carb.

Tuesday

Fasted yesterday - ate nothing until dinner, which was an anniversary dinner out.  So we consumed the entire pteradactyl, figuratively speaking - Lee and I split a 40-ounce porterhouse, which is a giant T-bone.  And I'm down half a pound this morning - 145.6.  Here's the details:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• a glass of pinot noir
• wedge salad with bacon, tomato, blue cheese (dressing)
• 20-oz porterhouse half, including a NY strip and a filet
• sauteed green beans
• half a broiled tomato
• 1/3 of a creme brulee

That was it for the day.  Delicious, and the fast was workable.

Monday

Menopause is striking again; I slept fitfully last night with somewhat better sleep earlier in the weekend, but am mostly suffering from thermal intervals during daylight.  One noticeable change this time - I don't feel like I'm feverish with them, just sweaty.  Sounds minor, but it is a big improvement.

So, eating and weight and stuff.  146.2 this morning, good enough for me.  And my butt is feeling smaller, so I think the walking is paying off a bit.  Here's yesterday - note that it involved a family birthday event.

• tea with cream
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• a Qdoba bowl with shredded beef, guac, salsas (tomato and green), sour cream, and cheese
• salted flavored almonds
• carrots and dip
• teriyaki pork tenderloin
• garlic mashed potatoes with butter
• stir-fried green beans (in Canola oil, I am sorry to say)
• salad with blue cheese dressing
• ice cream with caramel sauce (homemade) chocolate sauce (bottled) and whipped cream

That was it.  The potatoes and ice cream probably pushed me out of ketosis, if I were in it at all (not sure).

Theoretically fasting this morning; we'll see if it lasts.  Due primarily to exhaustion on hearing the alarm go off.  Probably dinner out for our anniversary tonight - not sure where, yet.

Friday

In the end, yesterday was almost a fast, too.  Lee had to be out of the house very early, so we just skipped breakfast for convenience; I grabbed a couple of pieces of cheese to tide me over, and out we went.  So the cheese was my breakfast, and I guess beef jerky was my lunch.  147.0 this morning and a mildly upset stomach.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• jerky
• chocolate cherries (I confess that I finished the box when I got home - about 1/3 of it, I'd say)
• chips and salsa - only a few
• wedge salad with bacon, tomatoes and blue cheese dressing - this was half a head of lettuce from the planet of the giants - I did not finish it

I guess that was it.  When it turns out that you eat hardly anything, it seems it's rather hard to lose weight.

Thursday

I think it's Thursday, anyway.  My brain is foggy this morning, and I'm achy.  But we walked last night, near-fasted for me, and it may just be aches and pains.  147.4 this morning, no idea why.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• 6 chocolate cherries
• Chicken Piccata from Mimi's, with buttered broccoli and carrots
• Walnuts

That was it.  I was pretty ketotic yesterday afternoon, judging by the taste in my mouth (one of my clues), and I don't really think the carbs from 6 chocolate cherries and about 15 walnuts would have busted me out.  But I could be wrong.  I've been wrong before.

The walk was a mile and a half, per Elizabeth's Nike thingie, and we did it in 21 minutes.  I figure her tracking thing is more accurate than my occasional (usually too late) glance at the clock on the wall, so 14 minute miles.  Not too bad, considering.

Wednesday

A quick note: Yesterday's migraine prompted a carb binge after dinner - potato chips (possibly for the salt) and chocolate.  147.2 this morning, no surprises.  I don't have time to go into detail, but am fasting today, seriously, for reasons other than nutrition.  More tomorrow.

Tuesday

Well, that was interesting.  I was heading onto the freeway to start my commute when I noticed the first stirrings of a migraine aura.  Mine are visual - arcs of sparkly triangles in the left field of vision - so I'm stuck in a restricted access road going 65 miles/hour, with some distortion to my left.  I am happy to say I made it to work without incident, managed to get 3 advil down while driving, and the aura disappeared about halfway to work.  Ugh, though.  I never used to get these, and can only blame hormone swings, since they pre-date Paleo.  Right now, I can feel some pressure in my forehead that I am hoping will not blossom into the real deal.

146.0 this morning, so those same hormones seem to be willing to play along with weight loss.  I appreciate that, at least.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• tea with cream
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• cheese
• chocolate cherries (5 total all night, I think)
• a chicken breast
• about 10 green olives
• salad with vinaigrette dressing
• a chocolate caramel Ghirardelli square

That was it.  I wasn't hungry enough during the day to snack, for which I am grateful.  Elizabeth and I went walking before dinner, to boot; she said that she'd been fasting all day and was a bit cranky, although she didn't seem to be.  I did my first mile (of 1.5, approx.) in about 13 minutes, which isn't bad.  Cut my stride way down to reduce arm swings, and my shoulder is quiescent today, so that appears to be the ticket.  I'm still taking turmeric for it, prophylactically.

Monday

Well, let's see.  What's been going on?  A good weekend, I think - for eating, anyway.  I'm down to 146.8 this morning, and mean to keep it that way.  Our weekend involved lots of being out and about, mostly meals in restaurants (all but yesterday's breakfast, I think), but few opportunities to snack.  Elizabeth reports a loss of at least 15 pounds on her Whole 30, which she is considering limiting to a Whole 21 because life without cheese is just not worth it.  But she's doing really well - ignoring chips and salsa at Mexican restaurants, and having only a tiny bit of rice at the hibachi place.  And then buying Junior Mints at the movies as a least-worst option and not bothering even to open the box.  It's now residing in our pantry to keep from bugging her.  She's pretty chuffed at the progress, for sure.

I had some fun on Saturday morning - a friend is starting a venture representing a clothing line, and was having a trunk show, so I went to check things out.  And found that, regardless of size label, I fit every garment I tried on, at least to be able to fasten it without strain.  I also found that clothing that's not "me", and which I would not wear voluntarily, actually looked fairly good on me.  I guess I could start a new career in modeling if I felt inclined - or not.  In the end, I bought 2 skirts that I believe I will wear.  The weird thing is that I bought one of them in a size 6 (yes, that is NOT a typo) and the other in a size 10.  Same line, same company, one would think they'd standardize sizes.  But I tried on multiple size 6s and 8s and had no problem zipping any of them, other than getting my arms into a position that would allow me to pull up back zippers on dresses.  Crazy.

At the movies on Saturday, we split half of a dark chocolate bar, and I had a fizzy water - quite a change from the days when a large popcorn vanished before the previews ended.

Anyway, here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• part of a bowl of primal hot cereal (recipe from a Mark Sisson book) - unfortunately rather nasty as I used almonds that had gone bad
• 4 pieces of bacon
• cheese - 2 or 3 pieces
• turkey - 2 slices
• chocolate cherries - maybe 4 or 5 throughout the day
• fewer than 10 chips with salsa and a little refried beans
• cheese enchiladas with nasty green chile (I was hungry, so I ate them)

That was pretty much it.  I was at 146.6 yesterday, so I would tend to imagine that the Mexican had its usual effect.  Whatever.

On the hormonal front, I am, unfortunately, suffering from hot flashes again.  What is this, round 3 or 4?  I'm really really done with it.  Wish it were done with me.

Friday

Walked again last night - 17 laps in about 15-20 minutes.  11.6 laps is a mile, so nearly a mile and a half.  My legs are not suffering from this, but my shoulder is feeling hateful again this morning.  More turmeric, more Icy-hot, probably some Advil in my future.  I don't want to stop the walking; I need it.  But I also need to let my shoulder recover from the bad pillows.  Maybe I do a couple of walks slower, without the racewalk arm-swing.  Something like that.

149.4 this morning - I think that's what I was yesterday as well.  Here's what I ate yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• cheese - 1 piece cheddar and 1 piece Kerrygold Dubliner
• brats (2) with dijon mustard
• sauerkraut - the last of my homemade stuff
• a little cole slaw
• 1 chocolate cherry
• the rest of the coconut milk ice cream

That was it.  I will definitely be making more of the sauerkraut this fall, especially as I now have a mandoline.  But this weekend, I think I'll be working on dehydrating the rest of the carrot crop for flour - maybe it will make only one supreme failure of a cake, but I think it's worth a try.

Thursday

I don't know if yesterday could be called a fast day or not; between bedtime the night before and dinnertime yesterday, I only ate about 12 olives and a thing of beef jerky.  Now that's obviously eating something, but not much, really.  I was good and hungry by dinner time, for certain.  And we had Mexican.  149.4 this morning.  Here's the breakdown:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• olives (12ish)
• beef jerky
• 2 pieces of cheese
• chips and salsa (half the basket of chips - don't know how many, but fewer than 20)
• naked chicken fajitas (including guacamole, sour cream, and cheese)
• part of the serving of refried beans

And then I stopped for the night.  I know snacking is not a good thing, so I did my best not even to start, and that worked.

Back to the gym tonight for more walking.  What I put in on Tuesday didn't really hurt yesterday, but at least I was moving a bit.

Wednesday

I may have screwed up my right shoulder again while on vacation.  Stupid hotel pillows - had me sleeping on that shoulder but with my head practically on the mattress, rather than elevated a decent distance.  One was too thin, two were too thick.  Anyway, we went walking last night at the gym - day 1 of protecting my Mardi Gras ballgown investment - and I swung my arms as one does when racewalking.  And got nearly no sleep last night due to the resulting pain.  I have Icy-Hotted it and took a bunch of turmeric this morning, and hope to get it calmed down quickly; I really don't want to have to go back to the MAT therapy again.  Fragile, though.  Wow.

150.0 this morning.  Down a bit, and fasting today for a while, primarily because I got nothing resembling quality sleep last night - between the shoulder and a crazy-nasty leg cramp (outside above my left outer anklebone, wanting to twist my foot up to touch my leg on that side.  Ugh!).  I brought some green olives to work with me for any hunger issues, because I'm not wanting jerky.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• meatloaf (whole 30 compliant, made the panade with coconut flour)
• salad with blue cheese
• some chocolate of various types
• walnuts

I need to get my sleep fixed.  No idea why, but it's been utter crap lately.

Tuesday

Post-vacation.  We ate fairly well, but had dessert here and there, and some cashews and chips and M&Ms on the way home.  150.6 this morning, and not too surprised.  Starting the walking tonight.

Biz has managed a "whole 7" so far, apparently, with good results boosted by a stomach virus of some sort - lost 12 pounds in the first week.  She is happy at the progress, but is missing her dairy products.  Oh, well.

No food log for yesterday.  I'll resume tomorrow.

Thursday

And a-vacationing we go - tonight, anyway.  I need it.  Sleep has been dicey of late, and I'm tired and cranky and need 4 days of nothing but possibly driving.  Should be good.

Yesterday, I fasted breakfast for convenience, and ate garbage the rest of the day.  However, my body seemed to need it, or something.  148.2 this morning.  Whatevs.  Here's the confession of my dietary sins:

• tea with cream
• skipped the supplements
• beef jerky
• 3 Lindt 85% squares
• salami
• cheese (eaten from a bag of pieces, no idea how much)
• chips and salsa
• coconut pineapple ice cream
• 1 Ghirardelli square with caramel
• 3 chocolate cherries

You know, I look at lists like this, and realize how my values have changed.  This really wasn't garbage.  A little chocolate heavy, a few carbs - but I bet we were in the 50-75g range, max.  The Lindt comes in at 8g carbs for 4 squares.  The Ghirardelli is another 8 for the one.  Add a few chips (the salsa quantity was maybe half a cup, probably less) and the pineapple, and sorry, not garbage.  Go figure.  It felt like bingeing at the time.

Fasted breakfast for convenience today, too - had the animals to feed.  Work is providing us with lunch if I opt to have some - and I might, I'm rather hungry right now.  And then we have the airport - wait for a plane and maybe have something.  We'll see.

Wednesday

148.8 this morning after shedding what seemed like a lot of water weight yesterday - but not through yet, I think.  Fine.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• 3 cashews
• bunless double quarter pounder with cheese
• coconut milk pineapple ice cream
• two Ghirardelli chocolates
• potato chips

The day started out well, but degraded toward the end.  If I had the courage of my convictions, I'd throw out those damn chocolates.  Probably won't happen, though.  I am having fairly nasty carb cravings right now - and I think I know why.  The other day, en route home, I was dying for garlic bread and spaghetti.  Neither of which I've even considered eating for about 2 years.  Go figure.

The ice cream, so called, was my first attempt with my birthday present, which works quite well, I must say - I had frozen stuff in about a half-hour, unattended.  It was good; just coconut milk, coconut shreds, pineapple, and vanilla.  Not ice cream, by any stretch, more fruity in flavor.  I plan to try cream-based stuff as well, possibly with eggs for a custard.  Looking forward to experimenting - especially with very low sugar stuff.  Cream, vanilla, and fruit puree/chunk combos, stuff like that.

Tuesday

I did not sleep well last night, and this morning, I feel like crap.  Tired, sure, but also achy and hollow.  Not sure what's going on - Lee felt like this yesterday, so it's possibly some sort of disease.  Certainly I feel far from eased.  Whatever.  149.6 today, after a good eating day, I think.  Here are the details:

• tea with cream
• bacon
• scrambled eggs
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• 1 square Lindt 85%
• 2 squares Ghirardelli what-have-you with sea salt
• cheese
• grilled shrimp
• broccoli
• salad with blue cheese dressing
• walnuts

That was it; really, the only bad things on that list are the chocolate.  I think we're dealing with hormonal water weight right now - should know for sure within the next day or so (of course, because I have a vacation planned).

Elizabeth is trying a whole 30.  I lent her my book, and will support her as much as possible with advice or encouragement or whatever, because I found it a bit irksome (they're right, it's not "hard", but it is).  Hope she can pull it off and kick start some health improvements.

Monday

And it's my birthday to boot; I'm 51 today.  And I weigh 148.8 pounds and feel pretty good, apart from the mild hangover resulting from being the only person at dinner last night willing to finish the bottle of wine we bought (five people should have been able to get through it easily, but nobody wanted more than a glass, so I ended up having about 3 - and I'm a huge lightweight).  

Anyway, I was at 147.8 yesterday morning, and didn't eat much that was bad yesterday, apart from some fries (pommes frites, to be strictly accurate, as it was at a french restaurant), the wine, and the creme brulee for dessert.  Okay, maybe not such a great eating day.  Here's the details:

• tea with cream
• bacon (7 slices, to finish some up before it could go bad)
• cheese (3-5 pieces throughout the day)
• a small container of potato chips
• 2 or 3 Ghirardelli chocolate squares (hmm, this is getting worse by the minute!)
• steak with brie-butter on it
• squash with butter
• fries
• wine
• creme brulee

I think that was it.  I'm paying for it this morning - until the Advil kicks in, anyway.

Friday - at last!

And this time, it's real.  I was able to fast with very little effort yesterday, and got home pretty hungry.  We had Mexican for dinner, which might not have been the best choice, but it tasted good.  And 3 paleo brownies after - to get them finished off before they spoiled.  And that was my eating for the day.  A slightly more detailed breakdown goes like this:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• chips and salsa
• a bit of guacamole
• enchiladas montada (3-stack, cheese) with red sauce (by accident)
• 3 paleo brownies

150.0 this morning - not a big improvement, but I feel somewhat less puffy.  And I had a leg cramp around 5 am, which would point toward some ketosis.  I'll take it. 

I'll try to get some walking in this weekend - but my intent is to sew a bit.  Should be time for both.

Thursday

Four-day workweek syndrome strikes; it should be Friday today, dammit!  We were ahead of the game until dinner last night, and blammo, it was suddenly, mental Thursday.  No idea how that happens.  In any event, I'm fasting this morning after a night of not-so-great sleep (woke up cranky at 3 am and could not get to sleep until close on 5:00).  Hope to keep it up until dinner.  150.2 this morning, and a bit puffy around the ankles again.  I do wish I didn't have hormonally-related water retention quite so much these days - or at least, not in my ankles.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky (got bored)
• brats with mustard (2 of them)
• sauerkraut (live)
• potato chips
• walnuts
• two paleo brownies
• a piece of Ghirardelli dark chocolate with caramel and sea salt (these are amazingly good)

That was it; I will be giving some thought to a serious return to ketosis for a while, I think - what's above would not have done it.  The fast may.  I am also parking my car farther away from the building (not as far as it could be, so I can work on that), and trying to take the stairs more.  We probably should have gone for a walk last night - might have helped with the sleep some.

Wednesday

I had a busy day at work yesterday, which meant that I didn't need to eat to deal with boredom.  Not a good thing, boredom - especially when my reaction is to fixate on carbs.  Today looks fairly action-packed as well, especially during the afternoon when things get hyper-boring, so I hope to repeat the process.  149.6 this morning, so some of the weight dropped off.  Here's the day's eats:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• cheese (2 pieces)
• steak-and-wedge salad with blue cheese dressing
• two paleo brownies

And that was it. 

 

I bought my Mardi Gras ballgown last night - ordered it from a bridal outfitter in town.  Based on the size we opted to go with, I have no margin to gain weight between now and January 26th, so I will be adding some regular walking to my life, somehow.  I do think the short twice-daily walks I did at my old job (to and from the car) were just enough that, when stopped, I gained some weight.  About 5 pounds' worth, I'd guess.  So if I find a way to get walking again, somehow, somewhere, relatively frequently, I think I should be able to push them off and make them stay there - and that should be enough for safety through the holidays.  That, and completely avoiding holiday snacks.  I have a goal, and that will help.

Mon - err, Tuesday

Ah, the three-day weekend.  A nice one, got a lot of little things done.  Didn't think I ate much yesterday, but something wasn't right.  150.0 this morning, after 148.6 yesterday.  Here's the day:

• bacon
• tea with cream
• cheese (5 pieces, throughout the day)
• 2-1/2 hot dogs
• potato chips (not an awful lot, but maybe enough) with mustard
• a paleo brownie (made another batch - those things are really good!)
• meat loaf
• southern style green beans
• ice cream (coconut-pineapple, this time)
• a Ghirardelli dark chocolate square with caramel and sea salt

The beans were over-salty this time (some day, I'll get the proportions right - but not yesterday).  Maybe that caused some water retention.  I don't know.  Not going to worry about it.

 

I cooked yesterday.  Put up green beans, owing to a surprise donation from my former sister-in-law (8 meals' worth, all blanched and frozen).  Made tomato sauce from the garden's tomatoes - 6 cups, give or take.  Made meatballs to freeze, and as seen above, meat loaf and brownies.  It was fun - I think I finally sat down around 3:30, after starting about 8:00.  And now we have 4 meals of meatballs for those "Crap - what are we going to eat?" nights, which occur all too often (tonight might be one of them, but we could have leftover meatloaf, I think).

 

Less than 2 weeks until vacation (long weekend in San Diego).  Looking forward to it. 

Friday

I slept well; didn't wake until after 5, but I'll tell you, it doesn't feel that way this morning.  I'm weary.  149.2 again; did a semi-fast yesterday (until after 2 pm) and I think that caught the weirdness and stopped it.  More to tell over the weekend.

 

Here's the day:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• a cherry tomato
• beef jerky
• 1 square Lindt 85%
• part of a piece of cheese
• filet wrapped in bacon
• salad with vinaigrette
• a pumpkin muffin
• walnuts

I think that was it.  And I kept the walnuts to a reasonable quantity, for once - and ate them in genuine hunger.  Went to sleep fairly easily and slept well enough to dream vividly, but I'm tired and wrung out and achy this morning.  We're thinking it might be the onset of fall - morning is coming in a lot later than it did just a few weeks ago.  Gotta live seasonally, right?

Thursday

Hmmm.  Carb cravings, rapid weight gain, puffy fingers - are we having another go-round of hormones?  One would think so.  150.2 this morning, and I was fairly restrained yesterday.  My fingers are swollen and won't bend fully, so some of it is water.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• 1 square of Lindt 85%
• 3 (total, I think) pieces of cheese
• about a cup of green olives with pimientos
• a cherry tomato (they have been wonderful this year)
• two primal pumpkin nut muffins (adapted from the Primal Blueprint cookbook, and darned good)

I'm fairly sure that was it for yesterday.  Made the muffins with an eye toward giving a few of them to Elizabeth for breakfasts - coconut flour and lots of eggs in them should make them fairly satiating.  Hopefully we'll leave her a few - Lee and I both had two of them last night.

 

For what it's worth, the hot flashes have subsided to a barely-noticeable level (they're still there, but not really bugging me) and I'm sleeping really well.  And that's always good.

Wednesday

Carb bender yesterday, not sure why.  149.0 this morning - sure why (see previous sentence).  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• 3 squares of Lindt 85%
• walnuts
• cheese (2-3 pieces)
• salami
• potato chips
• 4 pieces of salt water taffy (the last of it, too)
• a fortune cookie
• strawberry ice cream (the Haagen-Dasz ones)

I think that was it.  I was crazy starved when I got home last night, and wanted cookies.  Since we had none in the house, the potato chips and taffy (crunchy, salty, sweet - that's cookies in a nutshell, right?) stood in.  The fortune cookie was because when Lee got home, he went for Chinese for his dinner and I went along for the ride, and the ice cream was just to add insult to injury, I guess. 

 

Hope to do better today, although I have another "on my own for dinner" night.

Tuesday

148.6 this morning - not heading in the right direction.  I blame the nuts.  Ate a lot of them yesterday.  Must remember to take out a portion and put the package back.  Here's the eating:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• meatballs with spaghetti sauce (2-1/2 meatballs, and some cheddar cheese)
• salad with ham and a vinaigrette dressing
• walnuts (eaten mindlessly)
• about 6 potato chips

I think that was it.  I'm also stiff and sore - delayed reaction from the walk on Sunday, since the pain is in my hips and the back of my knees.  So probably some inflammation going on.

 

Not much else to report.

Monday

Mark Sisson would be half-proud of me.  I walked yesterday.  And walked, and walked, and walked - about 4 hours' worth, give or take, at a nice slow pace.  Outside, much of it.  In nature, part of the time.  It was great.  I have a bit of color on my arms and face, and feel pleasantly stiff.  And I slept like a rock.

 

148.2 this morning, which is okay.  I was 147.0 yesterday, 148.2 the morning before.  Water, anyone?

 

Here's yesterday's eats:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements, more or less (plus turmeric)
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• sausage
• ham
• a few shreds of hash browns
• cobb salad with avocado, bacon, and blue cheese dressing
• glass of wine
• strawberry ice cream (from a vendor, not the little Haagen-Dasz cup, maybe about 2 of it)
• smashburger (naked with peppers and cheese and queso)
• a few fries

I think that was it.  Not too bad apart from the occasional potato and the ice cream.

 

But about that walking - we went to Vail for the day; Lee played golf, and I walked around the village and window-shopped, looked at the Alpine botanical gardens and wandered the farmer's market.  It was nice - relaxing and energizing for me - I didn't have to talk to anyone if I didn't want to, which after Saturday (stressful cat-wrangling and car repairs and my mother for 3 hours straight) was a very good thing.  We need to do things like that more often - just go somewhere that provides an opportunity to walk around outside for several hours, and take the opportunity.  San Diego trip is about 3 weeks off; maybe we can do some of it then.

Friday

146.4 this morning.  Should I be?  Hardly.  I did a partial fast yesterday - broke it around 1:00 pm, I think, with a bag of jerky.  Got home fairly hungry, and with a pretty bad carb craving.  So, of course, I ate crap.  Here's the details:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements (plus turmeric for anti-inflammatory stuff)
• beef jerky
• salami - 4-5 slices
• cheese - 2 pieces, I think
• M&Ms - the remainder of the movie theatre bag from watching the Bourne movie last weekend
• chips and salsa

That was it - and I was hungry this morning when the alarm went off, so I guess I didn't overeat, at least.  But I also woke up about a half hour before the alarm, with a migraine aura - the unfortunately familiar arc of sparkly triangles in the left field of vision.  Got up, took 3 ibuprofen, and they had diminished without a headache by the time the alarm went off, fortunately.  But the triggers are listed above, I believe.  I think there was 1 "serving" of M&Ms left (the movie bag is 3.5 "servings"), so that was probably a lot of sugar.

 

In any event, the predilection to lose weight seems still to be here, and I'm working it to the max.

Thursday

This has been a long week.  Didn't eat much yesterday, but gained half a pound.  147.2 this morning.  No idea why.  Possibly fasting today - skipped breakfast for convenience.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• a salad with bibb lettuce, pancetta, grilled chicken, blue cheese, walnuts, and pickled onions - and some sort of ranch dressing
• iced tea
• 1 piece of cheese

That was it.  Don't see anything particularly suspect, so maybe it's general inflammation from the shoulder work.

Wednesday

Things are very interesting.  Somehow, I've overcome a lot of cravings and am able to eat not much at all right now, with the associated weight loss.  146.6 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• a bag of salted almonds
• two pieces of cheese
• roughly a vending-sized bag of Ruffles (I ate from a big bag, so this is a total guess)
• one paleo brownie

And that was it.  The cheese and what followed were "dinner" - I wasn't hungry by the time I got home, or not much.  Like I said, maybe my body is just feeling like shedding a few pounds (odd considered seasonally - it IS August after all).  I'd guess hormones are involved.  The hot flashes are sorta-kinda back; I'm having some issues with temperature while sleeping and having a few mild heat issues during the day.  Nothing like earlier this year, thank heavens.  Don't know if that's the meds, or if things are subsiding, but I'm grateful.

Tuesday

Nothing peculiar about eating yesterday, and I'm still at 146.8 this morning.  Here's the details:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements (no fish oil, and on Mondays it includes vitamin K)
• beef jerky (1 bag)
• 1 square Lindt 85%
• chicken breast with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, roasted peppers
• a few fried potatoes
• strawberry ice cream
• 1 paleo brownie

Dinner was at Applebees, so I don't know what else was in it - but probably something.  Same routine likely today, except that dinner will probably be cheese and salami after my shoulder treatments.