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.

Monday

Whoa.  I am beginning to suspect that there are just times when my body is in a weight-losing mood, and this appears to be one of them.  And I'm riding it right to the end, thank you.  146.8 this morning.  No serious temptation to eat crap over the weekend, either.  Well, except for the potato chips on Saturday at dinner - but I was able to get that under control.

 

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• a piece of cheese
• 3 or possibly 4 paleo brownies (recipe from Civilized Caveman Creations - more on it below)
• two other pieces of cheese
• chicken BLTA from Primal Blueprint quick and easy (those are so good!)
• three additional pieces of cheese

That was it.  I was headachy-hungry late in the afternoon, when I had the two pieces of cheese, so that marks the end of my pre-dinner eating (although one of the brownies was actually after dinner).  Had a lot of energy and got a lot of stuff done, too.  Like I said, my body seems to be in the mood to lose weight, finally.

 

And about the brownies.  I truly didn't think they'd work.  1/2 cup of cocoa and a tablespoon of cinnamon were the only significant dry ingredients in the recipe - the remainder of the bulk came from coconut butter (interesting stuff, that), eggs, and honey.  But the results were definitely brownies.  I don't have the link handy; if I can find it, I'll post it later.  Good stuff!

Friday

Overall, a productive week in weight loss terms.  148.4 this morning, so I've been on a steady downward trend all week, for the first time in quite a while.  Killing off the mid-day cheese seems to have been key.  Here's the day's eating:

• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky (1 bag)
• Cold Stone "like it" sized ice cream with berries (this is in chronological order)
• 5 pieces of cheese (cheddar and Gruyere)
• 5ish pieces of salami

And that was it.  I was pretty hungry around dinner time, but had a shoulder appointment so didn't eat until I got home around 7 - and then we went for ice cream, so I had that on an empty stomach.  Not an altogether pleasant experience.  I was starving, so I hoovered it down, and got a bit of a stomach ache, and could nearly hear my body screaming, "How about some REAL food, please???"  So when we got home, I provided some.

 

Not much else going on right now.

Thursday

Another semi-fast day yesterday; I succumbed to beef jerky and chocolate around 2:30, I think.  Which is fine; the fast was for convenience, not for any particular time period.  148.6 this morning.  A good dinner last night, too - steak and amazing green beans, and salad.  Here's the full story:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• 1 square Lindt 85%
• 1 bag beef jerky
• chips (fewer than 10, I'm fairly sure) with queso
• iced tea
• 6 oz bacon-wrapped filet (yum!!!)
• green beans sauteed with bacon and pecans
• strawberry ice cream
• a piece of cheddar cheese

And that was it.  After dinner, we went home and I watched something on Netflix and then went to bed, with melatonin, which isn't quite as magic as it was originally.  I'm still getting fairly good sleep, though.  The hot flashes are threatening again - either that, or we're having late summer weather.  Or both.  Guess I'll find out which it is once things cool down for real.

 

I think I have a weekend of tomatoes coming up - the Early Girls are all ripening simultaneously.  Peel, chunk, and freeze them, I think.

Wednesday

149.6 after a semi-fast.  I had boredom and hunger going on in the afternoon, and ate.  It wasn't just boredom; my stomach was growling, so no biggie, right?  Here's a recap:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky
• 1 square of Lindt 85% (those two were the workday's eating)
• cheese (5 or 6 squares of Gruyere, later 2 pieces of Cheddar)
• salami
• olives
• walnuts
• 4-5 pieces of saltwater taffy (leftovers from last winter's stop in Galveston; I wanted something sweet)

That was it.  No leg cramps overnight, but I was uncomfortable - achy, too hot, then too cold.  Not a good night's sleep at all, despite the melatonin (I am sensing the edge of a few hot flashes so have been hitting the menopause supplements hard again, to keep that crap at bay).  Fasted breakfast again this morning because I just didn't feel like getting up early to make it - Lee stayed at a hotel near work overnight due to a late meeting and a need to get in early. 

Tuesday

I did a lot of boredom eating during the day yesterday - well, "a lot" is subjective, I guess.  Here's the breakdown of the day:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs (half of 5 eggs)
• bacon
• two packages of jerky
• two squares of Lindt 85%
• most of the chicken and some of the vegetables from an order of Mushu chicken without pancakes - I wasn't much hungry
• a fortune cookie
• a few fragments of dried strawberries as I was scraping them off the dehydrator trays (less successful drying than usual)

That was it.  150.0 this morning.  Possibly some water retention/inflammation/swelling from another treatment on my shoulder (this one involved the infamous work on the muscles on the front of my spine - not a favorite of mine).

 

I'm fasting at the moment, because breakfast seemed just too hard to do this morning.  Some days are like that.  I may stick it out until dinner.  We shall see.

Monday

I saw 148.6 on Saturday morning.  Definitely encouraging, although it's 150.2 today.  C'est la vie; I was drying strawberries in the kitchen yesterday and the smell was making me carb out big time, so it's somewhat understandable.  Here's what I think yesterday included:

• bacon
• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• naked big mac
• about 1/2 of a medium fries from McDonald's
• walnuts
• chocolate blueberries
• chocolate almonds
• cheese
• a few tortilla chips
• a couple of squares of LIndt 85%
• taco salad (grassfed beef, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, cheese)

The strawberries are done (need to remove them from the drying trays), so it should be safe to go home tonight.  And I opted not to bring cheese or anything to work again this week, because I do think that helped a lot.  Beyond that, no dinner for me tonight because I have another MAT session right after work - it has helped a lot with my right shoulder, and I'm hoping to have it in "lifting heavy things" shape again fairly soon.

Friday

Operating on about 3 hours' sleep, maybe less.  Work-related.  150.6 this morning, although zeroing out the scale was weird, so it could be wrong.  Hard to muster the energy to care.

 

Yesterday:

• tea with cream
• strawberries and cream
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky (possibly 2 packages, I was pretty hungry)
• bouillon
• two pieces of cheese
• almond flour bread (which was going bad, I think)
• pecans and cheese ball
• 6 or so chocolate blueberries

So far today, I've had a fat-bomb smoothie.  Still waiting for the MCT love.  I could be waiting a while.  Going to be a painful day.

Thursday

Another day with minimal eating at work and minimal snacking at home, and more weight gone - 149.0 this morning.  Obviously some of it has to be water, but it's nice to see.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• strawberries and cream
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky (the strawberries are nowhere near as good at sustaining me as eggs are!)
• steak
• salad with blue cheese dressing
• 9 chocolate blueberries

That might have been it.  Seems like I'm missing something, but maybe I'm not.  That would be cool. 

 

In any event, snacking is obviously an issue for me, and I need to work harder (over time - it's been under control this week) on minimizing it.  Guess I'm out of the "bringing cheese to work" mode for the moment, at any event.

Wednesday

I'm starting to think that avoiding eating while at work may be the ticket.  150.8 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon (rather a lot)
• the usual supplements
• beef jerky (I was really hungry at about 3:00, so I did finally eat)
• cheese (1 piece at home)
• naked Philly Cheesesteak
• cottage cheese
• about 8 chocolate blueberries
• a slice of almond bread with butter

And then I was able to stop.  Probably didn't hurt that I filled the evening with making new drip lines for one of the raised garden beds, and installing them, either.  Will keep plugging with this, since it seems to be producing results.

Tuesday

The fast was effective, and not too hard.  Broke it with dinner last night, ate until I couldn't, and stopped.  151.6 this morning, so at a minimum, I got rid of some excess water.

 

Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• taco meatza (grassfed beef, cheese, eggs, salsa, tomatoes, peppers)
• chocolate blueberries (probably about 30 of them, in two batches)
• a piece of almond-flour bread

That was it.  I was hungry throughout the day at various points, but since I had no easily-available food that I wanted to eat, it was pretty easy not to.  I left the cheese/salami for snacking at home again today, as I did the Lindt 85%, so it's jerky or nothing.  And I will try to make it nothing.

 

Took melatonin for sleep again last night, but I don't think I will tonight - I'm starting to feel pretty well rested again.  Back to the evening magnesium instead.

Monday

I'm still fighting carb cravings, suffice it to say.  152.8 this morning.  Stuff still fits, so I'm going to go on eating as right as I can and not get too sweaty over the numbers.

 

The weekend involved a movie (the new Batman - amazingly good), most dinners out, and a lot of puttering.  Some heavy lifting.  I'm still suffering with overall body-aches, which I'd prefer not to be, but I'm assuming it's somehow related to the hormonal swings.  I took melatonin last night and got a really good night's sleep, and am feeling a bit better as a result.

 

Here's yesterday's eating:

• tea with cream
• two slices of almond bread (recipe from Paleo Comfort Food) with butter
• a naked burger with cheese, catsup, mustard, pickle
• salad with blue cheese
• a handful of chocolate blueberries at some point during the day
• mushu chicken without the pancakes
• a fortune cookie
• ice cream with berries in from Cold Stone (I asked for a small, but got what amounted to a medium.  and ate it.)

We also spent quality time changing out the mailbox last night - a job involving grinding wheels, sledgehammers, and the two of us twisting a pole into the ground on an auger tip.  Lee did most of the heavy lifting; I was there to prevent him injuring himself, mostly - which I did.  I also found the lock bolt thingie for his circular saw when it vanished.

 

And on Saturday, I did some weeding.  Not much, though.  Oh, and Elizabeth and I both decided that we weren't all that into the 5K, so we blew it off.

 

Meatza for dinner tonight - taco-flavored if I can figure out an approach.  And we fasted breakfast for convenience, which may be a 20+ hour fast for me, since I didn't bring cheese or salami to work today.

Friday

Up a bit today, and achy all over to boot.  150.6 this morning.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• salami (4 slices)
• cheese cubes (probably about 15 total)
• chips, salsa, and queso
• hot and sour soup
• teriyaki beef skewers with chinese mustard
• a fortune cookie
• more tea with cream
• chocolate blueberries - probably about 15 as well
• walnuts - no idea how many

Hormones continue to be a plague and a nuisance.  I'm hoping that this period is entering into a short bit of active estrogen that will allow me to get back into the low-mid 140s somewhere, in case I have another menopause-driven weight gain to come.  I definitely feel "not in control" of things just now.

 

Movie tonight, quiet day tomorrow, I hope, 5K Sunday morning and another quiet day after that.  I am feeling a bit stressed these days - lots of "must do" tasks on lists getting in the way of the puttering or sewing I'd like to be doing.  I guess, though, if I get through some or all of them, that will free up my time again and remove the stress.  So, onward!

Thursday

Not exactly sure what possessed me last night (and it was a possession!).  Got home to find that the dog or dogs had been sick, so after feeding them, got the fun of cleaning up the screen porch, where they spend their leisurely days well away from paper products (they are not as paleo as we would like, and have a real appetite for literature).  Once that was done, I went on what can only be described as a bender.

 

M&Ms.  Salt-water taffy.  Chips and Salsa.

 

I was devouring carbs at a rate I cannot recall doing for years.  And then I was able to stop, thank goodness.  Didn't bother with dinner at that point; I felt both bloated and buzzy.  So I did a bunch of stuff around the house, very quickly, and finally was able to settle down for the evening, with a bit of tea and cream.  It was just weird.  I can only blame hormones - and heaven knows I'm in thrall to them just now.

 

Having done such a thing, the last anticipation I had was for leg cramps, so, of course, that's how I spent 8:30-11:00 pm.  Shin, outer ankle, and calf, simultaneously.  Each leg in turn, both at once, and a few final shots over the bow as I finally managed to get to sleep.  Very painful, too.  I took 5 potassium on the way to bed, and a magnesium, and I guess they eventually kicked in, but they took their own time about it, I must say.  Slept until 4:00 when I woke up from a dream to find that, given any sort of encouragement, my right shin was ready to play again.  I didn't encourage it.  And at 5:00, the dog wanted out.  Given yesterday's mess, she got what she wanted.

 

Nasty night.

 

149.4 this morning, though.  Here's the full scoop for yesterday:

• tea with cream
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• the usual supplements
• cheese (total of 4 pieces for the day, I think)
• beef jerky
• two squares of Lindt 85%
• M&Ms (the end of one of the bags I had brought to work and then took home - probably about 1/5 of a normal sized bag)
• 3 pieces of salt-water taffy
• chips and salsa - chips enough to eat a standard individual serving-sized ramekin of salsa
• tea with cream

Ugh.  I hope we're done with that.  It wasn't fun.  I was in a bit of a rage at the time, as well, although that may have had to do with the dog mess.

 

Another company party thingie today - at Dave & Busters for the afternoon, with fingerfood available.  Supposedly some of it is assorted cheese.  Think I'll have a bit of salami before I take off.  Just in case.

Wednesday

If it were biologically possible to pee one's brains out, I would have done so yesterday.  Yikes!  Every drop of liquid consumed was immediately and urgently expelled.  Guess I can live with that, since it means that the cankles should not return any time soon. 

150.2 (I think) this morning.  I was hoping for more of a loss, but we're getting there.  The fast, well, wasn't much.  I didn't eat until around 1 pm, I think, but once I started, I didn't go back to fasting.  Here's the breakdown:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• salami (4 slices)
• cheese (ultimately, 3 pieces)
• a small handful of ripple potato chips (about 6 chips)
• two squares of Lindt 85%
• a bunless quarter pounder with cheese
• iced tea
• walnuts

That was everything, so not a fast, but not a big eating day, either. 

I was much less achy yesterday than I had been for a while - I'm sure it was prostaglandins and the water doing the evil.  I'm a bit achier this morning - woke up at 4:30 and had impending calf cramps that prevented me from getting comfortable enough to go back to sleep, so I tossed and turned for an hour before the alarm went off. 

Back to the usual breakfast this morning.  Probably back to having salami and/or cheese around mid-day, as well.  We'll see.