Friday, May 30, 2014

Friday

156.0 yesterday. 156.8 today. Sigh. There are days. I wasn't in a position to eat particularly well yesterday, yet it wasn't bad. Here's the day:
  • tea with cream
  • scrambled eggs
  • bacon (3 pieces, I think)
  • the usual supplements
  • salad with blue cheese dressing
  • two burger patties with cheese and 1000-island dressing
  • maybe a piece of cheddar
  • 3 slices of gluten-free pizza (chicken bacon ranch)
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 5 chocolate almonds (maltitol sweetened)
That was it. I didn't even bother with honey because I fell asleep on the couch well before bedtime - and didn't need it to sleep for real. Sleep was really good; I woke a couple of times but was asleep within minutes each time, and woke up just before the alarm went off. 

My ankles feel fairly unswollen; my joints are still sore in various places, so I don't think the inflammation is gone. And I seem to be slowly getting rid of any constipation I had after Monday's race.

I did a measuring tape bodyfat thing yesterday, because I was checking measurements for a dress I want to order and hadn't done it in a while.  Not great - 30.8% per the measurements I'd been using - I was down near 23.5% at my lowest weight, so I've gained rather more fat than I would like in the past 3 years. Also, my lean mass is down 4 pounds from then.

I have this weekend to myself (with the dogs, obviously), and plan on eating very high-fat, near zero carb all weekend, see if that gets the 154s to reappear. Breakfast, big-ass salads, and maybe no dinners, if I can pull it off. Walking both Saturday and Sunday, weather permitting.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Wednesday

I woke up this morning feeling like I was a water balloon.  I still do. My hands don't look like inflated surgical gloves, or even Mickey Mouse's hands, but they feel like that - large, spherical base with puffy fingers sticking out at angles that can't be overcome by force. Possibly the real reason I've had to do a lot of corrections to my typing this morning. 157.4. Inflammation is weird. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • strawberries with cream
  • 2 pieces of bacon
  • the usual supplements (extra fish oil and turmeric)
  • about 14 green olives
  • a piece of cheddar
  • 3 Fuzzy's ground-beef tacos, no shells
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1 tsp honey
So, back to as high-fat a diet as I can cobble together. I think it worked last week, and if I were at the office 4 days this week, I would have made more broccoli soup. As it is, I'm only here 2 days this week, so I'm getting along with high-fat snack foods: olives yesterday and macadamias today.

I can't say for sure, because of the water retention I'm experiencing at the moment, but I think I may have the cashew thing under control. I have a nicely sized 1/2 cup plastic storage container, and I don't quite fill it to the top, and take it away from the source. Usually, one of those a day is enough for me. I could probably shift from cashews to macadamias, but wouldn't want to eat more than a half-full container at any given time.

Not much exercise yesterday; I did a little gardening after dinner, just cleaning up after the hailstorm. And putting away a ladder. I certainly didn't approach my goal in fuel points for the day. Sleep was really good, but one of those good-enough-for-more nights; I woke up very unwilling to move. At bedtime last night, to prevent a repeat of the night before, I took 2 fish oil, 2 turmeric, and 2 aspirin. It seems to have worked on the pain, but certainly didn't get rid of the inflammation.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Tuesday

Saturday: 154.2, Sunday: 154.8, Monday: 154.4.  And today? 156.0. I know why; I'm swollen and achy from the Bolder Boulder yesterday. I was hoping the number would be lower, but it is what it is. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • coconut-milk smoothie with protein powder, vanilla, raspberries, and cocoa powder
  • olive oil potato chips (1 bag)
  • 2 Michelob Ultra beers
  • 1/2 pound smoked turkey
  • cashews (total for the day about 3/4 cup)
  • cheese - a couple pieces, I think
  • a glass of white wine
  • a burger patty with pickles
  • two bratwurst
  • sauerkraut
  • cole slaw
  • vanilla ice cream with berries (strawberries and blueberries)
That was it. A little over the top, especially as regards alcohol, but not too bad. So I expect to see the 154s again here shortly.

The race was fun, as usual. We maintained pretty much a 16-minute mile steadily over the whole course, which wasn't bad since we hadn't trained at all. My vibrams continued to bug my heels a little; I think I have a mild blister on one of them - on the bottom of the heel surface. Not sure why this pair does that, when my other ones mostly didn't (unless dirty).

Fuel points were through the roof - nearly 5000 for the day, I think. And that included a nap. The race as a session completed my daily point goal all by itself.

As for today - strawberries, cream, and bacon for breakfast, olives for lunch, no idea what for dinner. But I want to get right back into the groove here, so it will probably be a big-ass salad of some sort.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Friday

I am not going to get over-confident here, but am happy to see 155.0 this morning. Given that I haven't seen this number in a while, My hope is that my eating this past week is a pattern that provokes weight loss for me in my current hormonally messed-up state (and that if the stupid menopause ever settles down, I can revert to something slightly less low-carb (more veggies, fruits, and nuts, anyway - not jonesing for toast or anything like that).

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • scrambled eggs
  • turkey sausage (2 links)
  • fat-fast cream of broccoli soup
  • cheese (2 pieces)
  • salad with smoked turkey and blue cheese dressing
  • 2 squares Lindt 85%
  • 1 tsp honey
Ketosis at bedtime was closer to "Small" than "Trace" but still between the two. If that's working, great. But I will continue to shoot for it to go higher.

No exercise yesterday, lots of stress, sleep last night was adequate. I've had a RedBull this morning trying to get awake; I'm kind of groggy. Hangover from a 10mg melatonin? Low Carb flu? Reaction to a hellish work month? I'm not sure but I needed to be awake-er than I was at first, and the tea wasn't doing it.

Memorial day weekend coming up; planning on working outside, getting sun when I can, doing an Indy 500 project (probably painting stuff), and, of course, the Bolder Boulder on Monday. So there should be a lot of fresh air and sunshine and movement. And rest. I'm hoping to get back my mental capacity by Tuesday morning, somehow.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Thursday

I thought I got some sleep last night - apart from a noisy thunderstorm between 10 and 11 pm, I didn't wake up until after 4:30 - but I'm a bit groggy this morning.  Slightly achy, but better than yesterday; the area on my feet that acts like modeling clay is much smaller. 155.6 this morning. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • scrambled eggs with ham and mushrooms and garlic powder and probably cheese
  • the usual supplements (extra fish oil and turmeric)
  • fat-fast broccoli cheese soup
  • cheese (4 pieces total, I think)
  • cashews - about 3/4 cup (2 handfuls)
  • 4 salted chocolate almonds
  • 1-1/2 tbsp butter (unsalted - not as good as salted eaten alone)
  • 1 tsp honey
I added the butter after finishing the book The Big Fat Surprise, which provided a very enlightening history of the country's current low-fat conventional wisdom and how it got that way (along with some seriously creepy side effects of trying to replace natural animal fat in manufactured and restaurant foods). Good read - and had the effect of making me go eat butter on its own, as a health food.

No exercise to speak of yesterday - well, none at all, really. I got home, snacked a bit of dinner, read, and watched TV. Hot flashes are down a bit from a couple of days ago, I think, and weren't disruptive last night, which may have been because the thunderstorm cooled things down. Ketosis was hovering between Trace and Small; I would really like to get it into Moderate for a couple of days, or even High, just to see if I can. I'd tend to guess I'm not eating enough fat, but I don't really know. Thinking seriously about getting Phinney and Volek's book next; supposedly they provide a lot of how-to info.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Wednesday

Too tired, stressed, and puffy to say much. 157.2 this morning; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • scrambled eggs
  • bacon (2 slices)
  • the usual supplements
  • strawberries with heavy cream (about 1/8 cup, I would guess)
  • fat-fast cream of broccoli soup - about 1 cup
  • two grassfed beef burger patties - about 2/3 pound total
  • a small amount of zoodles with pesto - nasty
  • two pieces of cheddar
  • 6 salted chocolate almonds
  • 1 tsp honey
I think that was it. Solid "Trace" ketosis last night ("Small" the night before). Some minor fasciculation during the evening but no leg cramps; sleep was still shit, with 2 obvious wakings and several others that didn't rise to the point of checking the time. No exercise.

Work continues to be fairly awful, and I'm not handling it well. 

As to the puffiness, my fingers are swollen, my feet could be used as modeling clay last night (I could poke lasting impressions in them with my fingers), and I have bags under my eyes. I have added turmeric to the things I'm slugging down.

According to a magnet on my desk, "everything will be okay in the end. if it's not okay, it's not the end." I guess it's not the end.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Tuesday

158.0, swollen at most joints; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • strawberries
  • bacon (3 pieces)
  • the usual supplements
  • a serving of fat-fast broccoli cheese soup
  • cobb salad, no egg, blue cheese dressing (chicken, avocado, bacon)
  • 2 squares Lindt 85%
  • 1 tsp honey
We also walked 2-ish miles (total round trip) to and from dinner, so I'm sorry, but there's no way I gained legitimate weight yesterday. My ankles are puffy, I have swollen finger joints, elbows, and knees, and my hips hurt. I'm carrying water - not sure how much, but I'd bet 3 pounds or more. Taking extra fish oil at breakfast, but that's pretty much it; I guess I could haul the turmeric out and take it as well.

Despite a 2-mile walk, I think I only scored about 1900 fuel points yesterday. Not sure what the deal was.

Sleep is getting bad again. Not sure if it's the warmth at night or what, but I spent the last 2 nights doing the covers-up-covers-off dance over and over and over. I know last night I restarted my one-hour playlist at least 3 times; I know I was awake at 1:10 because I looked at the time. Also 4:47. On the other hand, when I was asleep, I did dream. So that's something, I guess.

Eggs and bacon this morning; I have strawberries and cream as well as the soup with me - to finish the strawberries off before they go bad. Onward.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Monday

Really good weekend; I got tons of stuff done, the weather mostly cooperated, and I'm in a better mood than I was much of last week.  Eating? So-so. Yesterday morning, I was startled to see 155.4 on the scale after a labor-intensive Saturday. This morning, I saw 157.0. I think the earlier reading was accurate (it was 156.4 Saturday morning), but all of my joints are swollen up today. My feet are all good though - nice and skinny ankles. 

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements (extra fish oil for inflammation)
  • scrambled eggs with mushroom, bacon, and cheese in
  • cheese (6 pieces?? maybe only 4)
  • peanuts (oops - a lot, and very salty ones)
  • dark chocolate - 2 squares of Lindt 85%
  • potato chips - about 4 small ones
  • two chocolate covered peanuts, I think
  • ham - about 5 slices 
  • mashed cheesy cauliflower - a lot
I was exhausted by 8 pm and my lower back was bugging me, so I went to bed, took a melatonin but no honey, and was out cold within only a few minutes. I can't say I slept like a rock because I woke up at midnight and again at 4:50, but I slept pretty well.

Gardening provided all the exercise this weekend; I did not walk. More cleanup, and planting stuff this weekend - beans, cucumbers, carrots, tomato plants, herb plants, flower seedlings. I finally got the rest of the rose garden cleaned up - including pulling off some black netting we'd put up to help vines climb the fence - it worked, but became a nuisance. Anyway, I got all of the dandelions and thistle plants pulled (probably not eradicated), ripped out the mint we could see (there will be more) and got a bunch of lawn grass pulled out. It looks quite a bit better now. Oh, and I got the strawberry box fenced in - it should be rabbit-proof now, although not bird-proof - I need to put some netting over it.

I'm not getting hung up about the weight. Not entirely sure what the deal is, as usual. I have cream of broccoli soup for lunch from the Fat Fast cookbook, and will be working on having high-fat food this week. See if that makes a difference.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Friday

158.0 this morning, of course. That's how life goes, don't you know? I'm guessing stress hormones are flooding the field right now, but wow. So discouraging. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • strawberries with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • pulled pork with BBQ sauce
  • cole slaw
  • 1/4 pickle spear
  • 12 macadamia nuts
  • two bratwurst
  • sauerkraut
  • about a handful of potato chips
  • 5 pieces of cheese (I was starving)
  • 5 salted chocolate almonds
  • 1 tsp honey
Is that overeating? I hope not, but maybe it was. A couple of weird things yesterday, too - after eating lunch, I got super sleepy. This hasn't happened since forever - seriously, since I started eating low-carb paleo, I have not been sleepy in the afternoon like that one time. Until yesterday. So that was odd. Then, I nearly fell asleep driving home, which is not good. Finally, my stomach spent the night churning like crazy, and I had putrid gas, which is also really rare for me. No idea what's going on, but capping it off with weight gain seems all of a piece of the week.

No walk yesterday; I should have done one, but I was exhausted when I got home. I went to bed early, too.

Starting fresh today. Eggs and 2 slices of bacon for breakfast, and will think of something small for lunch. I will be glad to kiss this week good bye.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Thursday

157.2 this morning; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • strawberries with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • a piece of cheese
  • 12 macadamia nuts
  • a package of Skittles
  • a "large" bowl of mongolian BBQ with cabbage instead of rice (soy sauce probably the only bad thing in it - steak, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, bok choy, red cabbage)
  • 2 pieces of cheese
  • 1 tsp honey
While the soy sauce was probably salty, neither it nor the Skittles should have added over half a pound to my weight overnight. Cortisol might have, though, and I had a wretched day at work yesterday. I won't go into details, but it was bad, and I spent much of the afternoon just livid about some things. 

I would very much have liked to walk it off, but we went out for mongolian BBQ instead, and then home. I read a bit, took the big melatonin (10mg), and got a solid night's sleep. I guess that's really the best outcome I could have hoped for.

More strawberries this morning, but no cheese, because I forgot. I have more macadamias, and hope not to find myself hiking for Skittles again. But things have been evocative of Skittles twice in the past couple of weeks, so it's a matter of hoping for the best, I think.

Ketosis is also a total bust at the moment. Regrouping this weekend, I think. Ugh.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Wednesday

156.6 again today, I feel swollen again, and don't really know why. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • strawberries with a little cream
  • the usual supplements
  • insides of 2 half-sandwiches - turkey, roast beef, cheese, random veg, 1000-island dressing, I think. Maybe some ham
  • ground beef burger with green chile and cheese
  • cottage cheese
  • 5 salted chocolate almonds
  • cashews - probably less than yesterday, but I ate them from the package
  • 1 tsp honey
That doesn't seem like much to me. The cashews are salty; I guess it could be that. No idea, really.

Anyway, I went into full-cocoon mode last night; late night Monday, no energy. Also, I'd spent my workday in an all-day meeting and that nearly killed me. I'm starting to think that I need to take a couple of days off to try to recover from about a month of more than usually annoying things at work; I'm not reacting as well as I have in the past, and I suspect that it's increasing stress levels.

No exercise in the past couple of days, obviously. I think I need a walk tonight. Happy to say that all my blistered surfaces seem to have stopped hurting, so I'd like a short walk to test them out this evening.

More strawberries and cream this morning - and I added cheese for a bit more stamina. I have macadamias with me as well, and am thinking that my fat percentage is low. No ketosis last night at all, despite a pretty low-carb day yesterday (some in the berries, almonds, and cashews only). Some sort of meat and veg for dinner - either pork chops or brats, because they're what's in the fridge waiting. Salad with the chops, maybe southern-style green beans as well. Kraut with the brats.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Tuesday

Stress-R-Us yesterday; we had a late-day issue arise at work that we finally wrapped up shortly before 11 pm.  I did manage to get home in the middle, but Ugh! And it took a while to get to sleep after, as well, so I'm a bit groggy today. Only to be plunged into an all-day meeting with consultants where they will be doing a read-out, which means that they will, in order to demonstrate that they've earned their fees, produce enough material to make us stay in the meeting for the entire allotted time, if not more. From which, it's probably pretty easy to deduce that I am dreading it.

Nonetheless, 155.8 again this morning, with swollen fingers. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • scrambled eggs
  • 2 turkey sausage links
  • 12 macadamia nuts
  • a stuffed bell pepper (rice was involved)
  • 2 pieces of cheese
  • 5 salted chocolate almonds
  • 2 handfuls of cashews
  • 1 tsp honey
A little veg; could have been better, but could also have been worse. Especially considering my reaction to stress in general - dive face-first into commercially prepared sugar-bombs of some sort.

The weather is improving; snow still on the ground this morning, but the sun is out and things are melting. I would like to get a walk in tonight, or something; gym if need be. If I'm not too sleepy.

Could be a long day...

Monday, May 12, 2014

Monday

I honestly didn't think I ate all that well yesterday, and after dinner, felt positively corpulent. So much so that I skipped the honey. Sleep was still fine; I guess the cold weather is good for something. I didn't wake up until after 4 am, which is huge.

155.8 this morning, so for a first in a while, I weigh less today than I did Friday - and than yesterday, for that matter. So, yeah! Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • scrambled eggs
  • bacon
  • cheese (5-6 pieces total throughout the day)
  • 11 macadamia nuts
  • a bag of the weird cheese crisp things
  • 5 salted chocolate almonds
  • crabmeat, avocado, mango appetizer thing (nothing obviously unpaleo in it)
  • a glass of pinot noir
  • steak medallions with peppercorn-brandy demiglace
  • 5-6 overcooked grilled shrimp
  • about 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
  • 1/3 helping of creme brulee with 2 raspberries
It seems like that can't possibly be it, but maybe it was. I know I set out not to eat midday because I knew we were going out for Mother's Day dinner, and I know I failed, so maybe that was why it seemed like I spent the day pigging out.

I did a bit of gardening on Saturday - maybe a couple hours' worth - but otherwise, got no exercise this weekend. In my defense, it was snowing when we got up yesterday (and is still at it now), so it wasn't exactly an exercise-friendly sort of day.

Eggs and sausage for breakfast this morning, and macadamias to get me through the day. Probably stuffed peppers for dinner.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Friday

Baffling. I predicted I would weigh more today, so of course I don't; 156.6. Out of bed once with calf cramps last night, which I did not appreciate, since I only got to go to bed at midnight. Work. Why I am stressed, for the most part. It's been pretty unrelenting lately, and this past week pushed things well over the top, as I mentioned yesterday. 

So, as mentioned before, I ate a lot of crap yesterday. Here's the whole story:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • scrambled eggs
  • two turkey sausage links
  • 12 macadamia nuts
  • a package of Skittles
  • a package of M&Ms
  • steak
  • salad with blue cheese dressing
  • cashews (about 3 handfuls, I think)
  • 1 or 2 pieces of cheese
  • salted dark chocolate almonds - 4 or 5
  • 1 tsp honey
I'm treating yesterday as an aberration, as it was, and getting back on the horse today; scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, trying to avoid much snacking throughout the day, and aiming to be lower Monday than I am today. That said, we're going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, so I need to plan ahead to avoid another major pig-out. Fajitas, probably, or some sort of salad thing.

Heard on the radio this morning that it's supposed to snow Sunday - a lot. So unfair. I would have liked to garden this weekend, but will hold off a week. We didn't walk yesterday either, since I had work last night and since it was cold out. My heels seem to be better, so I might go for a short walk tomorrow and then use Sunday for more rest.

Anything else? Not that I can think of.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Prediction

I will have gained weight tomorrow. Very horrible stressy day, and I had BOTH Skittles and M&Ms and came home and had dinner followed by cheese, cashews, more of each, and a few salted chocolate covered almonds. I knew what I was doing, and I will take the consequences.

It is what it is. Ugh.

Thursday

Can. This. Week. Get. Any. Longer?

My boss is on vacation. I'm being him (which may be the least of my burdens this week, truly). We have had one deployment already, with another scheduled today (meaning, no rest for the weary; these run late). I've had multiple requirements review meetings to attend. And other meetings. And a team lunch. And everyone wants to talk to me about something. And the dog has been sick the past two nights. And my heels got blisters on them from walking too fast. And my sister is in a swivet because her daughter wants to enlist in the Marines instead of going to college and wants us to talk about it.

Is that all? I don't know. I'm so tired I can barely see. I just need it all to stop.

Wow. I guess I hadn't realized how stressful life is right now, and I think what has been keeping me saner up to this point is that I haven't had so many meetings. As a strongly typed Introvert, being in meetings is pushing the limits of torture as defined by the Geneva Convention, and this week has been nothing but meetings. No down time during the workday to speak of, and not much at night.

Lee just called with a question that I didn't have an answer to, and when I suggested Elizabeth might, his response ("she's at work") set me off big time. I nearly bit his head off - through the phone line. It was a misunderstanding - he thought I was suggesting that she might have something in her possession that he was looking for and I was suggesting that she might know where it was - but it illustrated to me that I really am right on the ragged edge right now.

157.4 this morning. Feet and ankles so swollen that they're actually stiff, as were my fingers first thing. I'm not sure what was so inflammatory, but I got into something for sure. Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • scrambled eggs
  • 2 turkey sausage links
  • olives - maybe 10
  • hot and sour soup
  • Mushu chicken, no pancakes (chicken, cabbage, egg, sauce)
  • 1 tsp honey
I wasn't particularly hungry after dinner, and didn't have time to snack before it; we left to eat so quickly that I didn't even get to change clothes. Once we got home, after a follow-on stop for Lee and Elizabeth to get ice cream, I watched educational videos until bedtime, and then slept somewhat well until the dog started needing to go outside. At which point I realized I'd been sweating and was now not just cold but damp. Lovely.

I think I need some serious me time - preferably in a dark closet. I really hope I manage to get some this weekend, or I will be a basket case by the end of Monday (another all-meeting day).

The heel blisters are disconcerting - just a little painful and made worse by our evening walks, which is not good. I need to walk; the Bolder Boulder is in less than 3 weeks. I need not to have blisters by the time it goes off. Which means not walking, I guess. 

Eggs and sausage for breakfast again today, and I have a single serving of macadamias with me to eat. Steak for dinner - or it gets fed to the dogs. Should I be losing weight on what I'm eating right now? Absolutely. Am I? Apparently not (hard to tell at the moment, really). Any idea why? Nope.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Wednesday

This week is exhaustingly slow; sleep was crap again yesterday, work is pure undiluted shit, and, despite eating well, I'm heavier today than yesterday. I know it's water, I do. I just want to scream. 158.0 this morning.

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • strawberries and blueberries with heavy cream (less than a cup of fruit)
  • salad with smoked turkey and blue cheese dressing
  • a piece of cheese
  • gyro meat with tzaziki sauce (1/2 pound, approximately)
  • 2 squares of Lindt 85%
  • 1 tsp honey
I mean, seriously! Fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese. A short list. No snacks, and we went for another walk last night before dinner. Is there anything else I can do?

I had eggs and sausage for breakfast today. Taxicab-yellow scrambled eggs, so the chickens must be getting outdoors into the grass. Violating their "all vegetarian" diet by eating bugs, too, probably.

As mentioned above, we went for another walk last night - same route, about a mile and a half, not at a particularly hot pace. Just trying to get the cobwebs out and some of the stress out of my system after a day of nearly 8 hours straight meetings.

As for knowing it's water, my ankles are a mess right now, and my toes ache. I'm also still constipated. Hormones? Probably. I'm just trying to hang on and survive right now.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Tuesday

I am vexed. I think I ate well yesterday - and I even resisted a heavy-duty craving for M&Ms yesterday, substituting peanuts. Yet this morning, the scale said I weighed 157.8. I am feeling constipated, so I suppose it might be that, but otherwise cannot account for it.

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • mixed berries and a dribble of cream
  • two turkey sausage links
  • 6 slices of salami
  • a vending bag of peanuts
  • a piece of cheese
  • "taco pizza" - LC crust, taco meat, salsa, cheese, olives, sour cream - 4 pieces
  • 2 squares Lindt 85% chocolate
  • 1 tsp honey
That's a short list, and the only thing I would change is the serving size on the pizza - I should probably have stopped with 3 pieces.

We took a walk around the neighborhood last night - maybe a mile and a half all told. Not terribly fast, and my legs weren't as bothersome as they were after my 2-mile walking sprint last week. However, I did not sleep very well; that had to do with the room temperature, as far as I know, anyway.

Trace ketosis at bedtime last night. I had a few more berries with cream this morning, no turkey sausage, and will be having lunch today due to a team lunch at work. I will just try to take that easy - maybe make it salad-based. I know I'm doing the right things, and it will eventually pay off, if in no other way than preventing weight gain. Frustrating, though.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Monday

Kind of a slug weekend, but I did get most of the inflammation from last week reduced; 156.6 this morning, having seen 155.8 yesterday. I know why; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • scrambled eggs
  • bacon (3 pieces)
  • country fried potatoes (probably about 1/2 cup)
  • cheese - 3-4 pieces, I think
  • cashews - 2 small handfuls followed by a small bowlful
  • salad with crap blue cheese dressing (Country Buffet)
  • meat loaf - 2 pieces
  • BBQ summer sausage - 1 piece
  • soft-serv ice cream - 1 small bowl
  • 1 square maltitol-sweetened dark chocolate
  • 1 tsp honey
I feel like there was more eating during the day than just cheese and cashews, but cannot think what it might have been. We were out and about for a chunk of the morning, so it was just the afternoon when I was boredom-noshing.

I really did nothing all weekend; in order to feel like I'd accomplished anything, I replaced knobs on the dresser in the guest room.  Woohoo. Saturday, I'd had a bad night - woke up overheated and achy and couldn't get back to sleep until nearly 6, which is when Lee was getting up to go golfing. So, instead of getting outside and gardening, or taking a walk, or much of anything, I stayed in a recliner, reading. That slopped over to Sunday as well, although I did feel much better and had slept well. I guess some days you just need to take it easy.

As expected, yesterday was not a record setting ketosis day - which is to say I had none. Oh well. Back to it this morning. I had berries and cream and turkey sausage for breakfast, and have some salami with me for mid-day.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Friday

I am definitely retaining water, so I'm not going to get worked up about today's weight - 157.2. It's annoying, but I know I've been eating pretty well, and I'm not - NOT! - going on a chocolate bender or anything out of frustration. My fingers were swollen up this morning, and my hips and legs still ached a good bit - not as much as the night before, so they didn't disrupt sleep, but noticeably.

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • scrambled eggs
  • 2 links of turkey sausage
  • about 17 olives
  • 1 piece of cheese
  • hamburger patty with blue cheese in it
  • a smallish helping of chicken creole rice - maybe 1/2 cup rice
  • another piece of cheese
  • 6 cashews
  • 2 squares of Lindt 85%
  • 1 tsp honey
Overall, very light on plant matter, which isn't so great. There were some tomatoes in the rice, and there were the olives, but that was really it. I will be improving on that today, I think. Maybe a salad or something of that sort for lunch.

No exercise other than climbing stairs yesterday. I will try to get to the gym or for an outside walk (better!) tonight. The weather is finally getting decent again, after a week of blustery chilliness. In fact, the temptation to haul my laptop outside later today is going to be pretty overwhelming, and I may just have to do that.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Thursday

I ate well and exercised yesterday, so of course my weight is up. 156.0 this morning. Water, of course; I ached so much overnight that I had to get up and take aspirin at midnight, and I know my feet were quite swollen when I got home yesterday. Fingers and ankles are a bit puffy as I write.

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • strawberries with heavy cream
  • the usual supplements
  • Jimmy John's unwich with turkey, roast beef, bacon, mayo and mustard (lettuce and tomato, too)
  • cheese - I think 1 piece, maybe 2
  • a very small handful of cashews
  • steak
  • salad with blue cheese dressing and crumbles
  • 2 squares of Lindt 85%
  • 1 tsp honey
That was it. I like these tidy compact lists. Also, I had a little fruit, a few vegetables (the salad had romaine, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, and zucchini in it).

Before dinner (but after the cheese and cashews), I did a 2-mile walking session on the indoor track at the gym. Completed in just under 26 minutes, which means a 13 minute mile. Since Sunday's walk of the same distance was just under 28 minutes, I shaved a full minute off my 1-mile time. No wonder my legs ached. I'm still tuning the playlist I use for this distance, and thought Sunday's version started too slow, but maybe I should revert just a bit. Or maybe, I try this list one more time, in a couple of days, and see if it's a bit easier on a repeat. It certainly should be.

Apart from being in pain, I guess I slept okay last night - I did dream vividly. Hot flashes continue, sort of, but I'm finding them to be less obtrusive, and that's all good.

And for whatever reason, I'm feeling more in control right now; not getting worked up about the uptick in weight today because I believe it will go down.