Thursday

We went out for Chinese last night, which means weight gain for me - every time. Actually, the whopping 0.4 pounds I gained might be a record - low - in that arena. 152.2 this morning. And I feel bloated a bit - achy in my joints, which always says inflammation and swelling to me.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• 2 pieces of bacon
• 6-8 macadamia nuts
• hot and sour soup
• mu shu chicken, no pancakes
• a fortune cookie
• 3 pieces of cheese
• more tea with cream

I did an approximation of the mu-shu chicken in LoseIt, and after dinner had not eaten much and was showing really low fat (for me, anyway), which is why I added the cheese and cream at the end of the day - and it didn't get things boosted enough for a 70% fat day. So be it. I was at bare Trace ketosis at bedtime again; would love to measure my blood ketones, but don't want to spring for the test strips. For what it's worth, I'm having very mild fasciculation these days - not amounting to any post-sleep cramps, thank goodness.

Sleep was abysmal. No other way to put it. Got to sleep later than usual, woke up at 2:30 for no reason, was still awake at 3:45. Slept through part of the alarm (radio) and woke late when I needed to get up early, of course. Red Bull makes my commute possible this morning. Not good. I finally hit the foam roller for my IT bands this morning - meant to do it last night and forgot. I'm pretty sure it was part of the awakeness issue.

Pot Roast for dinner tonight - the last, supposedly, of our stretch of cold days. The forecast was for clearing skies and scattered showers, but I'm not seeing it yet; it was pretty rainy on the drive. Obviously, we haven't got any exercise done this week. Doing a (potentially stupid) 5K this weekend - the "color run", in which we get doused with powdered paint. It is supposed to infuse joy into us. I'm skeptical.

Wednesday

And, back down. 151.8 this morning.  Sort of an E-ticket ride, my weight. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• bacon
• 8 macadamia nuts
• a chicken breast
• about 1/2 cup green beans
• 1/2 cup raspberries with cream (NOT ice cream)
• 2 pieces of cheese

That was it. A very short list for the day. Trace ketosis at bedtime (not a high fat day, either, although I haven't put it all into my tracker yet, so I don't know where we landed). I slept pretty well - woke up just before midnight very hot, to realize that the heated mattress pad was on and we hadn't turned on the whole-house fan. Once I remedied those issues, the next thing I knew was that the alarm was going off. We're having good sleeping weather - cool and rainy - just now, and I hope to continue taking full advantage of it.

Spent last evening taking in a size 10 dress. I'd bought it to fit my hips, which it did, but it ran straight from underarms to hips, and needed some general definition added. Between side and back seams and added back darts, I think I took in 3-1/2 to 4 inches in the waist, which helped a lot. I'm so glad I can sew. One of the things I've noticed lately is that clothing is being shaped for people with metabolic syndrome - i.e., waist as big as or bigger than their hips - and nearly nothing fits me. So I make clothes, or buy something close and alter it. No other options.

Tuesday

The pattern continues. I hit a low over the weekend, am up a bit, but not discouragingly so, on Monday, and then gain weight for 2-3 days afterwards. 152.4 this morning, the scale said. Maybe it's possessed. Anyway, the leg cramps have disappeared after the weekend, so it's possible that I'm out of the weight loss zone just now. So weird. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• 2 turkey sausage links
• 6 macadamia nuts
• a small handful of cashews
• 4 pieces of low-carb pizza with just pepperoni on

It worked out to

• 139 g fat (72%)
• 39 g carbs (9%)
• 80 g protein (19%)

That was it. After dinner we went and ran an errand (buying zippers and thread for some sewing projects) and watched a thing about WWI on TV. I took a 10 mg melatonin and went to sleep. Ketosis at bedtime was between Trace and Small, more toward Small, I think.

Sleep last night wasn't great - woke up at 1 because Roscoe had opted to sleep on the bed with us, and I kept colliding with Lee's toenails. Which are sharp. I know I did 2 rounds of one-hour playlists, but think I drifted off in the middle of each, waking up at 2 because the noise stopped. Not terribly helpful.

Monday

151.0 today. And, to my surprise, the lowest weight on my chart so far. I've seen 150.x a couple of times recently, but always on a weekend, and I think, if we had not gone out of town this weekend, I might have seen it this morning. On the other hand, if we had not gone out of town this weekend, I might have spent yesterday either snacking or gardening, both of which tend to add weight. So I'll stop with the "if-only" nonsense. 

I didn't keep strict track of what I ate yesterday, but think it went something like this:

• tea with milk
• fruit - primarily strawberries, blueberries, plums and banana
• a "spinach cheese crisp" with jelly (it was a sort of biscuity thing)
• an egg casserole with broccoli, tomato, and cheese - and I'm betting, bisquick
• sausages - 2 links
• a slice of orange
• 3 pieces of cheese
• chicken, bacon, tomato and blue cheese dressing
• a tiny vanilla haagen dasz with raspberries
• 2 squares of Lindt 85% chocolate

So kind of a carby day, really.  Breakfast was at a bed-and-breakfast place, so I ate a few non-standard items to be polite; they were delicious, to be sure. And I compensated by not eating until dinner time, pretty much.

Until last night, when I finally broke down and took a Benadryl, I'd had a longish run of crap-sleep nights. Leg cramps, hot flashes, the works. The last two nights, I'd tried to read in bed a little, and fell asleep on the first page - and last night, that was well before the Benadryl kicked in; I think its utility was primarily in keeping me asleep. I am still groggy, but feel much better overall for the sleep. Hoping to keep things on an even keel again tonight.

Ketosis last night was between None and Trace - the test strip didn't match either color. Not too surprising - I suspect the ice cream would have done that. If I opt for berries tonight, I'll just pour a bit of heavy cream on them. I think we're having pizza (LC, of course) for dinner. That's my going-in plan, anyway.

Friday

Well, the pattern is back - Friday is the recorded low day of this week, at 151.8. Good thing, too - I had some pretty extreme leg cramps last night, and am glad to see they weren't in vain.  Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• 2 turkey sausage links
• about 6 or 8 Macadamia nuts
• 3 pieces of Kerrygold Dubliner cheese
• 1/3 cup of cashews
• a 1/3-pound beef patty with cheese, guacamole, and green salsa
• a pinch (just what it sounds like) of potato chips - the bag was nearly empty

I think that was it. It worked out to:

• 132.9 g fat (70%)
• 32 g carbs (7%)
• 98.8 g protein (23%)

At bedtime, I was at Small-Moderate ketosis. I drank a lot of tea in the evening and watched videos, and am trying to get off Melatonin as a regular thing, which turned out to be a less than wonderful confluence of circumstances. I was still awake at 11.

No exercise yesterday. I was really tired from the sleepless night the night before. Today will be my usual tea-drinking fest, with snacks and probably taco salad tonight. Tomorrow, we are going on a dinner train thing with prime rib, and I don't know how well that will go for my eating patterns, but I will hope for the best.

Thursday

I ended up not eating dinner last night, because there was nobody home to eat with and I wasn't inspired by anything in particular. Instead, I had cheese and cashews. 152.6 this morning, which I don't ascribe to that odd diet. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• 2 turkey sausage links
• 4 macadamia nuts
• 5 pieces of Kerrygold Dubliner cheese
• about 1/3 cup of cashews
• another tea with cream

That was it for the day:

• 118 g fat (75%)
• 21 g carbs (6%)
• 66 g protein (19%)

I got home and had trash cans to bring in, dogs to feed and clean up after, mail to collect, and a walk to take. Managed all of it before 7 pm, I think. I did not get my FuelPoints goal for the day, unless it was via thrashing after 9 pm - and I rather doubt that. I did have a leg cramp at some point last night - they seem to hit just as I'm falling asleep, no doubt to make sure that I don't actually achieve that goal. Sleep last night was dodgy at best; in addition to the cramp, I woke up at 1 for no particular reason, and again at 4. That latter episode turned out to be a good thing as one of the dogs decided to throw up about 1/2 hour later, and I was awake to hear it and clean up after it. I think my problem was heat - we forgot to shift to the whole-house fan at bedtime, so the swamp cooler stopped running once the temp hit some point above where I would best sleep.

Ketosis at bedtime was Small, tending Moderate. My stomach also appears to be in the process of sorting something out, which may lead to a lower weight tomorrow. The meal pattern today shouldn't be all that different, except maybe a burger for dinner.

Wednesday

I said yesterday that I would wait until the weekend to see if I need to tweak things, and by gum, I will wait until the weekend. This forceful resolution is needed because this morning, despite a day of breakfast and salad and a walk, I'm up almost a pound. 153.6. Grr. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• 2-1/2 pieces of bacon
• Red Bull zero
• 4 macadamia nuts
• a cobb salad with avocado, bacon, chicken, blue cheese, and blue cheese dressing
• 3 squares of TJs dark chocolate bar with almonds

In other words:

• 135 g fat (76%)
• 30 g carbs (8%)
• 67 g protein (17%)

Furthermore, I achieved my goal in FuelPoints last night (not that it wants to sync that amount up, but that's another story), not only walking to and from dinner, but doing garden cleanup after we got home. Does this make sense? It does not.

Ketosis was at Small last night; if nothing else, these nightly tests are showing me that I'm still keto-adapted. At least, I hope that's what they're showing. And I got a solid night's sleep without melatonin last night. These are good things.