The weight is slowly going down. No big numbers to report, heck I am no even reporting a number. I did try on the skinny jeans again today. Got into them but not comfortably. I still need to remove 5 pounds to feel good in them. But, I feel confident I will be in them in a week or so. I have only one pair of size 7 skinny jeans because I wasn’t in that size long. I have lots of skinny size 2’s. Yep I was there for over a year. Good ole days, ha just a few months ago. I will be there soon enough.

Even though crap is happening all around me I am determined to stay on track. This darn economy is really trying its best to ruin me. There is nothing I can cut back on. We are already at bare minimum. I am trying to use less utilities. The a/c for one, even in these 100+ days. I set it at 80. Hope it makes a difference with the electric bill.  Things have to get better for us somehow. I will take care of me so I can get through these sad times.

I am remembering just how easy it is to do. I did have about 1300 calories today and far to many carbs in the Organic Melon I had. But, hey I didn’t eat the entire melon, in fact I had 16 ounces. Still too much but sure not as much as it could have been. Since the Greek is trying his best to cut back on bread he is eating what I don’t in the fruit department. It is great to see him eat cherries, strawberries and melons. He has always turned them down. He is a banana kind of guy and cooked fruit in pies, the store bought kind, those disgusting things we ate as kids. Killer crap.

I will weigh myself tonight to see if I am 2 pounds heavier than I was this morning. That is all we should gain during the day, if we are heavier than the 2 pounds it means we have over done it with carbs. They cause inflammation, inflammation is heavy.  Right now I don’t feel as inflamed as I had been, but it has only  one day. If I am as toxic as I suspect I should drop 10 pounds in a week. Yea right. It could happen, but not for me.

I am back and loving it.

Oh yeah!!

I have successfully stopped doing destructive things to my body in the past so I know I can  do this. I have stopped smoking, stopped drinking to much wine, stopped eating chips, drinking diet soda and lots of other crazy things. So I know I can do this.

I have decided to count my calories and track my nutrients faithfully for one week to see if I can do it again. Since I enjoyed it so much when I was doing it I hope I feel the same again.  Since I don’t do great being hungry for any length of time the plan is to eat my maintenance calories and gradually get myself down to 15% less than that. One day or week at a time. Once I get there I should have no problem staying there. I did it before and feel confident I can do it again.

I remember when I started eating more calories, it was so stupid of me to do that. I read a darn book about metabolism and I thought I needed to fix mine. The idea was to eat more food more often. So I tried it. It was even hard to eat more food for me but I sure did manage. I managed to good. One lousy carb led to others until I just can’t get off the crappy things. I have a bottomless pit, I sure miss that wonderful full feeling I used to get on CR. I remember that too.

So here it is fruit season again and I am really hitting the farms buying wonderful cherries, strawberries, blackberries, apricots, peaches, all the good stuff. Wish I could eat just one. The farms are off limits for me now. I need to lose 15 to 20 pounds. That is far to much weight to gain in one year. I am still lighter by 80 pounds but sure don’t feel it right now.

I am looking forward to tomorrow.

I have a new hair style and color. I love the color but don’t love the style. It just has to be short for me. The darn Greek keeps telling me to let it grow, what the heck does he know anyway.

I didn’t gain any weight, that wasn’t the intention. I want to lose 15 pounds, the same darn 15 pounds I have been wanting to lose for over a year.

I sorta have been testing myself with food. Going to Whole Foods is a huge test. All those Wow looking desserts and breads. I could smell all the sugar. I did great and quite proud of myself for not buying any of it. I headed to the raw food section and bought some chocolate. I didn’t even enjoy that and the dates were weird. Yes, I bought some dates. I was very happy to find that I didn’t enjoy them all that much either.  I must be over the sugar cravings that plagued me last fall.

I am beginning to think that just maybe Stevia is creating some of these sugar cravings. I am cutting back on the teas that I always dump in to much Stevia. Seems like I need more and more of it over time. I use the pure Stevia and need the tiniest bit and I am adding about 3 of those tiny spoons per cup. I also add it to my frozen blueberries. I have to stop doing that, I am thinking it is also making food taste strange. I will take a Stevia break for a few days to find out.

My two kitties are doing pretty good. They are growing and looking great. They love their raw food and hunks of raw turkey leg they get each day. Their fur feels like a pelt. Tomorrow is Bob’s neuter day. Hope it goes well, he hasn’t been in the best of health. Poor boy.

Diet

I have decided to give the ultrasimple diet a go. It is for 7 days to remove inflammation and toxins. So far so good at day 2. First thing I noticed was no runny nose this morning, a flat feeling stomach and just plain feeling good. I think I have dropped a few ounces too. I don’t expect much because I eat a reduced amount of calories already. Doing that makes it very hard to lose weight. It will come off in time so I am in no hurry.

The next step is to figure out what food I gave up that was causing the runny nose. I will try giving up the blueberries first then the stevia. I might be overdoing both of them. So far I can’t figure out what is doing it, oh the other thing I gave up for the detox week is beef. Maybe it was that, or ah ha, the 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. I will start to reintroduce them one at a time in a few weeks to see if I get that annoying runny nose again. Right now it is gone. I have had it for years, wow it is great without it.

Exercise

Sad to say, I have not been exercising for about 2 months now. My size 2 skinny jeans no longer fit. They did when I was at 135 while exercising so I really need to get back working out. That is phase 2 of the New Years resolution. I intend to start all over again by Feb. 1.

Kitties in a little over a week, yea

It seems there isn’t  many breeders of British shorthairs in our area. We want to buy local and visit the cattery. So for now we are waiting. I hope it isn’t a long wait. We are missing our big boy something terrible.

I even tried talking the Greek into a Mainecoon. Big mistake, he won’t even listen.  Hopefully we will have a beautiful pet in a month or so.

I am really trying my best to stay away from refined sugar and chocolate, not easy right now.  My meals and snacks are fine it is just this darn M&M kick I have been on since Oct. maybe even Sept. I have gained about 7 pounds. I am not even weighing myself everyday. I will tomorrow since I didn’t splurge tonight. My clothes still fit I am just filling them out more. The size 2 skinny jeans are going to stay in the drawer until I get back to 127. I can do it. I have gotten so used to being this size I don’t want to ever be over 135 again.

I stopped exercising about a month ago. I just have no desire to go there. I am already planning a New Years resolution to go back.  I still have a few weeks of not going. I also plan on getting back to strict CR the first of the year. I sure do remember how great I felt when I was doing it not so long ago.

I miss my kitty.

I have been making Holiday Treats and enjoying them far to much. I made some great cookies with everything organic even the whole wheat flour. They were great of course and gone in a flash. Now I have to work at getting rid of the extra pound or two I added and the other 5 pounds I had already added. Sorta bad when I don’t want to add those two numbers together.  My size 2’s don’t stretch enough to cover the added fat. Hate it. I really need to start my resolutions early, but won’t.

It is a very sad time here in the Comarell house.

Our kitty passed away Dec. 10. He was 15 years old and the best buddy a person could have.

We will miss you Bubba!!

I made a youtube video showing how I feel and look after two years of successful Calorie Restriction. It was very emotional for me to make it. I still can’t believe I did it.

I still have 8 pounds to lose. I know it will be coming off soon. Hopefully by the end of the year.

I am thrilled to be back to losing again. I really want to be 127 by the time I leave for my vacation. I will be gone for only one week but want to get this 100 pound loss on the record before then. What I am doing to lose the final few pounds is reducing my carbs. I want to eat only 2.5 servings of fruit a day and amp up the green veggies and 2 protein servings a day. My calories are around 1000 a day. A perfect amount for a women my age and size to lose weight. I try to increase them for some days and reduce even more on a few. I have recently been having cottage cheese, flax seed oil, ground  flax seed and some fruit for breakfast. It just doesn’t taste great and doesn’t make me happy, so today I am back to drinking the ground flax in .5 cup of juice. The flax oil will be used in a salad dressing with honey. Very tasty and does make me happy.

Lunch, if I have any, can be .5 cup of cottage cheese. It used to be an apple but way to many carbs for me. If I am hungry I will have one anyway around 3pm. I always have one with me sliced and ready. Dinner is my protein, a big serving of lean meat, a huge salad usually of raw spinach and then what I have been waiting for all day, 2 cups of blueberries mixed with a few raspberries. My addiction. So there it is, my day and way to many carbs in it. The darn apple is easy to give up, those blueberries are not, in fact I just plain won’t.

Skin Care

I had some laser work done on my hands and arms. I sure hope the result is worth the pain and time it is taking the heal. It is approaching the 2 week mark and I still have lots of scabs on my arms. Looks like I have a serious disease. Ugly for sure. I put some flax oil on them today. It has made them look a tad better, hope it can get them healed up faster.  I doubt I will have this procedure done again. I need to learn more about skin care and what I can do  myself.  I am going to have some microdermabrasion done Wednesday. Sure hope there is no down time with it.

Food, calories and nutrition for a typical day

Seeds, flax seed    2    tbsp, whole    110.0
Orange juice, raw    0.5    cup    55.8
Cheese, cottage, lowfat, 2% milkfat    1    4 oz    97.2
Blueberries, frozen, unsweetened    2    cup, unthawed    158.1
Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted    2    1/2 breast, bone and skin removed    283.8
Spinach, raw    3    cup    20.7
Flaxseed oil    1    tbsp    120.2
Honey    1    tbsp    63.8
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average    1    large whole (3″ dia)    32.8

• Total carb: 88 not bad but still high.
• Total calories 942, if I am very careful weighing. Most likely a bit more.
• Protein a very good 76g.
• Vitamins and minerals at 77%. I always take the vitamins I am missing from my food. Usually calcium, vitamin D and this day a bit of Vitamin B complex.  I am low in Omega 6 an easy fix. I might have to add a Vitamin E also, this food day is only at 50%. But not a bad nutritional day for such few calories. If I had other greens in the fridge it would help but I don’t. My bad!.

I was 135 most of my adult life. I started gaining weight in my early  50’s and didn’t stop. I always told myself I carried my weight well. I even thought I could eat what I wanted and not gain weight.

My actual goal I have imprinted in my brain is 127. Only because that is a 100 pound loss that and I think I will be healthier weighing less. Calorie Restriction guidelines say I should weigh 100 pounds for my 5 ft then 5 pounds for each inch. That makes it 130 pounds, then minus 10% for optimal health. That makes it 117. That might be a bit low for me. I will most likely stay around the 127 pounds for a year or so. After all it has taken me 7 months to lose 4 pounds. But, I am really trying. I want it gone by Sept. my 2 year anniversary.

I am trying to eat less fruit, I know that is what is keeping me from losing. So far so good. Today I had 1 apple and 2 cups of blueberries. That is 3 servings and I really should have only 2. Tomorrow I will cut back on the blueberries if I can. I enjoy them more than any food I eat. Darn carbs anyway.