Thursday, March 31, 2011

Jeff Gordon why?


I'll let Jeff Gordon be my inspiration today-his number matches and he doesn't appear to be a giant fatty.    Weight In: again scale is waffling between no loss and -1.4.  Maybe if I spit (or something that rhymes with spit) I can get it to move down!  Nope, won't commit to the lower number so no loss today.  I ate a few extra strawberries and had a T. of sour cream on my taco salad last night, so I guess that's fair.

10AM  doing the radio work thing...Although I miss Jennifer, I'm glad for the bump up to middays and a few more hours each week.  I've been having fun filling in on nights this week on The Bear while Doc is gone too.  Classic Rock was my first love (although it wasn't "classic" then!) and still holds a special place in my heart.

1:30PM  lunch grilled talapia with lemon salt and pepper, radish and celery salad with raspberry vinaigrette (Walden's no cal) and bread stick.  UPS man came and dropped off my button maker!  oh boy, a new toy to play with!  Help me pick a design for Scarlet Canary's next show OR should I just do all 3?

3:30PM teen boy drove around the 'hood after school-no missed turns nor bunny drama! he is getting really good at parking in the garage.

6:45PM  everyone was pretty ho hum about dinner so I made grilled ham and cheese and soup for the guys and a shrimp stir fry for me. Note to self: my shrimp is boring as dirt, gotta find some better recipes. I love apples cut up and sprinkled with lime juice and cinnamon tho!

Here is what I buy at Sprouts:
Melba Toast-roasted garlic is the least boring
Grissini Bread sticks-unsalted and pretty bland, but 1 whole stick is allowed per meal!
  (both on a display in the deli section)
dark chocolate squares with omega 3  these are on an end cap near bulk foods.  I eat 1 square per night as my treat (about .2 oz)  I "nibble and melt" to make it last and it is a perfect end to the last meal of the day.
Stevia drops-I keep it in my purse to flavor things.  I wish I could find the other flavors besides plain-I'd like t try the chocolate.
Walden Farms no anything dressings-Honey Dijon is nasty but the Italian with sun dried tomato rocks and so does the Raspberry vinaigrette.  A little goes along way! I use it on most everything but only a drizzle.



Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The spell is broken on Day 23!

hooray!  After 4 days of no loss and bit of straying off the food reservation, I'm back on the losing track.  Weigh In:  down 1.2 lbs!  Now I'm only 3 lbs away from a total of 20 lost and into the next decade of numbers.  It's decided, gonna stretch to 30 days and see what happens.

8:30AM  off to join the Goddesses for coffee-I heart Tuesdays! Aleta joined us today-what a nice addition.

10AM doing the radio thing...just 2 stations today-feels kinda weird.

2:30PM after errands and groceries, home to eat-starving! hamburger, radishes, bread stick and orange...man that sounds boring but it was good and oddly filling.

5pm out driving with teen boy. he drove to Kum & Go, got gas, then the "curvy road" out to Windsor.  Drove on a dirt road to get that experience, bunny darted across in front of us right after he almost missed a turn so 2 heart attacks in a row!  I think both of us were relieved to get home!

6:30PM dinner Taco Bowls-my fave!

OOPS, I'm a Dorkfish...forgot to add the most important ingredient to yesterday's pico recipe-CILANTRO!  I realized that when I dragged everything out to make dinner.  please add that to taste as well.

Had a request for my VLCD version of Taco Bowls so here it is:
Sue's Special Taco Bowl
Mixed greens-handful
3.5 oz of meat (chicken or beef)  use lean beef or wash beef with hot water to clear out the excess fat before seasoning
1/2 tsp. of taco seasoning or Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning
1 serving Walden's no cal raspberry vinaigrette
2 T. fresh pico
optional- 1 T. sour cream if I've been really good all day!
Put shredded greens in bowl sprinkle meat over the top, add other ingredients EAT! It's pretty and delicious

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

ooooh, the spooky number 22


I keep seeing the number 22...anyone else?

A cricket field is about 22 yards in length, it is also the atomic number of Titanium, a very tough metal; A tarot deck is composed of 22 cards but because they are numbered from 0-21 we cannot really say which one is last; The typical (minimum) number of episodes in a season for a television program broadcast on a major American network is 22; On the discovery channel show, named "Most Evil", the scale of evil in which the psychologist measures his subjects is from 1-22, 22 being most evil.

Yes, I always see it after 21.

That's strange because I always see it right before 23. Do you think we might have a psychic connection going here?

The above  excerpts are from posts on  this website that I thought were interesting, funny and  just plain smart-assed.  Go here to see it in full context:
http://askville.amazon.com/number-22/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=11045517

4AM up early to cover traffic so Teri can enjoy an extended birthday weekend.  you are welcome!  shiny thing: by the way, is it back splash or splash back when the roads are wet??  I'm going with splash back since back splash is a little too close to backwash for me. 

Happy Monday!  I am on day 22 so it's time to get back on track.  I was only gonna go until day 25 this first round, but I may continue so I can get closer to my goal of 25 lbs lost.  10lbs to go as  of my morning weigh in managed to stay the same even after a "cheat day" Funny thing perspective...I used to be annoyed by no loss-not today!  Tomorrow better be different tho as I plan on being a very good girl.
 
9AM  done with traffic and an hour to kill before getting on Big...sure wish I could eat breakfast over at the new Perkins...mmm, pancakes!

9:30AM did some online shopping with bonus money and finally purchased the button maker I've been wanting...who needs 1" buttons for their marketing/promotional needs/event/band/radio station/club/sports team? Can't wait til it shows up! First design will be for The Greeley Goddess Society! Ladies, send ideas.

12:30pm Lunch time-chicken breast with fresh pico that's really hot!  cucumber salad, bread stick and strawberries.

2:30PM teen boy got to drive home from Reno's house without fear of the  McAuliffe parents clogging up our neighborhood and freaking him out (early release day).  I made him eat the last piece of pound cake that was taunting me all afternoon...he didn't seem to mind.

4-6PM  doing afternoon traffic and it was snooze city!  Good for commuters bad for having anything to say!  Not even the usual slow and go at 104th was enough to mention. The only drama was I think Kramer ran out in a hurry to be with his wife...baby coming? yay!

7pm  Dinner  I have a bunch of bread laying around, so I decide to make french toast and bacon for dinner.  Another "hazard" of my less eating-bread and bacon trying to go bad!  I had a onion and celery omelet, Melba toast and apple.  Went to put everything away and there was a tiny crumble of bacon left over...yes, of course I kyped it!   mmm 
I discovered this spray olive oil that has nothing in it for a 5 second spray-yippee! Now if someone would make a choc spray like that....

today's recipe:
fresh pico de gallo
4 Roma tomato
1/2 red onion
fresh jalapeno (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
1 clove garlic cut up (or 1tsp chopped from prepared jar)
squirt lime juice
garlic powder
salt and pepper

chop coarsely and season to taste and heat preference.  Serve with chips if not on VLCD or add 2 T. to chicken breast, talapia or VLCD taco salad.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Blackjack!


Day 21  a landmark-3 whole weeks of doing the same thing, good or bad, is supposed to make it a habit.  The 21-day concept was first introduced by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, in a book titled,'Psycho-Cybernetics':   http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-Maxwell-maltz/dp/0671780921 

When I quit smoking, I think I remember it being about 2 weeks or so when I felt the grip of smoking drop away enough where I didn't have to constantly fight it off and stand guard so much.  What a relief to be able to get to that stage when you can fend off "attacks" without having to "stand guard" at every moment. I'm not sure I am there quite yet with the food thing...I've been able to resist, but the urges are still overwhelming at times and maybe if I did cave to the temptation of a Reese's egg  or 5 (my current Nemesis),  maybe I'd be able to savor and enjoy one bite or one egg and be good with it.  I haven't tried yet, so I don't know for sure!  I've conquered the potato chip, does that mean I'll be triumphant over the egg?

6:30AM  Weigh In:  scale is waffling between same and down 1.2...dang it, I'd love to go with the lower weight but won't.  Have a baby shower to go to at noon and told myself I'd have this be a "cheat day" since there is always good girlie food at baby showers right?  I think I'll be better at the party if I know my weight isn't lower.  Time to start pounding water.

9:30AM  at store to pick up baby gift and some fruit...amazingly enough, no one was there yet, parked right up front, breezed in, got my stuff, chatted with some friends and got outta there.   PS.  completely ignored the Easter Candy aisle...for now.  I may face the evil peanut butter egg just to get it over with, but not today!  While I was in the diaper aisle getting, uh, diapers for the baby shower, I smelled the package of Pampers and it flashed me right back to when my kids were babies...what a happy memory!  I'm also going to include in the gift a small jar of Crisco shortening.  GO ahead...ask me why?  Years ago I was lamenting about diaper rash and a co-worker told me that Crisco worked better than any diaper rash creme she'd ever used and it was easier to wash off.  She did warn  not to confuse it with your cooking Crisco in the kitchen and don't use butter flavored!  (both for obvious reasons)  It worked like a charm and I never used "real" diaper rash creme ever again.  I always include it in my baby gifts and if nothing else it's a fun conversation starter!

Random observations:
As I look at my dirty George Foreman grill I realize I should have spent the money and bought the one that comes apart-these are a bitch to clean!

Girls go through stuff monthly-that has minimized, yay!

I haven't had swollen fingers or ankles for 21 days and I haven't stopped using salt.  These things started showing up when I quit smoking and really bummed me out because those were the thing I could count on to stay skinny!  Rings are loose again.

12noon  troll around the baby shower buffet to see if there is anything I can eat.  Settle on a few strawberries (oh dang they have sugar on them), celery, salad, the inside of a kraut burger, cantaloupe and a few pieces of cheese and a piece of cake.  I regret the cake only because it had that nasty whipped frosting on it.  I like old fashioned sugar coma icing.  The cake had pudding in it, so that was good-but it didn't have the appeal or draw that it used to.  ho hum, the joy has been taken out of being bad!

4:30PM  now I'm battling the "well, you've already blown it for today, go crazy" justification.  Think I'll take a nap instead.

7PM  made a modified chef's salad with ham, greens and no cal dressing.  The fresh strawberries are starting to get really good now...I don't know why anyone ruins them by putting sugar on them.  Made a toasted sub for the rest of the family and used that as an excuse to open the bag of Doritos.  I only ate one...no idea why I stopped just glad I did!
I did eat 2 dill pickles and stared longingly at a piece of pound cake. (looked at the food label to get over it).

How sad to realize that the only reason I used to have to buy chips and Doritos every week grocery shopping was because I ate them all!  The same bags have been around the house for 2 weeks unopened.  The company is probably scratching its head wondering why sales are down in the area!


sweet dreams


Sunday, March 27, 2011

...and on the 20th day...



Day 20 seems like a nice even day to reflect back and make some observations about this little journey of mine.  
1.  I sometimes still can't believe I'm doing this. Up until 20 days ago, I couldn't go a few hours without caving to some food craving  
2.  I actually have a lot of fun making these lo cal meals-experimenting with flavors, color combos and such.

3. Family,  friends and acquaintances have been so awesomely supportive!
4.  As when I quit smoking, everything tastes better.
5.  I never thought of myself as having tummy troubles, but now that I REALLY don't have any, what a difference!

6AM   A little concerned about the weigh in since I snacked a little late last night...whew! no gain. Staying steady at 15 lbs lost.

More observations:
6.  haven't had a headache in 20 days...used to have a major throbber at least once a week and I still fall asleep funny on the couch and have just as much stress-what a nice side effect!
7. I put on a pair of jeans yesterday and they were already loose
8. Since the "drama" of losing my Starbucks cup, I'm finding it harder to get my water in...have to really think about grabbing water bottles and I miss my lemon wedge! (have you tried to fit a lemon wedge in a bottled water?)
9.  I'm getting used to the taste of Stevia drops-don't like it yet, but it's not as bad.


12:45PM  Lunch time  "cat food" on (4) Melba toast, radishes and grapefruit. hot tea to drink because it is freezin' ass cold in my studio! Jen made fun of my cat food...not a tuna fan I guess.

4pm  off work and off to cheer banquet-they are always kind enough to extend an invitation to watch the girls react to the video I make.  Ahh, torture at the banquet-good food and good smells! The theme was Candy land so candy was all over the tables.  Drank 3 bottles of water and texted anyone who would answer to keep myself distracted.  Yep, I resisted it all!  The cheer squad surprised me with an award this year-I'm an honorary cheerleader!  They loved the video, got some leads on more work-good productive day again!

7pm  Made the best taco salad  EVER!  Crumbled beef on a bed of greens, touch of taco seasoning.  I cheated a bit and had one T. sour cream and 2T salsa and threw on some hot sauce. I tossed on some no cal dressing and it was delicious!  Have you ever had that perfect  that met all your needs?  It was tasty from start to finish, every bite satisfying and when it was done, you'd like t repeat it all over again, but don't because there is no repeat?  I love when that happens

9PM  Hubby takes teen boy out night driving.  I start trolling the kitchen for "something"  I feel like a crack head, so I once again have one potato chip. It still wasn't tasty enough to eat more-big girl pants in tact.

10:30PM  highly motivated this morning to come up with 20 observations.  Now? meh

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Hey Nineteen

Quick! Name the duo

It's Friday!  days never used to matter so much to me because I worked sporadically, but for  the last couple of weeks I've been a regular  M-F working girl.  Well, almost...it's still radio which isn't like work and it's not 9-5.

4:30AM  up early to finish off video...light scribing the labels actually takes longer than burning the DVDs

6:30AM sent Kyle a text upstairs to get up for school-love that! I can hear his feet hit the floor as soon as I push send, ha! Weigh In: same  I guess I'm getting used to every other day weight loss.  I feel weird not exercising like I'm used to, but they say it actually hinders this program...ok, but I'm gonna be upset if I get saggy baggy.

9:40AM  Seriously dude, stop playing/tweaking/changing the video and render it already!  As it is I'll be finishing the last one as Brodie pulls up this afternoon!

12:30PM lunchtime burger with Grey Poupon, mixed greens with no cal dressing and a bread stick as croutons and an orange.  I got to thinking, oranges are almost as big as grapefruits, why am I allowed a whole orange and only 1/2 a grapefruit?

3:30PM well, I wasn't far off on my guesstimate on video finishing-sheesh.  I never thought 2 minutes to burn and 4 minutes to lightscribe could take so long!  Well, there are 24 copies...one day a year I could use one of those multi tower DVD burners and scribers, but I'm pretty sure I can't justify the purchase.  As CFO of AOAS Creative Services, that would be a no (darn, I hate my practical side).

5pm too early to eat dinner, but I have a gnawing feeling so I have the allotted 1/4 cup cottage cheese.  I added salsa like Lynda suggested-much tastier!

7pm Feeling relaxed after a very productive day.  Although I'm sure hot Italian sausage isn't on my to eat list, I'm gonna anyway since I've been smelling it in the slow cooker all day.  1 1/2 links equals 3.5 oz, mixed greens salad, no bread stick and cinnamon apples.  That was my last apple-add that to the grocery list. 

9:30PM  Trolled through kitchen to see if anything needs to be put away.  oops the other half of that sausage looks so sad by itself...better finish that off and almost forgot to eat my ration of chocolate.

Friday, March 25, 2011

The original title was Catch-18

Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 was originally named Catch-18 because of the Hebrew meaning of the number, but was amended to the published title to avoid confusion with another war novel, Mila 18My son is reading Catch -22 for History and Literature class, so when I went looking for the meaning of 18 other than the usual vote, enlist, move out, responsible stuff...I found that, hmmm.  It is from Wikipedia so take that for what it's worth!

6AM  Time for the dreaded weigh in...will it be 4 days with no loss?   Weigh in: down 1.4 lbs. yes! now lost a total of 15 lbs! Good start to a good day I think.  Coffee time.

6:30-10am  video making continues...this is my fave time of of each project-Tweaking! (no, not that kind of tweaking)  Now all the "legwork" is done and I can play with elements, sounders, movie quotes, music...now my creativity gets to shine.  My fave things so far on this one?  I mixed a special "winning" jam that is hilarious and incorporated an old romper room song-BEST!

12:30PM Denise came in my studio and asked if I was losing weight...yay! someone that didn't know about my diet noticed!

1:30PM lunch without my drops since I ran out this morning-gonna have to swing by the "drop shop" and get more.  Made a red cabbage slaw, ate the last BBQ chicken breast and apples and cinnamon for dessert (no bread stick because of sauce)

4-4:25PM  Kyle drove around  the empty K-Mart parking lot getting used to driving a bit faster,  stops, turns and avoiding people who streak across the lot apparently in a rush to get to Hobby Lobby or Del Taco.  It made me kinda sad at how vital this area once was and now it's just broken down, faded and old. 

7:30PM Dinner baked talapia with asparagus, Melba toast and grapefruit for dessert and of course my .3 oz of dark chocolate.  I just looked around me and there is laundry stacked everywhere, dishes are piled up!  I managed to make dinner for everyone but it must be video season, nothing else gets done!  My apologies to anyone I've been ignoring this week-hyper focused when I'm working on videos.  Thankfully first one is out the door tomorrow and I have a couple of weeks before grad ones start piling in.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

"She's Only 17..."

Remember the hair band Winger?  I was totally in love with Kip back in the day, altho it did piss me off that he had better hair than me.

Day 17 is a ho hum day...day 3 of no weightloss even tho I was really good all day yesterday.  Somebody told me that a cheat will take 3 days to recover from...meh, it's Wednesday (boring) and still too much stuff going on.  Hope the day improves, kinda not in the mood for this.  Time to go dress in black for my Macy's gig.

10:30AM  Hard to stay in a bad mood when the sun is shining and it's so nice out!  Besides, I'm on the radio and that always makes me happy.  Plus, I got word that I don't have to work early on Friday and that gives me some breathing room on my video. Stress level decreasing nicely!

2:30PM extra chores at work so got home late and starving.  Liked my taco salad from yesterday so much that I repeated that-yum!  I sat down next to the bag of Dove dark choc eggs I bought for Bert...happy that those little eggs are a bitch to unwrap and didn't bother.

3:30-7PM teen boy drove some more-a little herkey jerky and stoppy quicky but other than that he giggled the whole time.  Parked crooked enough in the garage that his dad and brother noticed.  Then worked on video-tomorrow is tweak and burn day and it will be ready to go.

7:30PM had the hubby grill burger and brats, so I had a bun less burger, with mustard and onion (yeah, don't get too close)  radishes and strawberries.  I cleverly determined if I break up my 2 0z chocolate ration per week, I can have .3 oz each day-nice! that's about a square of this really great dark chocolate I get from Sprouts.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

16 and legal to...DIET some more

4:30AM  up super early because I am stressing about the cheer video...I keep tweaking and changing it when I should just finish it!   This never works so I need to stop stressing-I do this every time!  It's part of my creative process and it always gets done on time and is always better than the previous year.  But, I will still probably be nervous until it is complete, all 24 DVDs are burned and I can hand it over to Brodie on Friday. whew!

6am  I'm also a little anxious about my minor steps off the food reservation last night....please don't be a gain!  Weigh In:  same/no loss  I can live with that-gonna be super good today!  (she sez optimistically early in the day)

8:30AM  Meeting the gals for coffee...what a nice surprise, Kat made it and Brenda came again (we didn't scare her off).  Had iced Passion Tea this time.

Worked on video some more and headed off to work.

1:30PM  Lunch time!  I grilled a burger with taco seasoning and crumbled it over lettuce, embellished with 2 T. of salsa and hot sauce and it was delicious!  1 Melba toast and cinnamon apples for dessert

3:45PM let the teen boy drive the car around the church parking lot-he has a permanent grin

4-7:30pm worked non stop on video...feel less stressed! Must step away from computer tho...eyes are crossed and butt is numb...time to make dinner

7:30PM  Boring as shit dinner: cottage cheese, cucumbers, orange and bread stick...I've been good all day today-will there be a pay off tomorrow?  I told the hubby there is no way to jazz up cottage cheese.  He sez," put some fruit cocktail in it"  Well, if I could do that...

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Save an Extra 15%

Not really,well maybe, somebody must be having a sale of some kind...the number 15 is kinda boring except if you are saving money. 

6AM  Well it's Monday, Spring Break is over and I have a ton of stuff to do this week.  I know I was a bad girl yesterday, so let's get this weigh in over with:  same...yay! I didn't gain 47 lbs eating at GT's or drinking an adult beverage.

10AM  worked on cheer video all morning (it's turning out awesome), got so single minded that I almost forgot my morning HCG drops...now doing the work thing for a few hours at the radio station. I'm already thinking about lunch, so it's time to start sucking down Darjeeling and pounding water. 

1:30PM lunch time  leftover BBQ chicken, a cucumber salad and strawberries.  no Melba or breadstick since the chicken has sauce on it.

3:30 - 5:30PM sat at DMV for two hours so that teen boy could get his permit.  Wasn't all that bad until we finally walked out after hours and I left my favorite Starbucks cup behind-doors locked no way to fetch it...I'm pissed at myself.



7pm  I brought home fried chicken and made potato and sweet potato wedges to go with.  I'm still pissed about my cup and dammit those fries look good so I had one of each kind. I feel kinda stupid that I "need" my cup.   Then I made myself a grapefruit and chicken breast salad with Walden's Italian dressing.  No breadstick this time either since I absentmindedly bit into the end piece of the french bread before I realized it while cleaning the kitchen...ugh!  I thought I was getting a handle on the mindless munching.  Takes 21 days for habits to form, so I guess I'm a few days early on that.  Found my old Starbucks water cup and feel  a little more comforted.  It's my woobie!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Will she three-peat on Day 14?

Well, normally three-peating would be a good thing right? It means you go to the show,  to the dance,  and as Charlie Sheen so eloquently put it recently, "Duh, Still Winning!"  When it comes to the stalemate between my scale and me, I'd rather not three-peat the last two day stall. 

Here goes...drum roll please...Weigh In:  down 1.8 for a total of 13.6 lbs lost!  oh relief, pride, satisfaction!  I'm going to celebrate with a T. of milk in my coffee

12:30PM  After a morning of organizing pics, getting ready to put a video together and making t-shirts for Scarlet Canary's debut gig tonight, I am sooo ready for lunch!  I stir fried steak, spinach and onions together for a tasty meal.  Add a bread stick and some strawberries and I'm good to go.

5PM heading to Denver to see son #1 first gig as the band Scarlet Canary.  Drank too much water on the long car ride if you get what I'm saying.

6:30PM head banged with the band and they rocked it!  I decided to not be a total square and had a vodka and cranberry adult beverage.

Scarlet Canary rocks in my basement
8:30PM  Stopped for dinner at Gunther Toody's  I know, you are thinking why in the world would you stop there-had to be torture!  Not really, I had their classic burger with no bun, fruit instead of fries and a salad.  Was it a VLCD protocol meal? nope Was it the worst thing to eat? nope.  If I weigh more or the same tomorrow, I'll at least have a  legit reason why.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The number 13...is it really unlucky?


6:30AM  Feels like it to me today!  Maybe I should be like some of those superstitious buildings that refuse to name a floor 13-It's there BUT we chose to ignore it. Denial? yep, I can do that!  weigh in: no change/stalled out again  Been there done that so I'm trying not to be discouraged. (altho it would have been fun to be 13 for 13)  Sipping my morning coffee and moving forward.  I seem so well adjusted don't I?

This is a fun fact place I found about numbers:   http://www.mysticalnumbers.com/Number_13.html

8:45AM getting ready for my live Saturday shift and decided instead of stewing about lack of progress, I'd take measurements-maybe inches instead of pounds?   Total of 1" off my waist and nowhere else.  Hmmm, how does a person lose 12 lbs and it doesn't show in inches too?  I must be getting squishy then  because I put on jeans that I couldn't wear comfortably two weeks ago and they now fit-snug but comfy.  OK, I can live with that!  note to self: done analyzing, it's just extra brain damage

9:30AM  had to sign a permission slip for a background check...hope they don't find out that I'm really Lady Gaga or connect me to those unsolved robberies...kidding!  I'm sure they will die of boredom half way through the process.

10-12noon whew! hectic start to my day with 2 remotes and my own show going on at the same time-queen of multi tasking even with some audio issues right out of the gate.  Discovered that Kramer's coffee is really strong without doctoring, switching to tea. 

12:30PM lunchtime!  BBQ chicken breast (yep, full strength BBQ sauce, but not very much), radishes, one Melba toast and an apple. Gonna have to eat my chicken caveman style since they don't let us have sharp instruments  in radio.  Oh dang, went downstairs to the sales kitchen to find forks and found a ginormous, full size chocolate sheet cake with gobs of icing...was that really necessary? (hurries back upstairs)  Good thing my Gala apple was extra tasty.

5pm Made it out of work without touching the cake, but was bound and determined to eat that bag of chips I denied myself by the time I got home...walked straight into the kitchen, confronted the bag of chips head on and ate one.  What happened next was amazing- it wasn't as good as I expected and the need to eat more was gone!  OMG, this never happens!  Even the old TV commercials say you can't eat just one.  But I did and managed to get on with cleaning the kitchen and making dinner. Maybe there is a lesson here about mountain and mole hill? 
who's the bad ass now?!
7pm  Although the pepperoni pizza looks tempting, thankfully there are some hungry men and boys at my house to make short work of it.  I go for grilled talapia and fresh pico with strawberries and an .oz of dark chocolate. (well, it is Saturday night after all)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Twelfth of Never

4AM  Today is Friday and I'm up super early to work as 600 KCOL AM talk show morning producer. I weigh myself and the punishment is swift:  a gain of .2   I knew the bread was gonna get me!  It's only .2  and it could be anything, but hard to not feel a little depressed.  This program requires you to weigh every day even after you've reached your goal to stay on task.  I always used to get obsessive when I weighed every day-hopefully the scale and I can reach an understanding and live in harmony, ha!

12:30PM  my radio work chores are finished for today and time for lunch-burger patty with left over pico, salad greens with Walden's honey Dijon dressing and strawberries.  I skipped the breadstick/melba toast option because of yesterday.  For some reason, it just didn't taste all that good-pico was soggy and the honey dijon blows it.   So although filling, not very satisfying-bummer.

4PM  I don't know if it is because I got up early or "another reason" but, I so wanna plow through a bag of salty crunchy ruffled potato chips right now!  I'm glad I have a video to work on to keep me distracted.  I am annoyed that this is bugging me so much today, wah!

7:30PM  over-tired and feeling ho hum even after a great week-must be burnt out.  Will food make me feel better? Nope. so dinner is chicken, radishes, bread stick and  1/2 grapefruit.  Not everyone likes radishes, but I like the heat, crunch and a bit of salt to dip them in. Somehow very satisfying and filling.  Most people would probably make a pucker face at grapefruit too-but I go to all the trouble of peeling, removing all that white stuff and even the the skins around each segment to have only pure fruit left.  You would be amazed at how much fruit there is in 1/2 grapefruit!  It's just sweet enough to take care of the need.

8:30PM  went to a friends poker party for a bit. Was concerned that it was going to be awful not eating or drinking but it was fine. The jello shots were tempting tho all orange and green and looking fun!   Wasn't my usual over indulging self-hopefully that means I'll feel better than they do tomorrow morning, ha!

Friday, March 18, 2011

"Any two for elevenish?" -Victor Borge


Victor Borge's "inflationary language"   hilarious!

6:15AM  no work early today-yay!  I can lounge around until it's time to take teen boy to Driver's Ed. Enjoying my coffee with 1 T of milk and some Stevia drops.  still haven't bonded with the drops yet but it does make me feel like it's a bit of a treat.   Weigh in: down another 1.2  total loss: 12 lbs.  Funny, I never bought  the line, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"  because I never had the discipline to resist yummies long enough to find out!  I am certainly not skinny yet and not sure  if that will be the mantra that keeps me at a lower weight when I reach my goal.  I'm just glad to find out that I can resist,  it has a payoff  and I look forward to a time that these good habits replace bad and I can automatically do the right thing with food.  I'll let you know if/when that happens!

8:30AM off to meet the gals for coffee at Starbucks...my new fave there is the Vente Tazo Passion Tea.  We had a big group today with a couple of newbies...hope they plan to join us again.  It was so cute that the Starbucks workers actually missed us when we weren't there on Tuesday...awww!

12:45PM  well, I'll be doing the radio thing every day now (yay!), so time to plan my lunches a little better- had it together enough to bring it with me today.   Cat Food, salad, strawberries and Melba toast.   

7pm While my family noshes on chili cheese fries, I prepare an asparagus omelet.  Each of them comes in and steals asparagus as its sauteing in the pan (hey!).  Since I can't use oil, spray or butter, I've been substituting cubed chicken broth to keep the pan from sticking.  Didn't work all that great for the eggs even for a Teflon pan (wtf?) But I scraped every morsel out of the pan and it was delicious!

8:10PM Tempted to eat my dark chocolate, but again decide against it since I'm concerned I ate more melba toast at lunch than suggested and had 2 breadsticks with dinner.  I have a bad feeling I'm gonna pay for this!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

A "Decade" has passed

Today is Day 10 and I've passed the 10 pound mark, yippee! Now I weigh what my old scale used to say-maybe I'll go weigh myself on that one too and feel even better!

5:15AM  up early to work.  Enjoying my coffee with T. of milk and 2 drops of Stevia and my almost 11lb weight loss.  Weigh in: 1.4 lost so 10.8 total so far.  A great way to start the day.
12noon at the radio station and Outback Steakhouse brings us all lunch! steaks and steamed veggies.  I  could have gotten away with eating that sans carrots but decided against it because I had steak twice yesterday.  dang it smells good tho!

go meat!
1:30PM lunchtime. what a dope-I end up grilling a burger on my George Foreman anyway! OK, fish or chicken tonight just to mix things up

6:30PM Love the fact that it is still light out, just sayin'

7:30PM Bought some shredded crab (real crab not Krab-too much sugar) and not sure what to do with it-found a crab cake recipe online and tried that.  Tasty but not much of a "cake" since it has nothing to bind it together!  I'll call it tasty crab pile,  salad greens, bread stick, cinnamon apples for dessert.  hey...when I was looking at another person's HCG blog, I saw they had 3 Melba toasts on their plate??  hmmm, am I ripping myself off in the bread department-my instructions say 1 toast or bread stick not serving?  research time. 

8:30PM  Was thinking to eat my 2nd dose of dark chocolate for the week, but decided to hold off.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

number 9...number 9...number 9

(Anybody get the musical reference of my title?)

5:15AM  up early to work Macy's.  Weigh in:  another stall.  what is it this time-too much fat on my steak? I put lotion on my legs so I could wear capris?  I'm certain the punishment doesn't fit the crime but I'm not gonna let it ruin my day this time. 


Will my lunch omelet be my undoing?
1:30PM Work 2 jobs  today-Macy's then radio, so a late lunch once again.  I had this great idea for a 4 egg (only 1 yolk)  omelet with steak and spinach, bread stick and strawberries.  Sounds great right?  As the omelet finishes cooking and I'm about to toss it onto my plate with delight, I realize in horror that egg REPLACES meat-not both! oh the humanity-now what do I do? the omelet is ready...do I pick out the steak pieces?  only eat half of the whole meal?  Oh crap.  I decided to split the whole omelet in half and eat the other half for dinner.  I guess we will find out tomorrow at weigh in if I totally blew it.  PS. it was really good.

7pm Dinner was the same as lunch and just as good.

8:30PM boys came through the living room and said, "we are going to Sonic to get ice cream, so mom doesn't have to see us eat it"  That's sweet but I've already resisted mounds of chocolate, burrito the size of Matt's head and the "ice cream episode of 3/14"  I'll be OK.  They just wanted Sonic.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Ocho


Programming notes
  • titles are getting boring so I'll try and liven them up
  • PS I figured out how to get my bold and fave font back-stoopid compatibility view was turned on
7:15AM  slept in again  weigh in:  down 2.0 lbs yes!  .6 to get me into the next "decade" that will feel even better than losing 9.4 lbs in 8 days.  I didn't have any mints and if that's really all it takes, I'm there. 

8AM  just dropped off teen boy for Driver's Ed. Time for coffee!  Upon rereading HCG info, I found out I can have a tablespoon of milk each day.  That and Stevia drops just made my coffee a bit better.  I very rarely used cream in my coffee but always a teaspoon of sugar to start out the cup and then not add anymore as I refill.  Funny what a big difference that made going back to black coffee!  BTW, Stevia drops are not  as good as sugar!  It tastes like "diet" sugar and leaves that nasty saccharin/chemical after taste-bleh.  Will I still use it?  For $6.99 a bottle, you bet!

1:30PM  had work and meetings (with a 1/3 less drama than the other day), so I ate lunch late.  I am totally into Walden Farms Italian with sun dried tomatoes dressing-haven't found a single thing that it doesn't go on!  Today was grilled chicken, radishes and strawberries with a long skinny bread stick.  If you are what you eat, I hope to soon be a long skinny bread stick.  You can tell it's getting closer to "real" growing season because my strawberries were very red and tasty unlike the anemic ones last time.

4pm Son #2 asked how much weight I've lost so far and I said" 9.4."  He sez, "I guessed 10"  I then sez, "I don't feel like I look any different yet."  He sez, "I do, you look awesome!"  I love my Kyle.

7PM  Dinner is steak on the grill, salad, melba toast and 1/2 grapefruit.  Watched  son eat a HUGE bowl of ice cream with butterscotch and Heath bar hard shell chocolate...ahhh, memory of load day 2!  mouth is watering, but I resist-go me!

8PM Watched an episode of the show "Heavy"  That keeps things in perspective!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Day 7

7:30AM  daylight savings time kicked in last night so, I slept in.  Weigh in:  no loss  Really? from 2 mints?!  That's the only thing different from any other day...what a pisser-no more mints for me I guess.   Majorly disappointed and seriously pissed.  Better read some more and find out WTF?



9:30AM  yep, based on the research I've found, the fake sugar in a tiny little mint can mess with the effectiveness of HCG.  It seems totally ridiculous to me, but my scale doesn't lie, so still no mints. My apologies for anyone who gets too close to my "diet breath"

12:45PM lunch time  this day has flown by!  Seems like it always does that when you lose an hour right?  I did a stir fry garlic shrimp with onions and tomatoes, a splash of clear broth, bread stick and apple. 

3pm Need to go over to Sprouts and get some more strawberries, allowed fruits, stevia sweetener drops  and some chocolate. Yep, I heard a rumor I could have 1 oz of dark chocolate twice a week so I am doing it!

7:30PM Dinner is a taco salad with lettuce, ground beef seasoned with Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle and fresh Pico De Gallo.  I had one Melba toast (which I laugh about each time)  and my 2 dark chocolate squares (that wasn't even an oz and still very satisfying)

PS something is wrong with my computer or blogger so I can't get my fave font or bold anything...ah, to have such big problems in life! 

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Day 6

Slept in til 6am...don't laugh this is a big deal!  weigh in:  down another 1.4 lbs. total of 7.4 pounds!  If this keeps up I'll be down a decade by the end of the weekend-sweet!  Tummy finally feels a little flatter-maybe I'll measure and see if numbers are different.    Ahhh, coffee's ready

9am working on the radio again today so planning my lunch to take with-decisions, decisions!

12:30pm time to eat lunch.  I love that I'm not hungry between meals as much!  For lunch today:  Cat food-just k, tuna always smells like cat food when you first open it. It's tuna with cucumbers with no cal Italian dressing, salt and pepper, breadstick, apple with cinnamon and lime juice.  Cat food needs more salt....better.

2pm  need something to get rid of coffee breath...can I have sugar free mints?  hmm, research ensues and I discover that sugar free mints can mess with HCG or not depending on you.  (Takes the risk and has 2 over the next few hours)

7pm dinner I substituted eggs for meat tonight and had an egg covered salad: 4 eggs-3 with no yolk is alot of eggs!  Not sure I'll do that again...I believe a gut ache is in my future.  I cleverly cut up my 1 Melba toast to use as croutons used Walden's Italian dressing and had orange with cinnamon for dessert.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Day 5


5am up early to work at Macy's again.  Weigh in:  down 1.6 pounds-woot!  I don't see any difference  nor does it show in pictures yet but I like the way the scale is going!  Total since starting on Monday- 6lbs lost.  This and all the kind encouragement you've been giving me here and in the real world will help me continue to do good!

12pm  just got home from both jobs.  For the first time not incredibly starving, just ready to eat (yay!)  Got a call from an old friend to meet up, so I ate my lunch of burger, fried onions, celery, grapefruit and breadsticks (yes, I ate the extra one from yesterday!)

12:45pm met up with my friend Michelle and we sat at the King Soopers Starbucks catching up for near 4 hours!  So nice to see her and reconnect again.  Had a vente Passion Tea and discovered it's my new fave drink there.

4:30pm Son #1's band practicing at my house-love these guys-they played some classic rock tunes for me, ha ha! After they left I napped on and off til hubby came home.  I was wiped out from not much sleep the night before. Felt good to snooze after a long week!

8pm Really didn't feel like eating, but knew I should so, tuna fish with Walden's Italian dressing, radishes sprinkled with salt, I had a serving of Melba toast (4 crackers instead of 1) to put the the tuna on-hope that doesn't blow my deal, and an orange for dessert.  I never realized how filling an orange can be!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Day 4

5:45AM weigh in:  1 more pound down yay!  Total of 4.4 as of today. Nice!
Time to start drinking my water, coffee and tea


love my scooter journal to write my weightloss in!
8:15AM off to Nite Ize for teenboys job shadow day.  Looking forward to shopping in Boulder with fellow Goddess Hippie and lunching with Goddess in training Sprocket Mama.

10:30ish  teen boys dropped off at job shadow now to Pearl Street Mall for some shopping.  Had no idea there were so many restaurants on Pearl St.-the smells are outta control-I breathed deep and enjoyed them all, but majorly hungry!  I drank a sample coffee at Peppercorn to help tide me over til lunch.

12:45pm lunch at Pica's Mexican restaurant, little worried about what I could eat, but I told them what I was doing and they made me a fabulous carne asada salad with fresh pico de gallo...yum! brought my own orange and melba toast and had sugarless ice tea-even tho our new friend Matt had a huge burrito on one side of me and my son had an equally huge one on the other side-very satisfying.
Matt and his beautiful burrito!

2:45pm after more shopping, we pick up boys and head back home-what a beautiful day! we had such a great time!

7pm Dang, why did I say we'd have Roma's spaghetti for dinner? The bucket of gigantic meatballs, saucy noodle goodness and garlic bread is looking very inviting! Thankfully extra teen boy here for a sleep over helped gobble up my portion!  I'm not gonna lie was really trying to figure out how I could justify the meatball if I could scrape off the sauce...didn't do it.  My dinner was a grilled burger with grey poupon, sliced cukes with Walden Farms Italian with sun dried tomatoes dressing and I jazzed up my apple by cubing then sprinkling with lime juice and ground cinnamon.

11pm heading to bed...oops, forgot to eat my breadstick at dinner...why do I remember now and does that mean I get two tomorrow?

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day 3

4:30AM ugh! up too early because I have to work at Macy's today.  Why my body thinks it needs to get up an hour before the alarm goes off is beyond me.  Weigh in: down another 1.6 lbs, so a total of 3.4-sweet!

6AM  drops taken, off to work with my signature Starbucks cup filled with lemon and ice water

ps mine has the red and white striped straw
9:05AM  break at Macy's. had some water, tea and hard boiled egg.  I know I'm not supposed to eat anything til noon, such a rule breaker! 

11:20AM leaving work at Macy's and get an urgent, "can you come to work on the radio right now" phone call.  I go knowing I don't have anything proper to eat, so I drink lots of water.  drama at radio station-very unsettling.

2:30PM get home, STARVING by now!  I want to eat everything in sight but don't.  I try to calmly make my lunch, relax and enjoy it.  I made this really great salad with greens, 1/2 grapefruit, 3.5 oz of grilled chicken, Walden Farms Italian dressing (no calories), and Melba toast.  It was delicious! 

4-6PM having difficulty not eating bad things for me so I ate some celery-bleh, tummy feels gross and mentally I feel weak. Frustrated that today was a tougher day than Monday!  I'm told tomorrow will be easier.

7pm dinner was talapia and asparagus with lemon and oregano baked in a foil pocket, apple and bread stick. Another tasty meal and filling too.  This is where I found the recipe:  http://hcgrecipes.blogspot.com/
Happy to have made it through today without blowing it!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 2

6am morning weigh in:  down 1.8 lbs YES!! worth the effort yesterday-feeling less polluted and more energetic.

6:15AM drops and liquid consumption begins. hitting the ladies room every 30 minutes...I think I'm drinking enough!

8:30am  usual coffee day  with the gals at Starbucks...no foo foo coffee for me-big black coffee-note to self drink Starbucks tea from now on.  Their unaltered coffee is really strong!  threw in some cinnamon just to cut it a bit

10:30am shopping for Melba toast and Grissini bread sticks-must get out of Sprouts-very hungry and it smells like fresh baked bread-torture!

12:10pm  lunch time with drops, burger patty, steamed cabbage, Melba toast and orange.  My new favorite dressings are the Walden Farms no calorie, fat, sugar, carbs-there is literally nothing in it-how can this be?! I used some on my cabbage (Honey Dijon) and it was really good!  I also LOVE my George Foreman grill!

afternoon:  yay! got called in to cover somebody's shift, so no wandering around my house trying to dodge chocolates, chips or anything else calling my name

7PM dinner is a recipe I found on Facebook-stir fry shrimp with radishes (of all things) using some cayenne, onion and garlic powder and a bit of clear broth to add flavor - delish with some heat! 1 whole bread stick and strawberries for dessert. 

8:30PM Everyone around me is eating handfuls of peanuts and m and m's...kind of annoying since I have to keep reminding myself not to reach for them.  Like when I quit smoking, I look forward to a time that I don't have to think about it-it will just be 2nd nature.  I stayed strong and now have 2 days in a row of not eating after 7:30PM.  Don't laugh-up til now, I couldn't go a few hours without giving in to food temptation!  baby steps.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day 1

Time to start!  Here it is the morning of day 1 of my VLCD (very low calorie days).   I'll include some of my preconceived ideas before I start and see if they stay or go as I move through the program.  I am excited and nervous, optimistic and sceptical. 

Seriously?  As I read through all the information, two things i find hard to believe right now are:  the lotion/oils you use on your skin will keep you fat during this program and that you have to buy "special" ph balanced water...it's water! 

Ready, Set...Since this is my first attempt doing this, I believe I've prepared myself properly mentally and physically for this challenge (time will tell how naive that is)
  • I've read all the literature and gotten first hand info from other participants
  • Bought my George Foreman grill (my hubby made fun and I feel a little sheepish about it)
  • Dusted off my .2 weight scale and weighed myself (awesome, it shows 10lbs higher than my other scale-dislike, but moving on)
  • gotten out my .oz scale to measure food
  • have all my foods bought and ready (except Melba toast-need to go get that-I know it is gross but if I get to eat it, I'm gonna!)
my food scale-pretty fancy! (it's my hubby's RC airplane scale)
my GF right out of the box
Ok, here goes!

6:01am put my HCG (.5mil) dropper of liquid under my tongue for 2 minutes. tastes weird, not feeling hungry yet. Only get two meals a day so no eat until lunch. I have a feeling I'll be drinking lots of tea, coffee and water until then!


10am  thank goodness I'm working for Jennifer for a few hours today to keep me away from my kitchen!  The hunger pangs are annoying but do-able since I can concentrate on my show, wander around the radio stations and talk with people, make some tea or coffee, etc.  I've discovered that I can approach wanting something to eat just like when I quit smoking...one crave at a time, 5 minutes at a time.  Nice to find my inner strength again and not cave to every little food whim I have.  I am totally looking forward to eating my lunch for sure though!

12:45pm yes! lunch time  HCG dropper taken and 20 minutes on the clock.  Never has chicken, cucumbers and strawberries tasted so good!  I ate nice and slow and got mostly full. Natalie called to see how I was doing and offered some great advice-thanks!

4pmish  ugh! I hate being home watching TV right now because this is my time to over eat!  Have I yet? nope (yay!)  I did eat a 1/4 cup cottage cheese to keep me on track...this is by far the hardest part today.  Thanks for all the support on Facebook and here-it really does help me not to cave in to temptation. 

7pm made it to dinner without cheating. drops and grilled tilapia, lettuce with white vinegar and Mrs. Dash and an apple.  Not a bit of sugar today- amazing!  didn't eat anything after 7:30 double amazing. Drank half my weight in water, coffee and tea-back teeth are floating!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

for the next 25 days...

I will be blogging about my experiences on the HCG Phase 2 plan.  Yep, it's a diet and I HATE diets, but I  hate how I look and feel more, so I'm gonna try this to jump start my fat loss. 

This is not a paid endorsement, nor is it one of those creepy websites that act like a blog but is just a tool for whatever they are selling.  I have NO AGENDA other than my own weight loss success for a change.  I paid for my HCG drops out of my own pocket.  This will be my personal journey and experience with this particular program and you are free to follow along if you want.  I will give you the website  for your own information and tell you that the before and after pics are real-she is who you will deal with in the Greeley store.  Her HCG drops are cheaper than anything you will find on the web and was very helpful.  http://watersedgetoday.com/

Since I don't like to watch what I eat and this particular program is incredibly restrictive, this should be interesting!  Blogging every day is to help me stay on task.  I am desperate to get into shape by pool opening time and I may actually be enough of a grown up now to do what it takes!

TODAY:  I am currently in a 2 day "loading phase"  where you take the drops but eat anything and everything you want-the more fat and calories the better!  I know it's great, right? go out and buy and eat everything you've been denying yourself (or been eating to get fat) with no guilt, no restrictions.  Day 1 was yesterday and I went crazy-pizza, cake, ice cream, bread, fried chicken...today i feel totally polluted!  I still have 1 day to enjoy bad things for me (and you can bet I will) but I'm now actually looking more forward to starting the 500 calorie a day routine. Maybe that's part of the program eh? I can also guarantee that I will be taking those words back once I start to feel hunger and deprivation!

I'll check in every evening and let you know how it's going.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WTH? Wednesday

Stories from around the world that make you say WTH?


Mom aiding accidentally shot husband accidentally shot!  Read this headline real slow...  see story here :http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41837186/ns/local_news-mobile_al/

Student's video chronicles 'Year of the Beard'  Your education dollars at work.  see story here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41832329/ns/us_news-weird_news/

Never List 'God' as a Reference on a Resume.  But times are tough tho right?  see story here:
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/01/never-list-god-as-a-reference-on-a-resume/

Fla. Police: Dispute over Thin Mints gets physical.  Gotta love cookie season! see story here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/02/22/national/a152809S10.DTL

Japan’s Annual Hole Digging Competition: Can You Dig It?   see full story here: 
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2011/02/25/japans-annual-hole-digging-competition-dig/