OMG.. Has it really been two weeks?

Ugggg! Sorry it’s been too long since I last posted (thanks to you Tiffany my lovely friend, for giving me a push!).

I am good… I’ve had good and bad days but the good days out number the bad for sure! I am still doing fairly low carb but no longer worrying about ketosis. I am using my appetite as a gauge. When I eat too many carbs I get TOO hungry and then I know it’s time to cut back on those carbs. I am STILL not eating any junk.. no sugar, etc. I am eating lots and LOTS of salads and turkey and still love my cheese.

I think I guess I would say I am just trying to put everything I have learned into effect now. Watching portions, eating as healthy as possible, taking my time when I eat.. etc.

I have been bad about not taking supplements.. it just gets old sometimes but I always come back to them.

On the left here is a visualization pix I have on my fridge - got to love that! My head on the body I want.

~~~~~~~~~
I unfortunately started smoking again a couple of months ago. No excuses really, life in general was HARD and I caved. For some reason I have always connected dieting with smoking. In the past when I smoked lots I did well dieting… I have this mind connection and now when I am cutting calories I automatically want to smoke.

I stopped again yesterday. I threw a half pack away and have got to find some other “crutch”.. I used a cinnamon stick (the real kind.. the cinnamon bark rolled up like you would use in a cup of cider) as a tool to quit last time.. I would pop it in my mouth and keep it there when I craved cigs.. it works well because you can draw air thru the hole in the cinnamon. And the sticks are about the same size as a cig. for some reason they worked for me so I am back to them.. I had stopped smoking for almost two years.


I gained three pounds on our scalloping trip. Just too much food in general. Also I think the heat made me retain water. But it’s off now and I am THANKFUL!

Tonight I am making salmon steaks that I will marinate in teriyaki sauce – it’s actually Kikkoman triple ginger teriyaki sauce. I just marinate them a couple of hours. It’s REALLY amazing. I am making lima beans (I like to cook them ALL day!) to go with.. all in all a pretty low cal and lowish carb (low GI for sure) dinner.

Will do my best to post much more often.

I just printed this out and put it on my vanity mirror.. I love this:


“Remember,
it's never too late to become the person you were always meant to be”.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! XOXO Cary~

It's a Beautiful Mornin' Ahhhh

Don't you just want to be right there, right now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Good Morning!

It’s a lovely morning here. The Genius I Married, and I are going to go to breakfast in a while. A few years ago, Last time I lost a good amount of weight we used to go to breakfast together each weekend. (either Sat. am or Sun. am) and he would get low fat pancakes and eggs/ham and I would get Scrambled egg beaters with lots of veggies thrown in, ham and dry English muffin (I would put jam on it).

I have not been eating bread.. well no grains really except brown rice last night.. on sushi.. for the first time in a very long time. Months actually. I have slowly been adding back carbs (called climbing the ladder on Atkins).

I am doing very well and have not had cravings.. well no horrid cravings I can’t control anyway. I am making smart choices and not eating sugar in any form. Yes I do know that all carbs turn into sugar in your bloodstream but no “sugar” like no cookies, cake, crap junk food. Lots of veggies, lean meats and some low GI fruits. I am down another few pounds… I have lowered my fat as I have upped my carbs. It feels good to me so far. I enjoyed the sushi last night VERY much!

What I am getting at is that I have been wondering about the English Muffin and jam this morning.. real bread has not crossed my lips in months nor has any sugar (as in the jam).. I am going to have it this morning. I will pay attention to how I am feeling afterwards. I think since I am having so much protein with, that I won’t have issues.

I feel like this is a good diet for me. It feels less strict and I feel a bit more relaxed about my eating.. I am not sure if this is good or bad but I will find out I am sure.

Looking forward to lots of coffee and a nice breakfast with The Genius I Married. It’s been a long time, this used to be quite a tradition on weekends for us. Good quality time together, we would sit way longer than we needed to and just talk. I can’t wait.

So onto more fun stuff!
I have a couple of pix from my motivational weight loss file to share with you. This is Renee Zellweger during her “fat” stage when shooting one of the Bridget Jone’s movies.. I LOVE the way she looks.. like a bombshell. I have always been a curvy girl and this is the body I am shooting for, I mean those boobs, that dress, OMG that RED DRESS! her shape, PERFECTION:




















Oh and here is another pix that looks like a great body to me.. of course all the photographers and rag mags were saying she looks fat.. whatever, I think she looks HEALTHY and stunning:

Tuesday already?

I love this image, I think I have posted it before.. it represents metamorphosis to me. Something I am really working on!

~~~~~~~~~~•ღஐƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒஐღ •~~~~~~~~~~


Our boat trip got rained out on the Fourth so we just hung at my parent’s house.. they live on the water so it was still wonderful and very relaxing. I ate too much (am up a pound) but not worried..

Today I had a LONG walk this morning.. I just wanted to keep going. I walked Suki early and then put him back in the house, grabbed my book on tape and headed out.. It was nice.

I am going to eat very lightly today, got to make up for the indulgence (PB and Jelly on Ezekiel and nut cookies over the holiday). Also had some pasta that was not low carb. Since I am not in ketosis any longer I didn’t have a huge water gain. Had lots of energy from the pasta but I know it’s not good for me if it’s not DreamFields.

Making a beef tenderloin and a nice salad with roasted asparagus on the side for dinner. Very low carb. Might even go back into ketosis for a couple of days just because.. although I am still not getting any cravings! I can’t believe I am eating higher carb w/o cravings. I just need to take it slowly and make smart choices.

I am making some blueberry sorbet (frozen fresh blueberries in the freezer right now) tonight.. mixing the frozen berries with a little stevia and fresh lime juice in my vitamix. For dessert tonight.. OMG this stuff is so good.. I love Summer fruits.

I have started smoking again. I know I do this when I get too “into” not eating. I use cigs as a crutch to eat less. I am just so wanting to get as much weight off as quick as I can. I logically know cigarettes are not healthy.. I will stop again soon, right now I am only smoking 5-6 a day.

I just made a huge batch of green tea for my fridge… I have been drinking it like water lately, making a large batch every morning. Also making a cappuccino in the afternoon again.. I am using half and half in the espresso and making my froth with skim milk (about a quarter cup).. a few carbs but makes the best froth. Something about these in the afternoons seems very special and almost ritualistic. It feels indulgent and I think helps me eat less in the afternoons.. not to mention GOOD especially with my sugarfree white chocolate DaVinci and a little dusting of dark cocoa.

Hi!

I have been thinking for days I needed to get in and post, It’s been too long. I am doing fantastic, better than I have (weight loss wise) in months. Our trip to AR was nice. I loved seeing my sisters and my father. I miss AR sometimes. I certainly do miss the Ozarks. The wildness of them. The way time seems to stand still there. I am sort of torn between wanting to be a city girl (I live in Orlando) and missing my “country girl” roots. Everything seems so much slower there, but I know I would get bored before too long.

Eureka is like an entire other world. Like a little European village.. Lots of gingerbread houses and hippies. Great art galleries too. Psychics and herb shops and a wonderful fringe element abounds.

Anyway it is good to be back. I feel like I am really doing well in my dieting. I upped my carbs (climbed the Atkins ladder it’s called) and am eating a few more carbs (still considered low carb, actually anything under 100 carbs a day is considered low carb).

I am eating LOTS more veggies and some starchy veggies also. More fruit – sort of a low GI style diet I guess. As I have raised my carbs a bit I also have lowered my fat. I still eat good quality cheese (my fav. right now is Uni Kaas Aged Gouda):



Of course also using butter and avo – I am eating a bit less red meat and when I do it’s a bit more lean. I am eating less calories also. I have semi fasted two days early this week (ate very lightly until dinner and than had a pretty light dinner). I am enjoying lots of salads.

A little about what I am eating (I have lost over 10# in the last three weeks).

Last night I made curry dusted chicken breast with raitha (yogurt, garlic, cucumber, garbonzo beans and tomato with cumin and ground green coriander) on the side.. I LOVED it.. I have always loved raitha.

Night before last I made teriyaki salmon with sautéed snow peas.. I sort of did a combo stirfry/sauté.. I added pam to the pan first then added chopped fresh garlic, fresh chopped ginger, red bell and snow peas and sautéed and then added some soy sauce mixed with a drop of stevia. I cooked it with a lid on for about 12 min. Right before I served it I added a teaspoon of water with a half teaspoon toasted sesame oil. (wanted to make the oil go further – it’s such a strong flavor) I topped with sesame seeds right before serving. I was surprised how good it was to be so low cal.

For the salmon .. I thawed it and poured some Kikkoman triple ginger teriyaki sauce over it and sealed it in a ziplock for a couple of hours and set it in the fridge.. turned over a couple of times.. then baked it covered in the oven 350 for 20 min.. spooned some of the sauce on top and WOW it was excellent salmon.. my fav. meal in a long time.

Monday night was an arugula cranberry salad with sesame seed encrusted goat cheese I warmed in a pan on top of the stove.. also sprinkled some pecans over the top. I have been using a Fig Balsamic



(no fat) for my dressing on most of my salads.. I get it here:

http://www.cybercucina.com/

I absolutely love this online store.

So I am doing well, enjoying more fruit and much more veggies, eating more light (it’s hot has hell here – 103 in my back yard a couple of days ago) and losing weight. I am tempted to go Raw again.. enjoyed it last summer but I am concerned about too much fruit.

I think the heat is really just making me want to eat lots of water filled summer fruits and veggies and less fat and meat. I certainly won’t give up meat and will prob. Go back to very low carb and much higher fat this winter but for now I am listening to my body and actually making progress weight loss wise.

Will try to keep posting more often.
Missed you all!!!

I really need to cool off...

I'm feeling crazy from the heat!
Here is a little pix of the Crescent (more on it below) that cooled me right off!




I also love this pix:

I mean seriously, I can't get cool. I want a bathtub full of ice cold jello.. what? That's not weird...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve been needing to post for a couple of days. Life is getting away from me lately!
I wanted to share our antipasti plate I made for DH and my brunch yesterday:



I LOVE this stuff and we just munched on it all day. He then made us great steaks on the grille and I made a simple iceburg wedge salad with blue cheese dressing, chopped tomato and bacon. I love this salad with steak.
It was a good day.

We are gearing up for a trip to AR to visit Patrick’s mum and some of my family in Eureka Springs (YEAH!) next week.. We are leaving this coming Saturday. We will be gone a week. I will take lots of pix of Eureka.. it’s such a cool place, we used to go fairly often when I lived in AR. It's got a fantastic artist community and I love alot of the "fringe" society that lives there. I would certainly fit in! It reminds me of a little European village with lots of gingerbread looking houses, it’s in the Ozark mountains in AR. When I was a teenager I wanted to buy an old house there and turn it into a B & B. One of my sister's got smart and moved there. My sis Tommy works at the famous Crescent Hotel there and has arranged a great room for us. Tommy and Jessie I am SO excited! No REALLY, REALLY I am excited. I miss my sisters - I will get to see two of them, I have too many to count now.

So, The Crescent is rumored to be haunted. http://www.prairieghosts.com/cresc.html

Maybe I will have a ghostly visit? I am sure I will have enough to drink that I will eventually convince myself that I have anyway! It always happens at that hotel. Years ago when I was in my 20's my granny and I stayed there and I heard laughing in the middle of the night that sounded strange to me. I was sure it was an evil spirit.

They have a great spa.. I deserve to indulge, right!

When I was growing up we went to this hotel several times. I love it. The hotel was built in the 1800's. The entire town is amazing, it is very Victorian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Springs,_Arkansas

It's been many years since we stayed so I am really excited. Check out some of the pix:










Most excited about the fact that my sis lives right in the middle of Spring Street (Eureka was famous for it's springs, one claimed to cure blindness in the 1800's).

Anyway she lives right in the middle of downtown.. It's fantastic and I can't wait.

Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR:


The totally cool flat iron building downtown:






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

We also love the ThornCrown Chapel in Eureka.. http://www.thorncrown.com/

Architect for this amazing steel and glass chapel in the middle of the woods was Fay Jones. He was my step-father's professor in college. It's an amazing structure:






Well I have spent WAY too much time on this post.. as you can see I am really looking very forward to my trip home. It's been I think 4 years since we have been back to Arkansas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight I am making a tenderloin roast and Italian (the fat style) green beans. I like these more than regular or French green beans but they are a bit more carby.

Oh and lastly.. on the weight loss front. I am holding at 42 pounds total lost. I have really slowed down in my weight loss (1/2-1 pound a week) and I am going to see about stepping it up when we get back from AR. I WILL stay LC (with help from my sis!) while I am there though.

Well got to run!
Have an excellent week.

Rituals...

Have you ever had blooming tea? It's beautiful and some of them are REALLY good!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Morning,

How are you this Tuesday morning? It’s a stunning and very beautiful morning here, somewhat still cool with a bit of fog at this early hour (6am). I am enjoying a new blooming green tea with a baby hibiscus flower in it (working on drinking MORE green tea! I love it for several reasons, all the antioxidants of course, and it’s supposed to help with weight loss. But for me I think it’s more the ritual of tea).

I have a small collection of teacups I have gathered over the years. Each morning I normally have tea first thing when I get up and then an espresso about an hour later (with lots of cream! – got to love low carb (LC) for that!) with my husband.. from here on out he is to be known as “The Genius”. And he actually is. But that’s another story…

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy my morning tea ritual. In my past my food was out of control. I have had to find a new mentality (still a work in progress) about how and what I eat and drink. I went from an extreme of over-eating whatever and whenever I wanted to a very severe extreme diet over and over, back and forth.

It’s incredibly hard for me to find a “happy medium”. I am an extreme person. I tend to see things in black and white. Somehow my tea and espresso ritual has helped me with this. It feels indulgent (really nice china cups, really good quality coffee and tea and what’s not indulgent about real cream!) so that appeals in a big way to my hedonistic side, but it is actually good for my physically and mentally so that appeals to my more “virtuous” side.

We all have read about how green (and white tea) is so good for us. I really do believe all the hype. I like to try new tea often. I normally buy from small companies online (I really like to support indy businesses) somehow I feel like my buck might make a difference to these smaller companies. I also go to ebay from time to time to find a new teacup or espresso cup. I have a small collection of ones that are special to me. A pink and a blue set that is from the 40’s are my very fav right now. Here are a couple of pix just because I love them that much:





I guess what I am getting at with this post is that once you begin to only put what you consider the best into your body you need and want less of the crap you used to eat. You get so much more satisfaction from it. Now a really nice cut of meat, even very small, and a salad with good quality fresh (and organic if we can afford it that week!) veggies seems very special to me not to mention my extreme fascination with cheese and wine! Now we have a bit of good cheese and a glass of wine for dessert and it’s incredible! But that’s an entirely different post…

Have a great day my lovely friends!

The joy of good food...

Do you or have you ever cooked live lobster at home? I am not sure I could. I am watching Julia Child's lobster show on youtube and wondered if I might try it. Eeek! I sure do love lobster though and isn't it perfect for low carb!

Here is her video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPcGiLVp9Zw

I think I may try. One thing about low carb is that I really try to have special meals more often. I truly don't want to get bored and actually don't spend more on groceries than I did before low carb (most of the time). Did you know that on average in France women spend 25% more on groceries than we do.. I guess food is just more special to them than to most of us... For me so far, much more natural and fresh ingredients tend to be more affordable than all the processed crap. I do spend more occasionally when I have to get a good cheese fix! and of course lobster, if I do make it, is freaking not cheap! Although I am sure it would be much more expensive at a restaurant.

Some other meals I am thinking of (my French leanings!) are Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon and I want to do a nice Bernaise sauce... I want to get really good at sauces.

I am eyeing an original 1966 Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".


I have seen them for well over $100 so far though, so I am not sure I will find an affordable one but doesn't it just need to be mine if I am going to get more serious about good food?

Sunday Brunch...

This morning I decided to drive myself crazy and try to do two difficult cooking techniques that I have been working on.. together. I am talking about eggs benedict! I had recently perfected true poached eggs (the secret is the vinegar and salt in the water)… here is a video I followed:

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2007/03/eggs-benedicts-last-2-episodes-to-make.html
(speaking of this food blog.. I LOVE it! Great videos and I learned the hollaindaise here as well.)..

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2007/03/hollandaise-101-can-sauce-really-sense.html


My poached eggs were perfect! I LOVE good old style poached eggs. So wonderful for a Sunday brunch or well, any time you have the TIME.

His secret (he is a chef) was to make the eggs up ahead of time and keep them in an icewater bath until ready to serve and just slip them back in the simmering water for a minute. It did not overcook them at all.. just warmed them up perfectly. It’s HARD for one person to time the poached eggs and hollandaise perfectly together to serve them on time so the re-heating the poached eggs was a great idea! I actually only needed to have them sit in the icewater for about 5 min. so I just kept the water I cooked them in, simmering.

The hollandaise was another story. I have been reading several sites about making it and love his Tshirt he has on his site that says “a hollandaise can sense fear”!.. ha!

I decided then to not be afraid and just do it. It actually came together well.. no worries with separating but I should have let it cool a bit because when I poured it over the eggs it ran down onto the plate. I also don’t think I drained the eggs well enough because then the sauce got even more watery. I did notice that about 5 min after we set down to eat (still tasted fantastic!) that the leftover sauce I had not used that was still in the bowl, was nice and thick.. I think the trick is waiting 3 or so minutes before spooning it over the eggs. I WILL get this meal to come out perfect!

I also think I am going to serve the tomatoes on the side as they might have added to the watery-ness of the hollandaise.

All in all I was pleased.. one of the important things with long term low carb is to not get bored.. to not make the same things over and over. The poached eggs were perfect and I didn’t break the hollandaise sauce, it was creamy and smooth after those couple of minutes.

Next time will be perfect and what a fantastic low carb meal this is.. we don’t need no stinking English muffin!!!

#$%!&*##$^!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been struggling lately. I am dealing with boredom in my eating. I have gotten to where I don’t want to cook often because it’s Summer and this always happens in the summer when I get too hot PLUS I am dealing with freaking hot flashes too.. Whatever...

I posted on LCF re: foods that are cool and don’t need cooking or at least can be cooked ahead of time and just brought to room temp.. like a quiche.

A couple of days ago I just gave in and had Thai food. I really don’t have an excuse. It certainly was NOT a planned indulgence. (I do have those from time to time). I think actually I had waited too long for my next planned indulgence and just was starting to feel deprived. Didn’t feel like cooking, was overwhelmed with work and just made a decision to “not give a crap” for that day.

I gained 4 pounds of water and it’s slowly coming back off.. I went back to induction levels (below 20g a day) but not induction really, as I am allowing myself more veggies and nuts than are allowed on true induction.

I had to look at why it happened and came to the conclusion I was bored and decided to get back into ketosis as quick as possible and then start cooking a few more interesting meals and some cold meals like gazpacho, good salads, ceviche, etc.. I need to keep focused and plan better, I was allowing myself to sort of let go too much. I was overwhelmed with work and the house and painting the house.. etc.

I need to do what I know works, making a weekly menu, doing the shopping, getting everything organized and cooking a few things ahead of time.

I am doing a roasted lemon rosemary chicken for dinner tonight.. I wash and dry the chicken, separate the skin from the bird and stuff thin sliced lemon and rosemary leaves under the skin. Then I butter the skin (make sure the bird is good and dry... I wash it and then dry it with a few paper towels) and sprinkle LOTS of garlic salt, onion powder and pepper.. so much that you would think it would be too much but it really makes the skin GREAT.

I cook it uncovered until it needs to be covered, in a 375 deg. Oven. It’s a really good chicken this way.
I am making a nice salad to go with. Simple with a homemade vinaigrette.

I just made an interesting drink. I am always struggling with wanting to drink sodas. I bought a bunch of dried ginger from Penzeys spices and boiled it in water for 15 min.. strained it and added stevia. It’s good hot (right now) and will be really good cold. I think it would be good added to lemonaide.

I am also going to Whole Food (freaking should call it Whole Paycheck) soon to get some sushi grade fish, shrimp and maybe scallops to make ceviche.

A cucumber, tomato, avo gazpacho is in the works too. I LOVE good gazpacho. I want more salads too. Friends on LCF have had some good suggestions for me too here:

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lowcarb-recipe-help-suggestions/677505-i-need-cold-food-ideas-gazpacho-ceviche-etc.html

Other ideas are Caprese salad.. tomatoes, Mozzarella Cheese, capers, bunch fresh basil leaves , olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I really like this salad and make it fairly often.

I like slaw too and am looking up an old Italian chopped salad recipe I have somewhere.

I also love Antipasta salad and a good Greek salad. I also want to work up a recipe for a cold pasta salad using Dreamfields.

Anyway, I am going to be fine. This is my lifestyle and I know I am not perfect but I am SURE much, OMG MUCH better off than I was 40 pounds ago!

Ok.. I feel better now.

A Little Indulgent ME Time Today!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am well. How are you?

Today is a good day. I am doing a bit of surfing of blogs in my time off today and have found a couple I really like.
One woman in Britain (I think) is doing the Dukan diet and I am following her blog. I just find it interesting, I am not changing from Atkins.. here is her blog:

http://glamedup.wordpress.com/page/2/

I actually just like her blog in general. It’s fun and lots of great pix.

I have also been checking out some French lifestyle blogs. I really enjoy reading these. They make me feel happy to be a woman. I love most of the attitudes of these. Many of them are beautiful and just great eye candy. I love French culture in general. I enjoy the idea that you should take more out of life. You know.. Joie de Vivre..

I am beginning to realize as the weight is coming off that I lost a lot of my mojo. I lost my love of life for a while. My Joy. I used to be very indulgent. Obviously the indulgence in food showed on my body, but I was indulgent in life in general and a lot of that was good, I found that much of life amazed and excited me. I am finding out that when I reigned myself in, a lot of my other loves sort of dulled as well. I have been sort of living a “staid” lifestyle and I have been working on getting out of that and these beautiful blogs help me do that.



http://frenchified.wordpress.com/

http://froufroufashionista.blogspot.com/

http://frenchcharming.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-12-19T05%3A30%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=17

http://frenchblue-frenchblue.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

http://lacoquette.blogs.com/la_coquette/

This one is not necessarily a French lifestyle blog but she truly has great style and I am enjoying reading it:

http://www.elementsofstyleblog.com/

I just love spending a little time with a nice espresso or cup of good tea and perusing these sites.. it feels indulgent and that’s what we ALL need from time to time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been working on the bedroom again. I took a week off the painting because, well it was just driving me crazy! In my designing inspired stupor I chose many colors for the room (three colors for walls and a forth for the trim and ceiling.) I design jewelry for a living (check out my site sometime: Http://CaryMartinDesigns.com ) and just jumped right into the idea that I could “design” a bedroom just as easily.. this was CRAZY I tell you! I truly had no idea what I was doing… It HAS turned out to be lovely and truly just what I wanted and I (well myself and my husband Patrick, from here on out known as “That Genius I Married” ) am almost finished.

We got the ceiling fan and Cherry Wood blinds hung over the last couple of days and the painting is done except for a tiny bit of trim. (pix to come soon.) I still have to find a few things.. bedside tables and lamps and carpet runners, but it’s coming along and I am really looking forward to getting our bed out of the living room! It’s been a month.

I ran across a very cool pendant lamp while looking for bedside lighting:
I am in LOVE with these.. but they just won’t work in the bedroom (but one might for our entryway!):


(coolest thing ever ha?!)

http://www.artecnicainc.com/Products/Lighting#Lighting/Future_Flora


My very fav hanging light that I have had in a folder in my computer for a couple of years.. (won’t work for the bedroom but I WANT it somewhere – maybe my office but it’s LARGE!)



http://www.artecnicainc.com/Products#Lighting/Icarus_Light

And LAST BUT NOT IN THE VERY LEAST. I wanted to turn you all on to this great skin care site I found! It’s independently run (I love supporting budding Indy businesses, sort of like mine!). This site has excellent quality items (I am a serious skin care nut and am very particular about the ingredients in products.. but that’s an entire other blog!). They use top quality ingredients and have products that can run with the “big dogs” so to say.. The same pharm grade ingredients (like Renovage!), made in small batches.

I want LOTS of their products.. I think I am going to try Garden of wisdom I want a couple of their Hyaluronic Acid
Products. Maybe the Raspberry and the Honey Comb. These are just good simple moisture for your face.

I also want their Veggie Azule Face cream, Banana Healing Serum and Frakenincense Hydrosol. I can’t believe how great these products sound. I will let everyone know how great they are. They even have a facial scrub that uses the same crystals as professional dermabrasion you would pay over $200 for at a Dr. office.

http://www.gardenofwisdom.com/finishedproducts.html


Well I guess I had better get back to work.. how do you all find time to blog!?

Sanibel was a dream~

On my early morning shelling walk on Sanibel Island I ran across this amazing driftwood (I love driftwood).. it was buried very deep in the sand...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Well, wow where to start!

Sanibel Island was a huge LC success and a wonderful, relaxing, sea air swirling good time. I walked and shelled and we ate great food. Patrick (also known as that genius I married) and I had some amazing food and drink. I think my very fav. meal was the chili butter shrimp we had at Doc Fords. This stuff was seriously food of the Gods, juicy, messy and spicy! I also enjoyed good fresh fish, raw oysters, ceviche and amazingly rich crab bisque. Came back, still in ketosis! (maintained).

I am working on my supplements. I was having issues with nausea and decided to just STOP all of it (taking so many damned pills) and start over again, one at a time. Several herbs I didn’t even remember why I was taking them.. Alfalfa for one.. what was I taking that for again?

Anyway I stopped everything except my Virgin Coconut Oil and Krill and Fish Oils.. which I never had issues with.. I did lower my CO as I do remember it used to cause nausea in too large an amount but I would always get nauseated when I took my morning supplements.

I started back on my 5HTP and my St. John’s Wort.. so far so good..
I am looking into a liquid multi called “Vibe”.. I am still researching it. I think it sounds like something worth trying, only I am concerned that it has 5 carbs. I am eating very low carb right now and wonder if I would maybe be ok with it anyway. IMO it may be a good trade for the carbs and on Atkins you start adding in 5 carbs a week as you climb the ladder. I think this may be a good trade for my 5 carbs.

http://www.rainbowminerals.net/vibe.htm

I would love to believe that if we all ate a “balanced” diet (who really actually does that?) we would not need supplementation, but I just don’t buy it anymore.. I really do believe our foods are much less nutrient dense than they were 100 years ago and here it is hard to find good local organic produce that is not twice as much in cost as the normal produce. I am already splurging on better quality meat.. I don’t think I am afford to constantly buy organic and even if we did the variety just isn’t there most of the time.


My appetite is pretty low right now and I am going with it. It always comes back. I am doing well. I am over my TOM and my water weight (I always gain 2-4 pounds) is slowly coming off.. still have a pound to go to be back to where I was.

Patrick is picking up salads from Wendy’s (the BLT salad, I love it with the Ancho Ranch Dressing) for dinner so I don’t have to cook.. I love that genius that I married!

Here are a few more pix from Sanibel:

Our little beach cottages at the Waterside Inn.. Old style FL charm. We really enjoyed them.


Our little Tiki hut. A great place to lounge and read...


Huge mound of shells early morning (it was low tide) on Sanibel. I brought home like 10 pounds! I am going to mosaic our mail box.. hell maybe the entire house!


Absolutely stunning found objects (fish bone drawbridge) castle we ran across. It was just amazing. It had a tiny shell path around it.

Heading to Sanibel Island Tomorrow...

I am excited about the trip to Sanibel! I know it’s going to be wonderful walking on the beach and that we can take Suki with us is a plus, he loves the beach!

I really wish I was at a place in my weight loss that would allow me to feel comfortable in my own skin.. but I am not there yet, actually not close at all.

For swimming I have a two piece black bathing suit, got the top and bottom seperately on line (the top actually is sold as bra sizes), it's a bra style with underwire and looks ok and fits well. The bottom is a "miracle suit" bottom, covers my arse well and actually holds my belly in well. I highly recommend these suits.

I actually love to swim, used to be an instructor and lifeguard, so a two piece allows much better movement IMO.. I wear a white gauze long top over the suit when I swim.. it dries quickly.. it's gathered at the top with a string tie so the "girls" at least look good, they say to accentuate the positive, right?. Clothes are a bitch in the summer. It’s so hard to find clothes that are comfortable and look good on this fat chick. I have one sundress I like but that’s it and it’s sleeveless so I wear a white cotton short sleeve button up shirt open, over it.

I HAVE just bought two new knee length cotton skirts.. one green and one white. I like skirts that come to the knee. I can’t wear shorts (well I just freaking won’t.. my thighs are the worst part of my body) but I think the skirts are a nice compromise.. I like that you can’t tell how large my thighs are in a skirt, there! I said it.. I really don't love my thighs, I know I should... self love and all but I am NOT the least bit happy with them..

The skirts are somewhat fitted so I don’t find them that comfortable but they are flattering as far as clothes can be on me.. I know… I am too hard on myself.. blah blah.. I DON’T like the way I look, I just don’t. Not yet.

Anyway I sort of have a “summer uniform”.. either knee length sundresses or skirts with spaghetti camis (I have found two places that sell plus size camis in a longer length.. I bought several colors from spiegel.. I can’t think of the other place right now if you really want to know, let me know and I will look it up)..

I like the camis over the skirts with a short sleeve shirt over the cami (they are small straps. I very rarely do find a longer shirt I like. I am pretty picky.. they have to be fairly long, have side slits, at least short sleeves and a v neck. I think over the last couple of years I have found two I like. One is from one of my very fav. places Http://Athleta.com

They sell plus size up to a 2x and I can wear their 2x (I am in a womens 16 sometimes 18 - Lane Bryant 14-16). I just got in this top that I actually love and kept (I order so much stuff that always gets returned.) I am pretty excited about the new top:




I also got this cotton green skirt from Athleta:


I really like this skirt.. it has a cotton lining (light) that is somewhat smaller and keeps my tummy nicely "in" if you know what I mean and the gathers are very flattering on.. it comes JUST to my knees which I love. (I am 5' 3.5")

Anyway I am glad to have something new and somewhat comfy but I will be so glad when I can wear whatever the hell I want and NOT have to put so damned much thought into it.

So I have put lots of planning into this trip so I know places we can eat (wrote about some of them below) I know from past experience that planning ahead makes it much more doable. I don't care what people say, staying on LC on vaca.. for a foodie like me is NOT that easy. I have to scope out websites ahead of time and find a list of places we have to choose from.. freaking found a place that has all these desserts.. hope I don't even SEE that place.. anyway I am rambling..

Found several places that are very LC friendly.. one of my very fav. is cheeburger, cheeburger. I am going to get a burger with all kinds of LC happy toppings! Love burgers this way. Going to get lots of shells (working on covering my mail box in a mosaic of them), walk as much as I can and try to actually decompress.. oh and maybe shop!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone, I know I will!

Hello!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s been too long so I decided I best get my arse in here and post.

First of all HI TIFFANY! Love you gurl.. will be heading over to your blog right after my post!

Lets see… I have been doing much better. I have been very strict in my eating because of my IBD and really am just eating meat, eggs and cheese.. I have had a few veggies.. VERY well cooked.. so far so good.

I am afraid I am back to drinking diet cokes. I think I just gave up too much. I KNOW they are the devil but I am at least drinking the splenda ones.. will work on them again later.

Thank you to my friend Fawn from LCF for the Coconut Pudding recipe (basically just a can of coconut milk (make sure to get good organic co milk with NO SUGAR).. mine is the organic 365 brand from Whole Foods.. 12 carbs for the entire can.. mixed with 1 Cup of finely shredded (I used my food processor) organic sugar free coconut flakes.

Mix this together and let it sit in the fridge overnight.. I have a bottle of coconut Davinci so I am going to check to see if it needs a little sweetening when we eat it tonight..

Coconut is so good for us and especially good for those of us with bowel issues or candida. It’s also a great way to stoke your metabolism.. I actually can feel my body warm up when I use coconut oil. Anyway, had to share…

Patrick and I are headed to Sanibel Island for a little vaca this weekend.. and ya.. we are staying on program of course.. I have scoped out a few places to eat already.. a good place called Schnappers hots for hot dogs (love them with hot peppers and mustard and cheese! Who the hell needs a bun! I usually just chop them up and eat it sort of like a salad.

Also there is a Cheeburger, Cheeburger there.. can’t beat their huge burger (sans bun) with avo, grilled onion, bleu cheese, bacon.. omg.. I can go on.. they have many toppings that are LC friendly.

I also found a place for breakfast that is pet friendly.. It’s called the Key Lime Bistro. They have build your own omelets.. OMG.. can’t beat that.

And we are going to Timber’s for dinner.. a great fresh seafood/fish place. So I am prepared (it’s the key to success you know!) and so ready for our vaca.. long walks on the beach and I might even get on a bike.. if I can keep myself from singing “fat bottom girls”.. I sure miss Freddie.

Making a briscuit I got at a Kosher butcher tonight. The owner told me an interesting way to cook it.. wrap it twice in plastic then foil (add spices first of course) and then put it in a dutch oven, put the lid on it, put it in the oven on 250 and cook 30min per pound. Mine is like 7 pounds.. so that’s over 3 hours. Can’t wait to try it.. he said it makes them very juicy.. and it’s grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free.. perfection.

That’s all for now!

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

This week I am going to post a few pix from our trip to Kona last year. I am needing a vacation and looking at these helps me to at least REMEMBER that we once took a vacation!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love Mondays. It’s so nice to have such a clean start. I cooked a bunch of nice thick peppered bacon this morning. I am right now just wanting a bit of meat now and then, I am really not hungry at all. Last night I didn’t really even want dinner. Patrick handed me am Atkins bar last night around 8:30 and I ate it, not remembering that they really don’t agree with me (it’s been a long time since I ate one) and this morning I am paying for it. The artifical crap and the sugar alchohols are really BAD for IBD.

I made a huge batch of herbal iced tea (cherry berry flavor – Celestial seasonings I think).. I really like it and the blueberry one). I am staying away from even my Pellagrino for a few days.. no bubbles.

My energy is good. I am working on more painting in our bedroom. I can’t believe how slow it is going.

Patrick and I are planning a three day weekend to Sanibel hopefully in a couple of weeks. We found a little beach side motel (old Florida style) right on the beach that is pet friendly so I hope they have a room avail.

This weekend is ShrimpFest up at my sister’s. (Fernandina Beach). Patrick got Friday off. I REALLY am looking forward to getting away. I want to go on another long walk on the beach. ShrimpFest is fun..

All in all I am on an upswing. I am looking forward to the next two weeks and some time off!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I also wanted to post about something I have been doing lately that is really helping, besides my CO and Fish oil and Krill oil.. I have been making my own "Sports Drinks"

This is what I do:

In a 1 Quart bottle or jar (I save large Poweraid Zero bottles) of water, mix in 1 pk 4C (you might want two packs if you like a strong flavor – these are splenda sweetened and can be found at Walmart by the Crystal Lite – they come in single serving packets) 1/8 teaspoon Morton salt substitute, 1/3 or so capsule coral calcium (I buy the ones that open so you can sprinkle the calcium in the drink), 1/8 teaspoon good quality sea salt (I use Celtic gray) and 1/8 teaspoon baking soda.

I drink 2 of these a day normally. I keep several in the fridge. My husband really likes them too. It sure beats drinking diet soda.

I used to have lots of issues with restless leg at night and muscle cramps occasionally. This REALLY has helped me.

Some meds can make you retain too much potassium so please talk to your Dr. if you suspect you are taking one.



Have a great week everyone!