Category: Uncategorized (Page 113 of 212)

I think Jack must have had a splendid day.  I’m not feeling up to writing much, so here’s a picture dump of a two year old’s birthday.  (PS, Ben put some of his on Flickr, and you should watch the video of Jack finding presents here).

Look who's here!

Another Atkins salad, and a sneaky smoothie for Jack.

Ben has already started teaching Jack to use a controller. They are playing “Hydro Thunder.”

 Another delicious low-carb dinner:  Cajun blackened steaks, aged cheddar, and mixed salad with blue cheese dressing.

 I had a request for post salon pictures.  Just more red and a trim.  What do you think of the prescription sunglasses I got from Zenni Optical online?  Stylish?  Or comically small?  It was a gamble ordering online, but I’m happy to have good vision in the sun now.  Oh, and did you notice this?

Yeah, I got a purple extension.  Because why not?

We had a busy morning.  First brunch with Mavi and Brian at Breakfast on the Edge.  We ate on the breezy patio and watched water skiers on Sloan’s Lake.  Also lots of impressive motorcycles down Sheridan (impressive to Jack).  His gear came off for the meal, like a gentleman. 

 Then we all went to Echter’s nursery.  Mavi had a mission, but the rest of us bought plants too.  Must be Memorial Day weekend, right?  I went kind of crazy with the succulents.  It gave me a good reason to re-pot the others I’ve had sitting at home, and sweep up the back patio.  Jack wanted to help, and now I’m researching how to clean stuffed toys.  Kipper is prematurely graying. 

Here’s Jack while we wait for Ben and Brian in Edward’s Meats.  Too much running around and sunshine I guess 🙂 

I worked 6 shifts in the last 7 days. They were all rough too. Glad to be done with that and have a 4 day weekend. I'm at the salon for a cut and color, long overdue.

Atkins is going well. My weight loss stalled, but after a long stressful day yesterday I'm down to 157, 5 pounds down. Still not craving breads or sweets. I like it. But I'm starting to plan Jack's birthday cake. I need to browse recipes and baking aisles.

Ben Here: I took a video of the phenomenon

 End of Week 1
A much better shift at work today.  Amazing what good staffing can do.  I’ll just touch on some things I noted while posting all those other entries.
–I’m not tired anymore.  I’m actually energized.  I used to feel a big slump after my lunch break but now my energy stays up and alert, even after crazy yesterday.  I do feel more dizzy and weak if I can’t eat right when I want to.
–I don’t feel that restricted in my food options.  I have no true cravings.  I’ve figured out what foods are ok and what aren’t.  I’m enjoying the vegetables.  I have my shakes and gold coke, my almonds and cheeses, and those are doing me ok for now. 
–Eating out just isn’t an option with this diet so I feel resigned to make my own food.  You have to be creative, but it’s such a limited source of material I can usually settle on a meal instead of endlessly waffling.  
–I’ve talked to people about the diet and everyone who tried it had good success with it.  That’s encouraging.  
–I’m having a weird post-cold sore throat.  Although Jack’s contagion never fully blossomed in me, I can’t shake a scratchy throat for a couple days. His nose is drying up.  I hope he can go longer than two weeks this time.

Today I stuck to the 20 gram limit.  I hope that will pay off on the scale tomorrow.  Ben and I talked about reaching the end of one week and how we feel about long term plans.  We both are feeling wellWe both want to stop induction at 2 weeks.  I’m going to move up to the next phase (fruits and nuts are ok and carbs are 30 a day).  Ben is going to maintain a low carb diet while nixing junk food.  No fried potatoes, he said, and a lot less sweets.  Kind of a Pollan diet.  He’ll do periodic weight and carb counting, but not be to as finicky as we have been.  We both like the idea of doing the induction whenever we get back from a vacation.  That way we can enjoy ourselves, but then kickstart back into healthy habits when we get home. 

Here’s a couple dinners we had.  Tossed salad: butter lettuce, parsley, red pepper, and boiled egg with italian dressing.  Hot wings and dip, jalapeno bacon cream cheese wraps, and roasted cauliflower salad.