8/22 South Beach Low Carb check-in!

[maestramommy]

Stepped on the scale this morning and I did manage to lose the weight I gained while on our trip. Which was a surprise because AF started last Wed. and I've felt overall really bloated. I was starting to get discouraged because my midsection was feeling fluffy again. But I guess not!

I've only been on this diet since the beginning of July, but I can see that when we go away for trips is when I gain weight back. It seems to be the combo of refined carbs and sugar. Last weekend we visited a sugarshack, and I had a maple flavored soft serve cone There was also maple kettlecorn, pasta and bread with dinner. Good thing the trip was only 4 days!

I really need to start doing the pilates video. My plan was to get up, do the video (only 20 minutes), then take Shep for a run. It's just so HARD to get up at 5. I'd been doing since April and my body is just so tired. Doesn't help that it's still dark out when the alarm goes off. I need to get to bed earlier.

[Meatball Mommie]

I am officially 10 pounds lighter - yay! That was my original goal, but honestly, I saw a picture of me taken on Sat at a wedding and I still think I look heavy So maybe I have a new goal of another 10 pounds - I don't know...

I have started doing a quick run with my dog in the mornings - I hear you Melinda on the 5 am thing - it's soo hard!!! DH gets up at 5:15 and he's been asking me "so are you running with the dog today?" It's so tempting to say no, but I've only missed a day or two in the last 2 weeks. We aren't going far - I don't even think it's a mile - but it's better than nothing. I'd like to start doing Zumba again because I def. saw some toning results with it.

Overall, I am feeling good. I've cheated here and there with wine or potatoes, but nothing crazy. I just don't want to ruin what I've managed to accomplish!

I've also orderd the low-carb cookbooks that Latia suggested - can't wait to try some new recipes! I got this book from the library: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580401600
It's not low carb specifically, but it's a diabetic cookbook, so sugar is kept to a minimum. I made a spinach salad with a warm bacon dressing that we loved, and there are lots of other interesting recipes I plan to try. I liked the book enough that I ordered a copy from Amazon as well

[Meatball Mommie]

OK - what happened to everyone doing South Beach? Fess up if you fell off the wagon

[essnce629]

Here I am! We just spent the last 9 days in San Diego at my mom's house and I'm afraid to step on the scale!!! Nothing too crazy really even though my mom stocked the house full of desserts since she was taking a week off of work to be with us! I didn't eat any of her desserts though-- she made ambrosia and had ice cream cones and stuff for banana splits! She did make sloppy joes one night and I did eat the bun, but it was whole wheat! I brought a bunch of my food down with me so I stuck to my normal low-carb eating for the most part-- yogurt, avocado shake with greens, and breakfast ham in the mornings, chinese chicken salad for lunch, etc. It was DS1's birthday though and we went out for Mexican food and I didn't eat my rice but I did eat 3 corn torillas with my steak entree. And we went out to this dessert restaurant and I had a tropical banana split. It's the best ice cream sunday I've ever had and the last time I had it was like 3 years ago so I had to get it! We also went to my best friend's daughter's birthday party and even though she had a ton of pizza there I had about 3 servings of salad instead and veggies from the veggie platter, but I did have a piece of cake. I'll weigh myself in the morning. My new shorts all still fit fine so maybe I have nothing to worry about! I had started my abs dvd last week and really like it, but I've had chronic lower back pain since high school and decided to order a yoga for lower back pain dvd to start out first. I don't want to hurt my back more with the abs dvd which goes pretty fast and the yoga positions really stretch all my core muscles. I'm hoping once my back gets stronger I can move on to the more intense abs workout. On a positive note I did take my low-carb cookbook down to my moms and my mom ended up using it to make a ribs recipes that was delicious. She made the low carb bbq sauce in the book with my xylitol and it was great! She also made coleslaw and used my xylitol instead of regular sugar.

The boys and I have been drinking our daily avocado shake with chocolate greens powder and peanut butter added. It's delicious and the boys love it. Today I bumped it up a notch by adding a 1/2 cup of frozen spinach. You couldn't taste it at all and it's great for the boys who pretty much dislike all veggies. Tomorrow I'll try increasing it to 3/4 cup. I also just ordered some plant protein powder from Amazon and will start adding that to our shake as well. I think the protein powder has 22 grams of protein per serving. So it will be a protein plus greens shake!

[maestramommy]

Latia, I don't know if you already shared this, but do you mind sharing what's in your avocado shake, and what could I use if I don't have avocados? They aren't plentiful out here, and they are $$$. I am looking for a quick but rib sticking lunch for the kids twice a week. They have roughly 30 minutes for lunch and it might have to be in the car.

[niccig]

I fell off the wagon. In the last 10 days we've had too many social outings for me to stick to Phase 1. eg. at dinner with friends she made stuffed shell pasta.

I'm going to start back tomorrow.

Melinda, can you post your pilates DVD again? I really enjoyed when I went to pilates, but cutting back on that for now for money reasons.

Thanks.

[Meatball Mommie]

I fell off the wagon. In the last 10 days we've had too many social outings for me to stick to Phase 1. eg. at dinner with friends she made stuffed shell pasta.

I'm going to start back tomorrow.

Melinda, can you post your pilates DVD again? I really enjoyed when I went to pilates, but cutting back on that for now for money reasons.

Thanks.

Hang in there! It's is super hard to stick to when you *have* to go to friends' houses or eat out. Low carb is just not the way most people cook or the way most restaurants serve their food. I would feel super rude to refuse my host's dinner, so I know where you are coming from. I purposely started phase 1 after all our guests were gone and I knew we wouldn't entertain for a bit. Now that I'm one phase 2/3, I don't stress if I have a bit of carbs, even if it's pasta or cake - it all balances out now.

I, too, would like to know of a good pilates video. I took a class a couple of summers ago and enjoyed it, but I haven't had good like finding a video to do at home.

[maestramommy]

Mari Winsor's 20 Minute Workout. I could only find it on VHS. Must be an older workout.

I've never done Pilates before, but a lot of the exercises are identical to the ones I did with my PT when my hips were out of alignment (due to very weak core). It's just amped up. Challenging!

[essnce629]

Finally stepped on the scale today and I'm still 126lbs after spending 9 days with my mom in San Diego....yay!

And for Melinda:

Avocado Shake
1/2 c milk
1/4 c plain yogurt (cottage cheese works too!)
1/2 avocado
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 ice cubes
Sweetener to taste (I use 1 tbsp xylitol and 5 drops of stevia extract)

You can also add 3/4 c of strawberries if you can afford the extra carbs. I'm not sure what you can use to replace the avocado. Normally it would be a banana, but bananas are the one fruit you're always suposed to avoid when doing low-carb. Maybe a 1/2 of a banana would be ok. The avocado is what gives it it's creaminess and a good dose of healthy fat.


After watching "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" a few weeks ago I decided to find a way to up my veggies even more without juicing since the juicer I want isn't in our budget right now. After lots of research I found this Amazing Grass Chocolate Drink Powder that equals 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per scoop. It's really good and now I make a daily chocolate peanut butter shake using the avocado shake as the base. The powder is unsweetened so you can sweeten it with whatever you want. The kids love it too which is great since they pretty much refuse to eat all veggies.

Amazing Grass Chocolate Drink Powder
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00112EUPM

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake
3/4 c milk
1/4 c plain yogurt
1/2 avocado
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 ice cubes
Sweetener to taste (I use 1 1/2 tbsp xylitol and 5 drops of stevia extract)
1 scoop of Amazing Grass Chocolate Drink Powder (mixed in 1oz of water)
2 tbsp peanut butter

I added a 1/2 cup of frozen organic spinach to the shake as well yesterday and couldn't even tell the difference and the boys drank it right up like always! I'm going to try 3/4 cup next time.

And I just ordered a protein powder from Amazon last night and I'm going to start adding that to the shakes too. I think the one I ordered has about 23 grams of protein per serving and it's plant based, not whey based (which causes stomach issues in some people). It's this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002J0PD5Q

[maestramommy]

The Chocolate PB shake looks yummy! Okay, I will have to try it. 1/2 an avocado should be okay Thanks!

ETA: just realized I can use banana, because the shake is for the kids, not me! Still the extra fat would hold them longer; I should at least try it.