Fast Five Wednesday Check In

We're holding steady folks!  I am actually pleased with holding steady.  I truly expected to gain at least a pound due to the increase of carbs in my diet yesterday.  

Yesterday was tough!  Detox flu was strong but although I ate some carbs, they were all on plan.  No sugar or wheat for me!  Today I am scaling back the carbs.  I did start my day with a low fat breakfast but I've been eating low carb for the rest of the day and so far no complaints from GB (gallbladder).

I will be traveling tomorrow to go visit my family and coming home on Friday evening so I will not be tracking or blogging for the next couple of days.  I will let you know how it goes on Saturday.

Number Roll:

Weight Loss - same as yesterday

Food - I started out with low carb (THM S) meal but switched over to low fat the rest of the day (THM E).  I did eat mostly in a 5 hours window.

Exercise - 20 minutes on the elliptical, 30 push ups, 30 sit ups

Numbers:  1741 calories, 113 g net carbs, 72 g fat, 113 g protein, 5884 steps

Fast Five Tuesday Check In

Weigh in went as expected.  Maybe a tiny loss but it looks like the same number to me.  I don't have a fancy digital scale, just an old analog one so it's hard to judge those half pounds you know.

Today I woke up so hungry that I started eating at 9:00 which means my last meal will be at 2:00.  It's going to be a looooong night y'all.  My gallbladder is starting to protest as well so today I am actually adding in some carbs.  I'm hoping for a burst of energy from it.  So far it's not happening.

So here's my numbers today:

Weight loss:  no change but still happy with the 5 pound loss yesterday

Food:  Low Carb (THM S) I should mention that the THM Loaded Squash Calorie is calorie laden and watch your serving size!

Exercise:  Busy cleaning house which caused sweat loss but no formal exercise.

Numbers: 1555 calories, 16 g carbs, 113 g fat, 104 g protein, 4267 steps

Just planned on going out of town on Thursday and coming home on Friday.  I will try to keep within the five hour window or no longer than an eight hour window.  I will stubbornly refuse sugar and hopefully refined wheats as well.  But honestly, whenever I travel I just want to enjoy it, not be a slave to any diet.

Fast Five Monday Check In

Can I get a high five??  Yep, the scale was very nice to me this morning and I have lost the five pounds that I have gained lately.

I really do not deserve it.  Yesterday I was the biggest couch potato ever.  It's not often that my hubby comes in and we settle into a TV marathon but we watched a lot of Roadkill yesterday.  I know it's kinda a man show but I love it too and my stomach is hurting from laughing so hard and so long.

Here are the miracle numbers:

Weight loss: 5 pounds
Food:  All low carb (THM S) in a five hour window.  I was terrible about drinking water or sippers and indulged in Zevia sodas instead.
Numbers: 1464 calories, 22 g carbs, 115 g fat, 90 g protein 
Exercise:  I laughed a lot and had to get up and let the dog in and out several times.  I managed 2844 steps.

Likely the weight loss is water loss.  I've been eating low carb lately and my muscles were resting from the increased exercise. I'm hoping maybe a little tiny bit was fat loss.

Today was my day to run errands and I've been busy cleaning up the house after spring break so not planning on formal exercise today.  I really am not sure how long I can keep eating low carb before my gallbladder says no more.

Fast Five Sunday Check In

For the next week I have decided to check in daily here.  I'm trying out the Fast Five Fast and hoping it works!

Fast Five means I eat in a 5 hour window.  I try to only eat between 12 - 5 pm.  So far it has been keeping me satisfied in fullness but actually almost too much so.  My calories have been pretty low and I need find the sweet spot for weight loss.  I may need to open up my window in order to eat enough.

Here's the facts Jack:

weight loss:  none but at least no more gain
Food:  I ate a low carb day (THM S)
Numbers:  1389 calories, 58 grams carbs, 68 grams fat, 113 protein
Exercise: 30 push ups, 30 sit ups, 20 minutes on the elliptical, 6010 steps

Today is Sunday and I am planning on another low carb day but no exercise.

Am I Skinny Yet? Friday Check In 3/18/16

I really hate having to post this check in but to me this blog is about accountability so I have to.

Yep, as of this morning I have gained back the 5 pounds I lost a couple of check ins ago.  I'm trying to not stress about it because of two reasons I know that the scale just does not understand.  First, I have been exercising quite hard this past week.   Not run a marathon hard but for me, I have stepped it up a bit and my muscles are tired and holding water.  I think this because yesterday I weighed 2 less pounds than today.  I really worked hard on the elliptical yesterday and drank a lot of water.  Secondly, my clothes seem to fit better.  Losing inches is better than losing weight right?  I know, me too, I'd rather lose weight.  How crazy is that?

Here's a few stats for the number nerd in me.

Exercise:

150 push ups

150 sit ups

5740 average steps - a mixture of elliptical and outside walks.  This number is pretty much made up...I cannot get my Vivofit to sync but I know I've averaged over 5000 steps everyday and some days were in the 7000's.

Diet:

I did not really track my diet very well but I will say that I ate too much pizza.  Did I really say that? I made pizza early on in the week and some how my husband missed out on it and requested I make it again.  I was more than happy to do so.  So lots of pizza and a bag of Ruffles did not help the weigh in at all.

Diet:

Since completing my gallbladder cleanse I have been struggling in staying faithful to my diet plan.  Trim Healthy Mama apparently is still on vacation and 5:2 Fasting is in the principals office.  Seriously, I get so grumpy toward my family on my fasting days that I cannot even stand me.  The past few days I've been on the Fast Five.  Basically I only eat in a five hour window.  It keeps the grumpies away but not sure it's helping the weight loss department.  I will give it another week, hopefully with more control, and rethink it.

Frugal Eats - THM Special Ingredients on a Budget

As I am reading the Facebook boards it seems a huge concern for many is the cost of starting and maintaining the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle.  Really, it is as expensive as you want to make it.  The plan itself can be successful with the foods you eating right now, minus the refined sugars and flour, simply by separating your carbs from your fats.  

Let's say you want to follow the plan a bit more closely than that but finding it's not fitting your budget, what can you do?  The first idea I have for you to consider, and this one might hurt a bit, is to step away from the new cookbook.  I know, I know, and I'm sorry to say it out loud myself.  I love the cookbook.  It's full of tasty recipes and it's fun to check in with your favorite online  groups and see what everyone is making and join in the fun.

The problem with the cookbook is that it uses so many special ingredients and the cost of the products can be enough to break the bank and when you add on to it shipping cost, because so many items can only be found online, then it becomes overwhelming. 

 OK, I feel that you are not loving this idea of shelving the cookbook, so let's work with it.  Here's a few suggestions.

 Be discerning when using special ingredients.  

The first item that comes to mind is collagen.  I kind of think people are overusing this one.  I see pictures posted of meals including eggs, bacon and coffee with collagen or whey added in.  The purpose of collagen or whey is to add protein.  If you already have bacon and eggs on your plate you have plenty of protein.  We each have different protein needs but for me, your average not-too-busy-stay-at-home-mom, my needs are roughly 20 grams per meal.  One egg is about 8 grams of protein.  Just so you know, when you consume more protein than you need, it can lead to a weight gain.  Now when you sit down to a bowl of oatmeal with no protein, by all means add that scoop of collagen or if you are making a shake or smoothie for a stand alone meal, get that whey powder in there. 

Gluccie is another ingredient that is not always necessary even when it's written in the recipe.  A lot of shake recipes call for cottage cheese, whey and gluccie or xanthan gum.  Uhmm, why?  All three of those ingredients will add creaminess and thickness to your shake and I find you really only need to choose one.  Yesterday I made a shake that simply had 1 small banana, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup nut milk and sweetener.  It was delicious.  Thick and creamy and I never even missed the whey or gluccie.  Play around with your recipes and find what works for you.  You can always add it in if you find you have to have it.

What about sweeteners?  Recipes in the cookbook can call for any of 4 or 5 different sweeteners and often a combination of them.  Is this necessary?  I don't think so.  Personally I only use stevia (Better Stevia), copycat blend of Gentle Sweet and raw honey. I find pure stevia is best in cold food and drinks and bearable in my coffee.  If I am cooking, baking or anything with chocolate (for some reason stevia is like kryptonite to chocolate), I use Gentle Sweet.   When I am making sauces I love to use raw honey.  I'm not comfortable feeding a lot of stevia to my five year old or husband so when I make pasta sauce, ketchup, salad dressing and the such I use raw honey.  I know it will spike my blood sugar a bit more but it is nutritious and I don't have diabetes so I will chance it.  

Baking Blend it's your turn for me to pick on you.  Personally I love using my copycat version of Baking Blend.  But do you have to have it?  Nope.  You do not even have to have the expensive nut flours.  There are tons of recipes online that simply use oat flour.  Just whiz up your rolled oats in the blender and you have oat flour.  Nice, easy and inexpensive but oat flour can only be used in an E setting.  I saw on a blog earlier tonight that said you can replace oat flour for the baking blend 1:1 in the cookbook.  If you are looking for cheap S recipes, try to master coconut flour.  It's tricky but the least expensive of nut flours and again, there are tons of recipes online. 

Extracts and spices - Uggh, I have a spice rack full of regrets.  I have spent and wasted so much money because I had to have that extract for that recipe or that expensive specialty spice. Seriously give it some thought if you actually need that extract or spice.  Can you use vanilla extract instead or find a way to use the spices you already own to make a masala blend?  One day maybe I will actually make Buttah Chicken...

What are my must have speciality items?  MCT oil, gluccie and whey powder are items I use daily.  The months that I cannot afford them I simply use coconut oil and cottage cheese. If I could only have one, I would pick MCT oil.  Mainly because I am a sipper junkie and I like how it helps the the sippers to emulsify.  

What about you?  Any hints or tricks to help the mama's out?

Am I Skinny Yet? Friday Check In 3/11/16

Confession: I am way too chicken to check in today.  For the past two weeks I have been struggling with my gallbladder and I still feel very bloated.  I did complete my cleanse so things should start feeling better but not today.

I decided that instead of checking in today, I would just claim it as the official restart of my diet.  The Iditarod Dogsled Race is being ran right now in Alaska and they always have a restart so I decided to be cool like that.

If I did have the nerve to check in it would look something like this:

Meals fueled by Trail Mix and Cheez Its- all of them

I did do a bit better with exercise.  For a week there I was killing it with sit ups, push ups and the elliptical.  And due to that I do feel like my clothes are fitting better.

Here's my battle plan for the coming week to get back on track.
1.  Separate my fuels Trim Healthy Mama Style
2.  Fast 2 or 3 days.
3.  Exercise keeping my steps over 5000 if stuck inside or over 7500 if the weather lets me get out.  I use a Garmin Vivofit fitness band to track my steps.

Ready, Steady, GO!

My Daily Eats - Easy THM meal ideas!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I just need to eat.  Nothing fancy just satisfying.  I must confess that I am  also not crazy about cleaning my kitchen all day and dragging twenty different ingredients out just to make one little meal.

Considering all this, I am  happy that I am a person that does not mind eating the same foods over and over.  With that in mind, I am sharing my short list of daily foods I eat, over and over again.  I usually eat at least one of these meals everyday sometimes more.  They take minimal time, dishes and ingredients which is a win, win, win!

You will notice two things here.  I have a love affair with Laughing Cow Cheese and I also love my cast iron griddle.  I cook everything on this griddle and all it takes to clean it is a swipe of a paper towel. 

1. Toasted Turkey Sandwich:  2 slices sprouted bread (Alvarado Street is my favorite), 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, 2 slices deli meat.  Lightly spray one side of bread with coconut oil spray and lay down on griddle or skillet.  Spread the laughing cow cheese on the dry side and lay down your deli meat to warm up.  Once the bread is toasted, assemble the sandwich and add any veggies you want to it.  This is a THM-E meal. Great paired with an apple!

2. Breakfast Burrito:  1 low carb tortilla, 1 wedge Laughing Cow Cheese, 2 scrambled eggs, hot sauce.  On griddle scramble eggs in coconut oil.  While eggs are cooking spread LLC on tortilla.  Once the eggs are cooked, place eggs on tortilla and put tortilla on the hot griddle to get warm and toasty.  Squirt in some hot sauce and roll and eat. THM S (Bonus points if there is enough coconut oil on griddle to actually fry the tortilla)
3.  Deviled eggs:  Boiled eggs, mayo, salt and pepper.  All that an a generous squirt of sriracha sauce...THM S 
4.  Wasa crackers topped with Laughing Cow Cheese and Slim Belly Jelly or your favorite sugar free jelly.  You can have two crackers, 1 LLC and jelly for a Fuel Pull snack or double it all for an E snack.  Awesome for when you want something crunchy and sweet!
5.  Meat, Cheese and Olive plate.  Assemble your favorite slices of deli meats, cheeses and olives add a sprinkle of nuts and munch away.  I love this dinner when we are having a family movie night.  To appease your conscience feel free to add some raw veggies.  THM S
6.  Sweet potatoes - Baked with a side of cottage cheese or sliced into fries.  Instant happiness. THM E
7.  Breadless Breakfast Sandwich.  On griddle or skillet, fry eggs over medium or however you like them.  Add your favorite deli meat (ham, bacon, turkey) to warm up on griddle.  Once the eggs are cooked layer the deli meat, thin slices of cheese, spinach and top with eggs.  THM S

So there you have it.  I'd like to defend myself and say that I usually eat these dishes with a side of veggies.  I keep a large dish of steamed veggies in the fridge at all times as well as coleslaw.  I know there is a lot of heavy S meals with the cheese.  Feel free to change things up to suit your taste and omit the cheese if you are looking for Deep S meals.

Amazing BBQ Sauce with THM Modifications - Favorite Recipes

For many, many years I tried to make the perfect BBQ sauce and failed so many times I was ready to settle for just an edible sauce.  The foodie in me was stubborn and unwilling to try a ketchup based sauce so I kept on buying my favorite Sweet Baby Rays.  But one day, I relented and made this sauce and have never looked back.  It is amazing and made with a ketchup base but so amazing the foodie in me just doesn't care anymore.

Amazing Bar B Q Sauce

1/4 cup diced onion
1 tbsp oil
1 clove garlic (or more to taste) or equivalent granulated garlic

2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (I sub Braggs here)
1 tbsp liquid smoke
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Saute onion in oil until soft.  Add garlic and saute another minute.

Add remaining ingredients to blender along with garlic and onion mixture.  
Puree until smooth.

Yes, it really is just that simple.  

THM modifications:  Substitute with sugar free ketchup. There is a good recipe in the THM cookbook for ketchup or you can buy one.  Make sure you use blackstrap molasses and I like to use coconut oil to saute the onion and garlic in. This would be an E recipe.

I wish I could give credit where it is due, but I really do not know who created this recipe.  I've been making it for years so I'm guessing I found it in a cookbook and not pinterest. If this is your creation, I thank you from the bottom of my BBQ loving heart.

Am I Skinny Yet? Nope! Friday Check In 3-4-16

I actually am skipping this check in and I am bummed about it because the diet experiment was going so well.  Thanks gallbladder.

I have a sluggish gallbladder that requires some maintenance a few time a year.  After doing a lot of research, I decided to try and keep it for as long as I can, even though it can be a pain.  I have blogged about it in the past, so if you are curious about how I do this click here. You really may want to read it if you have any of these symptoms.

It does impact my dieting and fasting for this next week.  I am chugging apple juice like there is no tomorrow to help soften the stones before I evict them.  I drink well over 500 calories a day in juice alone so fasting is not going to be effective and I am eating a low fat diet (bye bye pizza) and I'm constantly hungry.  I cannot wait to have this over.

I'm planning to do the cleansing fast on Monday which means Tuesday will be spent expelling the stones and life gets to resume on Wednesday.  I will let you know next Friday just what the damage was.  The good news is that the bloating and weight gain usually goes away pretty quickly.

My Top 20 Favorite Trim Healthy Mama Recipes (with page numbers)

I really hope people do not think I am hating on the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. I'm not, if anything I just hate that it didn't work for me.  It was worth it all just to come away with some awesome recipes and here are my top 20 THM recipes, with page numbers, and in order of awesomeness.

20.  Speedy Thin Crust (pg 278 No More Fads Book) For a cheese crust, I appreciate that they tried to lighten the fat load, unlike the recipe gem I posted below.
19.  Waldorf Cottage Cheese Salad (pg 190 cookbook) Crunchy, creamy and sweet.
18.  Sweet Potato Fries (pg 217 cookbook) Actually sweet potato anything, particularly chili fries.
17.  Fat Stripping Frappas (pg 418 cookbook) I love the salted caramel version the best and the choco chip baby frap is brilliant on fasting days.
16.  Creamy Cheesy Chicken Crock Pot Meal (pg 314 No More Fads Book)  Easiest. Meal. Ever.  We love it with jalapenos.
15.  Mozzarella and Turkey Toast (pg 239 No More Fads Book) I love toasted sandwiches.  I love them for breakfast and lunch and dinner.  
14.  Loaded Fotato Soup (pg 294 No More Fads book) The most satisfying FP meal known to mankind.  You get to eat tons of this on a Fuel Cycle!
13.  Winter Wonderland Sipper (pg 405 cookbook)  Christmas in a jug everyday!
12.  Creamy Pearlchilada Bake (pg 143 cookbook)  Yes, it's worth making wonder wraps for.
11.  Mini White Cake with Butter Cream Frosting (pg 294 cookbook)  Great for the times you NEED cake, you know, like from the bakery.

Whew!  

10. Cookie Bowl Oatmeal (pg 232 No More Fads Book).  It really does taste like a no bake cookie.  I prefer the recipe in the old book.
9.  Lazy Lasagna (pg 140 cookbook) Pretty much the easiest lasagna you will ever make and you don't miss the noodles!
8.  Singing Canary Sipper (pg 398 cookbook) I drink it almost everyday and I do think it gives you an energy boost.  Confession: I have never made it with fresh lemons *gasp*
7.  Slim Belly Jelly (pg 478 cookbook) I eat this a lot and get edgy if I run out of it.  A great FP snack is 2 Wasa crackers, 1 wedge on Laughing Cow Cheese divided on the crackers and a smear of Slim Belly Jelly.  Feels fancy with a cup of tea.
6.  Luscious Lemon Cake (pg 289 cookbook) It's a party in your mouth!
5.  Strawberry Cheesecake Shake (pg 412 cookbook)  I use this as a basic recipe and I often sub out flavors for the strawberries.  I have used lemon juice, cherries, pumpkin pie and it's all delicious.
4.  White Wicked Chili (pg 37 cookbook)  Utterly delicious and it's an E meal!
3.  Cottage Berry Whip ( pg 379 No More Fads book) When the rest of the family is eating ice cream in front of you, this may help...  It's also delicious paired up with a bowl of oatmeal.
2.  Pumpkin Pie Sipper (pg 401 cookbook) Hands down my favorite sipper. It's delicious and fills me up.   
1. Praline Protein Bars (pg 391 cookbook)  This is the single reason I buy special ingredients and it uses all the special ingredients.  You will never be tempted to buy Quest bars again.

You may be asking where the Cry No More Brownies and Good Girl Moonshine are at?  I haven't made the brownies due to my aversion to un-fried okra and GGMS just doesn't do it for me.  

I have also been struck with the thought that if you are not a follower of the Trim Healthy Mama Diet, this post probably sounds greek to you.  So I'm throwing in a recipe here for you.  My gallbladder actually groaned when I saw this one.

This post is to love on Trim Healthy Mama.  I came from a low carb lifestyle before THM and have other recipes that I love and I will share in the future.

The Best Bread Machine Pizza Dough - Favorite Recipes

I have a love affair with my bread machine that very few people enjoy.  I literally wear them out every other year.  I have no shame in admitting that it makes better bread than I can by hand kneading and mixing.  However, until lately it has always let me down when it comes to pizza dough.

Every bread machine pizza dough recipe I made was always bland and tough.  My husband loves, and I mean loves, a thick, soft crust that I just could not achieve until now.

Cena's Bread Machine Pizza Crust

2 pound loaf - makes 2 medium to large pizzas

1 tsp salt - be generous
4 cups flour - I use whatever I have, normally half all purpose and half whole wheat.
1.5 cups warm water
3 tbsp oil or butter - again whatever you have, usually I use coconut oil
1 tbsp honey or sugar
seasonings - whatever you are in the mood for, I like to put a couple of teaspoons of Italian seasonings.

Load your bread machine as you normally do.  Make sure you select the dough cycle!

This recipe will give a soft dough with air bubbles.  I like to load it up with sauce, onions, olives, pepperoni and bell peppers.

Trim Healthy Mamas- This is of course off plan.  I have tried most low carb pizza crusts and I like either the cauliflower crust or the Fat Head/Holy Grail Pizza crust.  Both recipes are very easy to find online.

Making homemade pizza is important in our home but sometimes you need to take a lesson from a cat.

Am I Skinny Yet? Friday Check In 2/26/2016

Every Friday I plan to check in here with my weekly results.  I do weigh throughout the week, but Friday will be the official day.  It's somewhat a cheat because I fast on Thursday so it will be on an empty stomach, but it will make me feel better.

 Here's what I decided to track:

Weight loss Goals

Weight loss goal - 79 pounds
Pounds lost this week - 5
Total pounds lost - 5  which means 74 pounds to goal!

Exercise Check In

Average daily steps:  4374

Food Check In

Total Meals Fueled by Fats (THM S): 2

Total Meals Fueled by Carbs(THM E): 5

Total Meals Tandem Fueled(THM XO): 3

Total Meals Fueled by Pizza(THM Cheat): 0

Notes:  This was for Monday - Thursday which was 2 fasting days and 2 feeding days.  I mourn that there was no pizza meals...

Daily Average Calories: 1882

Fasting Average Calories: 478

And the Winner Is!

The Diet!  I enjoyed my pizza (or buttered popcorn this week) and lost weight too!  I am totally happy with a 5 pound loss. I give most of the credit to the fasting, no doubt I threw a curve ball at my body with that one.  I also enjoyed the food freedom of eating normal, healthy foods and not stressing about if it was "on plan".  I loved that I didn't feel the need to buy and eat a bunch of weird ingredients.  For those following the Trim Healthy Mama plan, just a reminder that I am not exclusively using on plan foods, but real, whole foods and separating fuels.  Realistically I am not expecting results like these again.  I am hoping for 2 pounds a week and I know that stalls and gains happen.  

Just leaving it here and Happy Pizza Friday everyone!

Exercise? I thought You Said Extra Slice!

No surprise that exercise is the last component to my diet plan.  The problem is that I really do not like to exercise, at all.  I mean I enjoy walking and hiking but to go to the gym and lift or do cardio, just will never happen.

Here at home I have a manual elliptical machine to use but I really hate it. It's the middle of winter up here in Alaska, so it's hard to get outside to walk.  It has been a very warm and wet winter so outside my door all you see is ice covered with water. No bueno...

Thankfully I found a good compromise.  I absolutely love YouTube and there are tons of power walking videos to choose from.  Here's an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4IH12Piuf4

I like to track my steps with my Garmin Vivofit.  When I am stuck at home I want to log at least 5000 steps. This summer I will set a goal of 7500 with at least two days a week getting the golden 10,000 steps.

Not gonna lie, most days I will make every excuse in the book to talk myself out of it.  It's kind of like this...

Calories - The Count Goes On

Sometimes you just have to go back to the basics and it doesn't get more basic than counting calories.  I have had the most success dieting by counting calories, exercising and limiting my exposure to refined sugar and flour.  I lost over 75 pounds just doing those 4 things. No fancy diet book or speciality foods needed.

Most diet protocols today do not advise counting calories, stating it is more complicated than calories in, calories out.  I'm not so sure about that.  Every time I lose weight, it by counting calories or at the very least, being mindful of them.  So I am back at it.  The good news is that I have counted calories so much throughout the years, I can pretty easily calculate a meal just by looking at it.  I am tracking the my numbers via myfitnesspal and my diary is open if you ever want to see what I am eating. Look for my ID happy2hikeak.

My plan is to limit calories to under 2000 a day except my fasting days which will be limited to 500. You can eat a lot of satisfying food for 2000 calories.  I don't count my exercise toward the calories like a lot of people.  Even if I burn 500 calories during exercise, I don't want to let myself eat those calories back but rather keep it in a deficit.  It is important to eat enough, you got to keep your body balanced and happy when you are fasting.

What about Trim Healthy Mama and counting calories?  I will need to be careful of their recipes, a lot of them are calorie dense.  The more important question is: How much pizza can I eat?

Days I am planning on eating pizza, I will try to eat lower calories meals leading up to it.  I like to eat 2 slices so that is 622 calories, which is more than an average meal, but totally doable!

So now we have a mix of Trim Healthy Mama, fasting and counting calories.  Still one more component to go!  Can you guess it?

Monday, Monday Let's Fast

More than following some Trim Health Mama principles, I'm hoping to lose weight by incorporating intermittent fasting, namely 5:2.

A couple years ago we watched a documentary on PBS about fasting and how beneficial it can be to your health and aid in weight loss.  I did lose weight on it and felt amazing.  My blood pressure decreased and inflammation as well.  So why did I quit?

Like most diets I became unbalanced.  I would think, if two days are so great, three days would be better and that morphed into JUDDD (up day, down day or alternate date fasting). I soon became hungry and grumpy and always cold.  I was sick of myself and alienating my family so I decided to change the Fast Five diet.  On Fast Five, you open up a 5 hour eating window each day.  I was happier but it stalled my weight loss so I stopped fasting altogether.

I'm hoping to transition two fast days back into my diet.  Today I am fasting and will do my next day on Thursday.  The proper way to fast is to eat dinner the night before, fast the following day by limiting calories to 500, go to sleep and wake up and eat a normal day. My normal day will be kept under 2000 calories.  This puts you in a calorie deficit, gives your body an opportunity to burn stored fat, and a chance to heal.  The deficit alone should put me on track to lose 1.5 pounds a week.  Couple that with separating the fuels via THM (Trim Healthy Mama), my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week.

My typical day of fasting looks something like this.

Mornings:  Coffee and a THM sipper 
Afternoon:  More sippers and plain water
Dinner:  I probably have used 100 calories by now, so I need to eat around 300 calories. I like to have soup or a low carb wrap with a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese and a slice of turkey.
Before Bed:  Usually a hot tea or likely a hot cocoa.  Lately I am loving a hot strawberry drink which consists of unsweetened cashew milk, 2 strawberries, coconut oil and sweetener, all blended up and heated.  Sounds weird, but it's delicious.

I still have a few more finishing touches on my diet plan that I will write about soon. 

Snow Day

Two feet of snow in 24 hours! Cannot wait to get out and snowshoe but first pizza!

Trim Healthy Mama - The Good and the Bad

For the past year I have been endeavoring to lose weight with Trim Healthy Mama. Here's a link to my earlier blog posts about THM. I was inspired by another blogger that was having success with it and decided it was the life for me.  In reality, it's not.  In fact, I have gained almost 20 pounds while trying to follow it.  I'm not blaming the program, I'm sure all the blame sits with me and my approach to it.  Here's my review:

The Good 
I always like to hear the good news first.  There is a lot to like about this diet.  It is biblically based, it has the absolute best online community ever and it comes with yummy recipes. Many people have lost and maintained their weight with this program and you don't have to count calories.  You get to eat lots of good fats and even carbs.  There are some amazing recipes that I will enjoy for the rest of my life.

The Bad
The authors claim the diet gives you food freedom, but I found the opposite to be true.  Sure, you don't count calories but now you count the hours between your meals, keep aware of the carb and fat counts in the foods you are eating and making sure you keep a strict separation of fats and carbs.  It also makes you a slave to the kitchen.  There are not many shortcuts  when it comes to preparing your foods.  There are some "fraken foods" they allow but only recommend once a week.  So not only do you get to make your bread and cookies, but you also get to make the flour (baking blend) and sweeteners (gentle sweet) you put in them.  You can buy their products but they are expensive, often out of stock, and sold in tiny bags so that it's used up in just a few recipes.  I found that I was never free of the kitchen and became obsessed with food.  Finally, it's expensive!  Likely, most of the food in your kitchen will be off plan so you get to replace it.  All the fun recipes require "speciality" items that your have to order online.  

What Now? Freedom!
I still will incorporate much of the THM plan into my diet.  I will try to separate my fuels (fats and carbs) but not obsess over them.  I love that I can count on all their recipes to be friendly on blood sugars.  I will enjoy drinking the sippers and shakes.  I won't set my timer for every 3 hours but eat when I am hungry.  I won't feel like a failure if I eat off plan.  Now, that sounds more like freedom to me.

Stay tuned for how I think I can eat so far off plan and still lose weight!

New Blog

My first post on this blog!  Super excited to start something new and different.  This isn't my first blog.  My last blog just fizzled out when it lost it's focus.  This time I am focusing on my diet journey as I try to balance out my love of pizza vs my need to lose weight.

For the past 10 years I have been a chronic dieter and therefore, in my case, a diet cheater.  Mostly with pizza.  

Can you relate?  The purpose of this blog is to journal my weight loss journey and still enjoy life.  

Currently I am dieting with the Trim Healthy Mama protocol and I like a few things about it, but I'm not losing weight.  It's time to take my dieting knowledge and find a sweet spot for weight loss.  My plan is to take what I like about Trim Healthy Mama, add on some fasting days, keep an eye on my calories,  and eat pizza. Oh, and exercise but not hardcore.  At least not yet, and yeah, probably never. 

So here it goes, yet another diet.  I will be blogging my daily menu, weight loss numbers, exercise, what works and doesn't work and just random diet stuff.