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.

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.

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?

Snow Day

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

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.