FIRM This Fanny

Hanging on by the thread

162.5 (-.5) I am posting late since I am in the midst of Christmas hell. Shopping all day. I am tired and frustrated. Christmas is such a downer with the craziness out there! I am eating well and going to the Y yet I feel myself weakening. I am taking my daughter out tomorrow to do her Christmas shopping and I have a great urge to take her out to lunch. Chili's - hamburger. Not good but holidays and events throw me off-track. I sort of have a 'I won't reach my goal anyway' attitude which is putting me more into maintenance mode than losing mode. Ugh - the holidays ...

Colon Cleanse with Low Carb

I have been reading a lot of forums lately regarding refeeds and cyclical ketogenic dieting principles. I have heard a lot of references to people doing a colon cleanse when starting the diet. As you probably know, keeping things moving on a low-carb diet is a challenge. I really want to try it but I am a bit nervous to do so right before the holidays. I think I am going to order a colon cleanse product after the holidays. Maybe it will also help me to clear out my system of all the icky foods that I am sure I will indulge in over the holidays.

Sour Stomach

I am not sure if this is due to my low-carb diet but I have had the worst nausea lately. I remember back in my Kimkins days she referred to "SNATT" - semi nauseous all the time. That is not somewhere I want to go again! The strange thing is that I have been doing strict low-carb for the last 3 weeks but only the past few days I've had this. TOM also came today and I am wondering if that could be it also. For some reason I've been nauseous right before I get my period. Ugh this sucks! I am considering a free meal later on in the week if this continues!

Skin Treatments

Whenever I have a lot of stress I break out in acne. The stress makes it virtually impossible to go away. I have found a ton of information about how to get rid of acne since my last bout of it this past summer. Using minimal harsh products and leaving it alone seemed to help me. Gentle cleansers and benzoyl peroxide helped me tremendously. Surprisingly you don't need to spend an arm and a leg to get rid of acne but you do have to do your research and try out various treatments to see what works for you. After I started using the gentle cleanser and benzoyl peroxide my acne was significantly better a week later.

Actually I am wondering if getting monthly facials helps keep your skin in good condition or are they just special treats. Any long term benefits??

Staying power when dieting

I am beginning to see why a more moderate approach to dieting might be a good idea for me. I tend to fall into extremes with eating and exercising when I am trying to lose weight for an event (i.e. Christmas). I start not eating dinner so that the scale will be down the next day. You can only sustain this practice for so long and eventually the scale isn't going to move when eating very low calories. Getting used to the scale not moving every single day is hard for me but it is important to learn because in the past I have gained all of my weight back because I could no longer take the extremely low calories. Moderation .. that's what I keep telling myself ...

Bird Flu

Watching the news can sometimes be a bit depressing yet it is important for ones health and safety to stay informed. Sometimes I think we are given a bit too much information but that is another blog post. I was reading a report from Reuters that said “Pakistan says no threat of bird flu pandemic”. Man I hope that is true. We eat so much turkey and chicken so if the Bird Flu got over here we would be in trouble. I haven’t read a lot about this Bird Flu (or Avian flu) but what I do know is that it is rare yet deadly. The link above provides a free ebook about Bird Flu – all you need to do is register.

Crowded Y

162.5 (-.5) My losing has definitely slowed down but as long as I am still losing I am happy. I had a few vodkas and crystal lights last night. More drama filled emails regarding my family. It's hard to let people go - even when they want to be let go. Eating went well yesterday but I didn't workout because I went over to my sister's for coffee in the morning instead. I have this problem of not being motivated to workout unless I do it first thing after the kids go to school. I drop my daughter off then take my sister's kids to school then go to the Y. The problem is that I get to the Y by 8:30 and the AM crowd is still there. By the time I leave at 9:30 the place is dead. I really should hang out and have coffee then go but that is a dangerous road to take because often I'll just blow it off. I am truly scared of what that place is going to be like in January. I will probably go at 9:30 in January until the New Years Resolution crowd tapers off.

My goal is to be out of the 60's by Christmas or Christmas Eve. Even if its 159.5 LOL

Supplements

I have been reading a lot lately about cyclical ketogenic dieting. A lot of bodybuilders use this sort of diet to lose body fat with minimal lean body mass loss. The bodybuilders know their business with regards to diet, exercise and supplements. I have always been pretty bad about taking supplements. I rarely remember to even take a multivitamin. After reading numerous forums I think that bodybuilding supplements are an important part of a nutritional program, especially since my calories have been sort of low lately. I know that the supplements shouldn’t replace nutrients from food but it is hard to get all the required amounts in when I am limiting my calories.

Unplanned Free Meal

163 (0) Well I stayed the same today and was hoping to have been down today but I had an unplanned free meal last night at my sisters - tacos in the hard shell. I had 5! I was starving and feeling nauseous yesterday so I'm not too upset about it. I had a few too many vodkas too. Oh my - what a night! I, once again, got into an argument with my mother regarding the backstabber. Everytime I try to talk to her about it she just wants to leave - then she gets annoyed that I don't want to be around her. I have come to the conclusion that I deserve more then what my mother and sister (Kate) are giving me.

I am surprised that I am not up today but I need to get back on track. No drinking tonite and stay on plan with food. Next week is going to be really hard so I need to be 'on' this week. I am having the hardest time with not having cocktails. It is so nice to have a glass of wine and sit by the fire and Christmas tree. I'll do my best ...

Back Down!

163 (-.5) I was happy I was down today. I am now back to the weight I was before we left for Hershey park. That 3 day - 'eat what you want but don't gorge yourself' getaway weekend took me a week to recover from. I don't regret it at all but I was surprised it took me so long to lose that weight. Low carb is going well but I had too many wine spritzers yesterday. My husband and I watched the Sopranos all day yesterday because our daughter was out. Fun day ...

I am hungry lately so I think I might up my fat intake a bit to help with the hunger. I am in ketosis so I'm not sure why I am so hungry. I guess my calories are just too low. I haven't been to the bathroom in quite a few days - sorry for the unpleasantries.

I went to the YMCA today and it was much more crowded this morning than it was last week. I guess because it is Monday. I am terrified to see what it is going to be like in January! I probably won't get the treadmill so I might have to use the bike.

Sunday:

B: coffee

L: none

D: meatballs, salad

A: wine spritzers