The scale is moving again!

I got on the scale yesterday and I was 269.4 and today I was 267.5. I don't know what made it start going down, but I am glad it is. It is sad to say but that is probably the lowest that I have been in 10 years.

I'm at week 9 now

Week 9 - 271.2. The last few weeks have been sorta frustrating. I keep losing and gaining the same few pounds. I am not sure what is going on. I don't know if my body is just realizing what I am doing and it is saying "hey, wait a minute, I want to keep this fat around in case you run out of food" or what. Even without the scale going down, I am not discouraged and I am not going to give up. That is one thing about the Dukan diet I really appreciate, it is easy enough that I want to keep going. Hopefully by next week my body will have decided it's time release some more weight. Hmm... I bet exercising might help. :)

The Box

Today at work I had to carry a box downstairs. It wasn't a large box so it surprised me when it was heavy. I am thinking to myself, "wow, this weighs a lot!" When I got to my destination, for curiosities sake, I looked to see what it weighed. Thirty pounds. That's when it dawned on me that I had lost 31 pounds at this point. Hmmm, I was packing that weight around and thought nothing of it, but when I had to pack it in a box I am amazed at how heavy it is. It made me thankful and appreciative of how much I had lost. So, on days when you are discouraged pick up something that weighs the amount you have lost and you will be glad to keep on going. It will surprise you!

The Biggest Loser

The other evening I was watching old episodes of the Biggest Loser. I noticed after the first couple of weeks most of the ladies lose between 3-5 lbs. a week. With Dukan dieting I have lost an average of 4 lbs. a week. I think that is pretty incredible considering I am eating good food and I am never hungry, and I haven't had to kill myself in the gym until I am puking. In fact, (I hate to admit this) I have only exercised about 5 times in the last 8 weeks. But best of all I don't have to leave my family to lose the weight! I would love to see them do an episode where the contestants are given a choice between the normal diet or a low carb/high protein diet to see which ones have more success.

Week 8 update and blood test results.

I had to go in an get my annual physical done. All my results came back great! I was getting close to diabetes and this time my blood sugars were normal. My cholesterol dropped from 204 to 162. The doc asked me what medication I was on to lower it so fast! She said she hasn't seen anyone have such a drop by just changing their eating. My good cholesterol was only 35 though and should be at least 45. She wants me to start taking fish oil supplements for that. My kidney function was great. (so this diet obviously has not hurt my kidneys like so many anti-dukan's say it will). And I have lost 32 pounds. Pretty amazing! Thanks Dr. Dukan. Today I have been on this diet for 8 weeks now. I still have a long way to go (they say another year), but I am thrilled with the results I am seeing. I don't think it could get any better than this! Oh, I almost forgot the scale today read 269.7. Yea! I am out of the 270's!

Sucralose - Not for me!

I started adding sucralose products into my diet and I started stalling or even gaining weight. Eating sucralose is the only thing that I changed so I figured it must be what is causing it. I quit the sucralose and lost the few pounds I gained within two days of being off it. I guess it isn't worth satisfying my sweet tooth with artificial sweeteners if it is going to make me gain weight just like sugar did. I think I will stick with Stevia.

The end of week 7

I always try to post on here my Monday report. I ended at 272.2. I was up a couple pounds and I think that was due to my time of the month. That makes my loss 29 lbs now instead of 31. I hate when that happens on a Monday since that is my "official" weigh in day. Oh well, I am hoping it will be gone shortly.

20 percent

Great news! I got on the scale this morning and it was down 3 pounds (270.2). The exercising two days in a row paid off! I even walked again today - I was a little stiff but made the effort. That means I have lost 20 percent of what I want to lose. Pretty exciting. I just hope I continue to lose this fast. My goal is to get to the end without cheating. I am feeling like I can do it. I am not sure I want to get on the scale tomorrow. I didn't drink all my water and I feel like I have water retention do to Aunt Flo's visit.

I surprised myself yesterday by how excited I was that I could have veggies again. I never in my wildest dreams would have ever thought that I would be excited to eat a veggie, chocolate cake- yes, but a vegetable....strange. Life is changing, for the better. Praise the Lord for that.

I did it.

I actually exercised! I don't like exercise, but I got up and walked for about 30 minutes, I would guess I went about a mile. And you know what, I didn't die! :) Then when I got on the scale this morning it was up a pound (273.5). Hmmm, the only two times I have exercised on this program I have gained weight. Strange....my body must be rebelling. I will have to walk again today and see what the scale says tomorrow!

I had to buy an ice cream maker

After having delicious ice cream for dinner I had to go out and buy my own ice cream maker. I can't wait to try it tonight since my flavorings came in the mail today!

Yesterday's food list was:
3 cream cheese filled muffins
a handful of turkey meatballs
baby bel light cheese
1/2 rotisserie chicken (yes I was a little piggy)
ice cream made from coffee and yogurt (not so great tasting)

I am now down to 272.5, which means I have lost 3 lbs in the last two days while eating ice cream. Is that unbelievable or what?!?! I keep expecting a stall or the scale to go up since it is getting close to Aunt Flo coming to visit, but it hasn't happened yet. Yea!!!

I had ice cream for dinner!!! (and I didnt' cheat)

Today is the end of 6 weeks on the Dukan Diet. I am really liking the program. I am starting to think that I WILL be able to stick with it for a year to get off all the weight. As of today I have lost 26 lbs. To celebrate I ate ice cream for dinner! It was totally legal on this program. I made it out of non-fat milk, egg yolks and stevia. The neighbor was nice enough to loan me her Cuisinart ice cream maker. I NEED to go buy one now. I can envision me having a different bowl of ice cream every day. I just ordered some flavoring and now I can't wait for them to get here to make flavored ice cream. So YUMMY!!!

Over the weekend I had my first real challenge. The neighbor invited us over to have homemade egg rolls for dinner. Egg rolls are my absolute favorite food and she does the best ones ever. I wanted to decline the invitation but that wouldn't have been fair to my family and friendship isn't just about food. I then remembered 1 Corinthians 10 :13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." The way of escape He gave me was remembering what egg rolls are made of - chicken, cabbage, onions, carrots, and wrappers. Well, I could have all that except the wrapper. I asked my friend to please leave me a scoop of just the "guts" and I ate that and enjoyed it immensely and I didn't have to cheat! Praise the Lord for a way out of the temptation. The best thing was I was rewarded for my obedience and the scales were down a pound the next morning. God is good!

Oat bran muffins recipe - YUM!!!

I found this to be an absolutely yummy way to use your oat bran. I feel like I am cheating when I eat them. That could be because I was 5 weeks into this diet before I first discovered them and I had already forgot what real carbs taste like!

6 Tbls. oat bran
1 tsp. baking powder
sweetener (I use two packs Truvia or splenda drops)
5 Tbls. yogurt
2 eggs
Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir well. Add one of the extras if desired.
Pour into Pam sprayed paper liners in a cupcake pan. I usually make 6-9 depending on size. 1/3 of the number you make is your serving size for the day. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes

Extras:
2 tsp. low fat, sugar free cocoa powder
Cinnamon
Extracts
On PV days grated zucchini and cinnamon or grated carrots
Or anything else you can think of!

After baking I take some fat free cream cheese and mix a Truvia pack in it and spread this in the middle of the muffin. Delicious! If you try this let me know what you think.

25 pounds!!!

Today when I got on the scale I saw another loss. I wasn't expecting it after yesterdays. I am now 276.5 lbs. That means in 5 1/2 weeks I have lost 25 lbs. How very exciting!! There are days that I want to cheat but the payoff is so rewarding.

For some reason today I was extremely hungry. It was a PV day for me. I started the morning with oatbran zucchini muffins filled with cream cheese. Lots of sf jello. Sauted ff wiener with zucc. and onions. Turkey meatballs. Ff/sf fudgesicle. String cheese. I don't know if there was anything else or not. I should be better about writing down what I am eating that way I will know what works for me and what doesn't. I am beginning to wonder if sucralose is making me want to eat more. I just started using some products with it in it and I seem hungrier and I also have a bit of a headache. I usually try to use stevia. I didn't do well with drinking my water today either.

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yesterday, I felt like Alexander in the children's book. I was so grumpy, irritable, grouchy, angry, frustrated, etc. I made it through the day but I was not fun to be around. I am not sure why it happened. Here are some thoughts I had on it today for reasons why
- scales were up due to water retention (281.5)
- pity party that I couldn't eat what I wanted
- hadn't spent time with the Lord
- didn't have any yummy Dukan food in the house
- body adjusting to this new way of life and it's rebelling
- haven't started exercising yet.
Well, I think that it was probably a combination of all of the above. Most of which I can control. I think the main problem is the scale. When it goes down it is easy to stick to the diet and I do so gladly but when it moves in the wrong direction I am like a two year old having a temper tantrum. I guess I should stay off the scale or learn to control my emotions when the results aren't in my favor. Today it said 277.5 which shows that it was water retention and I did lose weight over the weekend. Do I dare get on the scale tomorrow??

Monday was the end of week 5

I was out of town so this is getting posted late. I was at 279.5 at the end of week 5 which means I had a 1 1/2 lb weight loss. That seems so disappointing after losing so fast. I hope that it is only temporary and that things will speed up again. I really want to escape this fat body since I am starting to see progress. I know it took me many years to get this fat, but now that I have set my heart to doing it, I want it done and NOW.