day 12...

...of my herbalist's cream. last day for now. just making a note of it. :)

breakfast:
worst omelet ever
almond flour biscuit

snack:
1/2 nut bar
peppers
snap peas
cucumber
maybe 1/2 teaspoon spicy hummus
(someone in the office FINALLY brought veggies instead of chocolates!)

lunch:
roast beef
1 bite of cheese that ended up being just horrendous
nut bar (still haven't gone shopping)

snack:
granola
HWC

dinner:
chicken
broccoli
butter
coconut milk chocolate pudding w/hwc

les 'ormones are a-raging.

so.

not much to say right now!

breakfast:
roast beef
yogurt
granola
chayote

lunch:
it was at this point that I realized that I have NO veggies left! must shop.
chayote
roast beef
nut bar

snack:
granola
bit of hwc

dinner:
see snack
roast beef

must shop.

at meeting:
3 strawberries
snap peas
handful of nuts (gotta get a handle on nut consumption, I think)

slumday?

I'm mentally bracing my nails for the onslaught of wheel and bearing changes.

breakfast:
chocolate granola (sweet merciful crap, is that stuff good)
yogurt
roast beef

lunch:
yogurt
granola

snack:
bocconchini

dinner:
chicken
roast beef (I made one. or rather, cooked one!)
chayote squash
nut bar

unneeded emotional-eating snack:
2 stinkin' homemade coconut bars. I'm trying not to feel too bad about myself for eating them...but I do. :(

sale day!

my favourite skate shop is having a big-ass sale today and I'm pretty excited! I want to buy out the store! oh unbridled avarice!

I've been just exhausted the past few days. like, really, truly, horridly tired. I know I'm not pregnant, thus my iron must be low yet again. stupid genetics. it's not helping my mood at all. so I'm craving chocolate. not even sweet chocolate, just chocolate. weird.

breakfast:
yogurt
nut/seed granola
few bites nut bark (should have broken it up and frozen it as soon as it was set, goddammit)

lunch (this one was kinda graze-y):
americano w/cream & sweetener
roast beef
dry pepperoni
bocconchini
few more bites of nut bark (I shouldn't make this again.)

dinner:
steak
salad w/bocconchini
homemade mounds bar

later: chocolate granola. just enough to try it a little.

the weekend draws nigh!

I spent the morning babysitting, and on an unrelated note, now have an evil, evil headache. and am in the mood to COOK.

breakfast:
granola
yogurt
meat cookies

lunch:
sugar and grain free sausages
1/2 turkey burger patty
cheese
mustard

snack:
almonds
1 square chocoperfection (corn sources be damned)

dinner:
chicken
salad
cauliflower w/butter

it's thursday again.

yay.

I just choked down a piece of cheese and my supplements. I'm going to be stuck at the DMV for an unknown amount of time, and am not happy about it at all. in fact, I'm downright cranky about it. WHY do they have to make all things relative to driver's licenses such an absolute chore? not only is it the DMV, it's the shitty DMV. the nice one isn't an option today. and the worst of it is, it isn't MY license.

I think it was immanuel kant who said that people who willingly, happily do the right thing because a good deed is its own reward, or they get a payoff of sorts from it, aren't as virtuous as those who do the right thing despite almost being in physical pain over it because they don't want to so much (paraphrased roughly, and I hope that made sense). well, by that logic, I am pretty damn virtuous this morning.

"breakfast":
cheese
homemade mounds bar (out of grab and go options!)

lunch:
bacon cheeseburger on oopsies (lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard)
salad

snack:
homemade no-grain peanut butter granola
yogurt

dinner:
beef stroganoff...kind of
peppers

I feel so bloody puffy today. I'm trying to figure out why. I had a little extra water yesterday, but maybe the mexican food was a lot saltier than I thought? maybe it's an ovulatory (new word alert) thing? I can feel it in my face, hands, and feet. yech. I guess I'll try to have a good, fat-laden day. ;)

I had an incredible time at the show last night. so worth the soulcrushing lack of sleep. :)

breakfast:
deviled eggs w/bacon
coconut oil

lunch:
americano
cream & sweetner
handful of walnuts
few bites homemade vanilla custard

dinner:
stewed beef
chicken
salad
broccoli w/butter
custard w/coconut

maybe I should post amounts? it always sounds like so much more than it is.

I'm going out of town for the evening to catch a concert. I guess I'll have to trust dinner to a restaurant. ugh, I can't believe this makes me nervous! hahaha! too used to cooking for myself.

breakfast:
eggs
bacon
cream cheese
almond flour biscuit w/peanut butter and xylitol honey

lunch (this is what I'm bringing, but we'll see how my appetite is):
oopsies
steak
nut bar

we went to a mexican buffet last night, so I tried a little of a lot of things (and a goodly amount of lettuce):
chipotle chicken (had maybe a tablespoon, which is good because i'm pretty sure it had sugar)
beef (see above brackets)
smoked/roasted chicken
beef fajitas
peppers
salad
guacamole
pico de gallo
sour cream

I think that was it. in the car, 3 of us split 2 of the nut bars.

moonday

I am tired and disenfranchised. the cream my herbalist put me on isn't having the desired effect of making me happy. I think that insufficient sleep and waking up to the radio playing sam roberts (who I despise) probably has more to do with it than the cream not working. ha!

breakfast:
roast pork
yogurt
chayote squash
nuts
almond butter
sweetner

lunch:
chicken
peppers
nut bar

snack:
nut bar (shoosh!)

dinner:
steak
almond flour biscuits
salad
homemade mounds bar

whoa, busy!

I was on the go all day today, and now I'm wiped. sleep sucked last night.

breakfast:
yogurt
nuts
chayote squash
americano
cream
sweetner

lunch:
oopsie rolls
turkey
mayo

snack:
1/2 nut bar :)
cheese

dinner:
chicken
chayote squash (I'm addicted)
broccoli
sour cream
bacon
cheese
nut bar (addicted to these too, apparently)

so I'm starting to notice...

...that I like to eat the same thing pretty often. if I make a big batch of something, I'll pretty well eat it for consecutive days, if not consecutive meals. I never thought about it before! heh.

busy day today, I have an event for my derby league to deal with, and then the rest of the day to have pre-planned fun. :D

breakfast:
1/2 nut bar (with which to take supplements before running a pre-breakfast errand)
meat cookies (still tortures me)
yogurt
chayote squash
almond butter
pecans
walnuts
it sounds like a lot more than it actually was. :)

snack:
americano
cream

lunch:
another nut bar (I'll get sick of them one day)
"mini mignons" - pieces of steak wrapped in bacon. pre-made. most non-delicious and disappointing.

dinner:
well...another nut bar. time is short and I can't cook anything as a result. gaaah.

friday for all!

I'm bristling with excitement for the weekend!

I saw my herbalist last night, and she said something to me that she's NEVER said to a single client in her 10 or so years of practice: "drink less water!" I was flabbergasted. but when you're drinking a crapload and still retaining from hormones that are not in balance (but on their way), it's best not to completely overdo it. so ok, I say. I'll just drink when I'm thirsty, but pay attention that I drink enough so I stave off headaches.

breakfast:
yogurt
almond butter
xylitol honey
walnuts
chayote squash
roast beef (I wasn't sure if the as-carby-as-I'm-willing-to-get breakfast would cause any problems or not)

snack:
nut snack bar. mon dieu, are they ever good.

lunch:
salad
roast beef
mayo

dinner:
roast beef (yes, again!)
tomato/bocconchini salad
nut bar...again. :)

fat head

...FINALLY arrived! I cannot wait to watch it. so excited. :)

and the xylitol raspberry syrup is insanely good.

breakfast:
protein powder pancakes
butter
raspberry xylitol syrup

lunch:
roast beef
chayote squash
yogurt
few walnuts
1" flat square 85% cocoa chocolate

I'm making some nut snack bars today, so I'll probably have one. :D

I did, and they are frigging incredible. do yourself a favour, and click the link in my sidebar to Healthy Indulgences. everything I've tried on there is amazing!

now then.

dinner:
broccoli
red peppers
roast beef
1/2 nut bar

water retension

I was thinking it to the tune of manic depression. ha! but seriously...something is making me retain water, and I don't know what. maybe too much sodium? at any rate, I *HATE* it. especially since I drink well over 100 oz of water per day. wtf...any suggestions?

breakfast:
leftover chicken and mashed cauliflower

lunch:
turkey
cheese
celery
americano w/cream and the appropriate sweeteners

the flu is flaring yet again, yeesh. due to feeling queasy, I'm having a bite here and there of stuff that I really FEEL like having...sooo...I'll log anything I eat for the rest of the day/night under dinner. and it probably won't be pretty, ie. it'll be bits and bites...of legal food.

dinner:
homemade mounds bar
turkey
chicken
peppers

I got my netrition order today, and I'm pretty effing stoked right now. :D

tuesday is like friday...

...when you are only working two official days per week. :D oh, the joys of being on-call.

I'm not hungry this morning, but I KNOW hunger will kick in hugely at work, and I'll be SOL if I don't make myself eat. this isn't the norm for me, at all.

breakfast:
eggs
bacon
coconut oil

snack:
bite (yes bite, not piece) of pumpkin cake
(and this is a classic example of mindless eating)

lunch:
chili
cheese
sour cream
chocolate oopsie

snack:
homemade mounds bar

dinner:
chicken
mashed cauliflower
broccoli
butter
pumpkin cake
whipped cream

another monday

I'm going to go ahead and blame the cold of yesterday: my shin splints are acting up a tad today. but they can just suffer, I'm going to use them anyway! muah ha ha ha.

breakfast:
eggs
brisket

note here: saying anything "and brisket" makes me think of the song "ball and biscuit" by the white stripes. good thing I like that song, eh?

snack:
homemade protein bar (not sure WHY I ate it, I wasn't especially hungry. d'oh.)

lunch:
chili
sour cream
chocolate oopsie (ok, so I like sweets.)

I made Lauren's gooey pumpkin butter cake (or pumpkin gooey butter cake?) and it's amazing.

dinner:
pork chops
broccoli
cheese
sour cream
bacon
piece of the aforementioned cake :)
whipping cream

gong show day arriveth

I have a parade to walk in, then a team meeting, then team photos, then testing which I'm shit-scared about. I woke up with my stomach in knots. arrrgh. I'm trying to eat breakfast and having a hard time! I'm taking a couple of homemade protein bars with me just in case.

I made chocolate pecan oopsie rolls. not bad. not awesome, but not bad.

breakfast:
chili
sour cream

lunch:
chocolate oopsies

dinner (very late)
brisket
oopsie

this wasn't a great day for me foodwise, clearly. I was up and out of the house too early with an upset stomach (which I had before the chili), was outside in horrid sleet for close to 2 hours, came home still feeling crappy (interestingly, when I feel crappy, I want stuff that tastes good/sweet rather than looking for something that may be extra nourishing), then went off to a meeting, a photo session, and a practice. i am so ready for bed now.

hmph.

the bad mood I was sinking into last night has its grip on me today, big time.

breakfast:
coconut flour muffin
coconut oil

lunch:
devilled eggs w/bacon bits (can't believe I didn't do this sooner)
coconut oil
cheese
grain free bread (made of eggs, zucchini, flax and walnuts)

dinner:
turkey chili (obviously beanless)
cheese
sour cream
coconut flour cupcake

since starting this menu-posting thing, I find I mindlessly eat less often. seeing as how I'm accountable and such. :)

ouch!!!!

before I even started to skate, I managed to fall backwards (ie. the one way where there's no protective gear), smashed my tailbone on a bench, and landed squah on my ass. I am a sore girl today. I finshed practice anyway though, go me.

breakfast:
oopsie french toast
butter
xylitol syrup
toasted pecans

lunch:
baja bowl from taco del mar (shredded beef, cheese, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, sour cream)
disappointment at how not-awesome the bowl was this time
coconut flour chocolate cupcake

dinner:
turkey sandwich (turkey, mayo) on oopsie rolls
green beans
butter
salad
ranch
baked cheese
coconut flour chocolate cupcake

another hungry day, apparently.

thursday

I had a weird dream about being on a roller coaster last night. I haven't been on one in more than 10 years (when I was about 19 or so, rides suddenly started making me sick, which sucked because I was ALWAYS into going on them, especially roller coasters!), so I wonder what it's relative to. especially since I was feeling really calm and almost meditative, and wondering why I wasn't screaming and laughing like everyone else on the ride. I was in the front seat, by myself. weird.

I'd been browsing one of the LC boards I frequent, and found a recipe for breakfast meatballs. awesome idea, I thought. I will totally remember where the recipe was, I thought. WRONG. after sifting through post after post, using the search functions and everything, I came up empty handed. so I tried to wing it, and ended up with the patties I had yesterday and today. which I shall refer to as "meat cookies" because a, they looked like cookies, b, they're about the size of a smallish cookie, and c, the name simultaneously amuses me, and completely grosses me out.

breakfast:
2 meat cookies (see? gross!)
leftover chayote squash
peanut butter
coconut oil

lunch:
chicken
salad
ranch
olive oil

snack:
homemade protein bar
crunchy cheese (not even a full serving. why did I even bother!)

dinner:
chicken
oopsie rolls
butter
peanut butter
green beans
red peppers

since I'm skating tonight, I'll likely have some coconut oil and/or a homemade mounds bar. :)

wednesday

I slept like a ROCK last night, thank goodness.

I'm getting nervous about the busy weekend ahead. mainly because of EATING. I could just kick myself for being worried! sunday is going to be a gong show from the time my feet hit the ground out of bed in the morning, until I lift them off the floor to go to bed. I'm sure I'll be prepared. I haven't been eating anything I haven't cooked myself lately. I know MY spice blends are sugar free, but restaurants...I'm just not super willing to take the chance yet.

breakfast:
oopsie french toast
butter
xylitol syrup

lunch:
little hamburger patties
cheese
mustard
leftover chicken

snack:
americano
cream
sweetner

this is a much less hungry day than yesterday. after the coffee I was SO FULL. I also feel like the flu is coming back. *insert chain of expletives here*ing flu anyway.

dinner:
chicken
chayote squash (cooked with butter, cinnamon, erythritol and pecans, SO GOOD)
salad
ranch
bacon bits
homemade mounds bar :)

tuesday

it's interesting how back in my teen years, I never ate breakfast, and now I'm all concerned with it. my goal is to have enough so that i'm not too hungry, and don't have to eat whatever snack I've taken to work, before lunch. I'm having breakfast right now and am genuinely concerned that I'll start feeling hungry around 11. annnnd, it's only 8. sheesh.

breakfast:
eggs
peppers
bacon
cheese
coconut oil

snack:
homemade protein bar (scroll down for the recipe! I used xylitol honey instead of the real stuff)

lunch:
beef chili
cheese
sour cream
coconut oil

this is a weirdly hungry day for me. I already feel like having another lunch, and this one wasn't overly small and definitely not low in fat.

snack:
homemade protein bar

by the time dinner rolled around, I was ravenous. (!?)

dinner:
chicken
salad
string beans
chayote squash (cooked like fried apples. sweet buddha, was it ever good)

I may or may not have one of the mounds bars I made yesterday. my scapegoat is officially hormones. :)

I had the mounds bar.

monday

I had the worst sleep I've had in months, if not years, last night. stupid time change. I tried to go to bed a *little* early. falling asleep was a huge problem, then staying asleep was a huge problem. I'd HOPED that I would sleep like a rock since I had practice last night, but no such luck. my sore throat is back full force.

speaking of which, it seems like the flu has become a far worse thing than it used to be (except for the times when it regularly killed people, anyway)! I remember that colds were 2-3 days, and the flu was 5-7 days. none of this recurring for a month BS. almost makes me wonder if the flu shot (which I NEVER get) has something to do with it. *shrug*

less induction-esque food choices this week! I've decided to reintroduce nuts first. I worked through the carb rungs in order in the summer, this time nuts are first.

breakfast:
bacon
oopsie french toast
butter
coconut oil
xylitol syrup
small piece of turkey (I wanted to make sure I was FULL!)

lunch:
turkey
peppers
mayo
coconut oil/cocoa/erythritol

snack:
homemade bounty/mounds bar (please see the recipe here! these are INCREDIBLE and Lauren is a genius!)

dinner:
turkey
salad
mashed cauliflower & gravy

day 14

I really hate daylight savings time. after the spring ahead, it takes me ages to get used to the new time! boo springing ahead, yay falling back.

I have a turkey in the oven for dinner, and I'm super excited about that!

breakfast:
omelet (eggs, chorizo, tomato, cheese, avocado, sour cream)

snack/lunch:
coconut oil w/cocoa & erythritol
turkey in marinara w/cheese

dinner:
roast turkey
mashed cauliflower
broccoli
gravy

I didn't even realize that I screwed up my veggies for the day! D'OH!!! now to decide if I need to make up for it...

day 13

why don't I eat splenda?

since my herbalist said that she'd rather see me "using hard drugs than eating splenda!", I've become a bit splenda-phobic. not that I think I'm going to accidentally ingest any, or that someone is going to hold a gun to my head and make me eat splenda granular with a spoon, but I can't help but feel a bit worried about how widespread it is, and how overwhelmingly sweet and splenda-ful so many of the products taste.

I know that tons of people use it to zero ill effect (and I almost wish I were one of those people), and that's great! I for one started getting weird side effects when I used to eat it daily. my lips, hands and feet started getting numb. I'd get weird tickly feelings in my face. I had anxiety attacks. all of this stuff went away when I stopped eating splenda. I'd started eating it again on this go of atkins out of sheer laziness, which is to say I was using atkins bars as snacks here and there. sure enough, I started getting weird tingles if I ate them too often. sometimes, I just don't learn.

so where am I going with this? nowhere. hahaha! I'm using xylitol, erythritol, and stevia as sweetners these days, to no ill effect, and finding that things sweetened this way are much better tasting (ie. no chemical taste). I'm sure it's a matter of time before someone finds serious fault with these natural alternatives, but until they do and I start getting numbness, tingling, etc from them, I'm pretty sure they're ok by me. :)

anyway...rant over.

breakfast:
oopsie french toast
xylitol syrup
butter
coconut oil
bacon

snack (ish)
decaf american
cream
xylitol & stevia

lunch:
1/4 chicken breast (seriously, what's the point! ha!)
hideous green chorizo
sour cream
salad
cheesecake

dinner:
zucchini "noodles"
marinara sauce
turkey
cheese

day 12

I'm feeling queasy today. hormones + flu, I guess. TMI? possibly. :)

breakfast:
breakfast sandwich on oopsies
decaf americano
cream

lunch:
chili
sour cream
other half of the zevia

dinner:
chicken
peppers
broccoli
(still feeling sick, didn't finish any of it)

after coming home STARVING (I guess whatever was making me queasy went away), I finished my piece of chicken and broccoli. and a piece of cheesecake. ha!

day 11

scale says 204-206! so stoked! so close to being under that accursed 200 lb mark.

I'm not feeling overly hungry today. I had breakfast probably before 8 am, and now it's a little after 2 pm, and I'm just now starting to feel hungry.

the green chili chorizo was tasty this morning, but visually oh so off-putting. I like to butterfly my sausage (which sounds like a filthy euphemism) to cook it, and I didn't take into account the fact that this was FRESH sausage, ie. not pressed like what you'd normally get from a package. the casings shrank, and I essentially had two clusters of meat broccoli. holy moley, was that ever ugly! they ended up being very filling, which is good, but the VISUAL. ugh.

breakfast:
chorizo
eggs

lunch:
beanless beef chili
sour cream
pumpkin cheesecake

dinner:
same as last night, except for the mushrooms, including the cheesecake. ah, leftovers.
1/2 orange zevia

day 10

waiting for the onslaught of hormones to go with the water retention. *yay!*

I'm still coughing my face off. if it's like this tomorrow, I'll go to the doctor. meh.

breakfast:
eggs
bacon
oopsie rolls

snack:
cheese. or more accurately, crunchy baked cheese.

lunch:
see yesterday's lunch. boring, you'd think, but leaving the meat/sauce overnight resulted in an exponential increase in deliciousness!
club soda w/stevia

dinner:
chicken breast
salad w/olive oil and a tiny bit of lemon juice
avocado
broccoli
mushrooms
pumpkin cheeseckae
whipped cream

day 9

it's not even 2 pm yet, and I've already had my 100 oz of water. :)

I'm wiped today, was up a good chunk of the night, coughing my head off. booooo. so now my chest hurts. I promise I will stop whining. at some point. ;)

breakfast:
eggs
sugar-free bacon

snack:
cheese

lunch:
zucchini "noodles"
meatballs
marinara sauce
cheesecake (unless I state otherwise, it's homemade, sweetened with erythritol and induction-legal. I'm getting lazy typing here.)

dinner:
see lunch. ha! I didn't have time to buy anything, and had some leftovers, soooo...
decaf americano with coffee cream, xylitol & stevia
one TINY slice of pepperoni

day 8

I feel slightly less horrid today. more like I have a cold instead of a hellflu. thank goodness.

I was EXTREMELY excited to find sausages today with no grains and no sugar at all in them! I took my sister to a Mexican deli, and found they had chorizo, which I love, with no fillers or artificial anything, which I ALSO love! so that's two good meat finds in two days. yay!

ALSO...I weighed in this morning. so I went from 209-211.5 down to 206-208! YAY! so 3 or 3.5 lbs this week. *happy dance* it took me from july until january to lose 25 lbs, so this is huge! hopefully this week will be good too.

breakfast:
steak
americano w/cream, xylitol & stevia

lunch:
chicken, turkey, and bacon
2 oopsies
butter
mayo
red peppers
homemade low carb cheesecake
orange zevia (1/2 can)

dinner:
same cheesecake as mentioned previously. I just had no time. maybe I'll have something reasonable later.

ok, so the "something reasonable" turned out to be straight-up veggies (with guacamole and sour cream as dip) at the meeting I was at, and now I'm STARVING. so I assume my carbs were too high, dammit. I was still full from lunch when I left. I kept my daily total well within the 2-3 cup limit.

maybe I should mention that, I'm keeping all my cheese/veggies/cream/etc well within the guidelines of induction. I've just been too lazy to post the measurements most of the time. :)

day 7

first, the complaining: the flu has fully moved into my lungs and sinuses. this SUCKS.

secondly, the food.

breakfast:
about 1/4 oz of cheese (had to take supplements with SOMETHING)
about a tablespoon of leftover mousse (see above comment, add in "I'm weak sometimes")

breakfast sandwich (eggs, cheese, bacon) on 2 oopsies
americano with heavy cream and stevia/xylitol

lunch:
roast beef
turkey
oopsies
mayo
mustard
club soda w/stevia

dinner:
steak
1/2 piece chicken
peppers
club soda w/stevia
piece of erythritol/stevia sweetened cheesecake