You say what?

..... I'm almost 100% these brown dots on my hands are just freckles. The more and more I look at them they look like a fellow freckle on my palm. Still scary.
My weightloss journey has been a roller coaster. I stopped drinking all the water because I was retaining it. I began to eat fried chicken because my husband went .out of town and its my comfort food. I began drinking energy drinks again (0 sugar 0 carbs) because I'm groggy. I have eaten 2 pkgs of Oreos in the past month because I've been sad and premenstral. I scarffed down pizza because I felt as if I hadn't eaten for a week. I have eaten I've cream because my cravings owned me. I have drank excessive amounts of coffee because it calmer me. ( ironic?) I have lost 10lbs and then gained it back in 3 weeks then lost it again (?) I have had many compliments " you have lost a lot of weight!"- thanks to my coworkers I have.gotten my butt semi back on track this week. I have had a rough time with this. My husband was on a diet with me and less than a month he shot that down. Which is real upsetting for me. Encourgement. Respect. And self control= the best way to loose weight. I don't count points. I don't take a supplement. I don't eat meat. I am truthful to myself and others. If you lie to yourself you are ruining it all... For YOU. This diet is for me and no carbs. No garbage. No cravings.. today I restart compleatly over again! I'm not disregarding the past month an few days. Just reflecting on what my demons have been..... :)

Caffined,Busy bug

I have been really busy since my husmabiest went on his family vacation (with his mom and bro) to go see there family in AZ,CA,NV and then back home to Oregon. He left on Monday and I thought i'd be just fine (i've been saying that a lot) with him going and leaving me for 8 days and the first day was hard. Second day got a little easier and now that is the 4th day i'm fine but really missing him-no tears though-.
I have been cleaning our home like a mad woman,making sure everything is in order, staying on top of putting my clothes away in the closet instead of leaving them in folded heaps on his side of the bed. Putting my shoes away in there cubby holes and keeping up on vaccuming and sweeping-which is his normal chore.
I have been drinking probably far to much coffee and not enough water. I have been staying up later and later every night. Last night I was up until 11;30Pm which is not my normal and I woke up a little groggy today but,not has bad as yesterday. Thanks to Unisom sleep melts i've been sleeeping threw the night-I have insomnia pretty bad.
Yesterday I had fried chicken-my comfort food- I had purchased a 6pc from Albertsons on Wednesday and had chicken for lunch yesterday and for dinner.

Today i'm back on the diet after being off of it for 3 days! 

Lunch:

Large salad-because I can

Chicken that  I baked in Kona Island Pinapple Teriyaki sauce (num!) 

6 mini sweet peppers-to munch on-crunchy,sweet and healthy!

Fresh cut pinapple (that I kept telling hubby i'd cut before he left and never did,  I think it was at the peak of ripeness when I cut it open the other day ;-) 

and

WATER WATER WATER... lots of it!

Forewarning, its really hard to stay on this diet when you "bored" 

I'm not sure what i'm making for dinner tonight. I was thinking of making stir fry chicken with my sweet peppers and a little teriyaki sauce? sounds good huh? 

Well, i'm off to work........... ta ta

Comfort food...

...because my husband is out of town and im lonely.
My brother works M-T strange hours- 2pm-1Am thus, im alone. I don't have a reason to cook. I hate cooking for one person. Ask anyone, I cook for an army.
Last night I was craving gross foods.. like Pizza and Burgers among other naughty things.
I ended up eating left over olive oiled and grilled asparagus, a tortilla (ya?>) and about 1/2 cup of muddy buddies to kick that sweet tooth.
So, today..I didn't have time to make my lunch as I was much too busy working on a sewing project. For lunch..Albertsons Fried Chicken..I have been CRAVING it since my diet began and ..its a comfort food..I know gross... but oh numm.  I have been home brewing sweet rasp. ice tea and making my own Rasp. Ice tea lemonade like Star***** does. I've drank a lot of water but not far enough.
My feet have been swollen since about week 3 of this diet. Im retaining a lot of fluid-bleh- so im trying to stay away from the sewing room so I can put my feet up and just relax. I love my husband very much and im sad to not have him with me but, quit time...its lovely...especially because there is no one to judge your tears as you weep over a girl getting taken away from her boyfriend in a movie..see what I mean?
........just me and my house bunny.. shes hiding right now. We are getting our roof re..roofed? and there are about 10 stinky topless men on our roof currently. I have junk all over my pourch. Can't even taken photos of my new bag outside..(too sore to walk to the park) and I am going to end my night with a movie and some ice tea..in bed <3

One Month today was the start of a diet.

Weigh in day..................................................................
With a lot of cheats, more than should have occurred.
I lost 10lbs the first 3 weeks and I haven't lost anything this past week.
Due to not being able to eat fish my diet is going to be struggling for a while now until I feel "back to normal".
I guess sometimes diets just really are a pain in the butt. Today my husband has left for a week. He's going to visit his family in Idaho,Nevada,Arizona and California back up to Oregon. Leaving me at home by myself for 98% of the time he's gone. Our room mate is my brother Dustin, he works 12 hour shifts M-Thurs so this will be interesting for me to have the place to myself. I figure a lot of girly music and sewing machine cursing should be up in this joint! I work a full 40 hours a week also so, i'll be pretty busy.

Cheater Cheater! Pumpkin Eater!

Cheated on my diet this week.
Husband bought me French Macarons. Went out to dinner with my Besti and my boys-I had beef brisket,drunken apples and a few fried pickles and a uber amount of sweet ice tea. Lets also add 2 slices of pizza that  I lunged at when my husband walked threw the front door with the grease stained box. Not to proud of that moment but oh vey!

On the flip side-
I've eaten my fair share of salad with chicken this week.
LOTS of water
Lightly sweetened Snapple's
Fresh Fruit

and I haven't eaten before bed. But I can't say I didn't eat in bed... (Oh dear!)
Monday is my weigh day.... which will also put me at a Month of this what ever we call it-Diet-
 Someone at work said this to me-she hasn't seen me for about 2 weeks- "Oh my god! you've lost a lot of weight!!!! Good for you girl!" ..so, when I was feeling pretty down and out-that was really,really encouraging to hear. I've also noticed that a few pairs of my pants-that I normally had the button issue with (I like my pants loose) are fitting very well now, almost too well that they fall off my flat butt so,that is another encouraging fact.

I have not eaten fish for a week now. Since I have this awesome rash on my hands that has moved up my arms. It is not itchy or painful. I have been exposed to a lot of sun and there are things such as "Sun rashes" so..............treating it like its not that big of a deal until I get other symptoms of Mercury Poisoning again.

Staples of the week
_______________
Chicken
Salad
Dressing
Strawberries
Blueberries
Asparagus
Eggs
Orange bell peppers
Red Bell peppers
.......................................now that I look at that. That is'nt much now is it?
ta ta

Situation overload....

Monday is the 25th-weigh in day- Since my issue with breaking out in a rash and feeling miserable from the possibility of mercury poisoning. I had to switch my diet from - Everyday Fish- to Chicken and Salad- Not bad.
I am bummed that because i'm having this "scare" because the mercury poisoning is so scary,risky and sometimes fatal depending on what level your blood is at filled with the toxin's ..my diet had kind-of gone array.
Yesterday my Husband,Nicholas brought me home Macrons from Northeast Portland,Oregon from my fav. Artisan Bakery....those are heavenly morsels that are cherished dearly..my naughty indulgence that I don't get often however, this year i've had them 3 times...
He bought me 2-Coffee 2-Salted Caramel and 2-Lavander Lemon petites.. oh dear! they are too good to be called a cookie. Darn those French!!!!
I also have been on the end of the month food cravings-this time its been some Almond bread thinger dinger at my favorite coffee shop here in Gresham,Or where they also serve my fav. Portland brewed Chi tea... heaven in a cup!
I took benedryl last night before I went to bed to see if this rash would go away and IF i'm actually allergic to something-because unbeknown to me- I have no allergies except the occasional sniffle from a very high pollen level in which-the area I live in does have at times- I slept like a baby last night- I normally have a tad bit of insomnia.... no bueno- So, im going to have to pick up some more allergy meds-because those were my last two tabs- and really see if this thing will go away. The dots/spots on my hands was not as bad as it was yesterday-it doesn't itch, burn or hurt in anyway- just annoying.
My father use to get "sun spots" from being out in the sun for long periods of time- my father would tan up so easily! He had lovely bronze skin (he was of German heritage) and due to the weather the past few weeks-we have had sun and then rain and back and fourth. That I was outside everyday that it was nice-for long periods of time. The day I really noticed this rash was last Thursday.. so, we will see.
______________________________________________
Anyways back on to my weight loss dealio!
-Husband made me Eggs with sliced up peppers this AM for breakfast
-I still drink my routine 5 cups of coffee each morning
-I take a "to go" Starbucks iced cup of mocha-I make with Soy Milk (vanilla) 2 cups of coffee (strong brewed) and syrup-Toasted Marshmallow- heavenly!
-Lunch today- is going out with folks at work to a Pizza Parlor- I'll be having something decently healthy-no bread-
Dinner last night-I don't think I ate-I was too busy playing with fabric
Lunch yesterday- Chicken salad with my fav. dressing and blue berries followed up by a Hansons Sugar Free sparkling grapefruit beverage. and 2 liters of water.
Breakfast yesterday-hubbies scrambled eggs!~

Ta ta

Harmful: Mercury Poisoning

I've been living off fish for.the past 3 weeks and began to notice my feet are swelling. My hands are swelling. I feel gross. I feel so exhausted when normally I do not. I broke out in a rash about 5 days ago and.it.wasn't really noticeable until today I noticed a bunch of bumps on my hands. The rash isn't really itchy as much as it.is .obnoctious. I thought it may just be from my new facewash but after doing a little research... I have a lot of symptoms of a mild case of mercury poisoning. I'm not a doctor and self diagnosing is unlikely to be correct but considering how much fish I've consumed..... And the way I feel.... The odds are highly in my favor on this.
Thus I have a diet change to focus on and a different approach on this diet... This is a bummer... Just makes sence. The photo is the rash that's broke out.

For some reason my phone has made this photo awful BUT you can see the red bumps under my thumb. It is crawling up my arm and hydro-cortisone does nothing for this.

.............10 Lbs down in Days

I'm so very proud of myself.
I had a double take while looking threw my pictures I take on my cell phone to keep track of my weight loss.
I was curious the other day and weighed myself.
Low and behold I'm actually down 10lbs not just 4 lbs.. that is a big deal for me!
Considering i've cheated a couple times because sometimes, temptation is just too hard to follow threw with...
I have however been pretty faithful when it comes down to it.
I don't drink sugary caffeinated beverages and I stay away from sweets as much as I can with the past slip ups... oops- but so goes life- and i'm honest about it.

I have no idea where the weight is coming from! honestly. I am still a chunky butt and I still have my lovely love handles...I'm being told my face looks thinner and folks can noticeably tell that I have lost weight in the past few weeks.
*Water is my friend
*Fish is my friend
*Eggs are my friend
*Veggies are my friend
*Fruits (in moderation) are my friend
.........That's bascially what i've been living off of.
I did however, the other night go have Sushi with my husband. And if the rice wasn't filled with carbs and break down to sugars I would be okay to say.. I enjoyed happy hour... ($1.00 a plate-thats a deal!)
My husband does not eat fish so, he eats Yakisoba when we go to Hot Pot n' Sushi.. nummo- I think i've had my fill on it for a long time.
Last night I took him to dinner, we had ran around Hawthorne area in Portland because I was in dire need of some fabric that I couldn't find anywhere else and had no time to order it from the web, thus after i got off work I rushed..made him rush too.... so, we stopped by my favorite Vietnamese restaurant -no greasy foods here! except duck (yulk!) ... I always order (never has had anything else) Mung bean noodles with a salad of sprouts,mint,lettuce,lemon grass and to top it off lemon grass chicken thats been cooked over an open flame that has a drizzle of honey- to die for-! i'm addicted to the stuff! And Fish sauce comes with it, which I had no idea what it was until I asked one visit- yeah its fantastic! ....
...........So there we are folks! Diets really do work if you stick with them- you don't need spendy weightloss plans and junk like that- just eat in moderation and watch yourself! don't eat that whole pint of ice cream there is a reason it says "1/2 cup is a serving" .... there are 4 servings...Get it??

Have a great day!

Down 5 lbs

......................and i've had nearly no sugar except the AM 4 cups of coffee with real cream flavored artificially with Vanilla. The occasional coffee run during work or Chi Fridays-as I call them.
I have eaten probubly more veggies and fruits than my rabbit has straw. All in all.. I feel pretty good. I haven't had a skin break out in the past 2 weeks and I have so much more energy than I use to.
When I was naughty the other night and bought a small box of Oreo's because I was craving them badddd... I ate them and felt AWFUL! That is just a reminder that...thats not good to eat things like that.
The first week of my diet I was stern with myself! VERY stern! and as the "monthly" sat in and I felt like crum anyways it was hard to resist chocolate.
Anyways...................

So tonight, I had relized that I hadn't eaten since 9am today..and had hardly drank any fluids which is VERY BAD considering I get raging migrains if I don't eat and my blood sugar drops faster than I can put on socks if I hadn't eaten. So, once my vision started getting blurry and I felt very nervous and arrhythmic I knew I needed to eat, and I needed to eat NOW.
So, I fixed myself a chicken salad with my fav. dressing for dinner..munching on it as I type away... its so darn nummy! I haven't had poultry for a while and I have not had any red meat in over 3 weeks. I was raised on homegrown beef once I moved to Vancouver,Washington in 2001 and LOVED steak! it was a weekend staple when my dad would have friends over and we'd BBQ. Now a days, i'm so "burnt" out on red meat and having heard of the "pink slime" aka)ammonia put in beef..im pretty sure I won't be touching the stuff unless it comes from my families farm-where might I add- The animals are treated with dignity and respect- so much respect that they become almost like dog's to my aunt. A few of the heifers are very much loved and get treated like children. They are pasture raised,free roaming-not beyond the property line, and are fed as much as a child.

Anyways..off my soap box on that...
I also have vowed NEVER to eat pork again! after seeing video's of worms coming out of pork cuts and the awful things that happen to Pigs while they are in the slaughter houses-no thanks-

Eating Poultry is hard too after seeing video's of how some chickens are raised-especially videos of Foster Farms ..not so neat..though i'd hope that those awful things that were being done to the chickens has changed and is more humane.

.........again off my soap box..
So i'm finishing my night up..after running around for the majority of the day since 9Am and cleaning house,laundry and late evening sewing session... im spent!
Time to chug my water so I dont wake with a headache tomorrow, as i'm back to work...and finishing this delish salad.........

The diet is still on..and in progress........ :)

Day 13................... This is honesty!

Honesty is key here people so i'm going to be honest.
I had a couple slip ups!
I was craving chocolate so bad (that time of the month) that I went out and bought some and devoured it and after  I had done so, I was so sick to my stomach and wishing I hadn't!
Then a few days later my Mother was in town from ways away and made us dinner the night she stayed, well there was bread involved from New Seasons (Locally owned natural food store..mostly) and  well lets just say I couldn't resist! I LOVE bread its awful!
So, after eating bread I felt even worse! talk about carbs!
The next day wasn't much better! Nick and I (my husband) ran to New Seasons to go get my Lemon Juice for my water that  I drink like a sivv and I got a bialy ...a delicious garlic and onion filled individual round bread..ya not so happy with myself about that but, when you have cravings you really can't help!
I am that type of OCD person that when I think about something..I have to have it!
So, I confessed to my mother what I had eaten and of course posted it on FB and had received comments regarding my slip up which was helpful and made me feel a bit better.
So back on the bandwagon I went on Tuesday Morning. I haven't been eating breakfast like I had been because im running out of the resources and payday, unfortunately, isn't until Monday which is my shopping day of course for the month! (lots of "!!!!!!!!!" in this bloggy post!) so, I have to wait a few more days. I do have eggs-which was the key for my breakfast but have not been wanting to eat. I have been "eating" Coffee for the past few mornings, Coffee fills my belly up and makes it a wee bit difficult to stuff somthing healthy down my throat, I brew my own coffee (well my hubby does while im in the shower every morning) so, here I am.
I've fallen off the wagon basically, compleatly and I'm not happy about that and VERY disappointing in myself, it was bound to happen even if I hadn't planned that..just does.
So, yesterday for lunch I made up a good o'l lunch from a recipe a gal at works mum makes.

I don't know the name of it, its probably something in Spanish I wouldn't be able to pronounce anyways ;-)

Spicy Tuna 

--------------

1 can-Jalapenos Diced.

2-Roma Tomatoes 

1/2 cup diced Purple Onion/Red onion which ever

1 lemon

1 lime

1 can- LARGE- can of Tuna-I used Light Albacore tuna

Dice Tomatoes, Dice Onion,Squeeze lemon and lime to taste into bowl with tuna

-- Add Jalapenos to taste, I only used 1/2 the can of Hot Jalapenos because i'm kind of a wuss on the hot meter! 

... I ate this with Blue corn chips- corn chips ARE NOT carb free! BUT! the meal itself was pretty healthy! 

I ate this for lunch yesterday and will be eating it again today, it makes as a good meal or snack for the person watching there figure. 

Back onto the wagon today, with no cheating! its almost near the date I weigh myself for the monthly weigh-in we will see what will happen with that- however I am not having issues with my work clothes and feeling bloated anymore which is fantastic! Not to mention, a few folks at work have asked if I've lost weight and that is inspirational!

Good Day folks!

Down 3 pounds in 7 Days

Weight loss  is such a battle sometimes!
I am not the chubby type of person that gorges on sugary garbage, fried foods or soda.
I have weighed the same for about 3 years-no joke- my pant size never got bigger or smaller, I was just "the same" for 3 long years.
I hadn't really been serious about loosing weight until recently when I became very uncomfortable in my own pants. Both a metaphore and a fact.
Being uncomfortable is miserable! not being able to feel confident and successful really hurts too.
So, thus i've been on this no carb diet for now a week.
I weighed myself this AM out of curiosity- curiosity killed the cat...
I'm down 3 lbs.
Its going to be muggy and warm today in Oregon and I decided to wear a looser fitting capri for work- kakhis- yulk- well, they are falling off my rear. 3 lbs shouldn't be that big of a change but-apparently it is because I just wore these things last week and they didn't fall off, they were loose fitting but were not having to be pulled up every few steps I take.
I feel good about the loss... Im feeling pretty blah today however- Its Friday, I still have one more day of work to go until I get my weekend. This week has been very busy at work.
Yesterday was a big birthday bash we put on for folks and well, German Chocolate cake was involved- the smell was lovely-not a big cake eater at all- but..its chocolate..and coconut.. oh dear... But i didn't not give in to temptation, I have will power on this diet and its working thus far!
I have been drinking over 80 oz of water a day- by habit- its there, its in front of me in the office- i'm drinking it-  I add Lemon to it so I will drink it- I hate water-yukky- but  I know its essential for our bodies to have.
I bought a new filter for our Brita pitcher and just fill my bottles at home and take them to work.
My skin has cleared up a lot- not that I had acne anyways but I did have the occasional blemish. And my skin feels better and appears more vibrant. My mood has changed a little too but, I get my moments where i'd like to rip another persons ear off. 

I have been living off of:
sauteed Green beans with fresh garlic
mixed green salad (not iceburg)
turkey
salmon
Tuna
tomatoes
apples
grapes
hard boiled eggs
turkey bacon
scrambled eggs
...............................and water for now 7 days.