Traveling is hard!

So I have no idea what 'day' I am in for P3. LOL. Anyway, I am in Chicago and it is hard! I found a protein bar place so that is nice - easy breakfast and pretty close to what I eat at home. Lunch and dinner today haven't been too bad either. For lunch I had a chicken sandwich but didn't eat the bread. Just had the grilled chicken, avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a bit of munster cheese. The side was a grilled veggie medley with carrots, celery, peppers, etc. Not bad right? Then for dinner we went to Hugo's Frog Bar. I ordered the filet medalions and it came with a side of broccoli. I had 3 asparagus spears and 2 bites of the crawfish mac & cheese. I had to at least try it! Anyway, so dinner was pretty successful also. However, we walk outside and there is a gelato stand right there. Calling my name! Ugh. I had a small banana pecan praline gelato and let me tell you, it was awesome! LOL

I hate that I don't have a scale here to keep me in check every day and I am so scared to get on the scale when I get home. I am here two more days though so I need to stay focused. I just hate not having my fridge and my kitchen of safe and fresh foods you know? I don't know for sure anything that I am eating when I eat out like this!

R2P2D3- LET'S DO THIS!!!!!!!

So today starts my very first day of VLC in Round 2.  I am super nervous because i've been away from the blog, away from the drops, and away from the scale for a while.  During R1P3 I did pretty well.  I actually fell about 4 lbs below my LDW (last drops weight) in R1.  I ended up at 201.4.  The problem is that this past weekend my family all came in town for my son's first Birthday!  It was an eating FEST!  I gained 5 lbs in 4 days!  NO!  I started R2P1D1 at 206.4 and after loading the past 2 days I am now at 207.4.  So i gained another dang pound.  It's OK though, because i'm about to lose it!

I forgot to take my measurements on D1 so i will do them tonight along with pictures.  I have not been good at tracking my progress and posting about it.  This round I am hoping to do better! 

I am SOOOOOO proud of Sabrina and her progress.  She looks AMAZING and has done so well at this.  I am really excited to hear how her husband does! 

I'm sitting here drinking my black coffee with Peppermint Stevia and I tell you what, it's not that bad. 

Let's DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo-Nicki

R1P3D22 - stable! Pics and measurements!

So I made it through the first 21 days of P3. Yeah me!! As of this AM, I am at 191.4 so today is another big day b/c that means I have officially lost 30 pounds!! Woot woot!

Anyway, here are my final stats for this round of hCG including before/after photos.

Neck: 15.25 --> 14.25 loss of 1 inch
Upper Arm: 15.25 --> 13.75 loss of 3 inches total
Chest: 35.75 --> 34 loss of 1.75 inches (I didn't do this measurement when I started, just after week 1)
Waist: 37.75 --> 32.75 loss of 5 inches!
Hips: 45.5 --> 40 loss of 5.5 inches!
Thigh: 27.5 --> 24.25 loss of 6.5 inches total
Calf: 16.5 --> 16.25 loss of .5 inches total

So, that means a total loss of 23.25 inches and 30 pounds. Nice huh? :) Here are 3 before and after shots. The tank top I chose was a poor choice b/c it's pretty loose so it's hard to tell a big difference in my waist/hips with it. The left of each pose is 'before', the right is 'after'

R1P3D18 - been a long time!

Sorry for the lack of posts by me. I actually have a lot to catch you up on but I have been seriously busy. Another semester just started for me so that is where my time goes now. I just got back from a 5 day trip to St. Louis to see my little sisters graduate high school and it was a great trip! I brought my scale with me even to make sure I stayed in line. The weight loss competition I was in just closed out and I won 1st place no questions asked. Woot woot!

As of this AM, I am at 193.6. I did have a small frozen custard in St. Louis with butterfinger and cheesecake and saw a 3 pound gain on the scale that next AM. However, the morning after that, I saw a 3.4 pound loss so who knows. It was my first time over my LDW though and it scared me! I am still a bit under the '2 pound' mark I am supposed to stay within but I feel good. I am eating more things and the scale seems to be behaving for me which is nice.

Anyway, I just wanted to jump on with a quick update since it has been so long. David (my hubby) is starting his first round this weekend so he is going to be loading. So much fun for him!

I can't believe I only have 3 more days until I am 21 days stable!! :)

R1P3D6 - still chugging along

So, I am at 193.8 today, gained 0.4. Not horribly concerned yet but will see how the next few days go. I am still not able to get enough calories and I am at a loss. I am between 1100-1200 calories a day with about 100-110 grams of protein. I am trying to force a protein shake down my throat right now b/c I need the calories and protein but I am full!

Anyway, I ordered a cookbook called Low-Carbing Among Friends and it's Gluten-Free. We will see how it goes I guess. We are going to St. Louis in a week and I am really nervous about that. The good thing though is that we are staying with my sister and they are a gluten-free family. Hopefully that will make things easier for me. I need to stay away from my old haunts and I have to bring my scale with me but I think I will do ok. I am convinced this is the right way to eat you know? I do just miss certain foods sometimes...

R1P3D4 - going good!

So yesterday AM I got on the scale and was 193.6 again (gain of 0.4) and then this AM I was back down to 193.2 (loss of 0.4). I would be totally happy to stay right here at 193! :)

Yesterday evening I  got my first 'reward' tattoo for getting under 200 lbs again. It's Philip's footprint on top of my right foot and I LOVE it! I was in a rush to get there after work so I had dinner at McDonald's. I researched ahead of time and just got two plain hamburgers and a side salad with ranch dressing on the side. I ate the burgers with no buns and ate the salad with very little (seriously, like a teaspoon total) dressing since I checked the ingredients and it had sugar in it. I came home from the parlor and I was starving! I didn't know what to do but I knew I needed more protein. I weighed out 8 ozs of 0% Fage greek yogurt and mixed it with 50 grams of blueberries and a few drops of vanilla stevia. Yum! I was worried about what that would do to my weight but apparently it was just fine! :)

So today I had my P3 smoothie for breakfast again (Jay Robb protein powder (vanilla), 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 50 grams of blueberries, 100 grams of strawberries, 100 grams of spinach, and the juice of one lemon). For lunch, I had scrambled up 2 eggs with 2 egg whites and ate it with guacomole and tomatoes. My snacks were a cucumber and an apple. Dinner tonight was pork sausage stuffed mushrooms with shredded mozzarella on top and whipped cauliflower. Figured it was about time to try a mashed potato replacement. It was delicious! I made it with half and half and parmasean cheese. David really enjoyed dinner tonight and that made me happy.

I am still not getting enough protein each day but at least my calories are up a bit. I think today I hit like 1100 calories. Protein was about 75 grams which is ok, not great. I am going to do research on how I can step up on the protein side.

Phase 3 is so much more prep work and planning. Having to eat everything fresh takes a lot of planning and preperation. It's the right thing to do though, I know that and I am pleased with it. Just a change for sure. I am used to being lazy for lunch and just grabbing a frozen meal. Breakfast was easy with a greek yogurt and oatmeal and then I made dinner. Now I am having to prep and make every meal! I know once I can find a good set of recipes I can make more of each recipe so I can keep a good supply going for lunches, etc. I think I am going to do shrimp tomorrow night. Quick and easy. :)

R1P3D2 - great weekend!

So I weighed in on Saturday AM, my first day of Phase 3, at 193.6. That gave me like 5 pounds of 'wiggle' room since my LDW was 196.6 I think. I had 2 eggs and 1 piece of bacon for breakfast. Love having breakfast again! My family and I went to the Ga Renaissance Festival and I knew that was going to be a challenge for me. I brought along a serving of Cheddar Nut Thins (wheat and gluten free) and a ziploc bag of grape tomatoes for my sides. I found a stand that sold steak on a stick so I got that. It was the only thing that looked safe enough, no breading, just on a grill, etc. Last night I had like 5 ounces of shrimp and asparagus (made in olive oil) for dinner. Yum! As usual, my strawberry/spinach smoothie was for dessert. I had 160 grams of strawberries this time since I knew I was way under where I should be with my calories.

I woke up this AM and weighed in at 193.2. I knew I didn't eat enough calories yesterday so I am going to try harder today! We always go out to eat for Sun morning breakfast with David's Mom and Stepdad. I had coffee with half and half and 3 eggs scrambled. Unfortunately the place we go for breakfast doesn't really do 'veggies'. LOL. For lunch I had a 3.5 oz hamburger in between two pieces of romaine lettuce, a few slices of tomato, and some spicy brown mustard. I also had about a cup of cooked broccoli with it. For my snack, I had an apple. Then, for dinner, I made chicken fajitas (in the crockpot all day!). I ate mine with iceberg lettuce as my tortilla and I also was very excited about having guacamole as well! I ate three lettuce wraps, probably around 2.5-3 ounces of chicken on each one and probably a bit over a tbsp of guacamole on each as well. I made the guac myself so I know there wasn't any rogue sugar or anything. The stuff at the store had sugar added! Really?!? Let me tell you, that dinner was delicious!! I loved being able to mix onions, peppers, lettuce, avocado, etc. I prepared two lettuce wraps for lunch tomorrow even - can't wait! So, I am guessing my caloric intake so far today is about 900-950. I will plan on doing my smoothie later this evening and maybe adding in a scoop of protein powder to get my calories up. I will see how I feel later.

I still need to take my final Phase 2 measurements and pictures, I know, I am late! When I think of it, I have already eaten, etc. I am FULL right now so I know I am not doing it right now. LOL Maybe I can at least try to do my measurements tomorrow AM before I get ready and head to work.

I am getting a tattoo tomorrow night as one of my goal rewards. I said when I got under 200 I was going to get a tattoo I have been wanting to get for years. I will post a picture after I am done!