This morning I finally hit the 25-lb mark. It took me 10 weeks to do it, but I'm now at a total loss of 25.2 lbs, to be exact!
When I reach 30 lbs, I'll post my first before and after pictures. It's been my experience that 30 lbs is when the weight loss really starts to show. For now, even I can see that my thighs and upper arms are starting to slim out and my stomach is a bit flatter (although there's still plenty of belly to lose). In fact, I have about half a dozen shirts hanging in my closet that I bought for "when I lose 20 lbs" that I've never worn, and yesterday I took one out and wore it to school for the first time. And it fit very comfortably. By the time I lose another 10 lbs, I'll have a whole new wardrobe waiting for me!
Health-wise, I'm still enjoying the benefits of weight loss. My blood glucose level this morning was only 91, which is perfect. My blood pressure still goes crazy in the doctor's office ("white coat syndrome"), but at home it's moving downward. I expect to see a dramatic difference by the time I lose 10 more pounds. Heartburn has become a thing of the past, regardless of how large my meal may be or how late I eat. And not even a twinge of Plantar Fasciitis, that lovely condition in which you wake up to stabbing pain in your heels, like walking on slivers of broken glass. My knee is finally improving, too, 8 weeks after surgery, to the point that I can walk with barely a limp, as long as I don't walk too far for too long (like 2 hours of shopping in Walmart). I credit that to the fact that my knees have 25 fewer pounds to carry around. And, finally, one of the best gifts each day is bending over to tie my shoes and not feeling like I'm being cut in half by the waistband of my pants!
And another shout-out to my daughter, Sarah, who had lost 28 lbs as of last Sunday, in just 6 weeks of eating the low-carb way! I can't wait to hear this week's results tomorrow (she only weighs herself once a week). She is so awesome!
And another shout-out to my daughter, Sarah, who had lost 28 lbs as of last Sunday, in just 6 weeks of eating the low-carb way! I can't wait to hear this week's results tomorrow (she only weighs herself once a week). She is so awesome!
Like February, March has already held its share of challenges, but I'm hanging in there. I did ingest my first unhealthy carbs of the year, but I managed those situations the best I could and still came out all right...
MORE TRAVEL: Tuesday & Wednesday, March 1st & 2nd
We started the month right off with another trip to the Valley. We had several items of business to take care of, the first of which being to pick up the Chevy Traverse I'd purchased on February 4th that had then broken down on February 20th, forcing me to leave it behind at a valley dealership for repairs. Fortunately, my local dealership (from whom I had purchased the car) did take care of the situation and paid for the Valley dealership to repair my power steering system, so it was all ready for me when we returned to pick it up ten days later.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016: Reunited with my Traverse!
As soon as we picked up my car, we drove to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix to pick up Jake's mom Rachel and little sister Jasmine, who flew all the way from their home in Pennsylvania to start a new life here in Arizona. We spent the rest of that day and the next morning helping them get settled into their new apartment.
And then on Wednesday afternoon, just before we embarked on the 3-hour drive home, Mark and I stopped in for an appointment with the lawyer who's managing some family business for Mark.
As always, travel is fraught with peril for those of us who are trying to eat healthy and lose weight. As usual, I made my deviled eggs to take along in the ice chest, so breakfast wasn't a concern. Our hotel offered a free continental breakfast--nothing low-carb there!--but they had hot water in which to mix packets of hot chocolate, and I'd brought along my own sugar-free hot chocolate packets. So my breakfast of deviled eggs and hot chocolate wasn't too shabby.
For lunch on Tuesday, right before we picked up Jake's mom and sister at the airport, we found the nearest Carl's Jr., where I enjoyed my beloved Super Star sandwich as a lettuce wrap. By the time we picked up Rachel and Jasmine around noon, they too were ravenous for lunch, so we dropped them off at McDonalds with Jake and Dylan, while Mark and I went to get checked into our hotel. That way I wouldn't be tempted to eat a second lunch!
That evening it took us forever to decide upon a restaurant for dinner, but we finally settled on a Boston Market. I'd read about them and seen their commercials, but I'd never eaten at one before. Although many of their choices are not low-carb-friendly, I was able to order half of a rotisserie chicken with green beans and creamed spinach. And I checked to be sure the creamed spinach wasn't thickened with flour or anything unsuitable. They assured me it was creamed with nothing more than two types of cheeses. And it was delicious. (I gave my cornbread to Mark.)
My very satisfying dinner at Boston Market.
The next day, after getting checked out of our hotel and then picking up Rachel and Jasmine at their new apartment, we went looking for lunch around noon and ended up at a cute little diner called Chase's Diner. It was decorated in a fifties theme and played cool old music from the 1950s. And the food was great, too.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016: Chase's Diner in Chandler, Arizona.
I decided on a Cobb salad, one of my favorite types of salads. Dylan ordered a breakfast for himself, but he was trying to eat healthier, too, so he told them no bread. Instead, they brought him broccoli, which he hates, so he gave that to me. By the end of the meal, I was too stuffed to finish my salad. I asked for a box, and then it made a great after-school snack for me the following day, after we were back at home.
My Cobb salad and broccoli (with the dab of butter I'd requested).
After breakfast, we headed to Walmart so Rachel could purchase more things to stock their new apartment. They actually left everything behind except what they could fit into their two carry-on bags. When I say they were starting fresh here, I mean starting fresh. Not a stick of furniture. You have to admire that kind of courage.
When it was time for our appointment with Mark's lawyer, we left them to their work and headed out to Apache Junction. That took an almost-3-hour chunk out of our afternoon. By the time we got back to the apartment, it was 4:15. Jake said his good-byes to his mom and sister, and fifteen minutes later we were on the road for home.
The Chili's in Payson, Arizona.
Due to major construction (blasting the rocky mountainsides to widen the highway) between Superior and Globe-Miami, our usual east-then-northeast route home, we chose instead to drive home via the north-then-east route through Payson. We used to go the Payson route often when our kids were small, but eventually we settled on the Globe-Miami route as our favorite path, so we didn't know what restaurants were available in Payson like we used to. After a short debate when we arrived in Payson around 6:45, Dylan suggested dinner at Chili's and that's where we ended up.
My first "bad" meal of 2016. But not on purpose, I promise!
I studied the menu carefully and finally narrowed it down to two options: a steak dinner with vegetables or a tray of chicken wings, which was actually on the appetizer page. Now, depending upon the coating used, chicken wings can be pretty low-carb. Barbecue sauce would, of course, be a no-no since it's loaded with sugar. However, garlic and butter or ranch or cheese are all perfectly fine toppings.
The menu described this platter of boneless wings as smothered in three types of cheese and diced green onions, and the picture looked delectable. What I couldn't see was that, under all that cheese, the wings were breaded. When my meal arrived, I was aghast. Since I rarely eat wings, I'd been unaware that while real wings are not breaded, the boneless kind almost always are. Jake explained that to me, but too late.
I suppose I should have sent it back, but it wasn't the restaurant's mistake. The error was mine. Next time I'll know to order the steak! For now, though, I ate the wings and prayed it wouldn't trigger the return of my carbohydrate-cravings. There were nine "wings" on my mini-skillet, but I only ate seven and gave the rest to Mark, who had ordered the same thing.
I got lucky. Despite my mistake, I gained very little bloat on this trip, which I lost in the first two days back home, and then I lost an additional two pounds, as well. And the cravings did not kick in, thank goodness!
On a humorous side note, whenever I commit to a low-carb lifestyle over a long period of time, I have this recurring nightmare in which I'm at a long buffet table covered with every tempting food imaginable. Then I'll pick up one item and take a bite of it. Suddenly, I'll realize that it's some kind of bread that I just swallowed, and I'm stricken with horror that I've ruined my perfect low-carb efforts. I've been having that dream off and on since 2000, and I always awaken from it upset, sometimes even crying.
When the waitress put that skillet of chicken wings in front of me, I stared at it in horror, feeling a little sick, and it seemed as if my dream had finally come to life!
Parent-Teacher Conferences: Thursday, March 10th
Twice a year, on a Thursday evening, we high school teachers stay late so parents can drop in to visit, open-house style. While I always welcome and enjoy visiting with my students' parents, what I really look forward to are the goodies that the culinary arts classes whip up and deliver to all the classrooms (for teachers, parents, and students) throughout the evening. None of the selections are low-carb, of course. Breads abound.
I'd actually forgotten about those treats until the night before conferences, when Kay (culinary arts teacher extraordinaire) emailed her menu to all school staff:
Savory Cucumber Cream Cheese on Toasted Rounds
Basil Pesto Cream Cheese Bruschetta
Sausage Mushroom Phyllo Triangles
Sausage Ranch Wonton Cups
Chicken Chutney Salad Sandwiches
Ham Salad Sandwiches
Mini Cheesecakes with Melba Sauce
Chocolate and Vanilla Cream Puffs
Do you see my problem here? I tried to be prepared by bringing dinner to school with me (leftover steak and broccoli) and eating it at 3:45, right before parents began to arrive at 4:00. It helped to already be full when the goodies were delivered, but let's face it: freshly-made culinary delights make you salivate no matter how full you are.
My classroom is, literally, located at the farthest point from anywhere else on campus. It's a little walk from my room to even those closest to mine. I have no next-door neighbors at my end of the East Campus. This has its advantages, but there is one major drawback. Often, on parent-teacher conference night, many of the trays of goodies never quite make it to my room before they are emptied. I almost hoped that would be the case this time, so I wouldn't be tempted to stray from the low-carb way.
I never did see the Sausage Ranch Wonton Cups, the Ham Salad Sandwiches, or the Chocolate and Vanilla Cream Puffs, thankfully. When the Chicken Chutney Salad Sandwiches came around, I took two triangles (totaling half a sandwich) and scraped off the chicken salad, tossed the bread, and ate it with the fork as I'd done with the others.
And then came my ultimate favorite culinary delight, the one I most anticipate at every conference: the Sausage Mushroom Phyllo Triangles. I really hoped they wouldn't make it to my room. They almost didn't. When the students paused at my door, there were only two left on the platter.
I took them both. I stared at them for a while. (They aren't as big as they look in the photo; the napkin is one of those tiny cocktail napkins). I toyed with the notion of taking it apart and eating the insides, but I knew I wouldn't. The flaky phyllo is what makes it so delicious. And so I ate them. I ate them both.
So I confess to you now, this was my first deliberate cheat of 2016. And I pushed back the guilt and savored the flavor, chewing slowly and rolling my eyes in ecstasy. Thank goodness they only had two left when the tray got to me.
As the evening drew to a close, I began to hope the dessert trays had indeed missed me but, alas, the mini cheesecakes found me at the end. Again, they were tiny (cocktail napkins, remember) but this time we were talking actual sugar. Hmmm. I tried to talk myself out of it, but the students urged me to take several so they could get rid of them and go home. In the past I'd have grabbed half a dozen, but this time I settled for three. I used my plastic fork to pry the cheesecake out of the thick graham cracker crust and discovered that there was actually very little cheesecake nestled into the depression of the cup-like crust. So I popped the three very small bites, minus the crust, into my mouth. I told myself it was no worse than taking three small bites of a slice of cheesecake and then pushing the rest away...
Two cheats in one night. Not a great idea and I'm not proud of it. Still, two mornings later (today) I was down another pound, so I guess I reigned it in well enough. And I'm safe from these temptations for six months, until the next round of conferences in September!
Chaperoning MORP tonight: Saturday, March 12th
One of the fun things about teaching high school is getting to chaperon the dances and seeing the kids having fun outside of the drudgery of the classroom. Tonight was MORP (that's Prom backwards, where girls ask guys--we used to call that the Sadie Hawkins dance when I was in high school) and I spent my evening from 8:00 to 11:00 watching the kids get crazy on the dance floor. it makes for a long night, but I do enjoy it.
Tonight's refreshments included snow cones and cotton candy. Fortunately, neither of those items are a great temptation for me. I got through the final hour with a glass of shaved ice and water. Our principal was kind enough to watch over the flock while I visited the snow cone station and asked for plain ice.
I'm afraid it won't be so easy next month, when I chaperon Prom. The refreshments there are always elegant and chocolaty and downright decadent, as well as being so beautiful that I must take pictures of them. I'll have to make a plan to stay strong on Prom night. There are more challenges just over the horizon, including another trip to the Valley to attend a concert in less than two weeks, followed by a day at the Renaissance Festival. And Easter is the day after that!
Parent-Teacher Conferences: Thursday, March 10th
Twice a year, on a Thursday evening, we high school teachers stay late so parents can drop in to visit, open-house style. While I always welcome and enjoy visiting with my students' parents, what I really look forward to are the goodies that the culinary arts classes whip up and deliver to all the classrooms (for teachers, parents, and students) throughout the evening. None of the selections are low-carb, of course. Breads abound.
I'd actually forgotten about those treats until the night before conferences, when Kay (culinary arts teacher extraordinaire) emailed her menu to all school staff:
Savory Cucumber Cream Cheese on Toasted Rounds
Basil Pesto Cream Cheese Bruschetta
Sausage Mushroom Phyllo Triangles
Sausage Ranch Wonton Cups
Chicken Chutney Salad Sandwiches
Ham Salad Sandwiches
Mini Cheesecakes with Melba Sauce
Chocolate and Vanilla Cream Puffs
Do you see my problem here? I tried to be prepared by bringing dinner to school with me (leftover steak and broccoli) and eating it at 3:45, right before parents began to arrive at 4:00. It helped to already be full when the goodies were delivered, but let's face it: freshly-made culinary delights make you salivate no matter how full you are.
First to be delivered: Savory Cucumber Cream Cheese on Toasted Rounds
As the students arrived with their trays laden with their yummy goods, I asked them about the ingredients in the cream cheese mixtures and then decided there was no reason not to enjoy the parts I'm allowed to enjoy. So, by the end of the evening, my trash can became filled with little pieces of bread as I scraped the cucumber cream cheese and basil pesto cream cheese off the little bread rounds and savored them on my plastic fork.
Next up: Basil Pesto Cream Cheese Bruschetta
My classroom is, literally, located at the farthest point from anywhere else on campus. It's a little walk from my room to even those closest to mine. I have no next-door neighbors at my end of the East Campus. This has its advantages, but there is one major drawback. Often, on parent-teacher conference night, many of the trays of goodies never quite make it to my room before they are emptied. I almost hoped that would be the case this time, so I wouldn't be tempted to stray from the low-carb way.
I never did see the Sausage Ranch Wonton Cups, the Ham Salad Sandwiches, or the Chocolate and Vanilla Cream Puffs, thankfully. When the Chicken Chutney Salad Sandwiches came around, I took two triangles (totaling half a sandwich) and scraped off the chicken salad, tossed the bread, and ate it with the fork as I'd done with the others.
And then came my ultimate favorite culinary delight, the one I most anticipate at every conference: the Sausage Mushroom Phyllo Triangles. I really hoped they wouldn't make it to my room. They almost didn't. When the students paused at my door, there were only two left on the platter.
To die for: Sausage Mushroom Phyllo Triangles
I took them both. I stared at them for a while. (They aren't as big as they look in the photo; the napkin is one of those tiny cocktail napkins). I toyed with the notion of taking it apart and eating the insides, but I knew I wouldn't. The flaky phyllo is what makes it so delicious. And so I ate them. I ate them both.
So I confess to you now, this was my first deliberate cheat of 2016. And I pushed back the guilt and savored the flavor, chewing slowly and rolling my eyes in ecstasy. Thank goodness they only had two left when the tray got to me.
Mini Cheesecakes with Melba Sauce
As the evening drew to a close, I began to hope the dessert trays had indeed missed me but, alas, the mini cheesecakes found me at the end. Again, they were tiny (cocktail napkins, remember) but this time we were talking actual sugar. Hmmm. I tried to talk myself out of it, but the students urged me to take several so they could get rid of them and go home. In the past I'd have grabbed half a dozen, but this time I settled for three. I used my plastic fork to pry the cheesecake out of the thick graham cracker crust and discovered that there was actually very little cheesecake nestled into the depression of the cup-like crust. So I popped the three very small bites, minus the crust, into my mouth. I told myself it was no worse than taking three small bites of a slice of cheesecake and then pushing the rest away...
Two cheats in one night. Not a great idea and I'm not proud of it. Still, two mornings later (today) I was down another pound, so I guess I reigned it in well enough. And I'm safe from these temptations for six months, until the next round of conferences in September!
Chaperoning MORP tonight: Saturday, March 12th
One of the fun things about teaching high school is getting to chaperon the dances and seeing the kids having fun outside of the drudgery of the classroom. Tonight was MORP (that's Prom backwards, where girls ask guys--we used to call that the Sadie Hawkins dance when I was in high school) and I spent my evening from 8:00 to 11:00 watching the kids get crazy on the dance floor. it makes for a long night, but I do enjoy it.
Students move to the music at tonight's dance.
Tonight's refreshments included snow cones and cotton candy. Fortunately, neither of those items are a great temptation for me. I got through the final hour with a glass of shaved ice and water. Our principal was kind enough to watch over the flock while I visited the snow cone station and asked for plain ice.
I'm afraid it won't be so easy next month, when I chaperon Prom. The refreshments there are always elegant and chocolaty and downright decadent, as well as being so beautiful that I must take pictures of them. I'll have to make a plan to stay strong on Prom night. There are more challenges just over the horizon, including another trip to the Valley to attend a concert in less than two weeks, followed by a day at the Renaissance Festival. And Easter is the day after that!
Groan...It's clear that this is going to be an ongoing battle between me and the low-carb temptations of the world. But this time I will emerge as the victor! Just watch and see!
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