Mana's Diner

Manaloa · Mana's Diner

So, for those that are curious my reasons for coming over here is in the "Introduce Yourself" section. Forewarning it's ridiculously long. Basically I've been trying to lose weight for about three years now with the "healthy" low fat/high "good for you" carbs and it obviously wasn't working. Since starting this WOE I've lost 11lbs in the last 2 1/2 weeks. My daily diet consists of meat in various forms, eggs, dairy and occasionally nuts. So far I haven't felt the urge to include any other food items yet (although I do include spices). The lack of cravings is awesome!

So for posterity's sake I'm going to post my stats so that I can look at them later and see how far I've come.

Height: 5'4"
Weight: 217.5 (started at 228.5)
Waist: 39.5"
Chest: 44.5"
Hip: 46.25"
Thigh: 27"
Bicep: 14.75"
Bicep, flexed:15"

Manaloa · Food for the day

breakfast:
1 scrambled egg with some sausage
2 cups coffee with about 2 tbsp heavy cream
Cals: 290
Fat: 26
Protein: 12
Carbs:2

lunch:
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 3.5 oz
Macadamia Nuts, .5 oz
Cals: 487
Fat: 39
Protein:26
Carbs:2
Fiber: 1

dinner:
Corned beef, brisket, 7.5 oz
Regular Coffee, 2 cup (8 fl oz)
Heavy Whipping Cream, 4 tbsp
Cals: 745
Fat: 62
Protein:41
Carbs:3

snack:
Hard Boiled Egg, 2 large
Inglehoffer stone ground mustard, 0.5 tsp
Cals: 183
Fat: 11
Protein:13
Carbs:2

Total for the day:
Cals: 1704
Fat: 138
Protein:90
Carbs:7-1 fiber = 6 total

76.2% fat
22% protein
1.8% carbs

jeff

Yes!!! Another coffee lover! Toast

Your food looks great and your percentages are awesome. You should have great success. Your food actually looks similar to mine. I am very much a meat, egg, cheese, and coffee man. I also love the macadamias, but don't eat them too often. Those things are like 95% fat, it's so awesome.

Dean

Welcome to the Journals, Manaloa! Sunny

You're smart to start one. It will really help you stay focused... and get back on track if you ever slip up.

Yah... I'm back on coffee now. Gotta love that as a treat! Beats sugary crap any day! Wink

Manaloa

Manaloa

So yesterday was the first time since starting this WOE, that I was really not hungry all day. As I wasn't sure if I should be eating or not up to my regular amount of calories, which was averaging around 2000. So I did end up eating at 8pm when I got home from work (which brought my corned beef up to 7 oz.) I didn't feel uncomfortably full, but I definitely felt like I really didn't want any more food. Now this morning, I'm not hungry at all, and I feel like I did last night, that I feel absolutely no desire to eat anything. I've had my morning cup of jo, now I'm off to go run around.

Dean

Manaloa,

I am like that on this WOE. I have no desire to eat in the first part of the day. So, I have adopted IF. I end up going as long as I can without food, often until late evening. It actually feels good to do this. I have even been exercising doing this, with no problems. Now that I've added java back into my diet, I don't even have the desire to mess with that in the morning. I may just drink it in the evenings. What the hell. We shall see. Cool

Manaloa

What is IF?

Dean

Intermittent Fasting

http://magicbus.myfreeforum.org/about505.html

Manaloa

Yeah, thanks, I started looking around the forum and found it. I think that it was probably a fluke. But it may become a trend since I don't seem as hungry anymore. One of those wait and see things.

I'm so proud of myself!! My family and I went out for a walk for about a half an hour, that was nice, I was out of breath during the first part of the walk since I'm so badly out of shape, but by the end I felt really good. In fact, after I dropped the family off at home, I went and took my bike out for another half an hour. Now I've got that nice tired muscle feeling, aahhhh.

So I've been debating on something for the past week or so. I got a flier in the mail for a charity fundraiser walk/run marathon/half-marathon for this fall. I've never done a marathon before and I don't know if I could do it. The informational meeting is in May. The way I feel right now, I kind of want to do it. And I'm telling myself that if I can start working out now, then when that meeting comes along, I can decide whether I'm going to be able to devote enough time to work out for it in order to get into good enough shape to finish.

Anyways, on another subject, I'm rendering my first pot of tallow!! It smells wonderful.

Dean

That's cool you are rendering beef fat! I just did a whole bunch myself not too long ago.

http://magicbus.myfreeforum.org/sutra11317.php#11317

That's awesome that you are considering a marathon! You are BRAVE! Yup

Heather did a half-marathon last Summer. It was great!

Let us know what you end up deciding. Feel free to start a Challenge about it in the Exercise Challenges, if that will help you.

Sunny

Manaloa

So Saturday I went out to lunch with my friend and jumped off my wagon for a bit with beef nachos & a beef chimichanga & M&M's at the movies. Boy was a miserable. I thought it was a great treat, but it was awful!

So, I gained a couple lbs from my little episode on Saturday. Went back on the wagon yesterday, and a half a lb is off this morning, I figure the rest will fall off in a day or two. I was thinking that eating like that was such a treat, but in reality after I ate it I was so miserable, that I don't think I'll "treat" myself like that again!

Once again this morning, I am sooo not hungry. So I'm having a cuppa joe with cream (not because I'm sleepy, just 'cuz I like coffee) and then I'm probably going to go work out.

I've been noticing, that it really hasn't mattered how much/little I eat lately, just whether or not I get enough fat. The more fat, the more calm/weirdly energetic I feel. I can't explain it. It's a nice feeling.

Manaloa · Marathon/half-Marathon

So, you know Dean, I've been mulling over your idea about making it into a exercise challenge. And I think I do need to hold myself to some accountability. So I think I'm going to start that challenge.

Manaloa

OMG!!!!!

Mock Danish is fantastic! Wow!! Wow

And I'm going to make Dean's hot chicken wings later this week when we finish up some of the beef in the fridge. Yup

jeff

Manaloa

It's totally addicting! Unfortunately artificial sweetener gives me a headache. So I won't be eating many of them. However, my daughter loves it!!

Anyways,

Yesterday I was really feeling the need to fat load. I still seem to be having some digestive issues from Saturday's food (shudder). And the weight I had gained from then was still hanging in there. This morning, however, I'm feeling mostly better from getting that fat and my body obviously needed it since my weight dropped down to 218, just a half a pound off from what it was before Saturday's binge. And that's even from still being really full after eating that fatty sirloin at 11pm last night. mmmmm, steeeaaaak

Yesterday's food

Breakfast:
Couple cups of coffee with about 2/3 cup cream
1 6oz 80% hamburger fried in tallow covered in 2 tbsp butter and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Cals: 1398
Fat: 130
Protein:54
Carbs:5

Lunch:
1 6oz 80% hamburger fried in tallow covered in 2 tbsp butter and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Cals: 851
Fat: 72
Protein:50
Carbs:1

Dinner:
1 5oz portion of grilled sirloin with all the fat
Cals: 631
Fat: 49
Protein:50
Carbs: 0

For the day:
Cals: 2879
Fat: 251
Protein:148
Carbs:6

Fat: 78.5%
Protein: 20.6%
Carbs: .9

Manaloa

I think I'm going to have to go all beef/chicken/fish and spices for a little while. I think I may still be having issues with dairy and possibly eggs. So once the cream is used up in my fridge, I think I'm going to do an elimination diet to narrow down what my problem is.

Dean

Manaloa,

That may be a good idea. I and some others did that for the first half of this month. It seemed to really clean out my GI tract or something. After that I started adding things back, and so far have not had any problems. Now, it may be accumulative, and eventually problems will resurface, but so far 20oz of coffee and cream each day, and a little cheese in omelets and on burgers don't seem to be causing me any issues. Only time will tell. I am planning on not overdoing dairy, though. I enjoy it, but don't wanna spoil things by over indulging.

I lost a lot of weight (lots of water weight, but body fat too) so far, doing this elimination diet. Of course, now I'm on a "non-elimination" diet it seems. Roll Eyes

Check out this April Challenge thread and my journal for more info on this.

http://magicbus.myfreeforum.org/about602.html

Manaloa

LOL, yeah, well, I haven't had any fish yet since starting this way of eating. I've only just started trying out fish for the last couple of months. (I used to never eat seafood at all) And apparently my allergist just found out at my last appt that I'm severely allergic to shellfish. Guess it's a good thing I could never bring myself to eat them. However, I do like a well prepared salmon and tilapia, but the other kinds of fish are just too ...... fishy. LOL I do have some tilapia in the fridge that I'm planning on cooking up here in another day or two.
Yeah, I'm ok with eating the occasional nut when I feel like it, but using it for breading would be just too many.

So yesterday was a potluck at work, and I brought in some bbq beef and mozzarella cheese and buns for sandwiches. I was doing really well until they brought out desert. And it wasn't even that I was hungry or craving anything, it was just that it looked sooo good.
So I had an inch squared of both the carrot cake & brownie and two of the small small chocolate covered strawberries. OMG, those were perfect! Unfortunately, after eating all that sugar all at once, I got the worst stomach ache and was miserable the rest of the afternoon, soo sleepy and tired. I'd forgotten what that was like. Yuck! never again.

So, I'm not going to write down every thing that I had to eat yesterday, just 'cuz I don't feel like it (although the 1/2" thick T-bone for supper was fantastic), I'll still write down my cals and percentages.

Cals:2639
Carbs:~40
Fat:207
Protein:146

22.4% protein
6.2% carbs
71.4% fat
I was actually surprised when I got on the scale this morning. I figured that sugar would have stalled me again, but I lost another pound so now I'm a half a pound down from where I was after Saturday, 217lbs!! Yay!

Manaloa

Yeah, I was doing so good after that food day, except with still getting all that chocolate cravings from that TOM, so when my parents suggested we all go out to the casino buffet, I figured I'd get it out of my system. (But it looks like I got it all in) Cuz I gained 4lbs from that little episode. OK, I'm done with that stuff now. Blech! Yeah it was tasty, but definitely not worth the stomachache or the the weight gain.

Manaloa

So, I never ate too many eggs plain for about the last oh......9 years. Ever since the smell of them made me nauseous with my daughter. I used to love them fried over easy, but had gotten to the point where I could only tolerate them scrambled with lots of other stuff in them to disguise the taste.

Well, since starting this WOE, I've noticed that the thought of over easy eggs have gotten more appealing and the scrambled less so. And I could only tolerate a couple or less eggs a day when they were scrambled before it started to gross me out and becoming over full.

Well, this morning I just finished off 4 over easy eggs fried in some homemade tallow. Ok, well, I didn't quite finish them all off, there's maybe one big bite left. But I neither feel grossed out nor do I feel stuffed full, but I don't feel like eating anymore of them. Sooooo........yeah, what's up with that?

And anyone who takes heavy cream in their coffee? Have you noticed that it tastes sweeter than before even without the sugar or sweetener? Is it just me? Am I just over-analyzing this? Gaaack!!! Dunno

jeff

Dean

Same here. Coffee with cream tastes really sweet to me.

Heart

my java!

kateryna

Nice meeting you Manaloa. Glad you found us. And, we all love coffee. Grin

Manaloa

So I've spent the entire week trying to get back on the wagon and lose the rest of that weight from the buffet. I've been at 221/221.5 and holding after that episode this weekend and I'm back down to 219.5 which is still 2.5lbs higher than the lowest weight. However, I did drop 1.5 lbs finally this morning. And after eating about 3000 cals yesterday. What's up with that?

jeff

When you have a lot to lose, calories tend to not matter much.

Manaloa

Well, so far I've been very diligent this week with my diet and the extra lbs that I had gained last weekend are finally coming off. Went out this evening for dinner with the parents for mother's day/mom's b-day and did really well with supper. A yuummmmmy medium rare ribeye. And a (literal)couple bites of green beans to look like a "normal person". (Damn acculturation) I really didn't want any of the other stuff. They had ordered onion rings for an appetizer, which normally I would be all over, but didn't want at all. And they also ordered two brownie sundaes to share for dessert and I didn't even feel a hint of a craving for it. Crazy! That's one of the great things I've noticed about being "carb free" is that I have almost no cravings at all for that stuff. And when I do feel like having "dessert" because my family is, I just make myself some coffee with cream and I'm extremely satisfied, but most of the time I don't even need that.

I have noticed this week since I've been getting roughly 0-10 grams of carbs/day, that I'm sooo full all day. I don't really feel any need to eat in the morning, but I do because I'm afraid of getting too hungry at work and eating stuff that I don't want. The last couple of days though I've been skipping lunch, just because I'm still so full from breakfast. Today I noticed it even more so. I wasn't hungry again when I woke up. But we were going to the zoo all day and then out to supper at 5pm. So I had 3 scrambled eggs fried in tallow and 5 slices of uncured bacon. And was very satisfied. We were gone from about 11:30 until 4pm at the zoo and all I had there was a couple bottles of water and a handful of mixed nuts (more for the salt than for hunger, it was really hot today). Then we went to supper and I was still full. And I mean FULL. I could have happily not had supper at all, but you know, family stuff. So I ordered the 14 oz ribeye and ate all of that. Sooo juicy and yummy. But now I am so full.

Tomorrow I might just wait until I'm hungry to eat again. I'm not getting any of the highs and lows when I do or do not eat, like I did when I was eating carbs. You know, the feeling when you're hungry that you're going to climb the wall if you don't put food in you mouth NOW!!! Besides I think my weight loss is slowing down now because I'm eating not when I'm hungry but when I think I "should" because I "should" be eating "3 square meals a day" or now I guess they tell you "eat 6 mini meals" LOL

You know it's because they want you to keep your blood sugar up, so that you keep feeling good and don't have a carb crash. Wall

So anyways, since I don't have to worry about having a sugar crash, I'm just going to eat when I'm actually hungry and not when I "should".

Dean

Manaloa,

Great avatar! What a terrific smile! Cool

You have described what I go through all the time. I do IF a lot, cuz I am never hungry in the first part of the day. The lower the carbs, the lower the hunger. Gotta remember to eat. I find that if I go with the flow of IF, I end up cutting my calories back, and I lose weight. Sounds like this is working for you. That's so cool you were able to just ride through that dessert episode with ease. That's why this WOE is so great! Yup

You sound like you are doing fantastic! Remember, even if you have slip ups, the more you do this, the easier it gets. I'm on a 40+ day roll currently. That's a lot for me! I couldn't do it without VLC.

Keep up the good work, and keep us posted! Thumbs Up

jeff

I agree, Mana, great avatar. And it sounds like you are really doing great. Keep up the great work. Yup

Manaloa

Thanks guys.
Happy

Manaloa

I have rediscovered a very yummy spice. Thyme. mmmmmm :D
Just dusted my chuck steak with a blend of garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, cracked black pepper, & a light sprinkle of cayenne (not enough to overwhelm the rest of the flavors) Grilled it medium rare and mmmmmmmmm, so good.

Just picked up a "low carb" cookbook. So I think I'll contribute some of the yummier looking recipes for others.

Manaloa

I keep eating stuff I know I shouldn't. I blame it all on my family. LOL

The cupcakes have to go in the trash. I start doing so well, then I cheat, feel physically ill and cycle over again. ugh! I need to stop!!!

OK, so I'm going to have to get really serious here and go bare bones. I think cheese is giving me acne. So for a little while (couple weeks?) I'm going to go meat/eggs, spices, and just a teeny bit of cream for my coffee. I'm bound and determined. Yup

jeff

It's amazing the power that junk food has over us. Even though we know they are not good for us. Even though we know we will feel like crap after eating them, we still find it difficult to give them up. I guess that's the definition of an addiction. Most addictions are not given up on the first try. It often takes many attempts. Just stay with it.

Dean

Manaloa

Does it ever get any easier? You'd think since this WOE makes me feel so much better that it'd be easier to do. And I guess for the most part it is, but those weekends really kill me. Bonkers

Manaloa

Alrighty then.

I've finally got my energy back. Today will start Day 5 of no carb. I've been up since 6am and the rest of my family is still asleep here at 8am. LOL

My sleep is finally back to normal and I'm sleeping really hard again which is nice. Had my nice cuppa jo w/cream went for a 3 mile bike ride. And boy, did that feel good. I always forget how good it feels to go bike riding. It was a little chilly still out there, next time I'm going to have to wear something more than a little tank top and shorts. I had to leave my rings at home since they're getting too big and I'm afraid the plastic sizer thingie will fall off when I'm gripping the handlebars. I know I need to start doing the workouts on a more regular basis, instead of just weekends. If I can stay on plan over the weekend, then I'm going to make another goal to start working out every morning since I'm getting more energy.

Bonkers

What am I talking about???!!!??
"If I stay on plan" !!!! Roll Eyes

That's just a cop out. I will stay on plan. UGH!! You'd think I'd know better by now. And why should I wait to make a goal to work out!!! Since I will stay on plan this weekend, I will start working out/bike riding every morning!!! Starting today! Yup

Jaime

Don't you just love that peace and quiet in the morning. I get up earlier then my son too so I enjoy my alone time on the computer.

That is awesome that you get to go out bikeriding. I'm still much too heavy for that but there is a bike I wish I had and am absolutely in love with. I might just break down and buy it and keep it here to remind myself to get outside every day for that little walk which will bring me so much closer to getting on that bike. I miss riding.

Dean

Manaloa,

You will find that daily exercise will keep you eating right... and eating right will keep you wanting to exercise daily. They really do go hand in hand. One is sorta pointless without the other, it seems.

Congrats on getting this far! Thumbs Up

Just keep goin'! You can do it! Yup

jeff

Manaloa

Someone egged and tp'd the house while we were sleeping last night. Sad

Dean

Bummer! Sorry to hear that, Manaloa. Sad

jeff

Yeah, what a waste of eggs!!!

Dean

Manaloa

Manaloa

I've really been neglecting my journal because I post all my stuff in the challenges.

I'm on Day 9 now and it's a lot easier to stay on plan. I have to say that I feel great. I never get that horrible "gotta eat NOW" feeling anymore. In fact my appetite has gone down markedly. So much in fact that I'm a bit concerned. I've been less than 800 cals for the last couple of days. I don't feel bad, on the contrary, I actually feel like I have more energy. So yeah, IDK. Bonkers

jeff

Some may say it's fine to only eat 800 calories a day if you are not hungry. I'm not so sure. I suppose occaisionally it would be ok, but the body does need nutrition. It can get plenty of energy from stored fat...you are seeing that for yourself. But what about the nutrients our bodies need? Does anybody else have any thoughts on that?

Dean

I've heard form many sources that a 30 or 40 day water fast will be fine, cuz your body has all the nutrients stored up that it needs. There is all this talk of slowing down one's metabolism, etc. I don't know. I think if you eat a lot of animal fat, your calories are gonna be way up there anyway. So, cook your eggs in tallow (which I know you do, Manaloa), eat fatty cuts of meat, etc. I myself punch in my intake and find that I'm only getting 1200 calories sometimes. I know exactly where you are coming from, Manaloa. I am NEVER hungry and end up avoiding eating for so long. I never feel like eating first part of the day... just my java fix. So, it is perplexing. With doing resistance training, they say get your calories up... so, it can be kinda difficult on this WOE. Perhaps if we eat like our ancestors did, which IMO was meat period, then I don't think it will matter one bit. I don't think our metabolism will get messed up at all if we eat nothing for days. That is how we evolved, so how could this be bad for us? Now, if we eat other crap, then perhaps there are these "metabolic issues", etc. All a part of modern nutrition theory! Roll Eyes

jeff

Dean

jeff

Manaloa

Well, I tried the IF thing. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I don't know that I'm going to do it all the time though. However, now I'm confident that if I'm skipping a meal for whatever reason that I'm not going to go off the deep end. LOL

Dean

Yes, isn't it great to be able to eat when good food is available and fast when it's not... and never get that irritable feeling of hunger, like when your blood sugar levels depend on it? And, the best part is, while you are not eating, you are actually doing your body good, cuz IF is very healthy. The only downside is if you are doing resistance training and want to build muscle... then you have to be careful to get enough protein and calories.

Glad to hear you had positive results, Manaloa.

Manaloa

Actually Dean, I was doing some reading on Vince Gironda (?) I think that's how you spell his name. Apparently he was a big body builder and and trained lots of famous people, back in the day. I read somewhere that he did IF occasionally and his idea of fast muscle building diet was steak and eggs in the evening only. Have you read up on him?

Dean

Yes, I have read about him. He recommended raw eggs with cream. He was one of the original body builders that understood about carbs not being necessary and being detrimental.

Manaloa

Dropped another lb today!! Yay! I'm down to 214lbs!!! Grin

Starting off the challenge just straight meat and egg and water. Breakfast was some country style pork ribs. Since I have to be at work from 7am - 7:30pm, I'm bringing a whole rotisserie chicken for lunch/dinner.

Dean

Congrats on the continued loss, Mana! Cool

jeff

Manaloa

Still working a crap ton of overtime. Worked through a lot of the weekend and last couple of days were 8am to 7:30pm. blech. At least today it's only 8am to 2pm. Haven't had much time to exercise. Only walked in the zoo Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours. Still on my no carb diet. Lost another 2lbs. Down to 212lbs. Will try to catch up this afternoon after I clean house.

jeff

Mana, you are just cruising right along with the weight loss. Nice work! Thumbs Up

Manaloa

Still working too much overtime, got to work for a few hours this weekend, have my daughter's 9th b-day party, & my best friend's college graduation tomorrow. So I'm still around, still doing the diet (lost another 1.5lbs, down to 210.5lbs)

Dean

Manaloa

Didn't lose anymore weight this week, but I blame it on falling off the wagon with homemade root beer floats this week. Roll Eyes

jeff

Manaloa

Thanks for cheering me on.
Had a busy week again. Still doing the diet, lost another 1.5lbs. I'm down to 209lbs now. Pretty good considering I had a chocolate bar this week.

Has anyone noticed their alcohol tolerance has gone down since starting this WOE? Used to be I could drink all night, mixed drinks, shots, beer, whatever and only after an obscene amount of alcohol did I get sick the next morning. Last night I had a 3 or 4 glasses of wine and I spent the morning throwing up. Puke

Dean

Mana,

Eating close to zero carb, I lost all tolerance for alcohol. Back in the Fall I had to give up hard liquor, cuz it hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't enjoy it at all, getting that wasted so quickly. Then, I gave up wine at the beginning of this year, and during late March I had some with a friend, and I got so wasted on such a small amount I decided it was not worth doing any alcohol anymore after that. I have no cravings for it. Never was a big drinker, but would occasionally do shots of tequila and such... never in any excess, though. Even the small amount of caffeine in the 20oz of java I have every day is too strong for me now. I may get some decaf coffee once I'm out of the stuff I have. Don't think caffeine and alcohol was ever a part of our diets back when we did zero carb carnivorous eating. But, it seems they have become staples of the modern toxic environment. Wink

jeff

It may surprise all of you that my alcohol tolerance is not what it used to be either. Low carbing does that for some reason. I've never heard a good explanation for it, but it is real.

Adapaz

Thanks for your advice Manaloa, I'll avoid as much as possible eating out for at least first few weeks until I gain better control over my cravings.

Manaloa

Maybe it's the buffer of bread or something to absorb the alcohol? Maybe then it goes through the digestive tract a bit slower? IDK?
You're welcome Adapaz. When I started on my journey to this WOE, I couldn't eat out for month, it just made me cranky. I either felt deprived or fell off the wagon.

Dean

Mana,

It may be the enzymes for metabolism are changed enough eating lots of fat for energy, and few carbs... so that alcohol just does not get processed the same way. In simpler terms, you have moved further away from your natural diet when consuming carbs, and therefore you can handle alcohol easier. Both sugar and alcohol are foreign/toxic, so it makes sense that one would have a stronger reaction to either the further one gets away from it. Think about how sugar hits you if you eat a bunch after being VLC for a long time... the “carb coma”... same thing, right?

Rich

Maybe thats is why some native cultures have a hard time processing alcohol??

I am a alcoholic myself(sober 7 and half years now Yup

). Beer was my choice and I think it screwed my whole system up as I never had a weight problem till I started drinking.

jeff

Manaloa

Dean I wonder if you're onto something there. I had some ice cream last night to "test" my reaction. Shock

I actually got a similar stomach ache as after drinking and this morning I feel nauseous. But I did sleep really good, but I'm still tired, which I always am after consuming carbs or alcohol. hmmm

Dean

Carb coma for sure! Yup

Manaloa · Re: Mana's Diner

So I thought I'd look back and see how far I've come since I started this WOE.

Dean

You are doing fantastic, Mana!

Keep up the great work! Cool

jeff

9.5 pounds lost is great.....but your inches lost is even more impressive! Great work, Mana. Keep up the great work.

Manaloa

I'm still around! Just working a lot of overtime again. I still love this WOE since when I get busy at work and don't take any lunch breaks (like yesterday) I can go from a couple of eggs at breakfast and my coffee and cream all day and be fine for 12 hours until I can get supper, which last night was cheap wing night at BWW, so I had a couple dozen wings (literally). LOL

I'm still so full from it, that I'm even having a hard time drinking my coffee this morning. Shock

We just bought a big hunk of sirloin steaks for $4/lb. It was actually one big hunk of meat, but since we got $60 worth of it, they sliced it for us for free. We had them slice it in 1" steaks, I wanted thicker, so that we could sear the outside and still have it fairly rare, but DH wasn't so keen on the idea. So, anyways, I'm going to be eating steak the rest of the week. But then we're going on vacation for a week, leaving Saturday. I'm hoping to stay on the diet, but I don't know what kind of food I'm going to be able to get. Of course, I'm probably going to have to fast over breakfast at hotels, since it'll probably be some "continental breakfast" deal, where they feed you sugar.

jeff

Manaloa

I don't know if I could choke down straight cream cheese. Wow

And I definitely wouldn't hear the end of it from the hubby if I did. LOL

I foresee a lot of coffee and cream on this trip. Yup

jeff

Dean

Mana,

Great work sticking to this WOE! Seems it is just the ticket for you.

On vacation... if you are doing a road trip, get a small cooler, and stop at grocery stores to pickup things like deli meats, deviled eggs, chicken, jerky, etc. Even with fast food, you can just eat bun less burgers... and with other restaurants, you can order chicken, steaks and eggs, omelets and sausage, and things like that. If you have a small cooler, you can eat out of that at hotels. There are always ways around this. If there's a will, there's a way, right? Yup

Good luck, and have fun on your vacation!

Heather

The last couple of hotels I was at had served hard boiled eggs with their continental breakfasts, it was so awesome to have at least 1 thing edible.

Manaloa

Stopped by the store yesterday to see if there were things that'll keep that I can bring with me. I ended up buying slim jims & peppered beef jerky (and yes I know, processed salty food) however, they'll be a better option then snack crackers or something in the car.

I ended up eating a huge steak last night, very rare. It was really good even though I had to cut off the bits that were too charred from the flareup on the grill from the fat. After the butcher sliced the steaks up for me, he started trimming the fat and I had to call out to him to stop. LOL

So all my steaks have a nice 1/2" rim of fat all over. Heart

I'm hoping I'll get lucky and they'll have something like that at the hotels, but I'm not going to plan on it. If nothing else, we can just stop at a store on the way out in the morning and I can pick up something.

Although lately, mornings I really haven't wanted food at all, so it'll be more in the afternoons and evenings. Lately it seems too, that if I have a big meal at about 3-4pm then I'm good for the rest of the night until the next day at about the same time. But if I know I'm not going to eat until after 5pm, then I start thinking about food all day and start feeling a little frantic.

Manaloa

Well, my vacation was fantastic and I ate way too much food that I shouldn't have. I'd decided after embarking that I wouldn't worry about eating off during the week. I figured that I wouldn't be able to eat too much off anyways because I would just feel sick (and I did). There were quite a few skipped meals in there and I ate meat and cheese when I could, but there were some desserts that we shared in there too. All in all, a wonderful vacation. Oh, and there was a fantastic steakhouse in Custer, SD, where I got a 10oz ribeye and DH got a 10oz prime rib and we split. Soooo goood, by far the best meal of the trip.

So as of today, I'm up to 212 lbs. Which means I gained about 4 lbs since the start of the trip. So I've decided to start a back on the wagon challenge for myself.

jeff

4 pounds doesnt sound so bad, especially since much of it is probably water. It should be gone in no time. Glad you had a great trip!

Dean

Custer, SD... yah... nice place. Been there many times. Black Hills. Wonderful vacation spot... especially this time of year. Glad to hear you had such a nice time, Mana. Welcome back to the Bus!

Sunny

Manaloa

Well, it must have just been water weight because it's all gone this morning. I'm back down to 208 lbs again. Happy

jeff

Manaloa

I need to vent about work for a minute. My new supervisor is making me crazy. She's managed to make drama every day, alienated lots of people and in our small satellite office of 13 total people managed to get 4 people to quit and another 4 (that I know of) to start looking for other jobs (including me). She actually told one of the employees that she was "wasn't allowed" to speak with HR if she had problems. Shock

Are you kidding me????!!!!??

jeff

Sorry to hear that. That really sucks. Good luck. Big Hug

Dean

Mana,

I was in a very similar situation many years ago. There was a nice team of people working under a great supervisor. The supervisor got promoted or something and was replaced with the asshole of the universe! People began leaving in droves! This guy was totally insane. I mean if you were even 10 seconds (and that is NOT a figure of speech... I mean LITERALLY 10 seconds) late back to your desk from a break, he'd start flipping you all kinds of shit in front of everybody. The dude was wound so tight he could barely sit down. I was spending all my off time looking for another gig.

Finally, one day, I just had enough and called my contract company and told them I was through. The woman who I spoke to told me that she had already received a lot of similar phone calls. Go figure. There were others from my contract company that worked there. I was not sure how long I'd be without a job, but I just had reached my limit. Funny thing is, that afternoon I got a call from a new contract company that had a wonderful position that would start in a couple weeks... which turned out to be one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had. I was so glad that I didn't have to keep looking for work while dealing with this asshole from hell. I took a nice road trip and was able to chill out. That supervisor had so many of us stressed out to the max.

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this. Keep your chin up and rant whenever you need to.

There

jeff

kateryna

Keeping a log of your new boss's incidents, time, date, what she said, who she insulted/accused, whatever would be a very useful tool down the road in case HR needed to be contacted. And, it helps relieve the stress by logging it all down.

Manaloa

We've already talked to HR, unfortunately they're (corporate & HR) in CA and we're in NE. So I don't think they're planning on doing anything about her. Still loving this WOE, even if I do fall off the bus a few times. My appetite has been completely gone for the last couple of weeks. I actually forgot to eat for two days this week. Wow

I woke up Wednesday and actually thought about it and realized the last time I ate was with my family on Sunday. It didn't occur to me, since I've been doing 10-12 hours work days lately, so I'm never home for meals.

Dean

Mana, I can relate to the appetite suppression. It's weird. I end up IFing till like 9:30pm many days. I don't think our ancestors had this concept of "hunger". They were probably much more content about their survival. I'm sure they went many days with no food, during some rare times, but didn't really freak out about it. Now we have people losing their minds if they miss breakfast or lunch. Weird. It's all social conditioning... and the wrong types of substances we are consuming.

kateryna

Keep it up Mana, you are doing great !!!! Ecstatic

Manaloa

Well, as far as weight loss goes, I guess I'm doing pretty good. I'm down 5 more lbs this month to 203. Happy

jeff

Manaloa

Well, I'm down to 201. My weight's been fluctuating up and down since the family trip. I think the week of carbing really threw me for a loop. I've been good now for a few days and I'm feeling a lot better healthwise. My psycho boss still hasn't quit or been fired unfortunately. And Corporate found out that I was looking for another job, and threw a promotion at me to keep me there. So I'm flying out to CA for a week, leaving this Sunday for training. I'm hoping to get together with some old school chums.

kateryna

Congratulations Mana. Hope the new job brings less contact with your boss.

Mana's Diner

Food for the day

Marathon/half-Marathon

Re: Mana's Diner