Eggies in the morning

- Cinnamon flax muffin with butter

From Finley's
- Burger patty with swiss cheese, lettuce, mayo, mustard and a little onion
- Cottage cheese
- Broccoli with butter

- Four eggs

I did not get my four eggs in the morning like I always do!  There is nothing quite like it... I mix up 1/4 cup of heavy cream with four eggs and scramble them with lots of coconut oil... Topped with some sugar free ketchup and it's a breakfast fit for a queen.  The dogs always get a little bite of Mommy's eggies, which they love.

We met my brother for lunch so I wanted to save my appetite for lunchtime.

Work is busy, busy, busy and life is good.

Egg fast? What?

- Four eggs
- Egg salad
- Egg salad
- Egg salad
- Sugar free jello

I've been on an inadvertent two-day egg fast.  How'd that happen?   This is what happens when you make a big batch of egg salad and nothing else sounds as appetizing.

Low carb menu

- Three eggs
- SF jello
- A few bites of egg salad

Eaten at the movies: 
- SF jello parfait
- One oz of mild cheddar
- Small beef stick
- Two scotcharoos

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- SF jello
- Four eggs

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Two cinnamon flax muffins with butter
- Meatloaf with mayo & mustard and buttered broccoli

I make my meatloaf sans the glaze to save carb here and there, but it's very good.  I do think it needs salt and pepper, however.  Definitely comfort food!  Oh, and you know the cinnamon flax muffins never get old.

Even tow trucks can't get through...

- Four eggs
- Four eggs
- SF jello
- A few bites of meatloaf and egg salad

The gf finally made it home today!  She just stayed there because their roads don't get plowed and leaving would (and did) prove to be extremely difficult.

After over an hour of shoveling her own path down the road, she just pushed it off to the side of the road and walked up to a main road, where I came and rescued her.  With the windchill at a freezing cold five below zero, she was just ready to get home, take a hot shower and snuggle down with our dogs.  They were so happy to have her home, but not as happy as I am!

These are super nice homes, but for some reason, the roads never get plowed. I'm just glad she is safe and sound! 

Her car is still on the side of the road. We do have AAA roadside assistance, but the lady told her that the tow trucks wouldn't be able to get down that road.  The lady advised her to call the police and to get to someplace safe.  Not exactly what you want to hear from Triple A, but she is home, so I am one relieved girl!

Edited to Add: She made it home safe and sound and they finally got her car out, too! 

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Two bacon-wrapped hot dogs
- SF jello
- Zucchini flax muffin with butter
- Hot dog

Addicted to Doggy Hugs!

I'm just waiting on the contractor to show up to re-drywall our ceiling in the dining room.  The gf is sleeping with our dogs.  Nobody in our pack sleeps very well when we are not under the same roof.

Went to the chiro last night and I'm feeling loads better.

Yesterday marks the one-year anniversary that I've been off the opiates.  Yes, I was prescribed them for my reconstructive knee surgery and they certainly have a time and place, but they are still very physically and emotionally addictive.  There is not a high without a low.  There is not an up without a down. 

I weaned off of them myself then just got rid of them without looking back.  I was on them for seventeen months.  I usually quit stuff cold turkey, but with these suckers, I weaned.  I would recommend that method for anybody going through that sort of a thing.

Now, for most people, pain killers are a non-issue, but somebody who has a history of substance abuse needs to be careful.  I used to smoke so much pot that I couldn't even get high anymore.  I was doing about an ounce a week of the strong stuff.  I ate carbs 'til I passed out, sick, eating myself to a morbidly obese 306 lbs.  Alcohol was never really a problem for me, but I could see how it could quickly become one, based on my history.

I have all four wisdom teeth coming out on Friday, February 7th and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little afraid of "needing" the pain meds again.  But this is just one bad weekend, one bottle.  Nothing like last time when I had my femur sawed in two. 

Addiction is a bitch and besides caffeine, I'm essentially habit-free.  Well, unless you count hugging on my dogs.  That is one addiction I refuse to give up.

Yesterday's Eats:
- Four eggs
- Two bacon-wrapped cheese-filled hot dogs with mayo & mustard
- SF jello

Gallons of mayo, construction & the Big Chill

- Four eggs
- Sugar free jello
- Tilapia parmesan with mayo
- More tilapia with lots of mayo (or was it mayo with tilapia?)

I never really liked mayo 'til I started going full-time low carb.  Now, I cannot get enough!  I know it's healthier to make your own, but the big ol' gallons from GFS are just really good and around 8 bucks a gallon.  Yes, we really go through that much mayo. 

Tomorrow morning, we are getting our ceiling ripped out due to some rain damage.  Will be glad when it's complete. 

We have two severe weather warnings now, one for windchill and one for the snowfall.

The gf is going to be gone for an overnight (pet sitting) visit tonight and I'm totally going to miss her.  How do the military wives do it?  Seriously?  She is going to take one dog and leave me with my gorgeous and somewhat snuggly Daisy dog, so I will be okay.  Gave her an aspirin this morning (vet-approved) due to her ouchie joints. 

The house is just gonna be lonely without my boo.

#firstworldproblems

Low carb menu and smaller clothes

- Four eggs
- Two hot dogs with cheese & a piece of bacon with mayo

Down to a size 8 jeans.  I wore a size 8 when I was in third grade.  No joke.  I wore a size 8 petite back then though because I was just a shortie. Always tall for my age but a third grader does not exactly fit into women's clothes because they aren't supposed to be that big yet.  I remember my grandma got me a pair of jeans that fit so well back then and that's what size they were. I loved those jeans.  Size 8P. Funny the stuff you remember.

I've never really loved clothes shopping because no matter your size, it can be tough to find clothes that flatter you. Especially when you're tall like me, but I actually am finally loving my height.  Even my size Large yoga pants are kind of hanging off my butt, but the Mediums fit me great.

I do like Old Navy.com because they have great deals and a wide variety of tall (and petite) for us non-cookie-cutter people. I had a coupon (this week only) for $40 off $100 order, so I scored two long-sleeved tees, two pairs of yoga pants and two pairs of jeans (one skinny and one boot cut) all for around $80.

Size 8, baby... Down from a size 28.  Oh, the wonders of eating low carb, I tell you. I also went from a very tight women's 3x shirt down to a size Medium top.  In some ways, I don't feel smaller than I was, but I know that I am.

Trying to keep warm today is at the top of my list.  Sitting with a space heater in my office because the heater in the basement is having trouble keeping the whole house warm and toasty.

We borrowed a movie from the library called "The Lucky One" that we started last night.  If we can get the living room warmed up enough, hopefully we will hang out in there and finish it up. It looks like a super cute movie! GF is a super good movie-picker-outer and she always seems to know all the movie stars names. How does she do that?

Parm kind of day

- Four eggs
- Parmesan-breaded chicken tender with mayo
- Tilapia Parmesan with mayo
- Sugar free strawberry banana jello (my fave!)

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Hot dog with mayo
- Zucchini flax muffin with butter
- Sugar free jello parfait
- Tilapia parmesan
- Sugar free jello

Low carb snacky snacks and why I love my chiropractor

- Four eggs
- Tilapia parmesan with buttered broccoli
- Chocolate mousse


We are going to see Her today, so that should be fun. I've taken to just sneaking in my own low carb snacks and enjoying the free refills on the diet soda.  My snacks sometimes include (but are not limited to) sunflower kernals, sugar free jello parfait and sometimes a flax muffin of some sort.  For me, it's mostly about having the snack there if I really want it, but lots of times, I will just skip it.

My knee has been kind of ouchie lately and I think that it has to do with  the new recumbent bike being a bit tougher to pedal (more resistance).  Living with an osteoarthritic joint is kind of a balancing act of figuring out what is enough exercise and not doing so much that you will be hurting for days. "Fighting through the pain" is not a good idea for a person with arthritis because too much can involve a couple days or even a week to ten days with dealing with more pain.  

My surgeon hit the nail on the had when he said that you want to be active but not do so much that the next day, you couldn't do that much working out again.  Fortunately, I've started tracking my working out (which mostly just includes my back exercises at the gym and minutes on the bike) so I can easily see what works and what is too much.  However, I can fight through the pain all I want when I do my back exercises because that is actually what is required to get the one side of my back as muscular as the other one.  Getting my weaker side more muscular will be a lot of effort, but once it's done, it's done.  Just trying to enjoy the journey, as they say!


The iodine I'm taking has been a total life-changer!  My chiropractor is amazing for figuring this out.  I read that every single organ in your body needs iodine to function properly and I was extremely deficient.  I did notice that I was feeling more tired, plus my toes were turning purple and my menstrual cycle was a little wonky.  Something was just not "right" with my body and now, I feel way better!  My mood is better, my circulation is improving, on and on!
 

You had me at chocolate bark

- Four eggs
- Half of a piece of burger Florentine with lettuce, mayo, mustard & lettuce
- A piece of low carb chocolate bark (made using coconut oil, cocoa powder, liquid splenda & vanilla)
- Keto mousse

I came home from the gym to find a lovely little pan of chocolate bark waiting for me in the freezer that my amazing girlfriend whipped up as a surprise. We decided that next time, we will add a bit more sweetener (maybe four drops of liquid splenda), but it's quite lovely as-is and weighs in at about half a carb per piece.

Flax Snax ~ Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Cinnamon flax muffin with butter
- Keto chocolate mousse
- Zucchini flax muffin with butter

Another non-meat day (not on purpose!)

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Cheeseburger quiche with mayo, mustard & lettuce

Hello, jello

- Four eggs
- BBQ pork steak with low carb ketchup
- Cinnamon flax muffin with butter
- SF jello
- SF jello parfait

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- BBQ pork steak
- Sugar free jello
- Zucchini flax muffin

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Cinnamon muffin with butter
- BBQ pork steak with lc ketchup
- Keto chocolate mousse

Low carbing & freezer full of hot dogs

- Four eggs
- Parm-breaded pork chop with mayo
- SF jello parfait
- Chocolate mousse

We hit a big Kraft sale last night and got our favorite Oscar Meyer hot dogs for 99cents per pack!  Let's just say we may or may not have bought 32 packs of them... and our freezer may or may not be full.  Thank goodness for the deep freeze!

Also scored some bratwurst because I've been having some serious cravings for them as of late.

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Chocolate mousse
- Tuna salad
- Cinnamon muffin with butter

Low carb menu & CL find

- Four eggs
- Tuna salad (three times)

Got a new recumbent bike off Craigslist!  It was only $100 and it's very nice.  We did get stuck in the middle of the road on the way to pick it up, but all's well that ends well.

Yay!

Scotcharoos, baby!

- Four eggs
- Parmesan-breaded pork chop with mayo
- Low carb chocolate mousse
- Scotcharoo 

 The mousse is nothing to write home about, but the scotcharoos are... very good.  We chopped them up and put them in the freezer.

To be fair, the mousse is really, REALLY high-fat and low carb, which is always good.  Maybe I will tweak it a little more.

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Half of a parm-breaded pork chop with mayo
- Two cinnamon flax muffins with butter

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Sugar free jello parfait
- Egg salad
- Drumstick treat

Loving low carb, as always!!

Soooo cold outside... *shivers*

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Sugar free jello
- Coconut macaroon muffin with butter & coconut oil
- Jello parfait
- Drumstick treat

Been so hungry lately.  I have to pump the brakes on the emotional eating!  Perhaps less sweets and more meat?

Overcoming iodine deficiency

Friday's Menu:
- Four eggs
- Burger patty with all the fixin's
- Half a piece of drumstick treat

Saturday's Menu:
- Four eggs
- Low carb options at a Christmas party: cheese, turkey, salami, pepperoni
- Sugar free jello
- Half a piece of drumstick treat
- Two hot dogs with mayo & mustard

The iodine is working MIRACLES!  I can feel my circulation improving, my mood improving, my energy levels and I'm feeling like a new woman.

YAY!

Low carb menu

- Four eggs
- Drumstick treat
- Sugar free jello

My chiro said that I'm low on iodine.... She gave me a supplement to take.

I have noticed my hair is thinning, which is very abnormal for me.

Hope it helps!

How 2013 was different, from the burger girl herself!

- Four eggs
- Burger patty with lettuce, mayo, tomato slice, grilled mushrooms & a little onion

This past year, I've lost a little over 30 lbs (which brings the total weight loss up to 130 lbs and finally AT GOAL, yay!)

I've been pretty much perfectly on-plan for the entire year, which has made all the difference.  I've also adjusted my portion sizes, which hasn't been that tough because you need less to satisfy you when you're smaller.

I hadn't really planned to say on plan for the whole year, but after over a decade of eating low-carb, something clicked where going off plan is just not worth it and I prefer the way I feel when I'm eating healthy foods.

In short, eating like crap makes me feel like crap, so not eating the crap is the better way to go.

Oh, and I'm still loving my burgers.  That will never change. (Obviously.)

Low carb menu on New Year's Eve

- Four eggs
- Hot dog with lettuce & mayo
- A bite of bacon
- Some whipped cream

Went for an arterial flow test yesterday morning.  I had the test due to some cold and purple toes that I had (on the same leg  as my major knee surgery).  The test involved a bunch of blood pressure cuffs on each legs and even each big toe.

The ultrasound girl was really helpful and also looked like Alanis Morissette.  While she technically couldn't give me results, she basically told me in a round-about way that I seemed fine and that "no news is good news" if I don't hear from my primary doctor.

I asked for ways to improve my circulation and she said that basically being active and stretching is important.