Monday Weigh In 2

Happy Monday! Happy last day of January! Can you believe how fast the days flew by? It's insane! Another month has passed.

I continued my low carb journey the day after my nephew turned 1. It was January 4th. On January 7th, I weighed myself and I was devastated to find out that I had regained 19 lbs and weighed 149 lbs.

Pictures and mirrors are my only truth, I'm afraid because in my head I am 115 lbs of hotness. LOL Yes! I am THAT delusional. But pictures and mirrors never lie, I've come to find out. No matter how hot and sexy I think I am the moment I see the truth I get devastated.

Cooking Spree!

Top Chef is one of my favorite reality shows. I just love watching all these talented chefs create dishes and fly high or crash and burn. The only thing I hate about Top Chef is it makes me wanna eat something after watching an episode. My favorite cheftestant right now on all Stars is Angelo Sosa and I really hope he wins. Sheesh! I hope I didn't jinx him.

Anyway, for the past three days I have been on a cooking spree. Not only a cooking spree but a SUCCESSFUL cooking sprees. See, I don't consider something I've made spectacular if the leftovers live in the fridge for more than two days.

So on Monday, I made an Asian style dinner with pork tonkatsu(which brought memories of being in Japan), warm Asian slaw and garlic "rice". It was such a filling meal and I just adore the tonkatsu sauce.

Tuesday had me hankering for more fried rice but this time I wanted the kind The Hubby and I used to make when I was still eating white rice mindlessly. We would go down to the kitchen at like 2 AM and make this fried rice and devour it. It's just rice with peas and corned beef, a touch of soy sauce for color and flavor. Since I had cauli rice left, I used that to make the fried rice. Then I wanted to put something very saucy and delicious and spicy on top. So I made Bicol Express, a local dish which is basically pork cooked in coconut milk with shrimp paste and lots of chilies. I wasn't able to find fresh green chilies so I used my chilies in oil. This was absolutely divine. The spicy sauce mixed with the "rice" was soooo good I almost forgot I was eating low carb.

Bicol Express

2 pork chops, deboned and cut into thin strips
1 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons shrimp paste
2 chilies cut thinly
2 cups green beans, french cut

First put the pork chops in a pot and heat it until all the oil and juices are liberated.Then add the coconut milk and let it simmer. Once the milk has reduced, add the chilies and shrimp paste and mix well. Lastly add the green beans and let simmer until the beans are tender crisp. Serve over cauli rice.

Since I wanted to push my luck, today I decided to go three for three and decided to make a low carb vanilla ice cream. I used David Lebovitz's recipe right here and since I didn't have an ice cream maker, I used the instructions he gave here. It took a while to make but oh my goodness, it was the best ice cream I've ever had... Seriously. It's so creamy and the flavor stays in your mouth even after the ice cream has melted.

The ice cream recipe left me with five egg whites so I decided to make Swiss Meringue Butter Cream which was something I used to make when I baked cakes. It's a very light frosting that involves making a meringue and then adding butter to it. I really love this frosting even though it's such a pain to make. I didn't follow a recipe because I've made this lots of times so I kinda know how to guesstimate.

SMBC (Swiss Meringue Butter Cream) Low Carb Style
5 egg whites
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sweetener, I used granular Splenda

I could type out the instructions but I don't wanna forget anything as this is quite finicky. So I will link to a video that taught me how to make it.

1:2:3 Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Now for tips... don't give up. My butter was being a little brat tonight and it didn't wanna melt and mix with the meringue. So I took the mixing bowl and heated it on my stovetop's smallest burner on its smallest flame for less than ten seconds. Then I started beating it again and the butter cream came together gloriously. I'm telling you, it's like witnessing a miracle every time I see butter cream coming together. If yours come out soupy, don’t fret. Stick the mixing bowl in the fridge for a few minutes then start beating again.

What am I gonna make tomorrow? I don't know yet but I'm kinda scared of ruining my streak. I have to be fearless!

Asian Style Dinner

This was a very delicious meal indeed! I am very proud of myself and if I could do it, I'd pat myself on the back LOL

How I made it:
Pork Tonkatsu
I marinated the pork chops in calamansi (lime will do), soy sauce, chili oil and ground ginger for about an hour. Then I dipped them in a beaten egg, dredged with coconut flour, dipped in egg again and another coating of coconut flour. Fry the pork chops in vegetable oil for at least five minutes each side. I love the "breading", it smelled wonderful while cooking and it didn't slide off. Yay!

For the sauce, I low carbed this recipe on Tess' Japanese Kitchen. It is addictive and it really goes well with the pork chops. It made the pork chops sing. Seriously.

Warm Asian Slaw
I had a head of cabbage so I low carbed this recipe on Epicurious.com but only used cabbage as the veggie. The sauce is delightful and quite addictive. Very interesting mix of flavors, too.

Garlic Cauli Rice
I made cauliflower rice then fried it in butter. Added salt and minced garlic. Fantastic!

All in all this dinner was a huge success. The Hubby hasn't had it yet but he says he will undoubtedly love it. I hope you're having a great dinner, too!

Just Another Manic Monday

Monday is considered by many as the beginning of the week. A lot of people start their diets on a Monday. It’s the perfect day to do it because it comes right after a weekend. Maybe you’ve decided to do a diet on Friday but since the weekend is coming up, you can tell yourself to indulge during the weekend and come Monday you’ll be stricter. Monday means business, start of yet another work week. It is a start of something new.

For me Mondays will mean weigh-ins and goal setting. Every Monday, I will stand on my digital scale (we bought a new one, by the way) and force myself to look at my current weight. Then I will measure, take body pictures and, finally, GASP! I will report everything here. I will call Monday my Accountability Day. In the blog entry I will also state what I plan to achieve in the coming week regarding activity. I’ve retrieved my copies of Zumba and Callanetics from my old laptop and there is actual space in our office that is not covered by unpacked boxes now so I have no more excuses.

So, let’s begin this week right:

Starting Weight: 149 lbs

Current Weight: 142.2

Measurements

Bust: 38

Waist: 33

Hips: 47

Thigh: 25

Arm: 13

I’m quite happy with the weight loss so far. I am not even on Induction levels of carbs but I am still getting results. That’s very encouraging because it means I don’t have to limit my eating habits too much in order to lose weight. However, it enrages me that my thigh can wear a 25-inch-waist jeans which means I need two pairs to look decent. ARGH!

WARNING: Picture time!

Goals for this week would be to do Zumba Basics and Cardio every other day for half an hour each session. I could probably increase when my fitness level gets better. I have to confess that I am a big couch potato. I spend my entire day in front of my computer, something I plan to lessen as well.

I’ve already done my Zumba for the day and wow! It made me sweat and upped my heartbeat and that was just from learning the steps. So, I’m looking forward to doing more of this and maybe if I can look half as good as the instructors on the DVD I will be a happy woman.

So that’s all for today. What are your goals for the week? Are you doing weigh-ins? Please share in the comments.

Preparation is Key

For most of us, doing a low carb diet not only changes what we eat but how we live. In some cases this can be a little stressful as lifestyle changes often are.

When I began low carb almost a year ago, I didn’t go out to eat in fear of eating off-plan accidentally. This stopped me and my husband from doing one of the things we really enjoyed. We loved restaurant hopping and trying out new dishes – come to think of it, I partially blame that for making my weight balloon like it did. But when I was finally brave enough to try a restaurant, I realized it was only a matter of reading the menu carefully, not being afraid to ask questions and special requests.

Another thing that helped me was making a large batch of a dish and keeping the leftovers for those times when I didn’t feel like cooking. Trust me, that happened a lot. Mini cheesecakes are perfect for a grab and go breakfast with a nice cup of coffee. I made more than three meals out of Lindasue’s Coney Island Chili recipe. SugarFreesheila’s Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes were a must have in my fridge because it was not only delicious but I could eat with just butter and cinnamon or go crazy with cream cheese mousse and sugar free jam. Whenever I manage to convince my husband to make his awesome burgers, he would make ten to twelve patties out of two pounds of ground beef and I absolutely LOVE these burgers and have been known to eat one for every meal!

These were timesavers and also lifesavers. I’ve been in that situation where I just didn’t wanna prepare something and to have leftovers in the fridge helped me out big time because it prevented me from eating off plan.

Planning and preparing for the week ahead will stop you from making poor choices when it comes to eating. This is very important and the key to succeed in this way of eating (WOE).

Tips:

1. Make sure you have space in your fridge or freezer.

2. Invest in small, one-serving microwaveable plastic containers and zip lock storage bags to store your food in properly.

3. Make a recipe you LOVE. By love, I mean something you wouldn’t mind eating more than once in a week. For me it would be burgers and SFS pancakes but I am willing to try out other recipes. I’ve goofed up and made large batches of things I only liked and I didn’t eat it so it was very wasteful. Shame on me.

4.Portion control is very important! Just because you have 24 mini cheesecakes in the fridge doesn’t mean you can eat three for breakfast, two for lunch and two for dinner. Stop yourself! I know it’s difficult especially with low carb desserts like the cheesecake or those yummy cream cheese balls but do practice portion control. Personally I allow myself ONE mini cheesecake every day, not every meal. If I want two, I wait until later on in the day to see if I still want it. If you are one of those people who feels like portion control is impossible, then I suggest you don’t do low carb desserts or sweets for this exercise. A nice stir fry with beef and vegetables might be a better choice.

5. Eat. Don’t forget to eat what you have painstakingly prepared. Don’t be wasteful. When you open your fridge to look for some grub, really look at what you’ve made and decide. Oftentimes, I would open and close the refrigerator lots of times because I “couldn’t” find anything to eat, which is not true. So eat!

So arm yourself to protect against off plan eating by planning ahead and preparing your meals ahead of time. This will make our journey bump-free and stress-free and I don’t know about you but that’s the way I like it.

A Necessary Evil

Moving is probably one of the most stressful things a couple has to face together. First there's looking for a place to move. Once you've found that "perfect place" you have to pack up your stuff, everything you own into boxes. Then you have to haul those boxes into the new "perfect place" which, once you get used to, you'll call home. But the delightful journey doesn't end there. You also have to unpack. But no matter how many times you unpack your stuff you always see, to be digging through another one to find a tooth brush, or a universal adapter for your air conditioning unit or for tissues.

In the close to two years that we've been married, my husband and I have survived two moves. The first one just a block away after six months of marriage. After a year and a half we've moved to yet another house. A smaller one, in fact, that couldn't hold all of our possessions. My mother thanked us for the "new" wardrobes we gave them plus a generator set, a counter top, plastic tables and chairs and a sofa with two foot stools. Despite this, our new place is still in shambles. Our entire ground floor is dedicated to kitchen and dining room. We have no living room furniture down there. Our two fridges, standing freezer, stove and counter tops filled up more than half of the floor space. I already desperately miss my make shift kitchen. Many people has told us I could film my own cooking show there. Watch out Giada de Laurentis! Alas, we had to get rid of one of the counter tops that made up our "island".

This long introduction is not an excuse. I am telling you this right now. It is not an excuse that I've eaten off plan for two days. I take full responsibility. But when you're so stressed and cannot find cooking utensils and all the fridges are taped close, what can you do? So yes, I ate off plan. I am saying this out loud, to the few who will read this so I can take responsibility for it. There. It is out there. I can start again.

Because isn't this low carb journey just like any other? We all take it one step at a time. Here's my next step: grilled chicken with calamansi and soy sauce. No rice, please.

Back to Basic

New Look

Check out my new style! I'm loving it. I like the simplicity of the black text against white background but I also adore the whimsy from the font I used.

New Page
Check out the new page I created to thank all the people who kept me from going insane this past year. I don't even wanna know where I'd be now without these people... probably 50 pounds heavier. I don't even wanna imagine that! So thank you! Thank you!

More Updates
We are in the middle of moving to a new apartment. It is smaller but closer to places like grocery stores, pharmacy, church, etc. so life has been a little crazy around here. We've been packing and moving stuff.

How can two people accumulate so much stuff in less than two years, you ask? I honestly have no idea. But here we are with two fridges, a standing fridge, dining set that can sit six people, a couch, two footstools, two wardrobes, a recliner, a HUGE generator set... it goes on and on.

Moving day is less than 48 hours away. Wish us luck.

Eating low carb has been a challenge with the move, by the way. Tonight I had to cook eggs with sour cream and cheese using a plastic fork to move the eggs around while they cooked. I packed away all our cooking utensils including knives. Thank God for plastic forks. Thank God for take out.

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and here's to an awesome week ahead!

New Year, Old Blog, Same Me

Realizations

When I moved my blog to a different site in October 2010, I didn't know that I would take a step back from my low carb journey.

What began as a week-long birthday celebration turned out to carb loading and cravings and bad feelings all in all. I realized a lot of things about myself. I realized that eating carbs makes me depressed and a witch with a B. My sleep cycle was erratic. I was practically in sugar comatose almost all the time. It depressed me even more that I had everything I needed to hop on the low carb wagon ANY TIME I wanted yet I chose evil sugary food every chance I got.

2010 In Review

It was in February 2010 when I started this blog. I was 155 lbs and felt like a big fat ugly slob. I didn't like myself. I didn't like the fact that my thighs rubbed together every time I took a step. I didn't like that I couldn't wear the cute outfits I owned. I didn't like that I felt so lazy all the time, needing naps in the middle of the day.

I've always known that my self-esteem is largely rooted in how I looked. Some might call me shallow and I would agree. I liked looking good. I took pride in my appearance, a lot of pride. It's not only because I wanted to be noticed but because it made me feel good to look good.

So that Saturday night in February, I decided unequivocally to do low carb. And it worked. The first two weeks I was on Atkins Induction,I lost 14 pounds! The loss wasn't visible but I could feel my clothes loosening up, giving me space to breathe. The weight loss slowed down but I didn't mind.

In July, my husband and I went on a trip to Singapore and even though I promised not to do hard core low carbing, I was still mindful of what I ate. When we got back from that trip, I was back on track.

My downfall was the October trip. I was out of control. I would order dessert with every meal, sugary cakes and cookies, ice cream, cheesecake, anything I wanted. When we got back from the week-long trip, I tried getting back on track but I couldn't. I would still make low carb meals but I would eat off plan during the Saturdays or when I go out with my family. I welcomed donuts and spaghetti, white rice and other sweets like they were long lost buddies of mine-- with arms wide open I embraced them. I embraced the evil.

Towards the end of 2010 I tried desperately to get back but the Holidays were coming and I just piled up excuses and more excuses on top of my already high in carbohydrates plate. I wanted to get a grip. I wanted to stop. I was in a downward spiral and instead of holding on, I find myself letting go. I was back where I started, depressed, feeling bad about myself and, worst of all, I had gained back 19 of the 25 lbs I've lost.

Moving Along in 2011

Today is Day Four of my Low Carb journey. I didn't go back to Induction levels in fear of failing disastrously. But I plan to lower my carb counts and avoid the stuff that make me crave evil sugar.

It is disappointing to be at almost the same weight as I was this time last year but I did this all with open eyes and didn't stop myself. It is all my fault. And only I can fix it.

I'm still thinking of my goals for this year but for sure it will include exercise and activities. I really would like to spend less time on the computer and quitting Facebook games will really help with that. I would like to try Zumba and walking at least 30 minutes a day. Once I have finalized my goals and action plan, I will post it here again.

Happy New Year, everyone and may this year be kinder to all of us!

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:



The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,400 times in 2010. That's about 11 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 51 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 132 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 71mb. That's about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was October 31st with 167 views. The most popular post that day was SugarFreeSheila's Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were lowcarbfriends.com, lowcarbpinay.blogspot.com, lusciouslowcarb.blogspot.com, networkedblogs.com, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for low carb peanut butter pie, low carb pinay, deep fried bacon wrapped scallops, low carb pie recipes, and crustless peanut butter pie.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

SugarFreeSheila's Amazing Induction Friendly Pancakes April 2010
12 comments

2

Crustless Peanut Butter Pie November 2010
10 comments

3

About Low Carb Pinay October 2010
2 comments

4

OMG It's OMM! September 2010
1 comment

5

Weighing In October 2010

 

Here's to a better 2011 and more lost pounds AND exercise! What's your resolution?