October 31st. 2009

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 1/2 a tomato
Lunch: 1/2 pond cheese haburger steak and green salad with Stevia sweetened sesame dressing
Snack: Protein shake
Dinner: 1LC cocnonut haystack disaster and some thinly sliced beef

Exercise: Morning 2.8 K walk
             Evening 8 laps around the track
Water: over 64 ozs

October 30th, 2009

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 1/2 small tomato
Lunch: Leftover hamburger steak with grilled onions and gouda cheese
Snack: protein shake
Dinner: Cabbage and Beef yakiniku

Exercise: 8 laps
Water: over 64 ozs

October 29th, 2009

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 1/2 a small tomato
Lunch: Protein shake
Dinner: Egg and Veggie soup and a Pork burger spiced with cumin and tobanjan and smothered in gouda, sauteed onions and tomatoes

Exercise
Morning 2.8 K walk
Night 8 laps around the track

water: over 64 ozs

October 28th, 2009

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 1/2 tomato
Lunch: Atkins Bar
Snack: Protein Shake
Dinner: LC Sukiyaki

Exercise: 12 laps around the track
over 64 oz of water

OCtober 27th, 2009

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 1/2 a sliced tomato
Lunch: Atkins BAr
Snack: Portein shake with MTC oil
Dinner: Left over stirfry from last night

exercise 8 laps around the track
water intake over 64 ozs

Coconut Cup cakes with Cream Cheese frosting

Ingredients
1/4 cup of coconut flour
1T of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup Davinci's Coconut Syrup (Sugar free)
1/2 of coconut oil
6 eggs
1/2 cup cocnut milk
1tsp of vanillia

Directions
Mix all wet ingredients together, add dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Pour into cup cake tins and bake at 375 degrees F for 18 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pack of cream cheese
dash of softened butter
2 T of your favorite sweetener
Mix the ingredients together and frost the cup cakes as pictured above.

October 26th, 2009

Breakfast: Thinly sliced and rendered pork with some leeks and red peppers scrambled with three eggs and garnished with gouda cheese and tomato slivers. (half a very small tomato) 5.5 carbs

Lunch: Protein shake Chocolate banana cream with a teaspoon of MCT oil and 1 tablespoon of organic coconut oil. 7 carbs

Dinner: Pork stirfry with green pepper, leeks, almonds, and broccoli.

Desert: 1/4 cup of steamed sweet potato with a dab of butter and a dash of salt.

Exercise: 2.8 kilometers.. we are still on the recieving end of the typhoon so I mad my route a little longer.. I should have a 3.2 kilometer route figured out tomorrow.

Water: more than 64 ozs

October25th, 2009

Breakfast: Protein Shake
Snack: 1 1/2 LC cup cakes
Lunch: Hamburger steak with cheese and a Coke Zero
Snack Atkins Bar
Dinner: Stewed cabbage with a grilled chicken breast placed on top smothered in sugar free tomato sauce and gouda cheese thrown under the broiler for a minute or so to make it bubbly and delish :)

I am sorry about not posting the cup cake recipe.. my computer with my SD card reader bit the bullet.. so I need to go buy a cheap card reader sometime this week.. Hope all is well!

ps exercise..there is a typhoon off the coast of Japan so the track that I usually walk on was a pond.. so we took to the streets and I walked 2.2 Kilometers. I will try to figure out a route that is 3.2 K tmrw :)

October 21st through 24th, 2009

Sorry about the lack of uploading..have had some stuff that had to get done....

Breakfasts: 3 eggs and some bacon

Lunches: Protein Shakes

Dinners: Hamburger steaks and small green salads

Snacks: Almonds or Atkins bar

Exercise..every night 8 laps around the track :)

Lack of posting got my creative juices going made some new LC cupcakes and a cake..will post later

October 20th, 2009

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 3 slices of bacon
Lunch: Atkins Bar
Snack 3:00: Small chicken breast pan fried with steamed broccoli
Dinner: Chicken breast with more left over steamed brocoli

Exercise 8 laps around the track
more than 64 oz of water consumed

no pictures...problems with the ole camera..LOL

I am back :) October 19th, 2009

Well, I am back from the misery of the mumps. During my hiatus I did not stay on plan nor did I go on a binge. My weight however definately changed.. for the worse! During the middle of last week I got on the scale and I weighed 412 lbs up 5 lbs from my last weigh in. Needless to say I was shocked, disappointed, dismayed and every other negative and depressive adjective in the English language. This caused me to ponder long and hard about what I was doing, where I wanted to be and who I wanted to be come.

I realized that I had come very far on the journey of becoming healthy but I also realized it was time to shake things up. No, I am not changing diet plans! I will continue to eat fresh vegetables and good cuts of meat. But I must break through this plateau! To that end I have decuided to increase exercise to a minimum of 45 minutes a day and I have decuided to make a short term goal of losing 60 lbs in 4 months. See in Febuary I will be taking my family to Hawaii and then to my home town for a 3 week vacation.

I decuided I needed a reward to encourage me in this endeavor. I asked my daughter, as we were walking what I should do as a reward for accomplishing this goal. She said, " Eat a chocolate cake!" argh I thought.."No!" I said. Then she said, "Okay, strawberry cake!" LOL Oh my goodness! I thought to my self. NO! It can't be anything edible, maybe and activity or something that I really want, that isn't a necesity! So my wonderful daughter said, "I know Dad, Sky diving!" I started to laugh, I don't know if that would be a reward or deterent..LOL So now I am trying to decuide between going deep sea fishing in Hawaii or buying an I-pod nano that I can use while exercising.

Now, for the next part..acountability.. one of the reasons I have been succuessful so far is because of this blog. So I will hold myself accountable here. On my daily menus I will log my exercise. For example, Today, I walked 8 laps with my daughter. IF I go to the gym I will log that as well. I will not however get into the nitty gritty of my exercise..  Wish me luck! PS I am going to use 412 lbs as the starting spot for this goal.. I am afraid to get on the scale!!!!

Today's Menu

Breakfast: 3 eggs and 3 slices of bacon
Snack: Protein shake with MCT oil and Coconut oil
Lunch: Steamed Curried pork and broccoli
Dinner: More Steamed Curried Pork and broccoli

Exercising
8 laps around the track with my daughter

PS
I went to make some hard boiled eggs before I went exercising. I forgot that I had put them on. Came home from walking and walked into the kitchen that looked like a war zone.. Warning! Leaving eggs in the shell, in a pot of boiling water = egg shards all over the floor, ceiling and walls!

October 12th, 2009

Breakfast: Protein Shake with Coconut oil and MCT oil
Lunch: Protein Shake with Coconut oil and MCT oil
Dinner: Stewed cabbage and pork (comfort food) 1/2 a nut butter cookie

Wow, my jaw hurts!! Daddy, my jaw hurts, too!! uhoh.. Yes, I caught the mumps(for the first time) with my 7 year old daughter so I will be taking a week off of blogging ;(. I will try to update during the week if I can..but for some reason..I just don't think I will be able to.

Have a great day and see you in a week!!

Homemade Nut Butter cookies

6 oz of almonds
6 oz of peanuts
2/3 cup of sweetener ( I used 1/3 splenda and 1/3 Lan Guo)
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanillia
1 egg

Put nuts in a food pro and let it run until you get nut butter (about 5 minutes)
*interesting note 12 oz of nuts = 1 cup of nut butter

Mix all of the remaining ingredients together. Make ping pong ball sized balls of dough. Place the balls of dough on a cookie sheet and flatten to a nice cookie size with your hand. Finally, use a fork to make the trademark peanut butter cookie indentions on the cookie. Place in the oven @350 for 12 minutes. Take out and let cool and then enjoy :)

October 11th, 2009

Breakfast: Protein Shake with MCT oil and Coconut oil
Lunch: Steamed spicy chicken and brocolli with a little cocnut oil
Dinner: Hamburger steak and 2 homemade peanut butter cookies
Snack: Atkins Bar

October 10th, 2009

Breakfast: Protein shake and 1 tsp of MCT oil

Lunch: OH MY GOODNESS Seseame and Coconut battered pan seared chicken tenders drizzled with a reduction of sundried tomatoes, coconut oil, cream and herbs and spices with a side of green salad.
Dinner:Salad topped with pork shabushabu
Late night snack: Some left over chicken tenders and some LC sauce

Wow, my culinary creative mojo was on full bore today!! I dredged som chicken tenders in ground sesame and coconut flour and pan fried them in some olive oil to perfect crispy juiciness! (is that a word :D) While I was preparing the chicken I took two sun dried tomatoes and put them in two cups of soft boiling water, after 15 minutes I took them out, sliced them and put them right back into the water that I softened them up in. To that I added some fresh heavy cream a little homeade chicken stock and let reduce. Then I added salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic and Italian herbs and let reduce to a nice thick concistency and drizzled it over the pan fried chicken. All I can say is that this is a "Winner"!

The 6 Week Cure for the Middle Aged Middle

Well, it is time for me to jump on the bandwagon and give a review of this new book.

This book is authored in two parts. The first part being the science or gobbedely gook of their new plan. Part Deux teaches about the "Cure". In the beginning, I was a little disappointed about all the science in the first half as I was giddy to get to the actual plan. However, After reading the simplicity of the plan I went back through the science to try to better understand how the "Cure" works and why.

The plan is really geared to those that have too much visceral fat. Meaning those thin and larger people alike that have fat in the wrong place around the middle. There are some excellent resources and insight and some really good quoteable material to make the reading enjoyable and informative.

What does the plan do? In the beginning, the plans aim is to clean out and defat the liver, to restore it to pristine condition. The extra benefits include weight loss but healthiest benefit is the reduction of visceral vat. Continuing with the plan will lead to a healthier showing on blood work up tests ie good cholesterol up bad cholesterol down and an overall balancing of your blood health markers.

Here are some of my favorite quotes!

"...doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the different result is the definition of insanity."

"This is not so much a weight-loss book as a body-rehabilitation plan that will trim the fat from your middle and leave your lean body stronger."

"-that hormonal signals influence fat stores more than exercise or calories."

This book was informative and packed with insight, and "real life" usable material. IF you have not read it.. pick up a copy today. For those that are looking to get back on track or those that need to lose visceral fat otherwise known as the "Middle aged middle" this book may work for you. First thing I would recomend is finding out if you have an overbundance of visceral fat. Talk with your medical professional or simply follow the self test as outlined in the book to see what is in your middle!

Ocober 9th, 2009

Breakfast: Atkins Bar
Lunch: Pork Stirfry and green salad
Snack Atkins Bar
Dinner: Spicy sauteed chicken tenders and left over stirfry

For my newest pork stirfry I added the last of my mashed garlic cauliflower and 2 eggs to it..it was the funkiest rissoto like texture..but was definately delicous :)

For my evening LC dessert, I sat down and read, the Eades newest book. I will make a short review of it later, today.

October 8th, 2009

Breakfast: Thinly sliced pork, mashed cauliflower and sauteed greens

Snack: Atkins bar
Lunch: Protein Shake with 1 T of coconut oil and 1 tsp of MCT oil
Dinner: Refeed dinner

October 5th and 6th, 2009

Pork Stir Fry Round 1

Pork Stirfry Round 2

Breakfast: Protein shake with 1 T of cocnut oil and 1 tsp of MCT oil

Lunch: Pork stirfry
Dinner: Protein Shake
Dessert: Atkins bar

October 7th, 2009

Pork Stirfry Round Three

Breakfast: Protein shake with 1 T of cocnut oil and 1 tsp of MCT oil
Lunch: Pork stirfry
Snack: left over pork stirfry
Dinner: Mashed cauliflower, green salad and steak
Dessert: Atkins bar

Today, there is a huge typhoon coming so we decuided to celebrate my son and daughter's birthday since my classes were cancelled. The typhoon should be here in about 30 minutes..hopefully it is not tht bad!!

Don't you love the many versions of stirfry?? Each time I change it a little by adding or subtracting veggies, spices and or oils. Quick, healthy, delicious, and low carb.. perfect for me!!

October 4th Sports Day, 2009

The red team is pictured linng up for the tug of war event

Pictures taken by my daughter..sorry no action shots

Breakfast: Atkins Bar.. really busy hehe

Lunch: 2 sausages, Chicken Nanban, fried chicken, and beef rolls and some green salad

Dinner: Leftovers from lunch and a green salad

Well, the Sports Day finished well. My children's team won the day so they were very happy :)

They loved the LC bento (lunch) although they did have rice balls and pasta as well.

October 3rd, 2009 Preperation for Sports day

A mountain of Coconut flour fried Chicken

Green been and carrot wrapped in thinly sliced beef asian style

My Dinner of Chicken Nanban and steamed brocolli

Breakfast: 3 eggs with bacon and gouda cheese
Lunch: Protein Shake
Dinner: Chicken Nanban and steamed brocolli ( Chicken Nanban is a local favorite dish that consists of fried chicken that is soaked in a tangy sweet and sour sauce and then topped with Tarter sauce)

In Japan, during the autumn there are school sports days where the community gathers together to celebrate activity. It is amazing to me at the level of community participation reguardless of age. I will post some pictures from the sports day when I blog tomorrow.  Anyway, today I cooked 10 lbs of chicken, made some pasta salads, prepared fruit dishes in prep for the big day. That is why this post is late..hehe

October 2nd, 2009

Breakfast: 3eggs with gouda cheese and bacon

Snack: Atkins bar

Lunch: Left over Beef Teriyaki and a green salad

Dinner...hamburger steak and green salad

Exercise: Bike 30 minutes Walking??? no walking the track was rather submerged in water..

October 1st, 2009

Breakfast: Protein shake
Lunch: Hamburger steak smothered in cheese, bacon and an egg and a cucumber annd cherry tomato salad
Dinner: Beef Teriyaki and a green salad
Snack: 2 Atkins Bars... These are the first bars that I have had in 3 months. I will use these as safety foods..or periodic snacks..  I will switch back to nuts and fresh fruit as I get closer to my target weight.

I just recieved a shipment from Vitacost so I will be adding coconut oil and MCT oil to my shakes when I start the Eades plan.

October 1st, 2009 Weigh in...

Well, September flew by and the tides of Autumn are rolling in. I love the changing of seasons. Autumn is my favorite! Japan in Autumn is breathtaking, the colors of mountains turn from deep green to vibrant reds, yellows and gold! The seasonal food in Japan is also very tempting including mountain vegetables, fruits, Matsutake mushrooms, Sanma ( a kind of fish), Salmon,  Oden and various kinds of clay pot dishes. President Obama said, "We can change" my local mayor two years ago ran on a slogan of, "We will change!" and during this equinox change I must change some things as well!

 As you know I broke my rule of not weighing myself during mid month. The main reason I did this was because I felt something had slowed. Sure enough when I got on the scale it read the exact same as my previous weigh in two weeks before. So I switched things up a little and went more to a liquid diet for most of my meals and one regular meal per day.  Staying true to the LC lifestyle during this plateau! Oh my goodness! Yes, I hit my first plateau. All the sudden I questioned everything that I had been doing to lose weight with great sucuess for the past 9 months. The blasted scale doesn't move and I am thrown into panick mode.

Not losing any weight for several weeks was really depressing. At times I really wanted to give up! I also thought about changing my diet plan. My mind was on overload worrying about whether the scale was going to start moving again. In the end,  I am really happy to have been able to keep on working towards a healthy lifestyle while not going off the deep end and binging. I mean there were a couple times that I ate way too many nuts.. like last night when I ate 4 ozs of pistacios and 3 pringle potato chips and had a bite of my daughters Kit Kat. Actually, that was the worst binge in 8 months!! The other times were eating an extra ounce of nuts here or there. (that was the first bite of sugar chocolate in 9 months ; ( )

What caused the plateau?? I don't know! But here is my plan for October. Increase exercise to 30 minutes on a bike and about 2.5 miles per day walking. Also I want to make sure that I stay hydrated so I will be logging my water consumption.  Also, for thirty days I will not eat any nuts! On October 19th I plan on starting the 6 week Dr. Eades plan to see if I can make sure that I keep on the downward trend. I will post my results and I will post my weight on a weekly basis during the 6 weeks on the plan so you can see the results.

The most important thing in losing weight is staying positive and sticking what ever plan that you chose. Changing things up can be good. But must be done with great thought and planning and not on a whim. Now to the results for September. In the end the scale DID move in the right direction! I weighed in at 407.6 lbs. For a loss of 6.2 lbs.  Hopefully, next month will be better!