Maintenance is Not What it Sounds Like

Maintenance on a diet is for the birds. I find myself falling back into the old carbohydrate habits. It started with a few crackers in the soup, a bite size candy bar after physical therapy (my reward). Now there is a can of ginger cookies, the chocolate ones haven't been opened yet. At church last night, they had mashed potatoes, green peas, roast beef, roll, salad, cake, and tea. I ate the whole thing. I haven't eaten that much at once in quite a while. Although, when I got home, I got very sick and lost most of it.

This morning, I had my eggs and cottage cheese. I had a healthy soup for lunch, but then I smelled the ginger when I opened the cabinet to get something else out. This is so difficult. I cannot have anything around, or I will eat it. What is a girl to do?
Ray seems to be okay, but I have seen him in the cookies too.

I am going to be by myself next week. First thing is to make sure there is nothing to eat that I shouldn't. We will see how that goes

Maintaining the Status Quo

So far Ray and I have been able to maintain our weight loss, even through Thanksgiving.

We have even eaten out a couple of times. We just don't eat those high-carb sides on the menu.

I have been in physical therapy 3 times a week to strengthen my core muscles. They think that is why I am falling down. I still have little head rushes and get dizzy. I am pretty sure that doesn't have anything to do with my core muscles.

Both of us are too large for our clothes. Ray has had to buy some since it has been many many years since he was this small. I, however, have clothing from size 8-18. But I am getting into smaller sizes. I love it when I try something on and it fits or is too large.

I hope that some of you are following along. I really would like to hear your experience with weight loss.

Later, Barbara

Maintaining the Status Quo

So far Ray and I have been able to maintain our weight loss, even through Thanksgiving.

We have even eaten out a couple of times. We just don't eat those high-carb sides on the menu.

I have been in physical therapy 3 times a week to strengthen my core muscles. They think that is why I am falling down. I still have little head rushes and get dizzy. I am pretty sure that doesn't have anything to do with my core muscles.

Both of us are too large for our clothes. Ray has had to buy some since it has been many many years since he was this small. I, however, have clothing from size 8-18. But I am getting into smaller sizes. I love it when I try something on and it fits or is too large.

I hope that some of you are following along. I really would like to hear your experience with weight loss.

Later, Barbara

Back on the Plan

One of my Pen & Ink Pictures

Ray and I went to Kentucky for the week of Thanksgiving. Needless to say, we did not stay on the plan. The difference was we didn't overeat like we normally do. We ate one plate at Thanksgiving. When we got home, Ray had maintained his weight.

I, however, lost three pounds. I went in to get my Protime done today because I am on Coumadin. They always check my weight, heart rate, and blood pressure, so I am using their scales for my official weight. The weight is put into my medical records. That makes a total of 26 lbs. since we started. Ray has lost 37 lbs.

We are back on the plan. We ate cheese and pork rinds in the car coming home from Kentucky. We stopped and Ray got a hamburger and a salad for me at Wendy's. He only ate one piece of bread and I couldn't eat the whole salad. It had chicken in it and was a good salad. I love being able to use regular salad dressing.  I love being able to eat butter. The only thing I really don't like is 'no bread'.

I have learned to make roll-ups with ham or turkey, and cheese. I buy the pack of cheese slices that has 4 different cheeses to make a variety. Sometimes I add a little mayonnaise or Grey Poupon Mustard on the inside. Sometimes I mix the mustard and mayonnaise to make a little dip for the roll-ups.

I have been buying frozen stir-fry vegetables to put in my soups. Sometimes I take a couple of chicken breasts and put them in the slow cooker with a little olive oil and a whole onion sliced up. I put some salt and pepper. When the chicken is almost done, I take it out and cut into smaller pieces or shred it with forks. I put in about 4-6 cups of water and 4 bouillon cubes (chicken or beef depending on what I use for the meat). Sometimes I will add garlic or another spice that I think might  change it up some. The stir-fry veggies make for a good flavor in the soup. When it is almost ready, I add a can of diced tomatoes. Sometimes I add 1 oz. of cream cheese or some cheddar cheese (or both). I try not to eat more than 2 cups. No crackers. That is difficult, because I really love crackers in soup.

If you are just reading this, or if you are trying to top our weight loss, let me know. Leave a comment, join the discussion. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, just share your experience. Or if you want to Be a guest blogger on this site. We would love to have you share your story. Take care, and Low Carb happy eating.

I AM VERY ANGRY - PEOPLE CAN BE CRUEL

I read something this morning that totally wiped me out. It also made me very angry. It is an article about Obesity by Shannon Brownlee in the New York Times. It is totally heartless and mean. Ms Brownlee obviously doesn't have a clue what it means to be overweight. She suggests that we treat obesity like smoking and punish obese people for being fat. Someone being fat is not going to affect someone else, you can't die from lung cancer from breathing the same air as an obese person.

This is just another thing that we can make people who have a problem about. It is not like they haven't been shunned enough, she is trying to make them feel even worse for being overweight. Doesn't she know that obesity isn't at all like smoking. Especially now, when we are no longer bombarded by endless commercials and advertisements about smoking. When I smoked, I tried lots of times to quit, but all those commercials showing how 'cool' it was just enforced my behavior. Then, they banned cigarette commercials, I quit and it worked. I haven't even had an urge to smoke in years.

This country is constantly bombarded by food advertisements. Not to mention cooking programs that promote butter and sweets. We have famous chefs that are promoting cooking that is "retro." "Use  butter and sugar, it doesn't hurt you. You deserve this." Do we deserve all those calories? Just sitting here watching TV, in the last 3 minutes, I have seen commercials for cookies, sugar laden 'healthy' cereal, chunky cheap soup full of fat and calories, fiber, vitamins, chocolate truffles, and even an insurance commercial that mentions 'ramen noodles.'

Everything we do seems to be centered around food, our holidays, business, dates, government, shopping, watching TV, etc. When you are constantly offered food, how do you expect people to react? When you try a diet, there are always people around who are trying to upset it. Don't they know that if you eat that piece of chocolate or pie, there goes the diet?

Ray and I were doing so well, until we went to the convention in Richmond. There was the most wonderful piece of chocolate cake that we have ever seen set on the table in front of us. How could we not eat it? The awful thing is, it was like a kick start of sugar. The next day when I went around all the booths at the convention, I was practically bombarded with candy at every booth. I think they were all trying to get rid of all their Halloween candy. I kept reaching down in the bag during the meeting, getting chocolate to eat. I craved it and I found out that Ray was doing the same thing.

When we got home, there was no more chocolate, but I found some wonderful fruit cake that I put in the freezer last Christmas. You can imagine how that tasted. A little freezer burn, but what is that for a person on a diet? Just a little bite. So good. Then, after quite a few 'bites' all the fruit cake is gone. Now I am craving and starting the life plan all over again.

Please don't punish overweight people, we punish ourselves enough. It is not like people haven't made fun of us or belittled us all our lives, with comments like "it is just baby fat,' 'she is pretty in the face, if she would just lose weight, she would be a beautiful girl,' 'have a cookie dear, just one won't hurt,' 'You are not overweight, just under-tall,' or my step-dad's favorite 'if someone told you to haul ass, you would have to make two trips."

How do you think it makes someone feel to be constantly be berated about their weight on one hand and then on the other hand, told that just a little won't hurt you? A 'normal' weight or a 'thin' person wouldn't know how hard this is. Quit offering me food all the time. Quit making those hurtful remarks that make us depressed and just want to fill the void with food.

Making people feel bad about their addictions, just feeds the addictions. It doesn't matter whether it is cigarettes, food, alcohol, or drugs.

One of the best quotes I have come up with is "When there is a choice, be kind." There is a choice and we should all be kind to each other.

This is the link to the article: I really hate to put this on there and promote her hate speech, but you all need to see this. Please feel free to make comments here. This really needs to be talked about. What is your opinion?

Send this link to others and let them chime in with their opinion. I feel like the guy in the movie that said "I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!"

We need to make obesity more socially unwelcome, says @ShannonBrownlee http://ti.me/vUwoIg via @TIMEIdeas

By the way, I apologize for using a couple of mild swear words, the effect of the words would have been diminished if I had changed them. I don't normally use them, but there are some that I consider mild and not hurtful. There are some that seem to be everyday words for some people, but not for me.

We had an OOPS!

   Ray and I went to the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) Meeting on Monday and came back on Wednesday. It started with a dinner at the Marriott. We were go good during dinner, we ate the chicken and broccoli, I ate the roll. Then came the dessert: the most heavenly CHOCOLATE cake that I have ever eaten. We both tried just a taste and that was the last thing we thought about until the plate was clean. OOPS! It was so good, we were willing to put a couple of pounds back on just for the experience.
   Tuesday morning, we were so good, I had cottage cheese and Ray had boiled eggs and cheese. Then we went over to the conference. They had a room set up for the churches and Baptist organizations that were there to show off their venues. There were Christian universites, college, and businesses. Each booth had candy, not just candy, CHOCOLATE candy. Of course, each booth had lovely people that loved giving candy to us children who could not resist. I did come home with lots of grocery bags. Unfortunately, we didn't come home with any candy, we ate it all before we left Richmond.

    Since I have had a gastric bypass (2001), there is a thing that happens to me when I eat sugar. I really don't want to mention it here, but it is not pleasant. When we got home yesterday evening, I made my famous carbohydrate-free soup. Today, we are back on the Plan.
     I am being painfully honest about our slip, because I want you all to see that no matter how good you think you are, you can slip occasionally. But, you can get up, dust yourself off, and get right back on that horse (or diet). Never say die! We both know that we have to be careful for the rest of our lives, but we also know that we are not perfect, we are human. The thing is not to give up.
     To date, Ray has lost 37 lbs and I have lost 26 lbs. I haven't weighed this morning. I am having a blood test at the Riverside Cancer Center this afternoon and they will weigh me. I will let you know the results.
     Remember, you are not perfect, you may slip sometimes. Lets see if we can keep this going. Your comments are welcome.

Another Week, More Pounds Down

Ray and I have been doing so well on our new life plan. So far, he has lost 36 lbs and I have lost 27 lbs. Neither one of us are craving carbohydrates anymore. 


Last night, I put a T-Bone in the skillet with just a little olive oil. I cut up a whole onion and added it to the pan. I put on salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. I had taken it out of the freezer and put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes to thaw it out some. I braised it in the skillet with the onions. When everything was browned on both sides, I covered it and turned the stove to low. I let it cook a little while, plated it up and we really enjoyed it. I only cooked one steak. Ray ate the large part and I ate the small part. Oh, we had a small salad with real salad dressing, too. I just love this diet.


We had a situation today. We had a wonderful cheeseburger with sauteed onions. I am not too fond of hamburger but this was great. I guess I am a pretty good cook. Later we had to attend a deacon party at a friends home. It was covered dish. It really was difficult. They did have shrimp cocktails, just left off that sugary sauce. I had some of my friend, Judy's famous Texas dip. It was cream cheese, sour cream, chipped beef, and seasoning. She was amazed that it was one of the few things we could eat. I have to admit, I did cheat a little. Someone had cornbread cake and I had a 1"x1" piece, it was awesome. I have to have the recipe to make some for Thanksgiving at my brother's home. I may even put it on my Thoughts of Pink blog if I get it. It probably wouldn't be appropriate for this one.


I fell  in the back yard a week or so ago and really hurt both knees, my shins, my hip and arms. Now I have to do physical therapy. I did it last week but will miss most of it this week. I have to go to Richmond for a couple of days for the BGAV Convention. Tomorrow night is a big dinner. Hopefully, there will be meat and veggies that I can eat. Whoever picks out the food always picks out an awfully sinful dessert. That will be the big test. 


I found that I really like salad. I bought some cole slaw mix and mixed it with lettuce, cheese, chopped eggs, bacon, onions, sunflower seeds. I then took my little hand chopper and chopped it all up with some Blue Cheese dressing. It was wonderful. I made some for Ray with Thousand Island dressing. It was finely chopped. I actually had some left over and mixed it up. I have some wonderful glass storage bowls that have snap tight lids. It was still fresh the next day. Of course, I didn't mix the tomatoes in until I plated it up.

 Guess I better go for now. Let me know how you are doing.