R5 Phase 3 Day 3

Weight  132.2

Not doing too bad so far.   I did stray a bit tonight.  When I added up my calories for the day I was well under 900.  Stomach was a bit growly tonight so I had some macadamia nuts.  I've been safe with that in the past so here's hoping I still am.


Throughout the day - (120 calories)
6 tbsp half & half in 3 mugs of coffee

Lunch - (304 calories)
**Garden Salad with Roasted Turkey
130 g Jennie-O Roasted Turkey Breast
75 g Baby Spinach
40 g tomato
40 g sweet mini peppers
20 g onion
4 tbsp Marie's Yogurt Ranch Dressing

Dinner - (448 calories)
**Smothered Turkey Patties
5 g Nutiva Coconut Oil
2 Jennie-O All Natural Turkey Patties
50 g mushrooms
50 g onion
50 g sweet mini peppers
1 tbsp Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil

Evening Snack - (173 calories)
23 g Safeway Dry Roasted Macadamia nuts

Total Calories For the Day 1,045
Daily Calorie Composition: 9% from carbs, 42% from fat and 49% from protein.

Fat 61 g; Fiber 7 g; Carb 30 g; Sodium 2,418 mg; Protein 157 g 

R5 Phase 3 Day 2

Weight - 132.0

I always worry on day one of Phase 3.  I dream of waking up the next morning a bazillion pounds up.  Not the case which is nice.  I'll carry on with my plan and add a bit more fast in today, but still staying away from the goodies like eggs and cheese.

Throughout the day - (120 calories)
6 tbsp half & half in 3 mugs of coffee

Lunch - (246 calories)
**Tuna Salad
104 g Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore, very low sodium
40 g celery
40 g onion
30 g mini sweet pepper
30 g dill relish
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard

Dinner - (695 calories)
**Pesto Chicken & Garden Salad with Vinaigrette
230 g chicken, pan fried
20 g Cibo Naturals Basil Pesto (Costco)
100 g romaine
40 g sweet mini peppers
30 g tomato
20 g onion
2 tbsp Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Italian White Balsamic dressing

Total Calories for the day 1,061
Daily Calorie Composition: 9% from carbs, 39% from fat and 52% from protein.

Fat 45 g; Fiber 5 g; Carb 23 g; Sodium 1,201 mg; Protein 137 g

R5 Phase 3 Day 1

Weight - 132.2

So today starts Phase 3, yet again.  I gear my calories up slowly the first few days.  I'm mimicking what I did last phase 3 since I did so well.



Throughout the day - (120 calories)
6 tbsp half & half in 3 mugs of coffee

Lunch - (250 calories)
**Tuna Salad
104 g Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore, very low sodium
40 g celery
40 g onion
30 g mini sweet pepper
30 g dill relish
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard

Dinner - (624 calories)
**Burger Patties with Artichoke Aioli
2 Omaha Steak Beef Burgers
80 g artichoke hearts packed in water
20 g onion
2 tbsp mayonnaise

Total Calories for the day 994
Daily Calorie Composition: 12% from carbs, 56% from fat and 32% from protein.

Fat 61 g; Fiber 4 g; Carb 28 g; Sodium 1,637 mg; Protein 78 g

R5 Phase 2 Day 58

Weight - 132.0

Last day of Phase 2.  Yes I know I do some mega long rounds.  At this weight and body fat % my body battles me all the way.  Planning to slowly ease into Phase 3 tomorrow, pretty much like I did last July.  Two meals tomorrow and around 1000 calories and then I'll go from there.

Lunch - (268 calories)
**Burger Salad & An Apple
100 g 96/4 ground beef patty
100 g romaine
60 g dill pickle (had to snack on one and dice one)
30 g tomato
15 g onion
Burger dressing which is
Yellow Mustard
Reduced Sugar Ketchup
Pickle juice
water
garlic powder
200 g apple

Dinner - (134 calorie)
100 g chicken breast
140 g cucumber

Total Calories for the day 402
Daily Calorie Composition: 40% from carbs, 13% from fat and 47% from protein.

R5 Phase 2 Day 57

Weight - 132.2

I'm in a holding pattern for the next few days.  Trying to stay in this range going into P3 on Friday.

Lunch - (288 calories)
**Spicy Beef and Spinach Soup
100 g beef eye of round roast
100 g baby spinach
60 g mini pepper
1 c Pacific Natural Beef Broth
1 c water
garlic powder, crushed red pepper flakes
190 g apple

Dinner - (147 calories)
**Salsa Chicken
100 g chicken breast
120 g baby zucchini
3 tbsp Pace Chunky Salsa

Total Calories for the day 435
Daily Calorie Composition: 37% from carbs, 13% from fat and 50% from protein.

R5 Phase 2 Day 56

Weight 131.2

Well here's for a roller coaster scale the last 12 hours.  Yesterday evening, I stepped on the scale as I usually do to get an idea of what the morning will bring.  I was floored to see that I had gained 6 pounds from morning to evening.  Now I can usually expect to see 3.. sometimes 4.. but 6???   I had myself convinced that this morning's scale was not going to be pretty.  Based on my averages I thought it would end up between 134 and 135.  No reason at all for the increase.

Well, this morning, I get on the scale.  131.2.  Which means I lost 6.8 pounds from last night to this morning.  Again, unheard of.  I did have a fair amount of output overnight and because of that I did not sleep well.   It's a mystery and I will likely see a rebound tomorrow.

Lunch - (279 calories)
**Burger Salad & An Apple
100 g 96/4 ground beef patty
180 g romaine
70 g dill pickle (had to snack on one and dice one)
30 g tomato
20 g onion
Burger dressing which is
Yellow Mustard
Reduced Sugar Ketchup
Pickle juice
water
garlic powder
192 g apple


Dinner - (129 calories)
100 g Jennie-O 99% lean ground turkey patty
130 g green beans, no salt added

Total Calories for the day 408
Daily Calorie Composition: 40% from carbs, 13% from fat and 47% from protein.

R5 Phase 2 Day 55

Weight - 132.0

Playing seesaw between 131 and 133 which is fine for me.  It gives me some breathing room under 135.

Sailing on and stopping hcg tomorrow morning, then I'll do either 48 or 72 hours of VLCD without hcg before transitioning to Phase 3 slowly.

Morning Snack - (69 calories)
130 g orange

Lunch - (174 calories)
**Burger Salad
100 g 96/4 ground beef patty
140 g romaine
70 g dill pickle (had to snack on one and dice one)
40 g tomato
20 g onion
Burger dressing which is
Yellow Mustard
Reduced Sugar Ketchup
Pickle juice
water
garlic powder

Dinner - (136 calories)
100 g chicken breast
2 tbsp salsa
140 g cucumber
60  g celery
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Total Calories for the day 379
Daily Calorie Composition: 31% from carbs, 16% from fat and 53% from protein.

R5 Phase 2 Day 54

Weight - 131.6

Back down 0.6 and pretty much where I want to be for the next few days.

Spent a lazy Sunday with the family.  The past few days have been very sedate which is good.


Lunch - (170 calories)
**Spicy Beef & Spinach Soup
100 g beef eye of round roast
100 g baby spinach
1 c Pacific Natural beef broth
1 c water
crushed red pepper
garlic powder

Afternoon Snack - (104 calories)
200 g apple

Dinner - (132 calories)
100 g chicken breast
2 tbsp salsa
130 g green beans, no salt added

Total Calories for the day 407
Daily Calorie Composition: 36% from carbs, 11% from fat and 53% from protein. 

R5 Phase 2 Day 53

Weight - 132.2

Up a pound today, but no worries. I had no output and very little sleep. I'm working to stay below 133 pounds until I start to transition off on Tuesday. There was a matter of a few Girl Scout cookies today. My son's girlfriend has them in the house. There are new lemon ones this year. Not as good as I remember. Now I know though.

Lunch - (178 calories)
**Spicy Beef & Celery Soup
100 g beef eye of round roast
180 g celery
1 c Pacific Natural Beef Broth
1 c water
crushed red pepper
garlic powder

Afternoon Snack - (104 calories)
 200 g apple

Dinner - (139 calories)
100 g chicken breast
180 g romaine
P2 dressing

Evening Snack - (112 calories)
4 Savannah Smiles Girl Scout cookies

Total calories for the day 533
Daily Calorie Composition: 44% from carbs, 16% from fat and 40% from protein.

Motivation Marbles

I ran into this idea the other day and thought it would be fantastic for someone just starting a diet or in the middle of it.

It's called Motivation Marbles.   Essentially, you create two jars - one for pounds to go and one for pounds lost.  You purchase marbles or decorative stones for the total number of pounds you want to lose.  As you drop weight, you move the appropriate number of marbles from the "Pounds to Go" jar to the "Pounds Lost" jar.

The idea is something similar to what we did to help potty train my granddaughter.  She had two jars.  In the beginning, she'd start with a certain number of marbles in the treat jar.  Each time she went to the potty and stayed dry, she got another marble.  If she had an accident, a marble was removed.   When her treat marbles got to a certain total, she got to take them to the store and trade them for a toy of small value.   Each time they'd start with less marbles in the beginning, so she'd have to work at it to get her treat earned.

Anyway, I like the ideas of the motivation marble jars, because it makes our goals and progress very tangible.  We easily get lost in the day to day battle of pounds or tenths of a pound or gains.  We then lose sight of where we started and how far we've come.  I had to chuckle at the thought of putting 349 marbles in some sort of container (the highest I ever weighed) and removing 218 of them to represent the total pounds I have lost from highest to lowest.  It really is sobering and uplifting.

I found some examples of jars people have made so I'm going to give credit where credit is due

R5 Phase 2 Day 52

Weight - 131.2

Whoa..  I did not expect that at all.  Three days of major drops 1.2, 2,2 and 1.0 pounds.  Too good to be true.  I thought for sure with the drop yesterday that I would have a gain.  One thing that may factor into it was that I slept in this morning big time.

So now what to do.  I will likely see if I can hold here for the next few days.  Go ahead and stop hcg on Tuesday morning and transition to Phase 3 on Friday.

Lunch - (127 calories)
100 ground turkey burger
120 g romaine lettuce
Burger salad dressing

Afternoon Snack - (99 calories)
190 g apple

Dinner - (132 calories)
100 g chicken breast
127 g green beans, no salt added

Total Calories for the day 358
Daily Calorie Composition: 38% from carbs, 8% from fat and 54% from protein.

R5 Phase 2 Day 51

Weight - 132.2

Oh my.  I had to step on the scale about five times this morning.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  2.2 lbs all at once and below where I like to be by just a smidge.  I've said this before I'm sure.  It may be odd, but I can tell when I hit below 133.  My upper abdomen, right below my bra band thins out all at once.  It's crazy.  My flesh there just seems to deflate with that number.  I also know from the past that these few pounds between 130 and 133 are where I get to feeling too thin.

The good drop can be attributed to several things.  One - the massage (maybe), two - the mini-steak day (fasting all day until dinner time), three - quite a bit of output overnight (I mean a lot), and four - getting a major decent night's sleep without early morning interruptions like the dog wanting out or the phone ringing several times.

I am also certain, based on the past, with a drop like this I am likely to rebound tomorrow.  So I'm sure I'll be back above 133.  I just hope it's not back to that 134 - 135 range I've battled for 5 or 6 days.

Lunch - (193 calories)
**Salsa Chicken & Cucumber Salad
100 g chicken breast, diced
3 tbsp Pace Salsa
140 g cucumber
20 c onion
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Dinner - (162 calories)
**Pan Fried Tilapia & Riced Radishes
150 g Kirkland Tilapia Loins
Chef Prudhomme Magic Salt Free Seasoning
150 g radishes, riced
4 tbsp vegetable broth
garlic powder

Evening Snack - (31 calories)
100 g strawberries

Total Calories for the Day 386
Daily Calorie Composition: 20% from carbs, 11% from fat and 69% from protein.