Tired

Last night I fell into bed at 8pm and didn't move until 3am. I was shattered - hence no post yesterday - due to barely sleeping Tuesday night.
Not much to report anyway. I walked 3.5 miles at lunchtime hoping to wake myself up; looking back having a nap might have been a better idea as I was working from home anyway. I stuck to the egg fast and didn't drink; did my squat challenge and didn't get on the climber. My back is feeling a lot better today so I may try to tomorrow morning.
And that's about it for Wednesday.

Mission accomplished. Eventually.

So I arrive at the hospital 20 minutes early having been told to come at 12. That's not a 12:00 appointment, just when they want us all to arrive, apparently, because the afternoon surgical session doesn't even start until 13:30, but they want everyone here at 12 to check in and sit around like idiots. There were 3 other patients in the waiting room by 1:30, at least 2 of them having procedures requiring general anaesthetic - so probably longer and more involved than mine, yes? Yes. So they schedule me third (not that they told me that, I just heard the receptionist & nurse talking.)  Oh yes, and the first guy doesn't get taken down until 2pm. So not only was I going third but they were also running late from the beginning. I HATE this hospital. I think I'd rather go blind than come back here if I need more treatment. I HATE HATE HATE HATE it. How can an organisation supposedly based on healing be so fucking inconsiderate? The waiting room was sweltering, no water available, and the staff told us nothing...  while discussing other patients in ways those patients probably wouldn't appreciate if they knew about it.  Just to be clear, HATE. I'd actually rather have been at work - with.eye.pain. Truly. Especially as this treatment is essentially an experiment that may confer no or very limited short term benefits. FFS.
I actually got taken to the theatre at 15:40 - only 4 hours or so after I got there. The procedure took 20 minutes including the obligatory pre-op chat with the surgical nurses (which I actually enjoyed) so I didn't really feel the balance was quite right there. Luckily the local anaesthetic had zero effect on my balance, my stomach, or my eye sight so after all my concern about leaving by taxi or getting M out of work to collect me I actually walked the mile to Reading station, travelled back on the train, and then walked another 1.5 (approx) miles home with no ill effects apart from sore feet. Then we ordered a takeaway and I drank whisky because after all that I lacked the energy to cook or behave.

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Lunch: cream cheese pancakes walking through Reading
Dinner:  egg drop soup
Snacks: cheese, nuts and pork rinds - the last 2 illegal but portable and (in the case of the rinds) homemade so no nasty additives (or hidden carbs)

Trying to stay positive

Something weird (and good) is happening to me...  I'm still egg fasting at the moment - over the weekend I added veg to dinner and ate some leftover sausage, feta and spinach frittata instead of following an egg fast recipe but stayed in the ball park - and yesterday I woke up totally uninterested in having breakfast. So I delayed eating till I was hungry - which didn't happen until lunchtime! Almost unheard of for me, I tend to generally eat all my meals unless I've stuffed myself at lunchtime. And this morning it happened again! I have been having a cup of 'bulletproof coffee' in the mornings to help get the high fat levels required by the egg fast diet, but I've done that every egg fast day but one and never before yesterday did it noticeably affect my appetite for breakfast. Although today I did have 2 babybels before lunch, possibly because I was more bored than yesterday rather than hungrier.
At lunchtime I went for my usual walk. My walking buddy is leaving the company in August - I'll have to find a way to motivate myself to keep it up on my own, as quite often I feel lazy but change my mind when I know I'll have company. I'm being renewed until the beginning of October so I'll be around a bit longer than he will.
I intended to train this morning I got as far as putting all my training gear on and getting on the climber, despite some early back pain, because I hoped it was just that I had stiffened up or slept funny last night. Almost immediately I was doubtful that was the case and I got off straight away as I don't want to hurt myself properly. The pain was on the left hand side of my back, just below the bottom edge of my shoulder blade, and it was really dreadful - particularly when I tried to turn and when I breathed in deeply. It did ease up on my own walk at lunchtime (possibly due to a combination of paracetamol and ibuprofen that I took as soon as I was confident the completely ineffective solpadeine was no longer in my system along with very gentle exercise and sunshine). So so so hoping tomorrow is a better day, I don't think my steroid injection expedition will be more pleasant in combination with a bad back...

Food today:
Breakfast: -
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner:  egg drop soup
Snacks: cheese and one hard boiled egg. I confess to also nibbling a little gammon which is obviously illegal on the egg fast but not exactly heinous.

Sob

Aaarrggh
I feel like someone stabbed me in the back - with a sword - and now they're twisting the blade.
Solpadeine isn't touching it.
Don't know what I've done to it
Great start to the week...
Need a (careful) hug - but I'm in the office so hugs are not available.
Sob sob whimper groan

Restless...

Why does one beautiful day have to be followed by a dreary one? It's such a shame that summer can't just settle in.
I worked from home today, and didn't walk at lunchtime because it was just too dreary - and humid - to be appealing. I did however spend 35 minutes on the climber - almost back to where I used to be in terms of duration (although it still feels harder than it used to and I now have a touch of backache. I also did 20 counter air squats (which I shouldn't have really as today was a rest day on the challenge). After work I did go for a walk - it was still dreary, but I just felt really restless after a day spent on my bum staring at a laptop monitor. I walked around the roads for 3 miles and while I didn't find it a patch on walking in a wood on a sunny day, it did at least burn off some of that excess energy.

Food today:
Breakfast: fried eggs
Lunch: Lemon baked Custard
Dinner:  egg mayo
Snacks: cheese

What a beautiful day...

My walk at lunchtime today was really pleasant (although I did wish I'd brought something cooler than denim jeans to change into).
I spent the day trying to call the hospital (unsuccessfully) about my appointment next week. I'll be getting a local anaesthetic for the procedure and they said I needed someone to take me home afterwards. I think that's overkill and would rather either use the train or call a cab but I don't want them keeping me there all afternoon if they won't discharge me without a carer. Does anyone know what the situation is?It is only a local to numb the side of my face so they can inject steroids around the eye socket. How bad can that be? It sounds very non-intrusive to me, but I'd appreciate a more informed opinion :-)

Food today:
Breakfast: Lemon baked (egg fast) custard
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner: cheesy scrambled eggs
Snacks: cheese

Knackered

Freezing in the office again today.  Apparently there�s a plan afoot to gut this office and refurbished it from the ground up - hope they get a move on (and let us all work from home as they do the work)
I went for my normal walk at lunchtime ;it was less fun than usual because a) there was a bitterly cold wind and b) we were joined on the walk by a couple of extra colleagues whose walking style - and shopping style - wasn't 100% compatible with mine or that of my usual walking buddy. It wasn't bad, but I felt a bit rushed coming back and I prefer to feel more comfortable that I'll be back on time. Still, it's always good to get away from my desk, and as I'd already spent 25 minutes on the climber (all in one go too) and done 20 counterbalance air squats I feel I had quite an active day. I do want to add in planks and chin up / pull ups too though - maybe next week.
After work I spent most of the evening in the kitchen. I always have plenty to do, but I also choose to stay in there longer than need be so I don't spend the whole day on my bum. An antidote to office working, if you will.
Tired again today so it's time for bed...

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Lunch: cream cheese pancakes
Dinner: Asiago Baked Eggs
Snacks: cheese

Ouch ow grrrrrrrr

What a chilly start to the day this morning. It was actually a relief to walk into the office and discover it was overly warm as it always is first thing in the morning.
In my long spiel yesterday I forgot to mention one piece of news - namely that it looks likely my contract will be extended for another 3 months (still pending paperwork and authorisation but knowing they want to is encouraging).
As always I walked to the supermarket at lunchtime and was again shocked by the weather - the wind was absolutely bitter and it was overcast as well. That has to rank as one of the shortest summers ever if that's all we get - my sunburn hasn't even faded and it felt more like October than June.
I slept really well again last night - I don't remember waking up at all from 8pm (when I went to bed with a headache) till 4am. Obviously I was still catching up from the weekend, and I appreciated it very much when I woke up this morning. Until I removed my eye mask and opened my eyes - it felt like someone was stabbing the back of my eye ball. I don't know what has caused this most recent flare up - if I can still call it a flare up after so many days - but it's making me very eager to get the injections next week regardless of possible side effects. If that treatment doesn't help I don't know what I'll do next...
In the meantime, no chocolate cravings today and less hunger overall so that was good. Bring on the eggs!!! And the cheese!!!
And the soothing after sun products for my increasingly itchy sun burn...

Food today:
Breakfast: cream cheese pancakes
Lunch: cheesy scrambled eggs
Dinner: egg drop soup
Snacks: cheese

Healthy World Cafe's June menu!

Don't let the cooler weather last week fool you � summer is just around the corner. Celebrate the changing seasons in York County with our June menu, inspired by the freshest ingredients from our local farms and farmers.

Our menus will rotate every 4 to 6 weeks, so hurry in and check it out!

$5.50
-- Layered Egg Torte (VEG, MWG)

Fresh herbs, spices and feta layered to celebrate the colors of summer

-- Hummus with Fava Bean Ful and Apricot Chutney

Two distinctly delicious spreads with paprika dressing and apricot chutney, served on focaccia bread or greens; please note an allergy alert, as the apricot chutney includes malt vinegar (gluten)

-- Tandoori-Style Butter Chicken Bowl served with Garlicky Greens and Rice (MWG)
A classic spiced chicken served in a creamy nut gravy
-- Chicken Salad

A Healthy World Cafe staple, served on focaccia bread or greens

$3.50

-- Summer Green Soup (V, MWG)
Caramelized onions, leafy greens, rice and spices in a smooth puree and sprinkled with roasted chickpeas
-- Chickpea and Barley Salad Topped With Masala Green Beans (V)

Tossed in a toasted spice vinaigrette and topped with flavorful roasted green beans, with option feta or nuts
-- Berries and Greens Salad (VEG)
Greens, carrots and raisins in a sweet vinaigrette topped with local berries; can be served without wheatberries (MWG)

Extras

-- Seasonal Pickled Vegetables, $1
-- Signature Dried Fruit and Oatmeal Cookies, $1

V � Vegan
VEG � Vegetarian
MWG � Made Without Gluten

Water and iced tea are free with your purchase, and all our menu items are sourced from our farmer friends in south-central Pennsylvania and made from scratch.

Lunch will be served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the cafe at 24 S. George St., in downtown York. Take-out orders are available during lunch hours by phone only; please call 717-814-8204.

What a great weekend!

What a great weekend!  The weather was stunning and my brother was visiting so we walked the legs off each other - nearly 14 miles on Saturday and over 15 on Sunday. I expected to be feeling it today but I'm not aching and I'm blister-free so that's pretty amazing. The thing I love about walking with him is that he never saw a corner he didn't want to turn or a footpath he didn't want to explore. We spent Saturday tramping around fields and through woods. (We also visited the next village to where I live, but that wasn't the main bit)

We then went to London yesterday. Which was fantastic. We actually got off the train with no idea what we planned to do - usually we have a plan in mind for at least some of the day - and just started walking from Waterloo station, over the Thames to Victoria embankment. Then I saw a sign for Covent Garden, where we hadn't been for a long time, and on impulse we headed there to amble around the markets and shops for a while. After lunch we decided to head back to the river (we both love walking the Thames Path) but got side tracked and ended up wandering around Westminster, passing Buckingham Palace, crossing St James' Park,  Green Park and Hyde Park, and then walking to Paddington. Even after we got the train back to my home station we still had the energy for a couple more miles in a nearby nature reserve.

 I'm pretty sure I've never walked that far in a single weekend. I didn't manage as low carb a weekend as I wanted - due to the heat I must admit I succumbed to the temptation of a 99 ice-cream in Green Park (a double cone no less - and I even ate most of the cone) but apart from that the food was not at all bad, possibly not enough of it considering how many calories you burn when literally walking all day. I didn't have any booze, but did overdo the unsweetened lattes. And last night I slept like the dead!
Mind you, coming into the office felt like coming down with a BANG this morning. I did consider working from home again but it felt like pushing my luck. My sunburn doesn't hurt yet and my eye had calmed down a lot too (although that didn't last) . So I didn't. I didn't get on the climber this morning as I felt a rest day was called for but did do the 30 squats I should really have done yesterday, and walked 2 miles at lunchtime.
Speaking of my eye, which I was, the phone call to my consultant's secretary paid off and I will be getting stabbed with needles multiple times on the 16th - which I believe is next Tuesday - so hopefully things are about to get better on that front!
A very unoriginal thought /observation... It is a lot harder to be good after breaking a diet plan than it is to not break it.  I have been hearing chocolate calling my name all day today - even when I abandoned my egg fast last week I had no interest in chocolate at all. But just one soft serve ice-cream and the cravings return... Damn it!
I didn't eat any. I didn't eat any!
Thinking about it maybe my interest in the chocolate was down partly to my body pointing out that I didn't feed it enough over the weekend for all the activity...
Anyway I now annoyingly have a headache and a throbbing eye so an early night is needed

Food today:
Breakfast: fried eggs
Lunch: egg mayo - with wasabi mayo for a change (this was actually a horrible combination. The wasabi mayo is great on a leafy veggie salad but too liquid for egg mayo. Live and learn....)
Dinner: cheese omelette
Snacks: cheese

Bit better today

No post yesterday because yesterday was so crap. Virtually no sleep, felt lousy all day, worked from home (not very productively) and ate too much because I was in such a bad mood. No walking or exercise apart from my 50 squats (thankfully today is a squat rest day) and the only time spent in the sun was hanging laundry out to dry.  Talk about a wasted day...
Today I was determined not to repeat that (although I am working from home again) so I trained first thing on the climber and although I had to split it into 2 chunks I managed 25 minutes today. I feel so unfit...
We had rain this morning when I put the bin out and it was overcast all morning as well - but hot and humid even after the rain.
I went for a lunchtime walk - just the normal 2 miles or so - and a post-work walk - another 3 miles - so today was much better than yesterday on an exercise front. Plus I stayed within calories even with a glass of red wine.
Food today:
Breakfast: egg salad made with homemade Ranch dressing
Lunch: egg drop soup
Dinner: slow cooker chicken vindaloo with roasted Brussels sprouts
Snacks: cheese

Keep on trying...

I managed to get on the climber before work today - but again lasted only 10 minutes, which I find a bit embarrassing even though I know it's stupid because I'm consciously working to almost double my natural stride length and that's hard... Also I walked the 2 miles at lunchtime since I forgot to order a couple of bits while placing a home delivery order with Tesco for delivery tonight. Fool... It was lovely actually, the wind had just a bit of a chilly edge but in the sun, when the wind dropped, it was very pleasant and actively summery at last. With good company as always. Though sadly my walking buddy has come down with man flu and is wussing out for the rest of the week...
I haven't mentioned this before because I'm so prone to starting things and not finishing them, but I'm also now 2 weeks into a bodyweight squat challenge - this one. I do them at work first thing in the morning so no-one sees because they break room has lower chairs than anything we have at home. I think I'm improving - there are no mirrors allowing me to check my form :-( but I figure as long as I'm not incorporating big weights imperfections in form are less important anyway. I really felt it this morning (doing 40 - its 50 tomorrow (gulp))
So I'm trying to be more active and get some exercise. Some of it I'm enjoying... Not all.
Also not enjoying having some more discomfort from my damned eye. I guess it may be reacting to pollen or something? Anyway midafternoon yesterday I had to take painkillers and it's been niggling at me today as well. Yesterday I managed to finally talk to my consultant's secretary about the treatment he wanted to try, and she said she'd talk to him on Thursday and make me an appointment. She's been very good at sorting these mix ups out in the past so hopefully I'll get the steroid injections fairly soon. Although I'm not sure how long they're likely to last, he was clear it would be a temporary effect. I just hope it helps for a while at least, if I don't see a benefit I may just end up gouging the stupid thing out with a fork...

Food today:
Breakfast: cream cheese pancakes with vanilla sauce (I made a double portion last night)
Lunch: egg mayo (again, already had this made up) but I wrapped it in lettuce leaves woo hoo!
Dinner: boneless pork chop marinated in balsamic vinegar and dijon with roasted Brussels sprouts
Snacks: cheese

Call this summer?

Got my normal 2 miles in today - in a little bit of drizzle, nothing compared to the torrential rain and high winds overnight. Although afterwards I had to survive an afternoon of weird hair because the combination of strongish wind and light drizzle made my fringe go very peculiar. I didn't know I had long enough hair for it to point in so many directions at once!
I'm feeling a bit low today, and very uninterested in eating lots of eggs. So I finished off my planned menu for today, but just one day after saying I might do a 5 day fast I'm deciding to take a week off. I want some veggies! And some meat! Next week I'll go for another 3 (or 5) days, hopefully refreshed and reinspired. Hopefully better planning it that way than bursting out into rebellious binge eating!

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with Feta cheese and one sliced black olive
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner:  cream cheese pancakes (with  vanilla sauce from the recipe for baked Custard substituting vanilla extract for the original caramel extract)
Snacks: cheese

Tom's of Maine Natural Deodorant

This post brought to you by Tom�s of Maine. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Healthy Girl's Kitchen.

When I met my husband over twenty years ago, one of the funny things we had in common was that neither of us really liked to wear deodorant. It sounds so weird, but we each had uncomfortable reactions to common deodorants and antiperspirants. My husband often had an odor which drove his sister Janet batty, but I really didn't mind because I totally understood this hesitation to wear anything under his arms very frequently.

To put it frankly, we both stank. It helps that I have a terrible sense of smell. But it just didn't matter because we accepted that about each other.

Over time, we each found a product that met our needs for masking our natural odor while not causing us pain, and I haven't really thought much about it ever since.

Until a few weeks ago when my fifteen year old daughter came to me really distressed. She said that it hurt under her arms and that she wanted to go to a doctor immediately. To be honest, I think she was afraid that she had a tumor.

Read more �

Why does Monday keep coming around again???

I walked 10.5 miles on Saturday, tried to only eat normally without increasing my intake to in any way compensate for the extra activity, and ended up overeating due to hunger, and getting no exercise at all yesterday. Yep, I'm a dumbass. I did feel good doing all the walking though, I just should have planned in the right extra food at the right time. I'll know next time!  Which should be this weekend as my brother is coming to visit us.
Strangely the weekend raced by. Spending 3 hrs in total on Saturday walking obviously took quite a chunk out of it but you'd think Sunday might have dragged a bit with all the lying down doing nothing and it really didn't, which may mean I wasn't just being lazy, but was possibly getting some much needed rest. All I know is that I was shocked when I realised it was already lunchtime!  In the afternoon we watched - and thoroughly enjoyed - Maleficent. And as usual I did spend quite a while in the kitchen, so it wasn't all non-productive.
This morning I swore A LOT when I had to get up. I'd been awake for a while - well, dopily half awake really - and passionately wanted to stay in bed. And not go to work. Sigh.
At lunchtime I thoroughly enjoyed a 3 mile walk along the canal (by myself) in some sunshine though also a cold wind.
As usual that was the high point of the work day.
After work I made it onto the climber!!!  For a whopping 10 minutes. This was a combination of it being hard work because I'm still intending to change my stride length and posture to hopefully avoid another injury and me being really unfit for anything except walking now. It felt awful compared to previous occasions - that's down to the difference in my form I believe. I actually intended to train in the morning before work, but this morning I was so bleary minded due to weird dreams and interrupted sleep, that I only remembered my intention after my head started to clear while I was in the shower. Still, main thing is - I got on the thing and I plan to try again on Wednesday. Morning or evening remains to be seen.
Oh yes, you probably gathered I'm on the egg fast again. I may go 5 days then completely ignore it for my brother's visit, it will probably depend on how bored I am by Thursday. At least 3 days though.

Food today:
Breakfast: fried eggs
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner:  egg drop soup (based on beef stock this time - not as good as chicken stock, though not bad either)
Snacks: cheese

UWL Winner Announced and Program Date Change

And the UWL winner is . . .

MorningBeth

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the contest. I'm sorry that we couldn't give the program to everyone who entered. I hope that you will reconsider your decision not to purchase the program or participate. Your health is worth more than anything. You need to put yourself first and make yourself your number one priority if you want to end this viscous cycle of obesity.

Here's how Beth answered the contest questions:

Read more �

Friday (late)

Back in the office today :-(
So, last night I finished the first 3 day egg fast (although I'm following the transition suggestions online and still eating egg fasty-y for breakfast and lunch to avoid a quick bounce back) and this morning I was down 8 pounds in total since last Tuesday (obviously that's a combined result from both fasts). Not as amazing as some people report, but for someone following the plan during TTOM who's been lucky to bounce around 2 or 3 pounds so far this YEAR it feels great!  I am of course massively tempted to keep going for another 5 day total but simultaneously craving actual meat, so I'm not doing that. I know that there's a water component but that's true of all diets early on so I'm not phased by that.
At lunchtime - after lunch - I suddenly started feeling really sick. So sick that I drove home to finish the day working from home. The weather at lunchtime had been so atrocious I didn't get a walk and I had to work later than usual to make up the travel time so I didn't have time to walk after work either, apart from a quick pop to the nearest shop. I didn't eat dinner till about 9 pm when hunger overwhelmed the concern about my dicky tum - luckily by then things had settled down with the help of quite a lot of diet ginger beer.

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Lunch: curried egg mayo
Dinner:  lamb and cumin burger
Snacks: cheese, pork rinds (homemade)

UWL Giveaway! Plus, Meet Rebecca, an Ultimate Weight Loss Success Story

I'm so excited to share this giveaway with you this morning. A few weeks before the last 21 Day Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge began, I ran the same giveaway here on HGK and I chose Cyd as the winner. She has been an enthusiastic and supportive member of UWL ever since and we all love her!

Chef AJ and John Pierre will be giving away one more Ultimate Weight Loss online program (all 6 hours of video content is delivered online as opposed to DVDs--it's fast and easy!), membership to the private UWL Facebook group, 21 day recipe guide, recordings of past UWL Coaching calls and 5 new group coaching calls beginning on June 7th.

Our next 21 day challenge begins on June 8th.

How do you enter? Simply leave a comment here answering two questions:

Read more �

Thursday

I did work from home today and was glad I did when the demo got postponed again (although that may have been because I wasn't there to attend). I was awake pretty much all night last night and stumbling around bouncing off walls and furniture when I got up this morning, so I decided getting behind the wheel of a car was a really bad idea. Admittedly I was biased in that direction before that.
I had a frustrating and boring morning, and made a specific point of going for a walk at lunchtime to get away from the laptop. I've noticed I don't do much walking when I work from home because I tend to decide to put some laundry on or cook something while I have the chance, but today I did it and, because I set my own pace and destination, managed 3 miles - mostly in the sun, which was quite warm when the nasty cold wind dropped.
After lunch a problem I'd been having with some code I was testing - the reason for my morning frustration - was solved and I managed to get somewhere finally. It was a relief as the code is due to be handed to the client for user acceptance testing tomorrow - and now it will be.
On a personal and not pleasant note, I'm no longer suffering from hormonally induces constipation, and as is usual for me at such a time I didn't smoothly go from constipated to regular in one day. I had a few moments today I was very pleased to be close to my own bathroom. It's a bit of a relief - although I wasn't actually uncomfortable because the lack of fibre on the egg fast seems definitely to show in terms of less waste produced (TMI? Definitely TMI), but I get worried if it lasts too long.
I was actually hungry today - I don't think the omelette was really big enough to eat for 2 meals and walk 3 miles on. So I snacked on an extra fried egg in the afternoon - something I obviously couldn't have done at work.

Food today:
Breakfast: buffalo omelette
Lunch: buffalo omelette (the second half of the omelette)
Dinner:  egg drop soup - now I'm out of stock and will have to make more. But I must admit I like this soup so much I'd happily eat it when not fasting - which I guess is no surprise to anyone since I had it 3 days in a row.
Snacks: cheese

Traycee Talks "Embracing My Natural Hair The Rollercoaster While Transitioning and Going Natural"

I got emotional watching this video and could relate to much of what she said.  I promise you this will not be a waste of 11 minutes at all.

Is it Friday yet?

I want to find a job that involves walking outdoors when it's sunny and snuggling up under a duvet when it's raining. Any ideas?
The office is pretty quiet this week due to lots of parents taking the half term off. Makes things pretty tedious for those of us who are in, and don't have enough work to do but no-one's in to ask for more. It's not like I mind not having tons to do - unless I'm in the office and feel obliged to look busy. BOOOOOORING.
Apologies if I'm always saying that - I feel like I might be.
I went out at lunchtime, just the normal Road walk to Sainsburys but with my usual walking buddy and another colleague there was no chance to find it boring and the weather was quite nice in between the chilly wind and the sticky humidity in full sunlight. It meant that I was a little more cheerful in the afternoon and more resigned to going back to the office (earlier I'd wanted to just get in my car and drive away). I was slightly miffed because I considered working from home today and decided against it because there was a demo of some software I'll be testing booked in this afternoon. I cheered myself up by deciding to wfh tomorrow instead. And then it was postponed....  until tomorrow afternoon. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhh..

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs in butter
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner:  egg drop soup (made in lovely gelatinous homemade chicken stock from the carcass of a whole free range chicken I roasted on Sunday)
Snacks: cheese

Grumpy

The sun is out.
I'm not.
No fair :-(

Another week...

I took Sunday and Monday off the egg fast, so in the end did a 5 day fast last week, and lost 4 lbs (it was 5 on Sunday morning, 4 yesterday). This morning it was still 4. I'm really pleased with that (ignoring the question of whether it's all water weight) but as I was so much heavier to start than I want to admit I'm thinking I'll spend a few weeks doing 3 day egg fasts to see if I can peel off some more. Starting today. BTW it's TTOM and as always I've been constipated due to water retention for several days.
The weekend also seems to have fixed my back - relaxation combined with walks that weren't just disguised shopping trips, walks on which I did not take my rucksack and just wandered around enjoying the walk as a walk. Yes, Diane, absolutely agree - there was a dog-shaped hole in those walks, although yesterday it was slightly filled my meeting a lovely friendly German Shepherd and terrier who were kind enough to let me fuss over them for a few minutes (and shed on me for a more ongoing reminder).
How I wish today had been more like that...  I was bored out of my skull at work all day, with no-one to talk to because so many people extended their bank holiday weekend by taking today off. Watching paint dry would have been wildly entertaining by comparison. And I needed some stuff from the pharmacy so I didn't have time to walk.
Then my drive home was extended from the normal 25 - 30 minutes to an hour and a quarter with a detour. There was an accident on my usual route home which had clearly just happened as I was already stuck in the traffic resulting when an ambulance, police car and collision investigator arrived. My detour took me through the centre of 2 small towns in rush hour (exacerbated by the number of cars rerouting around the accident). So my evening was less relaxing than I aim for after a crappy day at work and I doubt I'll sleep well tonight.
I do hope this accident wasn't too serious... there was already a police sign at the same point of the road asking for witnesses to another accident that happened last week. It's a strange place to be a black spot, it looks very open with good visibility. And it's somewhere I drive twice a day. I find that concerning...

Food today:
Breakfast: cream cheese pancakes
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner:  egg drop soup
Snacks: cheese

Are You Wondering if Ultimate Weight Loss is Right for You? Plus, A Sneak Peak into My Decluttered Closets!

You know that I could practically talk all day about how UWL has changed my life for the better, stabilizing both my blood sugar and my brain chemistry, allowing me to release 30 unwanted pounds, AND inspiring me to let go of other unwanted things in my life, but you might have more questions than I have answered here on Healthy Girl's Kitchen.

You're in luck because Chef AJ will be doing a free informational call this Wednesday, at 8:30-10 pm Eastern time, 5:30-7 pm Pacific time.

Read more �

Relaxing weekend...

The weather wasn't perfect, but for a bank holiday it was pretty good. I walked quite a lot...
Saturday:

Sunday:

As you can see, I spent my weekend in the woods. 

Just what I needed ;-)

Thank god it's Friday....

Getting a bit sick of eggs now but I want to do at least one more day - so I'll be trying something very different tomorrow for lunch - egg fast lemon baked Custard with lemon drizzle sauce (the recipe is Salted caramel flavoured but I don't have that flavour extract and I do have lemon extract) Hopefully that will shake things up a bit! I'm mentioning it now because 1) I rarely feel I have time to post when I'm not bored at work all day and 2) I made it this evening so it could chill overnight)

I am sulking today because yesterday my back felt better until I went to my meeting in the afternoon, then got worse again, I believe because of the world's least comfortable chairs in that meeting room. They look dead stylish and act like a torture device. Still, as long as they look good...
As I don't always prefer complaining to acting I talked to the lady in reception, who is involved with facilities management as well, and got a new chair for my desk. It still doesn't look ergonomically designed for aging cripples but it is shaped differently to the other one so I'm hoping that it will help. And I walked at lunchtime - along the canal for a change. Much more pleasant than the roads I have been walking on and not too muddy at all. Plus another really short walk after work for a couple of odds and ends from the local shop.
Then I spent the rest of the evening in the kitchen caramelizing onions to freeze, cooking tomorrow's lunch and making 2 dinners (M isn't egg fasting)

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Lunch: egg mayo
Dinner:  buffalo omelette
Snacks: cheese

What the Heck is Up with this Blog and . . .

. . . Why Do I Keep Talking about Ultimate Weight Loss?

Okay, okay, I realize that I am going on and on and on about this Ultimate Weight Loss thing. And I worry that I might be boring a lot of my readers that have been with me and Healthy Girl's Kitchen for a long time (5 years!). So I thought that I might take a few minutes today to explain myself, my personal evolution, and what I feel compelled to blog about right now.

Read more �

Zzzzzzzzzzz

Hi Rach!  Nice to hear from someone else who's done this slightly crazy thing ;-)  Do you mind if I ask you a couple (or 20) questions about your experiences? Did you find there was a rebound weight gain after you finished the egg fast? How long did it take for you to feel like eating eggs again? Did you find any really good recipes? Is it something you'd repeat or did you end up wondering how you did it? I'm asking because at the moment I'm considering just doing the plan for a few days this week and then bringing it in every few weeks after that to shake things up , but if I if likely to wind up hating the very idea of an egg for the next year or two I probably shouldn't make any plans :-)
Once again this morning started out all blue skies and sunshine then clouded over by about 7:30. It makes me glad I'm a morning person, since staying in bed a couple of hours later is enough to miss it altogether. Although if it was cloudy on my drive to work then brightened up I wouldn't have to wear sunglasses just to see the road of course.
Speaking of sunglasses and seeing, has anyone noticed that I haven't yet posted about my horrible 'steroid injections around the eye' experience? I was 'prescribed' the treatment on April 16th, and told it would happen within a month so obviously it's all sorted, right? Yeah,  no. The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading has forgotten about me again, just like they did for the original surgery. I left a message on the voicemail of the consultant's secretary on Tuesday - haven't heard anything yet, and in the meantime my eyesight in that eye is still complete cr@p so I know it's not fixing itself. God, I get sick of this... I think it's a good Ophthalmology Department when it comes to the hands on stuff but their admin functions suck. So frustrating when you have to chase something you need but also dread...
Today was monumentally boring at work. I went for a walk at lunchtime and was very tempted to not go back afterwards.  I'm trying to think of something else I could do for a living but I'm handicapped by not being willing to take time out for retraining or take a pay cut - so I guess I'll just carry on moaning a lot. If anyone has a few million they'd like to give away as a gift with no strings attached you just let me know...
It was really warm on the walk, and not too windy at all. Sadly I was feeling quite sleepy all morning and had hoped a walk would wake me up, but the weather was too pleasant and I carried on struggling to stay awake all afternoon as well. And I had a meeting at 3 pm too. I am sooooooooooo in need of this bank holiday weekend...

Food today:
Breakfast: fried eggs
Lunch: cream cheese pancakes - recipe at http://lowcarbyum.com/flourless-cinnamon-egg-fast-pancakes/  Joy - I liked them so much last night I immediately made a second batch for lunch today! You can leave out the psyllium husk but then it tastes very like a sweet omelette, but I bet you could get good results subbing in some flour and baking powder since you don't need to low carb /gluten free / egg fast. I used mascarpone for the first batch and philadelphia (both full fat) for the second and both turned out really well.
Dinner:  egg fast Pasta Alfredo
Snacks: cheese

Finally doing a bit better

Still egging happily today...  It's weird, when I was a teenager I refused to eat eggs for years (I wasn't a big fan of hard boiled or fried eggs, which were all I tended to be offered, and then I was traumatised by a biology lesson in embryology using eggs to demonstrate) until I went to university and developed spontaneous cravings for poached eggs (which I had never eaten -  I assume the cravings were because I was doing a bad job of food planning and my body was letting me know what it needed).  Now here I am eating almost nothing else and enjoying it (though I don't know how long I could carry on that way)
Because I decided at short notice to try this I spent a large part of yesterday evening chopping, blanching and freezing Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and spinach that I bought before deciding to eat no veg for a few days, to avoid waste. My fridge has never looked so spacious - the same can't be said of my freezer, as I'd also stocked up on meat at Aldi at the weekend. Ah well, when I return to normal low carb it should save money for a week or two.
Another beautiful morning today early on, again followed by clouding over completely to become grey and dreary. Summer can't come soon enough for me!
I did walk at lunchtime - the same boring walk to Sainsburys despite having no shopping to do because yesterday's torrential rain &  hail left my normal alternate routes muddy and slippery. The last thing I need is to slip and twist or jar everything just when my back is finally feeling better. Pity there's so few dry walking options around here though, it would be nice to be able to mix it up more without settling for walking in circles around the business parks... Which I have done before now. Anyway I had company for my walk which is always nice.
I had to do a little overtime today - unlike the last time I worked here it was at 5pm not the hideously antisocial 10pm, and it went quite well so not at all stressful. All overtime should be like that!
Still fighting with my computer though - and that is NOT stress-free. I've used nothing but PCs - Windows all the way - for about 15 years and now I've allowed myself to be talked into going Mac. I swear I'm definitely getting really old because virtually nothing seems intuitive to me on the thing and I keep getting really frustrated with it, which doesn't help. And I work in IT for God's sake! Aaarrggh!!!!

Food today:
Breakfast: fried eggs
Lunch: egg mayo salad
Dinner: cream cheese pancakes
Snacks: cheese

Crawling out of the pit

I'm egg fasting for a few days to bust any temptation to carry on from Friday. It's an extreme form of very low carb / ketogenic diet but it's not intended to last very long - usually 3 to 5 days - and I hope it's very well defined rules will let me think about food less. I know it will also make you all think I've lost my mind. But day 1 went very well and I feel good.  It will make my 'food today' updates look a bit samey but that's not particularly new.
The sun was shining this morning and yesterday's wallowing seems to have worn off. I'm now researching ways to work on strengthening the muscles in my back and core. I'd hoped they might have changed or evolved since the last time I had to work on them but so far it doesn't look like it.  Lying on the stomach lifting the chest up off the floor - done that.  Sit ups and leg raises - done that. Touching my toes...  Yep, that too. Having said that, even allowing for the current pain, I'm horrifyingly inflexible physically and if any of these (plus some of my favourite more gentle yoga stretches) can help with that I'll be happy.
This morning started with beautiful blue skies and I was feeling a lot more positive first thing. Then it clouded over and I was really annoyed because I wanted to shop at lunchtime (needed more eggs). Happily the forecast rain held off and I got my 2 miles and my eggs and felt a lot better still for doing it - unlike my pouting yesterday. My back does feel somewhat better (despite the appallingly non-ergonomic chairs in the office) so maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel...
15 minutes after we got back to the office we had hail...  Hail. WTF??? It's nearly June!!!  The hail was followed by torrential rain for most of the afternoon, I actually think the nicest hour of the day was perfectly timed for my walk (OK it looked better first thing, but it was still really cold then, and I was actually warm for some of my walk, so,  better) Then more hail this evening, it made so much noise rattling on the house that I briefly thought something was really wrong with my freezer until I realised the noise was outside. I'm so ready for summer....

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Lunch: egg mayo salad
Dinner: eggs florentine
Snacks: cheese

Monday continued

I wrote this yesterday then was too busy in the evening to post it...
The weather this morning matched my mood - wet and gloomy. It was also very windy, which I was not.
At lunchtime it looked threatening so I was too cowardly to go for a walk. I was sad about that when my walking buddy came back from his solo trip having made it all the way without getting wet, but he did admit that it wasn't particularly pleasant. My big rant this morning helped me feel a little bit better this afternoon. As did the really strong painkillers that threaten you with addiction if taken for more than 3 days. (which I am about to run out of) and the sight of a little blue sky out of the window. And so did Diane's comment - so thank you Diane, I think you're right, I did just need a bit of a wallow in it.
ETA I carried on wallowing in it in the evening. Must be careful, since that can also be addictive if continued for more than 3 days...

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs
Lunch: Gammon and mayo in cream cheese pancake wraps
Dinner: Pork chop with pesto zoodles
Snacks: cheese; half an avocado

Missed the first Ultimate Weight Loss/HGK Challenge? Or Were You In andNow Ready for the Next Steps? Here's What's Coming Up.

Greetings everyone!

By now you guys know that I am a raving fan of Chef AJ and John Pierre's Ultimate Weight Loss. I'm finally finding my permanent groove with a plant based diet. But ever since the ending of the 21 Day UWL Challenge that AJ and JP so graciously allowed me to "host," I find that my resolve has been a little bit weaker than I strive for.

So, I started really thinking about that. Why am I so enthusiastic to follow a plan to a "T" for a certain period of time, only to find myself beginning to make some of the allowances after that time is over that will prevent me from ultimately being able to reach my goal weight?

Granted, these little allowances are so much different than they have been in the past. Right now, too much guacamole has me wondering what the heck I am doing, where in the past, it would have been like, "Why am I eating this birthday cake when I know that I really don't want to?"

I know for sure that I owe all of my progress to UWL . . .

Read more �

Drowning in self pity

I've had a reasonable weekend marred by being depressed and feeling sorry for myself - and today I'm thoroughly miserable, batchelors, self pitying and sulky. Don't you wish you could spend all day with me today?
It's not self-loathing or feeling like a failure after Friday's binge - although I do feel some of that of course. But my logical brain (what there is of it) does accept that one binge in 5 or 6 weeks is actually progress and a massive step compared to the binge every other day pattern I once developed, and having moved on from it a bit I can also see that although I did end up feeling sick I still ate dramatically less than I used to when bingeing, as well as eating better food while it lasted. No, this is all down to the back pain I'm still suffering. (and the irritation with myself for doing this to myself).  I thought I'd put back pain in the past - I haven't had so much trouble with it for about 10 years and I had thought I'd strengthened my back enough not to have to worry about it any more, but here I am again, once more demonstrating how much I've let slide.  I was actively preparing to start training again as soon as my sinuses etc recovered from my recent bug; now I'm wondering whether I'll ever be fit enough again (yes, I over exaggerate things. I haven't had a limb amputated so realistically, yes, I will. But I'm the world's most introverted Drama Queen)
I'm sleeping badly because I'm uncomfortable. Moving from sitting to standing is uncomfortable.  I feel really old.  And I'm sulking at the universe.

On the plus side, putting all this down in writing reveals I do have enough self-awareness to recognise that I'm making a mountain out of a (really big) mole hill.  I'm slightly embarrassed - but posting it anyway.  Perhaps next time I disappear up my own ass like this I'll re-read it and come to my senses more quickly....

Bitten by the binge monster

Bugger bugger bugger

Announcing our new menu for May!

Fresh peas, rhubarb and strawberries, oh my! Celebrate the changing seasons in York County with our May menu, inspired by the freshest ingredients from our local farms and farmers.

Our menus will rotate every 4 to 6 weeks, so hurry in and check it out!

$5.50

-- Sweet Pea Hummus Plate of Focaccia Sandwich, topped with Olive and Mint Salsa Verde (V, MWG, No Onion)

-- Peruvian Chicken Bowl with Black Beans and Rice (MWG)

-- Spinach, Cheddar and Dill Frittata (VEG, No Onion)

-- Chicken Salad Plate or Focaccia Sandwich

3.50

-- Asparagus and Leek Soup (V, MWG)

-- Rhubarb and Strawberries with Mint and Sunflower Seeds, served over Spinach with a poppy seed dressing (V, MWG)

-- Bean Salad with Lemon and Fresh Herbs served over whole grains and a bed of greens (V, MWG)

EXTRAS

-- Dried Fruit and Oatmeal Cookies
-- Seasonal Pickled Vegetables

V � Vegan

VEG � Vegetarian

MWG � Made Without Gluten

No Onion � Pretty self explanatory, right? :)

Water and iced tea are free with your purchase, and all our menu items are sourced from our farmer friends in south-central Pennsylvania and made from scratch.

Lunch will be served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the cafe at 24 S. George St., in downtown York. Take-out orders are available during lunch hours by phone only; please call 717-814-8204.

Back still hurty

Well, I worked from home in my dressing gown today - literally didn't get dressed or leave the house. I spent half the morning working from the sofa and the rest of the day lying on the bed with the laptop on my stomach. As for tomorrow, I guess I'll decide that in the morning.
I had a weird kitchen disaster this evening.  I made some burgers - or at least that was the plan. The burgers went onto my Foreman Grill and the lid went down - but when I lifted it again to check on them and possibly turn them, what I discovered looked like some nutter had decided to grill Bolognese sauce. There was no structural integrity at all...  Which has never happened before. I'd made some gf rolls with this burger in mind, but ended up with kind of a sloppy Joe situation. It wasn't terrible - just really really unexpected. And now I have spicy beef mince for several more meals...

Food today:
Breakfast: sausage, feta and spinach frittata with sauerkraut and bacon
Lunch: cheese salad
Dinner: homemade chilli Burger/sloppy Joe in homemade low carb gf bun with salad
Snacks: pistachio nuts - portioned out

Groan...

This morning I woke up and thought "f**king alarm" (SOP) and then thought, "today's the day to start training before work." At this point I hadn't moved any part of me except my arm to turn off the alarm. Then I moved to get up and EVERYTHING seized up. Remember the heavy shopping yesterday? 4 litres of water plus nearly 2 litres of soda carried a mile? Yeah, too much too soon...
So no pre-work training session, just a longer and hotter shower than normal to loosen everything up again. Which it did, to be fair, so it's now OK as long as I don't sit in the same position for too long at a time. Note to self : DUMBASS. Don't do that again. I could easily have split the shopping over today and yesterday. Sigh.
Beautiful morning today anyway, although it was absolutely freezing when I left the house at 6:10 am. I went for another 2 mile walk at lunchtime because my back was starting to ache again after a morning sitting at my desk and it was good for probably 1.5 miles - then started aching again even though I wasn't carrying anything but my handbag and a 500ml bottle of Pepsi Max. It was really warm and I was walking in good company so I didn't regret going but I was pretty uncomfortable later.
I spent this evening wrestling with my computer so I didn't really spend a lot of time in the kitchen, or take in much of the TV that was on in the background. And so far the computer is winning...

Food today:
Breakfast: sausage, feta and spinach frittata with sauerkraut and bacon
Lunch: Roast pork and egg salad (sorry again, colleagues who probably wished I'd brought something less smelly)
Dinner: boneless buffalo chicken wings - chicken breast mini fillets in buffalo sauce - and salad with homemade blue cheese dressing
Snacks: pork scratchings; cheese

Today happened

Hi Diane, thanks for asking! My new regime isn't really working perfectly - in that I hoped for the really dramatic weight loss a lot of (admittedly mostly obese or morbidly obese) people report and that hasn't happened - but on the other hand I've been much happier in terms of lacking the desire to binge all out on my favourite self-abusing sugary, fatty, gluteny junk food - and that's absolutely amazing!  While not feeling 100% because of the bug / virus I picked up that keeps lingering on I've been overdoing some trigger foods that I've had to take steps over, but even that was more of a grazing all day problem rather than a stuffing myself stupid for a couple of hours - in terms of calories the effect might be similar but it doesn't cause the same sense of panic or self-loathing, and doesn't make me feel physically sick, so I consider that an improvement. I think my gut flora are happier too - I've been reading the same stuff as you and have just recently started taking a prebiotic to help them as well as starting to eat sauerkraut again. So I'd say still a work in progress but worth it to me!
Apologies if that's a much more rambling reply than you were looking for :-)
Joy, I agree, living on nuts sounds fantastic to me!  At the weekend I made the mistake of buying a very cheap bag of salted peanuts from Aldi...  Let's just say they vanished in record time and that won't be happening again. But at least I resisted my beloved (higher carb) cashews...  Baby steps!
So, wasn't this morning dreary? I considered driving to work an hour early and going for a walk before 7 but it was just so uninspiring - so I didn't. But made up for that laziness with a lunchtime 2 miles. The sun came out briefly but the wind was bitterly cold when it blew so  overall it wasn't wonderful. I'm still glad I went obviously as it gave me a chance to chat and I needed a few bits of shopping. Sadly the said bits of shopping were really heavy - an 8 pack of fizzy water for me and a 6 pack of sodas for M, and now my back is telling me off a bit. I'm not as used to lugging weights a reasonable distance as I once was, maybe I should try to get back into that since its a form of sort-of resistance work that I don't hate. Anyway. Work was boring, walking was good, the End.

Food today:
Breakfast: sausage, feta and spinach frittata with sauerkraut
Lunch: tuna salad (sorry, colleagues who probably wished I'd brought something less smelly)
Dinner: pan fried rump steak with grilled asparagus
Snacks: half an avocado; cheese

Peanuts 0, Chrissie 1

My weekend descended into lots of overeating for no good reason that I'm aware of - no foods that aren't allowed on my plan, but some of them - nuts, basically - in quantities that aren't allowed on anybody's plan, and certainly aren't conducive to weight loss. So I'm cutting out nuts (again) and nut butters (again - except in cooking). Apart from that I had a relaxing quiet weekend like any other, with some walking, some shopping, cooking and food prep and lots of reading.
The weekend seemed at least one day shorter than it should have been, and when my alarm went off this morning I may have sworn at it quite vigorously. And possibly commented several times this morning that I'd rather be at home. However I was not home. A large part of the reason for that is that we'd ordered a filing cabinet and arranged for it to be delivered to my office today. On the website it looked fairly small and, although not flimsy, not particularly solid either. So we thought I could just shove it into the car to bring home.  Ummmm, not so much. It was delivered to reception and proved both bigger and heavier than we expected - so much so that I had to enlist not one but two of my lovely colleagues to get it into my car!  I'm so lucky they were there to help! Of course M showed off by bringing it in the house without help, but he's into lifting heavy things.
I spent the evening in the kitchen making blue cheese vinaigrette salad dressing,Blue cheese vinaigrette a Quinoa salad for M's lunch tomorrow, and some so-called Breakfast biscuits (Southern US keto style) for lunch tomorrow

Food today:
Breakfast: sausage, feta and spinach frittata with sauerkraut
Lunch: soup made from homemade chicken stock and a homemade breakfast sausage, mushrooms and a tiny bit of onion
Dinner: cheese salad
Snacks: half an avocado; cheese

Sleepy...

So the election is done, all media can stop constantly blabbing on about it all, and we actually got a majority this time thankfully. Coalitions are rubbish.
That's enough pretending to any interest in political matters.
The weather interests me more really, and the weather was pretty dull today (in both senses of the word - it was grey and overcast and stayed that way all day. Yawn)
I sat in the office freezing this morning, not to mention bored as I was waiting for the techie guys to get the system ready for testing and they were really struggling. I may have spent some of the time bookmarking keto recipes on one of my new favourite sites -  Fluffy Chix Cooks.com
At lunchtime I went for a walk to relieve the boredom despite the poor weather and it did help me feel a bit refreshed for a while (although it was kind of muggy and I felt a bit damp when I got back). However I've felt really tired for most of the day and still am so I'm guessing an early night lies ahead. TGIF!

Food today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with bacon on a large field mushroom
Lunch: cream cheese pancakes used as wraps with homemade sausage
Dinner: Cauliflower pizza casserole made with a pepparami style salami snack because it's what I had in
Snacks: half an avocado; cheese

Meet Shayda, an Ultimate Weight Loss Success Story

When it comes to losing weight, staying healthy or maintaining a healthy weight, I've always been someone that found my greatest inspiration in community. That's a pretty easy thing to find when your "diet" of choice is a national weight loss chain. That's a lot harder to find when what you are striving for goes against an entire way of living for almost an entire country of over 350 million people.

Welcome to the United States in 2015. Where "food" is everywhere, at all times, for any reason. Where 99 percent of it isn't healthy for anyone.

What's a person like me to do?

Thank God for Facebook.

Seriously, I thank God for Facebook. And the Internet. We live in a very special time, and yes it has it's gray clouds, but it's also got its silver linings.

Facebook is where I met Shayda. If I still lived in Los Angeles, I have no doubt that we'd be friends in real life. But these days, I'll have to settle for virtual friendship, and ours is just beginning.

We meet most days in a small but extremely busy coffee shop called "Chef AJ and John Pierre's Ultimate Weight Loss." It's very private, and you need to be a member of the club to get in. But that's where all of my daily inspiration and connection is coming from. The other members of the group aren't serving coffee as a stimulant, they're serving love, support, commitment, inspiration and occasionally a recipe.

But not too many recipes, and that's a good thing. Someday, I'll talk about that.

For now, I just want you to meet Shayda. You can meet her there, in the club. She's truly inspirational!

Here's her story, in her own words:

Read more �

Feeling better: tweaking again

Another pretty good nights sleep last night and further improvements on the lurgy front so I'm feeling happier still today. I was really happy this morning driving to work in glorious sunshine - sadly within minutes of entering the office the sun was gone and all I could see from the window was cloud. But no rain thankfully. I managed to get out for a walk at lunchtime - 2.5 miles in fact. I was planning to go to Sainsburys but bumped into someone I hadn't caught up with yet and stopped for a chat. Given the length of the queues at Sainsburys every day that left me with not enough time to get there, shop and return so instead I went to the farm shop I used to visit here. I didn't buy anything very exciting but enjoyed a quick browse before heading back to town. I also stopped in a convenience store hoping to find a bag of the 'puffy' style Pork crunch scratchings - not to eat but to cook with ketogenically. I got lucky because they were on special so I got 3 large bags for �1.50 in total. So I did well really. I also had a productive day as far as work went, and that never hurts either.
I decided on another tweak to the eating plan today - actually more of a reverse tweak. Since I cut back on the protein my eating has gone into a much less controlled pattern. I'm still not even tempted by the carby crap, but I am overdoing the foods that are on the plan - especially the PB. So I'm allowing myself a bit more protein at least for a while.

Food today:
Breakfast: leftover chicken livers wrapped in prosciutto and fried eggs. I reheated the livers by frying them with the eggs and they really didn't taste of liver any more - which is a good thing
Lunch: cream cheese pancakes used as wraps with a filling of gammon and mayonnaise
Dinner: bolognese sauce on slim pasta noodles
Snacks: half an avocado; cheese

Rain.....

I saw a rainbow this morning as I was driving to work :-)  I love rainbows, they always, always make me smile.
I'm told last night was horrible - high winds and lots of rain - but I slept right through it and had no idea until I got to work and someone mentioned it, so hurrah for a good night's sleep! I do know that after a windy but sometimes sunny morning it decided to pour with rain as soon as it was time for lunch - so no walk today sadly.
I actually started getting some work done today which was good. Apart from that it was a fairly quiet, slow sort of day. Much less coughing and sneezing from me, and I can almost breathe through my nose  - so that's better too.

Food today:
Breakfast: a large flat field mushroom topped with a leftover burger and a fried egg
Lunch: Chicken and mushroom soup
Dinner: chicken livers wrapped in prosciutto and grilled, with grilled asparagus
Snacks: half an avocado; cheese

Back again

Well, today was quite nice as I started back at the previous job that I did prefer to my last contract, but less nice because I'm working on a new (to me) product that so far I find quite confusing rather than the familiar products I worked on last time. As a result today was the normal slightly boring first day 'reading documentation' that tends to start new jobs.
At lunchtime my colleague, R, with whom I used to regularly walk at lunchtime, suggested we braved the 40 mph + winds and headed out - so we did, and it was good, except for the point when the full 40mph hit us straight in the face!
It's been nice to catch up with the changes that have occurred while I was away, and should be interesting getting to grips with the new product.
Maybe :-)

Food today:
Breakfast: eggs scrambled with smoked salmon
Lunch: Gammon salad
Dinner: chicken with pesto zoodles
Snacks: cold meat; cheese � probably too much.

Happy weekend

Saturday I had a great day at my mum's - we went to a market then walked around the grounds of Lydiard Park for a while despite the grey and cold weather.

Including the walk to and from the train station I walked about 7 miles. We had a nice lunch out and a nice chat in the afternoon. My train journeys were almost perfect and I finished the day with a lamb shish kebab. A really nice day, and very relaxing. Yesterday was less lovely but the weather was quite a bit better and I just went for a short walk. Today though was really nice weatherwise, and I was able to go for a nice 5 mile walk in the sun.

Bank Holidays are great. But still too short.

Food today:
Breakfast: bacon and eggs
Lunch: Chicken salad
Dinner: beef and chorizo burger with roasted broccoli
Snacks: pork scratchings

Better today

I felt better - still congested by much less coughing and sneezing. I even dared to go out for a walk this morning - early, while it was cool and the pollen levels were probably reduced, but it was nice to get out and not feel dreadful.
The rest of my day was a nice mix of kitchen fun (making mayo and flavoured butters, cheese crackers, and buffalo chicken wings) and relaxing - taking a hot bath, reading my kindle, browsing the Web... I meant to watch some TV but didn't really feel like it so I didn't bother.  It was really nice not to have anything much I had to do for a day!

Food today:
Breakfast: fried breakfast - bacon, egg, mushrooms and homemade sausage
Lunch: broccoli cheese soup
Dinner: buffalo wings starter then rump Steak with broccoli
Snacks: cheese

Meet Karen, an Ultimate Weight Loss Success Story

Good morning! Today I would like to introduce you to my friend Karen. When I met Karen 16 years ago in Los Angeles at our local YMCA, my husband immediately began calling her "your one true friend." That name stuck, and whenever Karen's name has come up in our home, "my one true friend" is never far behind. There was just something very deep about our soul connection from the start. Karen is a kind, spiritual, intelligent and truly special human being.

About a year ago, Karen followed my lead when I encouraged her to contact Chef AJ about the Ultimate Weight Loss program. Here's what happened when she did!

I LOVE YOU KAREN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wendy and I met in 1999 in Los Angeles when we were pregnant with our children (who are about to turn 16!!) We became fast friends and have kept in touch even though we no longer live in the same city. I have had a lot of struggles with my weight over the years, and Wendy and I successfully attended Weight Watchers back in Y2K after our children were born and lost the weight we wanted to lose. Sadly I could not maintain my food restrictions and put the weight back on over the years.
Read more �