6, YES 6, 30-day challenges: Day 6

Today started entirely too early. Waking up at 2:30 am for no reason is never fun. Giving up on the idea of going back to sleep became a reality. I have been up and functioning since functioning since 3:30 am. I could understand it if I had small children at home. But my kids are adults, 2 are happily married with children and their own mortgage. The youngest of the 3 lives at home but he is 20 and fully capable of functioning on his own. So, I have no idea why I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Today’s exercises seemed to be a bit more challenging than previous days. Hopefully tomorrow morning will be better. Today’s challenges included the following exercises:

ABS: 30 sit ups, 12 crunches, 12 leg raises, and 20 second plank.

Squat: 60 regular squats.

Arms: 15 wall push ups, 15 opposite arm and leg raises, and 15 box push ups.

Butt: 15 sumo squats, 15 donkey kicks, and 15 side lunges.

Thighs: 15 clock lunges, 15 lunge jumps, and 15 sumo squats.

Cardio: 1 minute Pylo jacks, 1 minute high kicks, and 1 minute running in place.

My legs and lower back are still hurting so tomorrow when I go to the store, I might be purchasing something like a pain patch that I can put on my back and will just continue to take Tylenol for the pain in my legs. Unless anyone that read this has any other suggestions.

I did notice at the end of my work day (I work from home), my lower left leg was hurting a lot and my left ankle is a tad bit swollen. But I will carry on with these challenges.

Today’s meals and beverages include:

3:30 1 cup of coffee with sugar and creamer

8:30 scrambled eggs with sausage, onion, jalapenos, topped with homemade pico de gallo. Water to drink

12:30 salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, cheese, and ranch dressing. Water to drink.

3:30 6 Ritz crackers with peanut butter (put together to make 3 cracker sandwiches?)

7:00 what can only be described as taco fries! Air fried fries, taco meat, pico de gallo, onions, cheese, and sour cream.

It should be noted that I drank water (plain) during the day but I did not drink as much as I do when I add lemon to it. So tomorrow, I will be adding lemon to my water!!!

Also, around 5pm I made a half pot of coffee but only drank just under 2 cups.

So that is how my day has been. It was busy before work with a couple of errands one of which was taking my yorkie in for her summer buzz cut. Now she is happy and isn’t panting like she hasn’t had water in years. She tends to be a bit of a drama queen!!

I will be back tomorrow with day 7. Please come back!!!

6, YES 6, 30-day challenges. Chapter 1: I can do this! The first 5 days.

For some reason, I felt it would be a great idea for me to start a 30-day challenge and seriously watch what I eat on a daily basis. I am seriously pushing 60 and I have COPD and some dietary restrictions so my ability to actually complete this is questionable at best. But I am going to give it my best shot!

I have tried a modified version of Keto three separate times and although I did lose weight, the diet also contributed to some gastric issues. So Keto is out, especially a strict Keto. Another issue for me with diets in general is inability to tolerate any and all artificial sweeteners and also the “natural” sweeteners that are currently on the market. My body just does not tolerate them in any way, shape, or form so I’m 100% sugar. With that being said, I plan on limiting my sugar intake and also watch my carbs but not omit either. As of May 1st, I have omitted all soft drinks and my beloved sweet iced tea. I have replaced it with water and lemon. I have never been a fan of water so that has been a real adjustment for me. But I have made it work for me so far!!!

6, YES 6, 30-day challenges when I started my serious planning for our upcoming cruise. I wanted to start exercising and eating so I can make sure the clothes I purchased for our last cruise will still fit for our upcoming cruise. I have seen a lot of 30-day challenges on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram but I felt I would have a better benefit from an app. So I started searching for FREE apps for 30-day challenges. I looked at one that said it was free, but when I downloaded it and started the initial assessment stuff, I found out that this free app was not free. In fact, they wanted approximately $5.00 per week!!! This $5.00 per week would give you a personal workout plan and meal plan. Thanks, but no thanks.

I finally the 30DayFitness app. I am so glad I stumbled onto this. The app has 8 different challenges (Abs, push-up, squat, arms, butt, plank, thighs, and cardio) and each challenge has two beginner levels, two intermediate levels, and to advanced levels. Considering my age, health, and level of exercise (or lack thereof), I decided on the beginner level 1 in SIX different challenges, Abs, squats, arms, butt, thighs, and cardio. I decided if I am going to do this, I might as well get the best benefit for all areas.

As of today, I have done 90 situps, 35 crunches, 34 leg raises, 72 seconds of planks, 215 regular squats, 36 arm circles, 10 wall push-ups, 47 floor tricep dips, 11 opposite arm and leg raises, 37 box push-ups, 50 side lunges, 55 sumo squats, 55 donkey kicks, 37 goblet squats, 36 forward lunges, 24 clock lunges, 37 lunge jumps, 85 seconds of running in place, 55 seconds of high knees, 85 seconds of bear crawls, 15 Pylo jacks, and 60 butt kicks.

My legs are sore.

My thighs are sore.

My lower back hurts real bad.

NO PAIN, NO GAIN! I’m going to conquer these challenges.

A lot of these exercises I have never heard of, but luckily the app has diagrams of each exercise. Any exercise I struggle with, I try to modify it ever so slightly until I am in better shape. I am looking at these challenges as an adventure. I have not woken up in the morning dreading to do exercises. But I do enjoy a nice long hot bath immediately afterward!

I hope to blog about this one a daily basis and will include information and maybe pictures of what I eat each day.

So please follow along on my 6, YES 6, 30-day challenges!

2019 Diet Blog #1: Returning to low carb/modified Keto again!

I have started this month with new motivation. Not for anything in particular, but just in general. There are so many areas in my life that needs improving and controlling my diet is one thing that I have complete and total control over. I know there are times when I will be on carb overload, and that’s okay. I will plan these days out in advance and adjust my diet accordingly.

I cannot not be total Keto in that I have a reaction to all artificial sweeteners I have tried, including the so-called natural ones. I’m not saying they are not natural, but they are not good for me. I do everything I possibly can to not have the massive migraine that they cause. Even to the point that I avoid all sweets at any function that I do not know 100% the desserts do not contain some type of artificial sweetener.

While on this diet journey, I will also be looking at the Weight Watchers point system. I’m curious to research how it works and what is and is not allowed. It’s mostly a curiosity thing. As is The Dubrow Diet which sounds like it would be much more diet friendly then a strict Keto is. I’m just now sure what direction this diet will take, but it started yesterday and my hubby already messed it up for me by making biscuits and gravy for dinner yesterday. Surely one little biscuit will not be that bad for me.

Something else I should mention, I have had conversations with my primary care doctor as well as my GI and they both feel it is something that I can do. The only addition I was informed to do is to take 2 FiberCon 3 times a day (with meals).

Let’s get started. Yesterday, February 1, 2019, I stepped on the scale and have decided that I feel comfortable with a 10 pound weight loss. (I’m not dieting to lose a lot of weight, that is not necessary. But I do know what I feel comfortable weighing). Of course the day always begins with coffee. I like mine with sugar and creamer. So, I added my normal amount of sugar and added a splash of heavy cream. I may have had another cup also!!! But nothing to eat. At least not yet!!!

Around noon, I had my brunch which consisted of one boiled egg, some grated cheddar cheese wrapped with ham. At 3ish I had some deviled eggs made with mayo and mustard only and some cheddar cheese wedges. Then around 7, hubby was mean and made me 2 fried eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy. The gravy was at the bottom of my bowl with the eggs laid across it. I also topped my fried eggs with some salsa. Everything is better with salsa!!!!

And that was all I ate yesterday. I feel like I did real good! At least for day 1!!!

Today started out with coffee of course!!! Saturdays are a very long work day for me so of course I need coffee. But for some reason, I did not drink that much. And that seems very strange to me since I did not sleep well at all last night.

My first meal today was around noon and it was so delicious!!! I had some Polska Kielbasa smoked sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, cheese, ranch dressing with extra dill seasoning, and 2 strawberries. It was just so good and easy to put together! I did not eat again until 6:30 when I fixed myself 2 eggs scrambled with spinach, onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and one torn up corn tortilla and I topped it with some salsa. Yes, I love salsa.

I totally expect tomorrow to be a high carb day as I have lunch with my mother every Sunday. Since it is only going to be me and my mom, I think I will go to Chicken Express and bring her her favorite food ever, fried chicken livers. No worries, I know she will share with me!!!

As always, I’m open to your meal plan ideas and other options for dieting in general. Please feel free to leave me your comments! They are always appreciated.

Diet week #6

I tried to do better at keeping track of what I ate, but I do believe I missed a few and I definitely didn’t take many pictures. I think I do better when I do daily diet entries on here instead of weekly. Time to step it up!!!

Monday 10/01/2018. Started this week with left over roast and potato’s that we had the day before for lunch at mom’s. This is what I pretty much ate all day. I also had some Tangerine LaCroix water with a splash of ginger ale.

Tuesday 10/02/2018. I was very bad. I went to Zeke’s Fish And Chips. OMG their food is so good. I had one piece of fried cod with fried zucchini and french fries. This meal kept me feeling very full for a long time. Tangerine LaCroix water with splash of ginger ale.

Wednesday 10/03/2018. Started my day with brunch consisting of a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Some days it feel good to have something so basic! For dinner I had spaghetti and meatballs and a small salad with avocado ranch dressing.

Thursday 10/04/2018. Spaghetti and meatballs with salad for a late lunch/early dinner.

Friday 10/05/2018. Same as Thursday. No reason to change something that is good and filling.

Saturday 10/06/2018. Brunch consisted of a peanut butter sandwich with grape jelly. (There were no more leftovers to eat and I was feeling lazy.) Dinner consisted of 2 fried eggs and 3 pieces of bacon.

Sunday 10/07/2018. Lunch at my mother’s apartment. Since we were celebrating my husband’s birthday, we got to pick what we were having to eat this day. He picked spaghetti and meatballs. So, that is what we had plus we also had chicken spaghetti and a salad on the menu plus a chocolate birthday cake that my grandson was more than happy to pick out!!! I had chicken spaghetti, small salad and one small piece of garlic bread.

Last week’s modified keto…

Sometimes life just has a way of changing things. Nothing major, just little stuff here and there. But I did manage to shed a couple of pounds.

Last weeks meals consisted of the normal coffee with sugar and creamer in the first cup and nothing in additional cups. There was the consuming of cream cheese queso (cream cheese and ro-tel) with tortilla chips. One day I made chili because it was what I wanted! And it was yummy especially with saltine crackers with unsalted tops. One day I had a “brunch bowl” which consisted of potatoes, 2 fried eggs and 2 pieces of bacon topped with salsa!!!! And it would be wrong of me to not mention the guacamole with a few tortilla chips. Let’s not forget the nachos made with a few tortilla chips, chili (that I made), cheese and salsa. I also consumed some orange flavored LaCroix with a splash of ginger ale and also unsweetened ice tea. I did fast on Saturday but did my best to keep myself hydrated.

So this week, I am keeping track of what I eat… actually writing it down so I can remember!!! And I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday for my 6-month COPD check and lab work. I cannot wait to get the results of my labs!!!! They were good in March so I’m hoping they are good now!!!

Returning to a modified Keto diet.

After spending one week watching what I ate, I discovered that bread is not a good thing. Corn tortillas are awesome!!! I only lost 1 pound during last week and I’m not complaining. I actually thought I had gained everything I lost while trying a modified Keto plan.

So it is time to start fresh. But some things will never change. I had my usual morning coffee (2 teaspoons of sugar and cream). And that was my morning. Around lunch time, I had a nice salad that consisted of iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and bacon. Of course, all good salads are even better with Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.

The afternoon/evening/night beverage of choice was my Orange Favored LaCroix with a splash of Ginger Ale. I needed it for the after effects of a migraine.

I did have a little snack of cream cheese queso (cream cheese and 1 can of RoTel) with pork rinds. I do not think I will do that combination again. I will probably do better with tortilla chips!!!!

I have noticed some ads for low carb tortillas that I have been thinking about trying. Nothing will ever compare to the homemade flour tortillas my grandmother use to make but it might be worth a try.

And that was my day, aside from working. How was your day????

Watching what I eat day 1

As with any other day, I started my morning with coffee that had 2 teaspoons of sugar and Carnation Mocha creamer. It seems a little warm in the house today, so I didn’t have as much coffee as I usually do. Definitely nothing to eat in the morning.

Lunch time rolled around and I had a hamburger patty with cheese and onion with some ketchup on the side for dipping (just in case) and celery with cream cheese. But let’s be honest… the celery was strictly to hold the cream cheese!!! To drink with lunch and the remainder of the day was LaCroix Orange water drink think mixed with a little 7-Up. I’m trying to get use to LaCroix on it’s on, but it could take a little while.

I continue to drink the Orange flavored LaCroix/7-Up mixture and then it happened. Our air conditioner decided to stop working. I’m now a very hot, sweaty mess. No one in the right mind wants to cook when it is hot so for dinner I had a bologna sandwich on white bread with mayo. Hellman’s Mayonaise to be exact. I like it better than the other’s I have tried, actually forced to try by my hubby, bat that’s another issue in itself, LOL.

Now I’m off to see someone in the hospital. I hope everyone has had a great day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Or maybe I should go ahead and buy something to keep me cool until the ac is fixed!!!!

Modified Keto day 17.

Day 17. Just another typical day starting with coffee and yes I had 2 teaspoons of SUGAR along with some heavy cream. Additional refills did not have the added sugar but maybe one had some additional heavy cream. Brunch today was Migas. Scrambled eggs with onion, corn tortillas, sausage, and some hot sauce. Yes I am aware that TORTILLAS are not on the good Keto list. But right now, I just do not care. I have to modify things as best as I can considering the dietary restrictions that come with Diverticulosis. Not to mention my allergy to artificial sweeteners and, apparently, the plant based “natural” sweeteners.

This evening was a repeat of yesterday evening… at least I was thinking it was yesterday. I had some smoked chicken with Ranch dressing to dip it with. And some pickle chips. I have consumed unsweetened ice tea today as well.

Sometimes I feel like I’m in a bubble. I realize I am losing weight but at what cost? Since I have started this diet and modifying it as necessary, I have started having severe abdominal cramps. And I’m only 17 days in. I have joined some Keto groups on Facebook, but I am afraid to post anything. Why? Because there is always someone that say “That’s not allowed on Keto”. Well guess what. I’m an adult and I am perfectly capable of making my on decisions. I am losing weight for myself in an attempt to get rid of the weight I gained while on an steroid inhaler for 2 years thanks to COPD. The groups have not seemed very friendly. Some of the recipes look appealing, but since they all have artificial sweetener, I cannot use them. What a shame.

There are a lot of opinions about this diet, but I’m really starting to question if it is the right one for me. Consuming a diet where the main part is fat does not play well with Diverticulosis and not having a gallbladder. I wonder if these people on the Facebook groups take into consideration that this diet might not be for everyone. Some people in these groups act like you MUST do it by the book. I think it might be best for my sanity to stay away from those groups for the next couple of weeks while I try to figure out how this diet with modifications will work for me. Not how the Facebook Keto police thinks it should.

Modified Keto day 16. Today was real bad.

Today was definitely not a good day in my house. My 19-year old son became extremely ill around midnight and continued for hours!!!! What a mess. We took him to the doctor and found out he has acute gastroenteritis. Not fun at all.

But with all the chaos, my modified Keto started out as it usually does with coffee, but I had very little to eat the rest of the day. Some breakfast sausage that amounted to 2 sausage patties this afternoon. Then later I had some smoked chicken (maybe 2 ounces) and some ranch dressing for dipping. I ended the night with a few pickle chips (for lack of a better term).

I’m definitely hoping tomorrow is a much better day. I’m 100% exhausted. Absolutely nothing was accomplished.

Modified Keto day 15. I can do it, I can do it.

Having a back ache is not how I wanted to start my day. But that is ok. I can deal with it! Today was just another normal day… coffee in the morning. Yes with 2 teaspoons of sugar in the first cup with heavy cream. No sugar or cream added to additional refills, and there were a few. Nothing to eat for breakfast!!!

Lunch time means it was time to eat!!! 2 fried eggs, bacon, and about 1/4 of an avocado. So yummy!!!! And filling. Later in the evening, I had some sausage that my husband smoked, a few olives, and a few Parmesan Whisps. And nothing since then. Well, nothing besides some unsweetened ice tea!!!

I wish it felt energized. I wish I felt like I accomplished something today. But nothing like that happened. At least tomorrow I will have some packages delivered!!!! I’m sure everything coming is for the cruise!!!!