Shout Out To A Specific Few Readers

I noticed recently that I'm getting a ton of traffic from a website called My Fat Cure. I tried to go there because I noticed it's relating to hCG and those that have taken that journey and found that it was by invitation only *sigh*. Would someone send me an invitation? I'd love to join your forum!

Thank you!

Low Carb Thanksgiving - It Can Be Good

I've talked before having a lower carb lifestyle. And now I want to put it to practice on a day that is typically loaded with carbs like stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls and pies. How are you going to get through this if you're doing your best to keep your carbs on the lower side? It can be done - and you can feel satisfied.

But first, remember this. When you think back on various Thanksgiving feasts (let's just say last year), what are your poignant memories? For me, I remember where we had it. I remember who was there. I remember where I sat and who sat next to me and around me. I even remember to some extent what we talked about. What I don't remember is what I ate. I don't remember how many servings I had of this and if I had pie afterward. I don't remember the rolls, the stuffing or even the pumpkin roll. I'm sure the food was great, but what my memories are made of are family, interaction, conversation and friendship. That being said...

Fortunately, Thanksgiving is mainly about one big protein: Turkey! So at least you've got that going for you. Eat it - eat as much of it as you want.

Aside from that, modifications have to be made or else you're just going to be doing mini tastes of the rests of the food, and that's no fun at all. So let's talk modifications.

You may want to try some of these recipes before you decide to take them to your family's Thanksgiving but if your family has any women in it, they may thank you for providing some alternatives to the higher carb fare.

First of all, make sure there is always a veggie try with your favorite dip like Ranch or sour cream & onion. What a perfect dish! It's snackable and with the dip, you don't feel too deprived! Put carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, olives, pea pods or whatever else you love in it.

Next, you're really serious about low carb, you've got to try the mashed cauliflower. Steam some florettes then put them in your food processor with a little milk, cream cheese and butter. Cream them all together until you get a mashed potato consistency. Serve them hot. You'll be surprised about how delicious these are and how satisfying they are. Plus, there are lots of things you can make with mashed cauliflower. I've tried many and the breadsticks are very good (I'll post that recipe another time).

Another good replacement is for pumpkin pie. If you can live without the crust (which is nothing but flour and fat!) you might be okay with just the pie itself. It's my favorite part frankly. I got this recipe from here, where incidentally there are a ton of other really good recipes.

Pumpkin Pie

Sweetened condensed milk, low-carb recipe (see below)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
2 large eggs
1 can pumpkin
sweetener, to taste
pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into prepared pie shell. Baker at 425 for 15 minutes, and then bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Low-carb sweetened condensed milk

1 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup boiling water
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Stevia

Combine all in a blender. Mix until well-blended. Makes the equivalent of one can of sweetened, condensed milk.

This pumpkin pie is REALLY good and can easily pass for a regular recipe.

If you love sweet potatoes, here is a good recipe that limits the sugar but leaves the yum!

Twice baked yams

8 small sweet potatoes
2 cups pumpkin
1 package cream cheese*
salt and pepper
butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place yams on cookie sheet. Cut cross-hatch into the top (an "x") and bake for an hour. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Change oven temperature to 350 degrees

Carefully peel back top edges from the yams. Leaving the shells intact, scoop out the innards. Keep half*, and save the rest for another recipe. Mash yam innards. Add pumpkin, cream cheese and butter and mix until fluffy.

Spoon or pipe mixture back into the shells and bake for 20 minutes or until warm.

Optional: Top with sour cream, butter,bacon bits and cheese for a loaded version. For a sweeter flavor, sprinkle with nutmet and cinnamon, and a small pat of butter.(Adjust nutritional values according to additions)

Makes 8 small yams.

These are the less "involved" carb replacements. If you want to get "carb crazy" then do a search for "oopsies" which are an interesting bread/bun replacement and also have a look at the various carb replacements on this website AND the Miracle Noodle.

Managing your waistline is about control - who is doing the controlling? The food - or you? Look back on your Thanksgiving feast this year and be proud of the decisions you made. Have good food but don't let it be the focus. Eat well and live well.

Good luck and Happy low-carb Thanksgiving!

Kraft Food & Family Is No Longer Free

I've been receiving Kraft Food & Family for several years now and have made many of their recipes, especially their dinners. Of course all of their foods call for Kraft products such as soups, salad dressings, cheese etc. No problem - just use whatever you have. I'm not loyal to many brands of foods. I buy what's inexpensive and if it sucks, I don't buy it again. End of story.

In the past couple of months, Kraft Food & Family has made a big marketing decision regarding their magazine and has opted to take it out of the "free" category and charge their customers for it. Evidently they felt they had a strong enough following to start a paying subscription. They probably do.

I've been considering for several months whether I'd become a paying customer to keep getting the magazine. I received their most recent November issue the other day and dutifully clipped all of the recipes I'd like to try. I thought this month would probably be my deciding factor. However, there weren't recipes I lusted after this issue.

I recently bought a subscription to Taste of Home, a magazine I truly love. Every single recipe in it that I've tried (with perhaps 2 exceptions) has turned out to be a winner. With KFF, I really never know if what I'm going to be putting on the table is even going to be palatable. And honestly, there have been times...sorry. I've discussed this with several friends who get KFF also and have had similar responses. Sometimes the recipes are good (hardly ever GREAT) and sometimes leftovers just get trashed. The up side is that they're fast, usually you have the ingredients on hand, and they're inexpensive to make. Most of the time also, they're kid friendly (and I guess to some people that is a lot).

The yearly subscription that they're offering me is only $6/year and if I hadn't already tried the magazine over the course of several years, I'd be willing to give it a go. However, if they're not making any other changes besides charging me for it, I guess I'm going to end my relationship with KFF and look forward to receiving my good and trusted (that never lets me down) Taste of Home.

Sorry Kraft Food & Family. I just don't love Italian dressing in my ravioli.

Being Careful Worked

I was nearer the top of my 2 lb. breathing room yesterday and that's why I was "being careful" like I said yesterday. It's why I opted out of a real breakfast. And it worked. I was down 3/4 of a lb. this morning and I haven't exercised since Sunday because I'm on the brink of a really bad chest cold. Chest colds and me just don't mix because my lungs are wimpy and give me trouble at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, so I can move on to a little more liberal eating today. Yay! I could easily slip into my bad habits if I'm not careful and as evidence of that, this is what I've eaten today: 2 bites of cake, 4 candy corns. It's noon. Not a good sign.

I put some chicken out on the counter to thaw out and I'll have a chicken salad later to compensate for my sugar fix this morning. That'll solve it.

I'm headed to the bead store when Tink wakes up. I've decided to start putting those cute funky, chunky watchbands on my Etsy site. They sell like hotcakes and are so cute! I'll make a few and see how they do. Plus, I love to make them.

In other news, just to ground me and help me remember my true calling is that of "Mother", I've wiped up bodily fluids from every single member of this family today (ok excluding the Marshmallow but that's because he left early) and that includes the freaking cat. If I had only known 20 years ago that I'd be living such a glamorous life at 35, I'd not have stalled having children for so long, lol!

hCG and Maintenance

Once people get over the initial "Wow" about hCG, they are usually interested in how successful maintenance is. Can you maintain such great weight loss? It's a good question, and anyone truly interested in shedding weight should be curious about it.

When I was researching hCG in the beginning, I read many reports about people who were maintaining their weight and it was typically within 5 lbs. of their lowest weight on hCG. If you're especially diligent, you can maintain within 2 with minimal effort.

I've been off of hCG now for about a month, have successfully added carbs back into my diet and have maintained within 2 lbs. I have done 1 steak day but it wasn't because I was over 2 lbs. I did it so I could be at my lowest weight and have some wiggle room to add carbs in; a tactic I highly recommend.

Phase III can be a very stressful period for hCG'ers because all of the sudden they are released into the world of food knowing they are able to add "all oils and fats" back in. But the rules are very vague as to how much to eat and what exactly you should be eating.

I did it wrong one time. In the two weeks that I was "off" between rounds, I did about 4 steak days and had a difficult time figuring out where my balance was. But in all failure there is success and I learned a great deal about my body during that time. My 2nd foray into Phase III was, as I said, a complete success.

All bodies are different so what worked for me may not necessarily be the key to your success but it's a start. Here's how I did it.

As Phase I came to an end, I mentally prepared myself for a low-carb lifestyle. Talk to anyone who is serious about health and weight maintenance and you'll find that moderation in carbs is critical. I researched lots of low-carb recipes and sugar/starch substitutes and made a plan for how my future diet would be.

Day I of Phase III. I ate the same foods I ate for Phase II. I had more chicken breast (5 oz) and more tomatoes (2) for lunch. I had asparagus (2 cups) for dinner with about a 5 oz steak. But I added eggs (1/4 cup) for breakfast. And not just any eggs - I used Eggbeaters because they have no fat and they are pure protein. My main goal this day was to come out higher in protein than in fat. I also had an apple (large Red Delicious bought at Costco - they're huge!)

Day II: Again, same foods as Phase II (a trend I continued for 1 week) but added any veggies you can find in a salad (cucs, lettuce, carrot, tomato, mushrooms). I ate the salad (very large) with 2 tbsp of Ranch (regular Ranch). So I had eggs for breakfast and a salad with Ranch for lunch. Again, asparagus and steak for dinner. I did add ham to my eggs this morning (about 1/4 cup) because it's protein and I was mainly careful about adding in fats, oils and carbs in other foods (like nuts).

Day III: Similar foods to previous day (you're getting the idea) but today I added peanuts because I love peanuts and they're a great snack. But I only added 1/4 cup of them. For a snack, I dehydrated some steak for homemade jerky (don't eat the store bought stuff yet because usually the 1st or 2nd ingredient is sugar!) and ate that throughout the day. Again, eggs/ham for breakfast, salad for lunch and protein/veggie for dinner. Apple and peanuts for snack.

Day IV: Added cauliflower because I love it mashed with milk, and sour cream. It's a very good substitute for mashed potatoes. I didn't put a limit on how much cauliflower I ate that day because it's considered a "negative calorie" food which means it takes more calories to eat it than you will take in by eating it. I eat it in many forms. I'm still very boring at this point with eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch and protein/veggie (cauliflower) for dinner. Apple for snack.

Day V: I added a few raisins to my salad.

Day VI: I added cheese (any variety) but only about 1/2 cup of cubes or a cheesestick

This is the trend for at least two weeks. I know that by the time you hit Phase III, you are seriously Jonesing for some real food but you have to take it very slow. Smaller quantities than you feel are necessary and really only one (and if you really can't stand it) a small quantity of another food. For most days, you really shouldn't even gain much more than a couple ounces. It should be that controlled.

To maintain control even better, you can work out. I found that by going running each morning for just 15 minutes, the water was redistributed in my body to the point that I would lose .6 of a pound every morning and I'd start off on the right foot every day. I'd like to say that exercise was the primary reason I was able to maintain the weight but I really think it was the combination of controlled eating and exercise.

Now I know this is not how you want to live your life forever. Smaller quantities of food and exercise every morning to maintain your weight. The good news is, it's not how it's going to be. Already, I'm getting much more liberal with the oils and fats that I eat. Take for example what I ate today (and today was a day I was trying to be careful):

Eggs/ham for breakfast (1/4 cup of each) & mushrooms
1/4 cup of peanuts for snack early morning
1/4 cup of raisins (lunch)
1 wedge of garlic BabyBell cheese rolled in two pieces of ham (lunch)
1 very large apple (lunch)
1/2 cup of homemade jerky (lunch)
3 tbsp organic peanut butter (afternoon snack)
1 cup lasagna (dinner)
10 doritos (late afternoon snack)
3/4 cup peanuts evening snack

You can see I'm a really snacky person - to the exclusion of regular lunch food. Yesterday I had a chicken sandwich for lunch (with bread yay!). The day before I ate a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. That was the day I also ate 2 orange rolls while I was baking.

I have no idea of how many calories I ate today but I know that I didn't overeat. Prior to hCG I would never have have been able to eat 1/2 of the snack foods I ate today let alone in the quantities did. Best of all, I felt no guilt at all.

At this point in my reassimilation, I am only careful about the carbs I eat. Like you saw, I had some lasagna but I was fairly light on the noodles and some doritos. There are carbs in the apple, raisins and peanuts and all of that adds up to about what I can tolerate in a day without gaining. And I know this because day one of adding carbs back in, I did it the same way as adding in fats/oils: 1 at a time. Day 1 I added 1 piece of bread. Day 2: more bread and then 1/4 cup of potatoes.

Anyway, you get the idea. Take it slow and not only will you establish your set point quickly like I did but you'll avoid the dreaded steak day. It's easy to get crazy with your new freedom but there's much more happiness in controlling what you eat than over-eating and being forced into a rigid steak day!

Good luck with Phase III. More information like low-carb recipes, etc. to come like what to do about Thanksgiving while on Phase III.

*An afterthought about what I actually want to eat: It must be clarified that the things I ate today were the things I wanted to eat. And don't get me wrong - I am a junk food fanatic! At least I used to be. But I seriously am not interested in most of that stuff right now. While I ate the doritos earlier, I was very done with them by the time I finished my small bowl. I just didn't want more. I can easily pass on all fast food. I say this because you probably looked at that list of foods that I ate and thought that it was all diet food and what I was forced to eat. Not at all - those were the foods I chose to eat and it was ALL I wanted. Believe it! I'll write more about this too.