R1M1D6 (+0.2LDW)

So I lost 0.8 from yesterday mostly due to the Smooth tea. Thank goodness for that
tea! I feel so much better today. So here's my recommendation: Just go by your
BMR calculation and NOT by those calculator that add in your activities for you.
I'll add in my activities on my own. For example, My BMR is 1671.14. If I decide
to do the bike then I will add the calories it says on the bike to my overall
daily count. There is no way that I was burning 2000 calories a day and my body
was telling me in many ways that this was all wrong. I couldn't digest it, I was
gaining, and I wasn't hungry. Perhaps some people can go by those calculators
but I can't and my friend agrees. He is experiencing the same as me and is doing
better now that he lowered his calories to BMR too. Hope this helps! I bought
the costco whey powder today as it is way cheaper than the organic stuff I was
using. The brand is Kaizen and it has slightly higher calories and more protein
than the Northcoast brand. It is sweetened with stevia but also has a bit of
sucralose (I know, not allowed, but I can't afford to keep up the organic and
others are reporting good results with this stuff) We'll see how it goes. I had
one for breakfast and tasted good at least!
I'll post meals later....I'm out to enjoy the beautiful day! Have a great one!
Later...
Breakfast- whey shake 150
Snack- 1 egg + 1/2 cup whites 140, 220g zucchini 31, 2 Tbsp olive oil 240, 1/2 apple 36
Lunch- 185g chicken 214, 140g cucumber 15, 1/2 tsp olive oil 20, orange 66
Snack- whey shake 150
Supper- 200g lean ground beef 266, 2 cups lettuce 17, 3 Tbsp guacamole 84, 2 tsp olive oil 40, 2 Tbsp salsa
10
Snack- baked apple with cinnamon and stevia 90, 2 tsp coconut oil 80
Total=1649

R1M1D5 (+1 LDW)

So, back on track. Glad the steak day worked and was rather surprised since I still
haven't had a movement. Will try this Smooth tea Aimee is bringing me later. Yay
Aimee! So I will try again to get the min. calories in but for today I'm letting
it be at the low end (~1700 calories goal) until my track starts to move again.
Here's the day so far:

Breakfast- 1 egg + 4 whites 140, 150g asparagus 35, 1 tsp olive oil 40, 1 tsp coconut oil 40, 3 Tbsp almond milk 13, and an orange 66. Oh and I had a coffee. So, 334 calories for breakfast.
Snack- 2 scoops whey shake 220, 1 cup strawberries 45, 1 Tbsp coconut oil 120
More to come later!
Later...
Lunch- 160g cucumber 17, 185g chicken 214, 1 tsp olive oil 40, 2 tsp deli mustard 10, apple 73
Snack- 1 scoop shake 110
This is where things got sloppy as I went out with my ladies
to the park. I brought a veggie platter and everyone else brought CARBS
....pizza, garlic bread, dipping breads and creamy dips, fudge, brownies,
nanaimo bars....oh and water melon, homemade salsa and grapes. I couldn't
remember if these fruits were allowed so I stuck to my veggies and had a sliver
of watermelon. Here's my best guess at what I had:
Supper- cauliflower 28,
broccoli 40, snap peas 36, salsa 10
Snack- it was almost 9pm when I got home so I did up a protein shake (2 scoops) 220, had 1/2 cup of almond milk left so another 35
Total=1552

I didn't eat the orange :( so total for yesterday was actually 1826 calories.

Today is day 4 of M1 and I have to do a steak day :( So I feel like the clock just got set back to
zero.... I am exactly 2 pounds over LDW. That means I gained 1.4 from yesterday.
I don't know. It's all stuck in my guts. I haven't had a movement in 2 days. Not
even sure if I should be doing a steak day or if I should be taking some sort of laxative.
7 BMR and daily calorie calculators can't be wrong....can they? Is this really what people go by to lose/gain/maintain? According to the calculators I have used, I should be safe to maintain between 1700-2100 calories a day and should only be altering my weight when hitting as low as 1500 or high as 2500 to lose or gain, respectively. Also, those sorts of swings should only lead to a difference of ~1lb a week! So what am I doing wrong? I hope the steak day works.....here's to another 7 days or trying to get 2000 in without gaining.
I have to get this right even if I have more rounds to go. This is the important part! The part that will program my body to allow me to eat higher calorie foods and burn it.

At the end of this day....
Okay, so today wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be...I wasn't hungry to begin with so sticking to the
water all day was fine. I went to my favorite little steak house for supper and ordered their 15 oz steak. I asked how they cook it and with what and he said they only use olive oil and a bit of salt. Perfect! So I had them wrap up the rest of the meal for my hubby and sat down to the best steak ever!!! I ate an apple on the way home and done. I sure hope this works.

R1M1D3 (+0.6 LDW) correct me please if this is the wrong way to express this, I am on my 3rd day of eating
2000 calories.

I think I had too much salt and not enough water
yesterday. It is really hard and seems like all I do is eat. I'm also feeling
tired the last couple days. So I'm not sure if I'm getting enough in!!! Good
grief. How am I supposed to know if a gain is due to too much or too little??? I
also missed an orange and the carrots and didn't finish my supper veggies. I
just couldn't get it in. So here I try again to get 2000 callories in one day.
If I gain again like I have the last 2 days then I'm going to have to call Cara.
I'm so dissapointed since I have put so much work into this and have read so
many that say they move no more then 0.4lb in a day. I'm also having a hard time
sleeping with vivid dreams when I do sleep. My mood is generally down but this
may be due to the grey weather we have had lately and the gains over the last 2
days. Frustrating.
Nowhere to go but forward, so here's the day so far:

Breakfast- 1 egg + 3 egg whites 125, 1/2 med zucchini 40, 8 oz
almond milk 70 (have not got a consistent calorie count on this so putting high
end count), 2 tsp olive oil 80, 1 orange 66
Snack- Whey protein shake (2
scoops) 220, 1 cup strawberries 45, 1 Tbsp coconut oil 120

I'll post rest later so I'm not always correcting myself :)

Later this day...
Lunch- 185g chicken 214, 3 Tbsp
Guacomole (mashed avacodo with some spices only) 84, 2 Tbsp Salsa (no added
sugar) 10, I cooked the chicken in 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil but I did up 7
pieces of chicken so.....let's say 1/2 tsp olive oil 20, 2 cups lettuce 17

That's 1111 calories so far :(  889 to go....Is this for real??? I
feel like I'm doing load days!
I did 15 minutes on my bike too but kept it
at the lowest setting, calorie burner said I burned 65 calories.

Even Later this day....
Afternoon Snack- 8 oz Almond milk 70, apple 73
And I copied Lunch for Supper, lol. That was 345 That leaves
~400 calories for snack time?!? Yah right....Think it's safe to say that I'll
have a fruit for snack (orange 66) and I guess I could do another whey shake
220.

That'll put me at 1892 calories for the day. We'll see what the scale has to say about that in the morning. No one can say I'm not trying my  hardest to do this right!

Update to Day 1 of 2000 cals:
I had a hard time keeping up with eating. After the morning snack the
oils with eggs (don't do this, yuck!) hit my guts and sent me running for the
potty. I felt real ill and my friend, who ate the same as me in the morn save
for the fruit at snack was a grapefruit for him, experienced the same results.
Poor guy was at work too so he couldn`t even lay down for a bit. So lunch
happened late. I had my chicken salad at about 2pm. This sat a bit better so I
decided to have the same for supper. Then I had a protein shake (2 scoops) for
snack.

My total came to 1680 calories for the day. I gained 0.8lb from
the day but I am still 0.2lb below LDW so I think I`m okay. I think there is no
way to NOT gain once I started to eat again. Now there is food in the track
again and that has to show as something on the scale.

So today I am feeling much better but still having troubles eating enough.
Breakfast-  steak (6 oz) 378, Zucchini (100 grams) 40, 1Tbsp Olive Oil 133, 1Tbsp Soy Sauce
10, 1 cup Almond Milk 65
Snack- Whey protein shake (2 Scoops) 220
Lunch-  Mixed Salad (tomato 16, lettuce 17, onion 22, cuccumber 9) 64, apple 73, chicken
(5 oz) 155, 1/2 olive oil 67 (spices)
Snack- Carrots (4oz) 44, 1 cup almond milk 65
Supper- Pork chop (5 oz) 400, cauliflower (4 oz) 28, broccoli (4 0z) 40, 1/2 Tbsp olive oil 67, 1/2 grapefruit 48
Snack- orange 66

Total=1963

Hope I can get it in!!

Day 1 of 2000 calorie morining weight was 195.6 and LDW(last drops weight) was 196.8

I am at snack time and I forgot  to add the coconut oil to my shake. Oops! I feel very full
already. If you do the shake, only add 1 cup water as it really bulks up in the
mixer. I did 1 1/2 and it is too much. I think I also over blended as it is very
frothy. I think it is okay that I missed the coconut oil as I think I have too
much for this day. I am still learning here so I'm not exactly certain on the
portions for each group. Think I'll do a pie chart (mmmmm pie....) and see what
my percentages are for calories from each group. I have read that my calories
from proteins should be more than my calories from fats/oils. Veggies are so low
(for the most part) in calories that I think I'll keep tossing them whenever I
can to take advantage of their fiber and all those other important nutrients. It
is amazing to me how much veggies we can eat! If we had to fill our calorie
quota from veggies alone, I couldn't do it.
The almond milk this morning was
good. I highly recommend using a cheese cloth to strain it though, because it
took a while to do it with my strainers. Next time I will use plain stevia and
some real vanilla extract. Also, I am drying out the pulp in the oven to see how
it turns out as a flour. Not sure what I'll use it for, maybe pancakes!! Almond
milk, almond flour, baking powder (can't see why this wouldn't be allowed but
I'll double check) eggs, salt, vanilla, bit of stevia....mash up some
strawberries as a 'jam'....that should work well!! I'll let you know how I do.

I'll update today and let you know the total calories later.

Okay, Tomorrow's  Plan:

Breakfast- 2 eggs 160 (calories), orange 66, 8 oz almond milk 65,
1/2 Tbsp Olive oil 67
Snack- Whey Protein 2 scoops 220, 1 cup strawberries
45, 1 Tbsp Coconut oil 129
Lunch- 4 oz chicken 124, 2 cups lettuce 17, 1 oz
radish 4, 4 oz tomato 16, 3 Tbsp guacomole 84, 4 Tbsp Salsa (no sugar added, PC
brand) 20, 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil 67
Snack- apple 73, 3.5 oz chicken 116, 3.5 oz
cucumber 12, 1/2 Tbsp Olive oil 67
Supper- 5oz Steak 385, 2 cups lettuce 17,
2 oz onion 22, 2 oz mushrooms 14, 1/2 Tbsp Olive oil 67
Snack- apple 73, 8 oz
almond milk 65

Total=1995 calories

Wish Me Luck!!!

Interesting....I lost 1.4 from yesterday. So I'm 195.8 right now :) I'll take it. Hopefully it doesn't just
come back. I would love to stabilize at 195! I'll stick to the rules for the steak day based on my LDW of 196.8. I can lose one more pound and still not be breaking any rules, lol. So, I think I posted this before but things tend to
get lost as the log gets longer. Here is some info on products that I used for VLCD with drops:
JASON Toothpaste
John Frieda :Sheer Blonde
Shampoo
Dove Conditioner
St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter lotion (SO
NOT ALLOWED)
Spices (Chipotle Chilli Pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic
powder, dried onion flakes, cumin, Herbes De Provence, cinnamon)
Coconut Oil
was tried once and definitely made me stall (as well as peppermint tea)

Think that's it....I have a recipe for M1ers!!
Almond Milk:
1 Cup Almonds
3-4 Cups Water
Stevia to taste (Any Flavour you
like)
pinch of salt (optional)

Soak almonds over night in enough water to cover them well (no less then 6 hours, longer is better). Drain and rinse well. In a blender combine 2 cups water with the almonds, stevia and salt. Mix until smooth. Add 1-2 cups more water. You can leave it like this for a heartier drink or you can strain it with a cheese clothe. If you strain it you can use the left over almond pulp for baking. You can even turn it into almond flour! Either dry it in the oven or use a dehydrator. Cool hey! So, I guess the almond milk has a short shelf life and should never be left out. Last about 3 days in the fridge. If you forget it out, dump it and make some more fresh. As far as I can tell, 8oz = ~40-60 calories. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. This recipe can be varied up, using ice and fruits, vanilla, use your imagination here!! I also watched a guy make a form of "ice cream" with this! He used frozen Bananas which we can't have yet, but I bet we can do it with frozen blue berries or the like.

My Last Drops Weight (LDW) is 196.8lbs

Today is my first day without drops. I definitely feel hungry
already and have a sense that something is missing....oh yah, my drops ;-P  All
day I would get a little panic attack thinking I missed my dose and then quickly
remembered I'm all done that for now. By early afternoon, I was rather enjoying
that I didn't have to take drops anymore! Liberating! I am worried how the next
2 days are going to be with hunger creeping back. I normally miss a fruit and
often my melba but today I have eaten my quota by supper save for one melba. So
snack this evening is a whole melba, lol. Oh well. Think I'll try to call it an
early night and try to get some extra sleep in to fill the gap. I actually
gained 0.2 from yesterday, not sure what the cause was for that but I'm sure it
is just a minor fluctuation.
I feel a little bummed out that I have to wait
until August to do another round but I have no choice. I bought a very expensive
and beautiful bridesmaid dress that I have to alter as is so I can't be losing
weight until after the wedding. On the bright side, I get to party hard before
coming back!
I am going to work out starting the 3rd or 4th week of
maintenance. Maybe sooner if I am doing well with stabilization. I'll keep it
simple for now, like bike 1-3 times a week and see how my body does. Hopefully
this time I don't get the migraines. Fingers crossed. I have not been allowed to
exercise for over 2 years now. I'm hoping that with some of the weight gone so
to will go my physical restrictions. I can still feel the tension in my neck so
I know it has not vanished but it is definitely way better.
That's all for today!

R1P2D37(-30.9) down 0.8 from yesterday

I know that is a pretty good loss for a day but this is it, my
last day on drops for this round. I was up late last nite working on my menu and
have 2 days so far....I want to get one more done before I post my plans. Looks
like I will be taking this one week at a time since the rules change each week.
Too much to plan out more then a week. It's coming soon, I promise.