I wasn't going to but, it just sort of worked out this way. I was so busy with work that I never ate. I literally forgot to eat! I used to say, "It takes a special kind of stupid for you to forget to eat." Oh, well. So, I decided (since I am up two pounds above LIW anyway and despite TOM) I might as well do a steak day. Everything sort of put me in that position (hubby bought fresh sirloin last night and put it in the fridge for me to cook for my meal today). How about that!

After tracking my weight into my online document, I decided to look at last round's P3 to gain a little clarity. Not only did I have to do a steak day two days after P3 started the last time, but I was also in the midst of my TOM. Craziness! Seems I can't win for losing with this water retention game and TOM. ;) So, I also noted the days when the weight was at its most stable. Protein anywhere over 50 grams seems to be best for me. Also, the days where protein was it's heaviest, I usually had a loss or no change the next day. There you have it! It seems I am capable of learning after all. :)

Here's the steak day info:

July 7th, 2010

Calorie goal: 965; calories consumed: 385; calories burned: 0 Net calories: 385 Write in your diary: How do you feel today?

Mood:	- choose - Hungry Full Guilty Tempted Motivated Frustrated Content Okay Tired Hyper Excited Relieved Hungover Stressed Anxious Happy Pleased Sad Sick Healthy Good Proud
Notes:	Today, I feel...
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Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Bigelow Green Tea	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	0g
Sirloin Steak--i.e. Petite Sirloin	1.50	255	9g	113mg	83mg	0g	0g	0g	39g
Granny Smith Apples	1.00	130	0g	0mg	0mg	34g	25g	5g	1g
Folgers Classic Decaf Instant Coffee 8 oz	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	0g
Totals:		385	9g	113mg	83mg	34g	25g	5g	40g

I was 142.2lbs this morning and feeling extra bloated (2.8lbs above LIW). Here's to hoping that the carnivore cure worked and that TOM bids me adieu tomorrow!

I have to remember that certain veggies carry with them a higher number of carbs than others. I could do the "eat as many as I want" with certain types but, I've been denied for so long I kind of went over board with the ones I love. So, here I am completely irritated with myself for downing over 50 carbs today. It's really not a lot in the grand scheme but, when you're on P3, it might as well be a sugar mountain.

Tom is still going strong and the sugar and salt intake are of no surprise. I have to remember that this too shall pass and my appetite will not be what it is this week. The good news is that I'm not going spastic with my calories and I am eating good things. I managed to add the recipes to the Daily Plate site today, so I have accurate numbers for my eating. Tomorrow, I will increase my protein intake for sure. I know that will make a huge difference. Here's what I had:

July 6th, 2010

Calorie goal: 959; calories consumed: 858; calories burned: 0 Net calories: 858 Write in your diary: How do you feel today?

Mood:	- choose - Hungry Full Guilty Tempted Motivated Frustrated Content Okay Tired Hyper Excited Relieved Hungover Stressed Anxious Happy Pleased Sad Sick Healthy Good Proud
Notes:	Today, I feel...
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Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Bar-S Foods Bacon	1.00	80	7g	15mg	280mg	0g	0g	0g	4g
Grapefruit, Half	1.00	26	0g	0mg	0mg	7g	0g	0g	1g
1/3 Fat Oopsie Roll	1.00	70	5g	0mg	0mg	3g	0g	0g	5g
Helen's Potato Salad (cauliflower)	1.00	127	11g	5mg	356mg	5g	0g	1g	3g
Dottie's Green Bean Casserole	1.00	111	8g	23mg	480mg	6g	1g	2g	4g
Folgers Classic Decaf Instant Coffee 8 oz	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	0g
Meadow Gold Half & Half	0.50	18	2g	8mg	8mg	1g	1g	0g	1g
Azumaya Light Tofu	2.00	80	3g	0mg	50mg	2g	0g	0g	14g
Sun Luck Kung Pao Style Szechwan Sauce	1.00	20	0g	0mg	390mg	3g	2g	0g	1g
Onions	0.50	32	0g	0mg	3mg	7g	3g	1g	1g
Cucumber Slices	1.00	11	0g	0mg	1mg	1g	0g	0g	0g
Shoeless Joe's Sauted Mushrooms	2.00	124	11g	28mg	58mg	6g	0g	3g	3g
1/3 Fat Oopsie Roll	0.50	35	3g	0mg	0mg	2g	0g	0g	3g
Popeye Fresh Tender Spinach	0.50	13	0g	0mg	40mg	2g	0g	1g	2g
Grape Tomatoes	1.00	25	0g	0mg	0mg	6g	3g	1g	1g
Enchantress's Low-Sugar Cinnamon Raspberry Vinaigrette	1.00	87	9g	0mg	0mg	2g	2g	0g	0g
Totals:		858	59g	78mg	1,665mg	52g	12g	9g	41g

I was up to 141.4 today...exactly two pounds above my LIW. Normally, I would shout, "Steak day! Steak day!" but I am in the midst of TOM and I think that's too drastic a step to take just yet. If anything, it will be an egg white, tuna fish and chicken salad day at the most tomorrow. We'll see what the weigh in brings.

Phew! What a past couple of days! I had no time for posting at all, yesterday, but I know that I stayed well within my 500 calories. It's a good thing I was done with the HCG because TOM decided to show up yesterday (one day early). Super. So, this morning's weight was up a bit, but not by much. I was 140 on the nose and I am counting my weight "straight" without any weird deductions for hair (too much work).

Today, I did not tabulate with "the daily plate" because I need to list some of the items I'm preparing on recipezaar. That way, I have a link to route back to and accurate numbers. I can list what I had for reference sake and, hopefully, have the information up for the site in the next few days. It was very, very good (but I haven't had my dinner yet...not good). We had lots of people over for the 4th BBQ (about 20). I can't say that they were all that impressed with what I made, but they were polite enough not to complain. I also think that hubby's having lots of meat around compensated for my "not so fun and fattening" side items. I did give a disclosure that recipes were made with my low-carb status in mind and that on our fish fry, at the end of the month, those considerations will be thrown out the window for the guests. Here's what I had:

Breakfast:

3 slices of Bar S bacon
2 scrambled eggs
1 cup decaf folgers with 1tbsp. half and half


Lunch:

Cauliflower "potato" salad
Green bean casserole (low carb version)
Hamburger with light mayo, cheddar cheese slice, and yellow mustard
Spinach salad with grape tomatoes, cucumbers and home made cinnamon raspberry vinaigrette dressing
3 tbsp. Guacamole
Coke zero

Dinner:
(probably a bit of the above and I'm currently drinking a big glass of water. Didn't have any today. Not good! I've been cooking since 9:00am and I am bushed. Gonna drink my water, eat and go to bed. Night night!)

It was funny weighing in this morning because I had to consider something new; my hair. My beautician put in 5 1/2 packs of hair in my head, last night. This is weight! I had to figure out how many ounces were in each pack, then figure out how much to subtract from my morning weigh in. Seriously! How funny is that?! I called hubby to do the calculations (I'm a liberal arts major, so I knew I'd get it wrong). Basically, I had a .4lb loss, after we deducted the new hair. Geeze! Am I going to have to do that every day, now? What a pain! I think I'll just start fresh on the first day of P3. When the hair is removed in a couple of months, that'll just be the bonus.

Here's what I had today (oh, and I had another low-carb burger, but minus the mayo and ketchup, so the count isn't accurate):

July 3rd, 2010

Calorie goal: 939; calories consumed: 686; calories burned: 0
Net calories: 686

Write in your diary: How do you feel today?

Mood:	- choose - Hungry Full Guilty Tempted Motivated Frustrated Content Okay Tired Hyper Excited Relieved Hungover Stressed Anxious Happy Pleased Sad Sick Healthy Good Proud
Notes:	Today, I feel...
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Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Carl's Jr. Low Carb Six Dollar Burger - No Cheese	1.00	390	29g	110mg	890mg	4g	2g	2g	27g
Lipton Quietly Chamomile Herbal Tea	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	1g	0g	0g	0g
7-Eleven Crystal Light Slurpee	1.00	80	0g	0mg	192mg	1g	0g	0g	0g
Walmart Rotisserie Chicken	1.00	170	10g	60mg	650mg	0g	0g	0g	20g
Asparagus, Boiled	1.00	20	0g	0mg	13mg	4g	1g	2g	2g
Grapefruit, Half	1.00	26	0g	0mg	0mg	7g	0g	0g	1g
Lipton Herbal Tea Cinnamon Apple	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	0g
Totals:		686	39g	170mg	1,745mg	16g	3g	4g	50g

I was 139 on the nose today.

So, that's it! I threw out the rest of the HCG (not very much, but still painful to do). The weekend will be tricky, what with the aid of the regular injections missing from my system and these blasted PMS cravings. I will do my best to hold them off with lots and lots of liquids. It's the best thing for me, right?

I only lost .4lbs (I wonder if this is another indication that it's time to stop) but I'm still feeling good about how I look. My hair is done (ouch...tight braids!) and my kids are winding down for the night. All is right with the world. Here's what I had today (oh, and I didn't have a BBK side salad as is listed below. It was from Wendy's, but I removed all the carrots and ate it without the dressing. The BBK salad was the closest I could find to what I actually had):

July 2nd, 2010

Calorie goal: 943; calories consumed: 247; calories burned: 0 Net calories: 247 Write in your diary: How do you feel today?

Mood:	- choose - Hungry Full Guilty Tempted Motivated Frustrated Content Okay Tired Hyper Excited Relieved Hungover Stressed Anxious Happy Pleased Sad Sick Healthy Good Proud
Notes:	Today, I feel...
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Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Folgers Classic Decaf Instant Coffee 8 oz	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	0g
Wendy's Wendy's Ultimate Chicken Grill (chicken Only)	1.00	110	4g	5mg	55mg	1g	0g	0g	23g
Burger King Side Garden Salad	1.00	15	0g	0mg	0mg	3g	1g	1g	1g
Publix Orange Roughy	1.00	76	1g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	32g
Asparagus, Boiled	1.00	20	0g	0mg	13mg	4g	1g	2g	2g
Grapefruit, Half	1.00	26	0g	0mg	0mg	7g	0g	0g	1g
Lipton Ginger Twist Herbal Tea	1.00	0	0g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	0g
Totals:		247	5g	5mg	68mg	14g	2g	3g	59g

I was 139.4lbs this morning. Slow and steady as the turtle goes, these last few days. This is also my LIW.

I had a Carl's Jr. six dollar, low carb hamburger for lunch today. The sandwich typically comes with the beef patty, pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, mayo, 2 slices of cheese and the lettuce wrap. I asked them to hold the cheese, mayo and ketchup. When I searched on The Daily Plate, I found a version with the cheese removed from the nutritional value but that was all. What you see below is not really reflective of what I had. Unlike Mickey D's, Carl's Jr. doesn't display the nutritional content in a "breakdown" view. It's too bad. More restaurants should, especially for those who have specific, dietary needs.

July 1st, 2010

Calorie goal: 946; calories consumed: 521; calories burned: 0 Net calories: 521

Mood: Tired

I couldn't find a Carl's Jr., low-carb listing that met what I did with my order. I ordered without cheese, mayo, and ketchup. This changes the calorie and sugar count substantially. Wish I knew someone who had the correct information... [edit this diary entry]

Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Carl's Jr. Low Carb Six Dollar Burger - No Cheese	1.00	390	29g	110mg	890mg	4g	2g	2g	27g
Publix Orange Roughy	1.00	76	1g	0mg	0mg	0g	0g	0g	32g
Lettuce, Romaine	1.00	10	0g	0mg	2mg	1g	1g	1g	0g
Napoleon Balsamic Vinegar	1.00	10	0g	0mg	5mg	2g	2g	0g	0g
Wasa Fiber Crispbread	1.00	35	1g	0mg	60mg	8g	0g	3g	1g
Totals:		521	30g	110mg	957mg	15g	5g	6g	60g

Ordering my low carb sandwich made me wax dreams of cheese and ranch goodness, next week. I actually begin P3 on the day we will celebrate Independence day, around here; Monday, July 5th. Nice. What's on the menu?

An assortment of BBQ'd meats (including steak, salmon, hot dogs, and chicken).
Green Salad
Sweet Corn on the cob
Mock Potato Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Apple Crumble (my mother's favorite)
Assorted Fruit

I'll partake of the meats (of course), the salad, the fruit and the mock potato salad (made of cauliflower). I'm anxious to see what stabilization will bring with this new weight. Oh! I had a small loss, but it takes me into another bracket. Sweet! Hello, 130s; I was 139.8lbs this morning. Tomorrow is my last injection.