Week 5 – Down 10
It’s hard to believe it has been five weeks since I started my diet. The goal of course is to lose 50 pounds in 25 weeks.
I am happy to report that I am exactly on course, having lost 10 pounds in 5 weeks.
So far, all the weight loss can be attributed to changes in eating habits, as I haven’t got the desire to actually start exercising yet.
I think one big factor is drinking lots of water too. From the very first day, I have been trying to make sure that I drank the recommended 8 glasses of water each day. The first couple of days, it was kind of hard to drink that much, but now I drink even more than 8 glasses a day.
Being hydrated helps you in many ways:
• Regulates your appetite
• Increases your metabolism
• boost your energy levels
• helps you retain less water
• helps reduce high blood pressure
• helps reduce high cholesterol
• eases joint pain
• releases toxic waste products
• improves skin
One other big change was staying away from the fast food lunch everyday. Not having a cheese burger and fries really cut back on the ole calories! I do really like cheese burgers and fries, but so far I haven’t really missed them at all. Could be that by eating healthy and drinking lots of water, my body doesn’t crave anything!
Another big plus is that I actually like all of the healthy foods that I am eating now, especially yogurt. I make my own yogurt because most the yogurt in the stores has way too much sugar in it. It is not good for the diet and it is just too sweet to eat.
More on the health benefits of yogurt coming soon.
Greek Yogurt
I finally got around to making some yogurt tonight. It is not hard to do, the “bugs” do all the heavy lifting for you!
Homemade Yogurt ( Greek Style )
Ingredients:
* 1/2 gallon of milk ( I used whole, you can use whatever you like )
* 1 cup powered milk ( to make the yogurt thicker )
* 1 – 5.3 oz. container of Brown Cow All Natural Greek Yogurt with live active cultures (Use any yogurt you like like as long as it is plain and it has live cultures in it. You can use some of this batch to make your next batch)
Directions:
1. Place milk in sauce pan and whisk in the powered milk.
2. Heat the milk until it reaches 120 degrees (F) ( if using pasteurized milk. 185 degrees (F) if using raw milk )
3. Let the milk cool to 115 degrees (F)
4. Add the yogurt to the warm milk and mix it well.
5. Pour the milk-yogurt mixture into two quart glass jars (clean and sterilized )
6. Place lids on jars and place in a electric oven that was warmed to about 115 degrees. Turn the oven light on and leave it on the entire time.
7. You want to keep the oven about 115 degrees for 4 to 12 hours, depending on how you like your yogurt. Longer times equals firmer and tangier yogurt.
8. The light in my oven keeps it above 100 degrees, you might need to turn the oven on for a couple of seconds every now and then, to keep it around 115 degrees.
9. After the desired amount of time ( I usually go 8 hours, ie overnight ) remove the yogurt from the oven and put in the refrigerator.
It is ready to eat when it is cool.
Serve plain or with any kind of fruit.
Ready to ferment in the oven
Legendary Lake Pend Oreille
Jane Fritz’s new book “Legendary Lake Pend Oreille” would make a great gift for any Lake Pend Oreille lover.
Experience Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s wilderness of water. Sprawling 43 miles long with 111 miles of shoreline, Idaho’s largest natural lake is truly awe-inspiring. At more than 1,100 feet deep, it’s the fifth-deepest lake in the nation. During the last ice age, it was the nexus of the most cataclysmic floods ever to scour the planet. For the native Kalispel Indians, it was the cradle of creation. It was the site of the first trading post in Idaho, built in 1809 by voyageur David Thompson. The lake has also yielded the world-record Kamloops trout. Add the lake’s spectacular setting amid three major ranges of the Rocky Mountains, and it’s no wonder Lake Pend Oreille inspires such awe. This book captures the lake’s incredible features with comprehensive guides to: – All public recreations sites for swimming, picnicking, camping and watercraft access – Resources and advice for boaters and sailors – Complete guide to over 30 hiking trails – Paddle routes for kayakers and canoeists Legendary Lake Pend Oreille is far more than a recreationist’s directory. Rich with sketches about biology and botany, loaded with fascinating historical lore, and abundantly illustrated, this is a bible for Lake Pend Oreille.
Buy the book here and get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.
About the Author:
Jane Fritz is an award-winning environmental journalist and oral historian whose articles, documentaries and independent radio productions have been showcased in many media, including National Public Radio and the BBC. She also works as creative activities director at two assisted living facilities and is the director of The Idaho Mythweaver, an educational arts and humanities organization. A 30-year resident, she lives in Hope with her four cats.
Week 4 – Down 8
OK, I know, I actually gained 2 pounds over the last week.
But, the reason I lost so much weight the week before, was the fact that I was very sick and could not eat anything for two days.
So naturally when I could actually eat and keep things down again, I was hungry.
The fact that I was drinking slim fast shakes, and got very sick, the same week that they recalled their products because of a bacterial contamination, is not lost on me.
I am sure they will make it up to me somehow! I am weighing my options. ( pun intended ).
But all of that aside, I am still on track to lose two pounds a week, so all is well.
Craisins
Craisins are of course, dried cranberries. They, like raisins are a very healthy snack and a great item to add to baked goods.
They are, however, kind of expensive. Cranberries are expensive too, but this time of year, you can get some very good deals on bags of fresh cranberries.
I picked up a couple of bags today. $1.99 for a 12oz bag.
You can freeze these now and keep them up to a year in the freezer or you can dry them in your dehydrator and make craisins! You can take them out of the freezer and dry them later too, if that is more convenient for you.
Homemade “Craisins”
Ingredients:
* 1 bag cranberries
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup water
Directions:
1. You can cut the cranberries in half. This will take forever. You can also blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds to split the skin. If you are using previously frozen berries, the skin should be cracked already, but it wouldn’t hurt to drop them in the boiling water for 30 seconds or so.
2. Make a simple syrup. ( equal amounts of sugar and water, heated until the sugar is dissolved).
3. Add cranberries to the warm syrup and steep for 30 minutes.
4. Drain berries and add to dehydrator.
5. Reuse the syrup to make another bag or use for something else.
6. Dehydrate at 125 degrees for 6-8 hours or so until they reach the degree of dryness you want.
These should store for quite some time in a airtight container, but you will use them right away because they are so good!
Week 3 – Down 10
After three weeks I am still on track. Not even Thanksgiving hurt me and I ate everything I wanted.
I did get sick on Monday however and didn’t eat anything for two days. But hey, whatever works.
Starting to feel normal again and it will be back to eating smaller portions and drinking lots of water.
Week 2 – Down 6
After two weeks things are still looking good. Lost two pounds and two pounds a week is the goal. So that, combined with the four pounds the first week, makes it six down and forty-four to go!
Eating smaller portions has not been an issue. I did feel the need for some potato chips for some reason and those are a real killer, calorie and fat wise. The last potato chips I ate were some jalapeño ones and they were so hot you can’t really eat too many of them,. So if I have to have them, that will be the ones I choose.
I also tried the low sodium v-8 juice. I like the spicy hot v-8 a lot, but the low sodium stuff is awful. I might have to mix the two to get rid of the low sodium cans. Ick.
Thanksgiving is coming up, that will be a test. I might have to take that day off and get back at it Friday. Of course I could load up on the veggie tray and keep myself full.
How to make yogurt
I will be making fresh yogurt this weekend and will write up the recipe and take some pictures as well.
Week 1
Week 1 turned out fairly good. Down 4 pounds. The goal was 2 or twice as good as hoped for.
I attribute the loss mostly to keeping track of everything I ate or drank. ( tools from Slimfast.com ) It is the easiest way to see where the calories, fat, cholesterol, etc, is coming from, and makes me think a little before I eat something whether I will want to eat it after all.
The daily summary make its so simple to track the totals for the day versus my goals.
My target for total calories a day is 1900.
How I lost 50 pounds in 25 weeks.
Ok. I haven’t lost the weight yet, but it is on the internet so it must be true, right?
On Tuesday, November 10, I decided to lose the fifty pounds I have needed to lose for years. On that day, I was prescribed an additional medication to help lower my cholesterol. These meds on not cheap either, so anything to help get off of them will be a big bonus too. The doctor says to lower my carb intake to help with my blood sugar too.
There is no fad diet that I will be using, just a lower carb, lower fat, less food in general diet. Heck, I might even add some exercise into the mix. Mostly walking on the treadmill.
Slimfast.com has some great tools that I will be using to track my food intake. I would recommend to anyone that is trying to lose weight to look at them. It’s all free and you don’t need to use any of their products, although I use some of the “ready to drink” meals for lunch or breakfast sometimes.
So, the goal is to lose 50 pounds, over 25 weeks ( by my birthday ), which comes to 2 pounds a week. Two pounds a weeks is what all the “experts” say is the right amount.
So stay tuned as I will report in at least once a week, to update my weight loss status.