Sun, Apr 30

Breakfast/lunch (slept in until after 12 noon!): smoothie

Dinner at Rockbottom in Long Beach with visiting friends: I had a steak with steamed veggies (carrots, zucchini, & broccoli) and a side of fruit, plus a glass of beer. For dessert, I had another glass of beer. 

 

Too many beers this week. 😕 But at least they were good beers! 😉

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Morning weight, Apr 30

 

No morning weight, Apr 29

No scale at the hotel, so no morning weight. 

Breakfast was 2 egg mcmuffins without the muffins. 

Lunch was a ham & cheese sandwich without the bread, plus a clementine orange. 

Dinner was at our old stomping grounds, Churchill's Pub in San Marcos. I had their Parliament Burger with no bun. Just the beef patty, arugula, cheddar cheese, tomato, shallot rings, and an "over-hard" egg, plus a side salad with oil & vinegar. 

I had a beer with dinner and how could I resist?

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Fri, Apr 28

Breakfast: smoothie. 

Lunch: we stopped at The Fish Shop in Pacific Beach and I had Yellowtail sautéed in Lemon butter on a salad with oil & vinegar. Yum! 👍

 

Dinner: 20 chicken McNuggets. 😕

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Morning weight, Apr 28

 

Thurs, Apr 27

Breakfast: smoothie. Added the new stuff and while it had a slightly different taste, it wasn't unpleasant. Plus, I felt full for longer than usual, so I'll keep this addition. 👍

Late lunch/early dinner: I had the leftover beef and lentils from Monday. 

Bonus: I got this tea-maker-with-spigot from a neighbor via the Buy Nothing group on Facebook. Now I can make my tea in it and serve via the spigot without using up a canning or storage jar and lid! Yay! 👍

 

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Morning weight, Apr 27

 

Wed, Apr 26

Breakfast: smoothie. 

Late lunch/early dinner: chicken Caesar salad from CostCo. 

Snacks: chicharrones with salsa, kojak cheese, and mixed nuts. 

I'm always on the lookout for good nutritious stuff to add to my smoothie, so while we were at Costco today I got a bag of "Superfoods Blend with Protein" to try. 

 

The nutrition info list looks pretty good!

 

I plan to only use 1 scoop instead of 2, so halve all the info on the label. The ingredient list is good, too. 

 

I'll try it tomorrow morning and see how it tastes in my smoothie. The label claims it is "flavor neutral". We'll see. 

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Morning weight, Apr 26

 

Tues, Apr 25

Breakfast: smoothie.

No lunch. 

Dinner: we had a gift card to Zankou Chicken in Pasadena so we went there. I had a half rotisserie chicken with a side of diced tomatoes with some pickled turnips and hummus. I had one bite of pita bread just so I could stop wanting to eat a whole one! Lol! 

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Morning weight, Apr 25

 

Mon, Apr 24

Breakfast: smoothie

Lunch: chicken Caesar salad from Costco

 

Dinner: I don't have any sprouts available right now, so I started by cooking some lentils (1c lentils in 3c water). Once they were done, I put some olive oil in my stir fry pan and sautéed some onions and garlic until the onions began to get translucent, then added some beef strips. Next came 3 medium carrots and some konbudashi. I put the lid on and let it cook for 5 minutes. When the timer went off, I added a few slices of the hrudka Easter cheese (which didn't turn out to be very cheese-like, but does have the consistency and taste of Japanese tamago) and some sesame seeds, dumped in the lentils, put the lid on and turned off the heat. I let it sit for 2 minutes to heat the hrudka and then dinner was served!

Here's the story of my hrudka:

http://tightwad-zero-waste.blogspot.com/2017/04/easter-sunday-apr-16.html

And here's some Japanese tamago: http://www.justonecookbook.com/tamagoyaki-japanese-rolled-omelette/

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Morning weight, Apr 24

Not as bad as I expected it to be ....

 

Sun, Apr 23

Flew home today. Had 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast at the hotel in Baltimore. 

Lunch was a carnitas quesadilla at the Phoenix airport. Plus nuts on the plane. 

Too tired to cook tonight, so I had a smoothie for dinner. 

Afraid to weigh myself tomorrow morning! 😳

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Sat, Apr 22

No morning weight pic today, either.

Breakfast: Jimmy Dean ham & cheese omelet, plus some mozzarella cheese. 

Lunch: stopped at Subway on my way back to Baltimore and had a salad with tune, provolone cheese, tomatoes, spinach, & lettuce with ranch dressing. 

 

Went out to dinner with my sister Janet and her husband Kevin, who live in Baltimore. We went to Fuji Japanese Steakhouse for teppanyaki. I had the chicken and shrimp, with mushrooms and broccoli. I also had the fried rice and noodles that they put on my plate. Plus I had a beer with dinner. 

This has been a bad weekend in terms of carbs. Between the beer, the grits, the rice, & the noodles, I'm sure I've gained a few pounds and have probably stalled my weight loss for a week or more. Sigh. 😕

However, ya gotta live a little. I'll survive this, but I need to make sure it doesn't become a habit. 

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Cheat day? Fri, Apr 21

No scale at this Motel 6, so no morning weight. 

Breakfast was a frozen-and-microwaved Jimmy Dean ham & cheese omelet from the grocery store, plus some slices of Mozzarella cheese. 

It was a heavy carb day today....

After my oral comprehensive exams, I went to the local mall food court and had some Asian chicken and broccoli (no rice) plus a chicken egg roll. 

 

After my practical exam, I went back to the hotel and napped and took a shower. It is so humid here!!

My two professors took all of us students out to dinner tonight at a local place. I had 2 bottles of a local porter beer.

 

Plus I had their shrimp and grits with a side of fried local apples.

 

It was delish! My first time ever having grits. I joked saying "we call it 'polenta' in California!" 😉 I didn't finish the grits or the apples, but they were yummy to taste. 

Now I'm back at the hotel studying some more before bed. Written comprehensive exam at 8:30am tomorrow! Yikes! 😳

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No morning weight, Thurs, Apr 20

I totally forgot to weigh myself this morning. Probably because I had to get up at 3:00 am to catch an obscenely early fight to the East Coast. Blah. 

Breakfast: smoothie. 

No lunch, but packed some mixed nuts as a snack on the plane. Also had a beer on the plane. 

Dinner at Longhorn Strakhouse. 6oz ribeye steak, crusted with Parmesan with sautéed mushrooms & onions and a side of steamed asparagus. 

 

Had a local craft beer for dinner. Devil's Backbone Black Schwartz Lager. (No, I don't know why it's named Black Black.)

 

The bartender and I chatted all through dinner, so she made me a special drink for dessert. It's Bailey's, Frangelico, & dark and light Creme de Cacao. Yum!

 

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Wednesday, Apr 19

Breakfast: smoothie

Lunch: leftover pork chops and beans from last night. 

Snack: unsalted peanuts

Having a bourbon & water before bed. 

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Morning weight, Apr 19

 

Tuesday, Apr 18

Breakfast: smoothie

Lunch/Dinner: baked pork chops covered in the mustard pesto sauce. Side dish was a bunch of sprouted beans sautéed with onions & garlic, with the konbudashi-pickled mushrooms, with diced tomatoes. 

Snack: salted peanuts. 

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Morning weight, Apr 18

 

Monday Monday, Apr 17

Breakfast: smoothie.

Lunch: Chipotle - carnitas, mild salsa, cheese, & lettuce. 

Dinner: low carb tortilla with cream cheese & ham, and a side of sauerkraut. (OMG, it's so good!) 

Snack: unsalted mixed nuts. 

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Morning weight, Apr 17

 

Easter Sunday, Apr 16

Breakfast: smoothie. 

Between services at church the youth had a pancake breakfast. I didn't have any pancakes, though I did have one bite from Brianne's plate. Instead I had blueberries, strawberries, clementine oranges, and a banana, plus a glass of orange juice. 

Took this pic after church. I think the weight loss is starting to show! 👍

 

When we got home from church I made some scrambled eggs with ham. Then it was nap time! 😴

After my nap, I decided to try making my Baba's (grandma's) recipe for Slovak Easter cheese, or "hrudka". My cousin posted the recipe on FB. 

 

I decided to make the savory version, which leaves out the vanilla and raisins. In an effort to be low-carb, I decided to use heavy cream instead of whole milk. 

Here's the cheese cooking:

 

And draining:

 

Here's what it's supposed to look like:

 

And here's what I ended up with:

 

Hmmm, it doesn't taste like cheese - it tastes like creamy scrambled eggs. 😕 I think I'll try it again with milk instead of cream. 

Meanwhile, it looks like I'll be eating scrambled eggs this week! 🤷‍♀️

Almost forgot: I snacked on macadamia nuts, and unsalted mixed nuts from Costco. 

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Morning weight, Apr 16

 

Saturday, Apr 15

Breakfast smoothie. 

Lunch: browned ground beef in salsa topped with Pecorino Romano cheese with a low-carb tortilla. 

After the Easter Vigil service I had a glass of Prosecco and half of a chocolate truffle. 

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Morning weight, Apr 15

 

Friday, Apr 14

Breakfast smoothie, complete with chia & flax seeds!

Lunch at Wendy's. I had their Mozzarella chicken salad. 

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Morning weight, Apr 14

 

Thursday, Apr 13

Only one meal on Thursday:

Beef tri-tip strips in marinara sauce with shredded pecorino Romano cheese on top, plus a low-carb tortilla, a hunk of kojak cheese, and some pickled carrots & daikon. 

Before bed, I restarted my kefir and started some chia & flax seeds to soak. 

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Morning weight, Apr 13

 

Wednesday, Apr 12

Breakfast smoothie. No chia or flax seeds because I haven't soaked more yet since I've been home. I started a box of chocolate protein powder today because the store didn't have the vanilla I had been using. Because this one is chocolate flavored already, I am not adding cocoa to the smoothie. This pic shows the difference between the nutritional information of the new chocolate flavor (left) and the old vanilla flavor (right). 

 

They're pretty similar. The chocolate has more calories, more Potassium, and one more gram of carb, while the vanilla has a higher percentage of Calcium. 

Lunch was a salad at Subway. I had turkey, roast beef, ham, & bacon with provolone cheese, spinach, tomato, pickle, lettuce, avocado, & Parmesan cheese with oil & vinegar. Yum!

 

Dinner was 20 McNuggets with ketchup. 

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Morning weight, Apr 12

 

Tuesday, Apr 11

Breakfast was 2 hard boiled eggs and a cup of plain Greek yogurt. 

Lunch was at the Denver airport. I stopped at McDonald's and got a Bacon Ranch Chicken salad with crispy chicken. 

Snacks on the planes were the bags of honey roasted peanuts. 

No dinner because I got distracted. 😕

I weighed myself when I got home & it's not terrible. I expected to gain weight while gone (or at least not lose weight) simply because I had less control over what I ate. 

 

Back to my regular diet tomorrow! 👍

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Monday, Apr 10

No breakfast because I slept until 10 am. 👍

Lunch was at City BBQ. I had the lunch size chicken leg & thigh with green beans (with bacon) and baked beans (with brisket). 

 

I had a beer with lunch, too. 

 

Dinner was a tortilla sandwich with cream cheese, turkey, & ham. 

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Sunday, Apr 9

Breakfast was 2 boiled eggs, 2 sticks of cheese, & a cup of Greek yogurt. 

Lunch was a "pizza burger" with no bun, which was a burger patty with a meatball, marinara sauce, pepperoni, & mozzarella cheese, plus a cup of cream of mushroom soup. 

Dinner was a tortilla (not low-carb) with cream cheese, turkey, & ham. 

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Saturday, Apr 8

We had a 9am rehearsal today, so I got up early and had breakfast. I had 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 sticks of string cheese, & a cup of plain Greek yogurt. 

Lunch at Hibernian pub was a cheeseburger with sautéed mushrooms, tomato, & a dill pickle with no bun, plus a cup of Beer Cheese soup. 

For dinner, Amber & I went back to Chai's Asian Bistro and I had the same thing as last night: chicken, beef, & shrimp teppanyaki with mushrooms & zucchini (no rice) & a cup of egg drop soup. And a glass of Pinot Noir wine. 

 

(Can you spot what's wrong with this picture?)

When we got back home, I had 2 sticks of cheese and the bottle of cherry chia kombucha. 

 

It was interesting drinking the swollen chia seeds - I usually have them as part of my morning smoothie, but these were whole. 🤷‍♀️

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Friday, Apr 7

No breakfast because I slept late, until 10am. Felt good!

I walked over to a nearby grocery store to pick up some vittles for lunch and snacks. I got some hard-boiled eggs, some plain Greek yogurt, some cream cheese, some mozzarella string cheese, some lunch meat (turkey & ham), some leaf lettuce, some tortillas (they didn't have any low carb, though, so I got the lowest carb I could find), and two bottles of kombucha, which are not low carb either, but they are probiotic. I got a strawberry flavor and a cherry flavor with chia seeds because I need the fiber. 

 

I also had to get some bandaids because on the way I stepped on a big stick which then flipped up and got into my sandal and mangled my foot. 👎😳

 

After walking back to Amber's house and taking care of my foot, I made a sandwich with turkey, ham, cream cheese, & lettuce, and drank the strawberry kombucha. 

For dinner, Amber & I went to an Asian restaurant where I had chicken, beef, & shrimp teppanyaki with mushrooms and zucchini. I got extra veggies instead of rice or noodles and had egg drop soup as a starter. 

 

I had string cheese as a snack later. 

My foot looks better tonight before bed, but it's still sore and a bit bruised. 

 

I also stopped by the drug store and got some earplugs because we have Requiem rehearsal tomorrow and I'm sitting right in front of the percussion and they are LOUD in a few spots. I wish I had brought my real musician's ear plugs, but these will have to do. 🤷‍♀️

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Morning weight, Apr 6

Staying at a friend's house. Not sure if scale is correct, but here it is:

 

Thurs, Apr 6

No breakfast. The hotel only had a "grab 'n' go" breakfast of granola bars and such and I slept past the end time, anyway. I had a Diet Mountain Dew because it was the only diet pop in the vending machine. 

Lunch was a burger, no bun, with lettuce, tomato, pickle, mozzarella cheese, & sautéed mushrooms, with a cup of tomato basil soup. Diet Pepsi. 

Dinner was a caprese salad with grilled chicken. Diet Pepsi. 

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No morning weight, Apr 6

No scale at the hotel, so no weight pic. HOWEVER, I took this pic this morning to show how much room is in my size 16 jeans now!

 

Yippee!

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