Quick update

Just to let my readers know...my husband and I are still going strong on our diets! Yes...he has hung in there for 49 and lost 25 pounds so far. He only has about 18 more to get to his goal of 190. I am on day 53. I still haven't weighed but I'm shrinking! lol! We've really done well doing this together. I'm proud of him and of us!

I hope you are making progress to your goals. There is no better feeling then of being in control of your choices and behaviors, then reaping the benefits of better health and knowing it shows.

Just completed day 12!

Just wanted to check in. I'm still going strong and feeling good. I have one pair of pants I am wanting to get back down in to. These are my before-Christmas-surgery-eating like a fool pants! They are still not as loose as I like so I will try them again in a few days.

I have been making my Cambridge Oats pancakes each morning and they really stick with me clear through 2pm when I have my lunch shake. If you would like the recipe you can find it on my Support Board on my website, cambridgediet.org . I have been using some unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of just water, just about 1/4 cup, about 15 calories. With that and the egg white it is only about 32 additional calories for anywhere from 5 to 8, 5" pancakes! The number will depend on the size. This plate shows 4" pancakes. Looks good, right? This morning I added some Watkins Maple flavoring to the batter too. Really good!

Day 5.5 And My Breakfast Brownie!

This morning I made a chocolaty brownie for my breakfast. Oops! I meant a chocolaty CAMBRIDGE brownie!I didn't measure anything so I may not be able to duplicate it, but this thing was delicious! In fact, my very picky son came out of his room and said, "Did you make brownies?" lol!

Basically I took an egg white (17 cal) and whisked it up until frothy. I added a scoop of my perfect blend 330 Rich/Dutch Chocolate Cambridge, then about a T of cocoa powder (12 Cal) and the same amount of Splenda. I added about 1/4 t of baking powder and about 1 T of sugar free mocha coffee flavored creamer (20 cal). I also plopped in about 1/2 tsp of melted coconut oil (18 cal). It made a thick pasty dough/batter. Then I had to decide how to cook/bake it. I patted it in to a large thick cookie size. I first put it in a skillet with a little cooking spray with a lid on the pan. I thought this was a good idea but then realized it was burning too quickly on the bottom. I turned it over on to a little microwave safe plate and finished it off in the micro. As soon as it was firm to touch I took it out. It only took a few seconds. I let it cool completely as that definitely improves the flavor of the chocolate Cambridge baked items. Oh my goodness! This was so delicious! The texture was perfect and the flavor was spot on. In all I added about 67 calories to my total. I won't be adding anything else to my shakes today so that is within my allowed additions.

I don't have any of the Oats at the moment (should be getting my order this coming week, yay!) which is my normal go to SSing breakfast. I usually make my Super Oats pancakes and I just wasn't in the mood to have a shake in this morning . But a brownie? YES PLEASE!

Fall=Pumpkin!

This time of year it seems like everything is pumpkin flavored...and I'm ok with that! You don't need to feel left out if you are following your Cambridge Diet Plan. Just add 1 or 2 T of pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling) to your Cambridge shake along with some pumpkin pie spices and you will have a delicious festive Fall pumpkin shake! At only 5 cal per T, it is the perfect nutritive flavor enhancer. Try it in the FFL Eggnog or any of the Vanilla flavors. The Original 330 Horchatta with Tonalin CLA would be fantastic too! For something special, top with a T of fat free whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon. SO GOOD!

Letting Go

Facebook has this interesting feature where each day they send you several postings from your own timeline on that date from years past. Today's entry included this post that I had composed on Sept 12th 2012. I don't recall the motivation behind it, but I thought it was worth putting here for anyone that may find it worth reading.

                                            ********************************

If you never got rid of anything you ever owned, and I mean anything...where would you be? Probably on an episode of "Hoarders". Life demands that we learn how to let go of possessions, ideas, lost opportunities, and even people. No one gets through life without having to let go. The thing to remember is that when you lose something, it just makes room for something new to enter your life. Some people miss the chance to learn and heal and move forward. They stay trapped in the past and revisit it over and over again. It makes as much sense as running back into a burning building to see what started the fire. Moving on is what we human beings do. I've always told my kids, "You can get over pretty much anything". Getting over is not the same as forgetting. Getting over means not staying stuck in your grief. When it comes, embrace it and squeeze the life out of it... and then leave it behind.

Why Cambridge Was My Success Story (finally!)

As I have shared before, I spent most of my life, beginning in toddlerhood, on a diet. I was born chubby (9lbs, 3oz) and I was always aware of the fact that I was different from my three thin siblings. Going through life constantly mindful of every bite of food you take and labeling it "good" or "bad" can really mess up any chance of feeling normal.

Going on Weight Watchers at the age of 9 with my mother was my reality. I was the only kid there in a room full of adults. I can't count the number of times we started and stopped that diet. We would lose some weight, and then gain it back...over and over. The meetings and weigh ins were torture. I can remember how labor intensive it was to follow back then with the counting, weighing, measuring, substituting, and generally having to choke down weird tasteless food. Yuck!

Now, many of you may not be old enough to have been on WW in the early days. It was very structured and detailed. I have to give most of the credit to my mom for the amount of work involved since she did the cooking. Once I got older I took over some of the kitchen duty and it was an enormous pain. It took up the whole day, planning meals and special prep work, making sure we had our weekly meals planned including the mandatory servings of liver and fish and veal, etc. I came to the conclusion early in life that dieting makes a person even MORE obsessed with food! Not the result you are looking for when you are already giving way to much of your time and attention to it.

I was poking around on the Internet this morning and came across this article that has the old original WW plan as I remember it from the 60's/70's. Maybe you can see why Cambridge was such a miracle for me and others who were completely burned out on conventional weight loss plans. This is long, but unbelievably and intensely detailed! Not unlike most weight loss plans that have you accounting for each bite of food you take. Cambridge's simplicity is the reason I was finally able to succeed at losing my weight and keeping it off for the past 14 years.

Here is the Weight Watchers original plan. You will be even more grateful for Cambridge. Click on the link below and prepare to be amazed!

http://www.dwlz.com/WWinfo/old1972ww.html

Which Step Have You Reached Today?

Happy 4th Of July!

Hey people..we are in to another holiday weekend and that usually means food, right? I know it's tough to abstain, it seems like it really matters that you take part in the celebratory BBQs and pot lucks, but does it really? Do we attach too much importance to the food and not enough to the company or the events or the actual reason for the celebration? Most of our holidays have been reduced to spending money and eating mass quantities of food. There's nothing wrong with these things in moderation and as part of the celebration. But for most of us here, the food is the main event. That's a great way to miss out on the memory making stuff. We don't carry memories of food throughout our lives, but we do of the places, people, experiences, and love and friendships that were there.

This 4th of July you have choices to make, the same ones we make every day. Do I put my energy and focus on food, or on things that really matter?

Happy 4th everyone!

Here's A Question

Would You Rather Be Covered In Sweat At The Gym, Or Covered With Clothes At The Beach?

As someone that lives about 15 minutes from the beach, this is a pertinent question.  One of the nice things about the beaches here in my part of Florida is that people do not seem to be nearly as body self conscience as the beaches I grew up with on the West coast of Southern Calif. Here, with the large population of retirees, you will see all sizes, shapes, and ages strolling and enjoying the sun and surf in their swimsuits and shorts. I LOVE that!

 Everyone should feel free to enjoy life the same as anyone else does without worry of judgement or hurtful stares or comments. It makes me kind of sad though when I'm at the beach and I do see someone that is overweight and wearing too much clothing with the purpose to cover their body out of shame or embarrassment. I know that feeling. I know how hot and miserable they are. I wish I had a magic wand.  I could tap them with it and take away all those negative thoughts and feelings and free them to enjoy the sun and the water unencumbered.

Unfortunately, we do live in a society that make judgments and can be cruel and demeaning to people with weight issues. It's wrong, but it's our current reality. It can be hard to put yourself out in the world to face ridicule, but you can't let the small minds of others ruin your determination to improve your health and increase your happiness.

Making the effort now to lose the weight and get in shape can be your magic wand. Summer is right around the corner. There is still time to make some progress towards being more comfortable for that light summer clothing we all love to wear. Heavy winter stuff will soon be back in storage so no more hiding!

No Limits

I have a question for you all. Over the time that you have been overweight, have you put limits on yourself and the experiences you could have enjoyed? I know that may be a totally "DUH!" question, but I think it's a good thing to think about when you are working on keeping your mind focused on what you are doing and why you are doing it. The day to day grind of sticking to a limited eating plan, no matter what kind of plan that may be, can seem to drag on sometimes and we dwell on all that we are missing, food wise. Well...how much have you missed by choosing food over experiences? I know that for me, my weight was a deciding factor in all the choices I made, no exaggeration. I missed out on a lot. So did my kids.

Today, when you find yourself thinking about the sacrifice that losing weight requires of you, flip that switch and instead think about all the sacrifices being overweight has cost you. Then, imagine yourself in all sorts of new adventures! What would you do if you had no limitations?

To Weigh, Or Not To Weigh. That Is The Question

I've been back on track since the 14th so this is day 10 for me. I weighed and I have lost 7.2 pounds. I'm happy with that . It's been a steady progression which is what I like to see. I am a charting kind of gal. I find that I do best when I have my college ruled spiral notebook to record in every day. I have columns for date, weight, blood sugar, ( history of diabetes) blood pressure,(history of hypertension) pulse, and I put either an up or down arrow beside each entry to be able to visually see the overall trend of improvement. I keep it right here by my computer and it reinforces my commitment when I see it. This is what works for me.

The whole weighing thing is a very personal choice to make. We have regular debates on here about what is best, but that will be different for everyone depending on what emotional state they are in at the time and how the scale effects that.

For me, 13 years ago when I lost the first 120 pounds, weighing was a self inflicted torture. I was weighing up to 5 times a day! Even in the middle of the night if I got up to use the bathroom! I put all my emotions and self esteem in a bucket and weighed it constantly just to see how I should be feeling about myself at that moment. it was, at that stage, the worst thing I could do to myself and caused me unnecessary stress and doubt.

Now, I approach this with little to no emotion. I just have a job to do and I am treating it like that. My morning weigh in does not always send me dancing in the streets, but neither would it if I suddenly saw 5 pounds lost. I can glance over at my charting and see my overall trend of progress and THAT is what keeps me emotionally neutral.

I don't want to start a heated debate on the topic of weighing, but I will give this advice. Depending on what kind of personality you have, and what current state you are in regarding self esteem and how the numbers on a scale determine your state of mind and actions, this will tell you if you should be a daily weigher/tracker, or a once per month/week weigher. Be truthful with yourself and make your choice based on your best interest.

We are all pretty good at beating ourselves up when it comes to all things weight and size related. Don't be the bully in the bathroom every morning weighing yourself if it doesn't ALWAYS give you a positive and progressive feeling, no matter what the number. If it makes you feel bad about yourself, or disappointed or like nothing you do is every good enough, then stop for now. It will only hurt you and make you feel hopeless.

But, if you are more of an analytical type, charting may be the way for you to go.

Best Single Serve Blender (in my opinion)

I often get asked what kind of blender I use for mixing my Cambridge shakes. I have been using the same one for over 10 years now...well...not this exact same one, but I've bought the same one a few times . This is a blender that you can find at pretty much every home goods store or department store in their kitchen and dining departments. It may have a different brand name on it, but they are all exactly the same. I have found that Walmart has the best price so I always get mine there. It's usually around $29 and it will be the hardest working appliance in your kitchen if you are SSing. This thing obliterates ice cubes and gives you a wonderfully smooth thick shake! Find it here:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/24685825?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227018188708&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40345209272&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78310858232&veh=sem

I've Been A Bad Bad Blogger!

Hey people, I've been sadly slacking in my blogging of late. I guess that I've been a bit sluggish due to after Holiday fatigue. The weather is cold and gloomy for Florida and I seem to be one of those people that gets blue when it's grey.

Good news is that I am making progress on my weight loss. No, I'm not weighing, but I am seeing and feeling the difference in the mirror and in how my clothes are fitting. I went off track over the Holidays and got a bit "fluffy" so I had some repair work to do, but things are going well now.

I am really enjoying making my Cambridge ice cream with the machine my son gave me for Christmas. I had Food For Life (FFL) 420 Eggnog ice cream tonight made with a good dash of cinnamon. Totally yummy! I had my delicious pancakes for breakfast and my favorite, my double 330 Rich/Dutch Chocolate Mocha shake made with some ice coffee I had in the fridge and my special blend of Shakes. I dump one whole container of 330 Dutch Chocolate in a gallon zip loc bag with another whole container of the 330 Rich Chocolate. I add about 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and shake it up. This is the perfect chocolaty thick creamy shake in my opinion! Add the cold coffee and a couple of ice cubes and it's heavenly!

Progress

Just checking in. It's late and I'm actually on my way to bed, but it was time for a progress report. I'm back on track with SSing and I'm feeling so much better then I did a couple of weeks ago when I was caving in to holiday food temptations. My capacity for eating is a fraction of what it once was. Even with that, my body REALLY let me know it was not happy with my choices. I guess I am pretty sensitive now to things that slow down my digestion and leave me feeling bloated and lethargic. Anything with sugar is not my friend. Same for breads and any simple carbs. I learned my lesson!

So other then a few minor additions to my Cambridge, such as an occasional egg white or some coffee creamer, I am on track. I'm not weighing. I'm going to give it a solid month and then maybe I might take a peek. The process of losing weight is not something that moves in a predictable pattern and seeing numbers on a scale can play with emotions like nothing else I know.

Hope that everyone here will catch the energy that flows when we are in the beginning of a new year! So much motivation and determination! it all quickly slips away if not acted on.

54 Day Countdown!

Ok...here goes. I had my 100 (actually 99) days of SS count down to my 56 birthday and ended up taking a break for Christmas. I haven't been weighing or really doing anything other then just being careful, but I definitely feel like I gained some of my weight back. New Years is a non-event in our house so the celebrating is OVER! Tomorrow I begin my 54 day countdown to my 56 Birthday goal. My wonderful son gave me an ice cream maker for Christmas so I finally get to experiment with some Cambridge ice cream! My husband also gave me a very nice Cuisinart Immersion blender with all sorts of attachments and a perfectly sized container that will be great for really blending the ice. I'm all set!

I'm having tons of new traffic on my site so others are searching for their answer to weight loss for the New Year. No doubt, a lot of the visitors are old friends that are back to try again. It's never too late to lose the weight and restore your health! We all have a clean slate in front of us.

                                                          2015, Time To Get Lean!

Just A Few More Days

For those that are waiting to get Christmas over to once again commit to their weight loss program, it's only a few more days. If you're waiting until after the New Year, well...that's another story. Always waiting for the perfect time to diet is pointless as there is always another holiday or event coming up. Trying to make progress in between can mean  a lot of effort for not a lot of progress. Don't waste those in between days. Make them count too. 5 days of work is not cancelled out by one day of play, as long as you give it your best.

Jan 1st will be here soon enough and then for the most part, the excuses dry up for a while. For those who are SSing or attempting to and making progress, or even just maintaining (which is also an accomplishment!) well done! Real life demands that we make tough choices and sacrifice what we want in the moment, for what we want most in the future.

Yucky week

I've had some kind of virus these past few days and have felt unmotivated to do much of anything other then the necessary holiday preps. One of the many bad things about my husband working at Walmart is that it is a hot bed of germs. He gets sick so often from all the people that not only are shopping there while sick as dogs, but the other employees as well. No one gets sick days so they show up spreading whatever they have to everyone else. It's ridiculous. I ran a day care for 20 years with constantly sick kids and parents in my home and never caught as many things as I have the past 2 years that he's been working there.

So poor Andy is at work today, feeling horrible. My energy is at 0, but at least my head is clear now. I can't imagine how tired he must be right now with another hour and a half to go.(cry)

Needless to say, I have not gotten back to my program. No excuses. It's a week and a half to Christmas and I'm just putting weight loss on the back burner until then. I'm still having my Cambridge of course, but not worrying about the scale for the moment.

Sorry I have not been as supportive as I would have liked to have been, but we're all dealing with the extra burdens of holiday expectations and duties which will soon be behind us. I fully expect to be back 100% come Dec 26th. Until then...survival mode.

Thanksgiving Is Over...

Good Question! We made it through Thanksgiving. Some of us were able to stick to our plan, some of us went off the deep end, but all of us look forward to a better future so no looking back! Tomorrow is December 1st. 2014  is almost over. We have a few weeks to either make excuses, or make progress before the New Year begins. 

A Thanksgiving Poem I wrote for my Support Board

It's the night before Thanksgiving
And all through the board
Not a dieter was posting
Not one single word

The blenders are quiet
The posters are too
I had good intentions
But what's a dieter to do?

The family is here
The whole country is cooking
I so badly want to sample
When no one is looking

My head starts to spin
My heart starts to pound
My commitment to diet
Is nowhere to be found.

I know what to do
I know what is best
I know I'm important
But temptation's a pest

When Thanksgiving is over
And Friday begins
I want to count pounds lost
Instead of my sins

So take THAT you stuffed turkey!
Away with you food
My health's more important
I choose  to do good!

Whatever your plan
Whatever you choose
Keep your best interest in mind
And you will not lose!

(except pounds of course!)

Happy Thanksgiving !

Day 90 Of My 99 Day Cambridge Diet Challenge

I am on my 10th day of Sole Source (SS) for my 99 Day Ultimate Goal. So far I have been pretty much 100%. I did have a few bites of stew the other day and last night some chicken breast, but other then that I've been on track. With Thanksgiving looming in 5 more days I need to make this time count. I am planning on having a meal with my family and then getting right back to the business of losing.

I still cook every day for my husband and I actually don't mind at all. In fact, I enjoy it. I'm very careful about taste testing for seasonings and all. It can be hard to cook like I do. I never use recipes and normally go completely by taste, but that can get you in trouble. Sometimes by the time I had dinner all prepared for him, I felt like I had already eaten! I'd still go ahead and eat with him though. No need to wonder why I had put on a few pounds since we got married.

So I'm chugging along and feeling good. If anyone reading this is also SSing until Thanksgiving and then planning on taking a break and eating, just keep in mind that your stomach has adjusted to your very low volume diet and will not be producing all the digestive enzymes and acids it normally would while eating a full food diet. You will be in a world of hurt and feeling pretty horrible if you overdo it...and let's face it... overdoing it is pretty much the definition of Thanksgiving. Be prepared and get some good Digestive Enzymes to take with your meal. Your local Health Food store should have a good variety. Choose one that has a long list of specific enzymes that break down all forms of food, not just something like papaya extract. You'll be thanking me later!