vlcd #5 almost cheated

Yesterday was a pretty easy day. Things went smoothly for the most part. Then at 9:30pm I started to get some really serious cravings. I wasn't really hungry, just REALLY REALLY wanting something uber sweet. I forced myself to go to bed. I'd eaten my dinner and had a little over 3 liters of water. I woke up at 11:30 to use the restroom and again felt an incredibly strong urge to go downstairs and eat something off protocol. I made it to the stairwell and somehow summoned up enough will power to go back to bed w/o cheating. Yay! So far this morning I feel good. It feels really good not to have given in to my cravings. Woot!

vlcd #4

I could tell a slight change in the tightness of my jeans when I put them on this morning. yay! It was very encouraging! Not much else to report today. Things are humming along and I'm feeling good and sleeping well.

Update: It's 2pm and I'm a little hungry and starting to feel cranky. I really want something sugary. Even though I make a lot of cake, I don't eat it since they're always for other people's parties. I really want some cake. Or huckleberry cheesecake or a huge ooey gooey cinnamon roll or basically anything super carby and sweet. ha! I have a couple cakes coming up in Sept. Not sure just yet how hard that'll be. I'm drinking my water like a good girl. I have to take my son to his 1st grade orientation pretty soon. I need to have a plan for dinner, because when it's over I'm going to be one hungry momma.

VLCD #3

Bre, I have soo had those "no willpower" days. Hang in there! Just getting the junk out of the house is super helpful. I have to say my 1st and 2nd rounds were much easier. Not that I feel like I'm starving, just mentally they were easier. Not sure why. I did have about 2 oz of extra chicken and 4 extra strawberries. I'm not going to freak out about it though. I slept ok last night. I was really aware that my hubby had to wake up super early to catch his flight. He'll be out of town till Friday. =( I hate it when he's gone. I have to get his car's windshield relplaced and take our son to 1st grade orientation tomorrow evening. He's always missing out on the kids' school activities. Oh well, it could be worse I spose.

My stomach doesn't seem quite as "poofy" today. I feel pretty good and so far am not hungry. There is a part of me that is dying to know how much I've lost and yet another part is completely content in just following the diet and let things happen the way they should.

Bre, hope your foot heals quickly so you can kick that boot to the curb! =)


Update: feeling good....almost finished w/ my gallon on water. I absolutely HATE how often I have to use the restroom. It's so annoying!
Ugh!

Oh and I just have to vent. My good friend calls me all the time telling me about the cake shows she watches on tv (we don't have tv) and telling me how I should make these amazing cakes that she seems. Ummmm HELLO?!?!?! I'm not freaking cake boss! Just because I enjoy making cakes doesn't mean I like working 20 hours for no pay! Grrr!! I love her to death, but she just doesn't get it. She doesn't get the hours involved in making the cakes, the icings, the fondant, the decorations, putting it together etc etc. It's starting to make me hate cake shows because everyone and their mother thinks that any cake decorator can do what they saw on tv. Grrrr! Seriously ticks me off. K, i'm stepping off the soap box and will stop venting.....for now. lol

VLCD #2

Yesterday went pretty good. Our internet went down around 10am and didn't get fixed until 9pm or so. Soo annoying! After church we went home and I dropped off hubby and the kids and then I went to Super One for groceries. They have chicken breasts on sale for $1.49/lb which is a fabulous deal. I got 5 bags of the chicken, but I'll probably go back before the sale is over and get some more. For that price, it's worth it to stock up. I got a little bit hungry before lunch, but once I ate I was fine. At 4pm my husband took the kids to go swimming since it was so hot. I chose to stay home and read a new novel. 10 pages in and I was nodding off. I went up to bed and slept until 6pm. Hubby woke me up so I could make everyone dinner. Good ol' hcg, always makes me so sleepy. Got up, fed the family, cleaning up the kitchen, made myself some dinner and then I was ready to go back to bed. Slept like a rock. It's worth doing this darn diet just for the relaxing quality sleep. It's 8am and I'm downing a liter of water before I take my 1st dose of hcg. I'm thinking I'll do chicken and asparagus for lunch and maybe a nice big salad for dinner. I'll be having strawberries as my fruit until I eat the entire 4lb tub. They go bad so fast, I don't want them to go to waste. Happy hcg'ing Bre! =)


Update: Just had to say that I feel soo good today! I'm enjoying my hcg friendly cup of coffee. Coffee, 1 tbl milk, 1/4 tsp dark cocoa powder, dash of cinnamon and a packet of stevia. Mmmmmm quite tasty. It's almost 11am and I'm not hungry in the least. Yay!!!! 1 liter of water down, 3 more to go.

Lunch: I had some pan fried chicken, steamed broccoli, and 7 strawberries. it's 4:45pm and I'm starting to get pretty hungry again. I'm almost finished w/ my 3rd liter of water. Amanda told me she found Apple pie flavored Extra gum at the store and that it's amazing. Sounds yummy! I'm not sure what the plan is for dinner just yet.

VLCD #1

I had just a few bites of chicken last night, no corn, and 5or 6 bites of mashed potatoes. I soo wasn't hungry. I did have a small bowl of muddy buddies around 8pm just to get in a bit more fat. I felt so sick and layed in bed praying I wouldn't have to get up to vomit. yuck! On the other hand I slept great! I've been sleeping terrible for the last few months. Waking up several times throughout the night. Not last night. I slept soundly and woke up at 6am bright eyed and bushy tailed. I'm going to have a coffee w/ choc rasp stevia. Then I'll do hcg drops right before we go to church at 8:30. After church I'll have some strawberries. Then i'll have to go to the store. I need to get chicken, lettuces, asparagus, cucumbers, and some celery. For lunch I'll make some chili. Ground chicken, tomatoes, a little onion, and lots of yummy spices. I'll update this blog later as the day progresses. =)

Finishing up my 2nd loading day.

I can't believe my 2nd loading day is almost over! So much food, so little time. lol

Bre, if you google I am Baker Rose Cake, you can see how the rose cake is done. It's not my creation, it's just copying her. She's quite talented and comes up with really pretty and unique ways to decorate w/ buttercream. Once she came up w/ the rose cake, EVERYONE started doing them. It's crazy. They're so beautiful and soooooooo easy to do. It's almost embarrassing how easy and fast it is. On the other hand, it's nice because it's quick and it's a show stopper. Everyone will rave about it. So shhhhhh don't tell em how easy it is. ;) It would still be fun to get together and talk cake stuff though! Things will slow down and I'll have more free time when school starts back up on the 6th.

I can't leave comments on blogger either. I remember Mia sent me some link to upgrade my Java or something and then blogger worked again. I'll have to do some investigating and see if I can figure out what's going on. It's annoying not being able to leave comments. grrr

Today I had a handful of muddy buddies for breakfast and we walked out the door to the farmers market. Then for lunch we went to the High Nooner (by costco and Jamm's) and had what's called an almost ruben. Instead of sauerkraut (sp?) it had coleslaw on it. Suuuuper yummy! Then I can home and had a bite of fudge we bought at the farmer's market. It was horrid. For dinner we're grilling chicken and corn on the cobb. Thought I'd make some extra rich mashed potatoes to have on the side. I might have a few more muddy buddies for dessert and then I'm done loading. I'm not hungry at all right now. In fact I feel rather sick. It always amazes me how quickly those drops start working.

I'm going to weigh in tomorrow morning and then I'll weigh on my last VLCD. Then I can see as a whole what I've lost. We'll see how it goes. ;)
Dang it's hot today! Hubby wants to go to the beach after dinner. ugh! I go to the beach w/ the family but I haven't gotten in a swimsuit at all this summer. Instead I sit in a chair and watch while my family cools off and I bake in the sun. I also secretly glare at all the skinny bikini wearing teenagers. booo on them lol

Good luck Bree! I'm so glad I'm not the only one doing hcg, it's so nice to have other's out there doing it w/ me.

Ooops

So today I was refreshing my hcg knowledge by rereading through my book. I realized that instead of doing 1 loading day, I really need to follow all the rules of this diet. No screwing around and only loading one day. I want this round to be super successful and in order to achieve that, I need to follow the rules. I had avocado toast for breakfast, a latte mid morning, leftover spaghetti for lunch, a panini for dinner and a few handfuls of muddy buddies for dessert. I can tell the drops are already working because my tummy feels insanely full and I haven't eaten more than I normally do. I'm starting to get excited about starting up another round. =) Tomorrow I'm going to the farmer's market to get some fresh huckleberries, woohoo!

Another 6 weeks of hcg, here we go.

Today is my last loading day before I start another 6 weeks of the VLCD. I've been going back an forth and if I should weigh daily or not. I know I get super discouraged if I only lose .2 lbs or worse if I just stay at the same weight. Deep down I know my body is doing what it needs to do to lose weight and the numbers on the scale shouldn't mean anything, but they do. For this round I thought I'd expirament. No weighing until maintenence. Just let things happen the way they're supposed to and completely eliminate the stress I feel daily on HOW MUCH AM I GOING TO LOSE? WHAT IF I DON'T LOSE ANYTHING TODAY? etc etc. I want this round to be as stress free as possible. I've seen other's try this method and they really enjoyed it. They got their encouragement from their clothes fitting better and their energy level going up. I'll be flying to Boise at the end of October to visit my siter. I'd love to be down a full size before I visit her. The seats on those planes are rather small and I carry a lot of my weight in my butt, legs, and theighs. oy! I'm hoping that with my kids starting school and me really getting into my cake business, that I won't focus on food quite so much and that I can really get into a good hcg groove. Woot! Here's to shedding the weight!

Time to start again.

Well my friends, I believe it's time to start hcg again. I'm ashamed to say I have fallen right back into old habbits and have gained a good portion of my weight back. I really thought I had my eating issues figured out and was on a path to becoming slim. Why do we sabotage ourselves? Anyone? My good friend Amanda is having her baby shower in two weeks. Her and I are going to a ton of effort to make it amazing. I want to enjoy her special day w/ her and enjoy the foods we'll be preparing and the 3 different cakes (yes I said 3) I'll be making for her shower. I'll be using her shower and the day after to "load" and will start my next round of VLCD's on Monday, August 15th. I could sit here and wallow in my self misery......instead I'm going to refocus on getting healthy and making life long eating changes.

What is going on?

Yesterday I wrote a very lengthy blog about what's been going on lately and all the things I've been struggling with. I went to "publish my post" and I got a huge ERROR message. Then it wouldn't let me go back to blogger till today. I just sat in my chair and cried. Then I got out a notebook and wrote a few pages. At least that can't get deleted. It's amazing how good it can feel to just "air out" my feelings. I've been feeling extremely depressed lately and have been eating out of depression which has caused some weight gain which is causing more depression.....rinse and repeat. I feel lost. I feel lonely. I feel unworthy. I feel sad. I feel angry. I feel hopeless. On the plus side my sister is flying into spokane today and will be here for about a week. That will take my mind off my inlaws coming. I so need to stock up on hard alcohol before they get here.

Good grief!

PEOPLE ANNOY ME! lol Seriously though, I'm so tired of stupid people. I read an article today about the Dugger family, you know, the family that has 19 children. People were blasting this family for having so many kids, complaining that they're using up too much of the earth's resources and gov't. money. Amazingly this family is 100% debt free. They even own their home. I don't about you, but I don't think I know of anyone who is completely debt free. I personally couldn't handle having so many kids, but I think they're an amazing family who are raising very respectful and loving children. On the other hand I know several families who rely on government assistance because they're down right lazy. They work for a few months, get laid off and enjoy the perks of unemployment for months upon months. They readily admit they think the government owes them a living. Are you kidding me? Anyway.....it just ticks me off that people get so mad at this family because it's not something they would personally do.

We're going camping tomorrow for a few days. ATM it's cold, rainy, and very windy. Hubby wants to go camping anyway. We'll be tent camping. I'm cold just thinking about it. I can't believe how much work it is to get all the gear, supplies, and food together just to camp for a couple nights. It's JUNE not freaking March. I wish the weather would cooporate just a bit. hmmmph!

We'll see if this post even goes through. I don't understand why I'm having so much freaking trouble w/ blogger lately.

I HATE BLOGGER

Once again I'm having trouble w/ blogger. I can't seem to comment on anyone's blogs and my last few blogs haven't even shown up. This is a test, AGAIN, to see how it's working.

HCG VLCD #3

I feel soooo good today!! Yesterday went really well. I only felt hungry right before meal time. Other than that, zero hunger. I also was able to down another gallon of water very easily. THANK YOU JESUS!! I was really scared to start this round, esp after all the trouble I had w/ the last few rounds I tried to start. I still don't have a blasted battery for my scale. My hubby was convinced he had a spare somewhere and after looking EVERYWHERE he came to the conclusion the he did NOT have a back up. After the little boy I babysit gets picked up, I'll be taking my dead battery to Radio Shack and get a new one. Although I'm tempted to wait until a full week has gone by before I step on the scale. I don't know, we'll see. I tend to change my mind on a whim.

Tomorrow my friend, Amanda, goes to the Dr. and finds out the sex of her baby. I'm so excited for her! The suspense is driving me nuts!

HCG VLCD #2

Yesterday was tough. I was suprised that I really didn't battle hunger at all, but I had the mother of all migranes. I slept just awful. My husband was out of town on business and I never sleep well when he's gone. I woke up feeling refreshed and my headache was barely noticable. I'm just starting to feel a slight twinge of hunger and it's 9am. I'll probably wait and have an apple at 11:00 and then lunch at 1:00. I'll have dinner at 6:00 and my last piece of fruit around 8:00. Spreading my food around like that really seems to help. I was able to get in a full gallon of water yesterday quite easily. Although I felt like I spent half the day in the bathroom. I'm going to go to Radio Shack today to get a new bathroom scale battery. Hope the sun stays out today, it's such a mood lifter. =)

HCG Day 1

I am SUCH a moron. I got on the scale again this morning only to realize I still haven't gotten a new battery for it. UGH!! Oh well. Today is VLCD #1. I am going to do a full 6 week round. This round I'm going back to the basics. I'm not going to doctor up my recipes, I'm going to do a round exactly like I did w/ my very first round. Super simple, and as close to the original protocol as humanly possible. Yesterday I went to Super Supplements and got some magnesium and potassium. I will take those in conjunction w/ my daily multivitamins, vitamin c, and my super B complex. I'll be drinking 4 liters of water daily (roughly 1 gallon). As much as I DO NOT want to be doing hcg again, I guess it's the only sure fire way to lose some more weight before the wedding. I also REALLLLLLLLY want to be down another 15-20 lbs before I see my in-laws. My MIL always makes horrible rude comments to me about me weight.....this time I'll be lighter and smaller than her and she'll have NO ROOM to speak to me that way.

Yesterday I went and bought tons and tons of flowers and spent the afternoon planting and getting really dirty. The last 2 hrs of planting it started to rain. I was insistant about getting my flowers planted because it looks like it's supposed to rain for the next 10+ days. When I had finished I was drenched and covered w/ mud. It was so worth it though! I rewarded myself with a hot bubble bath. =) I need to go out today and buy some more food for my diet. I need some lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, apples, and some strawberries.

My husband wants to go camping in about a month from now. I'll still be on hcg so that's totally going to stink! I wont be able to enjoy eating campfire hotdogs and S'mores!! Ahhhh!!!!!! My life revolves around food way too much! lol I guess it'll be a good lesson that I can still enjoy camping with my family despite not being able to eat the same foods as them.

I don't have any cakes due till June 12th. I'm scaling back a bit on my orders through the summer. I want to enjoy my time w/ the kids w/o feeling overwhelmed w/ cakes. I have two cakes in June, two in July, and two in August.

I HATE Idaho food laws!!! Apparently me selling cakes to family and friends is completely illegal. I'm really only charging people for the cost of materials and ingrediets.....nothing at this point has been a profit. Even charging people for the cost of materials is illegal. I'd have to have a completely separate kitchen if I wanted to have a business out of my home. Or I could rent a commercial kitchen. I can't even imagine how expensice either one of those options would be. I still plan on making cakes for family and friends and I still plan on charging them for the ingredients. At some point getting a job at a cake shop would be ideal, but at this point I have to learn the art of cake making and decorating somehow! Esp since I don't live anywhere near a school. Ugh! The whole thing really irritates me.

*UPDATE* It's 3:30pm and I have a raging migrane. I am 100% sure it's from no sugar and no caffiene so far today. I'm looking forward to being a week into this diet. By then pretty much all hunger and headaches are gone.

BLOGGER is on my crap list......

I've been trying to blog for the past few days and blogger wasn't working. =( I've been soooooooooo busy! Between babysitting, taking care of my 3 kids w/o hubby (he's been out of town) and making two cakes, I haven't had much time for anything. I did go out and pick up a bottle of hcg, so Monday I will start a 6 week round.

Here are some pictures of my last two cakes. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Make up your freaking mind.......

I've been so busy the last few days!! It's only going to get more crazy since I babysit today through Friday. My husband is out of town on business again. I have a cake due tomorrow and another one due on Saturday. I have to take my oldest to Karate today, but am not sure if I can handle sitting in that teeny tiny room w/ my two spastic children for an hour. I couldn't sleep last night due to taking a couple excederine to get my migrane to go away. Needless to say I was up till 12:30 am baking up my colorful cake layers. I baked up a red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple 9" layers. Today I will level them, dirty ice them, and covered everything in the lime green fondant. I made my rainbow colored gum paste bow yesterday and I think it turned out pretty cute. I've tried a few different buttercream icings and I think I've finally settled on one that everyone likes that best. What a difference it makes using the right kind of shortening!!

Today I will bake up the cake layers for the electric guitar cake and start making all the little knobs and buttons w/ gum paste. I'm a litte nervous about this cake......I've never had to carve a cake before and this one I'll be using some techniques I've never attempted. Good thing it's for one of my best friends. She is super easy going and said that as long as it even looks remotely like her son's guitar he's going to be thrilled....still I want to do the best I can.

I think I'm going to go ahead and do a 6 week round of hcg starting this following Monday. I'm just not losing the weight I want for the upcoming wedding. I've been sooooo busy I haven't had sufficient time to workout the way I was hoping I could. I still get in my workouts here and there, but definitely not as often as I should. I'd like to get a 6 week round in and have my 3 weeks of phase 3 before we go to Boise for the wedding. If I start on Monday, I'll be just going into phase 4 by the time we leave. I know my husband wanted me to lay off the hcg and just do diet and exercise but with all that's been going on there is no way I'll be able to fit into anything remotely cute if I don't lose another 20-30 lbs. He's just going to have to deal with the inconvenience. I need to do this for me.

Hope you all are doing well......I wouldn't know because hardly anyone blogs anymore. *wink *wink =)

Mother's Day

I celebrated Mother's Day with my mom on Saturday. I had my parents over for dinner. I grilled up salmon that had been marinating in fresh garlic, dill, lemon juice, olive oil and a little salt and pepper. We also had roasted asparagus and a lovely salad topped w/ sliced fresh strawberries, slivered red onions tossed w/ a blush wine vinegrette. For dessert I brought out cake and ice cream. This cake was a white vanilla cake, raspberry filling and a vanilla buttercream. It all so delicious. We had a lovely time visiting and having a meal together. Here is a picture of my mother's cake.



I really wanted a simple yet elegant look. The swirls were meant to look somewhat floral. I used two tones of buttercream to deepen the visual effect. Mom loved it and that made my day.♥

Yesterday my hubby let me sleep in while he made the kiddos homemade waffles. Then we went to Fred Meyer to get some good grocery deals. While there we saw some beautiful art work that we both loved. We bought 3 huge pictures. It felt sooo good to get some color on the walls. We've lived in our house about a year now and really hadn't put anything up. It's really starting to coming together, I love it!

Today I will be start working on my two cakes. I plan on making a rainbow colored loop bow out of gum paste and a few other decorations. I have a bunch of running around to do. I can't believe how fast I'm going through powered sugar! lol

I've been eating very healthy the last several days and it feels great. I plan on starting up my couch to 5K training this evening. I'm determined to be able to run a 5K by this summer.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

SERIOUSLY?!

You all know I babysit a 2 yr old a few days a week. His mother and I have a pact to tell the other person if our children get sick. If my kids even have the slightest sniffle she'll freak out and not want to bring her son over for me to watch. So today she drops off her son 45 minutes late and then tells me he's been throwing up and had liquid poo issues for the last 4 days. The poor kid is as white as a sheet. He kept laying down on the floor, not interested in playing or eating. While here he would not use the toilet (he's potty trained) but boy did he have an explosion in his pants. I contacted his mother and she left work to come pick him up. I'm going to be really frustrated if my kids come down w/ his flu. I made the kids wash their hands several times while he was here and bleached everything after he left. *sigh*

I ran to the store this afternoon and bought several bags of marshmallows to make my homemade marshmallow fondant. I'm going to get as much done ahead of time as I can for the two cakes I'll be doing next Thursday and Friday. The more I can get done now, the less stressed I'll be when it comes time to put everything together.

plasma

Well I realized the info I'd gotten about plasma donation was slightly incorrect. I guess the 1st time you donate in a week you get $20 and the second time you donate (as long as it's within the same week) you get $30.....it's an incentive to get you to come back more often. I really need to get some milk and half n half at Costco today, but have pretty much nothing in our checking acct, so I think I'll go and get my 2nd donation in as soon as my husband gets home from the airport. It should take about 45 min today.....not too shabby.

Whatever dark mood I've been in the last few weeks seems to have lifted. I feel really upbeat and joyful. Maybe it was all the sun I got on Sunday....like i'm on a vitamin D high or something. lol

I'm having my parents over for dinner on Saturday evening. I can't really afford to buy my mom anything, so making her dinner and a small Mother's Day cake will be her gift. It's weird to see trees blooming and flowers popping up and still see snow in the mountains.

I really want to blog about something that happened but can't just yet. I can't remember if I gave this certain someone the link to my blog. It sure would be awkward to blog about someone only to have them read it and get their feelings hurt. We'll see.....

Monday Monday

Yesterday was a lovely day with the family. We got a bunch of yard work done and got the rest of our bushes planted in front of the house and hubby put together a pretty circle of stones to put my whiskey barrels on so I can plant my petunia waves. It's really starting to feeling like we're putting our own spin on this house. I can't believe how expensive it all costs though. yikes!

My nasty flu/cold is on the mend. I'm anxious to start running up again. I'm taking lots of vitamins and drinking lots of water to help flush the toxins out from being sick. I don't want to push myself too much too soon, I just can't handle getting sick again. I still haven't gotten a blasted battery for my freaking scale. I need to make that a priority this week. On the other hand all my clothes are fitting great so I don't think I'm gaining anything.

Irritated

I just have to vent for a moment. There is a gal I know who lives in TX. Her husband grew up w/ my husband and so they're an aquaintance of mine. She has lost about 140lbs during the last 3 years and looks great. Here is where I get frustrated. She started her diet when we went to Texas 3 years ago. She started doing Atkins and lost about 40 lbs, then gained some weight, then joined a gym, then tried Atkins again, then switched to some expensive weight loss supplements and drinks. Off and on, back and forth, after 3 years she accomplished a 140lb weight loss and looks amazing. My husband and I got an email last night from her husband. It was to several hundred people, not just us. In the email her husband is basically telling of his wife's weight loss and how she lost it ONLY using these crazy expensive supplements which she is now selling. He then asks everyone to consider buying them because they'll make you lose weight and .....get this......help them get out of debt. He also told everyone that she lost 140lbs in one year. I was really mad. I know for a fact it took her 3 years and that she lost her weight in several different ways, not just those products. Then to have to gall to beg people to buy the supplements so they can get out of debt........i dunno, just seems really tacky. I don't appeciate it when people lie and embellish the truth so they can make money. Grrrr!!!!!!

End of rant.

So far the cake is going great. I have 3 layers of white vanilla cake, filled w/ raspberry filling and covered in a thick layer of buttercream (per the customer). I'm just waiting for the icing to crust so I can smooth it out and then it's DECORATING TIME!!!!!!!! I tried a new white cake recipe. I've made a few over the years that have been awful. They tend to be super dense, dry, and tasteless. This recipe is light and fluffy and yet sturdy enough for carving. The flavor was lovely too. I'm saving the scraps to make cake pops for my kiddos. Well I need to keep working on the cake, hope you all have a lovely day!

twilight

So I've been kinda wishy washy on my design for the twilight (team jacob) cake. I think I've finally nailed down what I'm going to do. It has some things involved that I've never tried. Crossing fingers it turns out right. I tried a new cake recipe. It smells so freaking amazing. I was hoping I'd have a little bit of extra batter that I'd be able to make a teeny 4" cake to try for myself. No such luck. I only had enough for my thre 10" layers. One layer is slightly domed, so I guess I'll get to taste the scraps. I'll post pictures tomorrow or Saturday of the cake and let you know how it all turned out.

This girl wants some CAKE!

So I recomitted myself to the bodybugg. I charged it last night and put it on as soon as I got up this morning. I have a wedding to go to in July and a very judgemental mother in law coming at the beginning of July. I need to refocus and keep working on losing the weight. I've been feeling really down and depressed for much of the last month and it's really getting old.

I have had a handful of people comment to me....."bummer you didn't start this "cake thing" years ago.....wonder where it could've taken you". Ummm can you say RUDE? I've had the passion and desire to learn cake decorating since I was in grade school. For years my mother and grandmother would promise they'd sign me up for a Wilton class, but that never happened. So I used to try and just mimick what I've seen other bakers do. Then the shows started coming on tv ie Duff and Cake Boss. This sparked a whole new passion in me. I could actually SEE how they transformed sugar and flour into works of art. As the popularity of the cake shows on tv progressed, a new outcrop of tutorials started popping up on youtube and in blogs. I realized I could learn a ton of information just by taking the time to research. It was kind of like going to school for free. So I started expirimenting. A little over a year ago I made my 1st fondant cake for my daughter's 3rd birthday. I had so much trouble with that darn cake. I had to redo the fondant several times and even then it was cracked and torn. I had to make fondant circles to cover up my mistakes. I learned a lot from that 1st cake....and really from each cake I do, I feel like I'm learning from hand's on experience. This Saturday I have a Twilight "Team Jacob" themed cake. It'll be a fairly easy one, so I'm not stressed at all. Then I want to make my mother a small but really cute Mother's Day cake. Then I will be making a guitar cake (still a little unsure how I'm going to pull this one off) and a fun rainbow/peace cake for a little girl's bday. I keep getting lectured from my mom that I'm not charging enough. I do not have the money to keep making cakes just so I can learn. If I charge people for the ingredients and a few bucks extra for my time so I can learn the art of cake making, then I'm happy. At some point, when I feel I'm not such a novice I'll up my prices. In reality I'd love to work in a cake shop and just get paid to decorate all day. I don't want to open my own bakery. I thought I did and the more I think about it, I don't think that's for me. I don't want to be concerned with payrole and hiring etc etc. I just want to dig in and do what I love best, which is making and decorating. If I can find a job at a custom cake store......that would be a dream come true for me. *finger crossed* that it will happen for me someday. Until my kids are in school full time, I will be a dedicated stay at home mom. Once they're all in all day school, then I want to start venturing out into the workplace again and really start doing what I love and have a passion for doing.

Doom and Gloom

I thought I was suffering from allergies on friday and saturday.....once Sunday hit I realized that I was coming down with the flu.....AGAIN!!! Everyone loved my cake. It was fun to see them all oooh and ahhhh over it. =) I left my parent's house at 5pm and whenI got home I crawled into bed and slept until 8am the next morning. I got up and made my son's lunch for school and sent him out the door to catch the bus. Since my other son and daughter were still sleeping I deceided to go back to bed for a little while. My son woke me up at 1:00pm because my phone was ringing!!!!! My poor kids were up and alone and never got breakfast or lunch. I felt sooo guilty! They were in good spirits though. They'd been gorging on Easter candy and watching cartoons. I went to bed early last night even though I'd slept for most of the day. I woke up today still feeling awful, but considerably better than the day before. I kept forgetting to post a picture of my new Vibram shoes. I love them!! Just wish they weren't so ugly.

Happy Easter!

I've been feeling better the last couple of days. It's been so sunny and lovely outside I can't help but feel full of life and happiness. I worked on my cake last night and couldn't believe how quickly it all came together. I started whipping up my buttercream around 6:30pm and the cake was finished within 3 hours. I did have to let the handle of the basket dry overnight though. I'm really pleased with how it all turned out. Now if I can just transport it to my parent's house w/o any mishaps I'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Here are a few pictures of the cake. Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter♥

distant

Well I'd love to report that I'm doing well.....but I'm not. I haven't even worn my bodybugg in over a week. I did put it on today though. I think since the fight last week w/ hubby I've just been kind of "out of it". I feel very distant from everything. I don't even want to blog, but Mia texted me and told me to blog, so I am! My husband is taking 3 days of vacation. He has to use them by next week or he loses them. So Wednesday, today and tomorrow he's off, plus the weekend. It's hard to stay in my usual weekly routine w/ him here. I haven't been able to spend near the time I was hoping to w/ my sugar flowers. I did make a bunch of calla lillies yesterday though. The 1st 4 I made were ok....then I started tweaking things and got great results. The stamen is brushed w/ sugar glue and the dipped in cornmeal....I swear it looks exactly like a real stamen....yay! Anyhoo so now I have 3 gorgeous lillies and 4 lame lillies. Tomorrow I need to get all my cake layers baked so they can rest before I put the thing together. I hope to ice and decorate the cake saturday evening so it'll be ready for Sunday's lunch/dinner.

If anyone out there has even a little bit of extra motivation please send it my way! I so need some!!

Off the deep end.....

Hubby and I got into a HUUUUGE fight this morning. UGH! I hate weekends that start off like that. I ended up going to starbucks and getting a mocha and a slice of their lemon loaf. Then after lunch I had lots and LOTS of smore's bars (golden grahams cereal w/ chocolate and marshmallows made into bars). I hate how I eat when upset. My stomach hurts really really bad. I'm not used to all that sugar not to metion the amount of food. blech

Tomorrow I need to get a really good treadmill workout in. I need to chanel my frustrations into working out and not eating. I have had so many nights of crappy sleep......tonight I'll be taking a couple tylenol PM's to help knock myself out.

I'll be making an Italian Cream cake for Easter. I plan on decorating it w/a basket weave design to look like an actual Easter basket. It'll be filled w/ all kinds of sugar flowers. The following week I'll be making a Twilight themed cake. I'm excited!! A couple weeks after the Twilight cake I'll be doing a lime green fondant cake decorated w/ peace signs. Inside will be a rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple cake layers. FUN! I also have an electric guitar cake to make for the same weekend. I was thinking about trying something fun and girly for Mother's Day. We'll see. I might be sick of cake. (yeah right!) lol

feeling frustrated

I don't know what's the matter w/ me. I feel really frustrated and angry. It seems everyone and everything is just irritating me. It takes all my effort not to open my mouth and just tell everyone exactly what I think about them. yikes! I feel like I'm being pulled in a million directions. I'm a mom and have tons of responibilities w/ the kids. My husband comes home from work and expects the bills to be paid, our checkbook balanced at all times, all chores completed and dinner on the table. I start my day at 5:30am and I hit the ground running. I make the kids breakfast, get them ready for school, grocery shop, cook clean, help the kids w/ their homework, pay all the bills, get the kids bathed and ready for bed, etc etc etc. He basically just goes to work and comes home and relaxes. I don't stop working until the kids are in bed which is about 8:30pm. I'm tired. I feel like I have no identity left. I also feel like I get zero appreciation for what I do. I am human and am far from perfect. Last night my husband went into a rage because there were wet clothes in the washing machine. Ummmm did he not notice that the clothes were washing when he got home from work? They'd been in the washer about 90 minutes. He assumed they'd been in there for days. SERIOUSLY?! I have SOO many things I have to stay on top of. Even if they had been in there for a couple days, can I get a little bit of slack, PLEASE?! I have a million things I'm trying to stay on top of.....I wish he'd understand that. He thinks me making cakes is a waste of my time and it's just a pain in his side because it takes me away from my household duties. When do I ever do anything for myself? Making cakes let me be creative, lets me escape from the dullness of day to day life. I dunno......i'm just really frustrated and feeling completely unappreciated. I showed my husband my most recent cake (he was out of town when I made it) and all he did was barely look at the picture and say, "that's nice.....but isn't this part over here a little crooked?"." Sigh....
I need a vacation. Away from kids and away from the husband.

Red Hat Cake!

So I worked off and on yesterday on the cake. I had a few "oopsie" moments, but overall I was able to fix my mistakes and or hide them really well. ;)

Here are a few pictures. One is of the finished cake and the other two are after I added a saying the customer requested for her mom. Of course I look at the cake and see all my imperfections. Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. I'm excited to be learning new techniques......can't wait to learn topsy turvy cakes.

I didn't eat so well today. I had a slice of cold chicken jalapeno pizza for breakfast, a turkey wrap for lunch, a starbucks mocha for a snack and a bowl of beef ramen soup for dinner. Tomorrow I promise to be much better. I was just so tired after babysitting and cake making I got lazy. (hides face)

I'm off to bed, but wanted to share some pics of my finished cake. G'night!

Time to make some cake

It's been a really busy few days. I got on the scale yesterday and all it said was "lo" I'm assuming that means it needs a new battery. My clothes feel loser and when I saw my mom on Saturday she said my waist and hips looked smaller. So I'll take that as things are moving in the right direction. I have a 10am phone meeting w/ a bodybugg specialist who will walk me through the website and explain things to me in detail. =)

Yesterday I made red, purple, and white marshmallow fondant. I also whipped up a couple batches of a thick coconut filling. Today I make 2 12" vanilla cake layers and a 8" and 6" (1/2 sphere) banana cake. I also need to make some pretty little gum paste flowers today. Tomorrow I'll be putting it all together and decorating it. I can't wait to see how it all comes together.

I couldn't sleep well last night. I just kept dreaming of the cake and how I would make it and decorate it. Ugh! I wish I could switch my brain off sometimes. oh well

Maybe when the cakes are baked and are "resting" i'll get my next "couch to 5K" workout in. So many things to do today. I'm almost glad hubby will be out of town for the next couple of days. It lets me work on my projects w/o feeling like I'm ignoring him. I also can get away w/ easy kid pleasing dinners. PB&J w/ apple and carrot slices.....can't get much easier than that. =)

Hurray for Friday!

I swear this week was just crawling by. I woke up at 5:30am to bright blue sunny skies. I got up and just enjoyed the quiet. I'm babysitting today (booo) but the gal paid me for the last 3 weeks so I have some $$ burning a hole in my pocket. ;) Tomorrow hubby and I are going into Spokane w/o the kids. He is taking me to a cake supply store, I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. =) We're also going to R.E.I. to possibly get some of those weird finger toe shoes. I took of my bodybugg last night when I got in the shower and forgot to put it back on. I didn't remember until lunch time today. Oooops. I think tomorrow is my 1st official weigh in. yay!

I hope today is a wonderful day for each of you.♥

snow

It was weird to wake up and see snow everywhere. We saw snow in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, and now April. 6 months of snow. yuck!!

Almost everyday I've been able to hit 1000 calorie deficit. I burn anywhere from 2750 to 3100 calories a day and eat between 1600-2000 calories a day. I'm excited for my 1st weigh in. I think Saturday is the day I do my 1st weekly weigh in.

I want to get in two 30 min treadmill workouts today and start drinking more water. When I'm on hcg I can easily drink 1 gallon a day. The last couple of weeks I'm barely getting in two liters. I need to be drinking a minimum of 3 liters. I know upping my water always help my body release excess weight.

My other goals for today are making some royal icing flowers and butterflies. I figure if I can start making some items for some upcoming cakes, it'll be that much less stress. Royal icing decorations last for a loooooong time if stored properly. There's no reason why I can't start getting ahead while I have time.

Stay strong everyone! This is a battle worth winning!

knees

I ended up not working out yesterday. It was like as soon at 6pm hit a huge wave of exhaustion hit me. It's probably from being sick and TOM. I crawled into bed a few minutes after 8:00pm and slept until 6:15. I woke up feeling almost as tired as when i went to bed. =( no likey!

I just finished the 2nd part of my 1st week of "couch to 5K". My knees towards the end of the workout were on fire. I'm hoping it's just because my body isn't used to running rather than me being too heavy to run. Even though I have a hard time finishing my workouts, I'm amazed at my endurance (compared to where I was just a year ago). The idea of being able to run a 5K nonstop within 3 months is exciting to me! I've alwasy associated myself with laziness and zero self control. I'm starting to see that I'm not that person anymore. I have drive, I am reaching my goals (even if it is slowly), I'm doing things I thought I'd never do. I'm committed to becoming a woman who is althetic and full of energy. My kids deserve a mom like that, my husband deserves a wife like that, but most of all, I DESERVE TO BE THAT PERSON! Today is my 9th wedding anniversary. I met my husband 12 years ago. I will never forget the 1st time I saw him walk through the doors of Home Depot. =) He still gets me all twitterpaited. lol

Have a lovely day, ladies!

grrr

I so wish there was a decent cake supply store in cda. Michaels has the basics, but I'm tired of having to order my stuff online. Booo!!!!! I had 3 more cake orders come in yesterday. Although two aren't until July and October. At this point I have 8 custom cakes to make. Yay! My 1st one is due April 14th and it'll be for a 50th birthday. The theme is "red hat society". For Easter this year instead of buying my kids Easter baskets full of junk food I told them I'd make them an Easter basket cake that the entire family and extended family can enjoy after dinner. They all were totally fine w/ that. They'll still hunt for eggs though. Instead they'll just be filled w/ pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters. =)

I worked out twice yesterday. I'm amazed how much I'm able to run. Since I was out shopping for most of the morning and afternoon I think I'll probably just get in a good long workout this evening.

Treadmill, bodybugg, five finger shoes......

So we kind of jimmy rigged the metal bar my husband broke and can use the treadmill as long as I'm careful to only hold onto the side bars if need be. His apoxy glue didn't work, so I need to order a new cross bar. It's $50 for this little metal bar. Booo!!!!!! I did my 1st workout last night and realized I have so very little endurance. I think I'm going to start my " couch to 5K" training today.

I'm loving my bodybugg. It's been fun to see where I'm burning the most calories. It really keeps me motivated to move more. I'm also enjoying how it helps me with my food choices. Yesterday I burned a little more than 3000 calories through a 24 hr period. I ate about 2000 calories. I don't feel deprived what so ever. I realize that as I lose weight, my body won't burn as many calories as I currently do. I'm eating good healthy foods. Eggs and organic whole grain toast for breakfast, coffee w/ cream and erythritol to sip on.....cheese, lean meats, quinoa, brown rice etc etc. It's awesome!

I've seen these shoes off and on for the last 2 years or so.

They supposedly are really good for your feet. They strengthen the arches, muscles and tendons in the foot. They mimic barefeet. Anyway, hubby and I are considering getting a pair to use while on the treadmill. I don't think I could wear them in public because they're so gosh darn ugly. lol

Well I'm off.....time to get a morning workout in. =)

hubby broke the treadmill !!!

So hubby and I put the treadmill together this morning. I was so excited I could hardly keep myself from jumping up and down and squealing. We got 1/2 of it put together and hauled it up two flights of stairs into our computer/play room. As hubby was putting on one of the final pieces it all went downhill. There was a black metal bar that had these stickers placed in a very specific area with very specific instructions. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN SCREWS. DO NOT USE POWER TOOLS. So I point this out to my husband to make sure he understood. He grabs his hand held screw driver and starts to tighten and tighten and tighten the screws. I tell him that they sure look tight enough and that he'd better stop. He looked at me and said, it's almost impossible to overtighten screws with just your hand. Literally he finished his sentence when there was a really loud SNAP and the bar broke in half. Now if our roles had been reversed he would've yelled and screamed at me for being so stupid. I on the other hand didn't say a word. Not one single sound came from my lips. Instead he started yelling at me how the treadmill was a piece of crap, how it wasn't his fault, and on and on and on. So he's trying to fix this metal bar w/ some sort of apoxy glue of his. If that doesn't work, we'll have to order the part. I'm SOOOOO bummed!!!!!

I've had fun using my bodybugg today. I've been entering in all my food so I can keep on top of my calories and I've been watching the amount of calories I've been burning. It really does motivate me to move around more than normal just because I know it's keeping track. lol

I made a huge batch of cinnamon rolls this evening. Our neighbor's son came over and took a chain saw to the rest of the cherry tree in our backyard. As a thankyou I'll be sending over a plate of cinnamon rolls. I entered in the cinnamon rolls in the bodybugg info and have enough calories left over for today that I'll be able to enjoy a small one after i put the kids to bed. Yay!

A new beginning?

The bodybugg arrived today. I got it all set up and it's currently charging. I'm really looking forward to using this device and it's website. Hubby will hopefully get the treadmill up and running today so by this weekend I'll be able to dive in and start my new weight loss regimine. I'm still really sick and a bit "out of it". I find myself spacing out a lot. lol I'm trying to get the house all cleaned up and all the laundry washed, folded and put away so that this weekend hubby doesn't have to stress about things that need to get done. He can just relax (and get my machine put together). =)

BLASTED COLD

I'm so miserable. I can't breathe through my nose because it's so stuffy and breathing through my throat feels like I'm a fire breathing dragon. My eyelids feel weighted and I just want to curl up into my soft warm bed. My treadmill arrived today!! I was hoping I could haul it upstairs and start putting it together, but now that I realize it's over 200lbs and in a huge box, I'm going to having to wait till hubby gets home. My guess is it won't be put together till sometime on Saturday. Oh well. I don't feel good enough to get on it anyway.

Yay and Nay

Yay: My treadmill gets delivered tomorrow and my bodybugg will be delivered on Friday. This means that on Saturday I'll have the treadmill hauled upstairs and put together and will have gotten my bodybugg all ready to go. Soooo excited!

Nay: The little boy I babysit got a cold on Tuesday and shared it with me and my daughter. I'm sneezing contantly and my throat is on fire. Joy of freaking joys.

I'm going to make myself a cup of tea, put the kids to bed, and watch something on netflix. I so wish hubby was home. I miss him so much when he's gone on business.

BodyBugg

Well I took Mia's advice and ordered myself a bodybugg. It's on sale for $144 and I'll have enough cash to pay for it after next weeks babysitting. I loathe babysitting, but it does come in handy when I want to buy something that we otherwise could not afford. I babysit through June at the very latest and then I'll be donating plasma twice a week. I can earn up to $265 a month doing that, plus it helps out so many people. It's a win/win. Anyhoo back to the bodybugg. Apparently you wear it on your upper left arm and it calculates how many calories you burn throughout the day. You also log all the food you eat into it and it shows you what you need to eat and how much to get the weight off. Since hubby wants to start working out and really toning up, I thought this was a perfect tool for me. I'm sooo excited for my treadmill to get here and now my bodybugg! I'm anxious to learn how much exercise I need to do and how much and what I need to eat to get lean. I seriously have no clue. I guess it even breaks it down and tells you how many carbs, fiber, fat etc you need to eat. It's exactly what I always wanted!

Today I played with buttercream. I practiced making buttercream roses, boarders, and doing the basketweave. I feel like I'm growing everyday in my knowledge and passion towards cakes. When I worked at a bakery/coffee shop years ago I was blown away at how careless they were with the look of their baked goods. They tasted amazing but visually they were awful. I think so much of enjoying food is not only the taste but the visual as well. I want my food to taste as good as it looks. Have you ever seen something at the grocery store or a bakery that looked delicious and yet when you took a bite you were shocked at how gross it was? I have, many times. I want my baked goods to blow people away in taste and appearance. For instance the sugar cookie recipe I used for my father took me 15+ years to find. I like my sugar cookies soft. Every soft sugar cookie recipe I'd ever used always "swelled" so much while baking that whatever shape I'd used to cut it out now looked swollen and mishapen. This recipe doesn't do that. It's a SUPER sturdy cookie that holds it's shape wonderfully and yet has a wonderful soft texture. The flavor is also fantastic. I can't imagine finding a recipe that would top this one. This thrills me to no end. It's like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I have such a huge passion for baking. I get immense joy watching people's eyes light up when they look at my goodies and then again when they take their 1st bite.

I was looking into taking some Wilton cake decorating classes at my local craft store and saw that the gal who teaches these classes is the same one who teaches at our local community college. She also will come to your home and teach you one-on-one for $30/hr. She'll teach me whatever I want her to. If I want to learn how to do topsy turvy cakes (oh so cute) she will. Literally anything I want she'll teach and I wouldn't have to take a class that would go over things I already know how to do. Anyway I was super excited to learn I could hire her to personally teach me caking decorating.

Here are some pictures of some cookies I made for my grandmother last year. I inserted wooden skewers right after the cookies came out of the oven. I used them to make a valentine cookie bouquet. ♥

Dad's Birthday Cookie

This is the giant cookie I made for my dad's bday today. Ü

decisions

Well I talked to hubby again last night and if it were up to him I'd never do hcg again. He feels it's way to much of a burden on the family when I do it. He's the most sporatic person I know. On the weekends he'll deceide he wants to take the family on a hike and within 10 min we're out the door. When I'm on hcg I have to make sure I bring my meals w/ me, my water, and my hcg. Then because I drink so much water, I'm using the restroom nonstop. He says I'm grumpy while on the diet. He says that now that my metabolism is fixed and working properly that I should exercise and eat well to lose the remaining weight. He wants to start exercising on a regular basis (possibly P90X) to build up his strength. I think he wants a partner in fitness, and when I'm on the drops that just isn't possible. I will try it his way for a few weeks and see how it goes. If the results aren't coming through, then I'll jump back on hcg and use up the rest of my bottle. I have about 5 weeks worth left. I feel like I'm a fish out of water....flopping back and forth. I wish he wouldn've said something before I started up again. ugh!

Today my oldest son has his 1st birthday/sleepover at a friend's house. I don't know why I'm nervous, but I am. I'm sure everything we'll be fine. He's super excited and I'm truly happy for him. He's growing up! Today is my father's bday. I have a truly amazing soft sugar cookie recipe that he adores. I made him a special gaint bday cookie that I can't wait to give him. I'll take a picture of it later and post it.

I hope you all have a lovely Saturday♥

frustrated

I love my husband, but there are times he drives me nuts! He got a nice big fat bonus yesterday and he very lovingly purchased me a very nice treadmill from costco. Then he asked me if I would postpone hcg for a couple weeks so we can go out to dinner on our anniversary. I told him I didn't mind going out to dinner and just ordering a salad w/ baked chicken and I could bring my own dressing. He wasn't going to have it. I don't understand why all of a sudden he's now against me doing this. I asked him if I could start up again after our anniversary and he said that would be fine. I'm thinking he would rather me lose weight exercising and eating healthy than do hcg. I don't want to get all in his face and start an argument, esp after he bought me a treadmill. I was able to lose all my load weight, plus another lb. So I guess I'll stop for a couple weeks and then start up again. Grrrrrrrr When I start up again I don't think I'll "load" instead I'll just pick up where I left off. sigh

cake

Looks like I've been asked to do 2-3 more cakes for friends on facebook! yay! One is going to be a twilight cake, yay!! I'm excited and a little nervous.

I'm such a whore......

I'm such a whore, a carb whore that is. I did awesome yesterday. I drank my gallon of water and tea, eat everything by the book and then I stayed up late reading a novel and got hungry......I got REALLY hungry. I ended up having a few more melba toasts that are legal on the protocol. dang it! Because of that poor choice I only released .2 lbs today. The good news is, I'm out of melba toast and will not be buying anymore. I can't seem to control myself when they're around. I don't want to start sabotaging myself when I'm barely out of the gate.

Hubby will be out of town for the next 3 days. This means I will be able to make simple meals for my children and they won't be so tempting. I need to force myself to be in bed no later than 9pm so I won't struggle so much with night time hunger.

VLCD #3

Woke up to a 1 lb loss today. =) It's 9:15am and I'm feeling some hunger. Guess it's time to start chugging some water. I don't have much to say so far today. I think I'll make the chinese chicken dish for lunch followed by some strawberry sorbet.

Round 4 VLCD #2 1st weigh in

I woke up to a 2.8 lb loss this morning. =) I slept pretty good and woke up feeling great. I'm making a gallon of iced tea. Yumm! I don't really like coffee when all I can put in it is stevia, but I do love unsweetened iced tea. So I will drink some of that daily as a bit of a "treat".

Today I'm going to try a new recipe for lunch. I'm going to take my 3.5 oz chicken breast and pound it nice and thin w/ a mallet. Then I'm going to dip it in egg white and then into a melba toast that's been pulverized into a powder and seasoned w/ garlic and onion powder, sea salt and pepper. Then I'm going to cook that in a non-stick skillet w/ 1/2 tsp of coconut oil. Then I'm going to make an Italian tomato sauce w/ 1 TBS of tomato paste thinned w/ a 1/2 cup of fat free chicken broth and seasoned w/ garlic, onion, salt, pepper and italian seasonings. I'll go ahead and serve the sauce over the chicken and have a nice side salad drizzled w/ a garlic red wine vinegar. Dinner will either be another bowl of asparagus soup or the chinese dish I made yesterday for lunch.

Have a wonderful day ladies! Whatever diet or weight loss program your on, don't think of it as punishment for being overweight, think of it as a chance to be pruned and grow from being disciplined. ♥


UPDATE:

Lunch was delicious. My tummy was so full afterwards that I was in pain. Now, 3 hrs later, I'm getting hungry again. I want to hold off and eat dinner at 6pm otherwise I get too hungry before bed and I don't want to be tempted to cheat. I'm by no means "starving" but am feeling that quietly annoying hunger that is just strong enough to make me think about food every 3.7 seconds. Once I get a good week of hcg under my belt pretty much all hunger goes away, which is nice. We took the kids on a 2 mile hike this afternoon. I packed up a cooler with all sorts of yummy snacks. Goldfish crackers, granola bars, apples, carrots, pb and honey sandwiches. Mmmmm it all looked so good! I ate my lunch before we left, so I just sipped on my water and chewed my gum. Weekends are always harder for me than weekdays. I cook a lot more on the weekends, and it's hard cooking and preparing food I cannot have. You'd think this being my 4th round that I'd be used to it. Apparently I'm not. I was looking at the calander and realized I'll be on hcg during my anniversary and during Easter. booooo
It's hard for me to comprehend celebrating w/ family w/o eating lots of delicious foods. Life isn't about food, but dang it, it sure feels like it sometimes. ;)

UPDATE: I am simmering another bowl of chicken and asparagus soup. I have about 60 extra calories I can eat today so I threw in some chopped onion, celery and cabbage to help make the soup more filling. I will definitely have another strawberry and lemon sorbet tonight. ♥

Gosh Darn Loading!

So I got on the scale this morning and was bummed to see I gained 6.4 lbs during my two loading days. I didn't even eat all that much . UGH! Oh well I need to just concentrate on the future and not on the past. My cousin is getting married at the very end of July and I'd love to be able to attend his wedding and feel really good in a dress. I could get in two full rounds of hcg by then. =) I do have a headache today, which is normal when I start hcg. I took an excederine and it's almost completely gone. This morning I peeled and chopped up an apple and cooked in w/ a 1/2 tsp of coconut oil, 1/4 cup water, 2 packets of truvia, cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of ginger. I cooked the apple until the liquid had evaporated and the apples were nice and tender. For lunch I made a mock chinese dish. In one pan I sauteed bite size pieces of chicken w/ 1/2 tsp of coconut oil, amino acids, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and a generous amount of ginger. I cooked that up until the chicken has almost carmalized. Then I sauteed some cabbage, celery, and onion in the same pan and added some more amino acids. I cooked the veggies until tender and then added in the chicken. It was quite delicious. I was still a little bit hungry after lunch, but forced myself to just drink my water. So far today I've had 2 liters of water. I have another 2 to drink, dinner to eat and I think I'm going to make a strawberry and lemon sorbet for "dessert". Hope tomorrow I wake up to a 30 lb loss. LOL

UPDATE:
For dinner I made a chicken and asparagus soup. I used 1 can of fat free chicken broth, 1 portion of ground chicken, and 1 cup of bite size asparagus. I seasoned it with amino acids, garlic powder, onion powder, and tony chacheres seasoning. mmmmmmm I started to get hungry again around 8:15pm so I made up some strawberry sorbet followed by my last liter of water. I'm happy that I was easily able to drink my gallon of water w/o any problems. Although I do hate how often I find myself running to the bathroom. It's SO very annoying. My goal this round it to try and get all my water in by 8pm so when I go to bed around 10pm I'm not jumping out of bed every 30 min to use the bathroom. Other than that, today was a good day. I'm about ready to hit the sack and I do feel some hunger, but nothing too bad. 41 more Very Low Calorie Days to go. ;)

Truffles and the start of Round 4

Last night my husband's uncle took us to Fleur de Sel. I had heard amazing things about this restaurant, but was blown away by the food, service and atmosphere. Who knew such a place existed in Post Falls. We shared 3 different appetizers, all of which made our eyes roll back and groan in enjoyment. For my dinner I ordered Chicken with Truffles. It was two small pieces of chicken cooked to perfection served over a delicious cream sauce flavored w/ truffle oil and some homemade ravioli stuffed w/ mushrooms and truffles. I wish I could describe the amazing flavor.......it was so unbelievably amazing! If it wouldn't have looked rude, I would've lifted my bowl up after I ate everything and licked every last drop of sauce. Mmmmm For dessert my husband and I shared a Creme Brulee. Again, the best I've ever had. It was the perfect way to finish up loading before starting hcg. If I was ever going to die by lethal injection, THAT would be my last meal. hands down! lol

Well I need to get on the scale before I eat or drink anything so I can get a true starting weight. I'll report back later today and let you all know how it's going.♥

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Mmmmm the chocolate dipped strawberries last night were AMAZING! Today is the last day of eating before I commit to another 42 days of the very low calorie diet. I plan on eating a couple fried eggs and some peanut butter toast for breakfast along w/ some coffee and cream. Lunch will be a turkey sandwich piled high w/ cheese and avocado, kettle style potato chips, and some muddy buddies. For dinner we're going to a fancy french restaurant and I have no idea what I'll order just yet.

I went clothes shopping yesterday. Since my husband's uncle is taking us to a ritzy French place for dinner I wanted something other than jeans and t-shirts/sweat shirts to wear. I despise and loathe going into dressing rooms. I always feel like I'm 10 times bigger in those mirrors than the ones at home. Although I still can't stand my reflection, I can tell a world of difference from before I started dieting. I tried on black slacks from the Lane Bryant Outlet, Target, and Kohls. Most of them didn't fit my curves right and the ones that did needed to be hemmed. Not to mention the ones that needed hemming were like $59. I ended up finding a pair of really nice jeans and a blouse that is tight to the body where it should be and flowy where it should be. I tried it on and was like SHAZAM! I bought it and tried it on for hubby and he was speechless. He couldn't believe how slimming the outfit was. Since I normally wear baggy t-shirts and sweatshirts, this was a big improvement. I'm excited to get all dressed up to go out tonight. My sister in law leaves tomorrow. I like having her visit but am looking forward to getting my house back to normal. Have a great day ladies!!♥

Today is the day!

I start taking my hcg today, yay!!!!! Honestly I wish I could skip the loading part. I'm so ready to lose some more weight. Saturday is my 1st VLCD so Sunday will be my 1st weigh in.

My girlfriend Amanda has been able to stay within her 2 lb cushion and she's almost done w/ her 1st trimester. I told her NOT to worry about her weight now that she's pregnant. She's being really good though. She mainly eats phase 3 foods in moderate amounts and has been able to maintain. Her husband just finished 4 of his 6 weeks on hcg and has already lost 40 lbs! He's within 15 lbs of his goal weight. OH TO BE A MAN!! He also has convinced a bunch of men he works with to start the diet as well. They're all amazed that such a big guy (6'1") can eat 500 cal and not feel hungry or deprived. I love it!!

I keep hearing people say, ANYONE can lose weight if they're eating 500 calories a day and that hcg hasn't been proved to help in weight loss. They're half right, yes anyone will lose weight of 500 calories. The difference is, when you're taking hcg your body loses only abnormal fat and your appetite is supressed. Eating 500 calories a day w/o hcg will cause you to lose abnormal fat, essential fat, and muscle. Plus you will feel crazy amounts of hunger.

Last night we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory. I'd never been there before. It was delicious but my body is definitely not used to eating pasta. I made a batch of muddy buddies to have and plan on dipping strawberries in chocolate for dessert tonight. Hope you all have a wonderful day♥

2 days

Well I went out and got my hcg today. 2 more days till I start loading, yippee!! I got on the scale today and have gained about 6 lbs. phooey! I know part of that is definitely water weight. I've had a hankering for salty foods lately and haven't been drinking the amount of water that I should be. I know the weight will come off quickly and will soon be into new territory. Part of life is two steps forward and one step back. I will just keep plugging away.

On another note, I got an message from a gal on facebook who wants me to make her mother's 50th birthday cake. This is the 2nd custom cake I've been asked to make. yay!!! Word of mouth is a great way to start a little "on the side" business. I'm super excited!!

gearing up

I feel a little better today. My hubby went to Super Supplements last night and bought me some ear drops. It has olive oil, almond oil, garlic, tea tree essential oil, and a few other extracts in it. My ears still feel fairly tender, but definitely not as bad as yesterday and my nausea is very faint today.

HCG will soon be upon me. I need to go get my drops today. I'm very anxious to start up again. I really feel like my extended break put me in a good spot mentally to do this diet again. Looking back I can see I definitely burned myself out doing too many rounds too close together. This week I plan on eating the last few foods that I will miss during my 6 weeks of VLCD and 3 weeks on maintenance.

Inner ear issues?

Blah, I feel so icky. I've been battling extreame nausea the last 3 days. My ears have also been tender and I'm wondering if an ear infection is causing my equalibrium to be out of balance which in turn is causing the neasea. Either way it sucks big time. The nausea comes in waves. Sometimes it causes me to actually get sick and sometimes not. I had a teeny bite of cake at Sarah's party, but couldn't choke is down. The flavor of the strawberry cake was nice, but it made my tummy scream at me. =( booooo!

I start loading for my 4th(redo) round of hcg this Thursday. My sister in law will be visiting us from Texas on Wed, Thrus, and Friday. I figured we'd be making some extra special food since she's here and it would be a perfect time to start loading up. Although the thought of loading at this point makes me want to run to the restroom. And for those that think I could be pregnant, that's a no. Hubby went and got the "man surgery" after Sarah was born. =)

My inlaws will be flying up from Texas this June and I'd love to be down another couple of sizes by then. My mother in law has commented on my weight since the day she met me over 10 yrs ago. She once even asked me if I thought Benjamin really loved me since I gotten so heavy. Who asks a person that?! It looks like they'll be coming at the end of June so that gives me 3 months to hunker down and lose another 30 lbs or so. Each time they come to visit they get a hotel w/ a big pool so the kids can swim with them. I NEVER NEVER go swimming because I've been so ashamed of my body. Although I won't be "thin" by June, I'll definitely be at a place where I'll be proud to put on my "momma" bathing suit and join my kids in the pool.

Hang in there girlies, knock out this round with a bang. I'm cheering each of you on! Mia, you are doing soo good! I feel like a proud mother hen. You've been so diligent with your workouts and I'm thrilled at your success thus far. ♥

FINISHED!

I just put the finishing touches on my daughter's cake. I had a teeny bit of trouble w/ the fondant and used some of the decorations to cover the imperfections. Overall I'm thrilled with how it all turned out. I sooo wish I could go to school to really learn about cakes. For me it's all trial and error. I do lots and lots of research and watch youtube tutorials, but it would be nice to get some actual schooling in. Maybe someday. In the mean time I'll keep learning what I can and keep practicing on my children's birthday cakes. Here is the finished product.

blahhhhh

Today was a very long, very exhausting day. I've been babysitting for a friend of mine a few times a week. I greatly dislike babysitting, but she was desperate for someone to watch her son and I was interested in making a little extra cash. I told her a few days ago that I would watch her son through June and then I was done. (in a nice way of course) Anyway she took the news well and has started looking at different daycares in the area. It felt good to stand up and tell her what I wanted. I'm usually the person that gets too afraid to tell people what I want or what my limits are. Since a child I've let people trample all over me. I feel like I'm starting to grow up. lol

So today I babysat all morning until 3:40pm. I also worked on my daughters cake off and on. I also did a bunch of household chores and took my youngest son to school. Hebron has been complaining about his throat hurting the last couple of days and this morning he cried when he was eating breakfast saying his tongue hurt. I called his Dr. who told me to come in at 4:00pm. So the kids got off the school bus, my friend came and picked up her son, then I had to get 3 kids in the van and drive out to hayden to see this dr all in barely over 15 min. It was insanity. The dr. does strep test and low and behold Hebron STILL FREAKING HAS STREP THROAT! This time the Dr. writes a perscription for a stronger medication that he'll have to take twice a day for 2 whole weeks. Then I drive to Costco and turn in the perscription. They tell me it'll be a 25 min wait. The kids are hungry and tired and DO NOT want to be walking around Costco waiting for a perscription. After 25 min we head back to the pharmacy and wait in a huge ass line. Finally it's our turn and they tell us they're out of the medication and that they called other local pharmacies who are also out of the perscription but that it will be in tomorrow at 10am. AND AND AND they tell me it was going to cost $75 on top of the $85 I just spent seeing the Dr again. So we leave and get home well after dinner and I have to come up with something on the fly. Hubby starts to unload on me all about his craptastic day. Appartently his boss from Seattle is in town and handed Benjamin his ass on a platter. What a day. After dinner I cleaned up, got the kids ready for bed, put the kids to bed, took a shower and then dirty iced my cakes, and covered both tiers in marshmallow fondant. Tomorrow I need to make the rest of my ribbons, bows, and flowers so I can put the entire cake together Saturday morning.

I apologize for my boring second by second recount of the day, I'm just tired and mentally DRAINED! Tomorrow is another full day of babysitting, going to costco, playing with cake stuff, and cleaning my house so it's ready for a houseful of guests come Saturday. Calgon, take me away!!!

Here is a picture of my little Hello Kitty thus far. I have some details to add to her dress, her bow, and of course her face. I'm tempted to redo her head. It's not quite how I want it to be.....but if I had to keep it, I'd still be pretty happy. Gum paste is my new best friend. Sorry the photo is sideways. I'm having trouble getting it turned right side up.♥

Cake

So today is my baby girls 4th birthday. I know so many people say this, but I can't believe how fast time is going by. It's bittersweet with Sarah because she's my baby. She was my inspiration to get fit and healthy from the get go. I didn't want my daughter to think it was ok to give up on life and be heavy like her mom. I wanted to show her that hard work and diligence pays off and that she can achieve any goal. I'm proud to be 50 lbs lighter that I was on her last birthday. By her 5th birthday I will be slim and healthy and will do my best to be the role model she deserves.

Today I'll be baking her birthday cake. It's a homemade strawberry cake. I will freeze the layers (i've heard it really enhances the flavors when you do this). Friday I will build the cake and frost it w/ vanilla bean buttercream and then with marshmallow fondant. I always try and make an awesome cake as a gift for my children on their birthdays. I know my husband sees it as a huge waste of time when i could go out and buy a decorated cake for $15. I view it as a labor of love. I enjoy the work and time it takes to put their cakes together. I get so much joy seeing their little faces light up. I'm excited to put this cake all together and watch my daughter blow her candles out.

Happy birthday, my sweet child!!♥

Hello Kitty

Saturday was fun. Although the food at the melting pot didn't taste as good as I hoped it would. The gal who made the cheese fondue put WAAAY too much wine in it and it over powered the taste of the cheese. The salad was fantastic though and we both enjoyed that immensely. By the time we got the chocolate fondue we were both so full we could hardly breathe. There is a part of me that misses being able to eat as much as I used to be able to. Our mouths were happy but our tummy's were not. I felt like someone needed to take me out of there in a wheelbarrow. If I ever go back.....I think I might just go for salad and chocolate fondue. That would be more than enough.

Today I made up some white modeling chocolate. I used white chocolate because I wanted to make the traditional Hello Kitty as a cake topper to my daughters 4th bday cake. Because I had to use real white chocolate the modeling chocolate is a yellowish color........soooo not cool. So instead I'm going to color the modeling chocolate various colors for flowers and ribbons and will use gum paste to make the Hello Kitty. Oh well.....live and learn.

After a few days of taking a diet hiatus, I can definitely tell my pants are tighter. I'm going to buckle down and really eat well until I start hcg again. I hate the thought of gaining any weight back.

Today is finally here!

Yesterday I was a bad and naughty girl. My husband wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I ordered a water w/ lemon to drink and the vege plate. I had a side salad, fresh vegetables, a tiny cup of chili, and a side of mashed potatoes w/ white peppered gravy. Then I had one of their rolls w/ cinnamon butter.....OMGoodness it was delicous. Then we got a call from Amanda's husband inviting us over to have chocolate cake w/ them to celebrate her birthday. So needless to say I had a big cold glass of milk and a slice of a 4 layer triple chocolate cake from Costco. Holy freaking moly that was a rich cake! It was very yummy, but I could only eat about half of the slice. I'm just not used to all those carbs and sugar. bleh I felt sick the entire ride back home. I also feel quite puffy today. I know I had quite a bit of sodium from yesterday's dinner. It'll probably take 2-3 days to get back to normal. PLUS we're going out all day today and endulging in more not so diet friendly foods. Oh well. I'm excited and am going to enjoy every bite.

Hope you ladies all have a wonderful day!♥

cookies

Thanks Mia for the link you put in your comment on my last blog. I cleared my cache and my cookies and now I'm able to comment on blogs again, yay!!!!

I went to the grocery store yesterday and got a few things for my start of hcg. I bought a couple big packages of halibut at costco (omgoodness it's expensive!) and some chicken breasts and some various seasonings. I seem to lose the most weight when I incorporate fish into my diet. Too bad we can't eat salmon.

I also picked up some ghirardelli while chocolate bars. I'm doing to turn them into white modeling chocolate sometime next week. I plan on making a hello kitty to put on top of my daughter's bday cake and a few little decorations as well. I've been doing a lot of research on modeling chocolate and watching many "how to" videos and am feeling pretty confident that it'll turn out the way I want.

I don't think I'll have time to post anything tomorrow. I plan on picking up Amanda late morning and we'll be going out to get a latte and a snack. Then we'll be driving to Spokane (eeeek) to the River Park Mall and shopping for a few hrs until 4pm. Then we'll head to The Melting Pot and have a cheese fondue, salad, and a chocolate fondue. Then we're headed to the movies to finish off the day. I can't wait!!!!! I need to remember to bring my camera so I can take some pictures.

Hope those of you on hcg have a fabulous day. Keep drinking that water.♥

annoyed

I can't figure out why I can no longer comment on anyone's blogs.....or even my own for that matter. So sorry Bre.....hope tomorrow's weigh in makes it all worth it.♥ Jackie......how exciting to be going to Hawaii!!!! If that's not motivation, I dunno what is! lol

I'm really tired today. I'm really grumpy today. I'm really cold and want to crawl back into bed today. Instead I've been running around like a crazy person taking my 3 kids plus a kid I'm watching to the dentist for 2 hrs while my oldest got some work done. Then we had to rush home to eat before I have to go back out and take my son to kindergarten and then rush back home so the kid I'm watching can be picked up.

I can hardly wait for this Saturday...........hurry hurry hurry......

Grrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what's going on with blogger the last few days. It hasn't been allowing me to comment on anyone's blogs. Boo!! I have been reading them though.

all well

It looks like my son is finally well after being super sick with scarlet fever. In fact, everyone in our household is well. YIPPEE!!!! What an exhausting 6 weeks. I feel bad complaining about it, but as the mom I deal with 99% of the responsibility. I was totally and utterly exhausted. Lets hope we can stay well for a long time to come. =)

Grey's Anatomy is my guilty pleasure. Since we don't have tv and haven't for 4 years now, I watch most tv programs via Hulu or nexflix. I watched Grey's Anatomy here and there when we had tv but really started getting into it 2 seasons ago. I realized netlix has seasons 1-6 available to watch on instant view. So for the last several weeks I watch an episode or two in the evenings after I put the kids to bed. I finished watching all 6 episodes and now I feel like I don't know what to do with myself. lol Last night hubby and I played cards for a while and that was fun. I like spending good quality time with him. It can be hard though. He has to get up at 4am 5 days a week, so by 8pm he's ready for bed. I usually don't go to bed till 10 or 11pm. Needless to say we don't get a lot of time together w/o the kids.

So my friend Amanda who did HCG just found out she's pregnant. Which explains why she only lost 17 lbs during her 6 weeks of hcg. Her husband started hcg 2 weeks ago and has already lost 23 lbs!! It's SOO not fair how quickly men lose weight on that diet. lol I want to be a man! lol

My weight is still stable. No change. I have to admit I've been eating bread here and there (all healthy organic breads) and it doesn't seem to be hurting me any. I'm just not eating low enough carbs to be losing weight. Oh well. In less than 3 weeks i'll be losing weight so I'm not going to stress about it. I'm going to enjoy what I eat before I start up again. I'm going to continue to eat lower carb foods and stay away from sugars and starches though. I'm ready to go down some more sizes. =)

getting anxious

17 more days until I get to start loading up for round 4. It seems like an eternity. I'm soooo ready to start hcg again. It's funny how when you're on the diet it seems like all you can think about is being off of it and when I'm off of it I just want to be on it again. figures

My husband went to Costco the other day and bought me a TomTom. I am such a pathetic person. I get terrified to drive in Spokane......literally terrified. I like to know where I'm going. Exact street names, which lane I need to be in etc etc. When I'm in Spokane it overwhelms me and I panic. There are so many times I want to go to Spokane and go to various places but will never venture there alone. I always make my husband drive. Anyway, he broke down and bought me a TomTom so I can start to drive in Spokane by myself. Next Saturday I'm taking Amanda to The Melting Pot and I was in a full blown panic attact because I didn't know how to get there or get home. Yesterday hubby installed the device and let me drive there myself .......we basically did a dry run. It was pretty smoothly. There were a couple moments where the TomTom didn't tell me to get over into the correct lane as fast as I would've liked....but now that I've been there and back.....I feel confident I won't die next Saturday when I'm on my own. lol

So next Saturday I take Amanda out for her birthday, then a few days later it'll be my daughters 4th birthday....but we'll wait to celebrate until the following Saturday, so everyone who works can attend. Then a few days later my sister in law will be staying with us a few days....and I'll be using the Thursday and Friday she's here to load for round 4. It's going to be a crazy 3 weeks.
I'm a little bummed that I'll be on hcg during my 9th wedding anniversary....but in a way it's the best gift I can give myself. Last year I was 275 lbs and miserable. I felt huge, ugly, and so unworthy of my husband. This year I'm already 50 lbs lighter and hopefully by my anniversary I'll be around 60 lbs lighter than last year. I'll be doing a full 6 week round and will also be taking the appropriate 6 week break before I start round 5.

Taxes!

I woke up this morning to see both our federal and state taxes were deposited into our checking account , woohoo!! When we bought our house in May we put our refrigerator, snowblower and air conditioner on a home depot credit card. We put it on the "no interest if paid off within a year) cards. We planned on using our 2010 taxes to pay it off so we wouldn't have to pay the interest. We'll have a nice chunk of change leftover, but I think we're going to save it to put towards getting our back fence replaced. It's about 17 yrs old and is rotting and the boards are twisting and nails are popping out. It's a mess and it absolutely has to be replaced. I wish I could save that money towards a vacation or something, oh well. A new fence will be worth it too I spose. ;)

Amanda's birthday is a week from today. I'll be taking her to The Melting Pot next Saturday........we're both super excited!

My weight is still as stable as ever. I looked at the calendar and I will be loading March 17th and 18th for a 6 week round of hcg. I'm hoping with a ten week break that my body is fully rested and will start to easily shed weight once again. My ultimate goal is to be under 200 lbs by the end of this round. I'm pretty confident it'll happen.

This is the dress I mentioned in my previous post. Isn't it adorable??

scarlet fever

I took my son, Hebron, to the Dr. yesterday thinking he might have scarlet fever.  Turns out I was correct.  He'll be taking this whole week off of school since he's contageous.  I am hoping and praying that this is the last of the sickness!  I am soooo tired of dealing w/ sick kids, a sick hubby, and being sick myself.  I'M DONE! 

Bad news on the sugar free lemon curd.  The erythritol ended up sugaring or crystalizing.  So it ended up being grainy w/ little bits of crunchy "sugar" throughout the curd.  Boooo!  I did some research and saw that it can have the tendency to do that sometimes in certain recipes.  Oh well.  The cheesecake never did that.  It's still super smooth and creamy.  I ended up taking a couple tablespoons of Smuckers brand of All Fruit (jam made w/ only fruit and fruit juice) and melted that in the microwave w/ a tiny bit of water and made a strawberry sauce.  I drizzled that over a slice of cheesecake last night and it was devine!  It was so light and refreshing and reminded me of summer.  mmmmm

I pulled a pair of jeans out of the dryer and put them on yesterday and they fit perfectly......I can't get over how awesome that is.  For soo many years whenever I put freshly washed and dryed jeans on they were always tight and uncomfortable.  It made me smile yesterday to not have to deal with that.  =)  I feel like the weight I've lost is a true weight loss since it's been stable for 3 months.  4 1/2 more weeks and then I'll be starting hcg again....I can't wait! 

My sister has a picture of herself in a cute black and white dress w/ a bright pink sash on facebook.  It's an adorable dress.  I called my sister and she said I could borrow it anytime.  It's a size 12.  I'm currently a size 16.  I'm confident that by summer that dress will be finding itself on my body.  YAY!!!! 

Mmmmm lemon cheesecake!!

So the cheesecake turned out AMAZING!  I did make it with a regular graham crust just because most of my family likes it that way and they don't need to watch out for carbs.  I just scraped it off my slice.  Anyway I used a regular cheesecake recipe and substituted the sugar for splenda and erythritol.  I put a pan of water on the lowest oven rack to help keep the oven nice and moist while the cheesecake baked.  Once it was out of the oven I ran a toothpick around the edge of the cheesecake so as it cooled and started to shrink it wouldn't tear and create big cracks on the top.  After the cheesecake cooled on the counter for 30 minutes I put it in the fridge.  We pulled it out after almost 5 hrs of cooling and cut a small sliver.  The center was still ever so slightly "soft", so it probably should've chilled for a good 6 hrs before being served.  The texture was wonderful.  Silky smooth.  The flavor was nice.  It was a VERY light lemony flavor.  I personally like a bit more tartness but with the lemon curd spooned over the top, it was out of this world.  My husband couldn't tell it was sugar free, and to be honest, neither could I.  I really think using half splenda and half erythritol made all the difference.  Here is the original recipe I used.  I omitted the sugar and instead used 1/2 cup splenda and 2/3 cup granulated erythritol.  Everything else I followed exactly.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/mamae28099s-lemon-wedge-cheesecake/

Here is the recipe I used for the sugar free lemon curd.  Again I used 1/2 cup splenda and 2/3 cup granulated erythritol instead of the sweetener listed. 

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/locarblemoncurd.htm

This cheesecake would also be great drizzled w/ a raspberry puree or fresh sliced strawberries. 

For those that are curious about erythritol, read this http://altmedicine.about.com/od/herbsupplementguide/a/erythritol.htm



Enjoy!!!

drowning in laundry detergent

Ha, so I'm REALLY drowning in liquid laundry detergent!  I saw on slickdeals.net last week that RiteAid was having a sale on Xtra liquid detergent.  It's on sale for $1.97 a bottle.  There are also coupons out there for $1 off any bottle of Xtra.  So I went on ebay and bought 20 coupons for $2 and went to RiteAid today and got 20 bottles of laundry detergent.  Although the bottles say they do 44 loads, I get more like 35 loads out of them.  So for $28 (cost of coupons and 20 bottles of detergent plus tax) I'll have enough detergent to do 700 loads of laundry at roughly .04 per load.  On average we do about 4 loads per week.  I won't have to buy laundry detergent for at least 3 1/2 years.  lol   LOVE IT!

I finally got around to making that sugar free lemon cheesecake today.  I also made a sugar free lemon curd to put over the cheesecake.  I tasted the lemon curd after it was done and I honestly could not tell it wasn't made with real sugar.  I used a mixture of splenda and erythritol.  The cheesecake is still cooling, so I haven't had a chance to taste it yet.   I hate eating cheesecake when it hasn't had sufficient time to cool properly.  The texture is all wrong if you eat it too soon.  I think I'll try a slice tomorrow after lunch. 

Well it's time to put my kiddos to bed.  Hope you all had a lovely weekend. ♥

YAWN!

Sigh.....I'm sick again.  My daughter is going through a relapse of her cold and apparently shared it w/ me.   Waaaaaahhh!!!!  My nose is so stuffy and I feel like just curling up in a ball and going to bed.  I had to go run some errands today and ended up making a stop at Target.  I haven't been in Target since we moved into our house 7 months ago.  I love Target.  I came to the realization today that I hate Target when I have 3 kids in tow.  It wasn't so  bad when they were little enough to push in the cart, but now they're too big.  I did score some nice finds in the Valentine's day clearance area.  I grabbed a few bags of Vday M&M's.  They're the perfect colors for my daughters birthday cake.  She wants a Hello Kitty themed cake.  I'm excited to make it.  I think I'm going to do a two tiered cake w/ a gum paste Hello Kitty on the top. 

I got on the scale today and I'm exactly the same wieght I was last week.  LOL  At least I'm consistant!!  At this point in the game I think I'll be happy to be able to stabilize until I start my next HCG round. 

I really wanted to make that lemon cheesecake today......but I feel so tired I'm not sure I'll get to it.  Maybe tomorrow.  ;)

blah

The diet is going pretty good, can't complain.  I've been enjoying my low carb foods and have found a few recipes that I like enough to keep using over and over.  I found a low carb lemon cheesecake recipe I want to try and make this weekend.  I have a bunch of lemons that need to be used up, this seems like a perfect excuse to make a cheesecake. =)

My daughter has had an ear infection that started about a week ago.  I've been doing everything I could "naturally" to get it to heal and go away on it's own.  She kept holding her ear and crying off and on today I broke down and took her to the Dr.  Her poor eardrum was on the cusp of bursting, so it's good I got her in when I did.  She's on some antibiotics and she should be feeling better within the next day or two.  I'm so glad we set aside "medical $" every paycheck like we do.  Her Dr. apt was almost $200 despite paying in full w/ cash.  Oh well, we had the money for reasons just like this.  It felt good not to put it on a credit card. 

I reread my last blog and I feel like I came across as ungrateful and whiney.  Thanks for the comments, Mia and Bre. ♥ 

Amanda is doing well so far on phase 3 of HCG.  She's stabilizing fine, yay!  Her husband started a 3 week round last Sunday.  I just love how people learn about hcg through word of mouth or by seeing people they know shrink before their eyes.  I can't wait to start my 4th round!!!  About 5 1/2 weeks to go.