Here’s another attempt at getting a handle on what I’m eating.
I guess I’m too stupid to know when to quit.
It certainly seems carbs are like a poison for me, so I’ve got to eliminate them with extreme prejudice. I also have to start measuring stuff as much as possible.
OK – first up was one 32oz coffee with 4 tablespoons of cream at about 5am. That’s 400 or so calories and 24 grams of fat – the low fat folks cringe in horror!
Around 11am I had two hard-boiled eggs at about 70 calories per.
I had a few forkfulls of the pork and tomatoes at 1pm. It wasn’t that I was all that hungry as much as my stomach began to hurt. I *do* drink too much coffee on an empty stomach. I thought this morning I might try to lessen the intake a bit.
I only had that single morning cup – amazing.
Early afternoon I finished up the Pork & Tomatoes, and that was it until evening. I stopped on the way home, picked up some chicken breasts and whipped up some fried chicken parm:
- 7 chicken breasts
- olive oil
- butter
- mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 can pizza sauce (3 net carbs per 1/4 cup serving – lowest carb count I can find)
- parm cheese
- oregano
- paprika
- cayenne pepper
- 1/2 bag frozen spinach
I fried the seasoned breasts in olive oil and butter for 10 minutes on high, then added the remaining ingredients on the top of each breast, let that cook on high for 10 minutes, then turned it to a simmer for another 10.
The taste was good, but for reasons that escape me, the chicken turns out rubbery when I cook it this way. I thought about baking it before I took the stove top route, but I decided against it as too hard – I don’t know why I thought that, but I went with it nonetheless.
It wasn’t bad, though I did screw up when I thought the cayenne pepper was the paprika and put way too much for most mortals to handle.
Oh well, I guess I’ll have to eat the whole thing myself – I’ll freeze some, and eat the rest over the next few days.
The night finished off with the last of the cream cheese pumpkin filling with the cranberry sauce – and a few bites of a mini watermelon.
No bread, no Atkins bars, no cookies, crackers, pasta, cake, or milk.
The day counts in my estimation as an ‘Atkins Phase 3 or 4’ day, certainly not an induction day. I think that’s part of my problem – I’ve forgotten what ‘Atkins Induction’ is really like – and am living in ‘maintenance mode’, and not losing weight – and wondering why.
Duh.
Someone also pointed out that Splenda has carbs. Yep – but I said to myself that such a small amount – about 0.7 (I contacted the company and asked) – doesn’t matter.
And it doesn’t – on Atkins maintenance of course. It matters a lot when you need to be in induction.
And I need to be in induction to lose any weight.
As to the scale, it reported 210.0 – it’s going in the right direction, but that damn number is still too high.
I had set a goal for 200 by Jan 1 – HA! – from where I am, and how I’ve done this year it seems like a chance in Hell.
But what else do I have?
Low Carb Confidential 
So instead of packets of splenda, why not order some liquid stuff and use it? No dextrose filler, no carbs, no calories whatsoever. I use it to sweeten my pumpkin bakes that I eat for dessert every night (plus 1/2 c. canned Libby’s pure pumpkin is 4 net grams of veggie carbs, so I eat it daily!).
Sometimes when I’m out I order plain carbonated water, stir in a packet of TrueLemon and add two drops of Sweetzfree for a large glass of lemon soda for only 0.5 g carb (from the TrueLemon). Yes, I carry TrueLemon and Sweetzfree around in my purse. It keeps me sane.
Also, look for Contadina Extra Thick and Zesty canned tomato sauce; it has only 2 net carbs per serving, and I find with things like portobello pizzas, I don’t even use a whole serving.
I’m like you, I think– stuck in maintenance. I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around having to eat less than 1800 calories per day while counting carbs AND working out 45 minutes to an hour a day, 5-6 days a week.
Looks like you ate pretty clean yesterday. I, on the other hand, just went and got two Atkins bars which I don’t normally eat, but it was that or blow it with some pecan pie and petit fours at our work holiday party. I stuck to turkey, salad and green beans but in order to talk myself out of cheating I had to eat the Atkins bars. I’ll pay for it, but not as much as I would have if I’d have eaten sugar. Here’s to focusing on the long-term bigger picture!
I was thinking of the Sweetzfree – I’ve always hated ordering food through the mail. I think I might need to reconsider that position.
I’ve brought horseradish sauce to restaurants to use as a substitute for cocktail sauce, so I know where you’re coming from with the food in the purse trick.
Interesting that you have dropped those processed low carb foods and your weight is beginning to drop! There is something in it I tell you. Then again their could be a number of reasons.
Hi Dr Dan,
I agree with you – read today’s post.
Oh, by the way, I only ate one of those Atkins bars I bought yesterday. It actually kept me full all afternoon. Of course I ate like a mad woman at dinner, but that was a conscious choice that needn’t have been and wasn’t caused by the Atkins bar. I’m going to experiment more with them.
LCC, when I was doing calorie restriction, I used to carry my own salad dressing and fat-free cheese to lunch in my pocket. My husband calls it “pocket cheese”; kinda gross-sounding, huh? Now we have expanded to pocket lemon, pocket splenda, and pocket mini-scale.
Whatever my problem is, it’s not lack of knowledge, clarity and focused determination! 😉