Fat To Skinny

Recipe Exchange => Meal Plans => Topic started by: Itsoversugar on January 05, 2013, 08:40:25 AM

Title: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 05, 2013, 08:40:25 AM
I've tried FTS before and did not stay on it for long. Here I am, many, many months later, basically the same weight I was before. I'm ready to do something about it now. Every year I make a resolution to lose weight (http://www.fattoskinny.com/). I'm not going to do that this time. What I really want to do is gain health. And if weight loss (http://www.fattoskinny.com/) results in getting healthier, then I'll be pleased.

I'm going out to do a grocery hall in just a bit, so I have some healthy foods to eat. Right now, I'm eating an egg, fried in butter and topped with a little cheese to hold me over until my errands are done.  I'll post my menu for the day when I get back.  I'm so excited to be back!!
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Doug Varrieur on January 05, 2013, 08:51:07 AM
Welcome back :) you know what to do  ;)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: umpa on January 05, 2013, 09:02:06 AM
Nice to see you again  ;)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: shawn116 on January 05, 2013, 11:11:02 AM
Welcome back  ;D
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 05, 2013, 11:54:57 AM
Thanks everyone! 

Back from the grocery haul and my pockets are much, much lighter!  Food is so expensive nowadays!! I spent $140.  Aside from a pack of toilet paper, this is what I got:

1 bag frozen chicken breast
1 bag frozen chicken tenderloin
1 bag frozen chicken wings
1 family size pack of chicken thighs
6 lbs ground beef
2 rolls of breakfast sausage
2 pks bacon
summer sausage
4 cans green beans
3 limes
2 bunches green onion
celery
snow peas
bok choy
2 doz eggs
sea salt
heavy cream
2 English cucumbers
shredded cheeses (1 triple cheddar mix and 3 sharp cheddar)
block cheese (1 medium cheddar and 1 pepper jack)

And for the family:
sugar and kool aid

How ridiculous is that!?  Maybe it's time to start buying in bulk.  Gotta look around and see what I come up with.



Title: Re: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Stephanie on January 05, 2013, 02:09:31 PM
Welcome back, let's make 2013 the year of getting healthy and fit :)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: mouseissue on January 05, 2013, 03:42:52 PM
Welcome back home, Itsoversugar!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)

I agree!... Food is VERY expensive and getting to be more so all the time! :(

Buying in bulk at Costco has helped our food budget a lot.
Many of their offerings are cheaper than the local grocery stores.
But you still must pay attention to prices as not all items are cheaper.

Perhaps joining Costco, Sam's Club, or other local wholesale retailer will help you too.
With a family to shop for, it should! :)

Making good health your primary goal is not only smart, but will help you stay the course for life.
Plus, you have us here to help you along the way.

Tony
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 05, 2013, 08:10:51 PM
Thanks for the welcome Tony.  It's so good to be back.  :)

For quite awhile, I had been buying meat bundles from a couple of small local grocers.  One of them has raised prices so much, it's no longer affordable, and the other just lost me as a customer (extremely hairy chicken and odd smelling beef  :o).  I wish we had a Costco near, I've heard great things.  We do have a Sam's club as well as a GFS. I may check GFS first as it is closer to me than Sam's. 

   
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: umpa on January 06, 2013, 10:37:19 AM
Don't forget veggies and fruit ;)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 06, 2013, 10:59:11 AM
Of course!  I love veggies and fruit. The more the better! 
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 06, 2013, 11:07:36 AM
Recap of Day 1:

Breakfast - egg fried in butter, topped with cheddar

Lunch - sausage with 2 hard boiled eggs

Snack - 1/4 cup green yogurt with 1 crushed blackberry and zero sweetener

Dinner - chicken bok choy (chunked chicken, onion, orange peppers, snow peas and bok choy in a sauce made of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and a little zero sweetener)

Snack - small square of vanilla butter cake (low carb recipe)

Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 06, 2013, 11:16:55 AM
I just recently moved and cannot find my scale, so I had to buy a new one. This one is so much better than the standard digital I had. It's called the EatSmart Precision Tracker. It can store 8 profiles, recognizes each user that steps on, and keeps track of starting weight, current weight, how many pounds you've lost from your last weigh-in, plus total pounds lost.  I'm loving this thing already! 

Starting weight (yesterday) was 263.2
This morning: 260.4 for a total loss of 2.8 lbs!!

I'm not suppose to weigh everyday, i know, but I couldn't help myself this morning. I won't weigh again until next Saturday.

I'm doing a little cooking right now. I just made cheddar garlic biscuits and have breakfast sausage balls cooking in the oven.  Can't wait to have breakfast, it smells so yummy.
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: mouseissue on January 06, 2013, 03:15:12 PM
You're doing great, Itsoversugar!!! ;D ;D ;D

And it's a great idea NOT to check weight too often.

Our bodies net (scale) weight moves up and down constantly... Even while we lose FAT.
It's easy to get discouraged by checking the scale too often.

Tony
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Kim P on January 06, 2013, 06:47:09 PM
Welcome Back!!  I for one would love to have your recipe for the Vanilla Butter Cake!!   :)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: shawn116 on January 06, 2013, 08:36:20 PM
Quote
I for one would love to have your recipe for the Vanilla Butter Cake!!


Me too  ;D  Congratulations on the 2.8 lbs lost!!   ;D
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 07, 2013, 07:30:49 AM
You're absolutely right, Tony!  I was so excited to  have a new scale and back on plan that I couldn't help myself!  How frequently do you suggest I weigh - weekly, biweekly, monthly?

Kim - recipe coming up.

TooSweet - thanks so much!  It's always nice to have confirmation that a plan works.
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: umpa on January 07, 2013, 09:04:55 AM
You are doing great! ;)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Doug Varrieur on January 07, 2013, 09:05:27 AM
Hello Itsoversugar, couple of things.... Remember in the book how I keep your meals rolling over from dinners into lunches, into snack trays etc...? By following this method you really cut way back on your food bill. When a beef roast is on sale buy it. Roast it off for your family then set yourself up some snack trays, sliced meat for lunches and even frozen portions or TV dinners. a couple days later it may be a Pork roast that you do the same with, or whole chickens on sale. Turkey's are a very inexpensive source of great protein. I buy them and quarter them up I'll roast 1 quarter at a time. This cuts way down on cooking time and limits leftovers to just enough. I see London Broil steaks on sale all the time and they are my fav for the grill and for jerky so when on sale I'll grab 2-4 steaks. Keep your fruits limited to Strawberries, Blackberries and Avocado....  8)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: mouseissue on January 07, 2013, 01:58:06 PM
... How frequently do you suggest I weigh - weekly, biweekly, monthly? ...

Hi Itsoversugar! ;)

That depends on how the scale readings effect you.
If you don't mind watching them bounce around, weigh as often as you like.

But, if the scale effects your mood or attitude, I would suggest no more than biweekly.
And if you're really sensitive to them, monthly.

And don't forget to take your measurements on a regular basis!
We often shrink while the scale readings are dead still.

Losing weight is more than pounds lost... It's, more importantly, getting and staying healthier! ;D ;D ;D
If you can remember that FTS is a means for you to live a longer, healthier, and happier life,
the scale will take a minor role to that.

Tony
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: MarkMoxom on January 07, 2013, 11:22:48 PM
Thanks everyone! 

Back from the grocery haul and my pockets are much, much lighter!  Food is so expensive nowadays!! I spent $140.  Aside from a pack of toilet paper, this is what I got:

1 bag frozen chicken breast
1 bag frozen chicken tenderloin
1 bag frozen chicken wings
1 family size pack of chicken thighs
6 lbs ground beef
2 rolls of breakfast sausage
2 pks bacon
summer sausage
4 cans green beans
3 limes
2 bunches green onion
celery
snow peas
bok choy
2 doz eggs
sea salt
heavy cream
2 English cucumbers
shredded cheeses (1 triple cheddar mix and 3 sharp cheddar)
block cheese (1 medium cheddar and 1 pepper jack)

And for the family:
sugar and kool aid

How ridiculous is that!?  Maybe it's time to start buying in bulk.  Gotta look around and see what I come up with.






Hi Itsoversugar!

That's a really great shopping list you got there, practically not a carbohydrate in sight, well, apart from the Kool Aid and the sugar for the family.

I used to have a problem getting good meat and so forth until I tried some of the mail-order meat producers especially the ones that produce the grass-fed beef and other naturally raised animals for the table. I found that their quality of meat is far superior to that I could find locally and because I could buy it in bulk, it turned out to be cheaper as well and oftentimes carriage was free or included in the price.

Hope that helps,

Mark
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 08, 2013, 06:40:24 AM
Hello Itsoversugar, couple of things.... Remember in the book how I keep your meals rolling over from dinners into lunches, into snack trays etc...? By following this method you really cut way back on your food bill. When a beef roast is on sale buy it. Roast it off for your family then set yourself up some snack trays, sliced meat for lunches and even frozen portions or TV dinners. a couple days later it may be a Pork roast that you do the same with, or whole chickens on sale. Turkey's are a very inexpensive source of great protein. I buy them and quarter them up I'll roast 1 quarter at a time. This cuts way down on cooking time and limits leftovers to just enough. I see London Broil steaks on sale all the time and they are my fav for the grill and for jerky so when on sale I'll grab 2-4 steaks. Keep your fruits limited to Strawberries, Blackberries and Avocado....  8)
I do remember from the book, problem is, I'm the only woman in a family of males (3) and they all are heavy meat eaters. If I don't put some aside for lunch the next day, there won't be any leftover! I've tried serving less to save more for later, but they all complain they are hungry if there's not lots of protein. Sometimes my oldest son will ONLY eat meat for a meal.  I know my grocery bill would be less expensive if it weren't for that.

I do try to buy things that are on sale, but I also tend to simply buy what we're all in the mood for, whether it's on sale or not. Well, since I'm the one who does all the grocery shopping, maybe I'll have to change what I buy and how much is served and let them adapt to it. 

I'm with you on the fruit. That is exactly what I buy, plus maybe blueberries every now and then.
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 08, 2013, 06:43:57 AM
That depends on how the scale readings effect you.
If you don't mind watching them bounce around, weigh as often as you like.

But, if the scale effects your mood or attitude, I would suggest no more than biweekly.
And if you're really sensitive to them, monthly.
Tony
The scale does drive me crazy if it doesn't read what I think it should. I'm thinking biweekly might be a good choice. Thanks Tony!
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 08, 2013, 06:56:10 AM
I used to have a problem getting good meat and so forth until I tried some of the mail-order meat producers especially the ones that produce the grass-fed beef and other naturally raised animals for the table. I found that their quality of meat is far superior to that I could find locally and because I could buy it in bulk, it turned out to be cheaper as well and oftentimes carriage was free or included in the price.
It's been quite awhile since I've checked out prices online. They've always been more expensive than I could get locally. Where do you order from?
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 08, 2013, 07:00:41 AM
Yesterday's menu:

Breakfast - breakfast sausage balls with 1 hard boiled egg, coffee with zero and heavy cream

Lunch - summer sausage with cheese and a cucumber salad (made with english cukes, tomato, green onion, olive oil, lemon juice and basil)

Snack - the cream cheese/jello fluff dessert from the desserts and sweets forum. I made it with sugar free peach jello. It was delicious!

Dinner - cajun seasoned baked chicken thigh with broccoli and cheese

Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: umpa on January 08, 2013, 08:28:18 AM
Welcome MarkMoxom! I am Umpa Dougs wife if I can help you please ask. :) I have a column on the homepage where I can convert your favorite foods to fat to skinny friendly.Enjoy the forum :)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: shawn116 on January 08, 2013, 08:45:51 AM
Welcome to the forum MarkMoxom  :)   I'm curious where you order your meat as well
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: mouseissue on January 08, 2013, 04:33:36 PM
Welcome to the FTS family, Mark!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)

We are blessed to live around a LOT of ranchers.

We buy our beef by the side and save a good deal of money compared to stores prices.
And we get the prime cuts too!... Those are the ones usually reserved for restaurants only. ;D

Tony
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Itsoversugar on January 09, 2013, 06:42:25 PM
You're lucky to have such a good source, Tony!

Here is my menu today:

Breakfast - 2 strips of bacon, 2 hard boiled eggs

Lunch - Salad with romaine, cucumber, green onion, tomato, snow peas, 1 egg and a light sprinkle of sharp cheddar. Dressing was olive oil and fresh lemon juice mixed with chili, onion and garlic powders, crushed red pepper, cilantro, cumin, and oregano.

Dinner - garlic parmesan wings with celery dipped in Cracked Pepper Salad Dressing
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: umpa on January 10, 2013, 09:32:54 AM
Good Job :)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: mouseissue on January 10, 2013, 04:28:50 PM
Doing great, Itsoversugar! :) :) :) :) :)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: MarkMoxom on January 11, 2013, 06:32:19 AM
Hi everyone!

Thanks to Umpa, TooSweet and mouseissue for the nice welcome.

I'm now fortunate enough to spend a lot of my time in France so a lot of what we eat comes from the farms, literally, just next door all around us. Our chicken and pintade comes from Bernoir who is just across the lane. Our fresh eggs come from Petit Poulet who lived just down the end of the lane. In fact, virtually, everything we eat, vegetables, cheese, meat, you name it, is locally produced because we decided some time ago to make the effort to eat as cleanly as possible, by clean, I mean, free from preservatives and things like that, artificial flavors, colorings, and all those sort of things our body neither needs nor wants. There are two really good things about living in the country. One, you can see exactly where your food comes from and two, because your buying form the actual producers, you're getting more or less, market prices. This can be typically to a third, or four, even half the price to what you would see the same type or produce in the Bio section of your supermarket or delicatessen in many cases.

So in answer to Itsoversugar, it's been a while too since I actually ordered naturally raised products by mail order. Some months in fact, I’m now thinking about it, it's even longer than that. Many of my circles who continue to live the urban lifestyle and they keep me upraised about what's going on in various parts of the world. One supplier, I'd like to draw your attention to, and I have no connection to them, by the way, I just think they are a brilliant, brilliant operation, is Polyface Farms. They are based in Virginia, but I think they serve Virginia and Maryland but one of the great things about Polyface Farms and many others who follow a very similar pattern is that take on apprentices. Once the apprentice is qualified, they then go off and start farms of their own so you've got them in Ohio, Iowa, Oregon, Pasadena, quite a few places around that part of the States. The thing is they're not alone. It really is a simple matter of going onto Google and  putting in the search term, firstly, "farmer's market" and the  your local area or "grass fed beef" then your local area, county, state or whatever and you'll find a whole hosts of different producers producing exactly the type of food that we as low carbers want to eat. If you got the opportunity to go to one that is near to you, you'll often find that the price that you pay on the farm is a lot less than your paying mail order. The thing to do then is to get together with other people who would like to eat the way you do and buy, say, half a cow, or half a sheep, or that sort of quantity and divide it up. Another good thing about doing in that way is that, if you buy half an animal, you get virtually everything that comes with that half of the animal. They are also buying it a lot earlier in the food supply chain so you can guarantee its freshness.  And as just as mouseissue had said, you get the cuts that are often sold off to restaurants or specialist delicatessen. Where we are, they have a very, I'll say, a curious system, but it's not curious in many ways. It's quite sensible. Quite a number of these small farmers all over Europe, in fact, will at certain times of the year, allow you either on your own or as a group to buy,  say, a calf and you pay for it  there on and it becomes your calf. You are the registered owner of cow number, whatever its ear ticket says but you don't take it home with you. It stays on the farm and the farmer will continue to raise it for you. This is normally done through the grass feed season as well so you can be sure that most of its feed is on good, natural pasture. Once it has reached its table weight the farmer will also organize the preparation for table giving you excellent quality meat at a very reasonable price.

The main thing I'd like people to take away from this is that we don't have to accept just what the shops have to offer, that with a little bit of investigation,  a little bit of tenacity, and not being shy to ask around, we can find some of the best food for our table and our families that is possible to find.

Hope that helps,

Mark
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: Doug Varrieur on January 11, 2013, 08:14:39 AM
Hi Mark, welcome to our family :) Great info...very informative. Here's a link with more info about your suggestion- http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/cow_sharing (http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/cow_sharing)

It's over sugar...your menu's look great!
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: shawn116 on January 11, 2013, 08:44:20 AM
Great info!  Thanks for sharing  :)
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: mouseissue on January 11, 2013, 12:27:07 PM
One note for those considering buying local beef...

Know where the meat was raised.

The quality of the pasture grass will make all the difference in the quality of the meat.
I've found that ranches located in river valleys, especially near river mouths, generally provide better grass (and beef) than others. 8)

You are what you eat holds true for cows, too! ;)

Tony
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: umpa on January 14, 2013, 08:58:21 AM
 :) Interesting Tony
Title: Re: I'm Starting Again
Post by: MarkMoxom on January 16, 2013, 02:46:06 AM
Hi Mark, welcome to our family :) Great info...very informative. Here's a link with more info about your suggestion- http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/cow_sharing (http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/cow_sharing)

It's over sugar...your menu's look great!

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the link to culinate.com. It's very similar to what they do here in Europe. In fact the only place that you can’t do that very easily is in the UK but I understand people are now encouraging the practice or be it a smaller scale.

Thanks again for the link.

Mark