Julia, major congrats on losing 2.5 lbs. your first week! I have delicious omelets probably five days a week and found a way to enjoy them without all the calories. On the suggestion of my doctor, I switched from regular shell eggs to liquid egg product (aka egg substitute) like Egg Beaters, but I use the less expensive store brands. My doc uses liquid egg product/egg substitute herself. It's made from real egg whites with stuff added that makes it taste like whole eggs. For scrambled eggs and omelets, my family can't tell the difference in taste. For comparison, FitDay says two large eggs have 143 calories, 10g fat. For the equivalent of two eggs my egg substitute has 67 calories and zero fat. Instead of adding milk, I add a bit of water, seasonings of choice, and stuff them with low carb veggies like spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes which are also low in calories. I'm a veggie lover--I've even added things like broccoli and green beans. If using cheese, I use Laughing Cow brand light cream cheese or one reduced fat cheese slice per omelet. Salad dressings--I'll look later to see if I have any low fat recipes. I buy bottled Riverton Valley ranch dressing from the dollar store and allow myself only the two tablespoon serving which is 90 calories, 10g fat and 1.5g sat fat. I'll look later today and see if I have any low fat dressing recipes and will share if I do.

Libby, I hope you get your water heater fixed. It's such a pain heating water on the stove for the family, isn't it? Wow, I'm not even sure I can lose another 5 lbs. to my mini-goal by March 28 in the next 19 days. (I'll set a mini goal to Easter after my March 28 doctor appointment.) I can't imagine losing 20 lbs. in 21 days-three weeks. Losing it so fast, how do you keep from gaining back a lot of the 20 lbs. when you resume 1200 calories or more per day after the Jump Start diet? Does Bob tell you how to add them back gradually?

Julia, I haven't tried any homemade low fat ranch dressing recipes. I just did a search on the Internet and found these. There may be a bunch more on the Internet--but I haven't eaten breakfast yet and am headed to make myself a yummy low fat omelet. :)

Links for the recipes:

Low-fat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing | Skinnytaste

Low-Fat Ranch Dressing Recipe | Taste of Home

Low Fat Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Low Fat Ranch Dressing Recipe - Food.com - 323076

I hope you find one you like.

I'm still here. Just been super busy around the house and helping a neighbor. The scale is down. I'll update my goals later.

Libby, I'll join you in making a 10 lb loss by Easter my goal too. I need a kick in the pants and a mini goal to work toward. Fantastic job on the 3 lb loss!

Julia, I get Ken's Lite Creamy Caesar, which is loaded with flavor and is 90 cal per serving. Don't know if you can get that where you're at though. you may have to do as Mern suggested and make your own. I made my own recipe, modified from another recipe and it was pretty good. A lot of ranch recipes call for Greek yogurt and i personally can't stand the stuff, so I substitute it with some light sour cream and regular plain yogurt. Hope you find one you like!


April, you are doing amazing this week! Only one red mark the whole week!

Debbie, despite your two days with wine, you have accomplished all of your goals this week, and I find that remarkable! Great job!

Mern, so glad you are enjoying the bread! I had another Flatout pizza last night and I made it lower calorie than the first one by using only 1.5 Tbsp of butter for the onions. I roasted the mushrooms and garlic in a foil packet and then finished them in the pan with the onions to brown them a little more. Then instead of pesto I used Italian season and basil. Remember, if you toast your whole wheat with flax like a cracker like I do then you can make two little mini pizzas out of them. Or just pile them with meats or veggies of all kinds. mmm-mmmm good!

I did not stay within my calorie goal yesterday. I had a smidge of frosting, 1 small piece of leftover cake and some ice cream. Those three things derailed me because the rest of the day was looking pretty good. I have stopped for the most part buying any type of junk food, because if it's in the house I have no willpower to not eat it. Fortunately my birthday is a few days after the Easter goal I'm on with Libby so I won't have to deal with that again for a while. Maybe I'll break with tradition for my birthday and have something other than cake and ice cream. hmmmmm. That's an idea! I have a little over a month to plan something new.

Yesterday, though, I did manage to have a whole tomato, almost a whole onion and 4 oz of mushrooms on my pizza. So the veggies were a little better. Proteins were almost to my minimum, but not quite there.

It's been forever since I've been to the gym. Today my exercise will be my grocery shopping marathon. I shop at anywhere between 2-4 stores a week for my week's groceries. It usually takes me about an hour and a half of walking. I hate grocery day!

Hope you're enjoying your weekends everyone!

Mern. Bob has another book after the Jump Start Diet. I am going to see if I can get it from the library. In the third week you can't eat fruit. In the forth week you add 500 calorie into the diet and see if you are still losing. If not you have to cut back again. I will let you know how things are going day by day. It's day three and I am feeling good.

April, yeah post a pic up!

Diet stuff:
1) Drink a lot of water. (This has always been a strong point, drinking 100+ oz, was never really a problem. I'm down to one or two 16.9 oz bottles a day:eek:) yes (didn't log it all, probably 6 bottles)
2) Log my food. (I don't remember when the last time was)I logged most of it.
3) Weigh in and log my weight (It's been too long for that too) yes, it was about what I expected
4) Try to make better food choices (pffft, you don't even want to know) Better than before but not great

Get my head right/ relieve stress stuff:
5) Go for a walk (even if it's just a mile or two) not yet
6) Go for a bike ride (motor... not pedal) not yet
7) Spend a little extra time outside yes a lot of time helping my neighbor fix a sink hole in his driveway
8) Break out the camera and take at least one good picture not yet
9) Send some brass down range (if time allows) not yet, probably wan't have time for this
10) Pray for good things to come and think about crap that makes me happy. yes

Mike, sounds like a great, productive and kind day. Kudos on the scale being down.

Jedi, OMG, that pizza sounds soooooo yummy, especially with roasting the mushrooms and garlic in foil and then finishing it with the onions. Layering of flavors is what makes our dishes so yummy. I love the idea of the mini pizzas on half a toasted whole wheat with flax Foldit. I'm sure I'll enjoy that often. I was delighted to find at Kroger (regional chain grocery store near me) they had two kinds of the lower carb Flatout--Light original and Light Italian Herb. So both the grocery stores I normally shop carry the Flatout flatbread. :) Today is a new day, so you can put the cake and ice cream behind you and be proud of all the veggies you ate and almost making your protein goal. So what day exactly is your birthday? Yeah--maybe you'll think of something really yummy for your birthday just as satisfying as the cake. I'm not crazy about grocery shopping, either. To get the most for our money we shop three-four stores per week. DH buys as much as he can of our grocery needs from Aldi, then he has things he buys for himself from Meijer. After I see what he has bought, I do Walmart and then Kroger to get whatever he didn't.

My dinner tonight: we're having leftovers for dinner tonight. I made low carb lasagna yesterday, so DH is having that and I'm going to have leftover black soybeans (1 net carb per half cup serving) with very lean pork shoulder, and smear half a warm Light Original Flatout Flatbread with "garlic butter." I'll use garlic powder and a teaspoon of a more healthful butter substitute. What I have now is called Countryside Creamery, but I also sometimes use Smart Balance. I guess I'll have a side of sweet and sour cucumbers.

Julia, my Countryside Creamery butter substitute is from Aldi grocery warehouse and taste a lot like Smart Balance brand. My one teaspoon of it will add just an additional 23 calories, zero cholesterol, zero trans fat, 2.7g total fat and .67g saturated fat to my meal.

Libby, that's great that Bob has another book to help you in your weight loss journey and in getting back to more calories per day after the three weeks of Jump Start. I hope you can get it from the library. I've saved a lot of money by borrowing books or by finding them really cheap as used books at half.com or amazon.com.

Mike, VERY nice restart. Congratulations! Driveway sink hole--yikes--that's scary!

Quick check in. I finally was able to take some pics. We have the flowery bush thingy in our backyard that is attacking our fence. I couldn't get any closeups because it has about 357,875 bees in it. I took a few pics of some bees but they were't cooperating. They never would face me and smile and they had this one monster bee that was on lookout. Every time I'd get close it would come in like a kamikaze. Everything turned out too blurry for my liking. I guess when you're dodging bees it puts a damper on things. I did get a pic of what I thought was a lady bug, but even she wouldn't cooperate because she wasn't even red, more like a pale yellow/orange...ish. It turned out blurry, I had the focus set just before her... I guess you could say a took a pic of a leaf.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...pscb1b553b.jpg

The flowers almost made me cry. We are still buried in two feet of snow and
probably won't see grass till mid April. Post some more pictures PLEASE.

We have the orange lady bugs here too Mike -- and beware they bite! Good photo. We have snow and ice. How do I attach a photo?

Why settle for the bees knees when you can have the bees butt, right?

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps37c16a88.jpg

Okay, I got back from my bike ride and decided to battle the bees again. I finally took a pic I liked, so that's two goals done. No walking for me today because I had to wash the cement off my shoes and they are still wet.

Here are a bunch of pics. I was too lazy to do ANY editing so they are straight from the camera. They are thumbnails, so just click it if you want to see it bigger.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...psb870a4c4.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps36d20a94.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps015559eb.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps748b21fb.jpg

Mytsie chillin' with her bone. The "bee bush" is in the background.


http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ps4294827b.jpg

6 glasses of water M-Y T-Y W-N T-N F-Y S-Y S-Y
800 calorie limit M-N T-N W-N T-N F-almost S-almost S-under 1000
Exercise 3X M-Y T-Y W-N T-N F-Y S-Y S-Y
Lose 3 pounds

My day went well except for my calorie count. I am going to exercise for another 30 minutes tonight.

Last check in of the week. Wow! It's been a busy thread this week! :D I'm kind of glad to see the week come to an end....not sure why I decided to make tracking my calories a goal this week. It makes me crazy to track my calories! I'll have to rethink my goals for the coming week.

1. Track calories - M - yes, Tu - yes, W - yes, Th - yes, F - yes, Sat - yes, Sun - yes
2. Exercise 7x (scheduled morning interval workout) - M - yes, T - yes, W - yes, Th - yes, F - yes, Sat - yes, Sun - yes
3. Do doubles (second workout) 4x - 1X T - yes, 2X W - yes, 3X Th - yes, 4x F - yes, 5X , Sat - yes
4. Drink 3 litres of water daily - M - yes, T - yes, W - yes, Th - yes, F - yes, Sat - yes, Sun - yes
5. No alcohol - M - yes, T - yes, W - yes, Th - yes, F - no, Sat - a no, Sun - yes

Mike - Love the photos!!! OMG! I can't wait for Spring! I love the picture of Mystie...so sweet!

Libby - You're really killin' the Jump Start! Maybe I should get the book and join you....not sure if I can be that disciplined though....but if it could help get to goal quickly....hmmmmm

Mern - How did you make lasagna low carb? Did you use zucchini in place of the pasta? Thanks for the post about egg substitute....I used to use it but haven't in years. I'll have to check that out again.

Jenai - Yesterday was grocery day for me...totally agree...YUCK! ;)

April - So heart warming to hear your pup ended up in a good home. It makes me sick to think of all the animals out there that are abused.

Off to bed soon....tomorrow is going to be tough with the time change! :eek:

I stayed within my calorie range; however, not a single fruit or vegetable in sight. :( I am just not good at those. Blackberries are on sale this week for 75 cents, and I got 4 of those. Asparagus is on sale. Got 2 bunches. Apples ae on sale. I'm also going to try kale. Can you eat it raw in a salad or does it need to be cooked? So, I got some good things, and am getting more when I go to Sprout's tomorrow. It's just a matter of actually fixing them and eating them. I made crock pot caramelized onions today. I tried one and they are so good! And only 2 Tbsp of butter for the whole pot. The turned out just perfect, 7.5 hours on low.

Tonight was takeout night. We have takeout once a week and I get a day off cooking. I had 3 little chicken strips. I couldn't believe it...1400mg of sodium!!! and nearly 400 calories. ugh. Bad choice. Would have been better off with a cheeseburger, but I didn't look at the nutritional chart before I went to pick up my daughter and decide where we were going to go. Next time I'll plan ahead.

Wasn't a strong week for me. Tomorrow is a new day and a new week.

I love those flower & bee photos. We had a sunny day here finally as well which was nice. Maybe soon some warmer weather!!!

Jedi-- I love kale chips. Sprinkle salt and drizzle small amount of olive oil and toss in a bowl. Then spread it on cookie sheet and bake til crisp- 275 degrees for about 15 min. Yummy!

I was bad this weekend and fell off the wagon. My husband's days off are Thurs & Fri and those are always bad days for me eatingwise. Add to that fact that I extended it through on saturday as well and then also did not keep up with my water intake. I gained 2 pounds!!! Ugh.... I'm upset but I'm not going to let this bring my motivation down. I went to the gym this a.m. and did elliptical for 45 min and have done better today on water and calories. Just kind of threw me how quickly I can gain back if I let slip for even 2-3 days. Sheesh...

To wrap up this week...
Simple goals for first week back
1. post on this thread at least once daily M: Y, T: Y, W: Y, T: Y, F: Y, S: Y, S: N
2. workout daily and record in diary how I feel from it M: Y, T: Y, W: Y, T: Y, F: Y, S: Y, S: Y
3. do not eat anything that I didn't bring to work with me or plan unless it's fruit M: Y, T: Y, W: Y, T: Y, F: N
4. at least three work cups of ice water daily M: Y, T: Y (2 but lots extra at home, W: Y, T: Y, F: Y

I didn't make it here yesterday. I had every intention last night but I just didn't get to it. I did, however, realize at 9pm that I hadn't worked out yet and chose a 40 min kettlebell video. I love kettlebell work outs. My legs are so sore. I think it's from my Saturday walk with Chloe because they hurt Sunday morning and still hurt. So this morning will be a lighter more stretchy video than strength or cardio. Off to do that and will be back with goals later.

Sorry I don't keep up well on the weekends but great pics Mike and Aimee my husband is off Thurs/Fri too and every other weekend. I do okay on his THurs/Fri because I am at work but his Sat/Sun are horrible days for me. That was this weekend. Next weekend will be better for food.