DAY 9- ATTACK PHASE- TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011

DAY 9, AUGUST 30, 2011

CURT: GAIN: 2.6 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 7.6 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS: .4 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 5.4 lbs

Breakfast:
C: 4 eggs and ham steaks
J: 2 eggs and 1 ham steak

Lunch:
C and J: bunless patty melt (pictured below)

Dinner:
C and J: Chicken breasts w/ asparagus and key lime bran muffins and orange creme muffins

Water:
C: at least 3 quarts of water, 1 Diet Cherry Pepsi, 1 Mike's Lite Cranberry Lemonades
J: 3 quarts of water, 1 Diet Cherry Pepsi, 2 Mike's Lite Cranberry Lemonades (thank goodness those things are gone!)

So we can't blame Curt's weight gain on his period (he didn't think that was funny).... but we do have a theory. Everytime he eats meat, primarily steak, it gets stuck in his teeth and irritates his gums. It got pretty bad yesterday to the point that he texted me and said, no more meat! He pretty much went to FF cottage cheese and eggs for the rest of the day. While his gums still hurt, they recovered somewhat and he went back to eating meat today.

Now... as you can see from what I listed as meals... we cheated today. We ate veggies in small amounts today. The reason: it's our only day off together til Sunday. And I thought the asparagus was going to go bad, and as it was, the frig got too cold and froze them. I was a little bummed but the chicken was still good!

I'm having fun trying to come up with recipes that we used to love and try to integrate them into this new way of eating. That is where the chicken idea came from. I like to take chicken breast, pound them out, lay down swiss cheese and deli ham, roll them and then roll in flour, fry, and then bake. The idea behind this chicken was similar, only asparagus instead of ham, reduced fat provolone cheese instead of swiss, and I brushed it with corn starch. I thought it was pretty good.

And the muffins: LOVED the orange creme. I didn't love the key lime, but I 'll eat them.

The patty melts were fabulous!!! I seasoned the meat with my special seasoning- equal parts of celery salt, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Every couple of months, I go to WINCO and buy these each in bulk and mix my own seasoning and fill half a dozen spice bottles. It is the best stuff EVERY! We both put it on everything.

I sauteed onions and a small handful of mushrooms and poured them over the hamburger patty covered with a slice of reduced fat provolone cheese.

I forgot....

I mentioned that if the Cuban Skirt Steak recipe was good I would post the recipe. Well... it was GREAT! We both thought that the taste was outstanding so here is the recipe!

CUBAN SKIRT STEAK

1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t chipotle chile powder
2 t lime zest
4 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 t red pepper flakes
2 T Splenda brown sugar blend or 1 t Splenda

2 lbs skirt steak

Mix all the ingredients together, put it in a ziploc baggie and let the meat marinate for a minimum of 1 hour, and up to overnight. Drain marinade and grill meat for a few minutes on each side.

DAY 8- ATTACK PHASE- MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011

DAY 8, AUGUST 29, 2011

CURT: LOSS: .2 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 10.2 lbs
JAMIE: GAIN:.8 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 5 lbs

Breakfast:
C: 4 eggs, 2 ham steaks

Lunch:
J: 3 ham steaks and Dannon Coconut Vanilla Yogurt
C: 2 pieces of steak, FF cottage cheese, chocolate oat bran muffin

Afternoon snack:
C: Dannon FF yogurt

Dinner:
J: 6 oz. chicken breast
C: 4 eggs

Water:
J: 2 quarts, 1 can diet cherry pepsi, and I'm cheating w/ Mike's LITE cranberry lemonade
C: 2 quarts, 1 Mike's

Today was an odd day for me. I think that both of us feel a little off. I'm tired, as in completely drained. I just want to close my eyes and Ethan just asked me to summarize "The Making of the Constitution." And I need to check 4 lessons of Brenna's math. Kill me now....

Berlyn and I went to Roaring Springs today and had a blast, but probably why I feel like death warmed over. My feet are RAW from walking around on gritty concrete for 3 1/2 hours.

We have a new baby in the family!!

Welcome baby, Rylee Ann!

She has the cutest little elf ears!

And we couldn't resist a little Boise State accessories.

And my favorite.. BABY FEET!

So I gained weight today. I'm going to blame it on my period. I think I should count my lucky stars it wasn't more. I checked a couple times throughout the day and I was down every time. But I'm going with that early morning one because that's the only time I can weigh in on days I work, so I might as well make it the same time every day. Tomorrow will be a better day. I hope.

This is Curt... making my debut

Yeah, I'm a bit of a slacker... but here I am. Jamie is awesome, and she's working so hard on keeping us going on our goals. She's finding great food to eat, and... here is where I'm really going to gush on her... she's SO supportive!!! In the past few years of my life, support on any level has been hard to come by. So, while we're getting healthier, it's bringing us even closer together. Which is funny... cuz if you'd see us, you'd see that we don't spend ANY spare time away from each others' side. So closer??? It's kinda ridiculous... lol.

Anyway. I made my 10 lb mark today. It's pretty cool; over the past 1.5 yrs I've now lost a little over 40 lbs. I wasn't exactly trying hard on the 30, but I lost a big stress in my life, then that weight started coming off.

I'll be checking in from time to time to post stuff here. But for now, we need to go watch BIG BROTHER!!!

C

DAY 7- ATTACK PHASE- SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2011

DAY 7- AUGUST 28, 2011

CURT: LOSS: .4 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 10 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS: 1.4 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 5.8 lbs

Breakfast:
J: 3 eggs and ham
C: 4 eggs and ham

Lunch:
C: peppered steak

Late Afternoon Snack:
J: chocolate oat bran muffin
C: Dannon FF vanilla yogurt

Super Late Lunch:
J: Mojito Lime Chicken breast

Even Much Later Dinner:
C and J: Cuban Skirt Steak

Water:
J: 4 quarts of water, 1- 12 oz diet cherry pepsi
C: 2 quarts of water, 1- 44 oz diet dr. pepper

BIG DAY! We both made our first goals today! I weighed in when I first woke up and had actually gained weight, but awhile later, I.. well... peed a river... and was down. ALOT! WOOHOO!!!

Today, I want to try a few new recipes. I needed that sweet fix so I tried the chocolate oat bran muffins. Well... they were just okay. Not great, not awful. I will probably make them again just because I need something a little different every once in awhile. They're not bad considering there's no flour in them. I could really taste the sweetener in them. It was a little bitter.

Also trying the Cuban Skirt Steak. I started marinating it at 3 this afternoon and I will grill it at 9:40 tonight so it will be ready to eat when Curt gets home at 10 tonight. If it's crazy good, I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

I can't wait for veggies- 3 more days (Sept. 1). It's killing me. I went grocery shopping today and got a load of fresh veggies and it was all I could do to not cook dinner with veggies tonight.

As far as our day went, I went to church with the kiddos, then grocery shopping. Briyanna was BEYOND helpful. I should write down the date. We had a late thunderstorm- one of my most favorite things in the world! And Curt's baby sister is in the hospital having her baby. As of right now, no baby yet! All in all, a pretty good day. Best thing- I didn't have to work!

My Freakishly Small, Dark Egg

I went out to collect eggs just now and this is what I found:

Here it is compared to another egg. All of our eggs are on the smaller side (that's why I don't get too worried about eating 3 or 4 eggs a day). This is when I realized it was really dark. And polka-dotted!

Love my Ladies! and gentleman!

DAY 6- ATTACK PHASE- SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011

DAY 6, AUGUST 27, 2011

CURT: LOSS: .2 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 9.6 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS: 1 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 4.4 lbs

Breakfast:
J: Dannon FF Vanilla yogurt + 1.5 T oat bran
C: 4 eggs

Brunch:
J: 3 eggs and ham steaks
C: leftover orange chicken

Afternoon snack:
J: Dannon FF Vanilla Yogurt
C: Dannon FF Vanilla Yogurt

Late afternoon snack:
J: Dannon FF Vanilla Yogurt

Dinner:
C and J: Peppered Steaks w/ onions

Liquids:
C: 2 quarts, 16 oz. Diet Dr. Pepper
J: 3 quarts, 12 oz. Diet Pepsi, one of those small 50 ml sample size bottles that you get at the cash register of pear vodka (yes... I cheated and I am a little worried, but I did mix it with crystal light fruit punch)

Curt went to work... a horrible Saturday of temptations!! He was offered doughnuts, brownies, cookies and fries, and he refused every one of them! Then he came home and started dinner for us... love that guy!!

We watched "A Bug's Life".... my favorite Disney. Berlyn, 7, had never seen it! I came to a realization that she hasn't seen most of those classics because by the time she came around to being old enough to watch those, the other 3 had grown out of them. So we're gonna start working our way through those older Disney movies. SO EXCITED!

DAY 5- ATTACK PHASE- FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

DAY 5, AUGUST 26, 2011

CURT: LOSS: 2.8 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 9.4 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS: 0.4 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 3.4 lbs

Breakfast:
J: 3 eggs (well... more like 4. One was doubled yoked) and ham steak

Morning snack:
C: Dannon FF vanilla yogurt + 1.5 T oat bran

Late Lunch:
C: Orange Chicken (recipe below)

Afternoon snack:
J: Dannon FF vanilla yogurt + 1.5 T oat bran

Dinner:
J: Orange chicken, grilled onion
C: steak and grilled onion

Water:
J: 4 quarts, 1- 20 oz. diet Pepsi
C: 2 quarts

I call up Curt to see how sickie is doing today. Curt just blurts out, "The white chicken is dead!!" Me: "Ummm... repeat that???????" You have to understand here that I LOVE my chickens. They make me feel so special. When I go outside, they come running, white ones in the lead, and those chickens running are just about the cutest thing EVER! Needless to say, I was a little upset. And that means I down one more eggs. So...... while we are on that note! I was telling my mom about the eggs and the red spots in some of them and she asked, "Which one is your rooster?" Me: "We don't have any roosters." Mom: "Ummm... yes you do! That's a fertilized egg!" Ahhh... crap! My chicken, Killer, walks around making this low croaking noise, apparently the sign of a rooster. We have joked about getting her a shock collar. Well... she's a he. So my mom says, "You're gonna have a problem when he starts crowing." My answer, "And you're gonna have a rooster on your doorstep." Mom: "OK!!!" a little more excited than I thought! So we solved the mystery of the missing egg.

At 3:10, Curt headed down to pick up Brenna from her bus stop. The bus came and went.. no Brenna. I was on the phone with him the whole time and I practically hung up on him to start making calls. I call the school. No Brenna. I call Brown Bus Co. No Brenna. In fact, according to them, they've never had a Brenna L. ride the bus. "No.... she's rode this bus for 2 years. She got on this morning." Nope! So I start explaining that she is the freakishly tall 5th grader. "OH!!!! Yeah!!! She didn't get on the bus at the school," according to the brilliant bus driver. I have my cell phone on one ear, home phone on the other talking to Curt. I tell Curt to have Ethan call his Dad. Guess What?!?!?! Brenna got off at her dad's house because she had to go to the bathroom. So the burning question... Do I get mad at the 10 year old for not calling me? Or do I get mad at the 38 year old man who didn't think it was important to let me know that my daughter got off at his bus stop and who didn't bother to at least acknowledge my text asking that he let me know next time something like this happens? I'm sure you can tell what my answer is. I think that I should start a poll about this...
By the way, I DID have words with the bus company about this. Not that she got off at her dad's, but that they don't have a freakin' clue who's riding those buses!



ORANGE CHICKEN RECIPE

1 lb chicken tenders, pounded and cut into large bite-sized chunks
2 T cornstarch
salt and pepper
olive oil spray

Put all ingredients in a baggie and toss well to coat. In a skillet, cook chicken in a bit of olive oil spray until done, about 5 minutes, tossing frequently. Set chicken aside.

ORANGE SAUCE

1/4 cup orange juice, or 1 t orange extract, or just use lemon juice
1/4 t Splenda
2 T low sodium chicken broth
1 T low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 T cornstarch
1 t ginger, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
red chili flakes
1/4 c green onions, plus more for garnish
1 T sake
olive oil spray

Combine orange juice, Splenda, broth and soy sauce and set aside. Combine 1/4 cup water and 1 T cornstarch and set aside. In a skillet add ginger and garlic and cook for a minute or two in a bit of olive oil spray. Add chili flakes and green onion and cook for another minute. Add sake, stir, and then the orange juice mixture. Bring to a boil and add the chicken, constantly stirring. Add the water and cornstarch mixture and cook another few minutes until sauce thickens. Garnish with green onion.

I personally didn't use the green onions or the sake. And I like it a little spicy so I added more red chili flakes. Here's how cheap I am... I had Curt go to Pizza Hut and ask for packets of red pepper flakes! And I also put it in the oven for about 45 minutes to get the orange sauce cooked in.

DAY 4- ATTACK PHASE- THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2011

DAY 4, AUGUST 25, 2011

CURT: no change TOTAL LOSS: 6.6 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS: 1.8 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 3 lbs

Breakfast:
J: 3 eggs and 5 oz. ham steak
C: 4 eggs and 5 oz. ham steak

Morning snack:
J: Yoplait Raspberry Cheesecake yogurt + 1.5 T oat bran
C: Yoplait Key Lime Pie yogurt + 1.5 T oat bran

Lunch:
both: 1 steak and 1 grilled onion, each

Dinner:
both: 1 steak and 1/2 grilled onion and deviled eggs (a bunch), each

Water:
J: 1.5 quarts water, 20 oz Diet Pepsi
C: 2.5 quarts water, 20 oz. Diet Pepsi

I personally had a much easier time with this diet today because I was at work. Lots of distractions... well... 2 of them, but they give me lots to do.

Curt was off work today and playing the role of stay-at-home-dad. He wants me to mention that he could have cheated, but he didn't. And I say thank you to him for that. I would have to hurt him. He worked his tail off today so he didn't need to put in the exercise today. I, however, did alot of sitting today. I should have walked when I got home, but crap... 12 hours is a long shift.

No headaches today, but I sipped on a fountain drink very slowly all day long. I'm wrong... I started seeing flashing lights around my eyes (red-flag that a migraine is fast approaching) right before we headed to bed. I popped a couple of Excedrin, and I think I've knocked it out. I'm curious if it's a "change in my diet" thing, or just a headache. I get enough headaches that I just don't know.
On to grosser matters... I was worried about constipation. I'm not anymore. Need I say more??
Ok... to bed. Another 12 hour shift awaits me tomorrow and about 10 loads of laundry await Curt!

DAY 3- ATTACK PHASE- WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011

DAY 3, AUGUST 24, 2011

CURT: LOSS- 6.4 lbs (WOW!!) TOTAL LOSS: 6.6 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS- .8 lbs TOTAL LOSS: 1.2 lbs

Breakfast:
J- 3 eggs and 4 oz. ham steak
C- 4 eggs and 4 oz ham steak

Lunch:
J- 1 Mojito Lime chicken breast
C- 1 Mojito Lime chicken breast and 1/2 lb. shrimp

Snack:
J: Dannon NF Lemon yogurt + 1.5 Tablespoons oat bran

Dinner:
C & J: 1 1/2 Petite Sirloin Steak each, 3/4 onion, grilled each
Both were fantastic! I marinated the steak all day long in a Mexican style tomato sauce (3/4 of an 8 oz. can), worchestershire sauce, soy sauce, Pampered Chef Rosemary mix, cumin powder... and whatever else sounded good.

Snack:
C: Yoplait Key Lime Pie yogurt + 1.5 T oat bran

WATER:
J: 2 quarts water, 1 quart crystal light, 30 oz. diet Pepsi
C: 3 quarts crystal light, 1 44 oz. diet Pepsi

The weight loss was fantastic today/ yesterday! I'm really, really glad about that, but crap... it was not a good day for me. I had initially thought that I was going to completely cut off the soda intake. Yeah... NOT a good idea! I had a pretty bad headache yesterday. I took 2 rounds of medication to knock it out. Today's headache was only worse. I took meds 2 times and finally just gave into a pop. I felt a lot better (but not perfect) with in just a couple minutes of my first drink. Of course.... then Berlyn kicked it over. ME= not a happy mama.

We went to the "Green Lantern" at the dollar theater. I suppose it was a good movie. I wasn't feeling great so I didn't think it was fabulous. And that dang popcorn... it smelled SO good!

I canned Dill Beans today, one of my kids favorites and virtually free of calories!

RECIPE:
Great-Aunt Mabel's Dilly Beans

Makes 4 pints

4 pints of green beans
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
4 cloves of garlic
4 heads of dill
(split evenly between 4 pint jars)

Brine:
2 1/2 c. water
2 1/2 c. vinegar
1/4 c. UNIODIZED salt
Bring to boil, pour over beans in the jar.

Scald lids, screw on tightly, process in the canner for 10 minutes.

Let stand for 2 weeks for flavor before eating.

DAY 2- ATTACK PHASE- TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2011

DAY 2, August 23, 2011

CURT: LOSS- .2 lbs
JAMIE: LOSS- .4 lbs

WHAT WE ATE:
JAMIE:
4 fried eggs (the small, brown ones)
1- 4 oz. ham steak
1 small steak
1/3 c. NF cottage cheese
1 Dannon NF lemon yogurt w/ 1.5 T oat bran (not bad!)
2 boneless thin cut pork chops (recipe below)
2 quarts of water

CURT:
4 fried eggs
1- 4 oz. ham steak
1 small steak
1/3 c. NF cottage cheese
1 Dannon NF lemon yogurt w/ 1.5 T oat bran
4 scrambles (small ones)
3 boneless thin cut pork chops (recipe below)
3 quarts of water

EXERCISE: 20 minute pleasant walk with Curt while Briyanna ran circles around us.

TODAY:
Today, both Curt and I had the day off. We discovered I am our worst enemy. EVERYTHING sounds so good, but we can't eat it. Never has a burger sounded so good. Or fries. Or wings. Or pasta. Or even veggies... It was awful. Any store or restaurant we passed sounded fantastic. Even Zingers, which I NEVER eat, sounded fabulous. Eight more day, then veggies. I can hardly wait!!!

PORK CHOPS:
5 thin sliced pork chops
2 limes, squeezed
1/2 onion, medium, sliced
1/2 a bundle of cilantro, chopped
1 T. cumin
1 T. paprika
enough water to cover

I let them soak all afternoon and put them in the oven for about an hour.
I got my Mexican food fix, except... no burrito shell. :(

DAY 1- ATTACK PHASE- MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2011

I have to do 2 posts today because I forgot (ran out of hours in the day) yesterday.  So I know that I said we were going to start this diet on Saturday, but I went thru the freezer and the frig and realized we had enough protein to start on Monday instead.  On Sunday night, we ate like it was our last night on earth!  Shockingly, when we weighed in on Monday morning, it wasn't as disheartening as I initially thought that it would be. 

DAY 1:

What we ate:
Jamie:
3 eggs
yoplait NF raspberry cheesecake yogurt w/ oat bran
3 eggs w/ taco meat
1 chicken breast with buffalo wing sauce (needed that hot fix)
4 quarts of water

Curt:
3 eggs
2 c. NF cottage cheese
hamburger patty
yoplait NF key lime pie yogurt
1.5 T oat bran mixed with the cottage cheese which I hear does not taste good
3 quarts of water

Curt worked so that was a little more difficult to work around.  I realized QUICKLY that there are no quick, easy snack foods at our finger tips, and I think that the yogurt is going to get old pretty quick too.  We made a decision to make some jerky next week. 

Like I said, lots of eggs. We've been eating lots of them, probably more than we're supposed to.  The Dukan Diet book suggests 2 a day.  We definitely eat more than 2.  We get 5 eggs a day... from our 6 chickens. Either one is hiding her eggs or just waiting for the right time. 

In The Beginning....

In the beginning, Curt and Jamie were overweight.  Now, we're going to do something about it!

   You've all heard the stories how we got here...  I had babies.  I love food...   no...  I REALLY love food.  I had a bad marriage.  I was depressed.  I woke up and had on extra weight.  Did I mention that I love food??  No matter the excuse, we all have a story that has got us to where we are, and maybe someday, we will individually tell our stories of how we got here, but for now...  all you need to know is that we are starting a new journey in our life.
   We, together, are making huge lifestyle changes for ourselves and our children, tho they are coming kicking and screaming and...  at this point, unknowingly, but when they find out..  kicking and screaming.   The kids won't be as deprived as us, but they will notice a difference in eating habits. 
   So today starts our last week of freedom.  As I told Curt yesterday, I've been binging for the past few days, trying to get in those last few days of empty, crappy calories.  I figure by the time we start this next Saturday, I may have an extra 5 lbs. to take off.  For now, I'm not checking, just enjoying myself.
   Our plan:  I have kind of forced Curt into this.  But he's a trooper.  I just don't think he knows what's really going on.  We are going to be following the Dukan Diet.  It has 4 phases.  The first is the Attack Phase and obviously the phase we will be doing first.  I will explain each phase as we get to it.  The Attack Phase at first made me a little scared!  While I love meat, I do like vegetables too!  But the more I read about it, the more do-able it sounds.  Here are the foods we CAN eat:
Now for the 72 Protein Foods List - These are 72 Foods safe to eat in unlimited quantities on every phase of the diet.
Meat and Offal
Beef Steak
Filet of beef
Sirloin Steak
Roast Beef
Rump Steak
Tongue
Bresaola (air dried beef)
Veal escalope
Kidney
Calf's liver
Veal Chop
Cooked ham slices (no fat, no rind)
Cooked chicken and turkey slices (no fat, no rind)
Fat reduced bacon
Game - Venison, pheasant, partridge, grouse
Rabbit/Hare
Fish
Dab/Lemon sole
Dover sole
Fish roe - Cod, Salmon, Herring, Mullet
Cod
Grey Mullet
Hake
Halibut
Haddock
Monkfish
Mackerel
Plaice
Pollock/Coley
Rainbow Trout/Salmon Trout
Salmon
Sardines
Red Mullet
Sea Bass
Skate
Sea bream
Smoked Salmon
Swordfish
Tuna
Whiting
Turbot
Seafood
Clams
Cockles
Calamari/Squid
Crayfish
Lobster
Dublin Bay prawns
Mediterranean prawns/ Gambas
Mussels
Oysters
Scallops
Whelks
Prawns
Seafood sticks - surimi
Shrimp
Poultry
Chicken livers
Chicken
Guinea Fowl
Ostrich
Poussin
Pigeon
Quail
Turkey
Eggs
Hen's eggs
Quail's eggs
Virtually Fat-Free Dairy Products
Skim milk
Virtually fat-free cottage cheese
Fat-free greek yogurt
Fat Free natural yogurt (plain or no-sugar sweetener only)
Vegetable Protein
Tofu

   The length of this phase depends on the dieter and how much weight you want to lose.  It is a jumpstart to the rest of the plan.  Some people lose 5 lbs., some lose 15 lbs. in this phase alone.  The phase lasts 2-10 days.  We will be doing it 7-10 days.  I really depends on how bad we're itching for some veggies!  I won't be eating any fish type food.  Curt might.  And we have eggs running out our ears thanks to our back yard hens so that will be a staple.  And yogurt.... lots and lots of yogurt to fill in those monotonous meals of meat!
~Jamie