R4 P4 D16....

Sorry it has been awhile! Life has been keeping me busy :) The weight has been fluctuating between the 2 lbs and doing well. I weigh some days, and not others. Just trying to practice eating for the rest of my life and not taking it too seriously :) I have been out of the habit of exercising for so long now, I find myself not making time for it. So unlike me. I definitely need to get into a routine again. I have a few food finds to share with you.

The first is heaven in a jar :) This is sunflower seed butter, with added flax and hemp seed. This is sooooo good. It does not list sugar on the label, just organic vanilla powder. After one taste I immediately called the company because I knew there was some sort of sweetness in there!! They said their vanilla powder does have some sucrose, and they are changing the label. Even though there was not much, during P3 I was careful to have just a little at a time. It is amazing and most of the time eaten just off the spoon! I found it at Good Earth. It can also be found at Naturally Nutty. They have all sorts of flavored nut butters. My next one to try is White Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter...... :)

Next up, makes life easier and delicious at the same time! This is from Costco. Nothing but the pork, salt and water. Heats up in seconds and can be used a million different ways. My favorite lately is pork tacos in romaine lettuce leaves.

For someone who LOVES anything coconut, I can't believe I have lived without this all my life. If the sunflower butter is heaven in a jar, this is heaven in a can. I use it in everything. Soups, sauces, puddings, over fruit, frosting etc. It thickens things up and makes them creamy. I don't really taste the coconut once it is mixed in something else. Only when I put it on fruit can I really taste the coconutty goodness :) For those in P3 looking for a decadent treat without the sugar and starch try this pudding.

1 pkg sugar free pudding of choice

1 cup of cream

1 cup coconut milk

I said decadent. You can also use 1 cup greek yogurt and 1/2 cup cream, and 1/2 cup coconut milk to add in some protein. Basically you are adding 2 cups of liquid to the pudding. If you want less fat then use 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup coconut milk. Just make sure to blend the pudding and the thinnest liquid first really well then add the others and blend completely so you don't get pudding mix chunks. Here was my latest. I used Banana Cream pudding, with the 2 cups split evenly between cream, coconut milk (can), coconut milk (box). Of course I had to sprinkle with unsweetened coconut and some sliced almonds and cinnamon :)

R4 P4 D10...English Muffins!

Here is a picture of my favorite breakfast these days:

That is cottage cheese with sliced almonds, fine shredded coconut flakes, cinnamon and some market fresh raspberries. Usually I stir in a little greek yogurt, but I am out today! And along side that is my "english muffin" with butter and honey. I love these.

English Muffins

I use a magic bullet to blend. So in a magic bullet cup put:

1 egg

1/4 cup almond flour

1 TBSP flax seeds

2 tsp butter

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 TBSP water

Blend till smooth. It will be really thick. Spoon the mixture into a ramekin about the diameter of an english muffin. You can also use a mug. It will just be taller rather than wider. Microwave for 1 minute and 10 seconds. Invert onto plate and slice in half horizontally. Voila! Perfect english muffin :) Since I am putting butter and honey on mine I don't add any salt or sweetener. Feel free to sweeten or spice it up as you please.

R4 P4 D9...

Down to 145.8 this morning! That is just +0.6 above LIW! It has been going down a little everyday. I don't know why because I am not doing anything different. I even had frozen yogurt and my mug cake yesterday. I went to the gym for the first time on Monday. I did a yoga/pilates fusion class. It was fun and felt good to be doing something again. Until the next day that is :) So sore! I definitely could feel the fact that I have not done anything in awhile. I am feeling "flabby" so I am going to focus on getting the muscle tone back :) It is another beautiful fall day. 70 and sunny, who could ask for anything more??

R4 P4 D7....

Today is 146.4, which makes me very happy. I did not weigh yesterday and was interested to see how things were after the weekend. I have been pretty good, but tend to do a little more on the weekends than during the week. Yesterday I had the following:

2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon

1/2 pear

almond flour/flax english muffin in a cup with butter and drizzle of honey

large iced coffee with sf syrup and cream

Red Robin Mount Olympus Burger served with no bun on a bed of lettuce

3 fries :)

2 cantalope wedges

diet coke

2 sf candies

cottage cheese mixed with greek yogurt and 1 tbsp sf rasbperry jam

chocolate coconut mug cake with dollop of whip cream

So nice to have fun weekends and not have to pay like my Kneaders french toast days :) And that is even with having cake for dinner :)

Chocolate Cake.....with a secret!

Photo courtesy of Healthy Indulgences.

First off this morning was 147.0. That is +1.8 above LIW. I am wondering if being up could just be the natural transition of adding sugar and starch slowly, or still related to ovulation. Either way I am ok with it. My overall goal is to stay between 145.2 and 150.0 from here on out.

Second, I found this wonderful Chocolate Cake recipe over at Healthy Indulgences! It has NO sugar and NO flour! It is essentially made with black beans and eggs! Tasted exactly like cake. My husband hates beans with a passion. After 2 slices I told him the ingredients and he about died :) I would have taken my own picture, but they ate it all before I got any shots! She also has a vanilla version. You can also find a vanilla bean cake recipe at The Spunky Coconut. I will definitely be using these in the future. I am not one that likes frosting very much, but I made a frosting that was excellent. More like a thick chocolate mousse. So simple, but so good.

Sugar Free Chocolate Frosting

1 and 3/4 cup cream

1/4 cup coconut milk (regular milk is fine too)

1 pkg sugar free chocolate pudding mix (you can use any flavor you like)

Just put into a bowl and mix until thick and spreadable. It takes awhile to get it there. Very good!!! I cut the cake in two and filled the middle and frosted the top!

R4 P4 D3...

Not much new to report. I ate really well after going up, and to my surprise ended up 2 more pounds up the next day! I have done this long enough to know that major moves are always hormonal, especially when the eating is right. I just ate right again, and was back down the 2 pounds, but still at the +2.0 mark from the day before. I am thinking I hit ovulation. I am guessing it will just come back down on it's own with good food. As I was contemplating new workouts and reading over at KarlMacphee I came across this video and could stop laughing! Now that would be an interesting workout :)

R4 P4 D1...

First day of P4 starts off with a bang :) I am exactly +2.0 above LIW this morning. I ate out a lot over the weekend, and had a slice of real lemon cheesecake last night after dinner. So today, I will eat at home and be good :) Life has been so hectic, I think I will try and maybe read some of my book I have been trying to read forever. I also need to think about starting my workouts, and deciding what type of exercise I want to incorporate. It is sunny today, but it was definitely COLD this morning! Sad to see summer go. I love fall, but winter is way too long in Utah. I need to be one of those people who spends half the year in one location, and the other half in another :) Sounds fabulous to me!

R4 P3 D18....

I am staying between 145.8-146.0. That's .6 to .8 above LIW. I am not counting any calories or stressing out at all!! After all of the insane years of freak dieting, this right here is the absolute very best thing about HCG.......peace. Freedom from the chaos, period. When I think about all of the years I wasted stressing about my weight/body image, it really does boggle the mind. So much wasted time.

Right now I am 3 days from P4, and find myself in my usual dilemma. I don't want to create carb intolerance, but am loving the food and see no need to add it. But, I said I was going to add as much as I could so that my body would hopefully tolerate them. I guess I will add the Ezekiel products to start and go from there. Funny, but the idea of my precious Kneaders french toast, sounds way too sweet and kind of nauseating right now. I would much rather have my choc coconut mug cake any day.

I have been having the Baked Chicken Meatballs everyday for lunch or dinner. I have had them on zucchini noodles, sauteed cabbage, and chopped romaine. All were great. It is nice when you make them, because then you have meals for the whole week!

After the kitchen makeover I decided it was time to update the decor. It turned out so beautiful. Here is the before and after:

R4 P3 D16...

First off I have to say the Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies were awesome! The family ate the whole pan by nightfall! For dinner I decided to try out Baked Chicken Meatballs from Elanas Pantry. They were really good. I served them on a bed of zucchini noodles. Just slice them up thin and boil for 2 minutes. They made perfect noodles. Then I topped with the meatballs and some no sugar added marinara sauce. A little parmesan cheese would have been great, but I was out. Ever since I quit work, I have been busier than ever :) Between the renovating, mucking out, and baking, I don't have enough hours in the day!

R4 P3 D15...P3 Cookies and Brownies!

Still at 146.0! The past 2 days I have tried out some P3 baking recipes! They both were excellent. My husband and kids even said they were pretty good :)

Photo courtesy of Everyday Paleo.

The first is a cookie recipe found over at EverydayPaleo. I followed the recipe as is except for adding some vanilla stevia and about a table spoon of sugar free maple syrup. The only bananas I could find were not all the way ripe, and it felt like they needed a little more sweetness. I just added a little of both until the batter tasted right.

The second were some Almond Butter Pumpkin Brownies!

This one is a variation of a recipe found over at This Primal Life. The original recipe would be great, but I added a few things, and changed the sweetener to fit P3. Here is what I used:

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup almond butter

1/4 cup cinnamon vanilla sunflower butter ( just use a full cup of almond if you don't have this)

1 egg

1/3 cup xylitol, powdered (or p3 sweetener of your choice)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

splash of vanilla

I then chopped a small handful of each of the following: pecans, walnuts, sugar free baking chocolate, and tossed them into the batter. Oh yeah, and about a tablespoon or two of fine shredded unsweetened coconut flakes of course! :) To finish it off I drizzled a little sugar free maple syrup over the top.

Bake in a greased 8 x 8 pan at 350 for 20-25 minutes. (Some people posted they had to bake a little longer.) Bake until a tooth pick comes out clean. I probably could have gone a little longer, but they were still really good and very moist.

R4 P3 D14....

Well the garage is clean! It only took 3 runs to the dump and 2 runs to the local charity :) But BOTH cars fit into the garage nicely! Since I seem to be in the process of "mucking out", my goal is to get my closet cleaned out and the kitchen cupboards this week. But first I have to wash all of my clothes today. I literally think I have worn every piece of clothing I own. Since the last 2 weeks have been a chaos between the house renovation and work crap, I have not done any laundry!! Weight has been the same for the last 2 days at 146.0. That is +0.8 above LIW. Loving that. I told myself that I refuse to go back to the calorie counting nightmare that was after last round. I am really trying to listen to my body, and if the weight goes up a little, to make adjustments without calorie counting and just make smart decisions. Seems to be working so far. I feel very relaxed and free, like my first two rounds. I really think my weight did not stick last round and the only reason it did was because I had to workout like crazy and count calories to make it happen. I still have another week to go to add exercise. I am going to do the opposite of my usual. I normally am a cardio queen and avoid weights. I can cardio for hours, but weights are hard for me. I am going to try to do all weight related training such as yoga/pilates, along with upper and lower body resistance. My focus is going to be on strength, and I will only do two twenty minute interval sessions per week. Time to go, my closet is calling.... ;)

R4 P3 D12...

Down another -0.4! That puts me at just +0.2 above LIW. I should have looked at the calendar when my weight went up earlier this week. TOM arrived this morning! I did not even think of that because usually when I come off of HCG I am anywhere from 1-3 weeks late getting started again. So you know what this means don't you.......... LET THE LOVE OF MUG CAKES CONTINUE! Today we are going to start cleaning out the garage. What an exciting way to spend the weekend. Oh well, one step closer to being done. I am off to have cake for breakfast and then get to work :)

UPDATE #2!!

I have just been notified by Linda Prinster herself that the Corporate Head Offices of Pounds and Inches Away, will be more than happy to continue support to all the customers who paid for full support here at the Draper, Ut location. The Corporate team is excellent to work with, and I know they will do everything in their power to help you succeed in your HCG endeavors. They can be reached at:

Pounds and Inches Away

(636)-922-2282

Contact: Amber: Long Distance Customer Manager

3900 Old Hwy 94 S, Suite 5

St. Charles, MO 63304

Email: Info@paiausa.com

UPDATE!!

I have just been notified by Mr. Smart, of Pounds and Inches Away (Lethbridge) that "you do not have authorization to post our contact information on your blog, get it off now!!!!" So, I have now removed their contact information from the previous post. I guess the only option for those needing any further assistance would be to contact Pounds and Inches Away directly. I am sure they can help you with whatever you need.

R4 P3 D11....

Down -2.0 lbs for the high protein day. Back to +0.6 above LIW. I did 2 eggs, can of tuna with mayo on celery sticks, ounce of cheese, steak and salad with ranch, and an ounce of cheese. Those usually work just as good as steak days for me. The only bummer about getting done with the house is that my garage is now filled with everything from the basement! Now I have to sort the trash, charity, and possible garage sale items. If it is not one thing, its another :)