Back in the saddle

[Sunny_0ne]

Hi, Carole,

Yesterday was the Sam's run. We enjoyed it. Always fun to get to the big city.

Today I had lunch with a friend and we spent the whole day shopping antique stores and health food stores... oh, and a book store and a coffee shop.

Usually when I go out to lunch with her, I am so tired after lunch that I have to come home.

Today I went for SEVEN HOURS!!! Then came home and fixed dinner.

We were both stunned at the difference the acetyl l-tyrosine is making in me. I have always been tired and low energy, even when I was young. I am tired now, but it's a well-deserved tired this time!

I found the small bottles of Torani sugar free syrup at the coffee shop. They didn't have anything that would go well on pancakes, but I did get caramel and raspberry. I will have to wait until next month to order it because I sent Mastercard a huge check this month and finally got it paid off. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lunch was great... a grilled shrimp salad, all completely legal. I did have 3 tablespoons of blue cheese dressing, but it was worth it for a splurge!

I managed to pass the samples at Sam's. Fortunately nothing looked real tempting!

I also got some of the non-sweet coconut at the health food store. Will very gingerly try that and see how it goes.

Oh.... I made the most awesome blueberry vanilla pudding last night.

I used one scoop of vanilla whey powder and cream, whipped it up together with a packet of stevia, then folded in blueberries.

It was so rich and delicious. I would never have known it was a diet dish if I hadn't made it myself!

[imagood1]

I'm so happy you had a good day shopping and enjoying yourself. Good for you not giving in to temptation with the samples.

We're off to the store to get a couple things.

[Sunny_0ne]

This is my third day of not logging every bite I eat... and I am eating less and am more satisfied!

I think logging every bite kept me obsessed with food. Now I'm just making a conscious effort to only eat when I am hungry--then eating until I feel comfortably satisfied.

What freedom!

The three months of logging every bite did make me very aware of what I was eating, so that will stand me in good stead.

For breakfast this morning I had chicken breast tenders fried in coconut oil, a mock honey-dijon mustard dipping sauce (sweetened with splenda) and a small serving of zucchini pasta. Wonderful!

[imagood1]

that sounds like a good meal Sunny --- I'm not able to eat that kind of breakfast -- I need an egg or some sort of breakfast type food in the morning but after that I can eat just about anything.

Today was our Sam's Club run....just the hubs and I...mom stayed home to give herself a perm. We went to Home Depot, Lowe's World Market, Sam's Club and Walmart....I'm beat tonight. Got a rotiesserie chicken at Sam's -- we love them! It's like a ritual if we go to Sam's we have that chicken for dinner....yumm!!

Tomorrow we're going to put the patio table & chairs out - I am really hoping it doesn't snow anymore so we're going to live on the edge and put them out...LOL!

Have a nice Easter.

[Sunny_0ne]

Glad you got out today. It always makes me feel better to go shopping, even if it's just for groceries and necessities.

I'm always beat afterwards... and also ALWAYS get a rotisserie chicken. It's an easy dinner and lunch material for a few days since there is only hubby and I.

I'm counting on the cold weather being over. This has been the coldest spring in a lot of years!

So I hope you get to enjoy the deck furniture from here on out!

For lunch I had deviled eggs, a handful of pork rinds and salsa. I KNEW I should have veggies and dip, but really wanted the crunch of the pork rinds.

For dinner I fixed parmesan fried chicken, turnip greens and pumpkin with pumpkin pie spice and splenda.

I am as satisfied as a little tick this evening.

[Sunny_0ne]

Today was one of the most wonderful Easters in my life. It was a perfect sunshiny day with phone calls to the family, and just the most blessed feeling all day!

The past three days were low calorie days... today my body demanded more calories. I was hungry! But I ate what I wanted legally and stopped when I was satisfied, and this evening I again feel content and happy.

I really like this idea of listening to my body and letting it tell me how much it needs. It seems to be communicating to me a lot more clearly lately!

This evening we didn't have anything special... hamburger patties, pumpkin, sliced red and yellow peppers with homemade blue cheese dip, and a wonderful jello-based fluffy orange cream dessert.

[imagood1]

Originally Posted by Sunny_0ne

Hi, Carole,


I found the small bottles of Torani sugar free syrup at the coffee shop. They didn't have anything that would go well on pancakes, but I did get caramel and raspberry. I will have to wait until next month to order it because I sent Mastercard a huge check this month and finally got it paid off. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I forgot to tell you Sunny -- I found sugar free Vanilla syrup at World Market Saturday when we were there...I saw a recipe for pancakes that uses it. I also have sugar free maple syrup which I could use also. I thought I might try the vanilla mixed into cream cheese - I usually add vanilla extract but next time I may try the syrup instead. I also read where someone posted they found the sugar free syrup at Walmart. Might have to check out to see what other flavors I might like.

[Sunny_0ne]

Carole, I looked at our Walmart for the sugar free syrups. The only things they have are the sugar free pancake syrups.

I read the labels on all of them, and they all have sorbitol. I think that's a sugar alcohol, isn't it? I didn't buy any because I wasn't sure if sorbitol is partially absorbed like some of the other sugar alcohols.

I'm also not sure that it wouldn't cause stomach problems like I've read some of the sugar free candy causes.

What's your experience with the pancake syrup?

[imagood1]

I've tried the maple syrup a couple times before -- 2 days ago I had 1Tbsp of the maple syrup for breakfast with no problems. I just looked on the bottles for ingredients:

DaVinci sugar free pancake syrup has: Water, natural flavor, cellulose gum, xanthan gum, carmel color, sucralose (Splenda Brand), sodium banzoate (preservative), citric acid.

Torani sugar free Vanilla syrup has: purified water, vanilla extract with other natural flavors, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (to preserve freshness), citric acid, xanthan gum, sucralose (Splenda Brand), acesulfame potassium.

I figured since they both said Splenda brand it was ok to use and like I said, I haven't had any problem with it. The DaVinci I bought online and the Torani I found at World Market in their coffee/tea department. I'll look tomorrow when we go to Walmart to see what their brands say...I haven't seen them there, I only read that someone said they bought some there.

[Sunny_0ne]

Thanks so much for that info, Carole.

I need to order some more EZ=Sweetz from netrition the first of the month, so I will add the pancake syrup.

I did find Torini raspberry and caramel sugar-free syrups at a coffee place, but that was all they had. I have learned it takes a LOT of raspberry syrup to make something taste very raspberry-y.

I am avoiding eggs for breakfast because they just don't stick with me. No matter how I fix them I am hungry again in two hours. When I eat chicken or meat, I don't get hungry until lunch time.

So today my breakfast was chicken strips with peppers and green onion. Lunch was a taco salad. And dinner was steak with zucchini pasta and a salad.

I actually photographed hubby's plate because it looked better, so that's why the portions are so big.

DH is loving Atkins, even though he does do a lot of snacking on pretzels and candy in the evenings. But I don't even fix him a potato or rice anymore except on the rare occasions he wants it.