Day 50 on Bright Line Eating - Going on 8 Weeks with No Sugar and No Flour

We finished our 7th week using Bright Line Eating and we weighed in this morning and the results are:

Week 7:

I have released 5 pounds!

Brent has released 3 pounds!

TOTAL SO FAR:

I have released 22 pounds since we started!

Brent has released 15 pounds since we started!

It felt awesome to weigh in today and see that 5 pound drop! And Brent with 3 pounds gone! It makes me want to keep sticking to this plan and keep my lines BRIGHT! 

We stayed bright through Halloween!  The kids gave out candy. My daughter even organized and ran a cake walk on our driveway with cupcakes.  There were certain candy bars that would have been huge triggers in the past. I didn't even look because it wasn't an option for me. It's like I had no interest and I kept my mind on other things. 

And it paid off with a great release of pounds this week!!

We tried some new foods this week. I will detail them in the images below. 

Week 7 Day 2 BREAKFAST

 Waffle (4 oz shredded potatoes, 1 egg, 1 oz cheese) and Strawberries.  This was pretty yummy. I used frozen shredded potatoes. It wasn't really a "batter", I just clumped them on the waffle iron and made sure to pre-spray the iron. I added salt and pepper. Yummy breakfast.

Week 7 Day 3 BREAKFAST

 (NEW) 1 oz. Shredded Wheat Cereal with 4 oz unsweetened Almond Milk, 3 sausages, 3 oz Frozen Blueberries and 3 oz. Banana.  This was fun to have cereal again.  Only, next time I will make sure the blueberries are defrosted!  Yummy!

Week 7 Day 3 LUNCH

 2 oz Cashew Nuts, Celery & Dill Pickle, 2 Clementines & Cheese.

This was a fast lunch. I didn't have any protein prepared at the time so I went with the nuts (almonds for Brent) and it was a very satisfying lunch!

Week 7 Day 4 BREAKFAST

2 Scrambled Eggs, 4 Sausages, Strawberries and Clementine Wedges. 

OKAY - I accidentally had TWO proteins this meal and forgot my grain - so for lunch I just omitted the protein and had my grain so it all worked out!  

Week 7 Day 4 LUNCH

1 oz Sweet Potato Crackers (Grain I should have had at Breakfast), Steamed Cabbage and some Salad, Cheese. We sure love these organic sweet potato crackers from Costco! 

Week 7 Day 4 DINNER

 2 Organic Grass Fed Beef Hot Dogs, Spaghetti Squash and Tomatoes. Super yummy.

Week 7 Day 5 BREAKFAST

Waffle (1 oz Oatmeal, 1 egg, 3 oz Banana), 3 Sausage Links, and 3 oz Berries.  One of our favorite breakfasts!

Week 7 Day 5 LUNCH

(NEW) 3 oz Cheese / Salami Pack from Costco, Celery, Cucumbers, & Tomatoes, 2 Clementines.  We saw this pack of snack salami/cheese at Costco and after checking the ingredients, thought we'd try it for a meal. It was okay. Brent liked it more than I did so I will let him have these. :) 

Week 7 Day 6 BREAKFAST

(NEW) Waffle (4 oz of my home canned potatoes - mashed, 2 oz cheese) and 6 oz grapes.  I decided to try my potato waffle with all cheese instead of the egg and cheese and I LOVED it!  I also added some "Everything Seasoning for Bagels & More" along with ground sea salt and pepper. I had to let it cook for 9 minutes in waffle iron for it to come out in one piece. But I definitely will be making this more. I loved the crisp cheese flavor. Savory. :)

Most of my other meals were similar to what I've already posted.  I like to buy 6 lbs of lean ground turkey and cook it on the stove, drain and add in taco seasoning (Checking the ingredients for no sugar). Then I weigh it and portion it into containers for our taco salad meals. We also are enjoying more squash and zucchini for fall. 

I've never enjoyed veggies so much before!

We tried Bok Choy recently and enjoyed that. We try to get organic fruits and vegetable as much as we can. 

Our veggie staples seem to be:

• Peppers (red, orange & yellow)
• Asparagus
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Cabbage
• Mushrooms
• Romaine Lettuce
• Spaghetti Squash
• Yellow Squash
• Zucchini
• Onions
• Dill Pickles (for me - I just love them!)

Our fruit staples seem to be:

• Bananas
• Pears
• Clementines
• Seedless Grapes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Pineapple

I'm trying to diversify when I can to change it up. Overall, I feel we eat so much better than we ever have. I'm finding it easier to be on top of meals. Sometimes I do stress when I need to get and prepare my food, because it seems like a lot.  But I'm thankful when my kids help me. 

Earlier this week, my youngest son helped me cook all my ground turkey while I worked on making my oatmeal waffles for the week. I like to make 6-8 waffles and then freeze them.  Then the night before I just pull two out of the freezer and it defrosts overnight.  The next morning I warm them up in the microwave and add the other half of the protein and fruit and breakfast is done!

What takes a little more planning is when I'm cooking a squash in the oven, or a salmon patty, or roasting veggies. I can saute veggies on my stove pretty quickly. I usually just chop up whatever I have and blend them together and just cook 'em! Adding some freshly ground sea salt and pepper is enough to bring out their flavor. I do add dill weed to many items too, as I just love that flavor. 

For Thanksgiving, we plan to keep our lines bright. No slices of sugar filled pies, or huge portions of mashed potatoes and what not. I don't want to stall or slow down our weight loss. I feel satisfied and cravings are under control.  Eating off plan is just an invitation for trouble and it's just not worth it to me. 

Life is good!  

~Margene xoxoOOXX

Day 43 on Bright Line Eating - Traveling While on Plan

We finished our 6th week using Bright Line Eating and we weighed in this morning and the results are:

Week 6:

I have released 1 pound!

Brent has regained 1 pound!

We stayed on plan MOST the week, even while we were traveling and staying in a new place EXCEPT for 3 meals where we weren't able / or didn't make arrangements to weigh our food AND where we allowed a little bit of off plan food AND where we snacked a couple times on dehydrated cheese (Moon Cheese) and popcorn. 

We kept to the No Sugar and No Flour Bright Line this week.

So since I allowed myself to snack while we were away from home (on a 'kind of' vacation), I have to be very wary NOT to slip into thinking I can do that. It was probably NOT good to do that because for the first time since being on plan, it started to feel hard and I felt longings for off plan foods.

Going in to the Food Mart at gas stations and seeing all the food and snacks was a little tempting, and being out in public places and smelling foods made me long to have an off plan day. 

But I KNEW I didn't really want that.

I DID pack all our meals and prepared things beforehand so that was super convenient to have in the car while driving and at the place we stayed. 

Here are the only pictures I took of meals this week:

WEEK 6 Meals

 Day 2 DINNER: Salmon patty, Spaghetti Squash, Dill Pickles, Cheese

 Day 3 LUNCH: 2 Sausage Patties, Spaghetti Squash, Cheese, Honeydew

Day 4 BREAKFAST: Organic Sweet Potato Crackers, Cheese, and 2 Clementines 

Overall, I feel like we did really good this week. When we did eat out, we chose healthy foods and foods with no sugar or flour. It feels good that we are making these changes which will benefit our health.

We got to go in a pool, the first time since Brent's stroke. He used his motorized scooter and then walker to get to the pool rail and then down in the pool, and it was awesome for him to have more control and range of motion in the pool. We had fun practicing all he could do and now we want to go swimming more often. :)

We attended a couple marching band state and region competitions, and at one point, Brent wanted to stand and lean on the rail. I snapped this picture of him talking with his dad. I am so blessed to have my best friend still with me. I could so easily be a widow right now if it weren't for the answered prayers of my Heavenly Father. 

 Brent standing by his dad at the Dixie Stadium for the Bands of America Regional Championship

Me and Brent visiting the St. George Temple (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). It is a beautiful and very historical temple!

This was our first trip we've taken where we've had to worry about needing to find places that are accessible for Brent's disability. It worked out well, and I'm SO glad we got Brent a motorized scooter so he can have some independence of where he goes. 

On to Week 7!! 

It's starting to become second nature to eat with Bright Lines!

Life is good.

~Margene xoxoOOX

Day 36 on Bright Line Eating - Eating Out

We finished our 5th week using Bright Line Eating and we weighed in yesterday morning and the results are:

Week 5:

I have released 1 pound!

Brent has released 3 pounds!

TOTAL:

I have released 16 pounds since we started!

Brent has released 13 pounds since we started!

It's starting to become second nature now to eat with these bright lines. I'm sure it helps that I work from home and Brent is home so we are not out in an environment that is constantly tempting us. But even if we did, I think that having our meals planned and being prepared is majorly helpful!  

I don't feel hungry hardly ever. 

I don't worry about food except when I need to get it prepared. :)

I don't have cravings!!!

This week I had a time where I went out to dinner with some friends. Kneaders was the chosen place. I looked at the menu online before going and I knew exactly what I would order: The Thia Chicken Salad. Everything on it I approved of eating, and when I was there I asked for a dressing that had no sugar in it and they gave me some ranch. It worked out great. 

Here are my meals this week:

Week 5 - Day 1

 BREAKFAST: Waffle (Oatmeal, egg & 1/2 banana), Sausage, Strawberries

LUNCH: Lentil Tortillas w/ Turkey Taco meat, cheese, Lettuce, Cucumbers and Tomatoes

DINNER: Salmon Patty, Steamed Cabbage, Dill Pickle, Sauteed Asparagus, Peppers and Mushrooms, Cheese.

Week 5 - Day 2

BREAKFAST: Brents on the left is Rice Cakes w/ Almond Butter and Banana, Margene's on the Right is Triscuits with Cheese and Grapes.

LUNCH: Ham and Hummus, Peppers & Celery, Cheese, Pear

DINNER: Taco Peppers! Pepper with Turkey Taco Meat and Mushrooms, Cheese, Tomatoes, Dill Pickle. This was new and I just tried it last minute. I Cooked the peppers at 350 for about 30 minutes. They were yummy to just pick up and eat. Not all the meat fit in the pepper so I baked it in a glass dish next tot he peppers like it shows below: 

Week 5 - Day 3

BREAKFAST: Scrambled eggs, Potatoes, Pear - YUM

LUNCH: Cottage Cheese, Cucumbers & Peppers, Pear, Cheese

DINNER: Salmon Patty, 2 Dill Pickles, Steamed Cabbage.

Week 5 - Day 4

BREAKFAST: Scrambled eggs, Potatoes, Pear - YUM

LUNCH: Shredded Pork & Cheese, Celery, Grapes & Cantaloupe

DINNER at KNEADERS: Thai Chicken Salad with Ranch Dressing. There was so much here I couldn't eat it all!

Week 5 - Day 5

 BREAKFAST: Waffle (Oatmeal, egg & 1/2 banana), Sausage, Grapes, Clementine & Strawberries

LUNCH: Cottage Cheese (with Dill Weed Sprinkled on top), 2 Dill Pickles, Grapes & Cantaloupe, Cheese.

DINNER: Pulled Pork, Sauteed Asparagus, Onions, Bok Choy, and Peppers, Tomatoes

Week 5 - Day 6

BREAKFAST: Cottage Cheese, Triscuits, Pineapple and 1/2 Plum

LUNCH: Taco Salad with ground turkey, Romaine Lettuce, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Cheese, Strawberries

(Forgot Picture of Dinner)

Week 5 - Day 7

(Forgot Picture of Breakfast)

LUNCH: Cottage Cheese, Tomatoes & Dill Pickle, Raspberries and Pineapple. (This was a really delicious lunch to me) 

 

 (Forgot Picture of Dinner - but it was prime rib steak again and oh so good!)

As week 6 is commencing, I'm not taking as many pictures of my meals because they are all beginning to look similar. You can easily tell the foods that we use often and in different ways. I will post when it's something a little different or new for us. 

I can show you my supper from last night 

Week 6 Day 1: 

 DINNER: Left over Prime Rib Steak, Veggies Sauteed in Butter: Yellow Squash and Zucchini, 2 Dill Pickles. We love zucchini and squash sauteed in butter so this was a treat!

This morning I tried something NEW. 

Week 6 Day 2:

 BREAKFAST: Waffle (Potato Shreds, Egg, Cheese - Salt and Pepper) with Strawberries.  This was fun to try! The waffle is bigger than it looks in this picture and quite filling. It was pretty tasty!

LUNCH: Pulled Pork, Cucumbers and Peppers and Honeydew Melon.

First time having honeydew and it was crisp and sweet.

This week I'm also adding in some Jimaca which I have already cut into crunch sticks. We will get the chance in a future time to try eating our Bright Lines while traveling and staying somewhere other than home! I'm sure with planning and preparing it will all work out. 

I have to say that I've noticed as I compare my old charts that I kept from 2010 when we started Medifast that we lost weight a little quicker then.

ME:

Week 5 Medifast: 25 pounds gone

Week 5 Bright Line Eating: 16 pound gone

BRENT:

Week 5 Medifast: 28 pounds gone

Week 5 Bright Line Eating: 13 pounds gone 

Here is a little comparison chart I made showing the difference so far with when we lost weight using Medifast / Take Shape For Life - (aka now Optavia) and how we are currently losing weight with Bright Line Eating.

Anyways... I'm off!  Have a fantastic week and remember that LIFE IS GOOD!!

~Margene xoOXX

Day 7 on Bright Line Eating - We Have Results!

It's been a week of Bright Line Eating for me and Brent. I didn't stray even once. I didn't take any bites, licks or tastes while I prepared food and I didn't eat anything in between our three meals. Brent didn't stray either. I'm sure it helps that I am preparing all the food and all he does is sit down and eat. (He would do more if he could but the effects of his stroke make his left hand mostly unusable, and his balance isn't quite there.)

We talked to our doctor this week and he gave us the thumbs up for eliminating sugar and flour from our diets.

We both experienced hunger in between meals at times. But the hunger did not last for long and it wasn't bad. It helps knowing that we will eat again in a certain time frame so it's not like we need to fear hunger. Usually drinking some water and keeping busy is enough to have it go away.

The best thing is that the food is so delicious! Brent says that he loves every meal. He compliments the food all the time saying it the best he's ever had. If you've seen the movie "What About Bob" you might remember the scene where Bob is eating and savoring the food vocally in an exaggerated way showing how he loves it.  This is Brent when he's eating our Bright Line Meals. True Story.

Truth be told, I haven't cooked consistently so just having meals on a consistent basis is nice for both of us.

And... we weighed in this morning

I have RELEASED 7 POUNDS!!

Brent has RELEASED 6 POUNDS!!

That is a great start. Wahoo!

Breakfasts this week:

 Tuesday: 2 Scrambled Eggs, Nectarine, and Oatmeal

Scrambled eggs are my FAVORITE. I have them for dinner sometimes too. 

 Wednesday: Oatmeal (w/ Cinnamon), 4 oz Cottage Cheese,  6 oz of Berries and Pineapple

I'm not a fan of PB in my oatmeal, so this time I had cottage cheese on the side instead. 

 Thursday: Oatmeal, 2 Scrambled Eggs, 6 oz Blueberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries

So Yummy!

 Friday: 3 Rice Cakes, 2 oz Peanut Butter, 1 Banana

This was a fun break from oatmeal. Brent loved the PB, but I think next time I'll have cheese instead of PB. Yum.

 Saturday: 2 Scrambled Eggs, 4 oz Potatoes, 1 Pear

This was so delicious. Those potatoes are my own home-canned ones. Brent is in love with pears now.

Sunday: 1 oz Triscuits, 2 oz. Cheese, 1 Nectarine

This was perfect for Sunday and a quick breakfast before heading to church. I loved the crunch of the Triscuits, but I think I should limit this to once a week. 

Lunches this week:

 Tuesday: Taco Salad (4 oz Chicken Taco Meat, 6 oz Spinach, Romaine, Peppers, & Cucumbers), 1 T Bolthouse Dressing, 6 oz. Grapes.

This was a WINNER. I love taco salad and will be making more. 

 Wednesday: 6 oz Salad w/ 1 oz. Shredded Cheese, 6 oz Pinto Bean (I put in the salad), 1 Pear

We weren't big fans of the beans, but it was still delicious.

 Thursday: 2 oz. Hummus, 2 oz. Turkey, 6 oz. Peppers, 6 oz. Grapes, 1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge.

For us this is great variety. Brent had the same thing but instead of turkey, he had 3 oz all beef hot dogs.

 Friday: Taco Salad (4 oz Taco Chicken Meat, 6 oz Lettuce, Cucumbers and Peppers, 1 oz Cheese), 1 Nectarine.

An awesome lunch!!

 Saturday: 2 oz Hummus and 2 oz Turkey, 6 oz Carrots and Celery, 6 oz Pineapple and Strawberries,  and Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge

Sunday: Taco Salad like Friday's lunch, with 2 plums

Dinners this week:

 Tuesday: 4 oz Rotisserie Chicken, 13 oz Roasted Veggies (Broccoli, Asparagus, Yellow Squash, Onions, and Carrots), 1 oz Cucumber.
The hubs LOVES roasted veggies and said I can make them anytime. I added a little olive oil and some seasonings. They were so delish!

Wednesday: 2 Scrambled Eggs w/ 1 oz Cheese, 14 oz Sauteed Veggies (Yellow Squash, Cabbage, Peppers, and Onions) I used Pam spray to saute them in.
Such a scrumptious dinner!

 Thursday: 4 oz Rotisserie Chicken, 14 oz. Roasted Veggies (Broccoli, Carrots, Onions, and Asparagus), 1 oz Cheese.
It feels like we're eating better than any restaurant!

Friday:  2 Veggie Burgers (4 oz total), 9 oz Salad, 5 oz Sauteed Mushrooms and Peppers, 1 oz Bolthouse Dressing.
Brent loves the veggie burgers. This was another tasty meal.

Saturday:  4 oz Grilled Angus Beef Burger, 1 oz cheese melted on top, 6 oz total of Steamed Asparagus, Red Pepper, Red Onion, Tomato Slices
We tried using the pepper like the "bun" for the burger but it fit awkwardly. So we ended up just eating it however we could. We needed lots of napkin but it was so tasty!

Sunday: 2 Scrambled Eggs w/ 1 oz. Cheese, 14 oz Sauted Veggies: Cabbage, Onions, and Mushrooms.
A great final meal for the week. Very satisfying. I still love the eggs the most.

We are both very pleased with this first week. I'm amazed how quickly I've gotten used to eating at specific times and NOT snacking. Even at Costco, I don't go near the tasting tables. It feels good that we are doing something for our health. I don't let my mind go off on thinking about food and that helps. I have so much to do to take care of Brent, my family while also being the main bread winner right now. How my life has changed could be a completely other blog altogether. 

Believe me, I have my food obsessions and bad habits. I don't want to talk about them or list them because I'm keeping my mind on different things - like all the food I am now making! So I'm truly thankful that changing our eating so far seems to be a smooth transition. 7 pounds released and just 105 pounds to go.  

Life is good!!

~Margene

XoX