Facebook’s IPO fail. Why was I never surprised by the story?  Nobody can make real money without the exchange of real goods, or a least a really great concept, that in some way makes money. Facebook ads don’t really get looked at. I have personal proof of that. What, exactly, is generating real income for Facebook? The deceptive practices lawsuit is not surprising either. What if investors actually relied on common sense, as they seem to have so much of?

The triple murder/suicides. I don’t know about your part of the country, but here in the Great NW, the crime of the decade is to apparently do off your entire family, set the house on fire, and then shoot yourself, too. I don’t know why people keep repeating this theme…maybe they’ve been conditioned by the constant news stories of the same that this is an option for them should things go awry. This is all very wicked, disgusting, evil, and nauseating. But, I have had enough of hearing about it, being drenched in the collective blood of it. There’s nothing I can do, nothing I could have done, to stop it.

The Secret Service and their various dalliances. Shocking? No. Only surprise is that anyone is surprised; as if the government has ever held itself to the high standards of decent society. Ridiculous. Then the lady rep., what’s her name, saying, “I’m sure this isn’t the first time”. Really? And you find this whole sordid affair a surprise, too? Not buying it. You probably have plenty of skeletons in a closet of your own.

Oh! THIS JUST IN! The actor on Big Bang Theory, Jim Parsons, is gay. Wow. OK, why is this not a stretch of the imagination for me? He’s cute, he’s funny as hell, and I like his work. I don’t care what his orientation is- and why do we have to get all ruffled and excited about it? Why the shock and awe? He PLAYS a gay character already, and yes, while it is true he is an ACTOR, he’s just too good, OK? Let’s move on.

Gas prices are up, and people will be driving more than ever, especially here in the northwest, over the Memorial Day Weekend. Really? Says who? Someone must have done a poll of motels and hotels and campsites, as well as Aunt Janice’s and Grandpa Tom’s, to find this information. Or was it the man on the street poll, where if you ask ten people if they’re traveling over the holiday weekend, and five say  ”yes” or “probably”, then we have clear scientific data. I’ll give you all a clue. SOME of us have to WORK taking CARE of everyone else who actually has plans and a life this weekend. You need charcoal briquettes, Lil’ Smokies and a refill on your Viagra? Who’s going to do that for you? Yes, all of us retail workers. Going out to eat? Thank your cooks and wait staff. There’s at least HALF the population whose travel is the commute to work all weekend long. And I really pity the guys who pump gas. We still have that in Oregon. They get to hear complaints and whining all day long. They should be paid for their therapy work.

Mitt Romney. If I hear one more sound bite from his cheesy head I am going to puke. I am not voting for your fake ass, Mitt.  Or is it Mit? I don’t really care. I don’t want to see him now, I don’t want to see him for the next four years after November, either. So please, people. See through his shtick and don’t vote for him.

The rocket taking Scotty’s ashes to space. (Star Trek Scotty) That’s actually pretty cool. I can respect that. Makes me smile, truly. What I’d like to see is being able to have our ash urns dropped off on the moon, so you could be looking up at the night sky with your kid, and tell them, “See the moon? Well, that’s where grandpa is. So every time you look at the moon, you’re looking at grandpa, too, and he’s not so far away after all, is he?” But that would mean that someone would have to buy rights to the moon, and you’d have to BUY a moon plot. All very stupid, crass, and the worst example of imperialist capitalism ever. It would also mean answering interesting, unanswerable questions from the kids… Still, I like the concept.

And, Finally.. the toddler in the washer story. How stupid are people, really? Apparently, very, very stupid. I am glad that beautiful child is OK, and I really hope that other people might learn the valuable lesson that putting a CHILD into a WASHING MACHINE is not funny and NOT a good idea! OMG

So, what do you say about the news this week?

130 seems to be my new normal, and I am OK with my weight. At this point, I am working on fine-tuning. I can lose plenty of weight and still not be happy with the shape of certain parts of my anatomy. Yeah, my bum-bum. So, I ordered the Brazil Butt-lift, and as soon as I’ve had time to get it here and start using it, I will keep everyone posted as to how it’s working, so that if you’d been curious and wanting to try it, I can let you know if it’s worth it. I believe it will be, especially when added to the work I’ve already been doing at the gym. One more note- the rowing machine has been the most amazing workout for my abs EVER. There is no way to NOT isolate the abs when using the machine, and it feels like a wonderful all-over workout, additionally. I am already seeing results, but slowly.

Food has been basically the meat-topped salads, the chicken sausage and sauteed or stir-fried vegetables, and protein shakes. (Not Atkin’s, but regular vanilla whey protein powder- tasty and much more economical) It’s by Cytosport and comes in a 6 lb bag. We get it at Costco because it’s priced well there. The price recently did go up, but a bag of this will last me over 6 months easily, and usually longer.It has gone up in price from about $26 to $40, but it’s still a bargain. If I compare the cost to the ‘convenient’ pre-made Atkins shakes, that 4 of cost between $5 on sale, up to 8.50, there is absolutely no comparison in price. There are SEVENTY-FIVE servings per bag. Each ‘serving’ is a scoop per 15 ounces of milk or water. An Atkin’s shake is about 6-8 ounces. Per the ounce, the powder is half the cost.  I also eat a lot of almonds and macadamia nuts, and I do use the Atkin’s bars and treats quite a lot. I keep an eye on calories, only because I know it’s easy to overeat while still keeping carbs low. Cheese and salad dressing and even nuts are high calorie, so low-carb or not, I try to keep them in reasonable portion sizes. For example, I know that one sandwich slice of cheddar or swiss is about 110 calories. Almonds come in at 1.5 oz bag for 150-170. Working out with the machines at the gym is great because the extra benefit of seeing how many calories you’ve burned is wonderful. An hour on that bike burned 500 calories. I burned 420 with 45 minutes of elliptical. I keep my heart rate at 155-165, my goal range for my age, weight, and gender.So, with working out, and still keeping my carb/calorie intake the same, I am sure to see results. The best result will be tighter muscle tone and less flabby jiggle on my thighs, butt, and hips. Actual pound loss will come when it comes. As long as I keep up with this, I will be doing well.

Working out with my husband is fun. We are both very focused, and tend to keep our eyes forward while we work out.  I think we go longer and harder because the other is watching, and to an extent, no one wants to be the first to quit. Since we’ve both been committing to an hour, though, this isn’t too much of a challenge. He is a track, cross-country, and basketball coach at his kid’s school, and he longs for the days when his lean, tight physique was at around 185-187 pounds, not at 209-212. So, he embarked on his first ever Speed Loss super cleansing system thing. It’s 2 days of teas, potions, powders, and pills combined with daily cardio and cleansing, (think senna, mallow, psyllium husks) to drop those 5-10 lbs fast. Then, to not undo your mostly fluid and waste loss, you’re supposed to keep up with the healthy diet and exercise. I hope this works for him, but I must say that exercising without solid food in your system on day 2 was really tough for him. I understand that. He was also practically drooling over my tuna on a lovely green salad, sprinkled with seasoned, roasted almonds. Yeah, I’m sorry. I might have chosen such a fast system in the past, but I have learned that for me, there will be a rebound ravenous hunger after this type of thing that will be nearly impossible to resist and might cause me to ingest large volumes of various non-nutritious things. Think- bag of Doritos, washed down with diet root beer and followed up with pizza, then ice cream. I really haven’t had any of those foods for many months now. January 11 was day one for me on Induction. So, I have crossed over to five months- plus, and I am feeling pretty good. I am not struggling with cravings, not relaxing my standards ‘just this once’. Wait, I did have sugar free frozen yogurt with fruit, and despite my worries, I didn’t gain any weight. It was covered only in fruit, and it was a delightful treat. I have resisted the sugar free fro-yo for all these previous months, because it was still too high in carbs, due to the milk content. Now, I will allow the occasional SUGAR FREE fro -yo.

One thing I noticed, while eating that yogurt, and also the low-carb pound cake, that because of the inherent flour and milk sugars in those items, I definitely felt I needed to have MORE. It was hard to fight.

I don’t miss pasta, but sometimes rice. I don’t miss bread, but do miss things like muffins. I know those are my drugs of choice, like cookies and cake, though, so I have to keep passing on those. I don’t know when I will be ready, if ever, to go back to the cookie, cake, and ice cream lifestyle. It never got me anywhere but wanting more. If anyone doesn’t believe that you can become addicted to certain foods, then I am glad you feel that way, because it probably has never happened to you, or you never recognized it as such. OK, sometimes I do miss Cheetos and Doritos, it’s true. I miss being able to get whatever I want at Taco Bell. But, I know I can’t go back. There’s so much else  in life to explore besides food. There’s also LIFE outside of FOOD that I need to keep living! I look forward to a new job opportunity, voiceover work, being a parent, taking care of my mom, loving my husband, kids, and step-kids, embracing new healthy habits and lifestyles, and so much more!

I hope all of you are having good low-carb weeks! I am going to develop a  news commentary segment of my blog, too, where we can all comment on the stupid, depressing, and also interesting news items that we keep being bombarded with. Stay tuned!

1) You don’t need to give your man the third degree about porn. They process this stuff differently than we do. They don’t see a hot woman, and think, “Wow, I wish my wife were that attractive…”, if anything, they wish you were that INTO THEM. That’s right! It’s not the body image, though, to be real, that does count, but it’s MORE in the way the women WANT the guys they are with. Let me just tell you now, that if you’re hard to get and your husband has to practically beg for sex, something in the relationship is probably wrong. THAT is what needs to be addressed. Don’t use withholding of affection as some kind of tool to get him to SEE what the problem is. He won’t . Your man loves you, that’s why he popped the question. When it comes to bedroom time, leave all the problems behind, and lose yourself in him, in his arms, his love. If you can’t, it’s time to come clean and have that talk.

2) Watch it with him! It may be a bit embarrassing, it might even make you squirm. I don’t know about you, but knowing that my husband is getting excited gets ME excited. Maybe it’s just the thing to get you to try something new, something adventurous. You know all those romance novel fantasies you’ve been secretly harboring? (romance novel = lady porn, admit it!) Well, get over the false pride and tell him about it!   Chances are, he will do it. Show him what YOU can do, and he will most likely follow suit.

3) Somehow, ladies, the wild, hot woman he seduced became a prude once the I-do’s were said. But, why? Are you trying to show him that growing up means growing old and then dying, like, right now? Again, the marriage bed is undefiled, and unless you have issues in your relationship, and are trying to use sex as a power tool, this should be the time to let go, and show some passion! You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

4) “He doesn’t care how I feel and never tries to please ME. It’s all about the almighty penis!” OK, I understand this. You have an insensitive clod who doesn’t try to please you. Have you really talked to him? Again, is this just a symptom of other underlying problems? Assuming all other areas in the relationship are ok, and talking has not caused a change, I recommend getting him red hot, then leave him hanging while you show him how YOU like to please YOURSELF while he watches. That will not only drive him wild, but he might even get a lesson. Be BOLD. Show him what you like. Guys are VERY visual.

5) Don’t become a prude and freak out if he even looks at the Adult store sign! Drag him in and be embarrassed- but look at toys. Tell him what you would love for him to do to YOU with one of them. It will be a better night, I assure you!

6) Be 100% real and TELL him your fantasies, no matter how bizarre you think they are. It will probably give him wood.

7) TOUCH. You’re tired? So’s he. You’re not ‘into’ it? Touch him anyway. Intimacy is not just sex, but once you start touching the one you love, let things take their natural course, whether to sleep, or to more.

8) You’re not comfortable with your body? Chances are, after 10+years, neither is your guy. Guys have days THEY feel ‘bloated’ and tired, too!  Maybe he is always ‘comfortable’ with his body- doesn’t matter, guys are usually more confident than we are. Truth be told, unless your man is an ASS, he loves your body, every bit of you. Take advantage of that fact, and be BOLD in bed. Be teasing, be sensual, be hot, and don’t second guess yourself. Don’t worry about your breath, your hair, whether you shaved recently enough. Just forget all of that, and get naughty!

You’re welcome. Class dismissed!

Today’s eating: Taking advice from a fellow blogger, I really focused today on only eating when hungry. I wasn’t too hungry all day, but of course- I did eat. Breakfast was one Atkin’s bar (3 grams) at around 7, then a brunch of egg and cheese on low carb tortilla, a few strips of crispy bacon, and a few strawberries with whipped cream. Total carbs here- 8-10.

I had nothing else to eat until dinner. Dinner was grilled salmon and broccoli. Carbs? 3. Dessert: a Carb-Master yogurt with a bit of whipped. 5. Daily total- 21. but we must add about 3 for my coffees in the morning, so 24. My goal now is 25-30, easily do-able. After my intense work-out class, I also spent about 20 minutes of combined time on walking fast on the treadmill and the stairclimber. Not a bad day in low-carb land, and I am feeling fitter already.

I have spent too much of my life wasting time, eating way too much junk food, and being a couch potato! While I cannot promise you I won’t fall back into my previous ways someday, I have to wonder why I would want to go back to that? I am getting older, and there will come a day when I will be old. I cannot predict what strange maladies may befall me. Arthritis? Cancer? Brittle bones? But even if I stay healthy, everybody dies. I want to know that I managed to take the gift of life I was given, and that I gave back by taking care of this gift, and doing all I could do to stay productive and active. There are no guarantees in life, except death and taxes, but why not prove to myself just what I could do IF ONLY.

What could you do, IF ONLY… ?

Bent fender

shredded plastic

flying metal

two riderless Reeboks, too slow to keep up with you

stay fixed on the street

macabre

I told you to be careful!

Did anyone tell him

to look, listen, slow

No!!

blood soaked asphalt

broken head- such pretty hair , your pretty hair

what has he done…

broken dreams

broken heart

time stopped

I told you to be careful

you flew so far

one might have thought it better

than to be crushed

but it didn’t help

to fly without wings

without brakes

without time to think that

time was over for you

and my world flew with you

and our hearts stopped as one

I told you to be careful!

Exercise- A gal from work and I have started walking the park lap. It’s 3.59 miles all the way around, and we walk it very briskly, occasionally breaking into a run or jog. It’s a good workout, if we can just keep with it, it should help with muscle tone.

New experiment- for about a week I have been sampling Nivea’s “My Silhouette”, a ‘redefining’ gel that promises amazing results if used consistently for four weeks. It’s supposed to smooth my lumpy fat zones. OK, sure. For $3.50 a bottle, I can just barely wait to see the astounding results! Still, here I am using it every day. Faithfully. I am probably a dupe.

Finally, there’s the brand name of low-carb pancake mix- Was it Walden Farms? I am not sure. I like their zero calorie strawberry spread, especially in my plain greek yogurt, but I don’t like the pancake mix. It’s just- not worth the hassle to mix it up, and not a good value for what you pay. Better to have an Atkin’s bar.

I’m continuing to preach the word about the value of kicking most of the sugar out of one’s diet, but people still think they’re doing well to get turkey bacon and still eat the Hostess Ding-Dong’s and Valu-Tub ice cream. Sigh…

New goal: 125 lbs. Pounds to lose- 7. Method? I am really not sure. I suppose I would have to further decrease carbs back to a strict 20 and make sure to get a consistent FOUR hours of hard cardio workout in every week. I’ll let you all know when I start consistently doing that. Tomorrow would be a great day to work out and to retool my carb intake.

Take care, every one of you low-carbers, and let me know how it’s going! OK? Lee

Scan0001

Recently, after counseling, her psychologist recommended antidepressants- something we had thought about but had truly hoped not to have to turn to. They have a nasty reputation-especially among teens, for making matters worse.

However, her new medical doctor went ahead and prescribed my daughter Celexa. She had taken the first pill, and we were sitting at a Chinese restaurant when the doctor called and told us that the good news, compared to the news of depression, was that my daughter’s thyroid function was very low, and that we should stop the antidepressants until Synthroid had been prescribed and taken for a few weeks, etc. The first dose was low, and did not change anything for her, so this time we have a .75 mcg dose instead of .25 mcg, and so we will now begin tomorrow to see what results there will be.

I just want to encourage everyone who has symptoms of depression, but who has either never been officially diagnosed, or who believes they are depressed but don’t want to take antidepressants, to get your thyroid levels checked. It has been estimated that up to a third of people on antidepressants may be misdiagnosed with depression, and may not be seeing any good results from the antidepressants.  So, even if you have been diagnosed with depression, and are on antidepressants, but have never had your thyroid checked, please do.

Other symptoms of thyroid disorders can be found at Web MD, among other sites online. My daughter has some of the symptoms listed, but not any of them were too pronounced. She has areas of dry skin, but she is a teen, so she has the typical breakouts and oily skin, too- so hard to tell that anything was too strange, there. She does tend to fluctuate a lot in weight depending on the time of the month- an indicator of more than usual water retention. She has a sluggish metabolism and low energy, but these symptoms could have been and were chalked up to social awkwardness, depression, or lack of exercise. Thyroid testing only involves a blood test. So, if you know anyone that may benefit from this information, please pass it along.

I can only try to express to you the relief that there may be hope for my daughter to be a happier, more fulfilled person. The idea that her life may be turned around with a small little pill is amazing to me. I am very hopeful. My 17 year-old daughter is an amazing, funny, brilliant girl who is the sweetest person I know. She is compassionate and lovely, wonderful and insightful.  I only wish we had pursued these avenues sooner, instead of simply thinking she was going through teen angst, or suffering because of parent’s divorce, or moving around a lot. None of these things were easy on her, but were not enough to cause the extreme depression we were seeing.

We truly look forward to seeing our little sunshine SHINING again.  We hope that this post will help someone else.

Time went on, and I stayed true to the plan. I am in OWL phase now, which means I allow myself 25-30 grams of carbohydrate per day. Whereas before, all my carbs came from veggies and whatever scant amounts are in salad dressing and cheese, I now allow myself nuts, berries, and other sugar free treat products which I denied myself before, just in small quantities. 

An example of this new treats thing is the Breyer’s ice cream or fudge bar. These are a net gram carb count of 3 for the fudge, and 5 for the ice cream bar. I don’t have it every day, and they have not caused gain nor caused me to binge. The other new addition is the Murray’s sugar free fudge covered wafer. I can have two of those for 3 grams. Some products, especially those labeled ‘sugar free’, and not ‘low carb’ require calculations to get the net gram count. First, subtract any fiber. Next, subtract grams of sugar alcohol- those are not processed by the body. Another thing to keep in mind is that because they are not processed by the body ,but eliminated with great haste and often chaos, eat those things high in sugar alcohols with much caution, or you could have some very embarrassing and painful episodes. So, the sugar free candy that has 19+ grams of sugar alcohol per 2 piece serving that you ate ten of? WATCH OUT WORLD. When your stomach starts gurgling and churning and something smells like the sewer lines backed up, just go have some quality time in the restroom. Don’t come out for a while, bring War and Peace in there with you. 

Another new fun product was the sugar free strawberry preserves – zero carbs, and pairs nicely with almond butter on a low carb tortilla. Yum.

Check out all the goods at http://www.vivalowcarb.com  This company has a nice line-up, good website set up, and I like to support their efforts. Unfortunately, I saw no affiliate program- but I am promoting them here so that we can all benefit from more availability of low-carb products. I tried just yesterday to find what was advertised online at the Vancouver, WA area as “Low carb Habit” superstore. They went out of business. Ditto for others. It would be so nice to find a low-carb store locally, but until more people catch the wave, it looks like Atkin’s bars and shakes, and whatever I can make at home is about it- UNLESS I order online. So I will. I also believe that some of the low-carbers here will have more success if people like us know that there ARE low-carb alternatives to all our used-to-be- favorite goodies!

Recipes? www.genaw.com/lowcarb/ Just for one example

Cook, eat,  share. I am a member here, and this is a GREAT website to not only find recipes, but to post your own. People can vote on each other’s recipes, and there are MANY low-carb pros out there willing to share their secrets. Sometimes the chicken and broccoli stir-fry gets old .If you’re like most of us, you’re thinking-  there has to be something else!  Luckily,  there is!