Week One (2nd time)

Well, week one has come and gone along with four pounds.  Not much I know!  But, considering what this week was I still feel it was not a failure.

This week was Fourth of July and also my wedding anniversary -- 22 years, holy wow!  I did stray from my diet during the week, but only a little.  On the fourth I enjoyed a wonderful, perfectly grilled piece of prime rib.  OMG!  It was delicious, and not just because I was dieting.  I did only eat half and saved the other half for Friday's dinner.

Now... Saturday was a different story, but 22 years people, that's a big deal!  That's like half of my life!  I was definitely treating myself to some carbs!  We went to my favorite restaurant -- Conchy Joe's.  I started out good by ordering a white sangria... delish!  But then I ordered than darn Big Conch.  This is a drink for two -- seriously, says so on the menu!  Here is a picture of the Big Conch next to a normal ordinary glass of sangria:

Then it all went downhill...
Conch fritters...
Salad with creamy dressing...
Fresh warm corn bread...
Seafood combo (okay, I did order it broiled and not fried)...
Plantains with mango glaze...
OMG... heaven!  I ate it all so fast I didn't even take pictures!
I didn't order dessert.  I was good...

until... I got home, then I treated myself to a Nestle's Vanilla Caramel Drumstick -- it's just like the original Drumstick except it has this wonderful oozy caramel down the center of the ice cream.  Need I say more?!!

Sunday I ate nothing but vegetables... as much as I tried it didn't balance out that amazing meal!
Needless to say, I'll be eating MUCH better this week!

Shocking the System... again!

For those that are new to the blog or those that don't remember -- no worries, I forget stuff constantly, especially all that important stuff I'm supposed to remember!  Anyway, yesterday I started on my shock diet again.  If you have some time and want to catch up on the history (including pictures -- yes, I'm a brave girl) follow the links:

4/4/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/04/weight-lumps-and-hormones.html
4/10/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/04/weight-loss-week-1.html
4/18/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/04/pounds-tests-ribbons.html
5/7/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/05/down-13.html
6/3/2012 http://karenmarchetti.blogspot.com/2012/06/catch-up-not-ketchup-that-would-be.html

If not, here's the quickie version:  I quit smoking, put on 60+ pounds, now don't get me wrong - I did WW -- yep, actually gained weight while counting all those points.  I had a couple thyroid issues so I went to the doctor.  Well, he explained to me no matter how many points I counted I wasn't going to lose weight that way -- I was a carb hoarder, everything I was eating was being stored away for later.  Really?  Later... like when I finally got stuck on that deserted island?  He did a bunch of blood work and decided that a no-carb shock diet would be the best way for me to go.  So for two weeks I ate no carbs,was a crazy veggie-eating woman and lost 13.5 pounds.  I added minimal carbs back into my diet and still managed to lose a total of 20 pounds.  That was about 1/3 of the weight I needed to lose.

Well I slowly added real carbs back into my world, which brings us to now.  No, I'm not packing the weight back on -- that was the entire purpose of shocking my system -- to retrain my body not to hoard them, to actually use them, as long I wasn't a carb-crazed woman I'd be okay.

Here comes the bad news... I put on weight -- only three pounds, but I don't want any back.  In fact, I'd love to lose a little more!  I guess if I had kept paying attention to all the carbs I'd been eating it might have made a difference.  But this is where the re-shock comes in to play -- hopefully it'll reboot my systems and possibly retrain my carb cravings just a bit.

So here is the Round 2 Day 1 picture:

I'll let you all know how it goes.  I've got help this time, my son's girlfriend is doing the shock as well!

And it is done...

the raffle quilt that is!

I have been working on the raffle quilt for the Port Saint Lucie Crazy Quilters for what seems like months.  Not really, but it's been awhile!  My time and stitches on the raffle quilt are donated so I kinda have to take little breaks and work on customer stuff in between all the awesomeness.

Here it is -- like I said, awesomeness!

The quilt was pieced and appliqued by several PSLCQ guild members.  They did a fantastic job!  Here's a picture of all of us with the quilt -- it wasn't quite finished in this pic, but still amazing!

We are calling the quilt "Tropical Paradise", and it is a nice queen size, the pattern is Flowers for My Wedding Ring by Judy Niemeyer/Quiltworx.  Marian picked the colors and did an awesome job with the layout.

Anyway, back to the point of a raffle quilt.  You can purchase tickets for this beauty!  They are $1 each and the drawing will be held February 8, 2014 (the last day of the show).  Just a nice warning -- you'd better buy a lot because I plan on buying a lot and I really want to win!  Info on the tickets can be found on the guild website on the 2014 Show Page here just scroll down until you see the quilt.

Hope you buy oodles of tickets and Good Luck!