Need to pay closer attention...

I've been acting like someone in maintenance (only much worse) with their weightloss, while, in reality, I still have a good 20-30lbs that I want to lose.  It's tough to commit to getting online each evening and keeping record.  Proof is in the fact that I'd quit doing it a couple of times already.  Here I am, trying again.

Monday, 2/4/2013
B> 2 scrambled eggs, 2 strawberries, coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> wild rice soup, cottage cheese w/bite of pear, pickle, 2celery sticks w/pb 
Supper> steak, serving Alexia fries, several spears asparagus
Snacks> 4 bites leftover pork roast, coffee w/h&h and stevia, frozen garden raspberries w/sf vanilla ice cream

Wow.  That looks like a lot of food.  Probably because IT IS.  At work I usually have a little of this and that, I like variety.  I'll try to curb that.  I also see that there's too much snacking.

Tuesday, 2/5/2013
B> 2 fried eggs, leftover steak bits, 2 strawberries, coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> tuna salad (not the pasta kind) on little lettuce, 2 stalks celery w/pb & few raisins
S>  zoodles w/meat sauce, couple bites homemade unsweetened applesauce, diet Dr.Pepper
Snacks> 4 strawberries, sf vanilla latte, few homemade cocoa crusted almonds, Tbsp.dark chocolate chips

I finally bought myself a zoodle cutter.  I've read lots of blogs and read many reviews on spiral cutters, most seeming to really go for the larger cutters or mandolines.   I had bought myself an OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer for $40 at Target over a year ago.  I used it once.  Then it got boxed up and has been sitting on the bottom of my baker's rack ever since.  It just takes too much effort to set it up, use it, take apart and clean, then store it again...  (If you've ever lived in a trailer home you know that storage space has a premium price.)  So I thought that surely there must be a hand-held sized cutter of some sort, aside from a vegetable peeler.  What I discovered is below.  I just used it for the first time last night.  Perfect.  Yes, it was pretty expensive for a small piece of metal and plastic.  Fortunately I'd received a gift card from a relative and ended up paying only $5 of my own money for it.  I thought it may be a little tricky to clean the sharp little teeth, then realized a toothbrush would work perfectly well to do the job.

Do you make zoodles?  How do you enjoy them?  And, for the love of Pete, how do you keep them from being so wet (notice the greenish tinted ooze on my plate)?

Wednesday, 2/6/2013
B> 1 slice Ezekiel toast w/pb & j, 4 strawberries, coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> small chicken taco salad, few bites cottage cheese w/6-8 pineapple tidbits
S> bbq beef ribs, several Tbsp corn, salad, small sweet potato w/butter, couple bites applesauce
Snacks> whole medium apple w/pb, 2 strawberries

Baby steps... I'm so full of sh!t with excuses, aren't I?  I did skip snacking while at work and skipped my afternoon sweetened hot drink.  I'm having one hell of a time with fruit, though.  Grr.  I think I need to avoid the cottage cheese at work as I usually crave a bite or two of fruit to go along with it.

Thursday, 2/7/2013
B> scrambled eggs, 1 Ezekiel toast w/butter & jam, 3 strawberries, coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> small chicken taco salad, 2 celery sticks w/pb
S> Cheat - J wanted to go out to eat for a favorite club sandwich, followed by a big piece of pie
Snacks>  2 small chunks of banana w/pb & 4 raisins, homemade sf cappuccino, 8 homemade cocoa crusted almonds

I was going to make a pan of brownies to bring to work today.  Decided to maybe make them next week as a Valentine's Day treat instead.  The piece of banana was a planned cheat, well, planned since yesterday when I was cleaning these darling little bananas at work - so cute!  While it was a tiny banana I knew that it contained a ton of sugar so I cut off about a fourth to a third of it and gave the rest to a coworker.  Once put together with the pb and raisins it ended up being two big bites.  It was good.  But I like it better with celery.  And, sadly, the 3 berries at breakfast were the last of my strawberries.  But I have a lovely container of blackberries waiting to be used next.  Yum yum.  Oh, and the homemade sf cappuccino is just kind of "meh".  It needs to be worked on yet.  I think the sweeteners that I'd used (xylitol and stevia) were good, but the amount of cinnamon and instant coffee granules need to be worked out better as it's a bit strong.  Once this batch is gone I may make it again and, if it turns out good, I'll post the recipe.

Friday, 2/8/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam & mozzarella, 1 Ezekiel toast w/butter & jam, 7 blackberries, coffee w/h&h and stevia
L> skipped
S> about 1/4c bowties & veggies mix, chicken/pork Italian sausage, couple bites cottage cheese, 3 thin slices off small pear, 1/2 small clementine orange
Snacks> 1mini sf chocolate, few Tbsps dark chocolate chips & almonds mixed

Breakfast was late, so skipped lunch. Not too shabby...  While I don't keep track of my water intake I do recognize that I don't drink enough throughout the day and will work harder at that.

Saturday, 2/9/2013
B> scrambled eggs w/spam & cheese, 7 blackberries
L> bunless burger, small sf Starbucks mocha
S> 2 slices very thin crust pepperoni pizza w/edges cut off, salad
Snacks> sf hot chocolate, 6 blackberries, 2 tiny sips of Starbucks Vanilla Spice latte

We were out and about today, hence the Starbucks. J got the Vanilla Spice latte and I couldn't resist trying it... twice.  Pizza wasn't the best choice.  I realize a more disciplined person would've just had the salad while out.

Sunday, 2/10/2013
B> 2slices Ezekiel toast w/butter, jam & cheese, 6 blackberries, 2 coffee w/h&h and stevia 
L> 1/3 apple slices, salami, mozzarella 
S> 2 fish tacos, 3 tortilla chips w/salsa, 1/2 clementine orange
Snacks> 1sf mini mint patty, Tbsp dark chocolate chips & few almonds, sf chocolate mint bar


I picked up a package of hair bleach for face yesterday.  I had been scouring Ulta's site and read a bunch of comments reviewers had made on Sally Hansen Creme Hair Bleach.  The one reviewer that mentioned having PCOS had me convinced when she said that it bleached even the coarse dark hair on her chin.  So this morning I tried it out.  You'd think I'd learn by now that most products just aren't able to live up to their claims. The photo is "before", just to give you some idea of what I deal with every single morning...  I had taken an "after" photo as well.  But it looked the same as far as the stubbly hair growth, worse because of the bad lighting.  (How's that for sexy, huh?)

Now for some fair and helpful information.

I have been using Equate (Walmart's brand) face lotions, which have improved my skin greatly when it comes to ingrown hairs.  What I've been using for more than the past year is the Healthy Face Lotion with Alpha-Hydroxy Acid and SPF15, and less frequently, the Oil-Free Ultra-Gentle Facial Moisturizer.  (They have a little blurb on each bottle that compares them to Neutrogena products.)  It seems that the Alpha-Hydroxy Acid products slough off enough skin cells to prevent ingrown hairs.  I say "products" because when I do use a facial cleanser, it also contains A-HA.  In the winter months here it is very dry and the skin around my mouth and chin gets very flaky.  To prevent the flaky skin I have to use A-HA products more sparingly than I would in the summer months and this is also why at times I use the Oil-Free Ultra-Gentle Facial Moisturizer.

If you suffer from this PCOS problem (i.e. infected/ingrown whiskers), give it a whirl.  If you experience this problem and have an effective method already, I'd love to hear about that, too.  This is the one PCOS symptom that drives me bonkers the most as it is one of the most visible.  Oh, oh, and I wanted to mention my experience as far as shaving goes.  I have not noticed that it has caused the hair to be thicker/coarser/darker.  (I suspect that that info was put out there more as a way to keep people buying hair removal creams or waxes, but then I am the daughter of a conspiracy theory nut.  No offense, Dad.)  What I think I noticed was that when I used to pluck (yes, every other night/day and it was a long process) the hair was more "lush", so I try not to pluck them anymore.  Aw, if only I could win the lottery and have laser...