Monday : Bon Appetit !!

For Lunch today, I ate two sunny side up eggs and a bacon , lettuce and tomato sandwich on my low carb breadmachine bread.

Dinner, one cheeseburger patti and five skinless boneless char broiled chicken nuggets, with 2 tablespoons of peas and a little bit of mashed potato.

I exercised for one hour with 'Fit TV' (cable channel) and walked 20 minutes on the treadmill.

Lundi Gras Kicks Festivals into High Gear !!!

What ELSE could I have crammed into this overflowing weekend ? Well, on Sunday, Oscar and Bacchus went head-to-head, but thanks to VCRs, DVRs or whatever acronym you hold dear, I could have my parade and starlets, too.

I have to say that after our venture on St. Charles Ave. last nite, that its probably the ONLY place on Earth that allows PRIVATE PORT-O-LETS on neutral grounds !! I passed by hundreds of these port-o-potty's with LOCKS ON THEM. They all had "PRIVATE" signs on the doors above the locks. Some Entrepreneur even thought of charging $1 to use it. Said it was for CHARITY. Some people even charged you to let you park in their yard !! Others put garbage cans on public streets to 'save a spot' for friends and family. LOL ONLY in New Orleans.

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Today is Lundi Gras !!

Fat Monday is getting as wild as Fat Tuesday in the Greater New Orleans area with parades, music and revelry starting at 10 a.m. and stretching on into the night.

Read all about the meaning of Lundi Gras below :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lundi_Gras

Happy Lundi Gras :)

You gain a few -- loose a few.

Went to the gym & worked out for two hours this morning. I weighed myself and it said I had gained two pounds !! GRRRRR.

I guess since I had not been to the gym since last Wednesday, it is starting to show. This week I upped my carb intake because I thought i was good I had lost the 30 pounds... well, I'm going to have to reevaluate THAT train of thought.

For todays lunch, I had tuna fish on my homemade low carb bread & some ground meat cooked with egglplant.

Quite a combo aye ?

The weather is beautiful and parades are rolling today. Yall have a Blessed One !@

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Tonight we went to the Bacchus Parade in New Orleans, double decker floats & throws ! I got hit in the side of the head by my eye with a bunch of beads about three feet in length. They knocked me off of my feet and I was dazed a wee bit. We had quite a haul of beads and stuffed animals. Our kids enjoyed their first REAL night time parade in UPTOWN in The Big Easy.

On the way back home, we stopped by Wendy's. I had a double hamburger patti cut up into one of the $1.50 salads on the side. It was pretty tasty.

We got in more exercise, as we had to actually WALK to our car and the parade route.

Wheeeeeee !!

Bayoubabe

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez".. its Mardi Gras time !!

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez"

Let the good times Roll ! It's Mardi Gras weekend here in the Big Easy !!!! Time for some King Cake, Hot Beignets, po-boys.... Oh wait ! That's a low carber's nightmare :))

The streets will be rolling with Mardi Gras floats and revelers this weekend. Should be a wonderful way to pass a good time :) Exercise can include lots of WALKING, chasing the floats for beads, picking up beads and doubloons off of the ground AND tossing the beads to other people way back in the crowd, once you have enough for yourself. You'll probably have the chance to park far away from the parade route, so that's a plus in my book to get in that extra bit of WALKING.

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Its a beautiful sunny morning here. I'm finally getting myself pulled together.

I have a massage scheduled and I'm looking forward to that. My birthday is next Friday, so I hope to have great weather and a good time next weekend :) How much more can this southern gal ask for ? :))

For breakfast, I had four Jimmie Dean sausages on one slice of wheat toast. It is supposed to be weigh in day at the gym, but since I"m not going there today, I will just exercise at home. I think everyone needs a 'break' from the gym and do something different.

For lunch I ate double hamburger meat from Mc Donald's on wheat bread with my 100 calorie pouch of Cheeto Puffs.

Have a Blessed Day !

Bayoubabe

Life is SO sweet....

Life is so sweet sometimes... that I can almost taste it. Sometimes it is like pure cocoa, refined, and beautiful. At other times, it can become bittersweet, where you just want to take what you've been given and spit it out, never to have it to return to your mouth again.

I've looked at my life, my accomplishments, etc. I've also looked at my trials and tribulations... or I should say -- 'others' trials and tribulations..' and I shake my head in amazement at what makes people tick sometimes.

I've come a bit down to Earth since last night. I received news that my 50 year old brother, who was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer awhile back , needs an operation to get the tumors out of his liver. This consists of a 5 -7 hour operation, and then they will 'resection it'. My goodness. Its almost unbearable thinking about it.

I love my brother to death. He is the one 'constant' in my life that I can rely on. He is my 'rock'.
Nothing can make this 'feeling' go away. I keep wondering if there is something more I can do, to give him the 'encouragement' and prayer along the way that I sought when I was loosing my weight. I feel somehow I have failed him.

We can go along in life without acknowledging the good that others bring to our daily lives. We acknowledge our own accomplishments, but really -- I'd give it all back just to make him feel a wee bit better.

Its just when things get dark and heavy, I need something to hang onto, his hand in mine, and together we can get through his surgery, knowing he gave it his all, and we were there for each other.

I cannot let another minute go by without wondering if all that I do is ever 'enough'. I do a lot for my family and for myself, but just how much do I REALLY do for others ? I'm going to have to evaluate that with continuous prayer.

Sometimes, Big Easy on Low Carb ISN'T SO EASY.

Bayoubabe

Mixed Blessings...

I would like to thank everyone for their ideas about what I can do since I hit the 30 pound weight loss and the "Crossroads" place where I am. I am still thinking about this very much. I did up the carbs a bit yesterday, allowing for some potato salad (have not had that in ages). I jut found my stomach feels more bloated than usual, but then who knows ? It may just be a 'girl thang.'

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Today I worked out for two hours at the gym.

Lunch : I had a mixed meat (turkey, ham, chicken) sandwich on my low carb homemade bread.

For supper, bacon & mayo on whole wheat toast.

Not much exciting today. (I can stand a week without excitement).

I continue to monitor our son's progress with his meds (still on three as we speak.)

Only upside is that he goes to bed rather EARLY, giving me some much needed time to myself.

I saw two good movies over the weekend : The Secret Life of Bees and Nights in Rodanthe (gals this is a MUST -SEE movie .. Richard Gere :P )

Have a Blessed evening, everyone. It's almost Mardi Gras time here, and MY BIRTHDAY COMING UP SOON :))

Blessings,

Bayoubabe

At a Crossroad....can anybody please help ???

So, I've reached the point of loosing 30 pounds.. now what ?

At 134, I think that is quite commendable. However, I cannot decide just where to go from here. I do know that I need to keep up with the low carb regime, but perhaps adding a few more fruits and less starchy carb veggies. Is it time to explore other options ? I think so.

Now that I'm 'mastered' the technique to 'get the weight' off -- what now ?? I really have no desire to go below 130 pounds. So , I guess the next technique would be 'maintaining'.. the 'good weight ?'' I'm not so sure where to begin.

A few things I would like to do would be :

(1) Not go below 130 pounds.
(2) Keep the weight OFF, but not go above 140.
(3) Learn how to eat better (either adding more carbs,) but which ones and how ?
(4) Exercising to get the muscles toned where the weight came off the most and SHOWS.. (neck area, upper back arms, etc).

Is there anybody out there that has REACHED their weight loss goals, and then asked, NOW WHAT ? I'd sure like to talk with them. Any ideas, url's etc, to help me on this goal. I'm so excited I am where I am now, and feel so blessed. At the same time, I'm beginning on a NEW JOURNEY, and I ask for your help. Is there anybody out there ???
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For breakfast this morn, I ate four Jimmie Dean sausages on my homemade low carb bread. Touch of mayo to satisfy the palate !