So my little experiment for the week (Would removing beans get me back on track) proved that yeah, beans are not helping me with the weight-loss. I dropped down lower than I’ve been able to get to on this diet, almost immediately after dropping beans off the menu. Can’t wait to see how next week goes!

So I’m focusing on eating veggies, meat (steak, chicken, turkey, fish) and eggs. So far my breakfast and lunch repeat. Every day I have 2 eggs, (no sugar added) salsa, 2-3 slices of bacon and 1 or 2 cups of coffee with half-and-half. Lunch this week was: Meatball & veggie soup (not loving the soup, but meatballs we’ll be having again!), tuna fish salad over coleslaw mix, and egg salad over coleslaw mix.

That coleslaw mix is my new best friend. I am totally in LOVE with it. I don’t care what diet you’re doing – I can’t think of a single diet that wouldn’t work with that stuff. It’s low carb, low calorie, packed with vitamins. It’s crunchy, filling, yummy. LOVE IT! I was lamenting over the fact that egg salad or tuna fish salad NOT on bread just aren’t the same… but I’ve decided that on coleslaw mix… WAY YUMMIER.

I’m still looking for more options for lunch though. I wish I could eat that tuna fish salad every day – but I’m worried about the other negative health issues with canned tuna (mercury, etc.). I can probably get away with eating it 2 days a week – but I wouldn’t push my luck for more than that on a regular basis.

In any case, this week was much better than last. Feeling good, skinnier… but looking forward to binge day! LOL! Last week, I never made it to Jamba Juice, so hoping to get there this week on binge day (My son has been begging for a smoothie too so that will make both of us happy). There will be many jelly beans eaten. (Totally addicted to those) Pancakes. Pizza (maybe) – or maybe I’ll just do Chipotle again (I love their burritos stuffed with cilantro rice!!)

So as evident by my weight chart – I’m not losing weight. I hit a nice low the first week in, but my weight came back up a little and then really hasn’t moved as much – and didn’t get back down to the low from the week before. My suspicion is the whole bean theory. I’m feeling less and less convinced that the carbs in beans is really “safe”. I think that while it won’t promote weight-GAIN – it doesn’t promote weight-LOSS either. If I was looking to maintain my weight – then I think this works. Eat as much beans as you need to fill up. The carbs in beans won’t ADD fat – not like the carbs in pasta and bread does – but if you’re looking to LOSE weight, then beans can prevent that from happening. At least that’s my theory. From what I’ve read from other people as well – when they weren’t losing weight – removing the beans helped them start to lose again. Being that I’m only looking to lose between 10-15lbs now, I may need to really restrict what kind of carbs I bring into the picture in order to get down to where I want to be. It may be that if you’re looking to lose 40+ lbs – beans are ok. (Although Sam is doing the diet with me too, and he has a good 70lbs to lose but while his weight loss was big the fist week too, he also is kind of stalled out)

So now the issue will be to modify my meals so that there are little to no beans. Most of the dinners I’ve been having on this plan – that’s not a problem. And Breakfast was usually hard-boiled eggs, and I think I can keep that up for a good long time. But lunch was a heavy on beans. I would make a huge batch of bean salad and I’d just grab a serving and go and I’d be all set for lunch. I’ll need to find another easy to make ahead and grab and go kind of lunch.

I also still plan to keep “binge day” as it’s the main thing that will keep me sane on any particular diet. Maybe I won’t go out of my way to make myself sick – but I will go for items I’d been craving that week. Today happens to be binge day.

On the menu:

Pancakes (check)
French fries
Chipotle burrito
Jamba Juice Mango-a-go-go
and a chocolate macaroon I saved from last week

I’d also like to keep trying to snap a pic of my food. It’s funny how easy it is to forget. I remember about half way through a meal usually – but at that point, it seems kind of too late.

These are my favorite thing to make for get togethers. They always come out awesome and they’re relatively easy to make (and always a hit). The recipe is here.

No, I’m not going to eat all these but I’m going to have more than my fair share today. So, I figured one picture of the lot would suffice. Here is the recipe: joyofbaking.mobi/cookierecipes/ChocolateCoconutMacaroons.html

It’s all downhill after breakfast!!!