Yes, I'm still here... I'll try to catch you up.

This is an atypical update, but I felt that I couldn't let any more time pass without posting something since it looks like I dropped off the edge of the earth.  I apologize for neglecting you, and for not having a list of my weigh-ins for the missed days.  I will try to get that done in the next update if I can.

I didn't keep detailed food diaries but I tried to weigh most days.  I will try my best to list everything I can right now relying on my feeble memory.  Sorry for the sketchiness, but it's the best I can do right now.  More on the reason for that later...

Thanksgiving update:  I didn't do too well and didn't follow my own advice.  I didn't eat much at Thanksgiving Lunch #1, but didn't load up on the raw veggies, either.  The best I did was some fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries brought by my sweet cousin, but I ate some of the starchy veggies too.  I tried to get the water and the ACV in, but I didn't drink nearly enough.  At Thanksgiving Lunch #2 (yes, we went to both sides of the family) I let myself get hungry and ate starches.  Not my mammoth serving sizes of the past, but definitely more than my teaspoonful "tastes."  Then, the cardinal sin -- I visited the dessert table.  Once I ate the starches I had this "What the Hell... It's Thanksgiving" kind of attitude and dived in.  Big mistake.  Along with my coffee, I ate no sugar added pumpkin pie and then chased it with a generous slice of lots of sugar added carrot cake. :(  Woke up to a significant gain that put me over my LIW+2 lb window.

Friday: I was a cleaning maniac, fueled by guilt from the scale climbing and the fact that I couldn't bear putting up my Christmas Tree/Decorations in my filthy dirty house.  Scrubbed floors, washed windows, dusted everything in sight, cleaned out the fridge...  I didn't eat much until afternoon and tried to stick to the "tried and true" eggs, cheese, and nuts.  Let myself get over-hungry and probably overdid it late in the day, but at least stuck to "legal" foods.  I felt better with the straightened up house, and I was proud that I stuck to "legal" foods, although it wouldn't really qualify as an official "steak" day.

Saturday:  Woke up to a small loss, but still outside the LIW+2lb window.  Continued with "Operation Clean," but also started experimenting with some Almond Flour creations from my new cookbook The Almond Flour Gluten Flour Cookbook by Elena Amsterdam.  After the Thanksgiving debacle, I wanted to try to make some creations that might pass for holiday hors d'ouvres and goodies. I was also hopeful that my family would also enjoy the goodies.  I ordered the ingredients from Amazon (be prepared to drop a pretty penny on that stuff -- Almond Flour costs as much as powdered gold) and decided to try to make the Cheese Crackers and the Spicy Crackers.  They turned out pretty good, and even the family liked them.  Next, I wanted to try the Sandwich Bread, but I didn't have all the ingredients.  Unfortunately, I did have the ingredients to make the Pecan Raisin Bread, and decided to give that a whirl.  It turned out very nicely, and although it didn't have any added sweetener (Elena uses Agave Nectar most of the time for that purpose) it DID have raisins, which certainly aren't Phase 3 friendly.  This was a treat, especially with the Organic Cream Cheese I spread on it.  I probably ended up scarfing down three slices.  Ugh.  Then, I completely blew it that evening.  It was the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech football game and we had some good friends over.  The snacks were easy for me to avoid (I was full of Pecan Raisin bread, remember???) but we had (gasp) Mulled Wine.  I was so chilly and it smelled so good that I had to try it.  Then, I had to have another mug.  And then, I had another mug.  It was pretty much like injecting straight sugar directly into my veins.  Worst mistake yet:  woke up to 1.3 lb gain. :(  Now I am WAY over my window and solidly in the lower 150's. :(

Sunday-Tuesday:  Did the best I could with the eggs/nuts/cheese combo, although the cost of the organic, raw cheese and nuts was becoming cost-prohibitive with me living off of them.  So, not all the nuts and cheese were organic and raw.  Hitting the ACV and Yogi Peach Detox Tea hard... Weight crept down in very small increments, but no where close to taking off what I gained.

Wednesday:  Who shows up a FULL THIRTEEN DAYS EARLY??? You guessed it, there is TOM on my doorstep, grinning evilly. Had a small gain to add insult to injury.  Not a happy day.  Still tried to stick to the egg/nuts/cheese combo, but I'm starting to worry that I need to start throwing in some different foods.  I'm hoping against hope that my cholesterol/triglycerides are not going through the roof.

Thursday (today):  I wake up to an even bigger gain.  Can't remember exactly -- 0.7 lbs maybe?  Now I'm creeping ever so close to crossing from the "Normal" range back into the "Overweight" range on my Wii. Damn you TOM, sugars, starches, and my fragile willpower!  This is really getting me down and I'm starting to worry that I have really screwed up my Phase 3 and the gains are going to continue.  I was playing with fire eating the starches and sugars, and I sure don't seem to be successfully resetting my hypothalamus.  During Round 1, I was exceptionally good during Phase 3, and it paid off nicely for me during Phase 4.  I'm afraid that the rest of this round is going to be quite rocky, especially with all the Christmas opportunities to cheat and my numerous screw ups during this Phase 3.

So, I resolved to try to do a simulated steak day, even though I am probably too late.  Remember that Dr. Simeons is very specific that you do the steak day IMMEDIATELY when you go more than 2lbs over your LIW.  So, I get my day going and headed out the door to take my two puppies to be groomed.  Carried them outside for one last bathroom trip, and in my haste I bent over at the waist to set them on the ground.  Considering that I have a history of throwing my back out and the puppies are pushing about 15 lbs each, this was a huge mistake.  When I got them about 5 inches off the ground, POW!  Out goes my back.  Agony ensues, and since I was home alone I laid against my car in the garage for about an hour unable to move.  I finally was able to hobble inside and take some pain meds, and was able to make it until a family member could come provide aid.  So -- here I am.  Hopped up on pain meds and nothing to do but sit and type.  I've eaten mostly Ezekiel bread and cheese (needed something easy) to try to buffer my stomach from all the meds, so I'm sure that isn't going to help with the scale.  But, I'm just going to do what I have to do, and hope for the best.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to move around a little more and can record all the weights I missed off my Wii graph.  And, I'll work on having a more positive outlook.  Time for some more drugs... Night All.