My lowering the carbs daily journal

[HeatherFeather]

I would love an avocado tree. I have 2 fruit trees that had been producing fruit but seem to be dying. I have no clue what happened to them. One is orange, the other is clementine. Last year everything was overflowing with fruit, this year on both trees (one in the front yard, another in the back) lost so many leaves and hardly had any fruit on them. My neighbors trees all looked normal, so not sure what happened.

I have no clue how to take care of them ><

Having a garden with fresh produce is high on my wish list when I finally have my own place - grats on yours!!

[racrgal]

Thanks, HF. I'm quite excited about moving back down the hill.

I am at a loss with caring for citrus trees. Here is So Cal most seem to care for themselves. I had an orange tree at my last house which dropped all of it's leaves every couple of years. No one could tell me why or I'd pass that info on to you.

There is one type of avocado which will bear from Feb to Sept! THAT is the one I'm going to plant.

[Kchurchill5]

A couple of things with citrus.
First NO mulch under the tree, it will kill it.
Over fertilizing can cause it to really grow, but NO fruit
It can be a bug or a disease; hard to tell without seeing it
Over water, a bad sprinkler head, or too dry can also be a factor. very hard to tell without seeing the tree and what has happened over the last year

[HeatherFeather]

A couple of things with citrus.
First NO mulch under the tree, it will kill it.
Over fertilizing can cause it to really grow, but NO fruit
It can be a bug or a disease; hard to tell without seeing it
Over water, a bad sprinkler head, or too dry can also be a factor. very hard to tell without seeing the tree and what has happened over the last year

The house has auto sprinklers and the owner sends a fertilizer service out every month, so I don't add any other chemicals, so that isn't likely to be the problem.

Maybe bugs or disease though. No clue.

[HeatherFeather]

I forgot to add the rest of my meals in for yesterday:

Lunch - I made a salad with mixed baby greens, tomato wedges, half an avocado, a bit of ginger dressing (not low carb, using it up). I also had a tiny bit of boiled cabbage and mashed cauliflower leftover, so I heated them together and ate that along with the salad (it was such a tiny amount)

Dinner - I had planned to go out to eat, but I got a migraine, so I cooked a Greek burger I had in the freezer, served without ketchup (used creamy Dijon mustard instead) and sliced tomatoes, a last lonely piece of soy cheese lurking in my fridge. I had planned to use a whole wheat bakery bun that needed to get used up, but had to toss it (mold just starting on it - FL humidity struck!), so I had to use a Hawaiian bun. Serve with a handful of sweet potato puffs.

I didn't have a snack today, but I did have 1/4 cup ice cream, which was very much not low carb. I regretted it afterwards, but at the time I just wanted something icy on my molars (I had a migraine and melting ice cream really helps soon the pain).

Obviously the bread is not low carb (even if I had been able to use the wheat), but it was my one bread item I allowed myself all week. I don't eat burgers often, but when I do, I am having a bun.

Anyway, certainly not a very good low carb day for me, but I still didn't feel like I ate too much of anything that was bad. I am going to the store tomorrow for more greens and such - all out of mushrooms and other nice low carb filler foods.

Oh! And I almost forgot - I did exercise today. I did a 1 mile workout.

[HeatherFeather]

Beverages: Coffee with half-n-half, Honest-T (almost unsweetened iced tea), water

Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, 2 slices Canadian bacon, 2 slices tomato, with 1 Tbsp leftover Hollandaise sauce on top - kind of stacked like Eggs Benedict, with tomatoes used instead of the bread

Lunch: undecided for now - I am out of a lot of things, so I may need to eat out - no salad greens or I'd have that

Dinner: if I don't eat out for lunch, then I will eat out tonight (still picking lower carb choices), otherwise it will be baked fish with steamed California veggie medley, my dog will get to eat all the carrots I pick out

Update: lunch was 1/2 an avocado, 1 cherry tomato (that was all I had left), and about 1 ounce of Cheddar cheese. Not very filling, but at least I wasn't terribly hungry.

Dinner - since lunch was pathetic and I was running out of food, I did get food to take home tonight after all. I got White Coral Chicken from a Chinese restaurant - it is steamed white meat chicken breast, steamed fresh veggies, in broth not a thick sauce - from their healthy menu selections. I also got some egg drop soup, but only ate 1 cup, saved the rest. I ordered crab rangoon too, but I only eat the filling (cream cheese + crab), toss out the crispy shells and the dip that came with as well. It came with 8-9, I had 4 fillings.

Overall, even though I ate out, I felt like I stuck to the lower carbs options today quite well. I picked out the carrots from my meal and let my dog eat them. It wasn't heavy at all - oh, and I only ate 1/3 of the portion they gave me for the main dish. Everything is packed up in the fridge for future meals. I saved all of the steamed rice for my dd to eat when she gets back home tomorrow.

[HeatherFeather]

My new cookbook arrived today! It was actually somewhat disappointing as it has almost no pictures and the way the recipes are organized is really unusual. I hope the recipes are good. Most of them are not for phase one though, so I am still limited on new things to make.

Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, 2 slices Canadian bacon, 1 tomato slice, 1 handful sauteed mushrooms, 1 Tbsp Hollandaise sauce

Beverages: water, coffee w/half n half, tea w/Truvia and a splash of milk

[Kchurchill5]

As I said, I'm not nearly as good as you guys, but just trying to cut back which does really help.

Today, cottage cheese with peaches for breakfast
Lunch, which I rarely do. Triscuits with egg salad, but I used yogurt and only ate 4 crackers, it was just a snack. Celery, egg, onion and herbs in the salad.

Dinner ... half and half. I am making salmon cakes that does have potato in them, but also spinach and salmon. The sauce is made of mayo and sour cream. I am using mostly yogurt, dill and jalapenos. The cakes do have a few bread crumbs, but panko and just enough to hold together, nothing more than a teaspoon if that.

Now the slaw, jalapenos, coleslaw, NO mayo, vinegar based; and a tomato slice on the side

So, NOT no carbs, but just lower; and the potato in the cakes mixed with spinach and salmon is not that much.

I will have a beer later ... real beer, NO low carb, sorry; and maybe a glass of wine with dinner. But, as I said, lower carbs, NOT no carbs for me. But I think it is also important to note that just cutting back can also really help in weight loss. NO carbs by far wins; but for me, just cutting back can really help in the plan.

[HeatherFeather]

Lunch: Leftover white coral chicken from last night's dinner, I split the leftovers into three more portions, serving one to myself, one to my dd (she also got some rice with hers), and then I finished the egg drop soup. The remainder will be part of tomorrow lunch or go into an omelet.

Chinese food portions are so massive - I got 4 portions out of one container meant to feed one person.

Dinner: Half a lobster, steamed, with melted garlic butter. 1 boiled mini potato (and I really do mean mini, it was teddy bear portion sized) for me, dd had a normal serving, I was supposed to have steamed California veggie medley too but the veggies had spoiled.

DD wanted to get frozen yogurt, so I took her. They have the kind of place where you fill your own cup and they weigh it. I agreed to take her, and would only get some for myself if there was a sugar free version. There was, so I measured out 1/3 cup and added fresh unsweetened berries and a sprinkling of chopped unsalted nuts.

Pretty good day overall.

I am with you - lowering the carbs works far better for me in the long run than going cold turkey on carbs. It just makes me want stuff I can't have if I force myself to completely avoid things. This way I just balance out things, leaning heavily on the reduced carb options whenever possible, but adding a little carby stuff when needed.

[Kchurchill5]

Sounds like a good day HF; yep, just balance it all. My carbs were in the salmon cakes, but 4 potatoes for 8 cakes, and small baby reds so I felt pretty good since I had 2 of the smaller cakes.

All about choices and how we mix things up.
Enjoy pasta, but have it with a stir fry of veggies
make mashed spuds ... but use broth vs milk and butter
roast veggies rather than sauteing them with butter
brown vs white rice
pasta is fine, just smaller portions, but you don't have to give up a cream sauce, just be smart about the portion size
eggs, a medium egg is lower in fat a calories than an extra large, but will still give you a nice egg for breakfast
low sodium bacon is a great alternative, for same taste, lower salt
And don't give up all salt, our bodies do need it, just watch your intake
NO fast foods and take out. Really really bad Most of them.
Sub way are other places have some nice alternative to low fat, carbs and fairly healthy

If you love steak and potato, I often make this. A small baguette sliced, toasted with and brushed with a tomato slice. It gives great flavor and no calories. Skirt steak grilled and thin sliced, roasted stuffed tomato with cheese and veggies and another veggie of your choice or salad. Now, you still have carbs with the bead, but very few. I make this for a friend who tries to watch carbs. She too loves CARBS and can't go without. This is a way to give her a little, but just a taste, but mostly vegetables, fruits or proteins for the rest of the meal. It is just one way to cut back a bit, but still enjoying a little.