Ocean's 11 (Team 11) 3/1-3/15

[LFTS]

Here comes March! A whole new month with new challenges, and spring is just around the corner.

Remember: Attitude, not Aptitude, determines your Altitude.

[KelleyG]

Hello to Lisa and Jen!!!

What a nice sunny day we have today, ok...only about 55 degrees here but still nice.

Excited about new month. I am going to log my food for the next 2 weeks so that I can check for hidden carbs.

Kel

[LFTS]

Erin has been unable to get to her computer for two weeks; she has some issues she's dealing with that I'll let her share, but she's home and okay.

I had reported her as MIA, but will leave it up to Erin if she'd like to stay with us.

For March, I'm going to be upping my daily carb intake to 40-50 carbs as an experiment. I've never been at that level before. I've basically been at the same weight for 3 months, so it certainly can't hurt. I went out and bought raspberries, cottage cheese, nuts, tofu... all kinds of stuff I haven't had in forever. And what's odd about it is that I want *chicken* for dinner.

This week is an off week from lifting. We get every 9th week off to let our muscles fully recuperate. We can take a break from cardio, too, but I like starting my mornings with cardio; I feel mentally sharper and just physically better when I've had cardio.

What's stupid about that is that I've bought new lifting gloves and today, compression shorts.... when I don't lift for a week. I can wear the shorts for cardio, though, and plan to, tomorrow! I bought them mostly because of skin issues, anyway. (I'll wear them under warmups.)

Have a good one!

[KelleyG]

Glad to hear about Erin.

I love cottage cheese Like I said I am logging my food for the next 2 weeks. And following Oprah boot camp. Also went back to the water bottles. I went to regular cups and was much harder to keep track.

Enjoy your no-lift week!

Kelley

[KelleyG]

BIGGEST LOSER CHALLENGE FOR MARCH 1-15

"This is for March 1-15. Then I will post another challenge for the last 2 weeks of March. Here is the first challenge...it is easy...very easy and will hopefully get our teams back to posting, supporting and motivating each other.

A big part of this challenge is teamwork. How active are you on your team thread? Give yourself 1 point for each day that you post on your team thread. If you make it 15 days with posting give yourself an extra 15 points for being supportive and motivating your team members.

[LFTS]

Woohoo--easy points!

Kelley, when DD discovered I had cottage cheese in the fridge, she went for it. Good thing I bought two *big* containers; the grocery store has them 2/$4 this week. I guess I'll be sharing!

I've always loved cottage cheese. I remember, back when I was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth, the "diet plate" at most diners was a hamburger patty, cottage cheese, and half a peach. Toss the peach, and it's definitely Atkins friendly!

[No-C]

*sneaks in*

Hey gang. Sorry I've been MIA the last few. Found out what was wrong with my knee from when I injured it and it is actually a torn ligament. And since the computer is downstairs in the basement and negotiating the stairs is rather painful, I haven't been. But, if y'all will have me, I'll make it a point to get down here and post. Good news is I'm down more poundage....so, there's that at least. Just won't be able to rack up any exercise points for a few weeks until I get this brace off.

Erin

[KelleyG]

ERIN Glad to see you back! Sorry to hear about your knee, it is good they figured it out and then you can move on. Yeah, on losing pounds.

Lisa - I thought it would be a few easy points as well.

DH is working late all this week - going to try and do some extra phone work, once I get DD in bed (7:30).

See you tomorrow.
Kel

[No-C]

Good Morning gals!

Kelley, look at you! 20 lbs. down? That's awesome! How are things going? I haven't had a chance to catch up with the last thread. I figured after a month of pain it was time to get the knee checked out. Good thing I did, as I was just reinjuring it, without it in a brace. I'll have to have it braced for about 3 more weeks and if all goes well, will be able to start biking again afterward. I forget what the ligament is called...starts with a "C" I think, but it is a very unusual injury as it involves the ligament on the outside of the knee.

Lisa- Thank you for emailing me! It was quite fortuitous that I happened to get down to the computer that day.

We had a funeral to go to this past Monday. I found out last Friday that my Uncle Dave, who was my second dad growing up passed away, so we were out of town all weekend. The funeral was in Saint Clair, MI, which is about two hours or so away. Wound up staying and visiting with family that were up from North Carolina and didn't leave St. Clair until 3:30ish, just in time to drive home during the snow storm we got on Monday. Tuesday morning we were socked in with a foot of snow and they called school, of course. So, had four fighting children to contend with. If all goes well, and I'm sincerely praying it will, the boys will be going back to their parents in a month and a half and we'll finally have some peace in the house.

Anyway, there is my saga...

Chelle, if you check in sorry to hear about your accident.

Jen, hope you're doing well.

Erin

[LFTS]

Hi, Gang!

I'm 3# down this morning. I'm not sure what it's from--probably a combo of getting all my water in yesterday, this being the beginning of my losing time of month, increasing carbs, being off lifting this week... Dunno, but I'll take it.

I've just discovered a water leak under the house, and am waiting on a call back from the plumber. <sigh> I'm actually quite good at fixing water leaks myself, but *not* under the house. Plus, I think it's the hot water supply from the water heater. I guess this is gonna be my challenge for the day.

Erin, glad to see you back! The ligament just on the outside of your knee is the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. It's usually injured when the knee is twisted, and it doesn't take much of a twist to cause damage. Does that sound familiar?

Your story sounds much like mine, so I sympathise! (Mine was MCL--opposite side of the knee, and tear to the meniscal cartilege... compounded by degenerative arthritis in the knee.) I will warn you, though, that knees are painfully slow to heal, so don't rush it once you have that brace off. And if the doc gives you exercises, do them! He will probably give you ones to strengthen the muscles immediately around the knee, and hamstring stretches. Both of those will decrease the likelihood of re-injuring the knee. It's *great* that you have a recumbent bike, because that's gonna be perfect for recuperating.

Kelley, how is Oprah's boot camp coming along?

Jen, gal, times are rough, but please do check in! We're here for ya!

[KelleyG]

Erin - sorry to hear about your Uncle Dave. I messed up my knee in the fall down the stairs 2 years ago, along with the ankle (surgery & pins followed). Like Lisa said it did take a while for it to heal and get back from. But it does get better The funny thing about the 20# is some people are noticing and some haven't said a thing - I'm sure as I lose more it will become more apparent (sp?)

Lisa - Water leak? I am still having repairs done from this last one. We're next on our contracters list. DH can be handy, but time and not always finishing stuff is reason for contracter. I won't get into our unfinished house projects. AND -3 # is great, I love the whoosh fairy!

Exercise is going well. We start off the year with an expired (12-31) gym membership and I checked some out around town, planned to do the PT, like Jen, and the DH got invisilgn (braces) - $3500. DH suggest we workout at home this year We do have weight set and recumbent bike, but I don't feel like I'm getting enough from it - I sit there and ride, some how that doesn't compute - I like treadmill and eliptical machines. Doctor said he would write a note why medically necessary to workout and lose weight -both have diabetes. AND we can have our medical reimbursement account pay for it - so DH said ok let's get in there today. I think Oprah's Boot Camp will work better for me there - sick of the bike!

Off this am for annual hearing test, have lost 20% in left ear and 65% in right (from diabetes)...seems about the same maybe a bit worse with the right. Then meeting mom, sis and her DD at the history museum...Norman Rockwell exhibit and mom really wants to go.

Jen - thinking of you, just check in every now and then so we know you are ok.

Kel

[LFTS]

Kelley, *ow*. Falling down the stairs! I damaged my knee by trying to close the dishwasher door with my foot, and hooking the edge of the door under my kneecap. Then, a couple of weeks later, I fell walking on some large rocks.

I guess the moral of the story is: stay upright!

The water leak is repaired. There was a kinked pipe under the house; we've lived here for 13 years, and it picks *now* to bust! The good thing is that I was home when it happened on a day when I would usually be out at least half the day, and we actually had enough money to get it fixed. We will do quite a few repairs around here ourselves, but I draw the line at crawling under this house. Not with cotton mouths and water moccasins around (snakes).

It's a busy day ahead, with a potential client coming over shortly, so I'm off to get stuff straightened up.

[KelleyG]

Lisa - good thing the leak is fix! I don't like going into the crawl space either, DH has no problem with it - but then we don't have those kind of snakes here...our worry is spiders - ick! You probably said before but what kind of business do you have?

I had a slice of pizza last night with DH, let me say: didn't taste as good as I thought it would, made me fill icky that night and blood sugars were UP this am. Not worth it and a good reminder.

I'll try to check in tomorrow night, we have scholastic state championships for chess Saturday and Sunday, and I am working at it. It makes for a long weekend, actually starts tonight but DH has to be there not me.

FYI, next week (Thursday PM - Sunday PM) I will be out of town for a conference. Monday I'll be back here and ready to turn in mid-month numbers. Can you believe it will be here that soon?

[LFTS]

I hate, hate, hate spiders. <shudder> I don't care much about snakes; I avoid the poisonous ones, the rest don't bother me.

I'm a website developer. It makes for a nice home business, since most of my clients are out of state and I really don't need a storefront to operate. We do everything by email or on the phone.

When faced with pizza, I eat the toppings only. Or I'll build myself a salad and dump a few toppings on there. I actually like do the salad thing a lot more often then straight pizza!

Have a great weekend, folks--I'll try to check in. It's beautiful weather here (close to the 70's and the flowers are starting to bloom), so I may be lured to enjoy the great outdoors.

[No-C]

Morning gals!

Lisa- Yep! That sounds right, regarding the ligament. I knew it had a C in it, but that's all I could remember. I must have twisted it when I slipped on the ice at FIA that day. I pretty much did a deep knee bend with that leg and must have twisted it at the same time. I just know that it is VERY painful. There you go about that weather, again! It's 25 degrees here. We got a foot of snow on Monday which is not melting all that fast. Pretty stinky as all our other snow had already melted. *sigh*

Kelley- Ouch! Pins and everything, huh? I'm lucky in that respect, no pins. Don't you just hate that about losing 20? Some notice, some don't. I think, too, that some notice but don't want to say anything for fear you're sick or something. When we went to Uncle Dave's funeral, one of my aunt's who always says something about losing weight to me and anyone else in the family who is overweight was there. One sister who was VERY heavy had gastric bypass a few years ago and when my darling aunt saw her she said, "She looks fantastic! What'd she do, quit eating?" Not wanting to spill sis' beans, I said "Basically." But then one of my other sisters said, "She had the surgery." Ah well. One uncle told her she was beautiful now, and I'm thinking, "She's always BEEN beautiful. Didn't matter if she was thick or thin."

Well, ladies....I looked for challenges for this month and the only one I can see is posting, is that right?

Erin

[KelleyG]

Morning all!

Yep just the posting challenge.

That's why I am here - getting ready to leave, did great packing lunch.

Kel

[LFTS]

Erin, trust me! I'll be envying you in August, when even in the middle of the night, it feels like a big dawg breathin' on ya. It'll be 213 degrees in the shade, with 214% humidity.

People are funny about noticing whether you've lost weight or not. Some folks are really perceptive and will notice quickly. Others? Slower than rocks. I will admit that I knew one of the parents on DD's ball team went on South Beach last fall; I saw her in January, and she sorta-kinda looked like she'd lost weight in her face, so I mentioned it. Turns out she fell off the diet, but was about to get back on. oops.

On the other hand, when I'd lost about 110 pounds, one of the other parents remarked to me, *after* another parent was talking to me about different weight loss plans, "have you lost weight? It looks like you have." The other parent looked at her like she was an alien.

I'm having *fits* trying to actually eat more carbs. This is so silly, it's funny! I'm trying to shoot for 40-50 a day, netting out fiber, and I keep falling just short. I'm only going to do this through the weekend, and then switch to a meat fast during the week. Yep, I'm trying to shock my body.

Off to hit some garage sales!

[No-C]

Morning girls!

I'm starting Kimmer's meat fast today. I'm hoping to go as long as possible and then when I absolutely can't take it anymore, adding in one salad at lunch. My loss has definitely slowed as I'm not near as active as I was prior to the knee injury. I also see my doctor on Tuesday and am going to ask him about biking. I can't see how that would reinjure as it's non-weight bearing. Water intake yesterday sucked...as in major hoovering. Mainly because I tried to stay off the knee as much as possible.

Lisa- It's almost funny that you are falling short of your 50-60 carbs a day. Most people don't have any problem getting up to that figure. 'Course, they aren't as diligent as your are, either. People are just odd in regards to noticing weightloss. This past December my sister came over and was saying how great I looked and I must have lost somewhere around 20 lbs. since she saw me last. I wasn't doing anything. No exercise, no changing WOE, etc. I thought it was funny.

Kelley- Have fun at your chess championships!

I'll check in after church and let y'all know how I'm doing.

Ciao!

Erin

[KelleyG]

Hi guys!
Well, chess went well. 180+ kids and their parents, a hard gym floor and 12 hours. Both DH and I came home last night and were dying...I forgot how much energy it zaps from you. We actually went to bed at 9:30 after a couple asprin and a heating pad for my back - I felt very old. I don't have to go today - it only about 30 older kids that continue today. I am heading over to my sisters; she is having a welcome party for her DD (2 1/2 mos old). It should be interesting - she's even going to have the chocolate fountain there (they own several, and they are used for weddings, corporate parties, etc). We were talking about what kids will remember at this point and I was trying to tell my mom not to go overboard for Easter - my DD (18 mos) won't remember. My suggestion was a book - you should have heard what their thoughts were! And my mom cannot afford more. Anywho, this party is definately going to be over the top. OK, enough family chit-chat.

Water was pitiful yesterday for me too. We couldn't drink in the gym and that is where I mostly was all day. I was going to wear my pedometer yesterday to see how much I really walked and forgot. Today will be getting replenished in the water department.

Erin- cannot wait to hear how you do on the Kimmer meat fast. And good luck on the knee appointment. I know when they started PT for my knee, they had stretches and they put me on the bike more for the rotation and stretching than the riding to begin with.

Lisa - any good garage sale stuff?
Do you have any LC cooking books or LC Energy magaizine is good too - look for some LC recipes that are a bit higher that you were doing. If you did not subtract fiber how would you be doing?

I'll check in after the party (chocolate!)

[LFTS]

Erin, adding the carbs has been a really interesting lesson--I'm trying very hard to make sure the carbs I add are *good* carbs; veggies, some fruit, not sugar/starch. I hesitated to do this for so long, partly because I was afraid I would get cravings; and although I know I won't give into them, they're not exactly my idea of fun, either. Thing is, I haven't had a single craving while doing this.

The only not-so-good choice I've made was drinking several beers last night. That's a rarity, for me. Before this WOL, I used to drink a lot more!

The bike should be good to help get your knee back in shape. Do watch for pain behind, just below, the knee; I get this on occasion from biking. It's basically an overuse injury. The physical therapist told me to do limited range knee extensions and hamstring stretches to help strengthen muscles around the knee. Those limited range extensions are a killer! But they work! Unfortunately, otherwise, healing a knee is more a matter of patience than anything else. Just an aside--I was cautioned to NOT use a knee brace when it was healing, as my body would compensate and the knee wouldn't heal as quickly.

Did the doc give you anything for pain? Mine prescribed Mobic--and I found, later, that Mobic can make you retain water. It's possible that any meds you're on might also be slowing your weight loss.

I tell ya--I could do a meat fast (dunno how mine varies from Kimmer's) indefinitely. For some reason, my body LOVES meat fasts; I feel really, really good on them! My only complaint is that after 5 or so days, my teeth hurt!

[LFTS]

Kelley, you & I were posting at the same time!

The party sounds like fun, but I have no earthly idea what a chocolate fountain is. Do I really wanna know?

Garage sale stuff was a total wash yesterday. Mostly baby stuff.

If I didn't subtract fiber, I'd be right on target. I've been eating 15-20 grams of fiber each day.

[KelleyG]

WARNING CHOCOLATE TALK:

ok, a chocolate fountain is about 4' tall and we use a belgium chocolate (very excellent). You choose white, dark or milk and the chocolate is heated enough to melt, goes up through the machine and flows down over the sides (like a champaign fountain) and back up again. For dipping there are strawberries, bananas, angel food cake, cream puffs and a host of other goodies. BAD, bad, bad.

My sister said they would have appeitizers as well...we'll see what she has there. I'll eat before I go, that and chasing my DD around should keep me from the Chocolate Fountain.

Now, back to LC talk

[LFTS]

Kelley, picture all that chocolate as Russell Stover SF chocolate; you know, the kind that makes you feel like you swallowed an inflatable raft and then pulled the cord. And then your intestines explode. Ugly stuff, I tell ya!

[KelleyG]

That is a picture to take with - I think we've all been there with that SF stuff. You either explode or hop you will.

[SJN02]

Can the team leader pm me with the list of members on this team please? Also for the challenge from 3-1 to 3-15, I am giving everyone the 1st as a freebie since I didn't get it posted until the 2nd. It is my hope that everyteam member will post daily to help get the motivation and excitement back into the challenge. You all are doing a fantastic job and I can't wait to see your results on the 15th. I will also let you know that since there are sooo many posts on the challenge board that when I need to let a team know of a new challenge or how to post stats, I will be posting on each team's thread. That way maybe everyone will see it then. If you have any questions please pm me.

Kim
P.S. If you have already sent me the list of your team members, you don't have to do it again

[LFTS]

Kim has the list.

Hi, all! Another weekend behind us, and closer to spring. I have terminal spring fever, if you haven't already figured that out; if winter were longer, I'd never live through it! This from someone who formerly lived in Chicagoland. (Winter is one of the reasons I'd never move ba