300+ Support Group-May Flowers-The month of Of MAY

[dantesmom]

Originally Posted by desdemona

lol, okay okay - so I dropped off the face of the earth.

But this is proof I answer my emails!!!!

If any of you guys are text junkies or on facebook message me here and I'll give you that info as well

Um, hi guys!

So yeah, my bf moved in with me and I've been crazy busy going out and doing stuff with him... Last weekend we went to a dance class to learn two step and country waltz.

I promise I won't run off to vegas That's the only promise I can make though, lol!

Wow! sounds like you are having a great time!


Way to go Magikal!!! You rock!

[Zer]

As LCFriends check in and catch up us to date, I'm encouraged by so many good reports, particularly as some are breaking through stalls or plateaus that we all go through as our body adjusts and balances - and fights to keep its set point.

Great news for me, that a body WILL yield to a persistent faithful LC program.

Thanks to all who list their menu, however brief, to give us all ideas on how we too might climb aboard the WHOOSH EXPRESS that sometimes seems to take a major wad of weight away overnight. I am seeing fish fish fish on some plans, and I believe that is what works best for me, although I do get yearnings for a double slab of burger now and then. Beefy cravings are interesting. Leads me to think that it's time to stir up a skillet of Crack Slaw or Taco Salad/Slaw to satisfy my protein-fat cravings. Cabbage is a favorite of mine.

Heard about some beefy weiners made of grass-fed beef, organic, at TJoe's (Applegate Farms is the brand, two styles of weiners to sample) and I'm all set for working my wieners with some kraut and plump caraway seeds. Yum! Googling brings up several sites for organic grass-fed beef online. I'm not at all sure I've ever tasted grass-fed beef. It's something I want to try, as I get more aggressive about finding and fueling up on organic (non-GM) food.

What's YOUR Friday looking like? I'm so pleased to see a clear space from a wheely walker that I just donated (after using it as a clothes rack for 2yrs). I feel as if letting go of that room clutter will expedite letting go of body clutter - and I'm excited to think of weighing Saturday morn, my official weigh day.

I'm so grateful for the fellowship of LCFriends, the support that I am getting used to finding when I visit this site. It's a step in the right direction, to find a body of people who are moving in the same direction: LC for health! Yay!

[Pcola Girl]

YouTube - "Britains Got Talent * Connie, 6, WOWs Simon...

Just wanted to share this with you all.

[alaskanlaughter]

sniffle sniffle...that is a wonderful video...i dont normally even watch videos online - im just old fashioned that way - but i watched that one lol

[Zer]

I miss a lot of stuff that is provided in video format. Hangs up my computer, runs in jerks and starts, audio is odd. Usually just give up and wipe it all out.

[Pcola Girl]

this is a great video and so inspiring to for kids.....

[alaskanlaughter]

what do you guys think? is 1660 a good number to stick with? i am 209 right now, size 14, fairly sedentary because of my ruptured spine and hip but i work fulltime, mother of 2 active ones etc.... the calculator said 2160 to maintain and 1660 to lose a pound a week...what do you guys think?

[cleochatra]

You'll likely lose faster than a pound a week. A scientific study showed that in a test group where people followed the same calorie limit, low-carbers burned 15% more calories because the body is burning fat for fuel and not carbs. If 1600 is a number that works for you, I'd go with it.

[magickal1]

i weighed when i got home today after along day out on the road cuz im a scale junkie, and im down to 297, tom is near I know even tho its late but I always take a drop before it comes and never after, but i am totally astonished!!!!!

[Zer]

What a way to kick off May, as we warm up for summer. Pounds are dropping off and the energy is contagious. Just did a wash that entailed a few extra trips to and fro, carrying an armload. Hope some of the sweat I raised means that my metabolism is burning off fat. I'll find out Saturday morn. More ounces off, I hope. Dare I hope for some pounds gone? Dunno. That'd be awfully nice. My appetite is so bad that I am forcing myself to eat - and not eating as often as I know I ought to be. Just do not feel a desire to eat. Don't feel a need for fuel. Maybe I can find a way to burn off enough that I do feel a need to re-fuel, but my morning 40g of protein in a hot slosh really carries me nicely through noon, at which time I begin to dread having to eat something before it gets too late.

Funny biz, how we relate to food. I wish I did not have to eat at all. I really do.

[Hot Tamale]

Unlike other addicitons, where people can quit cold turkey, we just can't stop eating. I did do that - well, drank Medifast - and lost weight rather quickly. However, when I stopped I gained weight faster than ever before! As a matter of fact, on Medifast I started around 320 and went down to 282 in about 6 weeks. Then, in about ten months, I went from 282 to 375!!! Needless to say, I am an addict, and I wish I could go cold turkey!

[debkeversole]

Originally Posted by alaskanlaughter

what do you guys think? is 1660 a good number to stick with? i am 209 right now, size 14, fairly sedentary because of my ruptured spine and hip but i work fulltime, mother of 2 active ones etc.... the calculator said 2160 to maintain and 1660 to lose a pound a week...what do you guys think?

sounds good to me! do you get way hungry at that level?? if not sounds like it will work!

hugs to everyone LURKERS(and you know i am talking to you!) get in here and say Howdy!

[MissMinda]

Hello all! Thanks Deb, for the pm and invitation back in.

I'm just checking in. From April to May, I'm up 3.5 pounds. Hubby says 2 pounds of that have got to be cast and the big ole shoe on the cast to protect it. He chalks up the other 1.5 to increased muscle mass. I'm about to do my measurements today, but everything I put on is looser. I intentionally put on a shirt today that I knew was tighter, because hubby has been complaining about all the baggy clothes I've been wearing (he says it makes my chest look smaller heh). Well, I slipped it on over my head today, and it's so loose, I'm swimming in it, too! Of course, I have no doubt that my butt is getting bigger, sitting here in the wheelchair for a month, now.

As for our way of eating, most of the time I'm on program. Unfortunately, I'm also at the mercy of other people when in comes to food. I'm going to make a conscious effort this weekend to plan for my lunches. The school cafeteria is horrid for low carb. Almost every entre is breaded or noodles. On top of everything else, I now have bronchitis. The doctor had me come in yesterday to make sure I don't have pneumonia, which I guess is a problem for someone with a broken leg.

Hubby has been losing, too! He is on the last hole of his belt before he's going to have to buy a new one. His belly is noticably smaller. He doesn't want to do measurements, though. He hasn't given me an update on numbers, either, but I'll post them when he does.

[Hot Tamale]

SO many of you have supportive husbands. That's really great. My current (and there will be no 3rd...) DH is good with it all. He eats what I eat, no complaints. What I wish (sometimes) was that my 1st DH would have been supportive. In retrospect he was just a jerk. However, I know my marriage broke up due to my weight (about 80%) of it was weight-related, anyway. I was jealous, insecure, and SO clingy... Ironically, I was spot-on in terms of my worries... He never should have married me - I never should have married him. What a waste of 4 years. They were good years, too.

[MissMinda]

I feel the same way about my first marriage. However, I have a wonderful son because of it. There is a reason for everything.

[Zer]

Hot, you make a good point as you compare our addiction to eating carbs with other addictions. Many people in OA said the same, that they could go cold turkey on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs - but that their addiction to food was hard to curb or turn into a moderate behavior. We carbaholics are facing a challenge that most addicts admit is harder than kicking hard drugs. We have to open the cage to feed our tiger several times a day. Then we have to secure the cage door, until the next feeding.

My OA phase was long before I understood that Atkins was the plan for me, allowing me fats and moderate meats (I'm no carnivore, so a meaty LC plan was a severe challenge for me) and fresh vegies for moderate low-glycemic carbs to balance out a metabolic switch-over to a fat-burning body. Let's give ourselves BIG HUGS for working a LC plan to maintain or lose weight.

Originally Posted by Hot Tamale

Unlike other addictions, where people can quit cold turkey, we just can't stop eating. I did do that - well, drank Medifast - and lost weight rather quickly. However, when I stopped I gained weight faster than ever before! As a matter of fact, on Medifast I started around 320 and went down to 282 in about 6 weeks. Then, in about ten months, I went from 282 to 375!!! Needless to say, I am an addict, and I wish I could go cold turkey!

Me, too. Especially on a day like today when my scale tells me I've not lost even an ounce since Thursday's weight of 408.8 - in spite of all the carby goodies that I've dodged since Thurs morn.

Not fair! Absolutely UNfair! About a zillion uneaten calories have passed through my mind without sullying my fingers or my lips. Scale doesn't care. Scale tells me that I am same weight this morning as I was Thurs morn and I feel like pouting my way right back to the cookie jar that I passed up so well in hopes that this morning's weigh-in would show at least a few ounces as a reward for my determination to avoid eating nasty carbs that I don't even WANT (nothing I've eaten in recent memory was truly memorable or worth the disappointment in myself for stuffing myself with a bite or several). Carbs we dodge really SHOULD pay off in lost weight or in some sort of tangible reward, if only gold stars on a chart as we get credits for bites we do NOT take. Scale alone is not the only arbiter of virtue as we look for the best downhill slope to reach our goal.

*pout*

All right. That's over. I'm slurping my 40g of protein in a yummy hot slosh. I'm planning something eggy-mayo for midday - or maybe a scramble if the kitchen is available. Tomorrow is the annual school festival and all burners are probably covered with grills to scorch the green peppers used in making the chimichangas that are a Big Deal as a fundraiser. Might have to do eggs in microwave. Might also break open some canned chicken for a salad with my roquefort mustard on a bed of celery. Some tasty choices for a wknd in which our meals are not provided. Sunday's meals are available for a price from the school's May Festival - with deep fried chimichangas as a feature. Half-pound of pulled beef with roasted peppers, onions, garlic, all wrapped in a flour tortilla (at this point it's a burrito) and then deep fried to crisp it and make it a chimichanga. I'll probably pass on that, as well as the rice'n'beans that rides shotgun on a plate of celebratory carby food.

Will my scale appreciate this sacrifice? Will my scale show a loss on 5/8, when next I weigh to see what my 3d month of owning a talking scale shows? Time will tell. Meanwhile my task is to keep on working on eating small bites all day long, no big meals, just a bite or two every few hours to kick start metabolism and reassure my cells that there is no famine, that food/fat is plentiful and that it is all right to burn fat. That's the plan. Eat more often, move a bit more. Just getting to and from the kitchen is a workout for me.

Having a scale of my own has really improved my awareness of how weight wavers, bounces, reflects a body's efforts to stabilize and the moon's pull on all watery bodies. We humans are vastly watery bodies. So drink up, y'all. One of the best ways we can encourage weight loss is to hydrate. Drink up!

[debkeversole]

Poem Title: HANG IN THERE

Hang in there,
Don't let go.
Soon your blessing,
Will overflow.
Just have faith,
And in a while.
You'll have a reasons,
To wear a big smile.
So hold on tight,
I kow you can.
God has you covered,
It's in his plan.

©2007 Vicki Rogers

[debkeversole]

This, Too, Will Pass Away



If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is
Or how dark the moment may be ...

Sun

If I can remain calm and quiet
With all the world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me ...

Sun

If I can but keep on believing
What I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
And that "this will pass away, too!" ...

Sun

Then nothing in life can defeat me
For as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break all the chains
That are binding me tight in "the darkness"
And trying to fill me with fear ...
For there is "no night without dawning"
And I know that "my morning" is near.

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

[magickal1]

zer whatin ur hot slosh? just wondering if that what holdin u back?

[Zer]

Lack of activity is probably my chief holdback. I'm in bed 24/7 except for the necessary excursions to the loo a few steps/shuffles away. I do not leave my room for much else. If I go to the dining room, I can barely rise from chairs. Luckily my bed is a high one, so getting up from it is not so difficult. Most of the furniture in this world is below my knee level, which creates a problem for a person whose thigh muscles are indifferent to commands to RISE, so I have to leverage myself by pushing up with arms. It's a hassle. By the time I get back to my room, my thighs are burning and they ache me for hours after I do the least small exertion. Yesterday I hauled a wash with me, to do it while I ate and washed up some dishes. Today I have another wash ready to go, but I am not feeling the energy to move me and a tub of presoaked stuff. Might let it soak another day or so, rather than push myself to carry it, wait for a wash and a dry cycle, and then carry the lot back with me. I don't know. I'll see.

The hot slosh is 40g of protein and 500calories. I think morning is a good time for me to get all of that into me with as little exertion as it takes to stir it up in a 16oz jug and slurp it down. Sure feels like nutrition to me. Fills me up nicely too, for several hours. By 2pm I'll be wanting something more. If I am up to mixing up some tuna or salmon, might go that direction. Might.

Or not. I never really know how much energy I can expend. When I get up and get moving, I do so with gratitude that I can take on an activity that will leave me breathless and damp with the exertion of walking/carrying. Sigh.

Even 100# lighter than I was in 2006, I'm still a pretty hefty load to carry on legs that do not work well. Feet do not lift very high and I can trip over the slightest wrinkle in a rug or in a linoleum floor if I'm not watchful. Scary!

[Zer]

One of the positives I've noticed is that I am not craving bread as I used to do. My rye bread is in the freezer, for when I want a slice of really good firm bread under some tunafish. But it's been weeks since I've gone for a slice of rye. I'm mostly satisfied with the bran-rye crax from Scandinavia via Netrition.com for a conveyance of fishy-mayo salad. That's a staple for me now, bran-rye crax.

I'm grateful to be relieved of a hunger for bread. That's one burden off of me.

And I'm grateful for LCFriends as a place to unload my thoughts about food and scale (my impertinent talking scale that will not relent and give me a weight I can brag on). I'm sure I shall see a lower weight on 5/8, after 3mos of having a scale on hand to give me data as feedback on what I ate or did a week ago.

[Zer]

Oh, this sounds delish to me: Veggie Hush Puppies..

[Zer]

Just caught this post in April's list and am hauling it here to see the reply from Magickal1:

Originally Posted by mstrudy

Congrats to you on the weightloss!!!! I am at 267 and need to get down to 135. Can you please post a sample of your menus? Kudos to you!