"Gonna Look Great in 2008!"

[Teresa123]

Lisa--you know, it sounds like a stretch but it could be possible that you are at 299--especially if you have lymphodema (OK, no clue how to spell that). I had an employee about your size who dropped about 50lb in 4 weeks while in the hospital and it was due to all the water build up. So--who knows!? Regardless, you know your weight will be significantly down and 299 is not far off! Enjoy your day--it sounds like fun! Who cares about the crap you can't eat--there are tons of things you can eat and you're getting skinny and healthy which is much better than eating junk!

[kbetz0419]

Lisa- sounds like you have a great day ahead of you. Pace your self but have lots of fun.
I cant "weight" to see how your apt goes.

[Dreamcometru]

Hi ladies - 1/14 for me on our new challenge. I stayed on plan by making taco salad last night for dinner. I had gone grocery shopping on my lunch hour which helped.

Today: 3 hb eggs for breakfast, taco salad for lunch (I love leftovers). 1/2 c fruit and a Low carb yogurt., Dinner is turkey sausage and a veggie, probably another half cup of fruit and another low carb yogurt. I finally found some low carb yogurt at a local grocery store. Most stores have discontinued it.

Lisa: Sounds like you have a fun day ahead of you. Just enjoy your day. Remember, its not about the food. Its about your health. I'm sure you are at 299. We're cheering for you. Let us know what the dr says.

Teresa and Kbetz: We are on a roll. 1 down, 13 to go. We can do it! I've switched back to salad for lunch and back to the low carb yogurt. Since its already measured for me it makes it much easier and if I'm that hungry I can have two with no guilt. The plain nonfat yogurt was too high in carbs and who knows how much I had because I didn't measure. I hope this reduction in yogurt and fruit and switching back to salad for lunch helps. I made extra ground turkey seasoned with taco seasonings to heat up and put on my salad, unless the rest of the family finishes it off today. If so, I'm buying more ground turkey.

Teresa: I WILL hit 14/14. You are right, no maybes, if, buts, etc.

Kbetz: Yay for your son. I was always so proud (well, I still am) when my kids do good things out of their usual boundaries. That must have been so fun to have everyone cheering for him.

[Teresa123]

Originally Posted by Dreamcometru

[color=seagreen]
Teresa: I WILL hit 14/14. You are right, no maybes, if, buts, etc.

Yay--now that is a winning attitude (or should I say losing!)! And preparation really is key--at least for me it is.

Have a good day!

[kbetz0419]

spinach sala with ham, banana peppers, cheese and ranch dressing.

[kbetz0419]

opps, I blew it, Now I am pouting & soon I will be on rebound again. I need more grocery money and rite now DH's plan is to get every thing a month ahead. Of course its at the cost of grocery money. We have to have a talk. I can eat generic hot dogs and eggs every day all day. I broke down and ate mac n cheese tonight. I just could not eat one more of those Hotdogs. They are 4 carbs a piece any way and I am holding a 10 pound gain as of a few minutes ago. I havent weighed in few days and have been eating those things for a week. I get grocery money on friday. ( hopefully) He told me tonight that its not a big deal I can loose it again. He said we should just walk more. Ehhhhhhh. My mood and face are a mess!

Catch you latter.

[kbetz0419]

Ok I just got back from wallmart. I made hubby and the kid s go with me.When I said Ok we spent $100 lets go, he was shocked. The cart was not even half full. I bought a big family size roast. $1.76 a pound, 3 dozen eggs, two 3 pounds packs of ground turkey, a family pack of chicken breast, cheeses, cottage cheese, pull ups, 7 kid lunches, milk and some freash spinach with a few other things. I have some frozen veggys and he brings home the expired salads from work. I have learned to eat brown tipped lettuce. A little peperoi or salami in the microwave gets ride of the bla taste.

I have desided that I am planting a garden next year. I want green peppers, tomatos and blue berry bushes.

I am not sure if its a good deal or not but our tiny hard ware store near home is selling home grown blue berrys for a 1.50 for a sandwitch bag full. They are so good.

It's weird just going to get the good foods helped improve my mood. I begged Dh to let me run the air for a little bit tonight and I feel better. The inside of our house hit 95 today and that was with the fan running. He has air at work and 2 year old was throwing up so he gave in and let us have the A/C!

I have enough to get threw the next week and I a going to rock the scales. The 10
( water gain I hope) plus 2 more WILL BE GONE in the next week!

[Teresa123]

kbetz---good for you for taking control and getting your needs met! 1.50 for a baggie of blueberries is a good deal! I don't know when you usually weigh yourself but I know I am easily up several lbs in the evening compared to my normal weigh in time first thing in the morning--so the damage might not be as bad as you think. But, either way--you are taking control, making a plan and putting it in place---that is exactly what it takes to do this thing so YAY you!!

2/14 for me today.

Tomorrow is Friday---yippeeee!!!

[mycattaz]

got a good report at the doctors office... I had lost 27 lb since surgery.... the doctors scales weighed me at 334.6..... I don't go back to see him till september 17....

I can now go to phase 3 of my diet.... alittle bit more food..... will stay on it for 2 weeks and then on a regular diet....

I am still tired but he said this will last for a few more weeks... still no lifting or exercising for 3 1/2 weeks... other than walking....

I drank a protein shake this morning and feel sick so I am going to go and lay down now.... will check back in later

[kbetz0419]

Lisa- woooooooweeeeeeee, yippppppppppy skippy! I am so proud of you! Yahooooooo!
So how do you feel about uping your foods , are you excited or scared?

Teresa- your doing great!

While I slept last night ( In the A/C) I had a pork rost cooking in a crock pot. mmmmm! Now I am waiting for it to cool and i will bag it up.

[Dreamcometru]

Lisa: I'm so proud of you. Phew! 27 lbs is so much just since July 1st! You go girl. You are going to be rockin by the end of the year. I'm glad the dr. appt. went well.

Kbetz: You did what I need to do. My fridge is bare again since the last time I went BIG shopping was July 4. My family has since wiped everything out. I'm dreading going because its usually a $250 bill. Ouch.

So, when I cook pork roast in the crock pot, even in water, it comes out dry. Should I add something like canola or olive oil? How do you cook yours? I usually just throw one in with onions, sage salt and pepper with water. Then we eat it with BBQ sauce.

Hi Teresa: Sounds like we are all doing well. I'm 2/14. Yahoo! Here comes the weekend. I've kind of joined a challenge on spark people which I hope will really keep me motivated. Its a team thing and I don't want to let the team down, so I'm really going to try to do good, not to mention, I've set a personal goal for myself to go back to my research group on August 12th and show a loss this time. Spark people has an excellent food tracker. I've got to go plug in what I ate for dinner to see how I did caloric and carb wise.

Have a great day everyone.

[Divine Miss M]

Originally Posted by Teresa123

everyone!


Miss M--sounds like you are learning a lot of interesting stuff. So, any books or websites you would recommend for a novice?

Hello, dear! Well, I can't [yet] answer that question because my mind is overloaded with new info. There's SO much I'm mentally assimilating from my classes! For example, in addition to discovering more about food additives and wt. loss tips, there's nutritional info I've learned that can help ADD, autism, Alheimer's, learning and behavior problems, etc. that's downright incredible, too. In addition to the classes, I keep reading thru amazon.com, too, to find books on cortisol (called the 'fat' or 'stress' hormone), zero carbing, natural whole foods, leptin resistance, hormonal imbalance, etc. What I'd like to do about books is order at least two per week, read 'em, review 'em, experiment with whatever I think applies to my situation.

What I plan to do is this: Start writing articles on what I learn, one at a time, and post them to my blog. My problem is I'm so busy I don't have time to write. This is ridiculous. I think it's just acclimating to my different schedule...you know how that goes. Add one thing more to the daily routine and that one thing seems to take over everything!

As for the woe, I've been ok with it - aiming for low-carb every day but about once a week, I don't stick with the zero carb but go up to about 50 or so. So I stay around the same wt. but those bounces aren't so big - just 2-5 lbs. instead of 10-15! That's ok but I'd rather see some real fat loss. On the other hand, since the bounces are smaller, my conclusion is that something good is happening - another period of 'transformation.' Only I messed it up when I have that 'higher' carb day, due to lack of patience. From what I read on this 'zero carb' lifestyle is that it takes time for the metabolism to 'get it.' What I have to do is stick with zero carb [or very close to it] every day.

I'm convinced the issue for many of us who are 'stuck' at a long-term plateau is hormonal, as I've said before, so now I'm looking into the Leptin Diet. Leptin is a hormone, after all, so I decided that has to be one of my primary focuses - that is, learning about ALL the hormones, what helps them stay in balance, and what gets them out of that desired balance. If they are out of balance - which seems likely, all things considered, then it's a case of 'uh-oh.'

I'll try to explain my train of thought on this subject. Since low-carbing controls or lessens the glucose effect, and that impacts insulin [a hormone] and since so many of us have been successful but then reach a plateau, it seems to me that the question is what other hormones are in play? There are many - prenenolone, progesterone, estriol, leptin, estrogen, testerone, etc. Which of these could be the culprit to the ongoing stalls? Some think it's the leptin hormone, which actually directs the thyroid. If leptin is 'fibbing' to the thyroid, body fat still within the smaller fat cells willnot get released. Now I find that very interesting...so the question then becomes How to get leptin to behave itself?

It seems to be that a super-low carb, higher fat lifestyle may be the answer. However, since nobody has the same degree of insulin resistance, the amounts of needed protein may vary among individuals. That takes us back to my theory that we must experiment with the amount of protein we need to build lean body mass, maintain bodily organs and hormones while avoiding metabolic consumption of our muscles. If so, it follows that the same applies with fat. Some feel that we should not at all concern ourselves with higher fat amts., but it seems to me that may not be true for everyone.

To fall into that mindset is to fall into the similar 'one-size-diet-fits-all' mentality that insists a low protein, higher carb diet is the perfect woe for everybody. We already know that's is not true, so why would one low-carb woe be perfect for those who need to low-carb? We have to take metabolic differences among lcers into consideration...and if we can't get real help from our docs, we can get 'some' help from them by asking for certain blood tests having our blood pressure checked, etc. After that, all we can do is take a closer look at how to boost our nutrition, via food and wholefood supplements that contain no yeast, sugar, or other additives.

I know if I went by wt. loss only, I'd be thoroughly disgusted and fed up by now with my 8 month stall. Visiting the doctor's office a few weeks ago gave me a true morale boost. After all, discovering all of my numbers are within normal range proves that my low-carbing and my cycling of various lc woes did not hurt my health but improved it!

[Divine Miss M]

Lisa: I am so happy to hear from you! Congratulations on this first month. It's been an exhausting experience, but your health will get so much better, love!

Penny: Oh, hon! I wish I could literally talk to you...I've been reading so much on cancer and candida, and the inflamation of the digestive system...I can't type it all out, but there is a nutritional way for your dear girl to overcome those issues.

Kbetz: Most [but not all] men are funny about grocery bills. They want to eat, but somehow think it can be done on a shoestring...which means filler foods, like potatoes and rice and beans most of the time. Whenever they want to tighten the budget, the first thing slashed is the grocery bill...never mind their cable tv with the sports stations, or their motorcycles, or their tools and do-dads or whatever it is that pleases them. The men in my family were not like that, but once I met those outside of the Italian 'feed the kids' circle, I was in for a big shock.

As for saving money...I was recently cleaning out my desk and found a huge envelope full of 1 and 2 yo bills...including medicine receipts. One month, our copays for prescription meds hit over $100 [a month we 'took it easy' with filling scripts] but other months it was higher. Now that's money I can put toward the grocery bill or health food [vitamin and mineral] supplements...not to mention no more adverse effects from medication. We're not getting rich - far from it - but there is no denying our health is much, much better!

About a garden; go for it! If you have the right land, you can grow lots of lettuce, snow pea pods, green beans, cucumber, squash, zucchini - all low-carb veggies. Asparagus takes about 3 years to grow but fresh asparagus is wonderful. And if the kids love strawberries, a strawberry patch is great fun! [Look for the 'ever-bearing' type; some strawberries only fruit in June. The ever-bearing bears fruit all summer long.] Fresh tomatoes are good, too...they're not super low-carb, but having some fresh tomatoes or home-grown sauce for chili is wonderful, too!

[Divine Miss M]

Dream: Here's some food for thought, in regard to your weekend challenge and worrying about calories. An out-of-state friend of mine, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes, calls me every so often to ask again what I exactly did to lose this wt. and increase my health. I gave her the update on my recent blood tests.

Clearly, my friend is toying with the idea of low-carbing but is not yet fully convinced. She then spoke to a nutritionist and also a naturopath [two different people] about me and shared my story. The naturopath was in agreement that low-carbing and nutritional supplements were clearly the answer to my health and wt issues, but the nutritionist insisted that I lost wt. and got better due ONLY to my regular water workouts.

Why was that?

Because I was burning more calories, said she.

C'mon!

Now if that isn't close-minded...So just burning more calories brought my bp, glucose and cholesterol down to normal? I'm sure the water exercise snapped my herniated disks into place, and they bring great relief to my fibro pain, but I am supposed to believe that the low-carb lifestyle had absolutely no role to play in any of my success. NOT!

I have yet to read Gary Taube's 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' but it has garnered much interest among low-carbers. From what I hear, he shatters theories that only calories count because 'they' simply do not have the scientific evidence to prove such theories absolutely true.

I am very wary of nutritionists and dieticians who won't consider low-carbing as a healthy way of eating. For example, some time ago I spoke with a hospital nutritionist on behalf of my diabetic mom. They were giving her dabs of protein and heaping side dishes of pasta or rice with - get this - Molly McButter.

Get it? Low protein, high carb, no or low fat. Respectfully addressing the dietician, I explained that I kept diet logs for my mom and so I knew that, to keep her diabetes under control, she needed only 35 carbs per day [rather than 60 per meal] and would she [the dietician] please add more protein to my mom's meals? [She also needed more fat, but I could feel the dietician's skepticism and decided not to push that issue.] The woman took notes as I spoke, but I noted she didn't agree or disagree with me...and as I suspected, she did as she wished. That is - my mom's hospital diet didn't change...and the only way they could get her glucose down was with high amts. of insulin, 3x a day.

To counter them, I did my best in ordering my mom's hospital menus to keep them as low carb as possible, considering the menu options they offered, but extra proteins and fats were not on the diabetic menu. Getting her butter instead of mean old Molly was quite a feat. I ordered low-carb veggies, ordered no breaded chicken or meat, and that sort of thing, crossed out rice and potatoes, brought Stevia with me, ordered half-n-half instead of 'no fat creamer,' etc.

At home, when my mom complies with our low-carb menus, she doesn't need that much insulin...in fact, when she eats as she should, her fasting glucose goes down to 80...compared to the high 200's in the hospital.

All these topics may seem disconnected, but they aren't. Diabetics have metabolically crossed the line that was bringing them to diabetes for many years. Their woes are not a matter of calories ingested but the amt. of carbs.

Same applies to us...we've obviously not crossed into diabetes [thank the good Lord above]because we got the glucose under control, but we do have hyperinsulinemia. The only way to control that is by low-carbing or even zero-carbing and not worrying about calories, that very same stick with which the culture beats us! By worrying about cals, we bring down fat or protein intake and start upping our carbs, since most fruits and 'less caloric' food are more carby...and that's the very thing we low-carbers want to avoid!

Sending you lots of warm [low-carb] wishes for a great weekend!

[kbetz0419]

Divine- I am glade you are learning and I am thrilled to see that you found concret evidence about ADD and Autism inregards to low carb. I noticed my boys do better eating this way. I am a different person on it as well. High carb diet is like PMS 30 days a month and serious fatigue with brain fog!
Try telling some one that you are restricting your childs carbs and see if you dont get a nasty look! I just push the healthy stuff and dont mention it. The kids dont even know it. I dont tell them is faux potatoes. I tell them what it is so its a normal part of there life.

I feel back at ground zero again. Thank goodness! I ended up only being up 5 thiis morning so I will be ok I a few days.

[Divine Miss M]

Kbetz: Hey, hon, if you're giving the kids 'low carb' veggies, who needs to know they're low-carb? If you feel you 'have' to say anything about their nutrition to another adult, why not say "My kids eat lots of good veggies and proteins."

That's certainly true!

[Divine Miss M]

I forgot to mention that, this year, we also planted an herb garden. I've tried it before, with little luck. Then I tried container gardening but the plants grew too fast, so they were spindly. And I learned that one had better pick flower buds the minute they appear, otherwise the plants stops producing more leaves, go to seed and then die. So to make the plants last longer, pick off the buds! One summer is coming to a close, let the plant go to seed in order to save the seeds for next year.

This time, we planted on the western side of the house...which gets sunshine for at least 6 or more hours per day. I have rosemary, hyssop, basil, organo, two types of mint, lavender thyme, and parsley so far...wanted more, but this 'new' herb garden is an experiment. If it does as well as it has, we can plant more next year.

I wanted perennial herbs more than anything, so I was thrilled to find that rosemary, hyssop, the two mints, and the thyme will 'go to sleep' and return next spring.

Btw: Drying herbs is one way to preserve them, but I also know of an ancient Roman method of preserving - in a glass container, within layers of salt, no less! That method keeps the herbs fresher than does drying, and the salt layers don't soak into the herbs.

Cool!

[kbetz0419]

Divine-------wow you always give us something to think about.

Ok drum roll please...... I am now down another 3 more. 2 more pounds to go to get back to my minni retention/ gain.

I ate clean all day yesterday. Chicken breast, pork roast, swiss cheese with dill pickle, a lc wopper JR. ( Its my friday night treat from Dh. He works late and brings me home one.


My new mind challenge is to see what I can do before our back to school kick off beach party with out master school. Its the middles of Aug . Iforget the date, but will mark it latter. I would love to make some home school friends from our master school and since the lake beach is local to our house I may be able to find some locals. Our school reaches out all across Ohio.
yes Iknow a few pounds lost will not make people like me any more or less, but I will feel more confident in my self.

[mycattaz]

Kebtz pork roast sounds good.... I told dh he needed to smoke me a boston butt to eat on.....

Dream I like spark people too... I haven't used it in month though... right now the only thing I use fitday for it to see if what I am eating has enough protein in it....

Divine I hope next year me and dh can have a garden... my health should be greatly improved by then..... dh loves fresh aparagus... and I love purple hull peas and califlower... I love working in the yard.. but since putting on all this weight over the years, I have not had the energy to do any yard work..... but thats going to change


Last night we went to a birthday party, they had hotdogs, chip, cake, icecream, I brought along some cheese and crackers to eat.... I heard my mother in law say that if I lost more weight in my face I was going to look like a skeleton.... what a way with words right.... to me my face does not look that small..... dh was saying nothing but good about my weight loss so far... he sounded very proud of me..... I was sitting away from them....but had my ear turn that way so I could hear what they were saying

[kbetz0419]

Lisa- I am sure you already know this but just a reminder to laugh at. Some people are not happy about a person looseing weight. Especally if they them selfs are overweight. Others worry that you will change. Chances are you will be the same person, just smaller, healthier and around a lot longer than you would have been. I look every day for your posts. I had considered many times doing what you have done, but I am afraid of being down with the kids needing me. I also have no medical issues at all. I would need to develope them for the insurence company to pay. I guess since I am healthy I get ignored, lol I guess they are waiting for me to cost them some money first.


I just need to put this out here so I am staying in reality. My Mother has sent me 4 e-mails in the past week. She only gave me her test results in 1, and the rest were joke forwords. I commented back on 1 and then sent her a funny article once. I refuse to be like her by not putting effort forword. I always match the effort. I have always made it a point with people and especally with her to make sure that I wouldnt have to regreat my actions/words later.
There are times I really miss her. I think about how I use to be able to make her laugh with corny jokes or quick whit. Those where the times I felt good about my self around her. Its what she liked about me. Any way I dont know what she is up to and I am not the same person I was 2 and half years ago. You would think I would be, but I am not. I have grown up so much, not that I was immature, its just I feel more like I am approaching 40 rather than 30.( No offence) Being cut of from the family and raising our children on our own has changed me. I just dont play those munipulation games any more. I have learned to count on my self. I never let my self down, execpt on weight loss. ha ha. I tell people what I think now and dont let them walk on me ( or atleast not as much, ha ha) I think if she starts with her old ways that I would have had a hard time keep my mouth shut . I try and kep from saying things I will regreat latter, but It would be really hard after every thing she has done. I know I am supposed to forgive ,but I dont know that I can forget. I would like to think shes cahnged, but its doubtfull.
We will be starting school back up on aug 25 and I dont have time for more drama.

Maybe she will loose intrest again. She hasnt really made much verbal written effort, but if she despises me so much than why is she sending mt jokes?
Ok, so now I put this on her and I will remember not to run away with a fairy tale of what she is or could be.


Keeping reality and sanity in the front is the key to a healthy life.


SO far I have eaten clean all day. I had spinach with a chicken breast for lunch. cottage cheese for breakfast. I sure do love my fresh spinach salad. I can barly stand iceburg lettuce any more.
Dinner will be taco flavored turkey meat on a spinach salad.

[Divine Miss M]

Kbetz: Hurray for you!!! I'm glad to know you're seeing results by eating clean; that's a great motivator all by itself!

About feeling that one is at a higher adult age than real time, I certainly empathize. Marriage and children have the greatest capacity to make us stand up on our own two feet! As for your mom, it just seems to me that by sending you a few emails, it proves she was thinking of you...

Lisa: Was that your first time out at any kind of event? Sounds like you did very well and I certainly hope the comments about your thinning face were meant as compliments!

About gardening, I honestly don't do it all summer. I'm only good for spring because once the hot weather hits, I simply cannot endure being outside. It's been like that for as long as I can remember...I just have to avoid the sun and high temps or else I quickly get weak and dizzy. Whether that's one of the chronic illnesses or what some skin doctors call 'sun allergy,' I don't know. I even wait until at least 4 p.m. before I go in my own pool...

As for my wt. loss efforts, I'm still doing the fats and protein thing. There's not much progress in getting to the numbers I want...but what I have noticed is that the huge bounces [like 15 lbs. worth of bounce] are now little ones [3-4 lbs. up and down]. So something's going on, and it seems to me a good indicator that just fats and proteins are stabilizing something - probably the glucose that is still over-reacting to even the smallest number of good carbs.

Still, I'm beginning to feel quite frustrated again, because an 8 month stall with hardly any 'nibbles of this and that' [in other words, hardly any cheating!] just isn't justified.

Some of my reading indicates that it may take months - like 6 of them - before my metabolism catches on that I mean serious business with zero carbing. Unfortunately, I'm not quite at zero carbs yet, because I do eat eggs. But nothing else with carbs passes ze lips!

I honestly do not know if I can live eating just fats and proteins. That is, I know I 'can' live - and be healthy while living it - but I am not sure I want to stay Zero Carb for my entire life. Living low-carb is one thing, but absolutely zero carb is something I'd do forever only if I was seeing superlative results. Never thought I'd say this, due to my absolute determination that led me to experimenting with various lc plans. Foregoing all kinds of foods never really bothered me, but I am just plain sick and tired and bored to pieces, eating nothing but meat, eggs and water - when I should be giving up the eggs, just to see if that makes a big difference.

It's going too slow, although I tell myself I have to be patient. After all, what other options have I? Well, there are a few, like calorie counting, or bringing fats and proteins down so I can have just a little of fav carbs - like berries or sf yogurt. But I've done that many a time, with the same results.

So my mind is stil arguing with itself over the whole idea of a 6 month experiment of zero carbing. It's as I said in a recent blog post - it takes some time for the mind to wrap around that axle!