New to the diet and this town

[PurTliLady]

Well... I started nursing school as a hot size 6, single and ready for anything... Then the stress kicked in.. met a great guy.. and started to gain weight... ended up marrying the guy and here I am a year after nursing school and at least 40lbs heavier and in a totally new town ,(for the second time in a year) with no support system except my hubby.. see, he is in the Air Force and we move around a lot. I've already lost 15lbs in the last 3 weeks and have no one to talk to about the diet but my huband.. and well he eats carbs.. and does so infront of me (he is a runner... has a six pack and well doesn't need to watch carbs). I have great will power... but I would like to be able to talk to someone who really understands what its like to want a chocolate cupcake and not eat one, or want that roll that everyone is munching on and not be able to eat it. Dont get me wrong ... Im excited to have lost the weight, but today was a hard day... I WANTED BREAD...

[eve_sonata]

Hi there PurTlady!

Welcome to lowcarb friends. I am a nurse as well and was also in the USAF. I know what it is like moving around a lot and the stresses of nursing school. hahahah I also know what it is like to be married to a guy that doesn't need to lose weight. He is very supportive but it is hard when he is eating one way, and I a eating another way. That is wonderful that u have lost 15 lbs already! whooohoooooo. Congrats. Losing weight seems to be a motivater in itself. But, there are times when u just want to eat like everyone else. I haven't had a potato in so long! I do Atkins/south beach. I am not familiar with crossfit. Maybe you can tell me a little more about it. That is one thing about this site, everyone does it their own way, which is cool. I'd love to post with ya. I do post with another group but thats okay. I have the time and energy to post often. You will not be able to private message anyone for awhile. I am not sure if it is after you have done so many posts or if it is so many days. So tell me a little about you and where are u stationed at rite now?

ttyl, Be well

[PurTliLady]

Well thanks Eve-
Its nice to hear that someone understands. None of my friends understand the AF thing... Well we are at Robins AFB here in Warner Robins, GA we just moved from sunny Tyndall AFB in Panama City FL... MISS IT SO MUCH!

I graduated nursing school last May with my BSN and am an ER nurse at a level 1 trauma center here in Middle Ga. I am only 24 and have no kids so I find myself working 4-5 12h days a week since I have no connections here yet and my days off usally are days my husband is at work.

Crossfit... its so much fun! Its my exercise program... we use crossfit.com and it gives us workouts to do every day. And it also gives you tutorials on how to do the exercises. It gives you a workout and you have to complete them as fast as you can for time so it gets your cardio in too. I cant usually do the full workout and one of the posts even scales it down for people who arent "Big Dawgs". You get to do things like deadlifts, pull-ups (or modified like I do bc I cant do a pull-up) and it helps in every day activities. The program teaches you propper body mechanics so it helps me lift a pt in bed by myself or it also helps me carry the heavy grill we just bought at lowes to the backyard and such. My husband and I do it together... eventho he is in so much better shape than I am... I just do modified things when I cannot do the exercise.

I started this year out with just crossfit... and I was noticing strength improvements but no weight had come off... so that was it for me... I had to do something... my mom does Atkins and it is very successful for her... and one day I just woke up and started Atkins... Didnt eat carbs that am... and went and got the books... here I am 3 weeks later and 15lbs lighter... its so exciting!

[eve_sonata]

I will have to check out crossfit. Sounds like you need access to a gym though. I could easily have access to a gym, that isn't the problem. I have a bowflex and an ellipitcal machine and some free weights and a therapy ball that i use. I really couldn't justify going to a gym when i spent so much on my at home equipment. My goodness your a young lady. I am 44. If you would rather correspond with someone closer to your age, I would understand. However, I am okay with it if you are. I have 2 kids but they are 22 and 20. My dd (darling daughter) is 22 and over in Japan. She is in the USAF as well. She will be coming home in July. I am so excited. Wow an ER nurse. That is really hard. I did neuro for a lot of years. I am working in rehab now. I love it! Less stress and more time to hang out with my patients. Funny! I was stationed in Georgia as well. Moody AFB. I wasn't a nurse at the time though. I worked in avionics. My dh (darling husband) was also in and worked com/nav.

I have kinda stagnated on my diet. I am hoping to jump start it with a combo of cardio and weight training. I have been watching the carbs and hmmmmm not sure what is going on. Well maybe if i wouldn't CHEAT! I would have better results. Are u still on induction?

[PurTliLady]

Im ok with talking with you if you are... eventho Im only 2 years older than your oldest... haha...

My husband and I workout at home we have some free weights that we do in our garage... But if you dont have that kind of equipment its good to be at a gym. I wouldnt say that crossfit is for everyone... But I like it a lot... the marines are going to start using crossfit because of the benifit of body mechanics... they have lost more people to occupational injuries than deaths if you believe that...

Yea I love the ER... esp at this level 1 trauma center (and a 60 bed ER) ... yesterday I was in ICU he*l (pushing Adenosine.. hanging Amniodarone..)... and today I was a psych nurse half the day and the other half a pediatric nurse... I like the flexability and not having to do the "heavy" stuff daily. In our ER we can hold people for days at a time.. The sicky I was taking care of yesterday was in the ER for 70+hrs by the end of today and still didnt have an ICU bed... We are a 500+ bed hospital too.. its a sad thing.. because you and i both know those patients do not get the level of care they would on the floors, but we try as hard as we can to provide what they need... It can be hard when you get a new pt in that is crashing next door...

Im past induction... but I am doing a modified Atkins bc Im allowing myself to only have th 20 carbs but letting myself have the other foods.. like a glass of wine at dinner and counting that towards my 20... The last 2 weeks Ive not lost a lot and its starting to get hard to stay with it... Esp when drug reps and organ donation people come around at work with candy and such, but I have not cheated since being on this diet and that is a month on monday.... and thats my own pat on the back. (longest Ive ever been on a diet plan).. people I dont talk to at work even have noticed.. and that is nice.

Im so glad to have found someone to talk to.. The last year has been hard... I moved to FL to be with my husband May last year and moved to GA in Dec... thus making it very hard to establish friends the past year... I never had a very close friend growing up for the same kind of reason (moving around, switching custody, etc) but I always had the 5 other siblings.. now its just me the Hubby, the dog and the cats... thus why I work so much... to keep me busy...

Tell me more about yourself... your diet plans.. the fam even... and how in the world you motivate yourself to use your eliptical... I cant get myself to use our home cardio equipment...

[eve_sonata]

Sorry I have been MIA for a few days. Gosh 12 hour shifts kick my arse but, i love the time off in between. We went and picked up our boat this last Thursday and then I had to work Fri-Sat-Sun. Hate to confess that i have totally sucked on my diet since Thursday. I don't know what came over me. I have been doing so well and even enjoying the lc woe. I feel so much better on lc. Oh well falling down a few steps doesn't mean i have to throw myself down the whole staircase he he he. Weigh in for me is every Tuesday so i will assess the damage then. I checked out the crossfit site. Seems very interesting. I agree, work injuries are very common and most are totally preventable. I was impressed. Ohhhh i love my eliptical. I have had 2 treadmills that i have worn out and i can tell you, I get a better workout on the eliptical with less joint stress. about 7 years ago i was at 130 lbs and used to teach circuit training. Had a wonderful workout partner and then we moved and i just stopped watching my diet and working out. So now it is a long struggle back. I actually enjoy working out with weights the most. Great job on resisting the temptations at work I know it seems at work it is the worst. Everyone wants to show their appreciation with food. The place i work is set up like a cottage and we prepare all the foods there in a big homey kitchen and the smell of food cooking is hardest for me. I generally pack my own lunches and snacks but i didn't plan ahead these last 3 days.

Lets see about me. Well hmmm where to start. I am a pretty up beat person. I love doing crafts and working in my yard and learning new stuff. a few years ago my daughter and i took a ballroom dance class together. It was fun, i would love to take it up again after i lose a few more pounds. My best friend is 28 and she is always talking me into going out. Otherwise, i would be a homebody all the time. I love to snowboard. In montana, the winters r so long that i decided to take up a winter sport. Finally got the hang of it after a lot of falls and bruises. I have been doing that for a few years now. We love to go 4 wheelin and hiking and we both have motorcycles. Gosh what else? I have a dp (darling pet) she is a mini schnauzer named Roxy. I love movies and music (all kinds) and one of these days would love to design my own clothes. Don't know if i would ever venture out and start my own clothing line. As i mentioned before, we just bought a boat so now we are new boaters hahahahha. We are looking forward to spending time on the water all summer! It has a kitchen and a bathroom and sleeping areas. My daughter is coming home in July and she doesn't know yet. We are keeping it a secret. I almost spilled the beans the other nite when she called. lol my son still lives at home and loves being a sponge. My husband and i keep nudging him along but he is slow to get the hint. At least he is a lovable respectful sponge. lol probably way more info than u cared to know. Oh yes I am a big sinner too! I like to drink here and there and occasionally cuss like a sailor. I haven't really had a drink in awhile d/t the high carb content. Recently worked at a wine tasting for relay for life and had a few samples there. Monday a bunch of us are going out to a place called Pepper's to sit by the fire and have a few beers. It will have to be miller lite though cuz there are only 3 carbs per beer in those. Hahahah enuf for now okay. I would love to hear more about you! Ohhhh yes, where are u originally from? ttyl

[eve_sonata]

Ohhh how do i motivate myself with the eliptical? Hmmm some days it is very very hard. If it is after a 12 hour shift, i just do it rite when i get home. I don't even change out of my scrubs (unless i get em soiled from work) otherwise that gives me time to talk myself out of doing it. I turn on my iPod to my fave songs and just tell myself to make it through the first 5 minutes. After the first 5 minutes it is all downhill after that. I do it for 30-35 minutes. Hmmmm my diet plan. Well i actually need to get out my South beach book again and read it. Lately i have been subsisting on just = or < 30 grams of carbs. I stay away from rice, potatoes, pastas and breads (unless it is lc bread) So generally that is meat and veggies and eggs and cheese. I love lattes though and have about 3 a week. I drink lots of water and an occasional diet soda. Have to have my coffee though.

[PurTliLady]

your diet sounds a lot like mine less than 20 carbs a day! I had the in-laws over this weekend and fell off the wagon for a day but not too far off. I think it might have been good for me since I was stalled for about a week and a half. I noticed yesterday am I was out of ketosis but by that evening I was deeper purple than I have ever been and I drink a lot of waterat least 2 L a day. I'm from Maryland originaly I went to north Carolina for college then FL then here... Man today was the first of five twelves so I should go to bed... ESP bc u never know what day is going to be a hopping day at a level one trauma center... I had three stroke alerts and a guy that severed his radial artery putting a toilet into a dumpster and it broke and cut him... That was cool first time I've seen a true arterial spray like that... Poor kid tho! Well I'll get up with you tomorrow

[eve_sonata]

K. good thing u r young and can handle all those 12's. I would be crazy by then. You know i should get me some clinistix and check when i am in ketosis. I have never done that. Just gone by how i am feeling. Usually i start to clench my teeth and then i know. I got my braces tightened last Thur and my mouth has been sooo sore. Very hard to eat some stuff. Well enuf for now, will talk with u later. Be well. BTW don't worry about slipping up now and again. Sometimes it actually starts you losing again. Least it does for me.

[PurTliLady]

So Eve-
You have to tell me how much to you love Montana!? When I was in High School I always wanted to move out to Wyoming and do search and rescue. Its beautiful country out there. Much better than the middle of GA...

Its so interesting to me about how my tastes have changed so much over the last month that I have been on this diet. I dont crave chocolate like I used to. To be totally honest I think if I were to eat some of the things I used to it would make me feel sick. Today I had ONE strawberry and it was so sweet I amost didnt eat the whole thing.. Before I could eat buckets of it. I have no desire anymore to taste people's candy and snacks at work... I harly even snack anymore. I feel like Im not low carb dieting but that I am just eating healthy... lean meat and veggies...

I ordered some carbquik... what is your take on that? Have you ever used it? I thought it would be nice since I love to bake so much... It will help with that desire I think... Im starting to think I want to experiment with LC recipies and such other than meats and veggies like I have been eating for the last month...

I am so excited... today I think I found myself someone to pose for me so I can expand my photography portfolio... I have been into photography for a while but I want to start doing portraits and such so that I can pay for my hobby... I have done some family photos of three different families and have done bridal portraits... now I just need some baby portraits and someone to let me do thier wedding. I have done all of these for the cost of what it costs to print the photographs the person wants... Im ready to get these last two things under my belt and make some money.. The free photographs are a lot of work... esp bc I give them CDs and I enhance their photographs...

Well anyways Im going to get back to puting together my portfolio so maybe this girl will let me photograph her newborn...

[eve_sonata]

I absolutely love Montana. It is kinda a sleeper, Most think it is backwoods but we have 2 level 1 trauma centers rite in town. I worked at one of them on the neuro unit, i think i told u that before though. I live in a town called Billings. It is growing so much. We found a little place out in the country with a creek and since we bought our place, it has trippled in value. I don't think i would ever sell it though. I can see the beartooth mountains and the pryor mtns on my way to work. They are very beautiful snow capped peakes. We hike a lot in the summer. One of our favorite places to go is "Hell Roaring Plateau" once u get to the top, there is this alpine meadow and snowfields and all these glacier lakes. There are grizzlies though so one has to be careful. I constantly see deer in my back yard all the time. They are very greedy though, they love my vegetable garden. We lived in Delaware for quite a few years (my hubby is from there) and i grew up in South Dakota. It was lovely there but i felt crowded and homesick so we packed up and moved to Wyoming and lived there for a few years. We were always driving up to Billings though for groceries and shopping and then i took a nursing job at one of the big hospitals and viola thats how i ended up here. It was kinda hard cuz we still owned a house in Wyoming and one here. Finally sold the one in Wyoming. Fortunately we had good renters while we still owned it. Lol no fire ants and no cockroaches here or fleas.

I bought some carbquick about 3 weeks ago! I love it. I was jones'n for some pancakes soooo bad. They were sooo yummy. I bought some sugar free syrup. I haven't baked anything else with it yet. If u find something u like let me know. I did make some revol oopsie rolls today. They are so great especially when u want a sandwich. They r made with egss, cream cheese, salt, cream of tartar, and a packet of splenda. if u want to make them let me know and i can give u the recipe. I made a strawberry shortcake with one. put lc whipping cream and strawberries (only a few) and it was divine. I know what u mean about the cravings going away. Except for................ when i cheat then i get the cravings back for a few days.

That is a wonderful hobby. I always wanted to try my hand at it, but i have so many irons in the fire rite now that it will probably be a retirement hobby to look forward too. We just bought a huge boat. I have to reupholster the inside cabin and do some refinishing. That is going to keep me busy for this next month. The summers are fast and furious around here cuz we have such long winters (why i took up snowboarding)

I stayed lc today and feeling pretty good. Went and had a latte with my bf (best friend) and then looked for fridges cuz she just bought a house. Did some laundry and made those rolls and ran to the book store to try and find the anabolic diet book. No success I could order it for 79.00 though and i said no! I will check on ebay. I love ebay! I didn't say that out loud though to the clerk.

Well sweetie, keep up the great job We are going to whip this weight gain. Your doing sooo good Catch u later

[PurTliLady]

I love how positive you are... Since this weight piled on I have not had the best of attitudes but I am noticing a change... my husband says so too! plus the energy is much higher... i think I would have died by now eating carbloaded meals and working 60h a week... I am so jealous of the life you have. My husband would love it. He drags me hiking every weekend that he can... If I had every weekend off we would be in the woods every week... we were for a while this year... We went hiking up a small mountain in Atlanta this past weekend and it kicked my butt... the LC and lack of cardio got me... I cant imagine what your mountains would do to me.. haha... well Im gonna go to bed.. I was picking out some photographs I am going to enter into a contest. We'll see... If you wanna check out my work my hap-hazard web site is faithrand.googlepages.com

[eve_sonata]

Well thanks, I do try to stay positive. I steer clear of negative people as much as possible. I feel like they can drag you down and before you know it, your walking around with a bad attitude.

How has the lc been going for you? I have decided to make a switch. I am going to try the Anabolic Solution, formerly known as the Anabolic Diet. I am a little nervous about it, because it said you mite gain weight at first. Hmmmm. Okay I am still going to go for it.

I don't Know how you find energy to do your crossfit and 12 hour shifts. I do have a hard time doing my exercising after a 12. How do u do it?

[PurTliLady]

I workout bc I have a husband who is waiting for me when I get home and pretty much makes me work out. This past week I havent worked out hardly at all... And well i feel like it is contributing to my stalling... or I think Im eating too few calories in the day... I need to evaluate what Im doing a little bit more... maybe I need to add some carbs and some calories... I tried to stick with the 20carbs for the last few weeks... and i feel like that may have something to do with my stalling... Atkins your supposed to add 5carbs a week after the first 2 weeks and Ive stayed at the 20... maybe my body doesnt want to loose because Ive shocked it too much. What do you think?

Im attempting to use my bread machine and my carbquik today to make bread... hope it works out!

[eve_sonata]

OMG!!! bread smells so good when it is baking. I have a bread machine too. Let me know how yours turns out. I will try it as well if yours is any good. I have heard that somethings tend to be a little dry with the carbquick. Have u heard that too? There are quite a few recipes on here in the recipe section using carbquick. Have u checked them out yet? I want brownies really really bad. I love chocolate too much. Maybe i will peruse the recipes and try to find a brownie recipe.

Hmmmm stalling. Yep. I bet your body is thinking you are in starvation mode and sucking up every little calorie and storing it. Or it could be the lack of exercise this week. It is really hard to say. Some people plateau rite away and others don't for awhile. I think i had plateaued and that is why i am switching to the anabolic diet. Started intense weight training and lordy, I am sooo sore.

Went to ironman last nite it was a really really good movie. Robert Downy Jr really did a great job. I even got to have popcorn! (Friday and Saturday were my 2 days of carb loading). Course i had to pick it out of my braces later. But boy was it worth it.

You know what? I think i can handle this anabolic diet. I can eat whatever i want on the weekends and just be good for 5 days. I think that it gives me more incentive to not cheat since i know i can on the weekends.

I tried to find your photos but, i couldn't. Maybe i was doing it wrong. I would really love to see your work. Can u post me the site again?

Hugs. Hang in there cutie! You will find out the problem that was stalling you and get back to losing more weight. Your doing sooo good already. You made me laugh when u said your husband made u work out! Ha ha ha ha. I have one of those too. I had to tell him to back off and now i don't work out with him. He wanted to kill me with what he was trying to make me do and of course he thinks i was just being a big sissy. Rolls my eyes. He meant well, but sometimes men just don't understand women.

Well u have a good rest of the day and be well. catch up with you soon

[PurTliLady]

FaithRandPhotography - Faith Rand Photography

Thats the page... It looks formatted well on my vista comp... I dont think later comps do it well.. I need to get a good web page together by a web designer... haha

Well this am I was 2lbs lighter thats good.... but Ill be back to tomorrow prolly... this is the lightest Ive been in a long time tho.. my weight fluctuates so much...

I should have measured myself before I started this whole thing, now that I have stalled.. Im kicking myself for not doing it!

Well the only thing that came out well is the buscuits I made (the cheddar ones) I tried to make bread 4 times on sunday and NONE came out... I think I am just going to order some fron Viva Low Carb Superstore. They have zero net carb bread.. (all the carbs are fiber) they charge you 24.95 for bread shipping tho if your not in Cali.. but I may place an order for a few loafs and freeze them.

There are some low carb bread machine recipies using like flax seed and other crazy flours that I dont have and I will probably spend a boadload ordering them online.. so Im just going to get the finished product and save myself time.

I took my portfolio into work yesterday and I think have two new customers to expand my portfolio, I will have some graduation and baby portraits, I need someone to let me do their wedding and I feel like I am complete and then I can start charging (I plan on charging close to whats on the site, but dont know yet)

Im glad your excited about this diet, what ever works for you! Yea the thing about popcorn, its good while you eat it but it stays stuck in your teeth for days. I used to have braces and it left spaces where the place the brackets around your molars, and thats a food trap I cant go a meal without getting something stuck there... drives me crazy. But I love the straight teeth!

[eve_sonata]

Hi there Cutie! (it is much easier to type than PurTlilady). Hope you don't mind. How goes it? How did the bread turn out? I am dying to know!

Well i think I have made the rite decision about switching it up to the anabolic solution. I carb loaded for 3 days and i was really nervous about the weight gain. I snuck on the scale on Monday (my routine weigh in day is Tuesdays) but i just felt so bloated and fatter that i had to know. It said 209.8. Okay so i am a little freaked cuz my official start weight is 207.3. So i did my lc all day yesterday and stuck to it and this Tuesday am i was at 202.8 Wow i dropped 7 lbs of water in one day!! I am so happy about that. Trying for 15 lbs by the end of May. I think i can do it.

You must be doing a long stretch of 12's. Those can be exhausting.
Don't wear yourself out cutie. We gotta keep you healthy and focused

[eve_sonata]

I could mail you some bread from here. Montana wheat makes a very tastey lc bread that is only 6 grams per slice. I only allow myself 2 at the most per day. It is nice to have a piece of toast at times or a slice with say tuna salad or chicken salad.

[PurTliLady]

Well today is a day off... I have a total of 4 12s this week. I dont ever work more than 3 12s in a row... by the end of 3 Im ready to be out of there, esp bc days in the ER can be H*LL..

By the way my name is Faith if you just wanna call me that.. me Aim SN is PurTliLady so I just use that for everything ( have had that since like the 8th grade)

[eve_sonata]

Dang! i was going to give u my mailing addy but u can't private message yet. You should be able to soon. The one thing about lc bread especially the 0 carb ones, is that they taste like crap! As soon as you can pm, I would be more than happy to mail you some if you would like. If you feel uncomfortable about giving out your addy, i can understand that. These days a gal has to be careful, especially here online. I am so excited to see your portfolio. What kinda camera do you use?

[PurTliLady]

Oh... another note... one thing that totally boosted my week, people at work are starting to stop me and ask if Im losing weight.. and a good friend of mine at work even said I seem happier... its all the weight... I was so unhappy... shoot a few years ago I was unhappy at this weight... cant even imagine what it will be like to be around 130 again.. that right there is motivation enough...

I figured out my kcals... I probably eat around 1300- 1500 on an average.. so thats good for weight loss... but my body on a day at work probably burns 2800 kcal.. maybe Im eating too little?

[eve_sonata]

I am off today too! Yes, i don't do more than 3 12s in a row either. Even though they call me in sometimes to pick up extra. I mite do an 8. Or if i have to cover for vacation times. Do a few more posts and see if your pm kicks in. I think it is after around 30 posts and u have 30 now!!!

[PurTliLady]

well how do you even know if you can do a pm?

[eve_sonata]

Faith, yes that is good incentive, and makes you feel all warm and toasty inside when people notice. Especially when it is such hard work! It is quite an accomplishment and you should feel proud of yourself. Well just hang in there. I don't think plateaus last forever. It is scarey to try to change your diet up though isn't it. I was afraid i would wreck everything that i had worked so hard at doing prior.

[eve_sonata]

oh, you click on the persons name over to the side the one that is bolder
and this drop box will appear and then it will say sent a private message. I keep clicking on yours but it doesn't say it yet