Beth's Real Life Journey to Success

[seb]

The end of the school year is always so busy with sports, concerts, awards ceremonies, etc...Glad this is the last week for you. Hopefully you'll be able to get some rest from all the activities and driving this summer.

That's interesting about the Lipitor and your muscles. Sounds like you're doing the right things, though.

Hope you got a good night's rest. You really need it right now.

[Debralynn]

So happy to see your sweet face back here!

Enjoy the fun and frenzy of all the activity! We will be here when you settle into the much calmer summer months! (Ha! Who am I kidding! Now the kids will be home all day!)

[seb]

Beth, I thought this thread with it's links would be good for you to read.

WORK RESULTS -- BAD CHOLESTEROL IS TERRIBLE!!!

[monet0329]

.. I know the feeling of the crazies....lol.. but I only have 2.. so I feel for ya..my best friend has 4 kiddos.. well.. she has 2 and her dh has 2.. but she has raised them since they were 4... hers all played sports and cheer leading .. so I know how you must feel.. they always had to separate to get the kids where they needed to be.. .. she is down to one still living at home now .. so they are takin it easy now.. see.. there is light at the end of the tunnel hehehe.... but like her.. I am sure your loving it.. .. sometimes it can seem overwhelming.. but SO worth it huh.. .. I wish my youngest wanted to do the sport stuff.. but he doesn't.... he will play at home.. but he doesn't wanna play on a team.. he played one year of baseball.. I think it bored him..lol.. I finally updated to a newer camcorder this past week.. and no sports..

anyway.. you have a great day hun..

[monet0329]

[Low Carb Mommy]

Good morning ladies! I am finally back on here. We got through the end of the school year....and this holiday weekend. I have really got to get back on track. I guess the stress of everything got the best of me and the cheating started. Yeah, we will blame it on the stress. I had nothing to do with eating that bread or dessert. Anyway, I am really going to get back disciplined today. I weighed this morning and I am back up to 135. No surprise to me. Hopefully it is mostly water from re-feeding (is that the right term?).

I will be gone a little this afternoon. I have to go get my haircut. I hope to catch up with everyone later. I have neglected every one's journals. I hope all my friends are doing well.

I am trying to think of other news on me... I decided after reading all the side effects of Lipitor to stop taking it. Everyone in the family said I was doing the right thing. I am going to focus more on exercising and trans-fats. I just have to trust the Lord with all this. I have felt much better since stopping that medicine. So, everyone keep me in line with this. They will be testing me in another 3 months.

It is so good to be back. I have missed everyone so much.

[seb]

So glad to hear from you.

Not to worry; you'll get that water weight off soon.

Glad you made the decision to go off the Lipitor. Did they give you your ratios with the cholesterol count? Because if the ratios are good, you shouldn't worry about it.

We've missed you also.

Talk to you later.

[Debralynn]

Missed you! So glad you are back!

I'll remind you about the excercise if you remind me! I NEED to get back on my treadmill!

[NewYorkGiants32]

Are your kids out of school already? Mine still have two more weeks.

[Low Carb Mommy]

I did pretty good today. No cheats but not induction level either. I really wanted to eat like induction today but this afternoon I got hungry. My choices were eat high fat (which isn't good for my cholesterol) or eat some fruit. I tried salad but that just didn't do it. I ended up eating some fresh cherries. I really want to get back into ketosis. I haven't been in ketosis for a while. I don't know if it has been my diet or my medicine. A few days of eating very low carb would let me know. Just wanted to check in...

[Low Carb Mommy]

Hi everyone. I don't have much time to be on here today. I have to go down to my parents house to help them with some work. Then tonight my friend will be here (she is going to help us at our business tomorrow). Just wanted to check in and post my menu. I'm not to proud of myself but I know I need to be accountable. So here it is...

B~Atkins shake=1
L~Hardees LC burger minus ketchup, water=4
S~Few bites of leftover salad w/ tsp ranch(2), a few bites of chicken(0), 10 fresh cherries(3), 1/2 cup Chocolate CCD milk(2)=7
D~Wings w/ seasoning(10?), celery & ranch(2), diet coke=12
D~Homemade ice cream=6

T~29

I am going to do better today. I had a slight pink on my stick this morning. I want to get it darker so I won't have such an appetite. Well, talk to you all later.

[seb]

Your menu doesn't look bad, Beth. And if you have even a slight pink, you're in ketosis. Hope you have a great day, enjoy your parents and your friend.

[Debralynn]

Looking good! You are easing back into it, which is good. You should see those sticks get darker by the day!

[NewYorkGiants32]

Hi Beth!!
Your menu does look good...especially the homemade ice cream!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Blessed Thursday Sweet Beth!

You are doing such a great job I know you will be deep into ketosis and losing before you know it!

Love you

[Low Carb Mommy]

My discipline is paying off. I weighed 133.4 this morning. That is 1.6 pounds in a couple of days. It has been so hard for me to stay close to induction level. I realize just how much I have relied on fruits, nuts, peanut butter, and yogurt to get me through not cheating. I found myself in that state of just not being satisfied when I eat. Last night after dinner I just wanted something sweet so bad! I finally settled on the ricotta w/ vanilla & splenda and that did the trick.

My week has still been filled with all kinds of activities. Today I have to run a ton of errands all over. Tonight I have a Home Interiors party to go to. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever have a day when I do nothing but sit here and talk to all of you.

Looking at the summer....Coming up in June is DS#3 birthday on the 9th....then the older boys go to camp for a week....after camp they have a friend who will be staying with us for a long weekend....July 4th-party at friend's house....July 5th-leave for our company convention in Denver until the 12th....get back and leave next day for vacation w/ my parents to Hilton Head, SC....school starts back the beginning of August. This summer is going to fly by. There is no time like the present to really focus on getting my weight as low as possible before traveling.

I was thinking about the beach the other day when I saw all the swimsuits out. I am a little disappointed in myself for not being farther down the road w/ my weight loss and toning. In fact I am exactly the same w/ my body. I realize that I wasted a year. Last year I pictured myself much different. Now I know, that I did accomplish keeping the weight off and that is no easy task. I just know that without setting goals and doing what it takes to get there it just won't happen. I have been so lazy with exercising this year. To me it has been much harder than when I was focused on losing the weight. This WOE just gives you an out with the exercise since you lose regardless. I don't know what it is going to take for me. I really need a new mindset on exercise for me to see it's importance and for it to click in my head. I know I do have the reason of high cholesterol to get back diligent with it. I guess it just has to be non-negotiable like Dr. A said!

Menu from yesterday:

B~1/4 cup Egg Beaters(1), 1/4 slice of cheese(not enough to count), 1 slice ham chopped=1
S~Made some chicken salad...took a few bites(1), coffee w/ CCD milk(1)=2
L~Atkins shake(2)=2
S~1/2 bar(1), green tea=1
D~Salad(2), ranch(2), sirloin steak(0), sm. amt. of broccoli w/ cheese & sc(2)=6
D~1/2 cup ricotta cheese(4) w/ SF vanilla & splenda(1)=5

T=17

Ketone stick this morning-good trace
Water-not enough
Exercise-cleaned mom's house

[Debralynn]

Beth, do not be so hard on yourself. Do you realize that maintaining is just as much work as losing? With all that you have had going on, you certainly could have used it as an excuse to go completely off plan, and gain back. You have done an amazing job of staying true to yourself, and you have been so reasonable about it.

If you starved the last few pounds off, you would gain them back as soon as you returned to OWL levels. Since you are losing with the right woe (nuts and berries included), your long term success is going to be that much greater.

You are going to hit that goal. When you do, it is going to stick. You are doing it the right and healthy way, and you should have no regrets.

Love ya!

Oh, and how wonderful of you to clean your Mom's house! You are truly amazing, I can't keep up with mine!

[Low Carb Mommy]

Deb~Thank you for your encouraging words. It's great to have a friend like you that can put things into perspective for me. I can be really hard on myself at times. You are right about trying to get at a certain weight by extreme measures...the weight will come right back on when the diet changes. I have seen it many times. Thanks for keeping me in line.


I am a little embarrassed by how much I ate yesterday. It was a very weird day. I will have to explain my menu a little so you all don't think I was completely nuts .....


Woke up late and messed around so I didn't have any breakfast.

11:00-finally ate something...Atkins shake(2)(which I drank really fast so it didn't satisfy me), then some of my chicken salad(2).

3:00- I was in town and was hungry so I and ran by Wendy's to get a Caesar side salad(2) and unsweet tea w/ splenda(3).

I was on the road from 3:00 until 7:15. I had to drive everywhere! I had to run errands in my town. Then, drive to our business 30 minutes away. Then, drive my friend home to another town 1.5 hours away. Then, drive to my other's friends house 40 minutes away and pick her up to drive to a party 15 minutes away. Then, back to my house 30 minutes away!

5:30- I stopped to get DD something at McDonalds and got myself a double cheeseburger sans bun(2) b/c I didn't think I would be eating dinner later.

At 7:15- I ended up w/ my friend at a Home Interiors party where they had refreshments. I picked the crock pot meatballs which had some sauce on them(5), a green olive(0), sour pickle(0), and a few peanut nuts(1) w/ a dt. coke.

Afterwards my friend wanted to go get some dinner around 9:00. Believe it or not I was still a little hungry! I had some grilled chicken(1) w/ very small salad(1) w/ ranch(2).

After I got home my sweet tooth hit me around 10:30 so I ate some more homemade ice cream! I guess I figure my day was probably shot anyway....

So here are the totals (in case you didn't mentally tally them up):

Breakfast~0
Lunch 1 & Lunch 2~11
Snack 1 & Snack 2~10
Dinner~4
Dessert~5

T~30

Ketone stick: still at trace
Exercise: none
Water: 32oz. + what was in the tea

Like I said before...it was a crazy day! I am going to have to make sure after a day like yesterday that I get on my treadmill to counteract it. Hopefully over the weekend I can regain some control and lose some more. I want to at least get back down in the 132's by Monday.

Tomorrow I get to go with my friend to the Spa. Our husbands at Christmas had given us facials. We finally scheduled it for tomorrow. I am looking forward to going and having a little girl time.

Have fun yourselves this weekend!!!

[monet0329]

Enjoy your day hun.. sounds like the great way to even out that hecktic day yesterday..

[seb]

Beth~I agree with Deb; you are too hard on yourself. You know how many people gain their weight back after a few months? Instead, you have maintained, despite going through a very rough school year and starting on new meds that make it hard to lose. Even on a busy day like yesterday, you did well. You may think you didn't but considering your schedule, I think you did well. So, congratulate yourself on maintaining a very large loss this last year!

Even if you never lost another pound, all you have to do is to go back to those swim suit comparisons that you posted last year to remember how far you've come and how good you look. Even your doc called you tiny. Take it to heart.

[Debralynn]

Your eating was not bad at all yesterday, with all the running around and the temptations at a party. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

Plus, 30 gms is very reasonable. Practically OWL levels, with more legal foods! You are doing just fine!

Have a wonderful weekend!

[Low Carb Mommy]

Thanks ladies! You are right. I need to play your thoughts over and over in my head to get my thinking back right.

Speaking of the party.....I was so glad they had something for me to eat. Let me tell you, there was lots more food than what I picked! I didn't know the host very well and I didn't want to seem rude you know. If they had not had anything I could eat I would have just had the diet coke (which I don't like drinking in the first place). Also, I thought that was dinner.

Just checking in....today is going well. I have tried to eat light today. I don't know what DH will want to do tonight so I will be OK no matter what we do. Have a great weekend!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Blessed June Dear Beth!!

You always amaze me with you schedule!! WOW You did great with the food my friend!

Hope you enjoyed the SPA.

Thank you for always checking on me and having such kind words.

I AM BACK!!

Love you!

[seb]

Morning Beth. Hope you had a great weekend. Talk to you soon.