Good morning ladies!

It hasn't even been a week on Angie's plan and I've lost 6 or 7 lbs (can't remember where I started)-so I'm at the weight I was when I was told to lose 16 lbs for surgery. I'm being very bad about the low sodium thing with the exception of using the potassium salt. And water-need to increase that. So-probably still hanging on to some water weight.

Angie-I used your idea for "eggplant parm" and essentially made a lasagna with layers of roasted eggplant, ricotta, and beef mixed with some spaghetti sauce (it's all i had!). I also sprinkled a little parm/mozz on top. So-a bit of a cheat with the sauce and tiny amount of dairy but very yummy. I'll try to find some of those crackers to keep the crazies away. So far-I've grabbed a string cheese (yeah, yeah) and it's helped and I figure just not THAT horrible of a cheat!

I just informed my boss of what I've been up to and he was SO great and encouraging about it. Like I said-I'm in the field of research and know how hard your body works against you to maintain a weight loss (I'm talking morbidly obese people-most if not all of you are/were NOT morbidly obese so please don't think I'm being negative about your journeys) so he totally gets it and thinks it's the only way to go for me. He's seen all my fluctuations over the years. What a relief!

Kim-sucks about the family dinner-you always figure there will be SOMETHING you can eat-salad, veggies, chicken, etc . ..

Joan-sorry about the employee thing-I know my parents (who own their own business) have had things happen over the years and when you run a small business your employees are like family. It truly feels like a personal betrayal.

JM - congrats on the loss! I don't know what it is about it, but I feel so much better physically without carbs. As in, today I feel like crap and can't wait to feel good again. Keep up the great work!

Joan - That sucks about your employee. Hopefully the next hire is much better!

Joan, Sorry you were stolen from. It is hard enough to keep a business going in bad economic times without that kind of a thing happening. The good thing is that there are lots of excellent people currently looking for a job.

JM, You are right about morbid obesity being a tough nut to crack. I know you are a researcher and have likely seen some of the statistics of what being obese increases your risk for getting. My doctor told me the other day that in the Pacific Northwest it is not one out of 8 or 9 women who get breast cancer, it is 1 out of 7! I guess that lack of vitamen D is deadly. I recently read that being obese increases your risks for various cancers 1.5 to 5 times, and for breast cancer the risk tends to be fairly linear, meaning the heavier you are, the greater risk you are courting. To say nothing of the heart disease and diabetes risks. It is only prudent to take action.

yikes-that reminds me I need to take my vit D supplement. In the giant blood workup I had to do-the only abnormality was that I was vit D deficient.

Kim -- Same thing happened to me this weekend. We went for dinner at my aunt's place, she lost 50-60 lbs a couple of years ago and had been maintaining. She ALWAYS has healthy stuff to eat and lots of veggies. Not this time, it was lasagna, or if you felt like something lighter, spaghetti...and of course, garlic bread...oh and chocolate cake. Geeee--zuzzzzzz (pardon my french). I ate sauce without the pasta, cheese and dill pickles and gained 2-3 pounds! I feel bloated now when I eat bad carbs, bleh.

Joan -- Sounds like a rough weekend! Well, it's Monday, fresh start day. Good luck with the resumes.

JM -- I'm so glad the plan is working for you. I think it is tough, but the losses are great and really keep me motivated. Your eggplant lasagna sounds delicious! If you can find fat free cheese, you are allowed about an ounce, so that can be melted on top of things and you'll still be adhering to plan.

Trainer kicked my butt tonight, but I feel great about it now. At the time I hated her and wished terrible things would happen to her, but now we're good.

Good morning everyone. We are on a PA (professional activity) day here today. It is a rainy cold ugly day, but it's a day off school (err...work for me) so DS and I are heading to a movie this afternoon -- The Legend of Ga'Hoole -- about owl warriors or something like that.

We started off by taking the dog to the vet for a sore paw. Poor little guy broke his nail right down to the quick and it's infected. The vet had to cut off the rest of it and we'll try him on antibiotics. If the swelling and redness doesn't go down we'll have to have him sedated and they will completely remove the rest of the nail. He took his pill and is wearing the cone-head thingy to keep him from licking his foot, he's a little mopey, but he's being a trooper.

Ate one of my 2 carbs for the day at breakfast so if I want to have 2 cups of popcorn at the movies (AND I DO!) I have to figure out what tonight's carb free dinner will be. I'm thinking taco salad or chicken breasts covered in mushrooms, onions and peppers.

Are you allowed tomatoes yet? Because I can eat taco salad for several days in a row-but need some sort of salsa-ish dressing. Oil and vinegar doesn't cut it!

hey everyone just wanted to stop by quick and say hi!

JM -- I was allowed tomatoes in moderation once I lost 20lbs. I still cheated and used tomato paste in my first stages, I used it with the ground beef to make my 'taco meat'. I think the reason they are off limits must have to do with the natural amount of sugar in them, but I don't know for sure.

Yeah, tomatoes are high on the glycemic index - high in sugars. Restricted item for my plan too. However, I used 2 TBSP in my taco salad and I didn't fall out of ketosis or anything, I just wouldn't go eating a ton of it.

Angie - poor puppy! I hope he rebounds soon. I've seen that owl movie hyped here - but maybe they have a different title in the US? because that didn't sound like the title.

Well, everything is back on track after the weekend. I was hungry yesterday afternoon - and had to go grocery shopping since DH was down to eating nothing but saltine crackers as a snack (poor guy!??? of course, I believe that he may know where the grocery store is - informed him that he could stop in anytime and buy whatever he liked!) That was a struggle. Everything off plan looked soooo goood! This morning I woke up and feel amazing again (hello ketosis!) and am not hungry or craving anything. Whew!

School tonight - blah. Funny thing, though. I am taking a second class that is online, and it has been 1 month and we really haven't had to DO anything yet. I keep logging in and checking, but nothing. The last online class I took nearly killed me, so this is quite the change. Not complaining, mind you!

Apparently I made plans with a co-worker to meet her at the gym for a BodyPump class the morning @6am (??????WTF was I thinking????). Also apparently I was delirious when I made said plans, because I have no recollection whatsoever about it. Imagine my surprise when she comes into my office with a "where were you" look on her face. Oops. My bad.

OK, continuing on with my tome....

Slap me or put me on ignore if I am getting all rah rah annoying! This is such a new thing for me to be so succesful that I am ecstatic!

I am kind of excited to be starting this protocol at the same time the Biggest Loser starts - usually I am watching the show feeling all guilty like I should be doing something and not. Now I am looking forward to seeing how far I get during the duration of the show. 12 weeks from now- who knows?

I am really done this time. Promise.

Kim -- Actually the title of the movie is Legends of the Guardians - The Owls of Ga'Hoole, but that's waaaay too long, so I changed it...lol. I'm glad your plan is working for you too. It is so motivating to actually see the scale move, and I am dumbfounded that it actually moves daily!!

Too funny about the 6 a.m. class, I would have forgotten that too.

I made some awesome hamburger patties and meatballs tonight for dinner...rest of the family had buns, but I ate plain with just raw veggies.

hello all.
i was meaning to post this a few days ago, but i got a card in the mail from LAWL asking me to restart and they'd give me a certain price, free juice, etc. the center in my city is still open and i see tons of commercials on the local tv channels too. i drive by there sometimes since i live on that side of the city now and just keep thinking that i wanna stop in there and show them that i made it to my goal (well, one of them!) WITHOUT their help, or supplements or sugar-filled bars or the pushy counselors! hahaha!

but in all seriousness, i still have 20lbs that i want to lose, or maybe just 10lbs..i'm not really set on a number really. we'll see. i've been pushing myself harder on my workouts and am still at 164. but i'm cool with that. i'm doing what i need to do, and that's being healthy and taking excellent care of myself.

sorry, i don't have time for personals...hope everyone is doing well, staying on track, setting goals and doing everything in their power to reach them and be good to their bodies.

I was just thinking that I don't miss hamburger buns. It all started with LAWL when I fell in love with turkey burgers on deli flats, then I just dropped the bun altogether. This summer on vacation SIL made these awesome burgers and she raved about some "really good looking bulkie rolls" she found at the market and all I could think was... yuk, I want mine bunless. And that was before low-carbing!

Jillian - LAWL was just a tool to get you through a certain point. They aren't the reason you got to goal at all! That's kind of what I am thinking about what I am doing now - getting through to a point. If you did go into LAWL, your point with them would be totally lost, because they would just think it was an lawl success story.

And, the fun of losing weight. You work hard to lose it, then as you do, you need to work even harder to keep losing. Argh! I can't think about it! hurts caveman head.