Thanks Fi. I don't generally get the symptoms anymore because my general eating is low carb, but the broth sure helped when I first started.

Jane ~ Thanks for your comments on my walking

Ubee ~ Thanks for answering my question, Im sure I'll be able to find it

I got two walks in today, Im so proud of myself

Hi guys..
Its hard for me to get on here on the weekend since I am working and doing stuff with my son, but I thought I would come on here and see how everyone is doing.
I can safely say that I've been OP since Friday. I am happy to report that. It's been so hard to start over and I need to keep this up. I feel so much better when I do.

Ubee counting my calories has been the only thing I have been comfortable with doing and I lose consistently with it. I think what I need to change is to just allow myself what I want, but in moderation instead of eliminating everything I think I can't have. I seem to get side tracked or whatever you want to call it and I just stop, but it always works for me. I don't mind you asking at all. That's why were here right? hehe..

Well, work is the easiest place to be right now. Normally it's not because I work at a grocery store, but I'm so busy lately I just don't have time to think about buying food and eating it. So I'm happy at work right now so I can get the distraction. My husband is still on board and that's cool too. and I have a goal: I need new work shirts and I bought some right before I gained my weight back. So if I can lose 20 pounds I should be able to fit in them again. So I have something to work towards.

Jane it sounds like you got a plan. Good for you!

Fiona, good luck on your plateau. That's hard to overcome. I think that might work with the calories. I have heard talk of it.

Betsy, thanks for the tips. Yeah that is my downfall. When I slip up I tend to just quit instead of taking a breather and coming back. I have to remember that this is something I have to work hard at. yay for you for having and OP day. It's the best feeling!!

Down 2.6 this morning, that's a nice water weight whoosh. Just a quick check in to say I'm still on plan. Need to get some stuff done today!

The guy who does the heavy maintenance work on my house is due in a few minutes, so this will be a short note for me (probably a relief for most of you!!).

Sounds like all of us are facing our eating challenges and meeting them head on. If we stumble, we're figuring out why and trying to remedy it. If we're on plan, we have enough sense to congratulate ourselves. I'm striving for 2 solid days in a row......that shouldn't be such a big accomplishment, but I'll take it! Ubee, whatever works for us is great. I just realized that I could learn to eat better and healthy, but there were some things in life I wasn't going to give up. Sounds like you're onto something.

Just heard Mark's truck drive up so guess I'd better get it in gear. Hope everyone has a great day.

Good Afternoon.
Yesterday was good. Today eating everything in sight...
I want my weightloss honeymoon back!
Stay strong everyone.

Yesterday was another crazy day for me. I participated in a huge parade. The route was over 4 miles and the news reported that 80,000 spectators viewed it. We (The Shriners) were first to step off and when I finished DW and I were on opposite sides of the parade route with no way to cross. We had to wait until the parade finished 3 hours later. I got sunburned on my face and ears but luckily I have the type of complexion where a sunburn only lasts for a day tor two and I do not normally peel.

I only had time for one meal yesterday. Parade preparations were during breakfast time and the parade stepped off at noon so no lunch and by the time I had every thing loaded to go home it was 4 PM. So we ate at a Golden Corral on the drive home. I followed my Volumetrics plan by eating a large variety of vegetables and a small portion of baked fish. I ate "NO" red meat and no fried foods. I ended the day with 965 calories total.

Larry-good stuff on the parade and staying on plan at the buffet. That's a hard thing to do. I've been off the computer since thursday since I took friday off-had family in over the weekend.

Not sure I've been "good" or even "on plan", but my weight isn't up as of yesterday, so I must have walked enough to even it out.

Coffee is on, and I'm on track for a great week!

Take care,

Dean

Good Morning!
Dean and Larry so good to have you both doing so well!
Betsy for some of us 2 days in a row is a big deal!
Jane glad to see you had another good day! How many in a row?
Angelia thanks for being a good sport about my question. I am always trying to figure this weightloss puzzle out. Glad you have been on plan and hubby is still on board! I understand about the quitting. I want to quit so bad but this is my job to get healthy. My family needs me to be healthy and I do not want to let them down.
Terra you should be proud of yourself! I think you are awesome! I wish you lived next door so we could walk together and then maybe I would actually do it. OK just decided I am going to walk today. Thanks Terra!
Fi I admire how you took the time to figure things out and share them with us. I still deal with a scale gain by eating.
Yesterday was not good. I was not near as out of control as back in the day. I did eat things my body likes to reject. Boy did it reject them during the middle of the night! My body really is telling me it needs me to trim down.
So today I start week 73 of this journey! For better for worse... The weightloss honey moon may be over, but divorce is not an option. I have to live with my "weightloss marriage" and I am sure going to work hard at making it a good marriage!

Ubee I think we all miss that honeymoon! I'm at about 7 "really, really good days", but only about two "Perfect" ones. I'd like to keep this perfect (which for me means staying in Ketosis & exercising primally) until Easter. By that time I hope to be fat adapted again and can add in a few more veggies and cheese. I actually gave up cheese for lent because I think I've been eating so much of it that it's stalled me. I've basically maintained for like a year now, and I'm tired of it. I need to have some more marked progress by August 1 (my 2 year dieting anniversary).

Down another 1.1 of this stupid water today I can't believe that you can put on ten pounds of water overnight and take 2 weeks to lose it. I am do for TOM soon though, so maybe I"ll be treated to a whoosh after that.

Have a good day everyone!

Good Morning Everyone,

Sorry I didn't post this weekend...I was pretty busy and had a really bad night on Saturday.

I went shopping with my mom and grandma on Saturday and got to get some new bras. It felt good because I needed them badly. I'm still in the same size as I have been for years, but I'm able to move the snaps in further so that's a plus. I'll be able wear these for a little while before I have to buy more.

Saturday night was terrible for me. I hadn't told anyone, not even my husband that I've been slowly trying to wean myself off of my Geodon...I hate that I have to be on medication to stable my mood, etc. with being bipolar. Well Friday night when I took my medicine I took even less than what I had been taking myself down on, and had a HUGE manic episode. I hadn't heard DH ask me to make him some breakfast burritos for dinner too, I thought he said he wanted a burger from Wendys so I just made my own. We didn't have enough cheese left over to make more and something in me snapped like it hadn't in years and we started fighting over it and I ended up throwing my dinner against the wall and broke the plate. Of course I had to clean it up, and as I was cleaning it, I starte to cry because I realized it was because of me not taking my regular dose of medicine that caused me to act this way. I ended up going and crying under some blankets in my living room until he came out and asked me what was wrong. I appologized prefusely...I felt so bad. I even scared my cats and they didn't want to come near me. He is so understanding because he also has anxiety problems amongst being a recovering drug addict. He just said that sometimes people need the medicine in order for them to be normal. I just hate thinking that in order for me to be the person that I love, I have to take medicine....Like why I can't I be like this without medicine? It's just something I'm going to have to learn to live with and continue to take my medication. DH ended up making us some chicken tacos and did everything to make me feel better. I haven't had an episode like this in over 3 years. I hope to not have another one in a long time. I'm just going to take my medicine like I should.

On a lighter note, I weighed in 1.2 lbs lighter when I weighed in yesterday. I was hoping for more of a loss because I kicked so much *** this week with my eating and exercise, but I'm not going to complain because at least it's a loss. My friend who talks to me every day and encourages me (she's a beach body coach) told me not to worry about it. That it may be that my muscles are starting to build up, so it may not show much of a loss. She said I need to be measuring. I lost my measuring tape and haven't been able to find it so I don't know what my measurements are but I think I really need to start doing that. I tried to buy a measuring tape on Sunday, but my local Wal-Mart didn't have any. She told me to try Michael's or AC Moore so I think I'm going to try and do that today.

Sorry no personals this morning, but I'll be checking in sometime this afternoon. Thanks everyone for listening....It means a lot that I have all of you for my support. Hope everyone has a great day!

Sam-Just remember, what's done is done. You CAN do better going forward. Don't beat yourself up for what's happened, just focus on enjoying the present and look for the positives every day.

As goofy as it is, I'll try to focus on little pleasant things throughout the day-a good cup of coffee, a nice old fashioned shave with the brush/bowl/good shaving cream, some nice quiet music, etc. Before you know it, you've eased yourself into a better day!

Hmmm, maybe I'm some kind of a nut, LOL.

You can do it. Take care.

Dean

Good morning all. It's a gorgeous day here before it starts raining again. We're all in shock over the enormous landslide that occurred out here -- about 70 miles north of where I live, but how horrible for the people involved and the ones left behind.

Dean -- Sounds like you had a great weekend, and good advice for Sam and all of us.

Sam -- Sorry you had such a bad episode, but understanding that taking your medicine is necessary is a big step. I have to take a lot of pills for various things and understand your desire to not have. But, they make my life better in the long run, so I just accept that it's a necessary thing to do. You're doing so well with your eating plan and exercise -- give yourself a pat on the back for that.

Ubee -- We all miss that honeymoon period, but now we're in the marriage part which is a lot more real. Like you said, divorce is not an option and all marriages have their ups and downs. I was just thinking last night that in spite of basically maintaining for the last eight months, my previous pattern would have been to regain everything by now. Coming here every day is definitely one of my triggers to keep me going. We seem to be getting that yen to improve our health back so let's keep it going.

Jane -- How true about the water weight -- on fast, off one drip at a time! Not fair!!!!

Larry -- I was exhausted just reading about your day! And to show such will power after a long day and at a buffet no less. Good for you!

So many things got fixed by Mark yesterday that I'm in a much more positive mood today. Started working on seed germination and garden prep -- so looking forward to fresh fruits and veggies again. Still struggling to conquer the whim eating -- that's where I mindlessly eat something because I WANT it, not because I NEED it. It's getting better, but have a way to go. Have a good day all.

Sam— So sorry to hear about your bad episode! I want to say something on the subject of your not wanting to take medications. I'm a doctor, and I think that promotes an attitude that having an affective disorder (like bipolar) and needing to take meds for it is no different from being diabetic and needing to take insulin. In the former, it's a disorder of the brain, in the latter, the pancreas. I do not feel in any way that I am not "the real me" because I take medications for my bipolar disorder. Quite the contrary: I feel that I am more "the real me" on medications because I am able to function so much better. By "function" I mean in all aspects of my life: my marriage, my relationships w/ family members, my friendships, my art, my writing, and all the other projects I take on, including exercise & weight loss. If I were not taking medications, my life would be utterly dominated by my mental illness: I would be swinging in and out of states of severe depression pain, extreme irritability, feeling incredibly wired-up, having thoughts of despair, defeat, & desire to kill myself, and so on. No way could I have the active, happy life I have today, and no way could I have lost 67 pounds so far. So please, Sam, don't hate it that you need medication in order to be the person you love: feel grateful that you live in an age when such medications are available. I sure do feel grateful!

Thanks so much for the sympathy for my weight plateau! I didn't feel ready for a re-set yesterday because I had a crappy day due to one of those deadly "mixed" episodes that many bipolars know about—when you have depression pain at the same time as feeling really hyper & wired-up. It lasted for several hours, I took a couple of different meds to try to stop it, but finally what helped was having a half-cup of muesli with cream. Yes, friends, it's my "magic muesli" again: this is the second time it's happened that I got to feeling really out of sorts, bipolar-wise, while following a very low-carb diet. After eating that muesli, I felt so much more like myself, it was amazing.

Why muesli? Well, it just happens that Familia brand muesli is something both Bob and I like, so it's in the house all the time, and it's the healthiest way on hand for me to get a quick slug of carbos. So today I went out and bought a box of my own, because I prefer the sugar-free kind, whereas Bob's has sugar in it. I'm going back to having a half-cup serving a day, with a bit of cream (because cream has almost no carbs, and I love it). That should also have the effect of adding some much-needed calories back into my diet. I think I can get away with skipping the muesli, though, on the days when I do intermittent fasting.

As for exercise, it's a gorgeous day today in the DC area—a bit nippy, but the redbuds and forsythia are in bloom all over my neighborhood—so I hope I can get myself out the door for a walk. No matter what, I will do my leg exercises tonight to the rock-n-roll radio show (no commercials!) I'm into. And I've been drinking more water, as promised.

Sorry I don't have time for personal comments today—I mean, except for the one I made to Sam. I lost most of another day yesterday to screwed-up mood, so I absolutely have to take advantage of the good mood I'm in now to work on art projects that are behind schedule.