Good morning ladies!

How did everyone do over the weekend? Me...great! No issues, no slip ups, and I have been doing the ketosis sticks every day just to give me strength that I am still in ketosis, and....I am! In moderate ketosis every day. I gave one to the DBF to make sure I had a good batch, lol, he wasnt in ketosis at all so that is a relief. My weight has not changed, still 8 pounds and I am in week 4 now. I lost 10 in my first week and then gained 2. To say the least, I am frustrated. I am going to step up my exercise routine, I was doing 30 minutes of bike riding every morning, but now I am going to the gym for an hour each day so I can incorporate weights and cardio. I really need to see a drop on the scale soon, because not losing is disheartening. I am completely eliminating anything with artificial sweetners to see if that is indeed what is affecting my loss. I am also watching my sodium levels. I understand what I eat might be affecting my water weight but I drink 2 gallons of water a day....how can this stilll be???

So, what exercise routines does everyone have going on in here? What was the longest "plateau" you have had to endure?

THe plateau is over....I am officially down 12 pounds, but my official weigh in for being on the Atkins for one month is not until Saturday, so I will wait to update the ticker.

It is very quiet in here, hope everyone is doing well.

Luckylindy-congrats!! I am very happy for you!

I have been stuck at around 190.4-191 for the last few days. I am trying a few variations with my atkins plan to see if I can get the scale to move...I feel great and the clothes fit better so I guess that is progress in some way.

Summer...you have done so well thus far, thats great. I figured out that my two week stall on the scale was a result of artificial sweetner. As soon as I gave it up, I started to drop. I would like to try and limit my avocado intake as I have been told it can stall loss, but I really need the potassium right now because I have AWFUL restless leg syndrome. Grrrr.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. :-) How is your day going? Anything fun planned this week?

Hi -- quick post - Still working the plan and still stuck but like I have said I expected it to happen sooner or later -- was just hoping for way later - like at goal lol

Been busy researching stoves and looking at them ... I wish it was a law that stove places had to have one of every model hooked up so you could try them out - I think I found the one I will be getting -- has more things I want and less things I dislike than others -- and the price is "reasonable" I still pass by the Viking, Wolf, Garland double oven super duper stoves drooling all the way but the Samsung I'm looking at seems to offer more of what I want than others .. and under $1500 ...

It has been interesting cooking with crockpot, electric fry pan, one portable electric burner and microwave -- hopefully it will only be for a few more weeks tops.

Lindy I'm an avocado lover too -- I do 1/2 a day somehow - I figure the good fat and nutrients from it is worth it.

Hey Rho - good luck on making the purchase. We had to research refrigerators not too long ago and that took FOREVER. Glad to hear you are still sticking to the program despite the shortcoming. :-)

What is everyone's plans for this weekend? We will be signing our girls up for softball, maybe some bowling, and hopefully a date night in the near future. I want to see that new movie with Will Ferrell...the Campaign. :-)

I ordered the stove YIKES! should be delivered on Tuesday - now it is trying to coordinate everything to get it in and done -- like the gas guy to come and move the gas line, the carpenter to come and close up and remove the downdraft exhaust from the old stove and tell us what we need for the new hood exhaust -- and take out the cabinets that are falling down and plan for shelves there ... And I have to empty the few things in the cabinet and clean off the counter in prep for that too. So even though the stove will be here taunting me on Tuesday it could be weeks before it is hooked up and ready to use - but I wanted to lock in the really good price I got on it and once it is here everything else can proceed on everyone else's time line ...

So this week I am trying to up my calories a bit in the hope that it will jump start my losses again -- so I am adding a TBS of coconut oil to each cup of coffee I have in the morning. I'm thinking maybe my body thinks I am trying to starve it and if I convince it I am not it will lose again

Its a theory -- hope it's right

Good luck on your new stove Rho! I wasn't sure if you had gas or not. There are still plenty of neighborhoods here on Long Island that does not have gas.

I would love to know how the coconut oil tastes. Can you taste the coconut? I'm not sure I would like that in my coffee, or any food for that matter except chocolate. Oh yeah, chocolate is out.

Lindy, I love your positive attitude and all the active things that you have planned for the weekend. Is working on my tan and reading a book considered active? Didn't think so. lol. I am planning a nice walk except I have to wait for a fedex delivery that someone must be home to sign for. Is that the greatest excuse, or what.

Just wanted to report that I received my blood work back from my checkup and everything is perfect. All of those eggs had no affect on my cholesterol reading.

TTFN

Yay about the new stove Rho! That'll be lovely to have. My stove (I live in a rented flat) isn't old, but it's the absolute cheapst model and so much about it drives me nuts, grrr.

Serenity, I've tried a few brands and some coconut oils are really coconutty and others don't seem to have much of a taste. So I vary depending what I'm cooking. I find if I'm pan frying salmon fillets using the fragrent one is great as it makes the kitchen smelly less.

This weekend I am studying (as always) and also I'm about to get myself off my butt to clean/organise my kitchen. I've been floundering for months now, really, since just before Christmas last year. I re-start only to go off again. Lately I've been *gaining* weight at an amazing rate, I think I gained 15 pounds in August alone. I just cannot seem to do this right.

Easier said than done I know, but I'm going to do my best this time to focus on how much better my body feels when I'm following Atkins when I get to those inevitable plateaus. I usually eventually get fed up and figure if I'm not losing I might as well be eating cake and then cancel out all my good work and gain even more. I quickly forget how much work induction was and how much better I feel in ketosis - regardless of the scale (no acid reflux, more energy, not bloated, not thinking about food 24/7, etc.). Again, easier to say that now - freshly out of induction and with the scale still moving, but your stories are inspiring me and reminding me that it's a marathon, not a sprint, and I won't be able to keep up these 3 minute miles for the whole journey. We can do this!!!

Rho - congrats on the stove. Sounds like quite a task just to get things going. I'm also on the fence of using cocnut oil. What would I eat it with? What is it's advantages?

Serenity - I WISH I was tanning and reading. I recently tried reading a book....it took me 2 months to finish it! Lol...with three kids, its hard to focus when someone is approaching you every 5 minutes. Congrats on your check-up! I gave blood last Thursday and they check all your stats and mine were PERFECT. Last time I tried to give my blood pressure was a little high and my pulse was racing (no IDEA why????) Anyway, this time is was perfect and I was happy.

Davemb - you CAN do it! Keep your head up and keep reinforcing the positives.

I wish I could say I had a good weekend but I didnt. I went TOTALLY off diet for the first time in one month. We took the kids to Legoland, and I was hungry from walking around all day and I didnt want to order 5 cheeseburgers at $7 a pop just to fill me up so I had a balances meal. Then I figured I already threw myself out of ketosis so I did the same thing on Sunday. I DID track my calories though and although they were VERY high, I did not consume more than 2,500, therefore even if the scale does bounce a little, it will not be actual fat because I did not consume enough to gain a pound. Well, this is at least what I am telling myself, lol.

I am back on board today though and ready to stick with it. I am interested to see how much this will stall or impact my weight loss. *shrugs shoulders*

Anyway, it is a rainy day here in Orlando as we are getting some of the bands from Hurricane Isaac, makes me in a blah kinda mood.

Dave, that's a great thing to focus on and you've helped remind me to do that too.

Lindy, maybe last time you gave blood you were a little anxious but this time you felt more comfortable? That's great your results were perfect, good for you! And good for you donating too :-)

And I think you made sensible choices over the weekend. It will be interesting to see how you went. The most important thing is to get back on track now. When I fell into my current slide, I ate out one night and I was still in ketosis the next day, but I didn't reign in in then or the next day and it just went on and got harder.

Hi chickadees!

Today is a good day, I am feeling good and feel like my body is starting to adjust back into ketosis. Its weird, after I had my cheat weekend, Monday and Tuesday were just awful, I felt sluggish and grumpy. Today I woke up feeling some pep in my step. I have been doing the ketosis sticks each day to see where I stand. As of last night, I still was not in ketosis. Hopefully by tomorrow morning. If not, oh well.

I learned a valuable lesson from this - it is SO not worth it! :-D

I still have not been sucessful with my exercise. I start my second job today and just feel short on time. I need to make time! In the meantime, Ive been doing little things to improve activity. Every time I go to the bathroom, which is like 15 times a day, lol, I do 15 squats before I exit the bathroom. Weird but it works. Now I just need to do 20 push-ups each morning and at least Ill feel slightly more productive.

Wel my stove is here - looking oh so pretty -- but so not usable yet ... Unbelievable trying to get anyone to come work -- heck even trying to get people to return calls seems to be impossible ... Actually spoke to the carpenter finally - still hasn't shown up to do any work or to see what is needed -- and the gas guy never even called back - So we may forget friends and family and go with the local companies - one is a cousin (plumber for gas hook-up) and they charge for the mansions on the ocean prices - but sorry if other cousin won't return call he can hear that his cousin did the work ... and the carpenter I know is on the verge of losing his house and not busy -- but I will look for someone else by Friday.... we aren't asking for a break and we will pay cash right ways when the work is done ... you would think that would matter wouldn't you.

Had 2 days off plan - planned cheats -- trying to shake up my body - weight was up this morning 2 lbs - hopefully it will drop off soon and will zip past the old weight.

Coconut oil - I use Nutiva - and if I taste it on its own it does have some coconut taste - but for some reason it doesn't seem to in the coffee to me - but if I don't have it I notice something missing... if that makes any sense - but I will warn you it looks ugly and you have to stir it to not be drinking the oil on top - so it mixes in. It is actually good for you - and my skin in better than ever (I also use it on my skin and have for years - all I use is apple cider vinegar and water and coconut oil -- cheap skin care) and the fat helps you feel full longer ...


today was a nice day - cooler -- I was in heaven - did more steps already today and did more in the house than I have done in months -- it could be like this year round and I would be thrilled.

I decided this is for life this time -- in the past it was lose lose lose so I can go back to how I ate before - well **** how I ate before made me need to come back and I felt heavy and tired and achy all the time -- why would I want to go back to that - that said I also am much nicer to myself this time - if I am on vacation and want to try something new or have a drink I will do it - if I absolutely am not up to cooking I will order Chinese and decide to have exactly what I want or to try to pick the best thing possible on the menu -- and I don't beat myself up over it -- this is for life it really doesn't matter if it takes a week or more longer to get there ... Life happens... And because I made these decisions I have probably only been off plan 3 maybe 4 times in the last year...

and Serenity -- WHOOO HOOOO on the bloodwork!

Rho - LOVED your post, because everything you said is true. Isnt it crazy how these contractors work? We kept calling people to give us quotes on remodeling our kitchen and NONE of them every gave a final quote. Some never showed up, some never called back, some came out and took measurements but never sent a quote....go figure. And my opinion on it was, hey...if they dont show up, Im not going to hunt them down because this is probably indicative of their work ethic or performance. Needless to say, it saved us THOUSANDS because we did it ourself, lol.

I am still not in ketosis from my off weekend. Im not really stressing it, just waiting patiently. That being said, I am sure I will not be meeting my labor day goal of 15 pounds, oh well. If I can lose 10 pounds a month (which I have in my first month), I will be happy. If I can be 150 by January - which is less than 10 pounds a month, I would do backflips, lol.

Anyway, having some awful headaches today, probably from working a double yesterday. I have a lot of cleaning when I get home tonight because I am having some girlfriends over tomorrow. Time to get busy.

How is everyone elses week going? What are the plans for the weekend?