Just wanted to say Hi, and ask if there's room for another? I love daily check-ins and getting feedback!

I've tried everything- low carb, high carb, low fat, vegan, vegetarian, WW, LA Weight Loss, etc. And then I found out I have PCOS so my insulin is all out of whack. Well, I've come to the conclusion that I feel EXCELLENT on low-carb regimens and just have to stick with it long enough to see results. I actually loved being a vegan for almost a year but I gained 15lbs from all the grain! So I'm back on the low-carb wagon and feel wonderful. I'm just trying to buy all my animal products from local farmers to promote the environment and the healthy management of animals.

But anyway, I'd love to post on here! I'm gonna get some of those 'ketosis' strips from the pharmacy to see when I go into ketosis and what foods make me go out of it, because I can feel a difference on some days more than others.

Exercise: I joined Platoon Fitness this week (after many years at a commercial gym) and absolutely love it. It's outside all the time, in rain, sleet and snow even, and they kick your butt military style. I have NEVER worked out this much and this hard in my entire life! No gym class or any machine can work you like this. I used to press 100+lbs on my legs at the gym and my muscles are screaming at the end of Platoon's drills. It's so fun, and I hope to see results soon since I've only done it for 4 days. It's 60-minutes each morning, every day at 6am Mon-Fri then Saturdays at 7am. I also have one of their trainers working with me on Sundays. I hope it's not too much on my body... right now it's sore but feels so good.

So anyway... that's just my little intro Hope everyone is having a good day.

Hi Michelle! Always room for one more! I love the way I feel on low carb too! Your exercize program sounds awesome!! There is one poster here, Soulbliss, who is vegan and doing Lowcarb so if you want more ideas for lowcarb vegan foods check out some of her posts.

I did 45 min on the treadmill today, and so far my eating is good. I have to go for dinner with DHs Grandpa at his veterans home tonight so I'll eat something befor I go and hope they serve something I can have. I hate eating out, I have to be very carefull not to eat anything that might have gluten as well as whatching my carbs.

Have a great day !

I see the word "DH' posted on here all the time. I assume it's stands for husband or boyfriend? Can someone translate? lol!

Hi, there everyone. Welcome to the Lowcarb 3FC Forum, Michelle.

This was not a great week exercise-wise for me. I did great Mon-Tues. But Wednesday, 10 minutes into my treadmill routine, I remembered that I needed to go to Office Depot. I got dresses and walked the half mile to Office Depot and then back to work. The next day I went for another mile walk. Then Friday after dropping off DD7 for a play date, my DS and I walked about 3/4 of a mile to Kaiser and then to the bus stop. So, I did a lot of walking but no running. Although I'm sure my kids would have run with me, I can't run with my purse. My eating was okay. I think I've finally given up the cream in my coffee. I am starting to focus on eliminating all dairy. The only things left were a tablespoon of half and half and a sprinkling of cheese on the salad that I order. I used to always ask for no cheese but got out of the habit.

I'm heading out to my guy's little league game now. Go Cubbies!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Have a happy easter everyone!

Walking is good Sylvia. I don't eat much dairy either, now that I've switched to drinking tea, don't know if I'd be able to give it up completely though. Maybe I should, and see if it helps.

I've had a crapy week this week. Trying to get back on track, It always throws me off when I have company. I get a little depressed and go off plan and that makes me get a little more depressed. Need to snap out of it. Only got one day of exercise in this week, food not perfect, not nearly enough water. Tomorow's a new day.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Yeah, the walking was good. The carrying a basket around WalMart for an hour was not so good. I ended up with straining my upper back which caused a migraine, that made me sick to my stomach twice in one day. I only ate one meal. Today I woke up with no headache and no appetite. I had a smaller breakfast and no lunch. For dinner I had one of my usual salads and chicken and broccoli. Now my stomach is cramping. Go figure.

Puncezilla, just get back on the eating plan. I was just having a discussion about how food can effect your moods. Tomorrow is a new day. You can do this.

Hope everyone is doing okay with eating and exercising some.

Just wanna make sure I'm doing this right:
I'm gonna try Atkins and today's breakfast and lunch are as follows:
2 eggs, Earth Balance (carb-free vegan margarine), turkey slices, 2tbsp parmesean cheese (carbs- 5)
half and half, coffee (I know coffee isn't allowed but I can't wake up without it!!! Any suggestions?)
2 cups lettuce, tuna, 2tbsp parm cheese, vinegar (2 carbs)

I pulled an ab muscle at Platoon on Friday and took a rest all weekend. I totally went overboard with carbs this weekend and gained friggin 5lbs. But I should be able to lose that this week with being really strict. And no more of those carb binges for me!

Hey, Michelle. I would suggest adding some more oil to your lunch. Like a Tbl of olive oil or mayonnaise. Are you a vegan? Why don't you eat plain old butter? Because instead of focusing on carb-free vegan margarine, you should look for margarines that are trans fat free. And read the label to see if the margarine has not hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Those are the trans fats.

Laura I hear in your voice the same rebellion I always feel toward dieting. WHY is it so hard? WHY is it so "unfair?" Why is it that some people just seem to naturally know what or how to eat or their bodies just take care of themselves and they remain thin without seeming effort? My husband and daughter are like that. Me? I can look at food and gain weight it seems. Of course that isn't really what is happening, obviously I'm eating it too.

Getting back on track is going to be hard for me, I have such a rebellious attitude toward the whole thing. I resent (actively) having to even worry about what or how much I put in my mouth. I feel like my body should automatically know how much to be hungry for and not trigger me to eat more than I should. It doesn't seem to work that way though. I really feel frustrated at even having to think about it at all, why can't we just rely on appetite and hunger? Shouldn't that tell us when we need to eat and when we don't?

Maybe it does. maybe I'm just not listening carefully enough. Anyway I want to get back on Atkins or something close to it, but our finances are really tight and pasta and rice seem to be what the budget is calling for. My husband is supposed to hear today about getting a job, so if it comes through I told him I would be going back on Atkins. In the mean time I guess if I'm going to start to think about doing this I'm going to be looking at a lot of eggs or other cheap protein sources. I need to get serious though I really do.

I've been trying to let go of a rebellious attitude in other aspects of my life, maybe this is just one more that I have to submit to and let it go. After all, who are we submitting to but ourselves when we make better choices about what we are going to eat? For some reason that rebellious child in the inside that wants to say "I'm just not doing it!" thinks it is spiting other people by that attitude, when in reality the person we punish most is ourselves.

I eat Earth Balance because it's trans-fat free and completely organic, so it's good, maybe even better for us than butter? It's like butter but it has no saturated fat.

I have to find a way to wake up without caffeine and also get off the diet soda and low-carb Monster energy drinks. I don't drink alot of it but I'll have 1-2 cans of diet soda per weekend, and about 1/2 can of Monster per day throughout the day (just a few sips gives me a joly of energy). But I'm naturally a lethargic person (I wish I had hyper ADD like my roomie!!) so I turn to 1/2 cups of coffee to keep my brain working. I get enough sleep, too, so I know that's not it.

Hmm, on the Atkins site they recommend staying on Induction phase until you lose half the weight you want to lose. Anyone else on induction right now?

Good article. I agree that organic animal products are the best. But the Earth Balance is different from other margarines and contains the same amount of fat as butter. Still, there's a farmer's market 2 blocks away I should get butter from. I had the Earth Balance around since I was vegan about 6 months ago (wonderful diet but I gained weight from the whole grains). Wasn't someone on here a vegetarian or vegan going low carb??

Hi Sherry, Haven't seen you around in a while, glad your still here. I hope your DH gets his new job. Just do your best with what you have. I've asked these questions so many times myself, having a DH and sisters who just seem to be naturaly thin, drives me crazy at times. They all eat so much junk food!

Michelle, I'm on induction (well trying anyway) again. Once you have been on induction you will have more energy, I am a naturally lethargic person also, I'm always so sleepy and tired, but after the first few days on induction, without the caffeine, I find I don't need it anymore. There will be some withdrawl headaches though if you give it up. There are some people who are sucessful and still drink coffee. I personaly find caffeine increases my appetite, but everyone is different. Make sure your eating lots of veggies and drinking lots of water. You'll do great!

Mmmmm.... I love real butter. I also use grapeseed oil for roasting veggies and frying . You can also use real mayo, and make your own dressings from oil and vinegar.

Today's foods for breakfast and lunch:

Salmon omlette:
2 eggs
1tbsp Earth Balance (buying butter today)
1 can salmon
4tbsp Parm cheese

Snack: coffee with 2 half and halfs

Lunch:
2 cups lettuce
1 can crab meat
4 eggs
4tbsp parm cheese

Dinner idea: scallops wrapped in turkey bacon

Total carbs so far today: 10

I'm kinda dizzy today and weak. I think my body is adjusting!