Last time I tried to start this thread it didn't work out so well, so let's hope it works a little better this week.

I gained some weight this week which I'm not happy about. I wasn't perfect but didn't eat anything outrageous either. I guess it's just one of those weeks. I could exercise more-yes, Joyce.

I am set up for a successful week, premade food and all that. I'm not having any problem staying OP and that is certainly a victory. Some people on the PP board have also commented about how this takes longer the second time. A lesson about why I should have learned this lesson the first time, but agaiin we all live and learn.

Have a Happy St. Patty's Day everyone.

BAB - Congrats again on another pound lost! Girl...you're on a roll! You really seem to have a healthy attitude towards food and GO YOU on the exercise! I'm so excited for you! Your gonna love it. BTW, don't be afraid of weights...you'd have to pump your vains with viscious amounts of steroids to gain the kind of muscle you see on bodybuilding women. When we (women) lift, we get "toned" or "lean", not bulky. But you are right...start slow and gradually increase the time and/or weights. It's called "progressive overload". This is what stimulates muscle growth. Which, believe it or not, IS WHAT WE WANT. The more muscle we gain, the more potatoes, wine, etc. we can have without it effecting our weight..soooo..GO FOR IT! YEAHHHHH YOU!

Petra - I wasn't going to say that! Truthfully, I haven't worked out in the last 3 days! I'm back on track today though...and hopefully with the weather starting to break, we'll both be able to get out more and take in some fresh air while exercising! Half the battle is won though...you've pre-made your food for the week. That's what I plan to do today (oohh..give me the strength!). I did buy (from Walmart) this pack of 15 plastic trays w/lids which are the perfect size for meals! All the same size, not that 190 piece set with 190 different sizes! It was only $4 bucks too!

I also start my intense weight training today (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle). It's really one of the best books I've read and you can use it in conjunction with a low-carb diet! It's an E-Book, so you can download it and print it out. If your interested, here's where you can find it: www.burnthefat.com. Now that I'm down to the last few pounds, it is becoming really hard for me to lose, so I'm going to try this technique in the book called, carb-cycling on a 3/1 system (3 days low carb/1 day higher carbs (quality carbs like brown rice, oatmeal, etc.). It's really helpful when you reach a stall or your body adjusts to the lower calorie intake. You don't seem to be stalling now, but at the rate your going...you'll be down to the last 20 in no time...at that point, you may hit some stalls. I'll let you know how this goes...I'm also going to be keeping tabs on my fat percentage using a caliper, and yes...tracking my meals thru fitday, so I can keep tabs on my calories/ratios on a weekly basis. Lastly, I will need to eat 5 times/day (every 3 hours) and cut off my last meal a few hours before bedtime. If I do it right, I'm supposed to lose 2lbs/week with no stalls. I've heard from alot of people that this technique is wonderful for breaking stalls and am hoping it will do it for me!

I know it hard for many people to feel my pain as I have less weight to lose than alot of folks here...but let me tell you, unhappiness with one's body, is unhappiness with one's body (whether it be 10 lbs or 100lbs!)....I'm in the same boat! I get frustrated! I get unhappy! I want to break the mirror into six pieces sometimes! Please do realize that you guys truly keep me motivated as I hope I give to you what you've given to me! Much success all and STAY IN THE FIGHT...Summer's just around the Corner...and I want to see nothing but bikini shots this summer as our Avatars! Have a wonderful day all! Joyce

LOL petra!

10 weeks 'til Memorial Day - LOL at the thought of a bikini avatar by then bambi . . . but tx for the motivational thought Girl!

Its a cold, rainy & dreary St. Pat's Day here in MO . . . a lot like Ireland according to my world-travelling Big Sis. Feel like vegetating after all the weekend travel - but determined to get MOOOOOOVING! The 70's Party was cute - altho' the "Disco Theme" didn't jibe/jive withmy blurred recollection of the decade! Took a lot of pics . . . Funeral For A Friend was just draining . . . just sooo sad.

Good to be home . . . still so OFF schedule with this lay off - determined to get day shift acclimated but then get a 2nd wind/wide-awakes from about 12-4am . . . reports say this may be a looong strike so may start poppingsome pharmaceuticals to stay asleep for a few nights.

Headed for the Y right now but want to get some pre-made LC food going myself too . . . ttyal!

Bambi-I used to do a program called Slow Burn. I think you can find it or people who do things like it on line. You basically lift the most weight you can handle very slowly. You actually use a metronome. It's so intense you can only do it once every 5 days. Might be right up your alley. I think I still have my lifting gloves in the car. LOL. I used to go to Yoga or Pilates in between. Now I just walk my dogs. I'm hoping once I lose a little more and get in a groove, I can look for a yoga class as at least a starting point again.

Ate my planned meals today. Still a little over on the carbs but I didn't eat any junk so I won't beat myself up for it. All I could have done was cut out veggies which doesn't seem like that makes sense.

Doggie went back to the vet today for a recheck. They are pleased with how her foot is healing. I have some ointment to put on it twice a day and of course, antibiotics to continue.

I've never worn a bikini. Maybe that can be a goal. I don't think I'll make it this summer but maybe next summer.

Hmmmm...that sounds intense! What's "metronome"? Well all that cooking you were doing yesterday got me so motivated that my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it. I went to town!!! Didn't have the energy or time to store it in those little plastic containers yet...that'll have to be tomorrow. BTW, next week DD21 is moving in and the DOG too!! So, I guess I'll be sharing alpo (no chix & rice for this little sucker!) stories with the rest of you dog owners! Just kiddin...I love dogs, and little MAX is a good dog...a really good dog. It's really a funny story how he came into our lives. He's a mutt. When DD21 moved into her new house here in VA, the last renter's just left the dog behind...he stayed around the house and the next door neighbor had him chained in his backyard. My DD21 went over and gave him a bath (he really reeeked!) and bought him a flea/tick collar. The neighbor said, I don't wan't this dog...he doesn't like me. I was just keeping him cuz the old neighbors said they would be back for him. Well...they never came, and my daughter manipulated me into letting her have the dog. I insisted no dogs in the house, I called the ASPCA to have him removed (I was scared for my grands...ya know..a stray), I watched as they took him away...I felt bad...I was sorry I had to do this, but I was worried for my grandbabies. Well, the next day...he was back in her front yard! After that, I decided he deserved to stay...yeah...real firm...well guess what...now he sleeps with her in bed at night! Yeah...I'm a real tough cookie... Well, I'm going to buy him a real nice OUTSIDE dog house...can't stand dog hairs, and accidents on my new rug! NO WAY...I MEAN IT THIS TIME!...ABSOLUTELY NOT!

In my book I'm reading, there is alot of motivational stuff (I always thought that stuff was corny), but I'm starting to believe in the powers of the mind. If you set your goals high...you will challenge your self to meet them and visa versa. So okay...maybe not the string bikini this summer, but maybe a really nice bangin' hot a$$ one-piece (high-cut!)!

Think I'm getting sick again...can't believe it! Damn! Coughing, scratchy throat. I did get in my 30 min cardio and 30 min weights, just barely. I ate some fish and salad this afternoon and (sorry for the TMI) hurled chunks...it was weird, cuz the fish was fresh. It is almost that TOM for me...or maybe I'm "changing lives" or something...OR maybe I'm just getting sick! (heaven forbid...denial is such a wonderful place to live!) Good night/day all!

Bambi-first, a metronome is a device that musicians use to keep time. They now have little digital ones you can carry around. The reason for using it with that weight program was so you didn't lift too fast-you actually time yourself. My reasons for doing that program were actually more practical. Yes, it would be nice to be buff but you could get all your lifting done in 30 minutes for the entire week!

My doggies are spoiled. Kobe (the 90 lb lab) sleeps in the bed with me pretty much all night, every night. Even gets under the covers and licks my feet. Tammy, the shepherd, gets up and down during the night. She usually doesn't stay on the bed all night. Kobe almost never has accidents in the house. Tammy, who probably didn't live most of her life indoors before she came into rescue still has issues once in a while. I have baby gates up in the house to keep her out of certain areas until she is more reliable. I actually end up cleaning up more vomit than other kinds of accidents. I'm planning to get some hardwood floors in the more formal parts of my house this spring and that should solve some of that problem. Unfortunately, they woke me up in the middle of the night which is why I'm up at this hour. Of course, they have both gone back to sleep already, LOL.

I've been eating meatloaf for almost a week now and think I've had enough. I'm not a corned beef fan so none of that for me today.

SIC-did you check out the recipes on the protein power site? you can get lost over there. I'm gonna try a new kefir, coffee, ricotta cheese, protein powder shake from there tomorrow morning and see how that goes. Sounds interesting. Just think, I could get my kefir and my coffee all in one glass.

Top O' The Mornin' All: It is 3:36 here and I just woke up all bright eyed and bushy tailed!!!! Aud, I blame you. You must have sent me some of your "second wind but not a work" mojo.

Hope everyone's SP day was good. DD is 9 but still wants to believe that an extremely short and ill tempered little man in a tophat comes here every year and messes up the house. Yesterday was no exception. DH and I sprayed green silly string everywhere, dumped green easter basket grass all over the floor, turned over furniture, hung pictures upside down, hid a bag of gold coin candy under the sofa cushions, put green food coloring in the milk and threw all her little panties into the air so they landed all over her room. She came running into my room at 6:00 yesterday morning shaking me saying she just "heard" something so we went to "investigate". She had a ball watching me get outraged about the mess in my clean house. The best was the silly string around the guest bathroom toilet. She told me she thought it was lephracun pee.

Petra: I'm loving reading the protien power recipes. I'm trying to decide what to make because I'm sick of the foods I've been making. Even though I rotate and use a lot of Linda's Low Carb recipes I've gotten into kind of a rut. I started making a lot of the same things over and over because I felt so wasteful trying new ones (for some variety) and ended up throwing a lot of the food away.

It's been almost three months for me eating on plan now with really no slipups so I'm beginning to feel the challenge of continuing to look forward to meals and finding it very, very challenging to eat regular meals. My exercise has been poor for the past two weeks. Can't seem to get motivated. I know a lot of people on the threads have had success eating the same things day in and day out (tuna, chicken, salad, a few nuts and the occasional other veggie) for a long time or are even maintaining that way but I don't know if that is the best thing to do for me.

I haven't deviated from eating on plan since I started at the beginning of January but as noted for you Petra, it is very, very, very slow for me. I had to put the scale away the third or fourth week because it was upsetting me too much and making me screw around with calories and carbs (the majority of which have been coming from salad and veggies so that didn't make sense). The removal of the scale has its good points and bad points but overall I was afraid my focus was going to be on the numbers and disappointments or the related emotional ups and downs were going throw me off plan. I hopped on once a few weeks ago and I was down a few but I'm probably not going to do that again. I'm a bit torn because I can't be focused on a number goal but specific goals are supposed to be important. My goal can only be, "stick to the plan" rather than, "Be 115 pounds". Setting a time frame goal or trying to anticipate where I will be by say, the end of the year also isn't doable because I know my body won't cooperate by letting me estimate or get excited about even a weight loss of a pound a week or a few pounds a month. It just doesn't work that way for me.

Aud can you feel my "life change" pain? The last few weeks have been awful for me. I can tell that I really only see weight loss progress during an 8-10 day period out of my 28 day cycle. I don't know how much the peri menopause has to do with that or my slow, slow weight loss. This month has been the most uncomfortable for some time. Very bloated with normally loose clothes feeling tight starting two weeks ago. The night sweats all last week. The gastronomic distress. Finally started TOM yesterday but instead of the regular flow I have barely had any. For the first time since the start of plan I could not drink even my basic 64 ounces of water (normally I have between 100 and 120 ounces). I got so bloated that I could not button my pants and could not wear my loafers. Water was going in but not shedding like it normally does...even when I tried to break the cycle by drinking more. It got so bad by last Wed. that I was miserable. I finally gave in and only had a couple of eight ounce glasses on Saturday, Sunday and yesterday rather than trying to drink my normal amount and that gave me some relief.

Hey!!! It has to get better from here right?

Hope everyone has a great day. My cocker got out of bed to sit with me here in the living room while I type. She thinks I have not realized that she has inched off of her blanket covered spot on the green suede couch and is now esconced in the middle of one of the cushions. Guess I'd better gently waken her and try to persuade her to move back to the approved area.

tee hee

sc

Well, enough of that. I have a lovely day in the field today meeting with contractors and doing site reviews on two very large projects. Got my digital recorder, got my maps, got my camera, got my boots and jeans ready. No dealing with other people's problems in the office or having to take calls appeasing angry people that have made their way up the company food chain. Huge relief even if it is only for one day. The Big Cheese is going on vacation Thursday (for two weeks) which always sucks. "While the cats away"always rings true at my office. My equals with regards to other departments and the other management division tend to expect me to always be in the office and solve all the problems when he is out. They come in at 11, leave for two hour lunches and have lots of "meetings" that they have basically, made up. He made a big point last week to ask that we make sure one of us is always in the office when he is on vacation but somehow that person always ends up being me.


Well, enough of that.

Petra - Thanks for the "slow burn" tip. I'm going to check into that...sounds good! When you did it, did it produce good results? That would be great if I could get my lifting done once per week and it be effective. I'm also going to check out that Protein Power recipe site...the recipes you made sounded delish! Oooh...especially, the pie!

SIC - Glad you had a "good" day at work yesterday. But sorry your feeling a bit in the dumps over progress. I think that the menpausal thing may have something to do with the slower weight loss. I too, am creeping. I went down to 165 and checked the scale this morn and now I'm back up to 167...WTF??? I totally feel you on the bloat thing! I too feel I can only lose weight 2 wks out of the month and then gain in back right before TOM in water weight! Also, when I was 31 yrs old..after the birth of DD9, I lost 30 lbs in 3 months! Now that I'm 41, it's 20 lbs in 3 1/2 mths!...doing the same thing! This is obviously do to the 10 yr age difference. I am late on my cycle (not to worry though...I've been fixed!), but I'm never late all my life...28 days like clockwork! So maybe this is it...'I'M FINALLY CHANGING LIVES!' Lord knows...I've been a mega-b*tch the last week!

Try to keep in mind (as I tell myself everyday), this is also a healthy living change as well...I just know that eventually the scale will follow! I've finally broken down and started logging my foods into fitday.com (which is a total b*tch cuz I've got to input each food product w/nutritional info). I think it will take about a week to really get settled into that, cuz of all the inputting info! But, when all is done, I think it will help. Once you realize your macros (%protein, %carbs, %fats, calories), this will help you figure out what you may need to tweek in your diet to jump start your WL. This week, I'm trying that carb cycling thingy (it's we're you up carbs in a 3/1 cycle with 3 being low-carb and 1 being high carb). It's supposed to trick your body that has become used to the lower calorie consumption. I'll let you know if it works or not!

I'm sure you have made improvements other than the scale (i.e., skin, health, clothes fitting a little loser)...congratulate yourself for the changes you made and now I'm calling for a BAN on something...The removal of I CAN'T! Anything that starts with that phrase is HEREBY STRICKEN FROM THE RECORDS...ALL LAWBREAKERS SHALL BE BE-HEADED!!!!!!

Have a great day all! Cheer up sweetie!

Here's my report on the kefir/coffee/protein shake. The espresso made it too watery and also hot which just didn't work. I ended up having to put ice and xanthan gum in it. I think I may try it with instant coffee granules instead. It's also not very flavorful. Needs a little punch of something.

Glad your enjoying the recipes over there. Those cooks are amazing. I think I'm going to try some of those pizza recipes. Who would have ever thought of making pizza crust out of chopped up chicken breast? I think I'm going to try one of the cheese based crusts instead. I made that low carb key lime pie and it is good and wasn't hard to make.

I did make a pizza crust out of chopped baked cauliflower a few weeks ago. DH loved it. Now I want to try the chicken breast one.

SC

G'morning, all!

I made such a delicious cauliflower dinner last night! I cooked red onion, shallot and garlic in extra virgin coconut oil. Then I added chopped cauliflower and continued to cook it. Next I added chopped seitan (wheat gluten- Which has with 7 grams of carbohydrate, 70 grams of protein, 7 grams of fat, 370 calories per container), pepper, Red Hot, vegan Parmesan and vegan cheddar. It was really delicious!!!

Wow...70 grams of protein...in one serving? Where can I find this seitan..health food store??? Need more quick ways to add protein..ya know. Thanks.

It's 70 for the entire container and I ate about 1/3 of it (I wanted to eat more though! ).

http://www.tofutown.net/index.php?id=93

It's the one that says "Chicken Style" in the yellow container. It really is good for those who can handle gluten. I find it doesn't trigger cravings in me and so I incorporate it a few times a week when I need a protein boost.

Health food stores carry it usually, I get it at Whole Foods, Henry's/Wild Oats and even Ralph's and Albertson's carry them.