I am just new to the running thing so there is a lot I do not understand. From what I gather from DS stretching & good running shoes are the most important things in running. I never understood the groin thing until Sunday, now I understand why men whine so much when they pull it It helps to have someone there with you to push you along but at the same time taking it slow to ease you into what you can handle. I cant go fast DS can walk next to me if he wanted to, he tells me its OK it will come in time. Do you walk? Maybe you could start out walking at a brisk speed. I think I could walk faster then my so called running.

I know I get the major case of the munchies when I am really bored. When I'm stressed it always different sometimes I want to eat but sometimes I dont. There have been different times in my life that I have gained when I was stressing & other times I lost.

I'm fortunate to live a mostly stress free life. It is the reason I live down the street from ****. It's 111 degrees at 11pm today. But this is the cheapest cost of living I have enjoyed in 20+ years and that allows me a lot of freedom from stressful things. That said, there are a few things that still seriously stress me, and no doubt, I immediately think of food as a sedative. Food is a sedative after all. I use two tactics to beat back stress without eating. I walk or swim (depending on the weather) -- exercise instead of eat. Or, I drop whatever I am doing and read something difficult on the topic of health and weight loss. Good Calories Bad Calories really pushed my brain. But, while doing so, I found a great love of the material and an escapism that was both educational and stress relieving. I'll read slow and use google to understand the fancy stuff if necessary. I am now exchanging emails with Mark Sisson about breaking news in epigenetics. Go figure. The point is, the reading is reprogramming my genes in the same sense the diet is. Cortisol (stress hormone) used to be hardwired to chocolate; now it craves exercise mental or physical. Instead of a pulp fiction novel that I once read to relax, I am now boning up on how ghrelin signaling can be entrained to reduce appetite. Not only does it reduce stress, it motivates me to continue losing weight. Hugging my daughter helps too.

I don't know if writing all this is helpful here, but now you see why I blog. I am launching my diet blog very soon as the authorship of my business blog officially changed hands this weekend. You will be the first to know when it goes online. It will follow the same pattern as my other blogs and serve as a "news source on topic", but just know it's real purpose is to educate my loved ones. They will read what I write on their own time much sooner than they will listen to me on my time. We are a sadly obese family, and I do mean sad. That's an awful thing to realize. I hope and pray they all get with the program. ****, any program that works.

Kathy, as for blowing it with bacon, it was getting my fasted blood sugar over a 110 again that bothered me. I am more concerned with diabetes than primal food. Bacon is awesome. I will just go sugar free with the next batch and enjoy experimenting.

My last fast went 36 hours and was broken with some a small amount of lunch meat and nuts, before a big t-bone 40 hours in. Cheese and salami was my late night snack. Fasting again today.

THank you both for your thoughts on stress. I really need to focus on what I want out of life (to be healthy for my son) so when i get stressed, I can channel that nervous worrying energy in a positive way, ie exercise.

Usually I just want the easy way out which is food and sometimes shopping for me. Something that will make me feel good right now, ya know?

Tymaboy, I think I will start jogging again in the fall. I have to take it slow because i'm so afraid of tearing my calf muscle again. I've never been one for warming up and stretching. I think I'm goign to have to starting doing it the right way from now on.

BibBob, this may sound strange because I don't know you at all, but you seem like such an interesting person. I can't wait to read your diet blog.

Off to cook dinner......

Kathy -- Coconut Milk sounds like a great thing to bring, does it have to be refrigerated? I can't remember, we have no fridge in our small bedroom... I just can't get used to Beef Jerky though, I don't like it at all... My SIL is a Yoga instructor now and when she came back from her 6 week course she was changed, in a good way, too... I always feel sooooo relaxed when I come back from there...We do a lot of meditation, hopefully it'll be nice because we do the Yoga classes outside in the mountain air, it's wonderful!

Wildviolet -- @ "I get on my own nerves." that comment struck me as so funny... Yoga helps a lot with lowering your stress levels... or plain ole exercise and working out a good sweat is good too...definitely try running/jogging it is a great stress reliever... Do it slowly, running one minute and walking one minute and increasing the run slowly over time...

Bob -- Can't wait to read your blog...

DH DD and I went zip lining today... OMG what fun that was, at first I thought what did I get myself into here, but as time wore on and confidence increased it was a magnificent experience, talk about working your core .... Here are a couple of pics:

I'm a little scared of heights and suspect ziplining would do awful things for my heart rate and cortisol production! Awesome pics Ilene. Looks great fun for someone who doesn't so easily go breathless with heights.

I stopped back by to report maybe the best news in awhile in my little sphere. I meant to share this before writing my long post above. My 5-3 300+ pound sis called me this morning to tell me how good I look with the weight loss and share her efforts. She is trying to exercise the pounds away. What she really wanted was to hear more about why what I am doing is working so apparently easy for me. We talked for about an hour and I think I have a convert. Her whole problem with low carb has been that it makes her weak, dizzy and even sick. I told her about many of the carb flu experiences I've read about and told her about what I went through. I think/pray/hope that she is a convert. No one needs it more than her.

Bob, that's great to hear about your sister....I was really surprised that the height didn't bother me, I was so focused on staying up there and safe that the height never even entered my mind...

Bob thats good news about your sister. I hope she finds something that works for her that she can stick with.

Ilene that looks so exciting! I think it would be neat to do but I dont think I could go threw with it. I have a thing with heights.

I forget who had posted the broccoli mix used as a substitute for pasta. I tried that tonite as a side with the pork chops. I dont think I cooked them long enough but I will defiantly try it again. I boxed up the left overs so I can have them at lunch tomorow.

Today was my 3rd day in a row running with DS. I did not do as well today, I had to stop to walk a few times. I tried to power walk it but he did not find that amusing. I might have to take tomorow off unless I get a really good nites sleep tonite.

Good morning!

DH woke yesterday thinking he'd been dreaming about bacon. LOL! I left him some today too.

That worked really well yesterday. I did have an HB egg at noon just because I thought I ought to eat something. Grabbed some pork rinds on the way home. Left over crockpot vegetables and sausage for supper. More pork rinds and one of those green tea ginger ales for bedtime snack. Somewhere in there a box of strawberries disappeared too.

If I have to work 12 today (they tell me I might) I think I can buy some fruit in the cafeteria and I always have my HB eggs

Yesterday would be a pretty good day to put into fitday and see what's what. I'm not sure when I'm going to do that ...

Ilene - what great photos! I’ve never heard of ziplining, but it looks like so much fun. I too am scared of heights (how did this happen growing up in Iowa?) but I can go up to about 25 feet before the “scared” kicks in. This has always seemed odd to me as you can die just as easily at 25 ft. as 50 ft, but that’s the way she blows.

Hey Bob - are you a writer by trade? Can’t wait to read your blog.

Wildviolets - pretty name. You know, when I am super-stressed I have a relaxation tape that really grounds me, and is a weight loss tape to boot! Also, online there is a very short relaxation tape at http://www.quietmindcafe.com/simple-relaxation.html that I find helps too.

You running ladies are awesome.

Susan - I have never tried pork rinds, are they good?

Kathy - your eating looks fine to me.

Kathy -- Running every day is hard on a person... Maybe only running every second day would be best.... I rarely run two days in a row unless I have to...

DH, DD and I are all scared of heights and we discussed this afterwards that once we were up there, the main thing was just to stay focused balancing on the boards so much so that we all forgot our fear of heights...

It feels so good to be off today ... Went and got a much needed hair cut, clean house , running at 2pm...

Yesterday food was NOT primal today it will be

Good afternoon. My daughter saw Paula Dean make breakfast in a 12 ounce glass and insisted I try to make it for her. On the bottom was mashed potatoes covered with a layer of thin sliced steak which was covered with a layer of scrambled eggs that was covered with a layer of melted cheddar cheese. Dig in with a spoon like an ice cream sundae. I made one for me too, easy on the taters,of course.

I broke yesterday's fast at 24 hours not wanting to sleep on an empty stomach again. That's a small pity because I know I wake up lighter when I do that. I didn't eat much yesterday. Mostly fats. Three slices of swiss cheese melted into crackers with a little piece of ham on each cracker. I get 4 crackers per slice, so 12 crackers shared one slice of cut up ham. Then I had a bowl of zucchini that was cooked in pork fat rich tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella. I've been craving zucchini for a few weeks.

CJ -- I can't call myself a professional writer. My formal education is in finance and accounting, my career direction is sales and marketing, most recently helping companies get better online exposure. The tomato/organic farming thing was serious when I had acreage in San Diego, but it's just an experimental hobby these days (desert agriculture is interesting to say the least). I have written a few hundred articles over the years (some for pay most for pleasure) and even a novel no publisher would pick up. I like research, writing and reporting and probably should have made that my career. Who knows maybe all this weight loss will inspire me to pursue that dream too?

Pork rinds are an acquired taste, imo. I'm not a huge fan, but the plain ones are a primal snack that give me something to dip into guacamole. You can smash them up and use them as breading for pork, fish and chicken too.

I love pork rinds although they're kinda hard to find around here. They have that certain crunch that is missing from low carb. Too calorific to eat everyday tho'.

I made it through my 12 hour yesterday with HB eggs, pork rinds and 7up When I got home DH had grilled steaks
I was in bed by 7:45.

I'm afraid to ask....what are pork rinds actually? I saw a low carb cooking show that used them in a meat loaf.

I bought 2 dozen big cookies for a friend who was coming over with her 5 kids. Bad mistake. She never ended up coming and I've been eating them like crazy. Now I have the WORSE headache.

I'm going to try to go all weekend without sugar. It's so hard for me. But I have to. I have so much to do today and I just want to stay in bed. ugh.

CJZee....thanks for the relaxation site....I'll check it out when my head stops hurting.

Ilene..... you are a wild woman! The zip lining looks crazy! But fun.

Hello my little Primal friends

Violet, will we ever learn about sugar's side effects the other day after ziplining we had a nice lunch at a cafe, I had a spinach salad with smoked salmon delish!! Beside this restaurant there was a bakery that everyone was going in and out of... So of course we had to go see... Cutest littel bakery ever! So we got 3 of those ginormous cookies, DD had one on the way home, I had TWO bites TWO... It made me pass out the rest of the way home, a 2 hour ride, I could not stay awake, the rest of my day was awash too... Made me so angry that I had given into the sugar

Today I had a wonderful breakfast... cut up peach, half avocado, 1/4c coconut milk, 1/4c full fat yogurt, 12 almonds chopped, 1T flaxseed.... and 2 boiled eggs on the side...

I have to share this YouTube video about boiled eggs, it works too, I tried it this morning...

Ok, gotta bring DD to work... TTFN

Pig skin, lard and salt. Nice and crunchy!

Someone brought us brownies today. I don't even really like brownies. Yeesh!