Inches lost are a huge success -- much better than pounds. That means your body is adjusting and you are shrinking!!! You want to shrink, not your clothes! Then you can give them away and get new ones for a good reason.

Good Morning

Im feeling a bit better today, but I think I may be catching what dh has

Brenda~ I havent a clue, but she's a persistent thing...no "x's" allowed WTG on the tape measure showing a loss!!

Sherry~ WTG on your losses!! That's awesome!

I got my walk in yesterday, and plan to do the same thing today. Lots of sunshine today, I have all the curtains open and Im sitting in the middle of the sunspot....just like my old dog used to do There was an article in the Buffalo paper yesterday about gardening in the nude!! to help us western new yorkers soak up the sun not in this lifetime!!

Have a great day ladies.....Im on my way back

Brenda, tape measures, are REAL fat loss measurements. I'd take those any day over weight loss! Our weight can fluxuate for so many different reasons. We can be dehydrated one day, retaining water the next. We can be losing fat but gaining heavier muscle. That is one reason I don't trust BMI measurements. They don't take into consideration how much muscle a person has. For instance I've heard that Arnold Schwarzznegger would be considered "overweight" if measured using the BMI thing. Simply because he has more muscle than the average person.

So celebrate your successes! If the tape measure is measuring less you are doing GOOD!

Sue - how is DH this morning? Did his surgery go ok? I know waiting in a hospital for a family member can be soooooo stressful. Was the cafeteria OK? Did you have some good lc snacks and a good book with ya?

Robin - Ya know hanging by a thread is still hangin' WTG! Nude gardening you say? Seriously? HA! I wear shorts, stout shoes and a tank top, but that's as far as I'll go - I don't wanna get arrested. It's so bright and sunny that I'm itching to get out and dig, even knowing that work done in January is pretty well wasted. Besides, the poison ivy is hard to identify at this time of year, and I reaaaaaaaally don't wanna go there!

As for inches vs. pounds Brenda - I wouldn't care if I weighed 250 pounds if I wore a size 8, would you?

Speaking of measurements, I need to take mine since I haven't done them since October. I haven't lost anything, and I don't feel a difference in my clothes after a week of induction either. I keep telling myself that I just went through a tremendously stressful month, didn't eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, drink enough water (just pots and pots of coffee - eek!) and there was a 3 hour time change to! I'm lucky I didn't gain!!! I'm in ketosis according to the ketostix, have been craving sugar BAD for the last day or so and feeling funky, so I know that weight loss can't be too far off, right? Maybe my body needs a few weeks to respond to being back in my routine and back with the program? I'm not going to let myself get to get discouraged yet, I have experienced loss, and I know it'll come again. (at least that's what I keep telling myself lOL)

I'm going to get back to cleaning my nasty house and doing laundry so I can leave for dinner and a movie later with a clear conscience.

Have a great day everyone!!!

yup, seriously...here is the article http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial...27/1024423.asp Its in the 40's here today, and I noticed 3 dandelion weeds starting already in my front garden!! We certainly havent had alot of snow this year, and the weather has been pretty strange.....but I know what you mean about getting into the dirt and digging!! I always wear my overalls and a tank top SEXY!!!

Ive checked one place so far for those tofu noodles and they didnt have any, but there are a couple asian markets Im going to go check out this afternoon.

Have a good one!

Well Dh is fine and I did not even go near the cafateria. I had a Atkins shake and left it at that. then came home and had a bowl of taco meat with cheese. MMMM. thaks for asking.

I did have a challenege this weekend and passed with a tiney piece of cake and 1 small scoup of icecream and that was it for carbs!!!SIL had a birthday with pizza and that was the meal. I loaded up on the cheese and shrimp offered in the start and passes on the food. easy enough to do as it was sit where you may and that was it. I guess I am safe until the next one which will be at MIL at easter.

The oterh bad this about this weekend or possibly good, I tied to fit my rump in my 20's and they did not even come close to meeting in the middle. (tried several pairs) and my 22's which are bit at the waist is actually a bit big (though I have not tried them on in numerous months) So i do not know if I have not changed or actually have lost some and can now fit into them. I know I should measure but I just hate the thought of reality hitting me in the face. But I am fat so that is what I need to face. I am down only 5 lbs but have been exercising so i may be gaining muscle. Patience sue patience.

The metabolism makes sence as your "innerds" warm up with a higher metabolism then the air is going to feel colder. but when I am tired my body shuts down and I can not even feel warm, but that is when i am so exhausted I can not stand any more.

Tenn after the first few times of doing low carb your body hangs on to it just a bit longer before the weight starts to fall off. (dam thing is smarter than we are!!) but hang in there and drink the water it is very important.

Brenda think a roll of paper towels OK OK a little hokey but think again. take a new roll and remove 5 sheets. do not see much of a difference?? still there but not as noticable. then near the end take off 5 sheets WOW it is gone down a lot now. right now you are the new roll. be patient as you go down it will show more and more. just know if the scale is not moving you are making a lean mean fat burning machine. and that will remove the fat at a faster rate then ever before. Keep up the great work.

I'm so glad that DH did well *whew*. I just passed the 22's and am comfortably into my 20's - YEAH! How tall are you? I may be out of my 20's when you get there and be able to send you a couple of pairs of slacks if you'll pay the postage on the box

Interesting points about BMI and measurements vs. pounds Sherry. I wouldn't have thought about someone like Arnold, although I'm not sure he's an indicator of good health.

I'm so mad at myself I could SPIT! I took my measurements last night, but when I went to compare them to the originals, I couldn't find them For posterity, I'm 48/43/50 ewwwww. I'm trying to come up with a challenge that would focus on inches rather than pounds to get my focus off the scale - what do y'all think?

Question about ratio...
I read about a formula to figure the ratio of bust-waist, waist-hip measurements. The idea is that belly/waist fat is an indicator of health, and that there is a good range, and a range that indicates you need more targeted exercise in certain places. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Chronicles of Narnia was a lovely movie and we all really enjoyed it! I'm a Christian and saw the symbolism in it (as I did when I read the books), but I think that I would have enjoyed it regardless. If you haven't seen it, go, if for no other reason than that it's nice to see an enjoyable movie that doesn't have sexual content, exploding brains, car chases, drugs, or bad language.

I'm off to go clean. It's a lovely day with temps in the high 50's-low 60's, and I'm going to enjoy it before the storms move in tomorrow. I'm going to open up all the curtains, windows, etc. and get the house dusted, vaccuumed, and aired out. I love it when you get a little tease of Spring in January, don't you???

TTYL,
Tenn

Tenn: I haven't weighed in several days because I'm trying to focus more on inches too..it'd be hard for me to set an inches lost goal though because I'm not sure what a normal rate is.

well I blew it yesterday, dh and I were arguing and I was stressed about the whole day and I had THREE delicious mixed drinks that were probably chock full of carbs. As soon as I got home though I was SO SICK. Not drunk sick, but sugar sick. It was awful and enough to keep me away for quite a while!!

They just are not worth the pain that my stomach feels!!!

Hope everyone has an awesome day!!

Lacey

Arnold used to be a champion body builder, that is what I was talking about, not so much what he is now (govenator lol).

The BMI index is flawed though. When someone like that could be considered "overweight", you know it isn't taking into consideration lean body mass.

A much better indicator is "overfat". You can be overweight (based on averages) and still not be overfat. For that reason I like to judge my progress on my body fat percentages, much more than on just a weight to height ratio.

To that end I have purchased fat calipers. These are a funny little device that you pinch a roll of fat with just above your hipbone (stomach fat). The calipers have this thing that clicks when you have applied the right pressure. Then you take them away and read the number of milimeters you were able to pinch. You do this three times and average the results.

Then you look that number up on a chart. The chart is based on your age, whether you are male or female and the number (or range of numbers) you came up with. This will tell you how much of a percentage of body fat you have.

For women 20 to 23 percent seems about a healthy range. Some women get as low as 18%, or maybe even a little lower, but those women are usually professional weight lifters and they only lose that low for a meet or contest. Trying to maintain that low of body fat is simply unhealthy. Women lose their periods etc, if their body fat gets too low.

Believe me, it really helps to know your body fat percentage, because with water fluxuations, and if you are exercising and building muscle, you can't always go by the scale. It helped me save my sanity when I did the Body for Life workouts. I wouldn't have been sure at all that I had made any progress after that hard of work if I hadn't been able to tell that I had lost fat and gained muscle. Well I could tell I was wearing a smaller size, but that darn scale wouldn't budge! Talk about frustrating.

Update...
When I pulled a pair of black jeans out of the drawer and put them on, they were snug - I almost cried! I just had them on last week and they were loose! WAHHHHHHH! I know I stuck to induction for the entire week (with the exception of eating 25 carbs instead of 20). I even drank all my water - this sucks!!!!

When I went to put sneakers on I realized they were short so I wondered if I shrank them.

Then I realized NOOOOOOOO!!!! THEY'RE 18s The very same size 18 jeans I tried a few weeks ago that were so tight I could barely zip them, had "camel toes", and knew there was no way I could sit down with 'em on. (I have the same jeans in an 18 and a 20, but the 20's are talls)

I feel sooooooo much better, the scale can bite me!

OOOHHH - I tell my personal trainer not to come NEAR me with those body fat calipers! We are doing a fitness challenge at the gym at work right now, so she did it anyway. I don't remember what the number was to start, but I'll be interested to see if it changes at the end of the 8 weeks.

I found only 1 BMI index site that was of any good and then they closed it to use the old one of weight vs waist. Not for me I have much more muscle than the average person and actually my bones are (were heavy) so I can not use them for a figure. My PT has a good indicator using bio-resistance and well not every one can get their hands on that. Anyways Maybe I can do a search and see if I can find it again. If i remember right BFL had a site or location for a much better indicator for body fat. it was actually fun and more true that the waist measurements.

Ready to hit the gym, just suck down some coffee and I will be ready.