Megan, thanks , I don't think it's pink eye. I called the mom's of all the kiddos and none of the kids have any pinkness or drainage from their eyes. I am using eye drops but no improvement yet.
I remember someone (anne, I think) telling me to go ahead and eat my Oats if they help my tummy problems. Great advice, I'm eating them and seeing some improvement with my tummy. I was afraid of the increase in carbs, but substituting the Oats for my usual of bacon or sausage with eggs has not caused any weight gain at all. I do love oats and am pretty darn sick of eggs anyway. I normally have salad for lunch. Mostly grilled or broiled meat/chicken with salad and green veggies for dinner. A piece of fruit for a snack. I guess calorie wise, I'm OK and maintaining my weight like this. I'm not overly hungry. I'm getting closer to 50 carbs a day and this is actually still working for me. I suppose the reason is that the Oats are way lower in calories than I was getting (about 600) with my old breakfast that I was eating. I'm sure my cholesterol level appreciates the Oats instead of the eggs everyday.
You have stomach problems? Tell me about them.
I have GERD, Barrett's and Gastroparesis so I'm always careful what I eat.
Oatmeal is good.
I see you are pretty much Low carb. I use to be (ofr 3 years) and felt wonderful on it but I just couldn't eat that way the rest of my life. Starting worrying about all the sat. fats and not eating fruits and vegi's. So now I count calories and lose just as fast. I'm short and have to get down to 1200 which is pretty low. Being 63 doesn't help either.
Ok - I think I am in denial
It is Jan 17th and by the look of my daily weight log, the 4-5 lbs I brought along from the Christmas holidays seems to be staying put.
I am rather perturbed as I don't feel like I consumed the 17500 calories needed to gain that much...hmph!
Mind you I have been slipping a little since December but I'd say I'm on track 60-70%.
I have been cross country skiing 2-3x/wk and I can feel the circumfrence of my quads getting a little bigger - but really -5lbs!
What I really need is a little pep talk, thanks in advance!
Sznn~I'm in the same boat as you (well, with a little more than a 4 pound gain). I gained 8 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Years. Since the week after Christmas, I have been exercising 6 days a week (Nordic Track 5 days, 5 mile walk 1 day, plus sit-ups, etc.). All I have to show for my diligence is a half pound loss. And I've been eating really clean. Maybe I don't have a pep talk for you, but at least you know you're not alone. Keep it up, the gain will go away with time.
Julie, my stomach problem is severe constipation. I do have an appointment with a gastroenterologist in April. I take daily fiber tabs, colace 3 a day and now am taking Lactulose. I get terribly miserable, bloated with swelling in the right side of my lower stomach. I know that I eat a lot of salad and veggies and fruit. Drink plenty of water. Excercise regularly. I have found that the added fiber with the Oats is helping some.
I have done Low Carb for about 1 1/2 yrs. and it seems to be something I can live with. I don't eat the recommended amt. of fats and I do eat extra fruit. It hasn't affected my wt. loss or maintenance to tweak it this way. I think really what it boils down to is my calorie level isn't overly high.
My 14 yr. old DD told me yesterday "mom, you don't realize it but you don't hardly eat anything". I told her this isn't true. What do you all think. This is what I had yesterday. A bowl of Oats for breakfast. A salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers with Ranch dressing for lunch. The same salad and a large baked chicken breast for dinner. An apple for a snack and one slice of cheese. I'm not sure how many calories that is but it is enough to keep me full. I know that as a teenager she is hungrier than me and requires more calories than I do. She has been losing weight and exercising. She is 5'5 and now 131 lbs. We basically wear the same size clothes.
Maybe I should check into fitday to log and see how many calories and carbs I actually get per day. I figured since I'm maintaining pretty well, that I must be getting enough.
Julie- Welcome to Maintainers! Wow, I can read or knit on my recumbent bike, but I haven't tried putting it in front of the computer yet
Sznn- Unfortunately, it's pretty easy to eat 17,000 extra calories over the holidays if you aren't paying attention. Unless it's worked for you in the past, being 60-70% on plan just doesn't do the trick. That may work for maintenance (unfortunately not for me...) but not for losing. Try 80-90% on. How did you lose first time around? That's what you need to do NOW to get those holiday pounds off.
Wow, Lily, I'd be starving all the time on what you eat. OK, there aren't enough details there to figure out the calories so maybe you're eating more than it appears. How much dressing? Full fat or reduced fat? How big is the chicken breast? Skin on of off? How was it cooked? How much oatmeal? Do you put anything on it? Glad the oatmeal is makingyou feel better. I have to add protein (egg whites cooked seperately) to that or I'd be starving in an hour!
Holiday pounds are official GONE here! Yipee!
Stay warm, everyone
Hi maintainers. I hope everyone is doing well this week. I finally broke down and bought a new scale. Bed Bath & Beyond had a Tatina body fat model on sale for $50 so I used one of my 20% copuons and bought it. I weighed this morning and see that I'm 145, not 142 or 143 that my old Health-O-Meter says I am, which was still several pounds higher than what I want it to be. I'm still up from my latest bout of overeating, unfortunately. So now my goal is to get down to 138 or 139 on my new scale, and keep it there. 140 will be my new number that I don't want to exceed. I'm down but I had a feeling that my home scale was a bit low as I have been weighing 5-6 pounds more at the gym with my clothes and shoes on. I didn't figure my shorts, t-shirt and sneakers could weigh 6 pounds, 3 lbs. is more like it. The scale says my body fat is 33 percent and when I went to the gym this morning I asked one of the trainers to measure me and he has me at 32 percent, which is a 4 percent loss from November 1, when I weighed 154 on the gym scale. So I've lost 7 pounds since then (according to the gym scale) and have gained about 1.5 pounds of lean body tissue so I guess that's pretty good. I'm going to focus on that instead of getting discouraged about the few pounds I've pout on and stay on track to get the weight down. Hopefully I can see the body fat go below 30 percent.
Pam
Mel, I use 1 tbsp. full fat ranch dressing on each salad. I use 1 cup Oats measured before cooking. I eat full fat cheese. No skin on the chicken breast, it was 5 oz. before baking. I sweeten the Oats with a tbsp. of SF syrup. Oats seem to keep me full for a long time and this is why I just have salad for lunch or sometimes just a piece of fruit. I actually thought maybe I was eating too much. I used to eat the same thing for dinner, lunch and snack with bacon or sausage and 2eggs for breakfast with no bread. I don't have a lot of variety in my menu. I stick to the things I like the most. If I am extra hungry, I'll have 1 tbsp. of peanut butter with my apple.
Pam , WTG on losing that 7 lbs. I recently bought a new scale and seems more reliable than my old one, but still maybe a lb. or 2 off. It weighs me at 141 right now. The Dr. scales always weigh me about 4 lbs. higher with my clothes and shoes on.
I wanted you all to know that I finally made it 14 min's on the elliptical. My farthest so far. Man, my legs sure felt shaky. I cooled off for a while then went 1 1/2 miles on the treadmill. It's shower time now.
Good for you, Lily! Stick with the elliptical - I remember you said that you can't do crunches etc for abs, right? Well, I'm convinced that the elliptical is a great ab workout all by itself because of the leg motion - it really seems to work my obliques. When I had my shoulder surgery and had to switch to the bike for cardio, I developed this very un-lovely overhang below my waist. But back on the elliptical every day = overhang gone! If put your hands right over and slightly above your hip bones when you're on it, you can feel those muscles working.
I wanted you all to know that I finally made it 14 min's on the elliptical. My farthest so far. Man, my legs sure felt shaky. I cooled off for a while then went 1 1/2 miles on the treadmill. It's shower time now.
WTG!!! DD has managed 10 minutes now (and she's only 16!). Maybe this will challenge her!
You really can feel shaky after getting off an elliptical! I almost fell down the stairs when I was walking out of the gym after one of my rare ellipitical machine episodes when my aerobics class was canceled. Machines no for me! However, for those of you that love them, more props to you! It must be nice to still have an exercise you enjoy and not be tied to an aerobics schedule!
Thanks everyone. I feel like my shoulders and arms are a little sore this morning from the elliptical. Is that normal. I wonder if I should use it every night or every other night for a while and the treadmill my usual 5 nights a week?
Meg, I did notice that it was working my obliques. Which I love, since I can't do the crunches or sit-ups. I'm going to keep trying to improve my time on it. Funny thing is after last night's workout, I had the best sleep I've had in a long time. I was physically tired and slept so great. The back of my thighs sure felt tight after my workout, I am determined to make this work for me.
Allison, my DD is 14 and she thinks the elliptical is very hard. We trade off on the elliptical and treadmill so we both get our exercise. I can do more than she can. But, she is trying so I'm happy for that. I put on country music videos while I'm working out and feel like I could just keep walking and swinging my hips forever. LOL. I think listening to music helps pass the time while doing my workout.
Tara, I used to really enjoy my low-impact aerobics classes but my Dr. won't let me join a gym now. So all my workouts are done at home. I also loved the water aerobics.
Wow, I can read or knit on my recumbent bike, but I haven't tried putting it in front of the computer yet 
Stick with the elliptical - I remember you said that you can't do crunches etc for abs, right? Well, I'm convinced that the elliptical is a great ab workout all by itself because of the leg motion - it really seems to work my obliques. When I had my shoulder surgery and had to switch to the bike for cardio, I developed this very un-lovely overhang below my waist. 
But back on the elliptical every day = overhang gone! If put your hands right over and slightly above your hip bones when you're on it, you can feel those muscles working. 
