I would never say a level of anything is too low or too high, michele - all I can say is that when I tried a low-fat diet, I had problems with my hair breaking, fingernails shattering, scaly skin, constipation and brain fog. Switching up to something closer to 35% (good) fats has fixed all of those problems for me - the only downside seems to be the lost food volume due to the higher-density calories. If you have anything going on that's like that, it might be your body telling you it's too low.

.5# off from the weekend uptick - just forging onward.

Just FYI--when I was losing weight, my intake of fats averaged 50 grams per day. That was 34% of my calories.

Jay

Hi guys!! Just a fly by!

Back from the podiatrist, he seemed pretty upbeat. He said he thinks the stretching my other doc had me doing was too much and was contributing to the problem. He taped my feet so I have to shower with plastic bags on them for a few days, plus gave me new stretches to do and instructions to ice 1-2x/day for 10-15 mins. Back to see him again next week. If the tape doesn't help he thinks custom orthotics will do the trick. Still no running and little walking allowed, but I am cleared to bike as much as I want.

Glad the podiatrist seemed helpful, Jessica!

That sounds encouraging, Jessica.

Boooooooooo up 0.3 kg from yesterday for seemingly no reason (aside from the fact that I haven't pooped in almost a week?). Got in an exercise DVD, pushups and crunches before work today though. I'd really like to end this "never pooping" trend; thinking about going for more fat in my diet since my macronutrient ratios are undoubtedly a bit whack and my hands are always dry!

Jessica, I have orthodics called power steps. They are over the counter but very hard and with a nice raised instep (my issue-flat feet). I got them after a podiatrist I saw recommended them. LOVE. Been thinking about going thru the hassle of custom made orthodics lately. Take it slow when introducing an orthodic- one hour, then a few hours of wear, increasing gradually.

I put them in all the shoes I can- not just my running shoes.


I had an unexpected but very happy moment with my scale this am. Now I am sitting, post breakfast, and starving! Must wait until 11a for my fabulously large, nutritious and tasty salad.
Have a great day everyone!

Okay, so, my endocrinology appointment took the entire morning. That's okay, I'm glad they were thorough, but I left home at 8:30 to go there for a 9:00 appointment and got to work at 11:45. I will be working through lunch the rest of the week to make up for that. In any case, the doctor was nice enough. He did an ultrasound of my thyroid and said it looked somewhat inflamed and had a couple small cysts which they will keep an eye on. No changes to my thyroid meds right now but he ordered labwork to check my adrenal function and thyroid antibodies, plus some sort of growth hormone test.

In the meantime I think I'm going to call the tailbone doctor and tell him the meds aren't doing anything and see if he wants to change them or have me stop taking them. I might try changing up my diet a little too to get more iron, potassium, and fat. Of course off the top of my head the only thing I can think of as a meal rich in all of those is steak and potatoes. I'll have to do some research.

Krampus, do you drink enough water? I find that if I don't drink 8 cups a day I get constipated. It's really obvious because during the work week I have a big water bottle next to me all the time and I drink a lot of water, but on the weekend I don't drink nearly as much and I always get constipated every single weekend.

I drink at least 4-5 liters of water and hot herbal tea (and coffee and green tea but I don't count that in the 4-5 liter figure) daily. My pee is always clear. The only time I go "regularly" is if I'm eating > 3500 calories a day, which should never be done.

Having two Solatubes installed today in the dark little windowless caves I call my bathrooms. Let there be light!!!

Krampus, you and I are the same height and around the same weight and seem to eat a similar diet. I very seldom poop either - it makes me crazy, and is pretty uncomfortable. Like you I drink lots of water and tea, and I'm also only regular if I eat high calories or really bad for me foods. I've taken to eating oatmeal every day for breakfast to see if that helps. Not much luck so far.

We install Solartubes all the time! Are you old enough to remember the Carpenters? Recently we installed over a dozen in his house!

Shannon & Krampus~ditto. I'm good for every day if I eat more, but when I'm trying to lose, it's usually every 2 or three days.

All you ladies who, like me, become irregular on a low-calorie/low fat diet: I have made 2 changes that allow me to stay regular nearly 100% of the time, even during my many weeks at 1200-1300 cal/day. The first is a non-habit-forming stool softener called docusate sodium (brand name Colace, but don't bother). Be careful to NOT get the combo stool softener/laxative type, as that stuff WILL be a hard habit to break. I take one of those every morning, and will add a second capsule at night if I didn't poop sometime during the day. The second thing I use is called "Digestive Advantage," which is a type of probiotic (B. coagulans, in case you're wondering). Again, I take one a day in the morning along with the Colace. I doubt that the particular brand is crucial; my guess is that any probiotic with live bacteria will do the trick, just don't use yogurt, which is constipating.

I'm doing so-so in the weight loss department. No trouble staying on plan since the "great binge" last Thursday (a whole week of stable eating, woo-hoo), but I'm hovering in the 122+ range. 2 days ago, I saw 120.6 for a brief shining moment, but yesterday and today I was right back up where I started. The glimpse of my goal number was very motivating though; I'm more determined than ever to see 120 on a daily basis. This will be my first spring/summer IN 13 YEARS where I get to buy clothes that look cute without worrying about whether they'll make my fill-in-the-blank look too fat. Ah vanity, thy name is Andrea.