LOL Jay, I guess we were just too distracted and busy to post! Congrats on the loss! How far down are you from where you start? How much left to go? (If you don't mind my asking.)

The gluten free diet is going okay. It's not really all that hard to follow -- yet. No difference so far but I wasn't expecting anything immediate anyway. I am realizing though that going gluten free isn't going to be enough of a change to make me lose weight. I guess I have to count calories too. Sigh.

I wish there was some magic saute pan that would detect what I put into it and tell me how many calories were in the result. The main reason I get sick of calorie counting is because it's a pain in the neck if I'm being creative in the kitchen, so if I'm counting I either have to stick strictly to recipes which have nutritional info on them, or I have to record every single thing that goes in the pan and then spend time calculating the result. This is why I have the technique of counting for a couple weeks then taking a week off. I know it works, I just wish there was an easier way where I could be more creative.

In any case I've been steady in the 139 range the past couple days so the vacation water weight is gone, and I'm barely under my red line, but I feel fat and I really want to be 133. 6lbs isn't that much. I can do this.

Good going, Jay. This different approach is really working for you. Excellent.

For me, this is a changeover week (probably fortnight) between the free fall routine of the school summer holidays and the close-hauled routine of the rest of the year.

The summer has been quite hard work for me. A lot of solo travel with the DB and some challenging assignments. Running, swimming and a bit of basketball (the 'tryathlon'). I've got very tired from time to time and food has been a bit sketchy or not really my kind of thing. I've often used it to give me energy to get through the next burst of action. And I don't need as much as an 11 year old. I can forget that.

I'm now back at the gymn which feels hard and makes me very hungry and tired even though I'm not doing very much. I'm giving it 10 days to a fortnight to settle down. I'm making sure that I eat a lot of deliciously prepared vegetables as this is the way to getting my proper appetite back.

I've also had time to look at my body in familiar mirrors. It's not how it looked in April, not at all. It's developed a kind of odd tubbiness around my shoulders and some awful, soft pudge in the front from my bra band downward. I cannot go round like this. I've made a note in my diary that I should be back into the food/gymn groove by Monday 19 September. Then I'll take it from there.

(Sounds pretty convincing, don't you think? Please encourage me.)

Up and down endlessly. I have some kind of minor stomach irritation (stress/depression related?) so my weight is staying manageable, and I ran two days in a row after not doing so at all for a week. Irene did lots of damage in my home zone but my immediate 'hood is okay. It's embarrassing how sore my legs got from raking and picking up leaves!

Glad to hear you're safe, krampus. I hope your tummy upset goes away soon.

I'm going to post here frequently to show my progress, otherwise things can drift in a busy life. I weigh myself daily so I'll show how it's going up and down as part of natural variation but also down over the long term. Down as in right down.

Friday: -0.25lb Cause to celebrate, I think.

Dagmar remarked on the Chat thread that being over-caffeinated makes her eat too many carbs. Now I'm a very sensitive person in lots of ways (you'd noticed that, hadn't you?) so this could affect me too. I don't drink coffee after midday as it keeps me awake but I do in the morning. One cup less today, I think.

OK, I'll get washed and dressed now and start the day.

Good morning all!

I really should join in on this thread, I am on the south beach forum nearly daily.

I lost 22 lbs 3 years ago on SBD, and got down to 122 (for about 2 days!). I'm okay not maintaining there, since it was very strict (read: I never wanted to go anywhere with my family in fear of calories). I leveled out about 124-126. Then it jumped to 128, then 132. I weighed in this am at 130 after my few days of south beach phase I (which is excellent at controlling cravings).

I haven't figured out where I'd like to maintain (126? 128?). I'm afraid to put too much pressure on myself to maintain lower, since then I become obsessive about it, which makes those around me somewhat miserable . I'd like to find some kind of happy medium.

I look forward to checking in! This "maintaining" thing is tough!

Jay - Well done! Good grief, feel free to post the positive news at least a couple of times a day. If you do, it saves me time from having to go back and re-read all the Goals threads on the rough days.

Jessica - Totally hear you about the magic saute pan. I have a more whole-foods lifestyle and a spouse who cooks like a dream. The only defense I've had is conscious portion control. I can watch the ingredients that go into it, and know if it's low, med, or high calorie. Low calorie gets eaten with gusto and even seconds can be okay ... but after that, I start thinking about the small plates and the dessert forks. Funny ... it's never the good, home-cooked food that sends me into the tailspin, not even garlic-buttermilk mashed potatoes ... it's the beer, the chips, cookies, an open bag of chocolate chips. Huh. OK, one exception - I did eat an entire bowl of cucumber slaw with a vinegar/dill dressing. Total damage: 40 calories.

silverbirch - good news for you too! I am also looking forward to the "thrill of routine" with the start of the school year, and have had the exact same reaction about looking in the mirror. My waist is up 2", and my rear 2.5". Just ... fluffy. :P

krampus - best wishes for a quick tummy recovery. Embarassing to be sore, but it does feel good, doesn't it? Hope your community recovers from the flood quickly. I've been following Saef's and Fitmom's trials on the weekly chat - so much destruction.

twynn - welcome aboard!

I'm back in Whitby Ontario; hoping they let me go home before noon so I can enjoy my long weekend. I have been "mostly careful" with my eating, which usually translates into holding steady on the scale, but I had the most delicious lemon-pepper shrimp dish EVER last night, and I ate more of it than I really should have, with a 6 oz glass of Chardonnay. On the good side, I did linger over it and devote my attention to it. I think I can make it at home without too much trouble. On the interview front, it's all done except ... one last delay. The hiring manager (my friend) discovered this morning that the director, her boss, wants to review all the notes from the interviews. Sigh. And of course, he's on vacation and won't be back til Tuesday.

Welcome, TwynnB!!! I'm thinking once I get back to goal I'll follow more of a SB diet. I've got the cookbook, so I should be good to go. I don't need to do the diet phases, just maintain using the principles.

I'm down half a pound despite a run-in with some goldfish crackers. They'd been in my pantry since our vacation (impulse buy for the road trip--I crave salty or sweet when on long drives. The jerky was a better choice here). I knew the package was not open so I didn't open it so there was no temptation. DS opened it. Gah! Had to have some. I'm going to ask that he dispose (aka eat) all those crackers and the sun chips I bought and the Doritos he bough while we're on vacation.

Welcome Twynn!

Krampus, how is your tummy doing today?

Silver, I love reading your posts. I read them in my head with a British accent. It's funny how different various turns of phrase can be between British and American English.

Becky, keep us updated on the job situation.

Allison, good job on the 1/2lb.

Still 139 here. I've been trying to get more exercise. No problems yet with gluten-free. Between rice, oats, kasha, and quinoa, I think I can get my fill of grains. Have not counted calories yet since last night was more kitchen experimenting. I may make a stricter plan for next week.

Birchie - I'm glad there was some downward scale movement for you! I think you can definitely get back on track with exercise by 9/19. Absolutely.

Becky - annoying about the wait until Tuesday to hear on the job. Hope it is good news.

Jessica - glad the gluten free is going well, and if you find the magic skillet send one to me, too.

Allison - I love goldfish crackers. And mini saltines. And pretzels. And wheat thins. And on and on and on. I try to not have them in the house, otherwise I wind up in the snacky free fall I was in yesterday.

Twynn - Welcome! I also struggle with trying to maintain too low - it sets me into an OCD tailspin that gets crazier and crazier. I'm working on a happy medium, too. Though I'm a little high right now.

Krampus - hope the tummy feels better, and glad that you didn't get too much damage from the storm.

I bought some digestive enzymes a few weeks ago and took those for about two weeks to see if it helped with the weird tummy issues I had going on, but I don't think they made any difference. I forgot them a few meals and didn't notice any big change. I'm thinking I might try them again next week and see.

Reading this thread is, as we say here, like waiting for a bus. You wait for ages and then two or three come along at once. All these posts. Can't keep up.

Twynn! I've seen you around from time to time. This place is full of good people and we love new ones.

I had two cups of coffee this morning and have had a headache all day. Could be a bit of caffeine withdrawal, could be my frequent 'early days back at the gymn' headache, getting up at 6am for school, or just plain exhaustion after the summer. I'll stick it out with less coffee, more sleep and renewed gymn work.

Becky - steady as she goes with the interview stuff. Sympathy but Tuesday will soon be here. We can get rid of this extra stuff. We can.

Allison and Shannon - crackers? Bad news. I don't eat them except I have polished off quite a few after buying a box for the others. What a stupid thing to do. Stupid. Stupid. What I should say is that I shouldn't buy them. I never used to so why did I? There's no answer to that.

Jessica - Thanks, I do my best! Glad gluten-free is going well.

Shannon - stoneground, wholewheat bread will help you out in that department but there may be associated difficulties (butter, honey, jam, cheese, for example). Thanks for your encouragement.

The pain is terrible so I just had a bowl of muesli for tea before taking the DB to cricket. That's muesli, whole milk, banana, yoghourt and some honey. For heaven's sake. That is not a frugal meal scraped together with large amounts of luck during the Thirty Years War. That is a feast which should be eaten very rarely (by me, at least). You know, in the mediaeval period (several centuries before this War), people in Britain ate about a teaspoonful of sugar a year. I don't know whether honey is included in that. However. I think I'll ponder the historical angle a bit.

Shannon, have you tried the Citrucel yet?

Silver, I hope your headache gets better. It could very well be due to the lower amount of caffeine. I remember when DH went cold turkey on caffeine and had horrible headaches for about two weeks.

As for the crackers . . . going on a gluten-free diet is a sure way to avoid that problem!

Jessica - is your DH still off caffeine? Was he taking a lot? And did it do him any good to stop?

Silver, yes, he is still off caffeine. It has been about 10 years I think. I don't know exactly how much he used to drink. He went through a phase where he drank a lot of Mountain Dew, then switched to Diet Coke -- this was all during college -- then he had an internship where there was free coffee available all day and he used to drink multiple pots of coffee (yes, pots, not cups). For some reason I want to say it was 6 pots per day but I wouldn't be too sure of that number. I don't know if he was having any negative physical effects from it, but we both agreed it couldn't be good for him to be drinking so much coffee. He had some time off between the end of that internship and the beginning of the school year when he was at home with his parents, so he quit the coffee and basically slept and had headaches for two weeks.

In any case once he got through the withdrawal he no longer had any caffeine headaches. He occasionally now will drink a Coke or a cup of coffee, but only like once every six months to a year. He doesn't have any cravings for it or anything like that.

Thanks, Jessica. That really was a lot of caffeine! I don't do soft drinks and I only drink four cups of coffee (max) a day and very weak tea without milk. Occasional chocolate but this has crept up in the past three months. Dagmar's observation that she eats more carbs if she's overcaffeinated has made me think around it as I'm definitely eating more carbs and that doesn't suit me. I think, though, that my basic difficulty is tiredness so I'm working on this but also reducing caffeine.

Allinnel - they're a great group of people over at SBD. Some people knock it, but there's a lot of people I know that eat south beach style without knowing it....lean protein, lots of veggies, some fruits, little oil and nuts. Little sugar, no processed. Basically, eating healthy!

I was happy today...I was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast, and she cancelled on me last minute. So, I still went by myself...and ordered the greek omelette (spinach, feta, tomatoes)...theirs was VERY dry, not much oil at all (any?!). You get two sides, so I did the fresh strawberry cup and fresh fruit cup. I ate most of the fresh fruit, 2/3 of the 3 egg omelette, and took everything else home for later. Considering this place is the BEST IN THE WORLD for BACON and pancakes, I'm pretty happy!!!

It's going to take me a while to catch up on all your names!!