Hi Maria and welcome -- I think you have to post your picture as your "avatar". Your picture actually does show up if you click your name, it's just hidden. CJ

A Healthy Skeptic blog post about intermittent fasting link here. Bottom line, he thinks it can be good but does NOT recommend it for those with blood sugar issues.

It amazes me to see all the stuff that is out there regarding this WOE. And we still cannot get our own thread

I have been reading a lot of posts on MDA. There is much good stuff there. Every once and a while, things get heated and weird.

3FC is a safe place for me. Even when I go off the deep end with "physician rage". I apologize for that. I think I might have driven our dear SusanB away, and I feel bad about that.

I will be working hard cleaning and cooking for Thanksgiving. I will be trying to balance Primal eaters with traditionalists and little kids.

I get stressed out about this stuff. Cannot write a check in public much less cook in front of people. I am one of those that absolutely do NOT want an open kitchen design that allows you to talk to your guests while you are cooking. I will burn things for sure with onlookers.

I also bought a huge turkey instead of my usual small turkey and then another meat as many folks do not like turkey. I have a free-range one and I guess I felt that it is such a good bird that all should partake.

Well off to cleaning. I have been at the gym each day this week and I think I will get my exercise in the next few days, cleaning. I usually do a fall clean around this time. I take advantage of this time to bag up stuff for Goodwill etc.

I am struggling with packing up my "too big" stuff. On the one hand, I have vowed never to be above 150 (140, 130). On the other hand, the last thing I want to do is spend money on bigger clothes 'cause I blew it and now weigh 175 again.

Is it a sign that I don't truly believe that I can do this, so I hang on to the big clothes?? What do you all do?

Sandy, I threw out my size 14 clothes about 5 years ago...kept the 12s, a while back I got rid of the 12s, kept the 10s, although the 8s are now very loose ... I am almost ready to get rid of the 10s for good... I can't wait for the 8s to be obsolete ...

Yesterday morning I didn't have time to measure my whole body because I was running late, so I measured just my waist, it is down to 28.5 ... I sure felt slim after that measurement... the scale still says 154 but I'll go with the measurement for now ...

You must just ripple with muscle. Do you know what your bodyfat % is?? If I had a 28.5 inch waist, I sure wouldn't weigh 154. I would probably be closer to 120. In fact, I will never get that low. I remember wanting the Marilyn Monroe, and Sophia Loren curves when I was young (I really wanted boobs), although I had already exceeded their waistlines.... I'm kinda square.

While I need to go through my closet again, I got rid of all my "too big" clothes about 4 or 5 months ago. In Key West, people just put usable stuff out on their sidewalk for anyone to take. (You can take it to the Salvation Army, but I figure if someone is willing to take clothes off the street, they must need them.)

I remember during the cleaning process I went through my closet a little each day (had to try on everything of course). Then I would drape a huge bunch of clothes out on my fence every day for about a week. And every day they were gone.

It was (and still is) amazing how many clothes I have. And I have nothing to wear, sigh. (How is this possible?) Today I am wearing a stretchy tank top that fits me well and a pair of linen shorts that are so big they poof out all over. The only reason they stay up is they have a stretchy waist (yup, I'm the Mom jeans kinda gal). I used to literally not be able to get into them and they will have to get draped over the fence soon.

I like to wear tank tops down here in Key West, but most of them have armholes that are too big. The problem is my arms aren't that big but I still need bigger tanks because of the boobs, thus the armhole issue.

Sandy, get rid of your too-big clothes. It signifies commitment and belief.

Wow! Ilene, that is just amazing! You must look soooooo good. Everyone keeps telling me I'm losing weight which I've been pretty static now for 2-3 months. I'm hoping the exercise is rearranging things some, as yours obviously has Wow again. CJ

Hi CJ,

You're right on the clothes... I keep imagining myself as an 80 year-old bag lady with no clean clothes bemoaning the fact that I gave stuff away when I was younger.

Jeff and I want to go some place warmer this winter. We are not in the mood to spend money anywhere other than our own USA. Key West has always intrigued me. Could you recommend any modest resorts or is that an oximoron. We usually just like to sit in the sun and read or doze. Don't need or want anything fancy. Can you walk around the "town" or do you need a car. Isn't this the farthest island in the chain?

When we went to Rome, we stayed across the street from the Vatican and walked everywhere. Loved it...

Thanks

Hi Sandy -- you definitely can easily walk around town. Most people stay in "Old Town" which is where most of the businesses and activities are. The whole island is only 2 miles wide x 4 miles long, and Old Town is only a part of that. We could meet! That would be fun

In regards to the hotels, I'm not the best person to ask. I think if you find something that looks good on the internet I can check it out. And I'll keep my ears open. CJ

Thanks girls for the encouraging works on my waist size ... I don't consider myself being very muscular at all, much less rippling muscles... and have no idea what my BF% is... But I've always been told that I look strong and healthy which is a good thing, I guess...

Sandy, get rid of the fat clothes...As CJ said you'll feel more committed to your weight loss ...

Nobody's driven me anywhere Sandy. I'm just so freakin' boring!

I eat primally most of the time, walk to the post office, knit a little and work. Ho hum.
About the most exciting thing happening lately is the prep for our trip to Pan de Vida. Some of you will remember that we went two years ago. DH went last year. This February we're both going
We're into the letter writing and fund raising. Each day I go to facebook and look at pictures of the orphans and the school ... sigh ... I want to go now!!!
Hopefully it will be sunny and warm with a little hard work and lots of play.

.

Hi Susan Miss you

Ho hum here too... nice bright sunny day though ...

I've been lurking for a bit, but figured I might as well introduce myself. I'm Marion and I've been doing Ideal Protein fro about 20 weeks and had very good weight loss, but for a variety of reasons, I decided to transition off of it. I'm Svelting had mentioned Protein Power and I've been reading it and it sounds doable and not all that far from what I would expect to be doing after IP anyway.

I'm having a bit of a challenge letting go of my safety net and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I still have 35-40 pounds to lose, but I feel like it's time to start making some normal choices. All I have done so far is add some different protein sources, including dairy and fat including avocados. I just can't convince myself to even think of trying fruit and I kind of think that grains are out of the question for me permanently, but we'll see.

I think the thing I'm having the hardest time with is going from my short little list of foods to what feels like a very broad list and not completely overwhelming myself. Anyone have any tips? Nearest I can tell, I'm usually eating about 50grams of carbs per day right now and they come from veggies or my protein bar.

Hi Marion! Are you eating 3 meat/fish/fowl protein sources yet? If not, I'd recommend starting with that piece, as well as selecting more freely from the vegetables (leaves, stems, roots, fruits like zucchini and tomato). The basis of the Primal Blueprint is the vegetables and fruit. I'm loving having root vegetables (carrots, onions, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga) in addition to the leafy greens. And, avocados are now a regular item on my shopping list.

I don't know if you saw the post (Carla/showgirlaz) in the other forum this weekend suggesting adding foods back one every few days to see how your body reacts to them. I thought it was a good idea and will do that going forward with "new" foods.