I decided not to let the aches and pains slow me down and took my favorite desert trail about 3pm in 100 degree weather. Bad idea. I was really dragging by the time I got back to the car. I was also getting the chills while walking. That's probably a bad sign. I won't do that again. but I do actually feel a little better physically and mentally. Nonetheless, I am dragging and feel like I have hit a wall.

Kathy -- the Chinese date alcohol back to prehistory, stone age, cave man. hehe! Humans are too smart not to fortuitously discover alcohol. We know they preserved foods with fermentation. How much fun they must have had when they fermented a little fruit. Booze is good for us. I wouldn't consider a diet that denied it. Dr. Guyenet's recent piece was great news. It's not the resveratrol or anti-oxidants that make wine healthy. It's the booze! Yay tequila.

Kara, your post was generally uplifting and appreciated. Glad you're doing well. I shall toast to you buying clothes in the normal store. THAT will be a great day for me. My waist... umm... hit 65 inches. Remember when those people around you get too annoying, there's always alcohol!

Tyma, congrats on all the vitamin D. Five laps around the hot tub for the pasta! That's why we have 20%. I think it's healthy to stop considering it cheating and instead considering it part of the sustainable lifestyle we have adopted. 20% whatever makes you happy is approved by all, healthy as can be, part of the plan and not cheating. Yay tequila!

CJ, good job keeping the beer low carb, but did you know tequila is no carb? Yay!

Yes, I may be little loopy from the heat.

Well I've had my fair share of alcohol last night .... When I got up this morning DH asked how I felt, I said fine, why? Then he said I was pretty drunk last night? Me?? Drunk?? I don't remember Drinking wine out of those boxes with a spout is not a good idea, can't see how many bottles we drink Today we went to a BBQ drank 2 glasses of wine there OYE!! and desert... Thank goodness for that 20% ...

Tomorrow I will definitely exercise....

Oh Ilene!

I tried a carb refeed last night. Brown rice, rhubarb sauce and bananas. I'll try to explain my thinking after I've done a few other things I have to do on the internet this morning

I am sooo happy! I think I'm going to cry ... first things first ...

I did a bunch of reading about raising leptin, old damaged metabolisms, women and primal. I am stuck at around about 128-130. Some days, I couldn't possibly be any lower carb.
What I came up with was carb refeeding. So I carbed it up last evening. Today, I should eat very primally and exercise.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Now for the good news! I've been feeling kinda down and set upon by life lately. Just lifes difficulties, ya know? Usually I use church as a reason to get froofed up a bit ... skirt, dress, shoes. But I don't feel like it today. So I got all packed into my controlling garments and pulled out a pair of walking shorts. Size 2 from Old Navy. I coulda pulled them right off without undoing the fly. So, here I am in size 2 shorts in normal (comfortable) gotchers.
I really don't understand this "changes in body composition" thing but I like it! I am so happy, so very happy .... shallow huh?

Yay for Tequila, that will be my go to at the beach in 18 days.

Ilene, those wine boxes are designed that way, they don't want us to know how much we're consuming! Glad you had fun and didn't have to pay for it too much this morning.

Susan, congrats on the shorts! I agree, the whole body composition thing is great, even though I haven't lost much weight recently I still look smaller and fit in smaller sizes. And, its not shallow, you should feel proud!

Tyma, that sounds like fun...hot tubs are great! Weird getting sunburned in those spots though, could've been worse!

Bob: Even though you started feeling bad during the hike, thats great you went ahead with it, I think the best thing for aches sometimes is to keep moving and don't let them win. But maybe next time you could wait until evening, that 100 degree stuff is a killer.

Susan the Leptin, Ghrelin, Insulin information has me excited about understanding and modifying these mechanisms that make me obese and unhealthy. I'm reprogramming my genes. I am so grateful for the research, and when asked about my wieght loss now, I often say "I got this this time". I believe that.

I think you and Ilene and Tyma all read like good candidates for weekly refeeds. I'm not convinced refeeds are bad for the rest of us either. My sugar refeed with the chocolate acai berries was awful. I cannot consume sugar. Major setback and horrific headaches. It may be too late for me to avoid diabetes, but I can certainly control it. Even the sugar in booze needs to be minimized. But the refeed I did with that MetRx bar actually may have jump started me a little. I agree with Mark that these types of "hacks" need to be used with caution. Less is more. More carbs regularly would send me on a yo yo. Carbs too low for too long puts me in a funk. A refeed as part of an ongoing low carb program seems like a great way to get leptin back on the job. I just have a hard time eating low fat carbs. If I refeed, I want real pizza. And body composition is more important to me than the scale. Great job. Stay happy, it's contagious.

Thanks Kara -- I know I have stay active, but this weather makes it difficult. It is going to get worse before it gets better.

Today is fast #9 for June. Weigh in five days.

Bob, I'm excited to see your results for June ...

My scale hasn't moved except up and down two pounds all month, but I feel good and my body looks better...BUT I still wish the scale would move

Susan, you got me reading on refeeds... I'm doing them all backwards the recommendation is to refeed always after really big workouts... I feast on my carbs then feel guilty and exercise my brains out ... As I did today, 1 hour of biking 20k/12.5m ( I think prefer to say kms because geez 12.5 miles seems so short ) had a 2 hour rest, then DD and I went for 10k/6m roller blading...It was a good day, also a good Primal with the exception of one beer while BBQing supper...

WOOT!!

Just got back from quick trip to Pa. Will have to catch up tomorrow... looks like lots of good stuff from my quick skim.

I have done a little more research on the primal diet. From what I understand I can eat pretty much all the fruits & veggies I want except for potatoes, rice,corn & pasta. I am curious about sugars- Is fruit that is high in natural sugar OK? How much carbs (if any) do you eat? On the low carb diet there are some veggies & fruit that they suggest not eating. In the past I have not eaten a lot of fruits & veggies but a lot of the ones I do like are on that list, from what I understand I can eat those on primal.

Do you have the Primal Blue Print book Tyma? Here is a good article "How to succeed with the Primal Blue Print ... Fruits with a low glycemic index (GI) are best, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries... Keep away from grains, whole wheat breads, oatmeal, cereals, etc...Keep track of your macro nutrients on Fitday.com... I aim for less than 50g of carbs/day.....

I did see that site before. No I do not have the book. I will have to check to see if Borders has it. I am sure the book will be able to explain everything better to me compared to trying to find all the info on the net.

I can't imagine the number being under 15 pounds just by the way my clothes fit. I'll be very disappointed if it is less. I'll take anything 15 or better. I am really hoping for another 25 or so. I don't think about weighing very often, but when I do I get a little nervous. My dang mom just insulted me.

In the voice of an old cat, she said: "You're losing it in your shoulders but your belly is as big as ever."

Ugh, I hate that kind of comment. For the record, I have lost 12 inches from my waist. Grrr.

Good morning!

Yesterday we went to Goderich and walked the boardwalk. If you're ever in the area vacationing ... it's lovely. Even with horrible weather blowing up from the lake.

My weight is up again but my abdomen feels awesome! I keep thinking about that adage "good abs are made in the kitchen".
I'm kinda looking forward to measuring on Thursday. I can certainly see a difference in my clothing

I was wondering if, when someone starts the July thread, we should make a link to Primal Blueprint 101. That would help folks who wonder what the heck we're doing.

Bob- Moms are good like that! I ignore my own, she has only confirmed to others that I'm losing weight, she has not once said I look good or I'm doing good. You're doing great, 12 inches around the middle is nothing to laugh at, that is wonderful! I think the bigger you are the longer it takes for people to really notice.

Susan, one day my family will make it to Canada for a vacation, we'd have to go during the warm months as we both are not cold weather people. I'm sure it is beautiful. Good idea for the July thread.

Tyma- I also keep my carbs under 50g for weight loss, Primal eating really is nothing processed, its about eating from the earth. Fruits as Ilene mentioned need to be watched, many are pure sugar. I stick to berries and splurge sometimes on others, I have to be careful of eating too much fruit it will have me wanting more sugar in the form of cakes.