I just wanted to check in with you ladies I did great over the weekend, in spite of a raging cold and feeling really crappy. Yesterday, I had way too many sugar alcohols. I made Sheila's Atkins-friendly "pancakes" (they are SUPER good, by the by) yesterday morning and decided to use some sugar-free syrup on top. The syrup's good--but loaded with sugar alcohols. Then yesterday late afternoon, I was out and forgot to pack food before my class last night and I grabbed an Atkins bar (with--you guessed it--sugar alcohols). And because I'm sick and coughing up a storm, I was sucking on sugar-free mints during my whole class (MORE sugar alcohols).

Let me put it this way: I felt like someone had stuck a hose in my mouth and filled me with air. I was SUPER bloated, gassy and had to make frequent trips to the bathroom all night. I've learned my lesson. Sugar alcohols = BAD NEWS. Today I'm back to feeling mostly normal, but I'm going to stay FAR away from sugar alcohols in the future...SO not worth it. I now see why Atkins says to stay away from them!

As for today, I'm on track so far. My lofty exercise goals haven't been met so far this month... Between getting sick and working as a waitress (on my feet walking around for 9 hours/day) Friday-Sunday, I haven't had the inclination. Classes will be DONE with next week on Thursday, so I'm hoping I can maybe kick things into gear before I go back to school on September 2.

At least at school, I have a gym at my disposal. I'm a short walk away from my on-campus gym and I really like being able to go there, to take cardio kickboxing classes...and just have a place to get exercising DONE. I'm going to have a super busy semester...and I'm already stressed about it. But, I guess I'm just going to have to breathe and get ready... As I've said before, stress tends to trigger binge eating in me, so I'm going to have to prepare to deal with it in other ways.

Hope the rest of you ladies are doing great (and staying away from sugar alcohols!)

--Azure

Hiya beachieB! Sorry that you're having that sweating problem! I'm in a constant hot flash pool of perspiration so can somewhat relate. It's sweltering here in MO to boot. Good Luck and Bon Voyage to Nova Scotia- WOW!

Bouncing-you are SO inspiring! (And funny too!) I w/i in the evening fully clothed (shoes off) - which is different from the rest of the world - like most things night shift - but yeah, you're right I think, it shows the trend be it up or down if consistent. I w/i at the gym at work and it's a Dr. scale with the moveable thingies.

LOL Cantaloupe Hedge lilyb! Next Garden Craze?

Congrats to azure! I was crappy sick at the beginning of last week and went OP - sugar alcoholing would have been a better choice I think. IA tho' that they leave you feeling YUCK - but not as bad as off OP'ing in the long run.

Forgot to look up the Rev. Rolls link chickadee . . . (BTW, you "sound" kind of down - - hope everything is going good for ya?)

brb

oooops, no wonder it was so hard to find . . . not on linda's low carb but over @ lowcarbeating.com instead . . . I've got the parchment paper & sour cream on hand now - so look forward to making these the "right way" -

http://70.84.16.198/low-carb-diet-su...ad.php?t=17486

well i was going to be wokring a 10 hr day with a 3 hr roundtrip commute but luckily its only going to ba 9 hr day and 1.5 hr commute home....

I have been eating a low carb bar daily becasue i have been so busy and they are a good snack - or so i hope but they of course bloat me like crazy....
and since i dont currently have a working scale....i am just hoping no damage is being done and i am still losing....

we will see this wkend - since im going to buy a new one - and am going to make some cream cheese muffins - they sound like mini cheescakes and might be a good am alternative to eggs since i am getting pretty tired of them

ps thanks for the link!

Hi everyone, it's still about 100 degrees here and school starts back tomorrow. Wow, this summer has gone fast.

I worked in my garden 2 hrs. yesterday in the sweltering heat. Then, I got all my bills paid. Cooked a nice dinner, did a bunch of laundry and wrote another full chapter on my book. It was such a productive day.

I used to always try to do everything myself but last night I delegated chores to the kids and DH and freed up extra time for myself. Yippee. It worked great and I need to do it more often, definitely.

I was sad last night. My pumpkin vines are growing everywhere outside the patch I put them in . So, I tried to move a vine and place it back in the patch so DH could weed-eat around my garden. My biggest pumpkin fell off the vine. It was about 4 lbs. and not ready to use yet. Dang it, I should have left it well enough alone, but I wanted my garden all neat and trimmed. Grrrrrrrrr.

Aud, later I'll post a pic here of my "cantaloupe hedge", LOL.

Aud, my son wil be up your way this weekend. He'll be at Ft. Leonardwood MO , they are issuing them a bunch of new equipment before they get deployed.

morning - well i am still at about the same weight accoding to my non digital scale - which is disapoointing - it isnt terribly accurate so i dont know for sure but i guess i have just been too lenient regarding what i can eat- i think that fage/lc yogurt might have to go bye bye as well as as the bars i have been eating - they are out and i am back to hard core induction foods.....
hopefully i see a significant loss next wk - of course i think i need to put in more exercise....

which brings me to a question - weights or cardio? i know cardio is good for burning fat/heart health but i hate to do it - so i usually walk about 30 minutes during my lunch - im hoping that is sufficient for the time being becasue i would much rather do weights....i wonder which is better???

Reminds me of a Pumpkin-Tastrophe I had a few years back (SEVERAL years now that I realize "Baby" Molly will be 21 in a couple of weeks *sniffle*gasp*) Grew her own Pumpkin in kindergarten to decorate for the Fall Fest - in my tidy garden haste - same thing happened, lilyb! Moll was checking this sucker sometimes 2-3 times a day - soooooooooo . . . I had to get various stages of Pumpkins and I tied to the vine with same color bread ties for about 3 weeks . . . the nite b4 the Big Event - went out and bought The Great Pumpkin and set it out in the Patch - neat memory of my Lil Red Head - eyes wide as saucers when she "picked it!" Thinking of your son today - Ft. Leonardwood the site of many a deployment. Friend at work is at, I believe, Ft. Hood in Tx . . . very hot there as well to do all the readiness training.

I've lost weight on Atkins doing NO exercise/SOME exercise and LOTS of exercise, chickaD. I've lost the most when adding weights - think it kicks up my menopausal metabolism. I also lost weight (my most after the 9 yr old "Baby") using low carb shakes as meal replacements but NOT the Atkins brand - used "EAS" and watched for "Total" carbs and not net.

"Net" carbs are my personal enemy for stalls.

Chickadee-- According to many of the people I've read/listened to in the fitness industry, weights will do you more good than cardio for weight loss. Weights add muscle--which burns more calories all day. And lifting heavy causes you to bump your metabolism up all day long, whereas cardio only burns calories while you're doing it but has no effect on fat burning for the rest of the day. I would emphasize lifting heavy, though--lifting pink dumbells probably won't help you much

I started lifting 10 then 15 then 20 pound dumbells--and I need to start lifting again. I've gotten lazy!

hey thanks - i would much rather do weights anyway!

aud, that's such a cute story about your daughter's pumpkin. I would never have dreamed they could break off the big , thick vine that easily. But, alas they do.

Tonite I went out to water my garden and ran back in and told my son there was a pile of "snake eggs" by my garden. He ran out to take a look and literally cracked up laughing. He said "mom those aren't snake eggs, they are rabbit poop". LOL. He even called DH so he could laugh at me too. LOL. I'm glad I was such a great source of entertainment for them.

I'm heading now to Chapter 8 on my book and I'm finally to my wt. loss journey. I've got all my journal stuff beside me for easy reference. It sure brings up the memories of my starting Atkins.

I'm really missing the gym - even tho' its close by too, azure - just have not been able to GET THERE so far this week. What are you studying?

Already on CH 8, lily? I used to journal and slowly got out of the habit. I have my Mom's journals and letters between her & Dad during WWII that I treasure - it's becoming a "lost art."

I'm still OP - just not getting the exercise in - but OY its sooo freakin' HOT here with no end in sight.

Aud, I stayed up all night last night working on my book. I'm now on chapter 13. The words kept flowing and I kept typing. Some days, I find that I can't concentrate on it. The days that I am "in the groove" for writing, it goes really quickly and I get a lot accomplished. As long as my head is spinning and I've got my dear coffee brewing, I'll type all night and go with the flow.

Tonite, I'm off to Karaoke club to relax and have fun.

Oh dear, my wt. was back up a few lbs. this morning. I'm thinking it had to be from eating tacos last night and spending too many hrs. with my butt planted in this here chair. I'm off now to walk on my treadmill, It's too hot to walk outside.

My DD and SD started back to school today. They sprayed so much hairspray and perfume this morning that my house now smells like a bordello. LOL

Aud-- My major is "English Literature and Criticism" I'll be graduating with my Bachelors in the Spring (Magna Cum Laude if I keep up my A's ) and I'll be headed to Grad School the following fall! I've already looked over my schedule for the fall, and I'm planning on getting up in the morning to go to the gym--I find that I feel better if I just "get it OVER with" in the morning I took Cardio Kickboxing classes last year, and I'll probably do those again this year--they were fun!

I've been doing really well the last few days as far as my diet goes--I'm seeing a downward turn on my scale again. 153 this morning I just want to be in the 140's already!

How exciting azure . . . my bf in high school went the academic rte in English and has had many an adventure throughout her career that I've lived vicariously thru ----from the blue collar route I ended up "choosing."

My fave story is when she was the sponsor at a Catholic High School Girls Club that took a 10 day trip to England. One of the girls kept being AWOL from the tours/activities - Deb finally had Hotel Security open the Hotel Room door (the roommate girls were acting like they had lost their key/acting odd etc) -------- lo and behold, the poor thing was in the bed DELIVERING A BABY ALONE!!!!

No one had suspected she was pregnant . . . and the trials/tribulations of not being the legal guardian of the teenager and the bureacracy involved in getting Baby a PASSPORT and things in place with the Embassy for (she had a boy) him to have things in place to be an American citizen is quite a tale in itself . . . .

Deb recently made a career move to teach at the small town we are both from - after years on the "fast track" - ready to just get out of the "city" and chill.

So many options for you azure - so excited for ya!