Laura G, did you exercise today? I usually exercise on my lunch during the week at least four days. But this past week, my girl said she wanted to do some exercise. So we are walking about 3/4 miles one way to the store.

And 12 minutes is good. Don't worry about the amount of time you are working out. Look at how much you are exerting yourself. Remember, the more weight you lose the more activity you will be able to do. I do interval walking for 20 minutes. Interval walking means you increase your exertion every minute four times, then start over. I went from walking 2.7-2.9-3.1-3.3 [these are MPH on the treadmill] in January to walking 3.5-3.8-4.3-4.5 now. 4.3 is a jog for me and now I can do two straight minutes.

Keep up the good work.

Hey everybody! Welcome to everyone I've missed in the last few days. Looking at the posts, I almost feel sick about what has been happening. This thread was for support, and it seems like there has been quite a bit of negativity. I hope we are all over it and moving on - we're supposed to be feeling good about ourselves.

I'm checking in - for me this time, writing everything down is my big challenge. I'm working on that aspect first and then I will work on food types and portions - accountability is key right now. So, my calories have been all over the place, but I have been exercising - I went for a walk yesterday around the lake. I'm having a hard time getting motivated today, but I do have my swimming class tonight so if that is all I do. I'll still be doing really well. I manage about 1 mile in an hour. I've started doing those ab pulleys - the kind you hook on a door knob and pull your legs up and down - what a great lower ab workout. I do 5 straight min a day, and next week (Tuesday is my weigh in day) I'll start doing them 2 times a day.

How is everyone else doing? Punce - I hope your resistance to the bad foodies is still high. Are they still on your table? I could'nt do that - for me outta sight, outta mind.

Kris: good for you recognizing what you were putting in your mouth at the slow food function. You're right, this is a lifetime journey, and you have to be comfortabe with how you get through it.

Sylvia: Thanks for the encouragement. My elliptical has a speed measuring button, but (obviously) it is up to me to do the intervals and keep the speeds where I need them to be. But I'm going to try it. I can comfortably do 15.5 kmh, so I think I'll put my intervals at 15.5, 15.8, 16.1 and 16.4.

Snoekie: I hope you are having a fantastic weekend.

Stayincalm: good for you on your water intake. How is everything else going? Still OP?

BTW everyone - I got my keyboard fixed - I can make question marks again!
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Yay!

Keep cool everyone - stay OP, stay focussed, and we'll talk again tomorow!
I told my mom about this site, and this thread. She's not a low carber per say, but I hope if she visits we can welcome her.

Hey Laura, Hey All: Gee, I feel disheartened about the negativity and coffee rumpus too. I hope I didn't set it off with my response to Joyce's question. I always appreciate everyone's various viewpoints. I think there is great value in differing opinions. Sort of makes my world go round. I'm heartsick about the criticism and hurt feelings I'm seeing though.

So, on plan today. Cooked for the week and have my water in. I will check back tomorrow. Don't know if I will post here though. I kinda like to focus on the positive as much as I can. Best to everyone and hope you have a wonderful rest of the day.

SC

Just to clarify, I don't believe I was called ignorant.

I'll never understand why some people feel the need to create disharmony where-ever they go. Rest assured, if I think there is a 'battle' to be fought on my behalf, I will fight it myself.

I have always appreciated opinions that differ from my own. It gives me a chance to evaluate my opinion and rethink it. It doesn't always mean that I change my opinion...sometimes it makes me more committed to my opinion, sometimes it makes me question it, perhaps be open to changing it and sometimes, I do change it. Having said that, I totally know what you meant (was it Sylvia?) about entering the information into fitday. Burying my head in the sand (or the carbs!) is not always the best practice. Point taken.

Jerseygyrl - thanks for the recipes! I'll check them out.


stayincalm- I'm with you. I have hopes for this to remain positive and non-fighting/non-controversial. There is enough stresses in life - let's hope this can stay supportive as Laura set it out to be. Maybe don't give up on it quite yet?

Laura-good job on the exercise. I know my legs were feeling very weak this AM when I arrived at the gym...but I pushed through it and was glad. Enjoy your water class tonight.

I know I've missed replying to a few of you, but I'm afraid if I go back to page two, I'll lose what I've already typed! I'm not a technical wizard, that's for sure.

Have a great day everyone.

Way to go with the exercise Sylvia, I've never tried this type of intervals before. Do you program your treadmill to do it automatically?

Laura, swimming is an excellent workout, and your ab work sounds great! Keep it up !

Kris, Good for you pushing through your workout despite the weak feeling legs!

I had a good day, put in my time on the treadmill and stayed completely OP, even got all my water in. And yes the eggies are still there, I thought I would have a harder time resisting them, but so far so good.

I sincerely apologize if any of my posts offended anyone, that was never my intention.

Have a great night everyone, and a fabulous new day tomorrow.

I wish I could program the treadmill. No, I have to make the speed changes myself. I actually got the program from the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips. My favorite quote from the book is, "Many "fitness experts" recomment that as soon as you can exercise for 30 minutes "comfortably," you should increase to 40 minutes, Then 60. Then 90...What's the objective, to eventually work out all day?"

So, this is the plan. You know your fitness level. Rate them on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being no exertion and 10 being an all out exertion. This is the plan:

Min = Level
1 = 5
2 = 5
3 = 6
4 = 7
5 = 8
6 = 5
7 = 6
8 = 7
9 = 8
10 = 5
11 = 6
12 = 7
13 = 8
14 = 5
15 = 6
16 = 7
17 = 8
18 = 9
19 = 5

After a while, for me it is usually 2 weeks, your new level 5 is your old level 6. Therefore, you don't workout longer than 20 minutes but you increase your endurance.

There is a weight training portion to the book. This is along the same lines as the cardio, you only workout for 30-40 minutes. There is also a diet portion of the book, which, if you eliminate the 'carb' foods [i.e. fruits, potatoes, rice, beans, pasta, cereals] is low carb.

Hi guys!
WHOOO glad I didn’t join in the fun on the thread over the weekend!!!
The day with my sister was great (she turned 35 on the 5th of March). We y had lots of laughs, shopped and only low carb food. Yesterday was a bit difficult I ate far too much, (only low carb though) but like my hubby says I stuffed my face and that is not a good thing, I don’t know why I do it because I feel so bad afterwards…………..
Hope you all have a wonderful week……talk again later.

Sylvia, I'll have to add that book to my list of things to read. I have a few programs for intervals on my treadmill, I just haven't figured out how to use them yet. I'll read the manual and find out if I can use it to do this type of program. I'm sure not into increasing my workouts to 90 min! Much rather increase my intensity! Right now I'm just focusing on keeping my heart rate up above 160 for 30 to 60 min.

Mornin' Snoekie, glad you had a good weekend. Some days I know I eat too much also, and it's hard not to feel guilty, but I also have days where I'm just not very hungry, so I think it averages out in the end. At least you stuck with Lowcarb foods so it shouldn't affect your weight loss.

How was your swim Laura? I'm always envious of swimmers. I hope everything is going well for you today.

I'll be back later to check in after I've done my exercise.

I hope everyone is feeling good about their weekend, and ready to start a brand new week with tons of enthusiasm and determination.

I am completely pumped - not only did I finish the swimming workout our instructor posted, I also snuck in an extra 100m - I swam 1800m total! I've only ever finished the workout twice before last night, so I am just ecstatic!

I am a little bummed out because the scale hasn't moved- (well,actually, it dropped a lot the third day in, but has gone back up since...thankfully I only count the weekly weigh ins). However, I can look back at my journal entries and see where I am going wrong. It's just big for me that I have been actually cooking - my DH doesn't know what hit him, I'm keeping on top of my housekeeping, and my journalling. I fight pretty hard with depression, so all of this is a HUGE step forward, out of my old life and into my new.

Snoekie - don't worry too much about stuffing your face for one day - it was a special occasion and you should be proud of yourself for sticking to low carb foods. Pick your battles darling, and soon you will win the war!

Sylvia - Thank you for breaking that down - I sure appreciate it. I'm scheduled for my elliptical tonight after work, so I will try to do the intervals - I may only do 12 or 16 min, and build up gradually. How is your diet going?

Punce - good for you for staying OP, and getting your water and exercise in.

Kris - I'm proud of you for pushing thru your weak legs to do your workout. How are the other aspects of your WL going?

Stayincalm - I sure hope you decide to continue to post here. I think I can say for most of us, that we appreciate everyone's input and opinions, and that the more people we have to support us, the stronger our network is, and the stronger we'll be. I really started this thread to be a positive, encouraging, and "safe" one - hence the title support buddies. Congratulations on staying OP and getting all your cooking done. I find the week goes much easier if I have a plan at the beginning of the week. I could never get the cooking done all at once, but I do make lots of each supper meal, and freeze the leftovers for lunches. That way,I can portion control my lunches after dinner because I'm not hungry.

I hope I haven't missed anyone, my apologies if I did. The feel good word of the day is: LOVE.

Keep your chin(s) up everyone (double or not! lol ) and have a fantastic OP day.

To us, and all our successes!

Hello, all - May I join too?

Just getting back into LC after a horrendous year. I hope to lose some weight and gain some friends on 3FC.

Welcome cjones! Happy to have you here!

Laura, Awesome job on the swimming! And the cooking & housekeeping! Are you finding you have more energy on LC? It is always a state of creative chaos in my house, Fabric and cat hair everywhere . I need to do some serious cleaning up around here as I'm getting company for the weekend.
I have also struggled with depression most of my life, and been on and off different antidepressants since I was a teen. I'm not currently taking anything and do ok most days, but still have some dark days too. I hope you have found something to help you through the really bad times.
Hang on to that great attitude!

I got my exercize in and my water and food where good today too.

Woo hoo, Laura G. You are awesome. Do the time you can. Anything is better than nothing.

I did my treadmill today and drank 12 cups of water. I did okay food wise. Only used olive oil and vinegar. I haven't had any broccoli in a few days and I am actually craving it. Thanks for asking.

Of course you can join CJones. We's love to have you. Just jump on in.

Hey Puncezilla. You can always send me a message if you even think you are about to get sucked into the black hole. You can make the message as long as possible, and ramble about people and things I don't even know about. But it is okay because I will listen. My last go round caused me to stop living low carb. For a while I seemed to live on in-the-shell raw, unsalted sunflower seeds. I just kept a bowl full on my desk and ate them all day. That was in Oct., then I started eating halloween candy [we came home with 2 pillowcases full after 1 hour walking]. Then there was Thanksgiving and all things festive with the cookies and candies at work. Luckily, I caught myself by mid-Dec, 12 pounds heavier, and started living the low carb life again at the beginning of Jan.

So, everyone, keep on plan. See you all tomorrow.

Welcome cjones! Great to have you here!

Thank you ladies for the encouragement! I am going swimming again tonight, come h*ll or highwater, and I am aiming for 1800 again. I fell off the wagon yesterday (into a deep, dark hole that went 1/2 way thru the earth's crust) and am picking myself up again today.

On the positive side, today was weigh in day - I am down 3 lbs. I kind of temper my enthusiasm since it wasn't a great "First Week" kind of number, but any loss is worth celebrating.

Sylvia - I know what you mean about craving vegies - I crave brussel sprouts, and they are not really my favorite... Keep up the good work. How is your water intake? I'm proud of you for recognizing your downward spiral and stopping it. Good for you for coming back here.

Punce - Yay you for keeping OP! I keep my sewing stuff all in one room of my basement, otherwise it would take over. I think my energy is coming from from the spring sunshine, as well as eating healthier. Of course, when I get a little bit clean, I want to keep cleaning, so that helps. How do you cope without the antidepressants? I keep hoping weight loss will help with the chemical imbalances.

cjones: tell us about yourself. What made you decide to lo-carb it? What program are you following, and what are the goals you want to reach? How can we help you get there? btw - my maiden name was jones!

Snoekie, Kris, Stayincalm - how are things going for you guys? I hope all is well. Post to us if you are having trouble - we care and want to help you. Take care of yourselves - emotionally and physically.

Today's feel good word is : Sunshine.

Woo hoo Laura!! 3lbs is fantastic! Keep it up!
Craving veggies is great isn't it?

I was on effexor till fall 2006 then DH and I decided to try and have a baby so I weaned myself off of them. I also started taking a lot more vitamins and started Atkins at around the same time. I also had some acupuncture treatments and reflexology. And the depression just didn’t return as much as I thought it would once I was off the pills. I honestly think that the change in diet and the weight loss have made the biggest improvement for me. Coming here and reading helps get me through the bad days as well, I feel less alone, even if I’m not in the mood to post on those days.

Thank you Sylvia, I may just message you even if I’m feelin’ OK. I was really down over the holidays too, completely off plan. Gained about ten lbs back. I had a lot of company and some stressful things going on with my family and tried to ease the stress with homemade fudge and mashed potatoes. It’s funny how we sometimes fixate on certain foods, like sunflower seeds. There have been times when I practically lived off peanuts and milk, it just seemed like all I wanted to eat at the time.

Well I have absolutely no will to exercise today; I need a good kick in the butt.

Horay for sunshine! I hope everyone else is doing great!

This my evening check-in. I drank my 12 cups of water. My eating was okay but I think I over did it with the bacon this morning. I had bacon for breakfast and then again as a snack. But I got in about 8 cups of spinach.

I did the last half, about 20 minutes, of the kickboxing class today. I get there late because my workout partner doesn't leave until late. I think I'm going to have to go on ahead of her because I really want to be there earlier. Well, the good news is that I got my leg up higher on the back kick. I know that as I lose weight I be able to do better. When I was 148, I used to kick and hold to the side and back. Also, I sweated a lot but it seemed easier.

Well, tomorrows boot camp [a trainer is there and we work with balls and weights as a class]. We'll see how that goes. And Thursdays we have an abs class, which I did last week and that was all I did on Thursday. I felt like I cheated myself. So, this Thursday I plan on getting on the treadmill after doing abs. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Good night and good luck.