Hey, ladies! I know 10/1 isn't until tomorrow, but I wanted to have it there for when I get up in the morning.

This past week was terrible. The Zone disappeared and my old, bad habits reappeared. I've been down and stressed and I think I know what it's all about. This past week, I also skipped a lot of classes at college and when I went home to work for my parents, I had a coversation with my mom. I think I'm sabotaging myself because I'm afraid of change. Sabotage with food because I'm so close to being at goal and maintaining, sabotage at college because I'm so close to graduating and moving on to graduate school...

Well, I'm stopping the sabotage here and now.

I've posed a challenge to myself: 12 weeks. From Oct. 1 -- December 23rd, I will stay 100% on my LC food plan (with 3 meals allowed off--one MEAL only each time), I will stick to my 5 day a week workout regime unless I am deathly ill and I will complete homework assignments, study for the GREs and get all of my Grad. applications completed. As the wise Yoda said: "Do or do not. There is no try"--I am prepared to DO.

I made a 3-ring binder for myself, I wrote and signed a contract with myself to commit to the 12 week program. I created worksheets with my meals planned out, my workouts planned out and my goals on them, which I will complete every day of my challenge. I will weigh on Sundays and measure every 4 weeks. I am determined, I am focused, I will achieve, I will reach my goals in every aspect of my life. I will succeed.

WOW you sound VERY organized with all of this. I really hope it works - they say that when you write everything down diets work better because you feel more accountable to yourself. I think you will do great!

I'm going into next week not expecting to lose anything - not because I'm going off the plan, no, I'm as strict as ever on induction, but because I'm getting my REAL period (it seems like this is all I talk about these days...) so I'll probably get even more bloating and water retention, so my goal 1 week from next Friday (the 12th of October) is to be 2lbs down from 136 (my official weight right now) So i'm crossing my fingers for a 134

Altho I am 1lb up from my starting weight, EVERYTHING is looser...I look thinner, it's weird. The scale just doesn't show it! Happy October everyone!

Great planning Azure, sounds like you have made up your mind, and you ARE going to succeed

Today is my weigh-in day. I havent gotten on the scale yet.....needed my coffee first If I get on the scale too soon after getting up, my eyes dont focus that far away too early. I usually have to bend over to see the stupid thing (no I dont need glasses ) Anyways, bending over tends to send the scale off. So, I'll do that after my coffee/potty break

Did good over the weekend. Didnt get my 2nd jug of water in yesterday, but thats ok. One jug is still good.

Today is another day out and about. Groceries, supplement replenishment, and a trip to sams club. So I want to get most of my water in early and later. I really dont like using public washrooms Especially when Im out all day.....I feel like I need another shower when I get home.

Im finally in that "place" and seem to be able to pass up goodies quite easily. The evening cravings seem to be gone too. My tea every night at 8 works just fine

Have a great day ladies!

Good Morning Ladies

Thanks AZURE for starting us up this week. I can't believe thats is Oct already. Hoping to get though Oct with another 3 lbs low for the month like I did in Sept.,because is getting scary out there now that the holidays are almost among us.

AZURE=BIG CONGRATS for such a wonderful determination on your successful attitude to reach your goals with weight loss and college. You are our inspiration on this thread.Will be rooting for you all the way. from now until Dec. I started my Sept challenge by switching my meals around and exercising 3-5 days a week.Now in Oct I planning what I posted above.


KRAW-You hang in there. TOM is a thing the female population has to deal with. I'm lucky as he stopped visiting me 10 year ago. Just do the best you can with a good attitude like Azure has and you'll do fine.


ROBIN-Its nice to see you posting regularly again. Missed you,Good Luck on your W-I this morning.I'm sure you did good.I don't blame you, Ughh!!! to public bathrooms.


Have a great morning,have to start my exercises

Hugs BB

Thanks BB

Ok, Im weighed in, showered and ready to go...........down 5 more lbs!!

Happy October everyone! Sorry I haven't posted all weekend, but it seems my home PC is having troubles and won't let me access this site.

So anyways, I'm off to a good start after a bad weekend. Didn't quite make my September goals but got really close with the exercise. (only 50 minutes short). I felt terrible all weekend. I swelled up 8 lbs in a day!! Yuk! Made me feel real sore and achy as well so didn't get the exercise in I had planned on.

Oh well, I know the swelling is hormonal (had this bad PMS thing going on since I miscarried back in July) So I'm not too worried about the 8 lbs in one day. I refuse to put it on my ticker till after my periods over. The swelling usually goes away during my period so, we'll see exactly what happened to me last week.

Gonna focus on October goals. I'm hoping to get down to 210 by Halloween. I'm sure I can do it since I've upped my fitness goals to 1000 minutes. The other goal I have is to maintain my kitchen. It seems that when my kitchen gets messy, I'm much more likely to go off plan. So I'm going to make it a goal to spend 30 minutes cleaning/straightening my kitchen everyday. Wonder if I'll be surprised to find out it doesn't even take that long? Won't know till I try.

So anyways, hope eveyone is having a happy Monday

Hi Everyone!

Back from my stressed out/chaotic OffPlan Week of **** . . . and caught up with everyone's LC Chat. Stayed fairly hydrated and did do more exercise than I would have in my "former" life . . . but totally blew LC and also didn't like the taste of the water in Memphis & Arkansas - so drank too many Diet Cokes - (have been off carbonation/Diet soda's for months now.)

Good News: I'm totally psyched for October! Not as organized as you azzie - but equally determined in my own 46 yr old menopausal way! Besides - 12/23 is my 47th Birthday!

Hey beachie - not sure if I Posted this b4 - but when I went to the artsy fartsy festival there was also a Book Fair - I picked up a copy of Atkins "Age Defying" diet and also "Woman Book" by PBS's Maggie Lettvin . . . both are GREAT . . . have you read? I remember when Age Defying came out thinking "Ahhh, the Dr. is trying to make more $$$" . . . but altho' its kind of a scientific read - it's veryvery good and addresses a lot of the things we talk about here. I remember Maggie in the early 80's - and finding this book great as well for someone my age.

OKOKOK . . . gotta fly . . . contract chaos still abounds but determined to react in a healthy way instead of hurting myself . . . NOVEL idea, eh?

PS: DID get to finish King's "Apt Pupil" audio on the trip bouncie - There were even MORE references to Lord Peter - cracked me UP!

PPS: Didja all see the sticky about moving our Forum to "Diet Central" - not sure of the significance of this - if any.

CYA in the Wee Hours!

Hi everyone,
Hope no one minds if I report in about my somewhat successful weekend. It was crazy/busy, but I didn't go too far off plan. We went to a theme park on Saturday with two kids - well one is actually a grown up but still my baby. We had the 22 y.o. college daughter with us, along with the 15 year old. We live about two hours from the park and had to use the season tickets at least one more time this year. I didn't eat anything off plan, but I did have two salads in one day which is over according to my own personal "induction" plan. And I had two diet cokes/rum. Oops. I wanted to avoid all alcohol but it was all pretty stressful. We spent the night and in the morning I took the "kids" home and my husband continued on to go to a memorial service for a good friend. We heard about his death after we planned the trip to the park- really sad situation. I wanted to go, but I couldn't really get away from work and the 15 y.o. So I got back on Sunday when our third child — 20 y.o, son — was in the process of moving out of our house. Talk about unoganized! I couldn't believe the mess!! I spent the rest of the afternoon and about a hundred bucks, trying to help him get into his first apartment. It about killed me though. I'm not doing the empty nest thing well at all. I want all three of my kids under my roof where I can take care of them. Now all I have is one (pretty spoiled) 15 y.o. at home
By Sunday night I was a mess. The whole weekend was an emotional roller coaster so I did have another drink. Other then that, I was pretty much on plan all weekend which is fairly amazing for me. Tonight I'm going shopping and buying even more Atkins friendly foods! And maybe some more junk food for the 20 y.o.....
One of life's little ironies- While I'm doing the low-carb thing, the 15 y.o. is on a very successful cross country team where they believe in "carb-loading" before the weekly meets. She's losing weight which isn't necessarily good since she wasn't over weight so I'm trying to think of ways to get more food into her but not into me. Strange...
Thanks for letting me post here. It helps to "confess" your strays and brag a little about your victories.

Hola!

Only down 2 pounds. Sort of disappointed but it's a start in the right direction.

Lynnar - I've got a 20 year old and a 17 year old. Your weekend sounds remarkably similar to mine.

BIG CONGRATS TO ALL THE MONDAY MORNING WEIGH-INS


Robin on your 5 lb weight loss Yipeee

CLDVW on your 2-lb weight loss Yahoo

You both did excellent.


Have a great evening

Hugs BB

Kraw-- I've been organized before, but never followed through...but I'm so ready to follow through this time! Don't worry about a 1lb gain if you're getting smaller. Chances are, you're building muscle if you're getting smaller and not seeing the scale move down

Robin-- Thanks! Congrats on a 5 pound loss--that's amazing!! I hope your shopping went well today!

BB-- Awww, you're so sweet! I don't know how my continual crashing and burning has been an inspiration, but I'm ready to stick to this plan like glue for the next 12 weeks. Once I do that, I'll gladly wear the badge of "inspiration" if you choose to give it to me I appreciate all the support you've been, and all the support I know you'll give me in the weeks to come. Sounds like you've got a plan for the month, too! The holidays can be a nerve-wracking time for dieters...but I have a feeling you'll do just fine!

Fluffy-- If you started out the weekend badly (as in carb binging), the 8 pounds is probably glycogen/water weight. That gain happens to me, too--after a bad bought of binging on junk. A few days back on a LC plan will take that back off you and remove the bloaty feeling, so no worries!

Aud-- I'm sorry that it turned into a WEEK of off-planness for you, too. I was VERY off for most of the week and especially the weekend. You're turning it around though--we'll be back in that heavenly Zone in no time, my friend. I'm just glad for once my organization is going to translate into something tangible and positive. It's no use being organized if you don't follow your plans!

Lynnar-- Congrats on staying strong through your weekend! It can't be easy being a busy mom and being a LC person. I'm always so impressed and amazed with all of the mothers who manage to do this. I only have myself to worry about and be accountable for...and I struggle. I imagine the struggle is ten times as hard when you have a DH and kids to worry about, too!

------------------

Now, for an update! Before I go have my dinner, I wanted to announce that my diet/exercise regime is completely, 100% on track for today. I went for my first weight lifting and HIIT session with Rob tonight and we had a blast. Lemme tell you, though--I SUCK at sprints. Rob and I went out to the football practice field to do sprints across the width of it and he made it to the end before I was half way through! I'll work on it to get better....I may be good at long-time cardio (1 hour cardio kickboxing is killer!), but I'm no good at those explosive exercises!

After I have my dinner, I'll be off to complete my homework, and then to bed by 11! Day 1 of 84 in the 12 week challenge is a success! I hope the rest of you ladies had a great night!

Hi Chickee's,
Glad to see that everyone is doing good, getting on track and feeling good overall!

I finally had my melt down on Friday. I knew it wouldn't be long before that happened. I went out to lunch with my husband and had 2 glasses of wine, then went home and drank 2 more glasses of wine. Made a low carb Taco Bake, courtesy of Linda' Low Carb recipe. I highly reccommend that and the Korean Chicken.
Anyway, then I proceeded to shove into my mouth 3 homemade chocolate chip cookies. I just had to do it in my intoxicated condition. How I made those babies, I'll never know! Then because liquor begat more munchies, I ate a lc sf ice cream bar.

Wow!! I had approx., almost my age in carbs!! Hey Aud, I'm going to be 46 12/30, how bout' that!!!

So Saturday my sweet wonderful DH bought me an elliptical!! I got back on track Saturday and using that baby, although it's a challenge, I'm moving forward!

Azure- Very Inspiring words you spoke, Thank You!!!! That helped me!
Congrats to Robin and CLDVW on your weight Loss, that is Fantastic Ladies!!!
Kraw, Beachie, you'll lose those lbs in no time!
Missy, I was going to call you MF, but I don't think that's a good idea! LOL
You'll start losing to Girlfriend! Don't worry!
HI Lynnar, I don't know if I ever welcomed you, but WELCOME!!!
Good job over the weekend, as hard as it can be, you did it!!!
Hi Bouncing, hope you're doing good too!

Good Night Ladies!!! Sleep well!

one quick question - I have seen/heard conflicting reports on this

Berries: ok for induction or NO!?

Before I started induction i used to have frozen blueberries, raspberries and black berries in my freezer at all times just for a sweet fix once in a while. Now that I'm on induction I don't eat them anymore - but I was just reading one lady's Induction blog and she said berries are OK for induction! ahh!

Not that I'll start eating them just because they're okay, but my question stands: officially, are berries OK for induction, and if so, what types of berries - and if NOT why do you think some people think they are alright?

OOOOOps, Brittany "lost" custody of her two boys with KFed . . . that's the breaking news here in the Wee Hours . . . apparently she didn't do one thing the judge had ordered her to do--parenting classes/drug tests etc.

I know lilybelle ate fruit on her weight loss journey . . . I also know that fruit is not allowed on Induction but can't remember why - nuts are a no-no as well - even if the carb count stays under 20 . . . can't remember why. I'm guessing that if it comes down between chocolate chip cookies OR blueberries . . . . ?????LOL!

I'm bushed after Day One of azzies 84 day plan . . . didn't get to sprint the football field (ummmm, and just WHO is this ROB-person, young lady??????) but did remain wonderfully OP with no time for walk/weights but got in my 10 perfect push ups and 50 ab crunches . . .

Congrats on the weight loss robin & cldwv and HOORAH for the elliptical fitin'!!! Wears me OUT! LOL @ calling MissyF "MF" - I almost said that one day too!

Going in earlyearly tomorrow . . . may not cya til this time tomorrow - Have a GREAT OP Tuesday everyone!!!