A cold Canadian October morning is underway here! No coffee on the deck this morning unless you are in your woolies.

Lots of our "old" low carbers are in the Atkins and SBD forums now but let's hope they pop back in here once in a while. SBD is sort of low carb (on good days) so I pop in here too when I can. I also post on another forum and do a journal so sometimes don't make it to all the places.

I am seriously considering going back to Atkins for a while as I had a major carb fest yesterday. Phase II on SBD just allows me too much leeway. I am booting my butt this morning and refusing to get on the scale for a few days. (Um...leftover pizza for breakfast so I guess today is not Atkins Day 1! )

My houseplants did make it in from the porch before the killing frost but I parked them in the parlour which gets very little use these days. They are looking pretty sad this morning so there will be a major renovation with water and clippers later today. I will try to hold myself back from making rooted cuttings out of what I clip off! Gardeners never give up but I really don't need 100 baby plants overwintering!

MamaJ - I hope you get lots of ME time this weekend. I have to ask? How are your "girls"?

LindaBC - don't drown in your garden - although it would be a beautiful place to drown. Good for you on the Body Flex. Mine is out of the box but not in use ...yet.

Kel - nice to see you posting too! How is/are the Doggage?

Peach pit - "a bit nuts"? Who do you think you are kidding? By the way, just send me that wood - do not do Christmas crafts! You know it's addictive - especially the Tampax angels. Just BUY stuff and enjoy your Disney trip. Good going on the 44 pounds.

RobinH - it's nice that you have time to post and not just lurk. I know this is starting into your busy time. How is the moose costume business?

Welcome back, Jennifer, and welcome back Rob! Balancing life is difficult sometimes. Camp? Cody goes to camp in October?

Sunny Saturday is well underway now so I'd better organize the Dump Run! Who says small town life is boring? Maybe I'll get to the Library too. Whoo-hoo!

Have a great weekend.

Good early morning Ruthie and all to come.

Ruth-it's 52 degrees here in Houston this morning-and feels wonderful. Come sit in the gazebo with me and have coffee. Not near as lovely as your meadow but relaxing.

Dh and Ds, Michael, FINALLY left yesterday afternoon. I decided to get most of my deep cleaning done so I wouldn't be stuck doing it all day today. It's not as if I have to do it while they're gone. I like doing it while they're gone - I get to enjoy it for a few days! I like doing laundry on Sundays tho. I fold it in the kitchen/brkfast rm which is open to the den so I get to watch Lifetime while looking busy. Relieves any guilt feelings I have of doing nothing!

I was doing really well with the body flex but having to do it in the morning on an empty stomach has proven difficult on many days. Linda, I read where you were doing it twice a day.....hmmmm, me thinks I need the newer version w/the gym bar. Ovbiously something has changed in her theory. I went to the website but found little info....felt like I was reading an info mercial. The first day or two you feel a bit silly breathing like something out of a bad scary movie but tho you're getting a workout it doesn't take that long.

Ruth, the "pups" are fine. One has almost no scarring at all and quite perky. Unfortunately the other will definately have to have the revision as will my tummy. I go back Dec 17 for the doc to check things out. We'll decide then when to do the revision. Of course he had said IF I quit smoking which of course I have not. So we will see. I really wanted to lose another ten pounds before having the tummy revision-figured he could pull it a bit tighter!

Off for more coffee-I'll check back in this evening IF I don't get lost in the garbage in sons room! That kid is THE biggest slob! I'm breaking down and taking at least one heaping load out of there today!

Hugs ~ J

Hmm, I wish I could have my house to myself for a couple days to do some major overhauls like that, Janice. You should feel good about the acomplishments! I like to do washing on Sundays too - when we aren't at baseball.

Ruthie - The doggage are good. We've had to start giving big dog Scooter glucosimine and low dose Bayer asprin as his poor joints are starting to give him trouble and going into winter isn't going to help either. He is only 7 but the bigger dogs seem to have joint trouble early. He had a horrible ear infection a couple weeks ago that came on over night. I had never seen anything so icky come on so fast! The vet fixed him up with shots and meds and he was much better in a couple days. Poor sweetie - Little dog Ginger is doing fine. She has perfected her sneak 'n swipe methods, tho so I really have to get on the kids about leaving anything edible left around. She is quick!

Cool here this morning but sunny and it will warm up a bit this afternoon. I love the times in spring and fall where we don't have to use heater or A/C - sure saves on the utility bill!

I will be doing laundry and general house pick up today. Bryan (whose ankle is doing better but will be wrapped well tomorrow you can bet!) has a couple practice baseball games tomorrow. Melissa has to make some major progress on an art project AND apply for a few more scholarships this weekend. Cody has no real plans except for computer games, skateboarding and dog cuddling. (he is just a nut for the dogs! On the weekends when the kids sleep in, the dogs lay outside his bedroom with their noses right up against his door - too cute!)

I am ever closer to gearing myself up for another run at this low carb thing. Thursday was my 44th birthday and I am starting to give myself a 'talking to' about being an adult, taking responsiblities, etc. I'm really not comfortable in my body right now and hate the way my clothes feel. I really need to get back to the Curves routine too. So I am going to work on some changes - Change is good, right?

Have a great one, all - I sure miss our old, cozy, comforting corner of the coop but am glad for the support that is still left here!

Kel

Yes Kel, change is good! This house looks as if it has a new family living in it, but hopefully the changes mean we will live in it a lot longer!

Ruth, maybe if you just start over on Phase I that will be enough for you? You did so well on it, I bet you could drop some pounds again if you did. I'm sorry things are so stressful for you. I react the same way to stress! Yes, Cody went to camp with his class. The whole 5th grade goes for 3 days each fall to a 4H camp. He got to ride a canoe, learn archery, dug for fossils and learned some wildlife things. He's had so many problems with anxiety, this was a real step forward for him!

Ok, off to make Cody some lunch, and then I'm on the treadmill for an hour. That really puts a wrench in the days plan, but they'll get over it!

You are probably right, Jennifer.

Here's what I think I will do:
- do Atkins for a week (wings, sausage, steak, pork rinds, ff cheese!)
- go to Phase 1 of SBD for two weeks

My reasoning? I know I am never hungry on Atkins but my doc is a bit concerned over my higher cholesterol readings lately. This would be a sop for him! He's pretty easily convinced by numbers and is talking meds to reduce cholesterol. I tell him he can write the script but not make me get it filled! My next test is in December so maybe my cholesterol will be lower by then. (I stopped HRT six months ago and KNOW that was keeping my cholesterol down but he won't buy that.) Atkins with it's "treats" should get me back in the lower carb habit.

Whaddaya think, Chicks? I have to lick this! I have a mink coat sitting in my closet that was bought the day after our wedding and sure would like to get back into it. (I was 175 on that day.)

Ruth~ what happens to you when you fall off program? Specifically? Do you crave sweets? Hungry? what?

How much weight total have you lost on Atkins so far?

Ruthie - I've been reading your posts for over three years, so, this is what I think.

Go back to Atkins. SBD has done well for you, however, since you've been under so much stress and changes in your usual routines, seems that Atkins has done well for you in unusual situations before. Just a suggestion, but why not just try Atkins induction again and see how you're doing at the end of the two week period? And then take it from there. We all know that being OP for that length of time can also affect our "outlook" on life so to speak, depression, cravings, etc..

Just a suggestion from a far away friend.

MamaJ, if you want to learn more about Body Flex and get terrific support and lots of fitness ideas having to do with BF, here is a terrific BF support website. It is not a commercial website and has no connection with the company that makes BF.

http://pub159.************/fbodyflexs...odyflexsupport

Some of them are really gung-ho and perfectionists but there are enough of them in my category of fitness (slobs) to make me feel welcome. If you go right to the bottom of the page, you'll see something called the Skipped Breath thread and that explains a lot of different breathing and exercise techniques, in case you're interested.

Ruthie, I agree that Atkins might be the best woe for you right now. SBD had too many carbs for me and I found myself back tothe cravings and emotional roller-coaster. With your life so stressful at the moment, it seems to me you need to simplify and what could be simpler than low carb?

tytyty Linda-I'm off reading. Sure wish I'd found this site with my BF search! But till then-can you pls tell me---how is it okay to do BF after you've eaten. Is there a time frame?

Hello chickies!

Just doing one of my check-ins, I haven't even been lurking recently that's how busy I have been.

I am taking care of two children besides Miree during the day so it keeps me hopping Just happy to give myself something to do while the Atlanta mess gets straightened out. All I have to say it it is MUCH easier to toilet train a boy than a girl!! LOL

Hope you are all doing well, losing as much as you can and keeping up a positive attitude!

Yo POOKY! good to see you. Sounds like you are being kept busy. Yoiks, I wouldn't want to toilet train another child. Two was enough, thank you.

MamaJ, I believe you're supposed to either do BF before eating or 2 hours after.