Good to see you here Ken, and all the best with your goals for these 90 days. Thud, I can sooooo relate! I am a basically messy person married to a neatnik. 25 years married! Its been very good for me. I no longer get into huge binds which are so daunting -- the key for me was the fact that each day's added contribution would overrun the time I was abe to dedicate, until I really did a weekend (a week?) of cleaning up, and then bought some organizing thingies that were fun and practical, wall hangers and low flat plastic tubs that slid under beds etc etc. It became important for my DH's sanity, and having the place reasonably tidy adds to my energy amazingly. I still get piles going, but for DH I always have everything clean once a week. Whew! Who'd a thunk?
Jeanette -- way to go with the nuts!!
Kat -- doing what you can at the moment has an attitude of mindfulness to it which may bring you to your groove -- I'm rooting for you!!
And me...I just slow walked this morning and its been like this since SUnday. I have kdney stones and am in great pain, so nothing bouncy, just trying to move and drink a lot. Ultrasound shows nothing big, so we are hoping this will wash them out. SOrry if TMI!! Missing my enthusiastic three mile morning video walk with Leslie Sansome !! All the best.

Start date: 9/18/2017
Goal: Lose the extra pounds I gained over the spring & summer

Means:
1) Track food daily, keeping carbs < 30 net
2) Abstain from peanut butter, peanuts & cashews, dark chocolate, and Protein (Quest) bars
3) No eating after dinner
4) Get a 2+ mile walk in at least 5 days a week

Day 2 was pretty much like day 1. I was a little higher on the calories, but lower on carbs (18 net). Doing a 23 hour fast today. It has been a few months since I last did an IF. I will try to work them in on a more regular basis during this challenge.

Thud: I have the same water retention issues with any product that is high carb & very high fiber. That is one reason why I gave up those LC wraps (23g carbs, 18g fiber, 5g net carbs) early on in my journey. Besides the fact that they contain wheat (which I now try to avoid), having them was not worth the grief at the scale. Personally, I don't think these things live up to their 'net carb' claims. I'm convinced that our bodies digest more carbs than advertised.

I'm not going to count down since that seems kind of dumb. Practice period end Dec. 31 midnight

Spent yesterday's time thinking and listening to the result of thinking. Some things came to mind:

- Start in one corner (carve out a non-messy spot) bedroom corner comes to mind where numerous guitars sit.

- Inventory what I have. Not down to toilet brush and tooth paste but "significant" items

- Create catagories as inventory proceeds.

- use the "non-messy" spot as a staging point for the next non-messy spot.

- stop with thinking (15 mins)

It's reported that one of the USA's presidents, perhaps it was Donald Trump or more likely Abraham Lincoln, said something to the affect, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

Wise words indeed!

I'm in the axe sharpening phase I reckon

Hi, all! I am going to join you here. In an effort to be more conscious of the food I am putting into my mouth. I am going to go back to tracking my food again. I hope that it's going to stop mindless eating. I'll be honest that I am going through some stuff that is making it all too easy to slip back into the old habit of emotional eating. I don't want that.

My goal is only to track my food in MyFitnessPal and count up the goal carbs. I will record here for accountability.

Day 1 - 25

Indeed, the sharpening the axe phase, percolating, getting into/finding the groove...when I slide out of the groove everything is so hard, when in the groove it is so easy....reading, watching podcasts, listening, thinking, preparing and then leaping into (or just being in) that groove. Its such a gift when it is so! Good that you are limiting your thinking Thud

I did not do my video with enthusiasm today, kidney pain is too acute. Haven't done it (w.e.) since SUnday. Just casually walking. SIgh. Hopefully this will pass (pun absolutely intended) soon.

Beginning Day 19-no nuts, no not one
Can't believe I made it this far!

Mama Sebo- I am sorry you are in pain I hope you feel better soon.

Renee- Welcome

Thud- I love to stay organized and reorganize! You are absolutely on track with starting in one corner

Ken- looks like we have the same "trouble" foods Except I have a taste for Atkins bars not quest.... after I finish this 90 day habit of no nuts- I will tackle the Atkins bars next I can only handle one habit at a time.

Start date: 9/18/2017
Goal: Lose the extra pounds I gained over the spring & summer

Means:
1) Track food daily, keeping carbs < 30 net
2) Abstain from peanut butter, peanuts & cashews, dark chocolate, and Protein (Quest) bars
3) No eating after dinner
4) Get a 2+ mile walk in at least 5 days a week

Yesterday was another success. I was still suffering the effects of LC flu off and on throughout the day. I was doing a 23 hour fast as well. After eating dinner I felt better and so far today I feel great. So perhaps I'm past the flu thing that I always get when I'm shedding water.

Wow - this thread is getting hot again. Nice to see. I wish everyone all the best in reaching your goals!

The flake is back.... Ken you are a magnet. Good luck! I use Atkins bars and shakes for emergencies too - like I was glad I had a shake in the truck the other day. I do tend to be lazy and just want the bars instead of real food when I should be making real food.

Thud - I don't feel so bad LOL...and actually this is something I need to do myself now - I leave this house/AZ the first or second week in January and I want to deep clean it - best start now, knowing myself. So thank you for the great idea. I want to spend 90 days - 15 min a day cleaning SOMEthing 5 days a week. I am methodical, starting at a corner and working my way around the entire house that way. I am sure more than 15 will be spent but the idea is to do it - in doable terms.

I have a sub-task here too. Exercise. Again, thank you Ken, I want to spend 20 min 5 days a week exercising. I have 2 books out from the library - Morning Cup of Yoga - easy-peasy do it in your jammies while you brew your morning tea... and stretching for 50+. These are easy and doable in my tired/injured state. A good place to start.

So thank you guys and everyone else here.

Thank you Mama S.
I am so sorry about the pain! Good for you on at least doing something easy...I hope this gets resolved soon.
Kat

I noticed another habit of mine that is part of the minimal organization and that is that most dishes only get to the dish rack and re-used, not put away. The putting away part can be part of my minimum requirement and done daily. Thought experiments continue...

Start date: 9/18/2017
Goal: Lose the extra pounds I gained over the spring & summer

Means:
1) Track food daily, keeping carbs < 30 net
2) Abstain from peanut butter, peanuts & cashews, dark chocolate, and Protein (Quest) bars
3) No eating after dinner
4) Get a 2+ mile walk in at least 5 days a week

Another on target day yesterday. All goals accomplished. Hitting these marks each day, stringing good eating days together back to back, is starting to pay off. It is not so much about the scale, although it has moved in the right direction some. It is more about feeling right with the world. I have good energy. I'm enjoying long periods of satiety between meals. The urge to snack between meals is fading. My body seems to be quite happy with how I'm treating it. The trick now is not to mess it all up.

Something just popped into my head when I read "...The trick now is not to mess it all up." There's something that I'm learning about meditation that might relate, maybe not. Also seem a good sport analogy, even the 6R's I was/am feebly practicing.

The "mess up" just happens, sometimes not by conscious choice. In meditation this may be a thought of why they didn't put the reliever last night ball game after the second double they got off him while you're intention of the meditation is to watch the breath, each breath.

The mess ups just happen, over and over and over again. We don't control them but we can recognize them. It has been said that they are the most valuable teachers. 6R thinking might go like:

1 - Ahha! I suddenly have recognized that I "messed up"
2 - Let the thought of "messing up" go
3 - Relax you mind and body
4 - Smile laugh or make light of the "mess up" It is only a "mess up" you didn't want to happen, it just did
5 - Return to LCHF that has been demonstrated to yourself by yourself to be beneficial to physical and mental health
6 - Repeat the process when you "mess up" again hoping to "recognize" it more swiftly, thus, reducing suffering.

So the trick is to find many ways to return to wholesomeness, not try to walk a balance beam forever. We learn nothing of gymnastics by doing that We learn by falling.

OK, enough of that, it could be all wrong too ha!

In my practice to find a path to maintanece for my abode I noticed to behaviours that can change and add to organization. SIMPLE LITTE THINGS:

a) each morning when I'm making coffee, put away dishes in dish strainer

b) only take new dishes and utensils from the drawers and cupboards

This will help create a circular flow and a dish basket that's empty during the day and ready for washing in the evening.

Also, moving guitars around in other room 15 mins up, I wanted to continue but stopped for the day. My habit is to go all out and clean. This is NOT what I'm trying to practice.

Thanks everyone, hope you are having fun with your experiments!

I have found this thread very interesting! Interesting, because it shows me that so many of the people who have successfully lost and maintained a lot of weight, still have food related challenges. It makes me want to be a little gentler on myself about my food issues that just won't go away.

I have so many bad habits I don't know which one to start with.

I'll mull this over and be back, maybe tomorrow!

20 min ** it was 30 min, not 20** of A Morning Cup of Yoga - actually did it before sunrise out in the backyard with the dogs...mornings are nice and cool now, pre-sunrise a very pretty time of day, birds, hummingbirds... And I had my cuppa out with me. I am stiff and awkward but all but one exercise I was able to do. Remembering to breathe! I tend to be tight and breathe shallow - I forget to take deep breaths.


Will post the 15 min of beginning to clean/organize the house which ( includes my packing/sorting/discarding too) when I do it today.

I'll do the quarterly thing too - start at the Fall Equinox today and go til Winter Solstice - Dec 21st.
Kat

Mama Sebo -Hope you are feeling better.