Clo, you're right. There must be people who don't need and don't react well to low-carbing. And I think it all comes down to insulin resistance, although that's probably somewhat of a simplistic view.

30lbsmore, one more thing I have read is that hormone therapy can make it impossible, not just near, but impossible, to lose weight. Even on low-carb. You might look into that.

;-Deb

I find this thread very interesting. 30morelbs, I didn't see if you answered the question as to how many carbs you were eating before and how many you are eating now?

I think Clo & DebPenny are onto something. It's an insulin resistance thing. And I do agree that hormone therapy can stall weight loss, from my own experience.

Once I stopped taking my thyroid meds about 6 or 7 weeks ago, the weight stalls stopped and the bloating stopped too. Since being on the SP, my throid is no longer testing "underactive." For the first time in years, I don't HAVE to take that blasted levethroid pill every stinking day!

So, if these types of hormones (and the lowest dosage, I might add) can halt weight loss, why can't other types of hormone therapy cause trouble, too. Especially if the body is still healing itelf?

And that's the key--the body must first heal itself! Who knows how long that can take? What if it takes 3 years? Is the goal just to lose weight? I want to lose all this blubber, but I understand it's going to take time, and I have that b/c I am not focused on the eating anymore.

It makes sense that while the body is still healing, that it's not going to function properly. And since 30lbsmore states she was suffering through cancer, her body was further struggling to repair itself. And perhaps the treatments she was undergoing for cancer stalled the weight loss?

Her body may have needed more than a year and 2 months to repair itself. And perhaps she was NOT unsulin resistant, as Deb and Clo have suggested.

And then there's the rest of the story, the part we are not hearing. Perhaps we will read of her story in the new SP book?

For those of us for whom this WOE works, we know that:

A.) We are NOT headed toward FAT gain on this plan (only muscle gain!).
B.) We will not use HER unfortunate experience as an excuse for stopping OUR plan when we don't see immediate weight loss, without seeking medical advice first.
C.) We will remember the solid, scientific, medical basis for this WOE, and press on patiently, knowing our bodies are healing and will eventually run the way they were created to.

30lbsmore, I wish you well. I, too, will offer you a warning, since you were kind enough to warn us: Working out twice daily is not healthy for your body. It needs 24- to 48-hours in between workouts to repair the muscle tissue. I undersand your desire to lose weight, believe me! But please don't be so desperate to lose weight that you damage your body further. Take care!

--TheBetty

Hi all I just had to chime in here with my experience on exercise.

TheBetty is right, it is best for you to wait at least a day between exercising. I had read somewhere in a article that a test was done on a certain number of women exercising everyday and a certain number of women exercising every other day and guess who lost the most weight???? The women exercising every other day!

So I did my own experiment exercising everyday for a week and I noticed that my body seemed more swollen (hands and feet) I must have been retaining more water. I saw some weight loss, but only a couple of pounds. The next week I exercised every other day and I noticed my clothes started fitting better, much less swelling in my hands and feet and I started looking more toned. the scale said I lost 5 lbs that week. Bye the way the exercise I did was just plain ole walking but for 45 min. straight.

Debpenny and thebetty, you gals are so nice and sweet as many of you others are. I really look forward to reading your posts everyday, I may not post much ( I am a newbie) but I'm lurking!

Keep up the good work!
Steph

Thanks for the info, Steph. As I have posted in a few other places, I went on a long, torturous hike this weekend. I really over did it. And I expected a weight gain from it that I got -- 3 pounds of water weight gain that will come off soon.

But the thing that was bothering me, and not anymore, is that my legs (especially my calves) are really swollen. I think that's where the "weight" is. And it's water retention. My calves are the most sore of all my muscles that hurt. And in the picture I had taken of me at the falls to which I hiked, I look like I haven't lost a pound -- again swelling. By the time I got to my car I was bursting my shorts because of the swelling and my hands looked like they did when I started low-carbing.

I'm doing two things to hopefully speed my recovery: 1) I'm drinking even more water than I usually do and 2) I'm taking extra glutamine. Glutamine is supposed to help your muscles recover from exercise faster. At least that's what I read in the BFL thread. However, I so over did it, I expect I'm going to be most of the week recovering.

Now don't think I'm regretting my hike. I am very proud of myself that I did it. It was very hard (9.3 miles with about 2500 feet of cumulative elevation gain) and took a lot out of me. But it has given me renewed determination to get into shape for hiking and backpacking. I haven't done either since my early 20s and I have really missed it. In two weeks I'm going on another hike, only this one will have easy to moderate elevation gain and not be over 5 miles long. I'll work up to attacking Feather Falls again without dying.

Whoops, sorry for the length. I'm still on a high from Sunday's hike.

;-Deb

Good Morning Ladies<
RE; the twice daily workouts and the swelling of the limbs. I have noticed that on my longer runs that I need a sodium replacement such as ThermaTabs. These include sodium and potasium. Drinking huge amounts of water without sodium and potasium will flush the existing out, causing the body to hang onto the remaining water.
One of the mentors on this board posted an excellent article on the subject, I can't locate it now.
Also, if you are NOT drinking enough water (20 oz an hour) then your body will swell. Altitude also affects swelling. One time I gained eight pounds in a 24 hour period from retention! It was tough and I thought I would explode.
RE: twice daily workouts, I believe the advice is to refrain from weight lifting to allow the muscles time to recover. Suggestions include working the lower body one day and the upper body the next. Nat has posted some excellent information on this and I think it can be found in the exercise section. I think working out twice a day is not a problem at all as long as you do something different such as weight training and aerobic activity. Of course everything in moderation and begin a workout program slowly to avoid injuries.
I'm heading up to the southern end of Yosemite this weekend to run/shuffle a 50k. It's called the Shadow of the Giants 50K. SHould be pretty and I'm experimenting with some new homemade lowcarb performance food. I'll let you know how it works.
Life is Good!
Maureen

What the heck it this? I'm not up to date on all the plans out there but I'd be interested in the condensed version of it. I'm on Atkins but can't get into ketosis since going on pain medicine. I gained 20 lbs the first 2 months while faithfully eating no carbs. I changed meds a few months ago and lost a whooping 3 lbs! That was exciting but still can't figure out why. My dr doesn't seem to care and I need to be on this the rest of my life so I just keep up what I've been doing for the past 3 years. It is pathetic though.

For those of you reading this thread who are not familiar with Schwarzbein and considering it, please read the book. It's easy to read and understand. In the meantime:

On Schwarzbein you eat more carbs than Atkins, there is no induction, you are not encouraged to go into ketosis, and, IMO, you have much more freedom to eat naturally.

In the book there are charts detailing foods that are non-starchy vegetables, starchy vegetables (listed in 15 carb equivalents), amounts of dairy that equal 5 carbs, and other foods and carb counts. Basically, her charts are a guide. You will still need to read labels and find out what the carb counts are of foods not on the lists. And there is also a chart to help you determine how many carbs you should be eating.

About carbs, on TSP you do not count carbs in non-starchy vegetables, however, she also says that if you eat enough non-starchies, you don't have to supplement with other carbs to get your allowance.

Generally speaking, you are supposed to combine carbs, fats and carbohydrates at meals and snacks, although I often eat just protein because that's what I prefer.

On TSP you are strongly encouraged to give up alcohol, drugs, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, and sugars. She does allow some starches (low-carb bread, rice), but I stay away from them all, it's easier for me that way.

She also explains the benefits of low-carbing through case studies, and I can assure you you will find yourself in one of them.

I hope this helps, but please, read the book. Also, she has a new book that will hopefully come out in September. I have that one on order. And for those of you outside the USA, I am sure that Amazon.com delivers internationally and it also has some international divisions. You should be able to get it through Amazon.

And for anyone who's interested, I have now lost the four pounds I gained from my hike to Feather Falls.

;-Deb