Hey y'all !

I've been eating low carb since March 13th, 2005. My weight at restart was 187 pounds. Currently I'm at 141 pounds. My goal is 128 . . . so it's going well . . . I've been on the Atkins Diet and have been excersizing regularly. I mix it up between running (2- 3 1/2 miles), cycling on the local trail around a lake, turbo kickboxing, cardio aerobics, tennis, swimming, and pilates/muscle sculpting. At times I do the elliptical crosscountry ski machine, treadmill, and indoor cycling- but as the weather has been improving- my preferred means is outdoors when possible.

I have been a part of another low carb board- but after the third period of no access to the site due to server issues (this time it's already been 5 days of no access) I've decided that it's time to join a new board.

I will say it's disappointing after investing in a journal not to be able to access it- and it was week 12 in the 12 week fitness competition. . . oh well. The other difficult thing is that it feels like I'd made friends who I interacted with regularly. We supported each other etc. . . now it feels like they've been ripped from me because I can't access the board and interact. Does that sound weird? Oh well. I guess I should have exchanged emails with people.

Anyways, I guess it's time for a new start . . . so here I am!

Well welcome!!
Sorry about not accessing the other board, hopefully you will be able to catch up with them soon.
Fortunately Ive never seen this server down in the last couple of months since I joined, which is good, cause Im almost attached to it at the hip, its my lifeline.

Your weight loss seems to be going really well, congrats on it so far.
Your doing great.

Fiona

Hi and welcome! I love this site! It's the first thing I check in the morning and usually several times during the day. If you are needing some extra TLC, check out the Atkins Chicks thread under buddies/challenges thread. We have a ton of 'chicks' who are wonderful and there is always someone to lend an ear if you wanna crab, cry or brag about your days!! Anyway, you'll love this site and gets tons of great info. Plus the recipes are awesome!!
Juli

Hey Fiona and Juli!

Thanks for the warm welcome and kind words! I'll be dropping by the Atkins Chicks section!!

Welcome Lezlie! Best of lucK!

Welcome to the forum! Some of your friends may be on this site too!

I didn't think about the fact that some of my friends might be here! I hope that's the case, but even if it's not- I'm excited to make some new friends.



Thanks y'all once again for the warm welcome!

Anybody who says "Hey y'all" has ta be cool..

Welcome in, LezlieRae. And cheers!

Hey girl! Just checkn in and being nosey. How are things going for you? Great I hope!!
Jul

Welcome and congratulations on your weight loss so far!

Hi,

I just wanted to drop by and welcome you to the forum...this is a great place for support and information...Best of luck on your journey to a new you!!

I'm sure you'll make new friends here
take care

Thanks y'all once again for the warm welcome!

J.K. that brought a smile to my face.
Elizabeth and Desiree-Thanks for the encouragement! It was sweet and I appreciate it!

Hey Jul! Great to see 'ya droppin' back by!

Things are cruisin' along. I've been busting my behind trying to break the 140 barrier and I finally did it! Woo Hoo! 139.0 pounds! Oh yea! I tell you, I've been working HARD literally sweating my butt off . . . hangin at 142- then 142.5 then 141.5 then 140 then 141 etc. FINALLY 139.5 and then this morning I landed at 139.0.

I'm ecstatic because to me it's a sign that I'm really gonna do this thing! A part of me is saying is this really gonna happen? I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I still feel vulnerable that it could all go the other way- but I guess that's really a lifetime concern to watch, huh?

Hey Lezilie, welcome

No, it didn't sound wierd! If my dail-up was to go down tomorrow (yes, I DO live in the stone age, thankyouverymuch!), I would lose a big chunk of my social life, if not the whole thing!!!

Congrats on your weight loss so far!!!

Just got my results back from the doctor~ blood pressure looks great- 110/70 but my tri-glycerides don't. I had the ekg and the echo stress cardiogram. (treadmill test while you're hooked up to the equipment etc.) Nothing looked bad (no irregular beats or ones that were too short or too long) but doc was concerned about cholesterol I was at 249. I guess they want you under 200. Coupling that with my family history (dad died after his 3rd heart attack and had had surgery) 2 uncles and 1 aunt died of heart attacks (all in their 40's and early 50's) and my big sis had a heart attack ( in her 30's) Doc wanted to put me on a daily medication. I'm pretty bummed about that.

I begged off of it and doc agreed if I change my diet. Then we'll check again in 3 months.

So, here I am pretty bummed- close to goal and yet trying to figure out a way to get the cholesterol lowered (and follow this doctor's diet) and yet keep it low carb . . . so blend it.

I DON'T WANT TO TAKE MEDICATION. I also don't want to have a heart attack.

SO, it seems easy enough to drop the bacon and eggs out of my diet. I can also see eating more chicken and fish for my protein instead of beef. I guess I just need to sit down with the carbohydrate counter beside the low cholesterol/low triglyceride diet and customize something that works for me.

Any suggestions?

Hey Lezlie..

First, a small heads up. As I'm sure you know, your cholesterol could have been much higher. Case in point, mine was 454 at one point. Now it's a cool 208 and still on the way down. Yep, I had meds to help (and thank God for em'). However, lifestyle change is a big factor too. It sounds like good news to me that your doctor thinks you might be able to do it with diet and exercise alone.

As far as 'low carb' goes I'm sure you can still do it. But the tricky part to that is in defining what constitutes 'low carb.' For some folks that means a pretty extreme number (20-30 a day). For other folks (like me) it means something else. For instance, right now my calories are roughly 20% fat, 40% protien, and 40% carb. For me, that's still considered low carb. However, obviously my carb totals are head and shoulders above those 20-30 numbers.

I have quite a few sample menus posted in my journal if you're looking for any eating ideas. Almost all my days total up to about 20% fat.

Anyway, hope there was something in there to help. Again, best of luck with your program. Will talk to you soon - and cheers!