Good morning belles! After a weekend of so-so eating, I am hesitant to get on the scale. I think I too need to dig out the old book DANDR and really stick to the induction. AND I need to incorporate some exercise. I don't understand how something that was just a part of my life for four years could be so difficult now.
I used to get up at 5:45 go to the pool with a coffee in my hand (in my pajamas no less) and swim a mile and a third. Then, I worked an 8 hour job and came home to study. The next day I would study before work and ride my horse in the evening. On weekends, I would be in the yard, with the horses, studying etc. And all this with three high school kids. Now it seems like all I can get done is the laundry and work! Am I lacking motivation?

Has anyone here figured out a way other than sheer will power to get their bodies in motion? I have set a goal to run a 5K with my girlfriend next summer, in hopes that it will motivate me to exercise. Any suggestions? For me exercise is an important part of losing/maintaining my weight and staying mentally healthy.

Well it is off to work for me, have to go make my eggs for breakfast now. Eggs are one of my favorite in fast foods. argghhhh which reminds me .... fast food... I thought I would be doing ok if I got McDonalds Select chicken strips to eat on my way home? DON'T they are heavily breaded! Tasty, but definitely not what I should have had. (Um and the french fries on the side didn't help)

Have a good day all...
Babby

Just say "NO" to french fries, babby!

I, too, have to refocus myself sometimes...life just gets busy and I find myself wanting to reach for something easy that might or might not be LC. To keep this at a minimum, I try to keep as much refined/white/starchy stuff out of my pantry as possible. Having others in my home who don't LC, it isn't always easy but still, I try. Having plenty of LC snacks around helps, too. I try to take a snack from home, too, if I know I'm going to be out for a while (almonds, an Atkins bar or my new favorite, pumpkin seeds...1/3 cup for 2 carbs). Next time you do fast food on the way home, try this: order 2 jr. type burgers (or 4 if you're super hungry...all I can do is 2) and pull over in the parking lot long enough to modify them. Open both burgers, remove the buns AND THROW THEM AWAY , face the sandwiches together (using the actual patties...or lettuce, if it comes with it...where the bread used to be) and re-wrap it in the paper it came in. It only takes a minute and is absolutely LC. I find myself doing this A LOT, especially on busy days. Maybe that will help you stay LC while being quick and easy (and yummy of course...who doesn't love the Golden Arches!?).

I also need help on the exercise front, girls. I AM SO LAZY!! I have been trying to walk but the extreme heat mixed with all my fat just isn't working well for me right now. In the past I've done some workout tapes, too, but I'm kinda burned out right now. I'd love to have some equipment (like an eliptical machine or a treadmill) but it's just not in the budget right now. SOOO...I guess I should just get off my duff and MAKE myself do it. I DO mow my lawn and work in the yard (my hubby loves that!) each week to get some exercise and purposely park really far away from the door when I'm out shopping but it's not enough. Guess I'm going to have to get that old willpower out and put it to work. Any of you have specific things that you do that are giving you good results?

Using only my Wii Fit as a scale has helped on the exercise front. If I'm going to bother to get it out and set it up I might as well hula hoop or do some stepping while I'm there! lol

Fast food... the worst! I avoid it like the plague right now, but if my husband insists on stopping for something I try to insist in return that we go to Hardee's (Carl's Jr. on the West coast). They do a low carb burger wrapped in lettuce- win win!

Back Yard Burgers (if you guys have that) also have a LC burger done the same way...or order your burger with extra lettuce at places like Wendy's. I've tried it ALL to find LC fast food, LOL!

The only backyard burgers around here are at the neighbors house! lol Really though, throwing away the bun makes more sense than beating myself up for eating something I shouldn't be. Any good substitutes for french fries?

Ok, well I am going to go outside and mow the yard for 1/2 hour, that will be my exercise for the day. And I am going to do it in pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt. That should get the neighbors talking.

I am finally settling in this week to proper LC eating, I am dreading the 4th of July, as I know it will entail no-no dining. Sunday won't be much better either; I will be at my mom's and I know she will have pie for us or something else equally disastrous to the WOL

Morning, Belles...

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! We did lots of grilling and firework watching...and not much else! I did manage to get in a couple of long walks with the hubby, which was nice and hopefully had a part in my 3 pound weight loss last week. That makes 68 lbs. total...hoping to reach 70 next week.

Here's to a great week ahead! Hope you all see the scales move down!

Oh, and babby...I haven't found ANYTHING that compares to french fries. I WISH!! Once you get further into your weight loss, like the pre-maintenance phase, I think, you can have sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes fries are yummy...they have them at some "sit-down" type restaurants here, like O'Charleys. Nice for a treat now and then, but still not something to have very often.

I had lost 40 pounds in a previous life on LC (atkins style)and maintained it for four years, so I pretty much have the idea... I was just hoping someone out there had the answer to McDonald french fries. But, if it means my clothes will fit again, and I can move without reverberation; then I will not complain and stay away from the french fries.

I did end up having a bad eating weekend, but only for Saturday and Sunday. I made a lovely tuna steak-salad Friday night for me and the boy toy. He loved it and wants me to make it again. So, today I am back on the wagon and this morning the BT told me he can tell a difference in my weight already. Not sure that he isn't full of bologna, but I will take every little encouragement I can get!

Little sleep and lots of physical activity this weekend makes me extremely tired. So tonight, it is a bowl of edemame for supper and then to bed to get a solid 8 and then some. I am not good at staying healthy when I stray from my bedtime.

I bought a new (used) car this weekend, a Mini Cooper! Got a good deal. I think the excitement of that is finally wearing off and is contributing to my crash.

Congrats on the weight loss Kelli! Can't wait until I can post a loss like yours.

Babby

Happy Friday, Belles....it's been a while!

We just returned from vacation and I was just checking in to see how everyone is doing. Hope you're all doing well...give me some updates.

I did pretty well with eating right while we were away. I did cheat a little (the first time in several months!) and didn't exercise nearly as much as I am used to while we were gone...and I'm paying for it now! Gained 2.5 pounds! GAG. So, I'm back on STRICT induction for a few weeks along with my exercise regimen. Gotta get those sneaky jokers back off!

I'm sure you're all doing great...looking forward to hearing back from you all. Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello Belles, Nanuk here...

I don't know how i did it, but I actually maintained my weight this weekend. I am getting tired of dropping weight during the week and then picking it up again on the weekend. Maybe tomorrow I will be even thinner!

I found a great snack to help with the crunchy munchies. High in protein and fat and low in carbs; pumpkin seeds! Great to toss on a salad or mix with cream cheese as a spread for low carb tortillas or celery.

I went rummage sale shopping on Saturday for a few hours with my daughter and sister and snagged a few good items. I am currently on the hunt for objects I can use in place of "art". I decided I can't buy the real thing so I am going to create my own.

Cheap and creative! I found some really cool vintage placemats from Montreal that had never been used. Now they will become wall hangings. Found three floating shelves that normally cost $45 a peice in Pottery Barn for $2 a piece; after painting and putty they will hold photos on my living room wall. Next weekend I am off to the second hand stores to find an assortment of picture frames. I plan on painting them black and hanging them without any pictures in them in some cool geometric pattern. Should be fun!

I am glad to see you posting Kelli, I was afraid the site had been abandoned! Ok, well off to slice and dice some lovely strawberries and get them to the freezer. I foolishly went grocery shopping while hungry and ended up buying ten pounds of strawberries!! No way could I possibly eat all those before they go bad.

Before I go here is an easy Turkey burger recipe. one pound ground turkey, zest of one large lemon, table spoon of chicken grill seasoning, handful of chopped green onion, and small handful of chopped cilantro (more cilantro if you like it less if you don't). Mix it all together, form into patties and throw on the grill, broil or George Forman it (I like George the best, so quick). Then use the juice of the lemon with oh, about 1/2 cup mayonaise and a teaspoon or so of ground chipotle pepper; mix it all together and it makes an awesome topping for the burgers. No buns needed, it tastes so good!!

All for now, have a great week!

Babby

Yup, Babby...I'm still here! Don't know how everyone else is doing but I trust they're doing okay. Summertime is SO busy for most people and in my experience, they're just too busy to spend much time on the computer. It's the same story on all the threads that I regularly post on.

Your turkey burger sounds yummy...we'll have to try that soon. My DH is a huge fan of burgers of any kind so I'm sure it will be a hit!

Glad to know that you maintained over the weekend! Good for you. I had the same issue when I first got started but it did level out after a while...and once I buckled down and watched my weekend eating habits better. Thankfully, I am back to where I began weightwise BEFORE vacation...induction works! And I still have all week to lose a bit more.

Sounds like you hit the jackpot while shopping. I love to go to antique/secondhand/thrift shops and see what treasures I can unearth. You never know what you'll find! Good luck on your treasure hunting. And I hope you enjoyed those strawberries.

See you later!

I am sitting here eating a bowl of strawberries, kiwi and cantaloupe after just finishing a cheeseburger (no bun) and some edible pod peas. Probably more carbs than I need, but tasty all the same.

Flubbed up big time last night. I went with my sister and we ended up at Culvers eating burgers and fries, finishing it up with a frozen custard! Argggh. But even with that my jeans are fitting less snug today. Hopefully all the walking we did balanced out the eating. Today back on the band wagon.

Took a short walk tonight. I am going to check my e-mail, do some laundry and put up some shelves in my office. I have been in my house for five months now and still have boxes to unpack. It seems like there is something going on every weekend with family or the boy-toy. Think I will have to take a couple of days off sometime this summer just to get organized.

I am going to try to make sugar free choke cherry jelly this week. I will use pear juice and truvia to sweeten it. Still carb ridden, but not so bad. Truvia is my new friend. It has more of the taste and texture of sugar, but still a bit of an aftertaste if you use too much. It is made from Stevia and an alcohol sugar. I have in the past had trouble with stalling on my weight loss when eating sugar alcohols; but it doesn't seem to be bothering me this go around. I will have to keep an eye on it. I am going to try to make homemade ice cream with it too; hard to find low carb ice cream in the store.

Ok, enough for now; hope everyone is healthy, happy and a day closer to a size 8.

Babby

Hi, Ladies...

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry I've been AWOL lately...just too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. I'm organizing my time a bit better now and so I'll try to post more often.

How did that jelly turn out Babby? It sounds yummy. I'm planning to try the Truvia soon...it's actually on my grocery list right now to be picked up next time that I shop. As for the LC ice cream, here they have a Breyer's CarbSmart brand in the grocery stores...chocolate or vanilla...at 4 carbs per 1/2c. serving. It's pretty good in a fix but is full of fake stuff...your homemade would be much better. If the truvia works out for you in the ice cream, pass the recipe along, would you?

Update your posts, ladies and tell us how you're doing. How are things in your neck of the woods (besides HOT!!)? Looking forward to hearing from you!

Happy Friday! Have a good weekend!

Good Morning!
My scale has finally decided to start budging! It has taken some serious LCing to do so though. Pretty much down to meat and eggs and salad greens! Pretty sure I was in ketosis Friday. Lost some headway on Friday night when I had two small pieces of pizza and again yesterday when my sister in law brought coconut creme pie for dessert. Back on the wagon today.

I live in a small town and only shop at the larger grocery stores once a month or so. Finding lo-carb ice cream when I am looking for something sweet requires a drive; I am hoping having a "real" ice cream recipe I can whip up at home will help. I will share the recipe if it turns out! As for the jelly, um yeah. The chokecherries are still in my refrigerator shriveling up as I type. I keep saying tomorrow; but tomorrow never gets here! But seriously I have to get the juice made this week. I can freeze that and use it anytime to make the jelly.

I sat around a bon fire with my neighbors last night drinking rum and diet coke. It was fun letting the neighbor try to guess my age! He realizes there is an age difference between the boy-toy and myself but can't quite figure out how much. I am not volunteering the information. It was an enjoyable evening. I feel pretty polluted this am but much relaxed. So lots of water and lovely garden veggies today.

I think perhaps Kelli this thread is disintegrating down to you and me! Maybe we should do multiple posts a day and barrage everyone's e-mail boxes until they look to see what's happening!

Later,
Babby

LOL...I'm sure that people will filter back in a bit here and there as their summer winds down and real life gets back into swing full force. It's okay with me, though, with way. I enjoy talking to EVERYONE, even if it is just you and me, Babby. Or if you'd rather, you can join another thread. I am on others that are more active if you'd like to move over with us. Let me know and I'll send you the thread.

Glad to hear that your scale has started moving down! I think that seeing those numbers go down is the BEST motivation of all. I was down 2 lbs. last week, so that's 73 lbs. total since January...but this week I probably won't be so lucky. My monthly visitor, dear Aunt Flo, arrived yesterday and she always brings some water weight with her. I guess we'll see on Friday how bad the damage is. I've been eating very low carb and drinking A LOT of water during those times and most of time, it keeps me from gaining. Hope that's the case this week.

Hope you have a good week, Babby, and anyone else who might drop by. Take care and good luck this week!