Are you ready for this....we are off to our grandsons first hockey game of the season....yikes!! This summer is flying by.

Lois, my Mom has a flat butt also and it is a constant battle to find pants that hang nicely on her...we did find some nice blue jeans at Walmart of all places and they do not bag at all.

Peggy, so sorry about the shingles but glad that they are not as bad as could be.

Jan, how nice to put up veggies for the winter...I am only doing some peaches for the freezer...just did not feel that energetic this year. I will be sorry in January when you are eating lovely things and I am sulking about being lazy in August.

Need to go find a nice warm jacket and some gloves for the game...have a good weekend everyone.

Good Morning fellow Lab Rats

Kind of lonely here. Missing everyone. Makes me sad because this usually means people are in a bad "diet" place when they stop posting. I wish for all of you to get a grip on the demon and don't end up in a "bad place". I've done it over and over. It's not a fun place to be.

Sometimes it's easier to commit with a change of seasons. Life gets in the way but it's something we have to deal with all our lives.

When our minds are in the right place we eat healthy almost all the time. Speaking for myself, I get a high when I'm eating right and even more high when I'm moving my body.

I wish I had magic words to encourage everyone. I'd first need to use them on self-talk!! In my case it seems one health issue counteracts some part of my dieting. Need to eat low carb for diabetes. Can't eat many veggies because of taking warfarin.

The doctor's office called to say my cholesterol was great. I told her "I won't tell you what I eat". Because of course 'they' want me to eat low fat. As long as I eat low carb I can have my fat! Proof is in the numbers. lol

I hope you enjoy these last days of summer. My favorite time of year is fall. We usually travel at this time but my health issues are tying us down for now. Can't go far with oxygen tanks. Wisconsin is so beautiful so we'll take day trips. We have breathtaking views in most of our state.

Hi Joy-
I certainly miss the kind of conversations we used to have when all of the lab rats were experimenting to figure out what worked for their bodies and working towards their goals. It certainly kept me on course to read what everyone had to say. Lately though, I rarely even get a response when I post about trying new things or something I read that I thought might be of value. Perhaps people think it is easy for me since I got to goal, but it is constant work to keep the scale from jumping up, and I still haven't gotten as "in shape" as I'd like to be.

I expect you are right that when people stop posting, it frequently can mean that they have run out of steam and that things aren't going well for them on their diet. I'd think it would be more helpful for them to brainstorm w/like-minded women, but also understand, after my many years of dieting, how completely frustrating it can sometimes be.

I'm glad that your doc was happy with your cholesterol numbers -- LOL - yes, just don't tell them you're not eating low fat!

We take mostly day trips as you do, although we do have 5 days at the beach coming up next month. I love how peaceful it is there after Labor Day and I also get lots of inspiration for my artwork.

Hi Janj

I love the beach. We went to the Outer Banks several times. Last time was 2011. Our grandson and wife gave us a week at a house right on the beach. A bit of heaven to us. We were there the week of Oct. 1. Empty beach but still tourists around so not deserted.

Our city has a beach along the length of the city. Lake Michigan. Very beautiful to look at but frigid water! Also a lot of stones in the water. Not the nice sandy beach like the ocean beaches. At least not along most of Wisconsin. The Lake runs the east coast of the state.

We have beautiful marinas. Charming harbor towns.

Janj

You presented a clear case of how you are working to maintain your wt. loss! We all know it's not a slam dunk. But you are right, I think we look at your differently because you ARE successful. Only because you are diligent at working to keep your weight off and to improve your muscle tone.

I'm sure all the Lab Rats know how hard you are working. We know what happened to us by NOT being diligent with our WOE. We know how to lose yet aren't willing to do what we need to do to keep it off. You Rock!!

That pretty much sums it up!! I have been on a runaway train all summer long and just can't seem to get off and stay off!

I too miss the dietary interaction but maybe it's because we DO know what works and what doesn't for us. It's the commitment that I'm sorely lacking. I have to get my head back in the game and bite the bullet but damn it to hell that's hard to do and I have no bloody idea why!!

I feel like hell, can't fit into half my clothes, and still battling the smoking. And when I commit to going clean for two weeks, I end up blowing it by the third day. Weekends are the worst!

The sad part is, nobody can do it for me. I'm at a loss as to what exactly is going to get me back on track and keep me there but I'm going to work on that.

Oh!! And by the way.....Ron's Mom is moving again! Apparently she just can't live in the apartment and has bought a condo. Hope she can find a moving company!!

There isn't a lot I can offer. I've looked at WHY I stayed on plan, and the only answer I came up with is that I WANTED it so much. I'd been on a diet my whole life and failed innumerable times. I found that low carb worked for me (when all the other diets I'd tried just left me HUNGRY) and since I was well past age 60, I asked myself "if not now, when"? I just could not stand the idea of failing again, and I think that kept me focused and on plan 98% of the time through slow losses, vacations and tempting holiday meals. I certainly didn't have a highly responsive metabolism or anymore willpower than anyone else, and the weight loss was slow for me, beginning to end.

It still isn't easy, BTW. My body will repeatedly creep up a few pounds if I'm not cautious. I try to respond quickly b/c I can gain 2-3 lbs overnight but it takes me 3 weeks to lose it again.

I've said this b/f, but I think it bears repeating: I remember when people in the OC would talk about "metabolic healing", and after a lifetime of being overweight, I rolled my eyes and said "oh, sure". But I actually think that has happened for me. After maintaining for a time, I found that foods that used to be instant poison to me and

opps.....some of my last post is missing.

What I wanted to say is that I can SOMETIMES have those foods now with no bad response.

Joy - I've never been to Wisconsin. You give tempting descriptions. Maybe next summer!

Lois - Moving again. OMG! Stand your ground, woman. That is too much for you and Ron to do again.

Good morning everyone - great to see Joy and Lois back here. Hi to Jan and Serea.

I've written longish posts in the past couple of days, gotten distracted before I posted, then lost them when I was exiting my computer. So I'll keep this short.

One, I personally don't care who's losing, who's not. You're my friends and it's not conditional on what you weigh. I think we all feel a certain pressure on this board to at least be trying, but I think this thread is beyond that. I hope those who are away (Blue, Lab, Linda, Zoo, Sherri, who else am I forgetting? (that's the trouble with making a list) - I'm looking at YOU) will return soon, we miss you. Whether you're busy or just not living up to your expectations, we miss you here.

Two, Not Your Daughter's Jeans (NYDJ) - specifically designed for bodies of a certain age and/or that have delivered babies. They fit closely, but never tightly, and you can move in them, because they include a bit of spandex. They are more generous in waist and tummy, and if you try them on, have the sales girl help you pull them up in back so it looks like you still have a butt. You can find them at Nordstrom (where you'll get educated help) and Nordstrom Rack (for cheaper prices, but you're on your own) and I've seen them elsewhere, maybe Macy's (good luck finding a salesperson there, much less a knowledgable one).

Must get started with my day.

Hellllloooooo

In agreement with so much that has been said here.... I also think when we get a tad too caught up in experimentation we can get much too frustrated when things do not work. I feel that there are times when we need to go back to KISS....and I mean back to where we came from.... Atkins induction. I know I know....we are all different...we all found that some things with it did not work for us....but that was then and this is NOW. Can we all say honestly that we stayed the course for long enough before changing things. Our bodies are past being a fast learner and may take a goodly amount of time to start to accept what we are feeding it.

That is my thought for today ladies.....

I'm STILL on induction. With all due respect (and maybe I'm misinterpreting what you said), I'm not sure experimentation is what got anyone on this thread in trouble. I think it's just damned hard to lose weight, it is damned hard to eat a restricted diet day after day. The body rebels and finds way to get you to Eat More Food. Depending on a whole bunch of factors, some are able to overcome this, others are not. I've been eating LC for almost 10 years now. Sometimes I maintain, sometimes I gain and sometimes I lose. But I *know* that my body is happiest when I eat this way (even though my mouth tries to tell me otherwise sometimes).

What it always comes down to for me: Atkins is good for improved health and sometimes we have to compromise on the weight - we may not be as svelte as we'd like - but we can still enjoy Atkins for the innumerable health benefits, which are independent of weight loss.

Liz (or anyone else) please do not hesitate to disagree with anything I have to say...I am just throwing random thoughts out there. I actually do not mean that experimenting got us into trouble...just that it may not have gotten us out of trouble.

I too, am basically in induction in that I never am able to eat higher carb because 1) I will not lose and 2) I would eventually start to gain. I do not eat grains nor legumes because of the health benefits for me not to...and I go very, very easy on dairy.

Yes, the restrictions are damn hard and there are times when I jump overboard and I pay for it.

I hope that more jump in and we can have some down and dirty conversation here......

Agree one hundred percent!

Made it thru Monday morning! Major as I am fighting technology here at work this month.
My son and I scrubbed the entire exterior of my house Saturday (well, not the rood, but ALL the walls) and I am so stiff and sore it looks way better now but most people would not notice the difference. it has been 5-6 years since I had it painted and the soft buttery white siding was showing algae and just grime from the nearby street.
My scale has been interesting for follow. I hit a new low Sunday morning and jumped back up this AM. I am going to blame the nicoise salad I made and ate yesterday-heard a cooking show on the radio and got the craving. Talk about head hunger! no way did I need potatoes and green beans and all that. Even if I can't eat much, it is clear carbs can make me retain water if I go overboard. But it was pretty good for totally faking it! Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of the bowl of salad as I want to see that lower number again soon. If it was real, I am averaging about a 2 pound lose per week including the stalls that keep me wondering if this is going to work.
No matter, for now I am glad to be down a size and a half and have normal BP.

Back to typcial summer in the NW weather here this week. variable, but not enough rain that I won 't have to water my flower beds.

Whew - just back from the gym. Nice to read the conversation.

Basically I have toed the line on the Atkins guidelines but as I got closer to my goals I did more experimenting and tweaking. I always enjoyed JEY's posts as she was always reading new science and sharing links to things that I may or may not take into my lab. On the other hand, I see your point, Serea --- perhaps when a person isn't having results and tries tweaks that don't work or worse, has them lose ground, they may be tempted to throw up their hands and quit. I think we can all lose but we have to find the plan that best suits us and keep going even if our progress is small or nonexistant. It was that way for me week and week after week at times. That said, some tweaks have helped me & some were a waste (for me). I've modified the diet for myself over time as a result. It is such a balancing act!

I was reading something yesterday that basically said that in life "if you try, you are already ahead of most people!!" So I'll keep trying and hope all the lab rats will too.