Today is my first day

[girlygirl]

Hello, I'm new to this board and have been following the zone for quite a while. I've signed up to train for a marathon and decided I wanted to lean out and go Metabolic Diet. I was introduced to the high fat/high protein by a trainer at my friend's birthday party. It makes sense.

The hardest thing for me to give up is my wine. I love a glass at the end of the day and with dinner. I'm single and date so it's always nice to have wine with dinner. Skipping desert will be hard too. I'm currently 128 lbs. I was a steady 117 before the holidays. I ate may way through December and have cut out the sweets since January 2. The scale hasn't moved, although I feel better and my clothes aren't as tight. My goal is to be 110. That was my highschool weight. My brother lost 20 lbs last year on Adkins and has kept it off. He lives on bars and protein drinks though...I love my food!

Warmly,

Monica

[razzle]

Welcome, Monica! Because you have so little to lose, the scale is likely to move quite slowly. An average result is losing 10% of what we have to lose in the two weeks of induction (which, for you, would only be a couple pounds, and then the loss will likely slow down after that. Since you're feeling better, focus on that as your motivator to continue while the scale doesn't budge. The excess fat will come off, you're likely to build some more LBM without changing your exercise (which may shift your goal weight upwards a bit, but you'll know that for sure when you approach goal), and you'll feel great in the bargain.

I dont know how your bother stands those shakes & bars! ;) Give me a chicken breast and salad any ol' day.

The holidays are tough for a lot of us, so you certainly aren't alone in gaining ten pounds over that dangerous month!

Glad to see you here. good luck in your marathon training!

[wbahn]

Welcome aboard.

Two words of wisdom that you will hear over and over.

** Drink LOTS and LOTS of water.

** Day 2 sucks.

You might get lucky if you have been controlling your carbs in general previously - I couldn't quite tell from your post. If not, if you have been doing the high carb that many distance runners seem to do, then you are in for a miserable couple of days. If that turns out to be the case, just ride it out - it's short lived and the results are worth it.

When's the marathon?

[girlygirl]

Thanks for the advice. :)

I have been drinking lots of water already. I'm not a runner by any means. I'm raising money for Lukemia. I've just started training. Everything I read says high carb but, this trainer told me that if I've been doing the Zone, I need to step up the protein and fat to get the last 18 pounds. I don't have a thyroid and my endrocronologist is very high protein oriented.

Are there any runners out there? I'm training with a group for the marathon. The race is June 22. I've been swimming regularly since highschool so, I've got the endurance.

Warmly,

Monica

[wbahn]

Hey, girlygirl. You still with us?

I ran across some information that you might find useful. I was a bit concerned about how much water I'm drinking (generally around two gallons a day). I know it is hard to drink too much water but I also know it is possible and potentially fatal - this is usually what kills ecstasy users.

The good news is that, for normal people, you have to consume outrageous quantities - one site estimated 20 gallons a day. The body naturally turns on the kidneys and essentially lets the water flow through unhindered. But there are a couple of occasions where it is a much more common problem - and you fall into the number one catagory.

During strenuous exercise, the body releases hormones that are are an anti-diuretic. During marathons, runners that focus on staying hydrated can go overboard and become hyponatremic (too little sodium in the blood). The most affected tend to be women (because they seem to be more mindful of water intake), slower runners (because they are on the course for a longer time, are not exercising as vigorously and are not in as good a shape aerobically) and the amateur charity runner (because they are generally not as finely trained or educated on this issue or distinguishing between symptoms of dehydration, hyponatremia and heat exhaustion which are all pretty similar).

You might want to look into this further and know how to avoid it as you train. I would hate to see something happen to you.

[girlygirl]

Thanks for your post!

Well, I drink about 2 large bottles. My trainer told me that you should basically drink 1/2 your weight in ounces to stay hydrated and with excercise more. So at 128, I souuld have at least 64 oz. I'm drinking double that. He says that if your urine is yellow, you need more water.

I'm definitely in the catagory of charity runner, untrained. Although, I've been swimming regularly since highschool and am aerobically in shape.

I apreciate the information. By the way, I have a friend who is male 5'8" and 155 lbs. He lost 200 lbs over the course of 3 years on adkins and has kept it off for 8 years. He now eats about 100 grams of carbs a day, drinks wine with dinner a few nights a week and sticks with fish, vegetables, and lot's of olive oil. He looks great! Keep up the good work. He started walking and now is a brown belt in Karate. He does have some loose skin but, he says it's because he didn't drink a lot of water in the beginning. I saw a pic of him at 350lbs and didn't recognize him :)

Best of luck to you! Keep drinking the water. :)

Warmly,

Girly girl

[Trainerdan]

Hi girlygirl ...

There are a few runner's here ... they posted in the EXERCISE forum ... I also used to be a distance runner, but have since dropped that in favor of adding lots more muscle to my frame ...

I coached charity runners for 2 years, so if you have any questions about exercise/running, feel free to post them in the exercise forum (I usually hang out in there) :)

Good luck with your run.