Posts by dovelette

Original Post by merimeriqcontrary:

Questions about exercise....

Lemme think...

I've never been to a gym with proper machines, so where do I start?

Treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike etc...

I need to draw a beginner's lifting program, but I have no access to weightlifting books for women... I could ask the trainer at my gym, but he doesn't seem too keen on building workouts for women other than involving barbie weights.

I think a lot of us have done or are doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women.  While it might not SEEM like a beginners program, anyone can do it, regardless of whether you have lifted or not.  The book, with all the reasons you could ever want to explain why you do what you do, is $11, or I bet your library has it.  I cannot recommend this enough - you get the most out of your workouts in the least amount of time! 

WOW I can't believe I've been here 6 months!  That's crazy. 

I discovered something else, why I haven't been as active - I don't get the email that says "This list is closed, here's the link to the new one."  I have it set where I'm supposed to get email notification when someone posts but it doesn't come through so I don't think to go to the next week lol.  I have to be better about that.

Goals - well I already talked about how I'd blown my goal before, but I'm feeling good, I'm back at the gym 2x a week and started Capoeira 2x a week with my friend/instructor.  I felt last week like I got hit by a truck, so that was...uh...good?  Read for more tomorrow, that's for sure!

Well I think I am officially at 0% with my goal this time around.  I should have known when setting it that it wouldn't be acheivable because of how much we have had going on recently, and it doesn't look like it will really be slowing down.  Not that being busy should be an excuse to not go to the gym, but I have been immobolized for the past two weeks due to an allergic reaction which has made it impossible.

Of course, none of THAT is an excuse for my horrible eating that has continued lol.  I'm having a very hard time getting back on the wagon, where in the past it's been much easier.  I'm not seeing any upward movement on the scale, which tells me that, while I'm eating a lot of crap at least I'm eating small amounts of it.  But I FEEL bad, I FEEL lethargic and icky and I miss how I was feeling before. 

Today is another day and another chance to get back on the wagon though, right?

Julie,

I mix mine with 7 ice cubes, about 4oz of water, a splash of cream (you could use milk but I low carb so I do cream) and about a scoop and a half of powder, to make it a full 30g of protein per serving, then I blend it in my Magic Bullet until it's smooth.  Sometimes I add a T of natural PB if I'm doing a meal replacement to bring the calories to around 300.  OMG it's to die for!  If I do 2 a day, that's about 600 calories, and then maybe a yogurt and a piece of cheese (another 250 calories total about) and then I don't really count dinner, it usually comes to about 500 calories though, sometimes more, seldom less.  I find I don't miss "real food" at all and I just feel so much better.  Especially when working out hard!

I knwo, I have a weird food plan, but it's for a zillion reasons - since I had surgery, plus I live in Africa so it's hot here and shakes are convenient, plus we have no veggies right now and I'm sick of just eating chicken and pork, plus I'm feeling lazy with the heat to cook, plus I feel FULL eating like this...weirdo, I know.

Oh boy I hear ya about the meal plan!!  I have an excel spreadsheet that has a column for day, date, meal, what we're having and cost, then the rows have "Lunch" and "Dinner" under each day/date, and what we're having, and a third row for "shopping list."  It's a LIFESAVER.  Obviously because my diet is more "restricted" (doesn't feel that way, since I just had some bacon for lunch LOL) AND I live in Africa, so have to plan very carefully.  In addition, being a PCV money is tight. 

Anyway, it's actually one of my FAVORITE things to do!  I love coming up with new, creative delicious dinners (lunches are pretty repetitive - egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, green salad with ham or chicken, tuna patties, protein shake and cheese, leftover quiche).  I tried two new dishes this week - a low carb shepards pie and a low carb chicken divan, BOTH were AMAZING!  Then we get to eat the leftovers later in the week. 

What sort of meal plan are you looking to put together?  I'd be happy to give you a hand - even though I'm a low carber, my calories are still around 1500 (I bounce around a lot, from 1200 to 1800, depending on my hunger) and I have tons of recipes from my low fat/low cal days!

Oh and I'm now definitely into Virgin Fat Territory!  I've been under 155 for the past few days even with fluxuations - I haven't been under 155 since I was 11 or 12!  So my total lost since January is 34lbs, all of the regain weight I had and then some..and my total weight lost since my highest of 296 is 142lbs.  Only 6lbs til I'm literally half my former self!

Boy, this one is hard for me too!  And actually, I don't know that I really know what it is deep down inside me that keeps me going (and going and going, despite stalls), but something does.  Maybe right now on the surface it's not wanting to be the "fat white girl" in Cape Verde.  So many women here are just so tiny, some in a bad way but  most in a really attractive way lol.  And of the volunteers in general, I was definitely in the Top 10% weight wise when we arrived, and the fattest in our area.  Now, well I probably still am but only because the other Vs are really thin, and I def. don't FEEL like the fat white girl any more.

A little deeper is to be strong and healthy.  I am motivated because I want to be able to DO more, I want to be a better rock climber, I want to do some tumbeling with my friends (my friend is a Capoeira instructor here, and it would be cool to do flips and stuff with him!).

Well, maybe the reality is a very deep and emotional thing for me...I've always had issues with abandonment and other emotional problems, so I almost think that my inner motivation is to avoid being abandoned, or for people to love me more.  Not sure if this is really the forum to dig into my psychological stuff LOL but my mom was pretty critical of my weight growing up (her nickname for me was Roley, the fat little puppy from 101 Dalmations, and she used to say other not so nice things too), and I didn't really have boyfriends in high school and didn't feel very attractive in college etc.  Granted, these fears aren't REAL, since my hubby is amazing and loves me and there is no way he'd ever leave me even if I weighed 300lbs again, but still...I think in some ways I am emotionally needy and I have tied in the idea that being thinner will make people love me more.

Huh.  Thanks for making us think about this.

Anyway, as an update, I'm sucking at my goal.  I have been traveling so much and then getting sick or hubby gets sick that we just haven't been able to keep up with NROLFW.  We're not sure if it's better to take some time off and start up again when we have to time to actually DO it, or try to work around our crazy schedules right now, like grab 2 workouts this week, none the next (I'll be away), 3 workouts the following week, none the next etc.  Thoughts?

But on the FLIP side...my weight is down to 157.4.  I haven't seen that number in 4 years, since I was 15 months out from my surgery.  I'm literally 2.5lbs from "virgin fat territory" ie a weight I have never seen in my adult life lol.  Actually a weight I haven't seen since I was probably 11 years old.  My original goal was 148, one half of my former self, but looking at myself I'm wondering if I couldn't go lower.  We'll see how I'm looking and feeling, but I'm pretty psyched to be back into size 10s!!

Oooh boy, really?  Already 3 weeks have passed? 

Well I was on track the first and third week...but not the second.  That's when my puppy died and then we went to the next island over...I refused to leave his side on Monday, and Wednesday I really wasn't even getting out of bed, then hubby kidnapped me to go to Mindelo. 

Last week I did great with both working out and eating, and I'm happy to say that not only did I lose any weight that I gained on my week long wagon tumble, BUT I'm down to 162.2, my lowest weight since starting in January.  I've really learned a lot about myself in these past few months, especially about huger. 

What do I need to do to achieve my goal?  Flex my biceps ;)  No kidding (sort of, my arms look HAWT).  I need to keep focused on the "prize."  I need to remind myself of my longer term goals and why THIS goal is necessary to meet them.

What am I doing right?  Setting my alarm for 5am every morning.  Making this "normal" in my life.  Working with hubby for motivation and encouragement (BTW I will admit that a big motivator is seeing HIM build muscle.  He already has really low body fat and is thin, but OMG watching his arms get bigger and his lean stomach forming a 6 pack?  WOW)

What do I need to correct?  Well...when Gus died, I fell into an emotional rut.  I give myself permission to do this, I don't feel guilty and I'm not going to dwell on it.  BUT...I need to make that U-Turn faster.  The NEXT meal after I'm off track, I need to make "on plan."  I need to not use grief as an excuse for an 8 day off plan "binge." I need to get back on that wagon faster...I've been down that road where one meal turns into 1 day turns into 1 week turns into 1 month turns into 1 year.  No.  One meal stays one meal, and that's ok.  But that's where it ends.  Also...eating does not make the sadness go away.  Emotional eating will not help me in the long run, in fact it will only hurt me.

ETA: WOW sorry that I didn't mention this, but THANK YOU Sara for your July 6th congrats on my 2 months with the group!  Thank you all for your support and motivation - i really look forward every week to hearing how everyone is doing and getting ideas on how to improve my life!

Not doing so good today...not bad on goals, met them last week but our puppy is sick and there is no xray machine on our island (or apparently anywhere in Cape Verde) to confirm whether or not he has a bowel obstruction.  Even if he does, no vet up here will do surgery, so we're waiting for a call back from the vet in Praia on the main island...I can get a flight there tomorrow, but only if I get on the boat off my island tonight, but I don't want to transport Gus Gus if they vet can't do the surgery, so we have to wait another 20 min to find out what we should do. 

Feeling a lot like binging but am keeping it "on plan" as best as I can.  Not dealing well with this "helpless" thing at all.

Okay so I'm going to go with the exercise goal because, as much as I always feel I have it "in the bag," I don't.  Hopefully I'll get this right...

For the next 12 weeks I will complete the NROLFW 3x per week at least 8 out of 12 weeks and 2x per week the remaining 4 weeks, and will complete at least 2 hours of Callanatiecs weekly.

Meri - Yep, and right now we are in full swing of festival season in Cape Verde.  Okay so fesitval season is really all year, but the big "saint day" festas are going on right now.  3 weeks ago was the festa in Cocouli, 2 weeks ago was my friends going away party, last weekend was the festa in Paul, and this whole week basically in through next weekend is the festa in my town.  Basically every night there has been music and dancing from about 8pm til 2am, and on the weekend there has been stuff going on all day and all night (last night we got home at 5am, tonight we're going out at 11 and will be out til probably 4 again).  After a full night of partying on Monday, Tuesday we'll drive 20km away and then WALK back again as a huge procession carrying the San Joao statue...stopping along the way at every single town to eat and drink.  It's a 5 hour celebration, and then you get to town and start to party again and party in to the next day.  Then Wednesday the saint RETURNS to the neighboring town, so that night we all go up for ANOTHER party there.

The thing is...there is just no way I would miss any of it.  THIS is Cape Verde, this is a huge part of the culture and weight or not, I will regret not participating in this for the rest of my life.  I have, however, made some rules about the drinking...only 2 glasses of wine except on Tuesday, the big day, where the rules go out the window (not rules about food, I'm great about those, just about drinking.

PHEW!

Also Meri and Cawilder - I was diagosed with bipolar at one point and put on so many meds...then a doctor said Dove, you're not bipolar, you have a personality disorder, which sounds icky but is so much more easily controlled.  Iv'e been on Lamictal, an anti seizure med, for about 6 or 7 years now, and am so glad it's under control.  But I can relate to both the stress and frustration of figuring out waht's wrong, and willing to trade a bit of sanity for a few extra pounds lol

Wenchie - Welcome back!  WOW that is quite the list of challenges to your diet.  So I had a couple of thoughts.  As far as protein, it's not too hard to get in 90g if you eat lean meats.  Chicken, turkey, tuna, lean beef, lean cuts of pork.  If you are having trouble with  those, protein shakes are a great way to up your intake.  Whey protein is cheapest and I think best tasting and fastest acting, but Casein has it's place as well and sticks with you longer and is absorbed more because it moves more slowly.  Maybe you could give us a list of foods you can eat and ones you can't and we can find ways to make your diet more interesting?  I'm not sure what foods have potassium and what foods don't.  Do you have macro nutrient goals besides protein?  Like what is your limit of fat?  Do you have a limit on carbs?  Which carbs are OK and which are no-nos?

CaWilder - I also feel you on logging.  I completely do better when I log, even though I'm really only counting carbs.  It helps me keep track of things I might need to tweak in the future and helps me figure out what carbs might be "hidden" in my foods.

Oh I'm so excited!!! My first goal with the group!  I know this sounds silly but this is one of the greatest parts for me of this group.  I belong to other groups on other sites and the thing that I get grumpy about is the lack of accountability with goals.  It doesn't matter if you make your goal, but to say "I'm going to exercise 3x a week for 45 min each time" and then find it's not working, and so two weeks later say "Ok ok nevermind I'm changing it..."  It frustrates me personally because I really prefer the group mentality of holding one another and holding yourself accountable.  I don't know if I'm making sense.

So maybe you guys could help me with some goal setting?  I really only want to pick one, and I think for me I'm ALREADY doing these things:

1. NROLFW 2 to 3x a week

2.  Callanetics at least 2x a week

3.  At least 2 to 3 ltrs of liquids a day (even though I already expressed my opnion on that lol)

4.  Staying below my carb goals

Now, my biggest concern is that I seem to be afraid to introduce new carbs to my diet.  That's the reason Atkins and other LC plans "fail" for most people - they don't add new foods back in and they stay at "Induction" levels.  I think my new goal needs to be to stay under 30 NET carbs a day but to continue to expermient with new, whole foods to see if any of them cause stalls in my weight loss, cravings or bloating.  This should then give me a pretty solid "scientific" basis as I start to increase the actual carb count, knowing which foods work for me and which don't, and then worry (maybe in the next 12 weeks) about the numbers game.

So how might I say that?

Goal: To stay under 30 NET carbs per day while each week continuing to experiment with new foods, in the following order: more vegetables, yogurt/fresh dairy, nuts, berries, alcohol, beans, starchy veggies, fruits and last, grains.

Is there a way in that goal to incorporate me cutting back on drinking?  I swear that's my real downfall *sigh*

Atkins is GREAT Way of Eating (not a diet) and unfortunately by most of these posts, people are propogating myths and untruths.

FACT: Induction, the most restrictive phase of the diet, where you eat under 20 NET carbs a day (as in minus fiber) only lasts 2 weeks and calls for at least 12 to 15 of those net carbs to be veggies, including 2 cups of salad veggies (like peppers, cucumbers, lettuce etc) and another cup of other veggies, just non-starchy.  Veggies have lots of fiber in them, so you are actually eating far more than what "appears" to be a very few number of carbs.

FACT: Most people don't get constipated when they are on Atkins because of the fiber in the veggies and also a higher fat level.

FACT: After two weeks on Induction, you are supposed to increase your carb count to 25 net carbs, those 5 new carbs coming from an extra serving of veggies.  This, BTW typically brings most folks into the realm of eating MORE veggies than prior to Atkins.

FACT: In general, people can eat more calories on Atkins than other diets and still lose weight...however most people find their appetites greatly diminished.

FACT: By your 4th week, you are adding in nuts to your diet or fresh dairy...then you add in berries, beans, and so on from there.  A person who exercises regularly can frequently enjoy whole grains.

FACT: Atkins states clearly that as you up your carb intake, you need to lower your fat intake.  The combination of High fat and High carb, he argues, is what makes you fat.

FACT: The Atkins died promotes whole, healthy foods (as in not the Lean Cuisine I see everyone eating on many of these forums).  Post-Atkins death, the "Atkins Nutritional" company has taken to promoting Atkins Nutritional products, but this is not part of the original basis of the diet.

FACT: There is significant research that states that saturated fat really isn't so bad for us, that its the trans fat that is.  There are lots of studies on line and are quoted in his book.

FACT: Calorie counting does NOT work for everyone.  Low calorie diets, or even moderate calorie diets, and lower fat diets don't work for about 30 to 40% of the population because we're all different and our blood sugar and insulin levels react differently.

FACT: LOTS of people do Atkins and fall of the band wagon and gain all the weight back.  Why?  Because they have not made it a way of life, they view it as a "diet" and then go back to how they used to eat.  Guess what other diets "fail" in this way?  ALL OF THEM!

Atkins may not be for you.  That's fine!  Always find what is!  But don't spout out untruths that you read in a newspaper without getting the facts.  And NEVER start a diet until you "read the f****** manual."

Atkins has been great to me - this morning, I had a veggie omlette cooked in a bit of olive oil, with green peppers, onions and tomatoes as well as about 1oz of full fat cheese.  Lunch I enjoyed a chicken salad with a bit o cheese, lots of salad veggies and some leftover chicken.  As a snack I had a handful of nuts, though I also like to have strawberries and whipped cream when I can get them!  And for dinner I'll be having pork kabobs with onions and peppers and probably a side of sauteed zucchini.  Sauteed in either olive oil or butter!!  YUM!

I hate cardio.  I try to do it as infrequently as possible and would probably rather do anything else in this world besides cardio.  I'm so happy in Stage 1 of NROLFW  because it's not written in; I'm dreading Stage 2 when we add intervals in.  Blech.

I don't know why to be honest.  I like lifting a lot, I feel strong and powerful, but every time I start a new cardio routine or whatever it just doesn't stick and I end up hating it again.  Even if it's just a 20 minute workout - hate it.  The only thing I've ever liked cardio wise is kickboxing, and I also like dancing in general but those stupid workout videos that incorporate dance aren't really dancing ya know?  I mean I really like to salsa dance, as in at a club etc, NOT in my living room where I "March it out" in the middle. 

Of course the problem with this is that my hubby has two left feet when it comes to any sort of partner dancing.  At a club, to electronic music, we'll bounce around for hours til I'm pouring sweat and I love it, but there's no hope for his two left feet or inability to count lol.

Original Post by sarahbluebelle:

A low carb day is keeping your carbs between 100 and 120g in a day.  I don't want to discourage you, because obviously your doc knows best, and it is a good way to jumpstart weightloss, but when I was eating low carb, it was the most miserable experience of my life, and I'm currently giving up caffeine for the third time (and the last?).  Anyway, just be prepared to feel like a zombie for a week or so. 

I used to eat low fat cheese and lunch meat for a snack--I HATE meat though, so unless you're a fan, you'll probably get burnt out on that fairly fast.  Certain veggies are low carb, like broccoli and cauliflower (and plenty of others, those are just the first to pop into my head).

Good luck!

Hm, I'm not sure where that 100 to 120g a day figure came from...if the typical American diet is 2000 calories (for reference sake) then 50% carbs would be 250g.  Generally if you are under 40% carbs, you are on a moderate carb diet, so that would be around 200g. 

Low carb diets can range from a "biologically zero" diet to a moderate "Zone" type diet.  Atkins, probably the most well known low carb diet, starts for two weeks at less than 20g of net carbs per day, though after 2 weeks you begin to both up your carbs through the addition of veggies, fresh cheese, berries, nuts...and then if you tolerate it, other fruits, startchy veggies and whole grains. People on Atkins may, once they are on Maintenance, eat anywhere from 40 to 120g of NET carbs a day (total carbs minus fiber and some would say glycerine and sugar alcohols as well); generally the more you exercise, the more carbs you can eat.

I don't believe "calories in/calorie out" holds true for everyone.  I started calorie counting in January and switched to Atkins the beginning of April.  I lost approximately 8lbs from January to April, and have now lost 16lbs from April to today.  Twice as much lost in less time.  I still log my calories diligently on here and my calorie count has not changed significantly at all.  However, I did find I lost better on a "calorie counting" diet when I ate around 1400 calories; I can easily eat between 1200 and 2000 on any given day with Atkins and still lose.

I do not find the diet nearly as restricting as I did with Calorie counting, mainly because I have PCOS and the carbs I was eating made me SO hungry.  Knowing I could only eat XX calories, I just felt really really hungry all the time.  I haven't felt hungry on Atkins once. My first week was not miserable, I had no headache although on day 9 I had a crazy craving for a granola bar.  It passed.

This is NOT true for everyone, by any stretch.  I really, really enjoy eating eggs, meats, lots of veggies, cheese, olive oil, butter, flax meal crackers and rolls, small amounts of cream and cream cheese, and I completely maximize my carbs each day buy eating fiberous foods, just as Dr. Atkins says to do in his 2002 book.

There are plenty of studies to say "this is the right way" or "that is the right way" but I think we are all different and we all need to find our right way.  Atkins isn't a diet by any stretch - it is a complete lifestyle change and one you have to commit to.  Just like calorie counting, if you start to eat high carb and high fat, you're going to get fat.  The combo of the two is the bad part. 

No matter what way of eating you subscribe to - low cal, low fat, low carb, whatever - do the research, be sure you are following the plan that you have decided on and not just "winging it" and enjoy it, because it's the rest of your life!

I wasn't around to participate in the last goal round...but keep up the good work folks who are still rocking!  One of the great things I've loved about this group is the way goals work.  Other places I'm a member of, people come in halfway through a challenge and say Okay never mind I'm changing my goal.  It's OK if we don't meet a goal, IMO, but being able to state it, to follow up on it, to examine it instead of to just change it...it seems to make so much more sense than me.

Anyway keep it up, 3 weeks to go and then I can join you all next time!