organizing my posts under this topic

Hi,
I notice that the journal posts are mostly organized under a main post instead of starting a "new topic" every time, so I should probably be doing that. (I'm sometimes "slow on the uptake" to catch on to things. People in my life have fun with me because of this, too, when, for example, I don't get the joke until several minutes later than everyone else. Oh, well, better late than never. ha, ha. And it brings light and laughter to the situation and it's okay. I love to laugh at my "Gracie Allen" self now.)
So this is where my posts will be for the most part now.

You are so cute..

Weighed in at 140 this morning. I think the 143 yesterday was partly water retention, but my birthday party extra bites apparently put me back a pound. So no more of that! Although...., this morning I was feeling low blood sugar dizziness so ate a tbsp raisins and bite of cheese at 7:30. Will be good today and stick to the 2x5 bites the rest of the day! Promise. Got my to-do list and ready for recording small successes as I cross things off the list.

Wishing you all many successes today.

Great job! : )))))

Today is a test day to test me on how serious I am about seeing this through to 120 lbs. My resolve is not shaken one bit, but my body is on a protest strike it seems. I think it's trying to tell me something about my sleep habits.

I got up tired and feeling weak at 7 am. Sat up awhile in contemplation and got even sleepier. Ate 2 teaspoons raisins and a bite of cheese. Made a cup of herbal tea with 2 tea bags and drank that. Went online to check and read email for about an hour and saved some inspiring articles. By 10 o'clock I was still so tired and tempted to eat my regular 5 bites that I went back to bed and slept soundly until noon. One of the articles/product advertisements was about the reason we wake up tired may be from lack of sufficient REM depth sleep.

Made me think about how that might apply to me because I don't go to bed before midnight and I've often read that the best hours of rest in sleep are the hours before midnight. I must change the midnight habit to no later than 10 pm and see if that will make a difference in my fatigue. It may take some adjustment in falling asleep at that time but I can do some yoga relaxation exercises before bed and I have some bedtime music I can play to help get to sleep too.

This is definitely a deeper-lying issue for me, I'm sure, having to do with the "not good enough" message I've bought into since my teenage years telling me I need to stay up late so I won't miss anything I need to know, or in the case of my teenage years, miss the fun of having the house to myself while everyone's gone to bed, to listen to Wheeling, West Virginia country music on the radio to my heart's content into the wee hours. I guess I wasn't having much fun in my life during the daylight hours! ha, ha. No wonder I was looking for a place to nap on my lunch hour at work the next day. (I quit school and went to work at age 16)

It's insights like this that being on this diet that I find so enormously life-changing and fun! So now it's 12:30 and I've had my 5 bites and a cup of coffee sweetened with a little agave nectar. I'm feeling energized and rested and ready to tackle my to-do list for today.

Yesterday, I got the inclination to look up my personality kin, Gracie Allen, today and found some of her funniest words of wisdom. I hope it'll bring a smile to your day.

Here's one that makes perfect sense to me, too:

"(when asked how to speak French) You speak it the same way you speak English, you just use different words." (Gracie)

And how about this:

"A young boy shouldn't be given up for hopeless just because he's lazy, surly, and good for nothing. Don't be discouraged by those things - maybe he's just trying to be like his daddy." (Gracie)

Hugs.

Lucille

Dinner at 5:30 - 4 bites of my daughter's healthy pasta and spinach salad, mixed with tuna and Bragg's vinaigrette, 1/4 piece of sprouted grain toast with coconut oil spread, cup of organic English Breakfast tea. Delicious!

The building manager complimented me on my hair and on how I look 20 years younger today! That was very nice! I have shed a little unsightly fat flab from my face and my clothes are fitting more loosely with a smaller waist - about 2 inches smaller. I can feel the difference in how my coat fits with the elastic waist cinched in. Loving it!

Thank you for your kudos, Debbie! I was just about to post the following when I got a notice that I had a new reply. So nice to have you in my cheering section!

At 7 am this morning I got up feeling unpleasant low blood sugar symptoms again - weak, dizzy, tunnel vision, just not good, so ate a tbsp raisins and piece of cheese and went back to lie down for a while. Weight is holding at 140. I'm wondering if it's time to find a doctor to guide me through the rest of the 20 lbs I want to shed.

I did an online search for a local holistic doctor and found "a board-certified Diplomate in both Family Medicine and Holistic Medicine" who says "I view my patients as whole human beings with physical, mental, spiritual, and community health. I feel true health is not just the absence of disease but a state of unbounded vitality and energy, and my goal is to help every patient achieve true health. I believe that Integrative Medicine is the best way to do this."

Sure sounds wonderful! I will make an appointment with him to get a thorough health evaluation so I can continue with this diet safely. I think it's important to have this personal, in-person professional support and guidance at this point. It'll be interesting to see what he has to say about this diet, too!

I'm going to continue with small portions three times a day until I see this doctor. Don't want to stretch my stomach and undo all the good I've accomplished so far. Will keep posting on developments.

If you want a good laugh today, here's a link to a very funny true story:

http://video.staged.com/scott200/lone_ranger_story_jay_thomas_on_dave_letterman

Enjoy the gift of life today!

I hope you feel better fast.. you poor thing... Hugs

Debbie, I'm So sorry to see how much suffering you're having to cope with. I've been reading your recent posts and feeling almost ashamed for the little bit of a health issue I have compared to yours. My goodness, girl! It must be so debilitating to be having massive headaches and excruciating gout pain along with that. I'm the one who should be saying, "you poor thing!"

I want you to know you have my heartfelt admiration for being so cheerful and supportive of others in spite of what you're going through. Maybe this diet isn't the best program for you to be on when you're struggling with hunger all the time? Maybe if you first tried just eliminating wheat that would be easier to stick to.

It might be helpful to know that "wheat is the single largest contributor to the nationwide obesity epidemic—and its elimination is key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health." Dr. William Davis has written a book called "Wheat Belly" and he talks about the benefits of becoming wheat-free on an audio interview at this website: http://itsrainmakingtime.com/2011/williamdavis/

I just discovered this myself on an online search with the keywords "harmful effects of wheat." I already knew wheat was something we should avoid, but this is new knowledge about wheat that we all need to know., such as how it's genetically modified and stimulates appetite!

He makes suggestions for replacing grain flours with alternatives such as coconut flour. He also reminds us to return to real single ingredient food where you know what the ingredients are, knowing that there are no hidden wheat products in it. Wheat can be in any processed foods under another name. And how people with thyroid problems can't lose weight going wheat-free. And why gluten-free products aren't any better than wheat. Lots of important information in this interview! Goes about an hour. I think you'll be happy to learn why today's wheat is so irresistible and that eliminating it puts you back in control of your eating.

If you want to read the doctor's blog it is at www.wheatbellyblog.com.

Hugs,
Lucille

Friday, 9 am. Down to 138 this morning! And that even after a total intake of 40 bites yesterday. Apparently it's because I'm still in ketosis, burning fat for fuel, and the intake of food was still less than my body needed. So that's good. Here's what I ate yesterday:

7 am: 1 tbsp raisins and piece of cheese
11:30: 5 bites of the pasta salad with spinach and white beans and tuna, flavored with Bragg's vinaigrette, 2 bites Brie, and 2 bites of the mango tart. 1/4 cup Kefir with supplements and coffee with 1 tsp Agave
4 pm: 6 bites of same pasta salad and a cup of tea. and 3 bites almond snickers bar. 1/4 c Kefir with supplements.
9 pm: 4 bites pasta salad with added vinaigrette, 4 bites tuna with vinaigrette, 2 bites spam, 3 bites snickers almond. water.

I tried to notice if my appestat was working to tell me I'd eaten enough. I'm not sure I know if it is since it hasn't been working most of my life. But I did feel satisfied and not craving more, especially with the snickers bites to top off the meal. Well, I don't want to make a habit of that either but if I limit it to a few bites maybe it's okay.

After reading last night about the GMO wheat we get today in everything and how it's addicting and stimulates appetite, I'm not going to eat any more of the pasta even though it's whole wheat pasta. I'm going to cut out wheat products entirely and continue with small portions and monitor the ketones for fat-burning mode. I may not shed lbs as fast but will still be losing steadily I think. I've tried eliminating wheat many times before and just missed it too much, but with this new knowledge about how it's not normal wheat anymore but a GMO product that causes obesity when consumed, I can stay motivated to cut it out for good. I've ordered the Wheat Belly cookbook for help with meal planning.

This morning had breakfast at 9 of 1 egg, 1 sausage, 1 slice cheese, 1 stalk celery, Kefir with supplements and coffee with Agave. Feeling like it's enough.

Wishing you all a success-filled day!


"A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths." -Steven Wright

This morning weight was 143, 5 lbs more than yesterday morning. Geez! Where did those 5 lbs come from anyway?? Might be fluid retention from too much sodium in the food. Could also be inflammation stress from my back aching today. Sitting at the computer too long!

For the record, here's the log of food I ate yesterday:

breakfast at 9 of 1 egg, 1 small sausage patty, 1 bite asiago cheese, 1 stalk celery, Kefir with supplements and coffee with Agave.

1 pm. 3/4 cup chunky vegetable soup, 3/4 stalk celery with peanut butter. 1/ 2 cup of kefir.

3:30 - 1/4 fresh orange, 1/2 avocado, 8 olives

dinner at 6:30: 1 cup chicken stew, 1/2 biscuit (not wheat) buttered, 3 bites of brie cheese, coffee with agave.

I'll try going back to the 5 bites x 2 and choose more fresh fruit and vegetables for a while - eat more live instead of cooked food. and more water. See how that works.

I need to go for a walk in the sunshine. It's a beautiful day out there today!

Happy weekend, Everyone!

Sunday, Feb. 3, 6:30 pm. It's been a rough weekend. I am locked in at 143 lbs. with the added 5 lbs in my bloated belly! I've been off the 5 bites since Friday. It started going downhill Thursday actually. I will not make excuses but just say I was feeling so hungry and it all tasted exceptionally good. Feeling stressed from my back aching all weekend. Today, though, I'm getting back to normal and back to the 5 bites x3..on the way back to 5bites x 2. Bought some fresh blueberries, Creme Fraiche, avocado and tomatoes, hummus and lettuce and carrots for healthier live food choices. Looking forward to meeting the new doctor I wrote about in a previous post.

Here's an eye-opening article to share from "the world's #1 natural health website" today. The author explains:
1. Why calorie counting doesn’t work (hint: It is FAR more important to look at the source of the calories than counting them)

2. Why no-cal or low-cal beverages CONTRIBUTE to the obesity problem; and

3. Why it’s fructose-containing sugars that cause obesity – not by calories, but by turning on your “fat switch,” a powerful biological adaptation that causes cells to accumulate fat in anticipation of scarcity (or hibernation). Here's the link to the article:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/01/30/coke-misinformation-campaign.aspx

Always something new to learn on this journey to victory over fat! Enjoy!

Lucille

Gosh sorry to hear about your back.. hope that feels better soon. Thank you for the article.. I will go and read.. I think you are doing great.. Im sure those 5lbs will melt off any day now.. cheers!

Debbie

Hi Lucille,

Thanks again for stopping by my thread. Looks like we are a similar weight and have similar goals. In my dreams I would love to be 110 but we will see... So far I haven't got below about 130! I will be keeping an eye on your progress to spur me on :-)

Have a great day! xxx

Challenger

Good morning, Challenger!

Thanks for your reply. It's so great to meet you and have you join us. I'm happy to hear my post was helpful. I'm looking forward to sharing experiences and mutual support with you. I love having this forum and new friends to share a common goal with. It's what I've been missing to keep me accountable and on track in spite of setbacks. So thank you for sharing this with me!

Have a happy day! I'm off to the chiropractor and then some shopping to do. Had breakfast at 8:30 of 5 bites avocado, 5 grape tomatoes and coffee with agave nectar Feeling good.

Lucille

Hi Lucille,

I feel exactly the same way - accountability is so important isn't it? I really think that if we all support each other we can - no WILL - reach our goals! I am going to join Debbie's challenge, hope to see you there! :-)

Interesting video...I viewed a few others...one was over an hour long w/ Dr. Johnson. He said a lot of things that ring true for me so I ordered the book, "The Fat Switch." Thanks for the link! Good luck on your weight loss journey, you're doing so well!

Thank you to Everyone for your replies and comments. I love your photo, Debbie! So pretty!

I'm at 143 today and struggling to get back to the 5 bites x 2. I need to review my list of incentives and re-read the Why Weight Around to get back on track. I guess I just love to eat more than I need because it tastes so good. Guess I need to choose less tasty foods for my five bites! As Dr. Lewis says, just eat quickly and go on to something else, keeping in mind my goals with weighing only 120 lbs. I'd love to be able to buy new clothes for Spring in a size 10! I was wearing size 9 junior in my teens, but a size 10 for my mature years would be wonderful.

Well, I got a great chiropractic adjustment yesterday and learned that the sore aching muscles in my back could be a result of my muscle system adjusting to the quick weight loss. Interesting.

Last night I listened to an interview of Robert Cohen, author about all the poisonous aspects of milk and dairy products.
(see website for the interview: http://itsrainmakingtime.com/2010/robertcohen/ and his website for A to Z listings of harmful effects of milk consumption: http://www.notmilk.com/ )

So that's next for me to eliminate in addition to wheat and sugar and fructose/high fructose corn syrup.
Breakfast was at 8 am today: 3 bites banana and 2 bites walnuts, coffee with a tsp agave nectar. So far so good!

Have a lovely day everyone!

Hi Lucille

Just checking in with you, looks like you are still doing great! Yay! I am with Debbie, eat the foods you love. We get such little food on this plan, might as well enjoy it! Hope you're keeping well and hope the chiropractor visit has helped your back feel a bit better.

Hugs to you,
Challenger