I hit the 130s!

I hit a new low today! Woohoo! I stepped on the scale this morning and I was 139! I am finally in the 130s! Wow. I have never seen the 130s before! My previous low weight was 140.2. I'm sure it's just a fluke and I'll be up tomorrow, but I'll take it. A month ago I started at 144, so getting serious about cutting calories has certainly worked! Plus I haven't had a serious cheat since the Bay To Breakers race. Not cheating works!

Weight: 139
Calories eaten yesterday: 1647
Calories burned: 2088
Deficit: 441 calories
Carbs: 32g (yippee)
Fat: 72g (a bit low, even for the number of calories)
Calories burned in exercise: 272

Walked over 10,000 steps yesterday, counting my gym time.


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Gratuitous cat picture

Xena in front of my collection of Left Behind books.


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Day 31

Weight: 140.8
Calories eaten yesterday: 1730
Calories burned: 1929
Deficit: 199
Carbs: 45g (good)
Fat: 83g (yippee)
Calories burned in exercise: 83

Made it to the gym today. Did 30 minutes of weights and I am convinced I'm getting stronger, whatever the personal trainer says. I think my last body fat test was a fluke - one week after a major binge (for the Bay To Breaker race) I was still carrying extra water weight and bloated. I think the results would have been different had the test been done a week or two later.

Anyway, did 30 minutes of weights today - leg and arm. I did abs but forgot the lower back exercise. Then 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical with the arms, then 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill.

I'm happy with my 140.8 weight today. Of course I wish it were lower but that's still 3 pounds in 31 days which is not just good for me - it's excellent! I just have to keep the calories down and I can lose. Wish me luck getting these last three pounds off!

Turns out Oscar will be at church on Sabbath, so I'll be able to get a ride there. I still have to get up around 6:30 and leave the house a little before 8:30, though. And I'm not sure how late I'll be getting home so I'm planning on packing a lunch.

I finished reading The Mormon Murders today. Pretty good book. I'd say 4 out of 5 stars because the sheer number of characters left me confused a great deal. Still a good book though, and worth the read, especially if you enjoy true crime stories. :)

I'm thinking I'll give Protein Power a shot next, but I may just end up flipping through it and reading what catches my fancy. Depends on how good it is.

Of course, there's always the various health and fitness magazines I pick up.

I removed a link from my watch today. The watch was getting ridiculously loose. I have one of those link bracelets except that it has a watch along with all the links. I bought it in Alaska last year on the cruise. I tried to use one less link when I bought it, but had to add a link because it left a major imprint on my wrist because it was so tight. Now it just leaves a minor imprint, which is better than having it slip around, especially during my workouts. Only two links are blank. The rest are used up with cat-related stuff, some links from places I've visited, and a couple patriotic ones. And one that says "Princess" and has a little crown. :)

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Why sugar isn't so sweet after all...

From Jimmy's blog:

Despite all the evidence pointing to how unhealthy it is for people to consume, sugar is still given a virtual free pass by many of the so-called health experts in this country because they don't believe it is a contributing factor to obesity and health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and worse. It doesn't help matters that they cite studies showing sugar is good for mental health, healthy living in general, and other such idiotic nonsense. That's why the average American consumes a whopping 146 pounds of sugar every year! Ay-yi-yi!

Nevertheless, people who have researched the definite detrimental impact sugar is having on the body know that it is much worse for you to consume than fat ever will be and has certain addictive properties which lead to obesity and its related diseases.

The list was compiled by anti-sugar author and spokeswoman Dr. Nancy Appleton.

After narrowing down the choices, here are my top 10 from Dr. Appleton's list of the 146 reasons why sugar is ruining your health:

1. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
2. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
3. Sugar can produce an acidic digestive tract.
4. Sugar can cause premature aging.
5. Sugar contributes to obesity
6. Sugar can cause heart disease.
7. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
8. Sugar can cause depression.
9. Sugar feeds cancer.
10. Sugar is an addictive substance.

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Progress

Weight: 141.4
Calories eaten yesterday: 1766
Calories burned: 2092
Deficit: 326 calories
Carbs: 44g (good)
Fat: 85g (yippee - nice and high!)
Calories burned in exercise: 281

I can live with 141.4. That's only a pound above last week's new low, and still an overall loss of 2 1/2 pounds from 144 when I started this latest phase of my diet. Two and a half pounds in a month. Not bad at all. I can live with that. :)

My jeans are feeling looser again. I think I've lost the weight I gained on Saturday. My size 8 Old Navy "just below waist" jeans were downright comfortable to put on. They are definitely looser than a few months ago. Since yesterday I've felt generally better and back in control. Gotta love low-carb. :)

Monday weigh-ins screw me up because if I mess up and eat too much it's usually on Friday and/or Saturday. I have got to get out of the house on Friday and do something to keep me from eating!

Walked over 10,000 steps yesterday, counting my gym time.


Update: Almost forgot to say that I had to go grocery shopping today, so no gym time. I did the 1.5 mile walk to work from BART. FitDay says 83 calories. I notice the number of "calories burned" goes down as I lose weight. But it's great to lose!

My legs are still a bit sore from that leg workout two days ago, so today's walk was a little painful, but no big deal. My arms are also sore from yesterday's workout. Arm soreness is rare, but very good because it tells me I'm working them hard enough for results.

Tomorrow it's back to the gym for me and more arm work, probably combined with some leg work, too.

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Day 29

Calories eaten yesterday: 1719
Calories burned: 2106
Carbs: 42g (yippee!)
Fat: 88g (yippee!)
Deficit: 387 calories

I've decided to track my deficit/overage on calories. That should give me a better idea of what I'm eating vs. what I'm burning off (or not). The calories eaten/burned graph on FitDay doesn't give exact numbers. I just know I should be losing because the calories burned side of the graph is always a little higher, even counting those "off" days when I just plug in 3000 calories as an estimate. By the time it's averaged out, the 3000 calorie days end up not mattering. I just can't eat that way every day, lol!

My butt hurts today! After the leg workout I did yesterday, my butt is killing me. I still made it to the gym and did arms and core, followed by 30 minutes on the crossramp elliptical (hard when your butt hurts), and 20 walking on the treadmill.

I figured out why my arm/core workout on Sunday was so hard. It wasn't the extra water weight. It was the 12 minute, 1 mile run (5 mph) that I did first. That sort of thing tires me out and makes my weight workout harder. That's why I try to do weights first and cardio second - so I can give the weights my all.

My shoulders have been hurting and I am wondering about having the opposite problem than before - overworking my shoulders to the detriment of my pecs. So I decided to add back in my bench press on the Smith machine, while continuing with the compound row (because it's so fun!).

Walked over 10,000 steps yesterday, counting my gym time.




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Picture courtesy Exercise and Leisure.

Conference photos - my change through time

Here's Conference pictures over the last few years. I think it helps show my weight loss. :)


Conference 2003
Weight: about 200


Conference 2004
Weight: about 185


Conference 2005
Weight: about 150
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Day 28

Here I am starting over with my count as of yesterday. I got as far as 33 days before messing up. I doubt I'll make it that far this time since my cheat wasn't a true binge and I didn't get to eat massive amounts of horrible food.

Friday was on plan. I just ate way too many veggies and made myself sick. Yes, you can eat too many veggies! Maybe the reason I started bloating up that day was too many veggies. 70g of carbs didn't help either. That's way too high.

This was supposed to be my new weigh-in day, but due to gaining massive amounts over the weekend I'm canceling the week 4 weigh-in. Hopefully I can get some of this weight off by next week. I promise - I will post a weight next Monday, even though I know it will still be up. I see new lows very rarely, bounce up, and then don't see those numbers again for months at a time. :-p

Calories eaten yesterday: 1659
Calories burned: 2069
Carbs: 42g (good)
Fat: 85g (yippee - nice and high!)
Deficit: 410 calories

Walked over 10,000 steps yesterday, counting my gym time.


I forgot to include this yesterday, so here's my FitDay workout numbers for two days:
Sunday I burned 301 in my workout.
Today I burned 298 in my workout. Since I concentrated on arms yesterday, I concentrated on legs today, but did some arm stuff, too. Tomorrow will be another arm day. :)

My size 8 ladies skirt feels a bit looser, so I think some of the water weight is coming off. I certainly drank enough water yesterday! I'm afraid to go near my jeans. I'm so fat.

Anita and Oscar are out of town this Saturday, so that means getting up about 6 a.m. if I want to make it to church. It's going to be over a 2 hour ride there (bus/train/bus/bus), and I won't be getting home until the evening. This means taking more food than usual if I want to stay low-carb. I'm currently planning what I could take. I'm thinking a meal bar might be in order, along with my usual shake, and maybe some raw veggies. Veggies do nothing to fill me up, but they make me think I'm eating something at least. Also some peanuts where I know the number of calories to keep me out of the peanuts at church where I have no way of knowing how much I'm eating.

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Latest pic

The pics other people took will not be ready for quite a while. I'll definitely be putting some of them on Flickr when they do arrive. For now, here's a cropped picture of me. I was standing next to my sister when it was taken. I'm about 145 pounds.


June 24, 2006
Technorati tagged: atkins, diet, atkins diet, low carb, weight loss, obesity, obese, overweight, fat, picture, photo

Fourth weekend

Calories eaten Friday: 1813
Calories burned: 1812
Carbs: 70g (way too high)
Fat: 62g (way too low)

April went to dinner without me (and didn't even call me!) so I was able to count calories and carbs Friday.

After losing 2.2 pounds last week I started bouncing back up rapidly. I couldn't bring myself to weigh myself Saturday morning because I felt so bloated, and this morning...forget about it. I've gained 5 pounds easily and I didn't even cheat that bad. I'm not going near the scale for a while. Looks like my whoosh fairy left and went on vacation.

Breakfast Saturday I had two slices of low carb bread and I made two open-faced PB&J sandwiches - with natural, unsweetened peanut butter and sugar free jelly. Also a sugar free "toaster tart." One serving Dannon yogurt sweetened with Splenda. Finally, I had one slice of swiss cheese.

I did okay at church. I had peanuts for snack and a little bit of cheese crackers, but way less crackers than I wanted to eat. For lunch I had Jane's salad (no fruit in it this time) with Ranch dressing, and the baked eggplant and cheese I brought, with sour cream for topping.

At the BBQ yesterday I was mostly good with the food. I had several oysters, but since they have carbs I ate less than I wanted. I had some chips dipped in guacamole - not nearly as many as I wanted, and I went heavy on the guacamole (the guacamole is diet friendly). I had some arugula salad with hearts of palm on it, with vinegar and oil for dressing. I had two different kinds of sausages. I don't know if they had carbs or not. They may have. I had lots of beef - just beef and rock salt - totally diet friendly. I had one bite of orzo pasta since I don't recall having it before and wanted to see what it tasted like. I had some eggplant leftovers.

For drinks I stuck to wine, rum and diet Pepsi, and straight diet Pepsi. Everyone else had mojitos with regular Sprite. I had just a sip to taste it. For dessert I ate two bite-sized cream puffs with chocolate drizzle. I wanted a lot more, but stopped at two. I had a sugar free chocolate bar when I got home.

This morning I have a hangover - I drank easily twice what I know my limit is. I took two Ibufrofin and went on with my day as usual. After the gym I was both tired and hungover so I got a sugar free energy drink. I need the caffeine and with the hangover the B vitamins and herbs certainly can't hurt.

I knew I'd have some glycogen to burn off after yesterday, so I started my gym workout with a 5 mph run for 12 minutes (1 mile). It was easier than usual. Then I did my weights. The extra weight I'm carrying made some exercises harder. Then 18 minutes on the stairmaster for an even half hour of hard cardio, then back to the treadmill for my usual 20 minute walk at 3.5 mph.

I'm going to go ahead and start my cheat day count over even though I didn't totally fall off the wagon. So that makes today day 1.

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Proof Texts, #6

Claim: Galatians says we are not to observe "days," therefore we shouldn't keep the Sabbath.
Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. (Galatians 4:8-11)

The Galatians were in danger of going back to paganism. After all, how can they "desire again to be in bondage" if they were not in bondage in the first place? And surely they had not previously been in bondage to the Jewish law (see Bacchiocchi quote below).

The RSV has an interesting translation of verse 9, translating "beggarly elements" as "beggarly elemental spirits." "Elemental spirits" could indeed refer to Pagan practices of worshipping other gods.

Let me quote Samuele Bacchiocchi, since he is much more the scholar than I: "It is generally agreed that the Galatians' observance of sacred times was motivated by superstitious beliefs in astral influences. This is suggested by Paul's charge that their adoption of these practices was tantamount to a return to their former pagan subjection to elemental spirits and demons...Paul's concern was not to expose the superstitious ideas attached to these observances, but rather to challenge the whole system of salvation which the Galatians' false teachers had devised...by conditioning justification and acceptance with God to such things as circumcision and the observance of days and seasons..." (The Sabbath in the New Testament, page 122.)

He goes on to state that this is works-based salvation dependant on "human achievement." Galatians 5:4 seems to back up this interpretation: "You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."

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Another new low!

Weight this morning: 140.2!!! Another new low today! Yippee!
Calories eaten yesterday: 1788
Calories burned: 1918
Carbs: 44g (good)
Fat: 79g (really good considering the number of calories)

Today marks 32 days cheat free for me. Yay! I'm doing so well I don't want to screw it up with a cheat, but I am craving the taste of all those carby foods. Just the taste though. I absolutely hate what they do to my body and how they make me feel. Sugar is any form (even natural) forces the pancreas to produce insulin, the "fat storage" hormone. Why would I want a hormone that causes fat storage coursing through my body?

Not sure what will happen today. I'm going to keep my menu in my head and measure things out so that if I end up being able to count I can fill in FitDay later. I told April I didn't feel like traipsing out to Rob's house by bus, but that if cousin JJ wants to come up here to my house and pick me up after getting her at Rob's house, I will be home and willing to go out with them. Besides which, I way overslept this morning and didn't wake up until almost 12:30! Yike! I guess I was tired.

My once skin-tight Calvin Klein size 8 jeans shorts are now a little looser. I hardly have to suck my tummy in to button them, even when they are fresh from the drier. :) And they are almost loose by the time they're stretched out. Last summer I couldn't wear them all. Thank you, Dr. Atkins!

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Day 24

Weight this morning: 141 even
Calories eaten yesterday: 1951
Calories burned: 1917
Carbs: 46g (good)
Fat: 98g (yippee!)

Yeah, I ate more than I burned. I was really hungry and craving, so I threw in a sugar free chocolate bar. It was delicious.

Back up to 141 today. I can live with that. :) I'm so happy to have finally lost some weight. I've been stalled too long. For the first time in forever I truly like my body. It looks good and responds to what I ask of it easily.

Today is day 31 cheat free. I really want to binge, but I am doing so good and know what will happen if I do fall off the wagon even for a day. I'm worried about this weekend more than anything.

Plans for the weekend include dinner at a mystery restaurant on Friday night with April and some of her friends, then the church potluck Saturday and then a BBQ at Rob's until about 10 pm. April also wants to get together Sunday day. I am resisting because I really want to go to the gym after eating all weekend.

I did find time to walk to work today. FitDay says 89 calories burned. I need that today especially because today is my long day - I changed the bed this morning and have to do the laundry and cook next week's lunches tonight. To console myself for this flurry of activity I have a little more wine. ;) At any rate, calories are a bit higher today so I need to burn as much as I can.

It's been sooo hot the past three days. I've been drinking Diet Coke like it's going out of style. Today I bought a 20 oz. bottle at the store and drank that on the way home. Then after walking to work I stopped at the gas station and got one of those huge 44 oz. cups and filled that with Diet Coke. My little weather pixie on the left is wearing summer clothes I have rarely seen before. It's even warm at night and I sleep with the window by my bad open. When I left for work today I left both a living room window and the kitchen window open, in addition to the usual front window I leave half open all seasons for the cats.

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Money, Honey

I'm so not having fun with money. I have three huge bills that I have to cover. There no money in savings because I recently paid for my August vacation and caught up on some bills. And the last money Dad sent me went for my medication and some bills. I got some reimbursement for my medication back, and I am planning on rolling that money into this.

In order of importance:

1) I have to pay up my Internet for a year. I get $2 off per month when I do it this way, which amounts to just over one month free, but it means coming up with roughly $240 all at once.

2) I'm due for my yearly cholesterol test, and the doctor ordered a complete metabolic panel as well. He said Celexa could cause liver or kidney problems. I know I'm fine, but whatever. Yes, I do get "health assistance" from work, but I have to pay everything out of pocket and then wait for reimbursement of part. Also, I already have the paperwork in hand and it won't "keep" forever. I need to go in and get this done ASAP. I wonder how long before I get another check from Dad?

3) I got an e-mail from my vet reminding me that Xena is due for her rabies shot. I'm pretty sure she'll be due for a distemper shot and an annual exam come fall, so I'm putting this one off and hoping I'll have the money and just get everything done at once. She's healthy and a 100% indoor cat, so she's not exactly high risk. If she were to get sick, I'd take her in, money or no money.

She also needs a nail trim and she won't let me do it so this is another "vet" thing, but that is the least of my worries.

On the "how stupid is this" side of things, I recently bought a case of Sam Adams Light beer. "Light" is supposed to be lower in carbs. Then I read this past week in She Knows Diet & Fitness that Sam Adams Light has almost twice the carbs of Corona Light (9.6 vs. 5 if I remember right)! Yike! I guess I'll be giving Brad the Sam Adams when he drops over and I now have to come up with some money for Corona Light. I don't drink beer often, but I feel better knowing the option is there if I want it.

Technorati tagged: money, budget, bills, health

New low!

Weight this morning: 140.4!!! A new low! Yippee! My previous low was 141.

I think I will go ahead and revise my goal down. On the old Met Life chart, I'm supposed to weigh 128-143 (I'm in that range finally - yay!). On the new Met Life chart, I'm supposed to weigh 133-147. Other ideal body weights (bottom of this page) range between 134 and 138. The 1972 Atkins book says I should weigh 124-139. Interestingly enough, Atkins' 2002 book doesn't use a height/weight chart - it uses the BMI tables, which don't take frame size into account. Anyway, let's shoot for 138. (Based on Miller's formula; see bottom of this page.)

I thought my weight would be up today because of the salty meat I ate yesterday and how thirsty I was in the morning, but I guess with the heat the salt didn't hurt me. It's been SO hot lately.

Calories eaten yesterday: 1691
Calories burned: 2079
Carbs: 41g (good)
Fat: 75g (lower than I wanted, but not bad for the number of calories)

Today marks 30 days cheat free for me. Yay!

Didn't make it to the gym today because I had an appointment to see my podiatrist. Anyone seen those Lamisil commercials? That's what I have. But the doctor won't give me those pills, so we're doing this the slow way.

Walked over 10,000 steps yesterday, including the exercise I did at the gym.


Walked the last mile and a half to work today from the BART station. FitDay says 91 calories.

I've come to the conclusion that after losing 65 pounds, my hanging pouch of tummy is loose skin and not fat. Certainly not enough to warrant a tummy tuck, but there it is and it won't go away no matter how much I lose.

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Week 3 Weigh-In

Week 0: 144
Week 1: 147.2 (+3.2 lbs.)
Week 2: 143.2 (-4 lbs.)
Week 3: 141 (-2.2 lbs.)

Total loss: 3 lbs.

Three pounds in three weeks. I can live with that. :)

Did pretty well yesterday.
Calories eaten: 1606
Calories burned: 1949
Carbs: 34g (yippee!)
Fat: 77g (lower than I wanted, but not bad for the number of calories)

I updated my ticker. Doesn't it look good to lose weight? :)

Since yesterday was lower calorie, today will be higher. And I had to add a protein drink because it was a gym day. Yippee! I love going to the gym. :) I had no energy though. I don't know if I was just tired, or if it was the lower than usual number of carbs yesterday. I feel much better (and have more energy) at about 60g a day.

I think today's low number had to be some dehydration. Sure, it's a hot day out, but I was drinking tons and tons of water. This is the second time recently that I've seen 141, so that's good. I'll get where I'm going. It's just going to take time.

I'll be up next week due to 1) the potluck at church Saturday, 2) the BBQ at Rob's the rest of the day after that (and very likely mixed drinks that I need to turn down), and 3) possibly dinner at Eleanor's Friday night. I can eat low-carb - that's not an issue - but the calories will easily derail me. Plus with such a low low this week, I know I'll bounce up next week. That's okay. As long as I stay under my start weight of 144 I'm okay. I also want my nighttime weigh-ins to be under 147.

I know my goal is 142, but I'll confide a secret here - I'd really like to be at least 141 (not just hit it and bounce back like today) because that's an even 65 pounds lost and I get the cool chick graphic above. And 141 is so close to 140 for a nice even number. And 140 is so close to the 130s. So I really would like to lose a few more pounds. We'll see. I can't go hungry forever, but losing is, in so many ways, easier than maintenance. Maintenance really scares me because I tried it before and failed.

I may be switching my weigh-in day to Monday, in accordance with this group I joined. This group is targeted toward Atkins people who are in Maintenance or Pre-Maintenance and have lost at least 90% of the weight they needed to. I looked at some of the other challenge threads in that folder, but they mostly seemed to be race threads - who could lose 5 pounds the fastest, or who could lose the most by a certain date. Since I am doomed to failure in a race of this sort I didn't join any. I lose slow and I just need a group to keep me accountable and losing - even at a slow rate.

I'm sure by now everyone has noticed my "cheat free for x days" graphic. Who wants to take a bet on how many days I'll go until my next binge? Just add a comment with the number of days you think I'll hold out. :)


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Chick graphic courtesy 3 Fat Chicks.

What kind of junk food are you?

You are practical, straightforward and unpretentious. While you may not be the best communicator, people appreciate your simplicity and modesty!

Technorati tagged: junk food, food, nutrition, diary, life, quiz, quizzes

Day 21

Weight this morning: 142 even
Calories eaten yesterday: 1858
Calories burned: 2084
Carbs: 45g (good)
Fat: 90g (yippee!)

Didn't make it to the gym because it was my bimonthly City run to get my mail. The latest (and very possibly last) issue of She Knows Diet and Fitness was there, along with my replacement picture from SportPhoto. Would you believe they spelled my name wrong on the photo?!? Who the heck are these people?!?

I did manage to walk to work from the BART station, and then did some laps around the hallway here at work for a total of 40 minutes of walking and 118 calories burned. I should be able to get to the gym tomorrow.

Walked over 10,000 steps yesterday, and I finally figured out why my pedometer shots were coming out blurry - I had my digital camera set on "mountain mode" instead of "flower mode." Once I flicked that switch to the flower position, I started getting much clearer shots. :)


Tomorrow is the official weigh-in. Last week's weight was 143.2. This morning I was 142 (my official goal). I know I need to drink lots of water today to keep myself hydrated so my body won't hold on to extra water, but with TOM here, the taste of plain water makes me nauseous. Looks like I'll be drinking a lot of tea and diet soda. I have Diet Rite and diet Hansen's, both of which also have no caffeine or sodium.

I'll update my ticker tomorrow morning. Expect a post about my weigh-in stats and everything that afternoon.

I called Dad last night to wish him a happy Father's Day, and he said he talked to April and would pay for my plane ticket to visit for Thanksgiving. So it looks like I am going and I'll be doing a lot of cooking. I don't know what traditional dishes I might be forced to make/sit near, but I will get through this Thanksgiving without wrecking my blood sugar like last year!

Speaking of visiting my sister, she'll be in town this weekend and that means very few meals at home and little control over what I eat for two solid days. I offered to bring a dish to Rob's BBQ on Saturday afternoon, and asked him to provide chicken with no sauce so that I could have something to eat (BBQ sauce is mostly sugar). So I can hopefully eat some chicken, and bring something like baked eggplant and then just stick to those dishes. As for alcohol, I'll ask if they have regular wine and skip the mixed drinks. April also wants me to go to Eleanor's house on Friday night. *sigh* She doesn't know what it's like to merely look at food and gain. At least with Eleanor it's easier to stay on plan - she always has wine, meat, and veggies, and then I just pass on the potatoes and dessert.

Speaking of dessert, TOM is making me want chocolate today, and the dessert left for Lisa's birthday yesterday turned out to be brownies. I gave in to one bite - and only one - and then gave it back to Lynn. Lynn told me where she put it, but out of sight is out of mind. I'm just at a place right now where sitting 15 feet from a pan of brownies is NOT a good idea.

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Third weekend

Weight this morning: 143 even
Calories eaten yesterday: 1725
Calories burned: 1892
Carbs: 60g (higher than I wanted)
Fat: 64g (WAY to low)

I think I did pretty good yesterday. I'm hoping the last two days of gaining won't see my gaining all my lost weight back and that it's just due to eating lots of salty meat the last two days. No more of that meat for me until after my weigh-in on Tuesday!

April (sister) and I got into a huge argument over Thanksgiving. She wants Dad and I to come, and if I won't eat carby food, then I have to cook an Atkins meal. :-p Oh fun. I 1) hate cooking, especially for 2) my family for 3) a holiday. :-p

Made it to the gym this morning. I did 30 minutes of weights (core and arms), 20 on the pedal-type stairmaster (pictured above), 10 on the elliptical, and 20 minutes walking 3.5 mph. FitDay says 267 calories burned. I didn't do any exercise yesterday. After church I just lounged around the house.

Looks like TOM's here. Oh fun. I've already been dealing with wanting chocolate (and did have a sugar free bar on Friday night). I used to have a whoosh right after TOM, but that hasn't happened in over a year now.


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Picture courtesy Home Gym Equipment Guide.

Day 19

Weight this morning: 142.6
Calories eaten yesterday: 1789
Calories burned: 1889
Carbs: 49g (good)
Fat: 73g (lower than I wanted)

I knew my weight would be up today, partly because I ate salty meat yesterday, and partly because weight loss as fast as I've had recently can't be sustained. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted, and I'm closer to goal than before. :)

Did okay at church. I snarfed a little bit of Goldfish crackers and peanuts, but for the most part I just made myself some vanilla hazelnut dessert tea with Splenda added (2-3 carbs total and 7-10 calories), and made do with that. I had a strawberry Atkins shake for lunch while everyone else ate carby potluck food.

I'm now sipping sugar free margaritas. Thank you, Baja Bob! I like the pina coladas better, but I ran out of the mix last night. I ordered five more bottles earlier this week. With shipping costs, I tend to stock up when ordering online. Cutting out sugar just isn't popular anymore. :-p

Today I wore a rather large size 6 dress (sorry the tag is blurry) that Norma at church gave me a while back. It was very tight in the bust (I have large breasts so this is common - the downside of a big bust), but loose in the waist. Personally, I think the waist of the dress is closer to an 8. My normal size is an 8/10. My small size 8 shorts seem to be fitting better. They are still tight even when stretched out, but they are no longer skin tight. I was actually able to wear them around town while running errands yesterday! :)

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Sabbaths and Sundays, Common Proof Texts, #5

Claim: 1 Corinthians 16:2 gives us an example of a collection during a Sunday worship service.
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Paul is telling them to put the money aside that day. It mentions nothing about church. It just says to "put aside and save" so that the person would have the money and not have to scramble to get it when Paul shows up. This verse simply makes no sense as a Sunday "proof" verse because it simply doesn't say what people try to make it say.

Additionally, no Jew would handle money on the Sabbath and it seems likely this would have extended to the early church. So when Paul is telling them to handle money on Sunday, it could not be in the context of a worship service.

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I just keep losing! :)

On the left is the graph of my recent whooshing. :)

Weight this morning: 141.4!!!
Calories eaten yesterday: 1608
Calories burned: 1877
Carbs: 54g (higher than I wanted)
Fat: 81g (Yippee!)

For the unheard of eighth time in a row I have stepped on the scale, I've been down! Wowsers! Talk about a whoosh! This isn't a new low. My lowest weight ever on the scale was 141. So that gives me something to work toward.

Here's my weight tracker for the past month from FitDay. As you can see I did a lot of bouncing and then suddenly WHOOSH...I started dropping. :)
Oh...I walked over 10,000 steps yesterday counting my gym workout.



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Whoosh!

Weight this morning: 141.8!!!
Calories eaten yesterday: 1608
Calories burned: 1965
Carbs: 60g (high for me)
Fat: 69g (low for me)

For the unheard of seventh time in a row I have stepped on the scale, I've been down. Today's downturn gets me back down to my goal weight!!! Yippee! I was freaking out over those 6 pounds I gained. Now they are all gone! Thank you whoosh fairy for visiting me! Could my plateau finally be over?

This isn't the end...no no no. I'm gonna keep working. If I lose more, great. If I don't, that's okay too. I just need to focus on eating enough fat and cycling my calories. I'd really like to get to 65 pounds lost - one more pound - just because that seems like a better number than the 64 I'm hanging out at. And heck, an even 140 would be great, too. That's two more pounds.

My calories yesterday were good for a low day and now today is a higher day, though I still aim to burn more calories than I eat. I can do it if I stay out of the chocolate. :) Friday and Saturday are always higher days, and then I'll aim for a low day Sunday. Today I have to plan my FitDay menus for next week.

Now I just need to hold this weight until the next weigh-in so I can change my ticker. I will have to be very good on Saturday.

I made it to the gym today. I did 30 minutes of weights, 30 on the elliptical (the kind with the moving arms), and 20 walking on the treadmill at 3.5 mph. FitDay says 266 calories burned.


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The Diet Channel

I'm not sure how happy I am with The Diet Channel. Two things jumped out at me when I checked their Web site. First, their description of themselves:

The Diet Channel provides expertise on weight loss, sports nutrition, low fat and heart healthy diets, diet and cancer, preventative nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, we offer a free 8 Week Weight Loss Program to provide you with the latest nutrition information and a healthy diet plan to meet your goals (emphasis mine).

Their 8 Week Weight Loss Program is, of course, low-fat, with carbs as absolutely essential - they are not - and making up the bulk of your calories. Why would anyone in their right mind make the bulk of their calories something non-essential?

My second problem is their description of the Atkins Diet. Why doesn't anybody bother to do more research before writing these things? How can I take anything they say about any other diet plan seriously if they can't get Atkins right? What else did they get wrong?

Some examples:
Atkins followers can eat all of the meat, cheese, eggs and fats (like butter and oils) that they like, without counting calories.

Not wholly true. You are to eat until "satisfied," not until you are full, and certainly not "all you like." Additionally, cheese is limited to 4 oz. a day.

Fruit and dairy products are also extremely limited.

Ah, fake Atkins makes a comeback (also see my follow-up fake Atkins post). Berries are fruits and they are the first thing to be added back in Phase 2. Many fruits - such as tomatoes and avocados - are even allowed on Induction (Phase 1). Other fruits that Atkins dieters are allowed to eat are eggplant, green, yellow, and red peppers, and cucumbers. Yes, they are all fruits!

Cheese is dairy and allowed in Induction. Cottage cheese and sugar-free yogurt can be added in Phase 2. In fact, someone on Atkins can eat just about any dairy product except milk.

At one time I ate a cup of cottage cheese every single day. Now I am on a yogurt kick and eating a cup of plain yogurt every day.

The Atkins diet places no limit on the amount of saturated-fat-laden products one can have each day. Large portions of foods like butter, red meat and bacon are advocated and encouraged. A limited amount of carbohydrates can be introduced in the maintenance phase.

Do I even have to respond to this? This is so silly that it would be funny if it weren't so sad. It's false, plain and simple.

And carbohydrates are part of all phases of Atkins, not just Maintenance. *sigh*

For the most part, exercise is not strongly emphasized in the Atkins diet.

Completely, totally, and 100% false. Atkins stressed that exercise was vital. But hey, since when did a little thing like facts stop people like this?

Read the book, people! Get the facts straight from the man who created the diet and knows best what it's about.

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I'm losing!

I wonder if I can make 30 days cheat free?

Did okay yesterday. Just under 1800 calories, 54 carbs (the tomato added the extra), and 82g of fat. Yippee! I truly believe that my fat intake has been too low and needs to be higher to help me lose. This isn't Weight Watchers; this is Atkins! Fat is fuel!

I was down again on the scale this morning. It's been a whoosh week. Thank you, Grace! The last six times I've stepped on the scale it's been down. :) I know it will go up again a bit, but this is really excellent. I was 142.4 this morning. No more 148! I've lost almost all the weight I gained back! :)

I was sure hungry yesterday, but I fought through it. In keeping with cycling calories I'm trying to make today a lower day, especially since I know Thursday will be higher; it always is due to the extra glass of wine. :)

The weekend is almost here (tomorrow is my Friday). That means pina coladas, baby! Low-carb but they taste like the real thing. Oh yeah! I just bought a bunch more bottles of the mix from Netrition.com.

Covered over 10,000 steps yesterday. The stepper, elliptical, and treadmill at the gym were a big part of that. Today I just did the walk to work from BART and I won't make 10,000.



The only problem I can see coming up is our biannual church meeting, for which I am secretary. This means another full day at church around non-friendly food. A protein shake won't cut it when I'm gone all day, so I may just have to pack an extra lunch like I do during the week and deal with the stares. They truly don't understand that I need to count calories and carbs, and I can't do that eating potluck food with unknown ingredients and amounts. I'm totally lost without my food scale and when I'm not in control of what goes in my mouth. I still help them clean up, so they really shouldn't complain.

For now, I should be okay. As far as I know, this Sabbath is a "normal" Sabbath when I can take a protein shake for lunch and be home by mid- to late-afternoon.

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Week 2 Weigh-In

No, this isn't my scale, but it is the kind of scale I have. It does body fat, too, but only the lower body which measures higher body fat in woman (since that's where we carry fat), so I just have a trainer at the gym test my body fat since he takes measurements from all over, not just the waist down like this scale.

Anyway...drum roll please...143.2 this week!

Week 0: 144
Week 1: 147.2 (+3.2 lbs.)
Week 2: 143.2 (-4 lbs.)

Total loss: 0.8

Woot! I'm actually quite pleased with this. I've shown nearly a 1 pound loss over 2 weeks. Considering how slow I lose, I am pleased as punch. Besides, it's quite common for woman to lose at the rate of only 0.5 pound a week. As long as I can stay on track on Saturdays despite the carb orgies at church, I should be okay.

The four pound gain the first week was because of the Pentecost feast and was just water. Water gain can mask real weight loss.

I updated my ticker. If I stick with this I should be able to get back to goal in no time at all! :) I know I haven't shown the wonderful loses of everyone else in the group, but I already had the initial water loss that everyone sees at first. I knew going in that I'd probably be the slowest loser, and that's okay. If I were just starting Atkins I'd be jamming. I lost 9.5 pounds the first month and 8 the second month before it slowed down.

I've been tracking my eating and weight on FitDay and I did some checking yesterday to see if I've lost anything over various periods of time (one week, two weeks, one month), and also if I am burning more than I'm eating for the same parameters. For every parameter checked I have lost at least something, and have burned more calories than I've taken in.

I finished the last of the Keto shake mixes yesterday. Today I started the Atkins shakes. I take a shake out on the floor with me when I work out, do weights first, and then sip the shake as I do my cardio.

Today I did 30 minutes of weights, 20 on the pedal-type stairmaster, 11 on the crossramp elliptical, and 20 walking on the treadmill at 3.5 mph. FitDay says I burned 272 calories.

Yesterday I did okay with food. I ate 1916 calories and 51g carbs, but burned 2090 calories. I also finally got my fat higher - 86g! If I can keep that up it should help me lose. :)

No gym tomorrow - I need to buy groceries - but then I should be able to make it on Thursday for a grand total of four times this week. Woot!


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Picture courtesy Amazon.com.

Ketones: friend or foe?

This totally befuddled me when I heard this on a recent episode of one of my favorite programs, Dr. G: Medical Examiner. She examined the cause of death of a woman who turned out to be diabetic and without her medication. The final cause of death: diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that results when someone's blood sugar is so high that the ketones produced eventually become toxic. The way to check is by looking for the presence and amount of ketones. My problem occurred with the following statement:

...a high level of a toxic substance called ketones...which turn the blood acidic. - narrator on Dr. G: Medical Examiner program

That would be all well and good, but it's only partly true. Ketones are also produced when a person is on a very low-carbohydrate diet. There is a difference between benign dietary ketosis and ketoacidosis. The difference is blood sugar. Someone is ketosis due to restricting carbohydrates will have normal blood sugar. Someone in ketoacidosis has blood sugar that is sky high and has certainly been eating carbohydrates to achieve that. It is impossible to get ketoacidosis while restricting carbs. They are complete opposite conditions.

From Wikipedia.org:
Ketoacidosis is a type of metabolic acidosis which is caused by high concentrations of keto acids, formed by the deamination of amino acids. This is most common in untreated type 1 diabetes mellitus...Ketoacidosis should not be confused with ketosis, which is one of the body's normal processes for the metabolism of body fat. In ketoacidosis, the accumulation of keto acids is so severe that the pH of the blood is thrown off.

Ketosis is different:
Ketosis is a stage in metabolism occurring when the liver has been depleted of stored glycogen...Energy from fat is mobilized to the liver and used to synthesize glucose (a process called gluconeogenesis)... Ketone bodies are also produced...and are burned throughout the body...Deliberately induced ketosis through a low-carbohydrate diet has been used to treat medical conditions (such as) epilepsy (and) obesity.

As you can see, in the presence of enough calories from protein and fat, this is not dangerous and is simply an alternate pathway for the body to meet its energy needs when there is not enough glucose from carbohydrates. Our bodies are not stupid and can deal with the restriction of carbohydrates indefinitely. Restricting protein and/or fat is another matter, as those are necessary to not just health, but life itself.

I understand the program talked about a specifically diabetic woman who clearly died of ketoacidosis, but to say that ketones are toxic without further explanation can give people the wrong idea - ketones are toxic, the body produces ketones on the Atkins diet, therefore, the Atkins diet is toxic. It doesn't take a huge leap of logic to make that connection, even if the connection is totally wrong!

Even Dr. Atkins seemed to sense this was a losing battle of words, and began using the word "lipolysis" instead of "ketosis." Lipolysis is simply defined as (t)he breakdown of fat stored in fat cells... Ketones are produced, leading to the process of ketosis in the case where insufficient carbohydrates are present in the diet.

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Picture of Dr. G courtesy Discovery Health.

Day 14

Today is Day 14. Tomorrow is the second weigh-in. I've still gained overall from my starting weight of 144, but am down from last week. This morning's weight was 144.2.

Did okay yesterday. I'm actually pleased. I ate about 1734 calories and burned 2061. I also got in over 10,000 steps. Not all were "true" steps. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical and that racks up over 3,000 steps right there. :)


Made it to the gym today. I did 30 minutes of leg and core work. I was going to use the pedal-type step machine for cardio, but all three were being used, so I went over to the bikes and jumped on one for 30 minutes. Then I got on the treadmill and walked at 3.5 mph for 20 minutes. FitDay says 253 calories burned. Tomorrow I'll do arm work, Wednesday I have to buy groceries, and Thursday I'll do arms again (I always do core as well).

The cookies that were here yesterday were still here today. I carried them out of the room and down the hall to the producers' office. I don't need to around. I broke off a small piece of one cookie to taste it. It wasn't even good.

Lynn also brought in a lemon cake for us. It's covered. I had one bite and now I am ignoring it. Sugar and flour are EVIL! Can't people find other ways to show love than sugar and flour and other bad things? Why do we use things bad for us to show love to someone? Isn't that counterproductive?

Things that have been said to me lately:
Last week a bus driver I sometimes chat with said, as if noticing for the first time, "Oh yeah, you do have a little paunch" (in my belly). Gee thanks! You know how to make a girl feel good!

On the plus side, Pastor Tim of the church my church rents the building from said, "Have you been losing weight or something?" I said, "Yeah, about 60 pounds. I started two years ago." Talk about being slow on the uptake! But hey, at least he noticed.

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Graphic courtesy LifeFitness.com.

DaVinci Code movie review

Minor spoilers. Skip this post if you don't want to know how the book/movie end.

Well, I finished the book, and saw the movie on Friday. It was 2 1/2 hours long, but it was fast paced enough that it kept my interest and I didn't keep checking my watch. Of course, having snacks to munch on helped. When I saw The Aviator, it was 3 hours long and I had no snacks. I kept checking my watch wondering when it would be over. That was also just a plain bad movie, in my humble opinion. I have no idea why it was nominated for so many awards.

Anyway, the movie was okay, but (as usual) the book is better. The one thing good about the movie that was bad about the book was that at least the movie didn't have plot holes big enough to drive a Mac truck through. The book might be a page-turner and make you want to know what plot twist will occur next, but the glaring plot holes made it harder to enjoy.

Dan Brown's warped ideas about history - including well-known facts about Constantine that he ignored - makes it hard for anyone who knows anything about church history to take anything else seriously. Of course, he's banking on the fact that most Americans are illiterate in anything having to do with history. I took two semesters of church history in college, which is two semesters more than most people. It would be funny if some people didn't take his fiction to be fact. Even the preface page that starts off with "FACT" in big letters and then lists a series of supposed facts, is wrong. And yet people take that page seriously and think the novel is based in some kind of reality.

Back to the movie - good cinamatography, and you have to love Tom Hanks. Ian McKellen - Gandalf! - plays Leigh Teabing. It's funny. In real life he's a knight, and in this movie he plays someone who's a knight. :)

They have to shorten the movie a bit. In the book there are two cryptexes; it the movie there is only one. In the book, Sophie has a long lost brother; in the movie she has only a grandmother who is still alive. In the book, Sophie is related to Jacques Saunière; in the movie we find near the end that she's not related. At the very end of the book Robert Langdon (the main character) is back at the Louvre and runs downstairs to look at the inverted pyramid with the smaller pyramid poking up from the floor; at the end of the movie he walks on the sheer glass of the top of the inverted pyramid and then the camera pans down through the glass. Very cool.

In short, the movie is a good way to kill a couple and a half hours, but not something to be taken as having any truth to it. Also, the book is better, and would be the better bet if you have the time.

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Photo courtesy IMDb.com.