I guess that I should qualify as a turtle. I've been doing low carb for 15 months -- lost only 22 pounds -- less than 1-1/2 pounds per month -- and then it's not a steady loss, but losing, regaining, and losing the same 5 pounds over and over again, week after week, until one day I realize that only 3 of the 5 came back this week, so 2 pounds are finally gone for good! In all this time, my ketostix have only shown 'trace' once and 'moderate' once, and that was on the 3rd day of a fat fast! I've had the thyroid tested (it was normal), I exercise (both cardio and weights), I measure everything and I use Fitday to track carbs and calories. I blame the slow loss on 2 things: I quit smoking at the same time I started low carb, and I am 51 years old and menopausal. Both of these, I'm sure, have a factor in the slow weight loss.

If you read my gym log, you will find from my post today that while on my business trip I was a bad girl -- ate way too many carbs and was off track for a couple of weeks. So, this gain (8 pounds) might take a while to lose. I've gone back to less than 20 carbs for a few days to detox and regroup. Now I know you're probably thinking that's why I'm a turtle -- I cheat a lot, but, honestly, I have not done this before -- I am very faithful to my plan and commited to low carb. I am so glad to be back on track with both my exercise and eating plans, and I feel much better.