Wow- that is amazing that you lost so much so quickly! Great job on maintaining all these years, too! This is definitely something that I can stick to for the rest of my life. I just wish I had thought to start sooner!

I was amazed yesterday when the nurse told me that my sugar levels are great and that I'm no longer pre-diabetic! I still eat my sweet treats with my RM, but was pleasantly surprised when she told me that the sugar levels were great. Last year, they thought that I might end up on medication for diabetes- I'm very grateful that it didn't come to that. Funny thing is, I never was a sweet eater until I gained all of this weight over the years. Maybe once I get down to a healthier weight again, my sweet tooth will subside.

My blood pressure is a bit high, though. I have pre hypertension, in spite of the fact that I'm taking a beta blocker once a day to control the heart palpitations that the thyroid brings on. They told me yesterday after my daughter took me to the emergency room that I might need to have my thyroid medication adjusted again, as it may not be enough. I wish this would sort itself out once and for all. *sigh* The heart palpitations are the worst. Thankfully, the tests that they ran on my heart came out fine, but I can feel the blood pressure a bit high right now. Hopefully, my doctor will be available next week to check it out. Driving me nuts, with all the heart pounding.

hi-
hi Marcy- glad you have figured out the site. It has soooo much great info and support!

Audrey- I am so sorry you went to the ER yesterday- I hope you are feeling better. Great news about your blood sugar- I am sure I have stopped myself from being diabetic by being on this plan.

Going out tonight to a family place with great fried chicken! I'll get a salad, fried chicken and 3 sides, 2 of which will be green veggies. Not planning on dessert.So my carb will be a piece of bread and one side- don't know what yet.

E

Hey guys.. I've been struggling a bit, but I hope to get back on track. Details in my journal, it is almost 2 am and I'm too tired to write it out here, too. I'll be back tomorrow

I don't know if this will make you feel better or not, but yesterday I over carbed a bit at a friend's wedding, then hubby, daughter and I had to work right after at a haunted maze. When I came home, I was a bit hungry again, and was just too dar gone tired to make myself something low carb, so I of course reached for something easy and convenient.

I woke up this morning, and I lost the pound that I regained the day before- strange things happen when you don't plan them. I am back on plan today and don't have any challenges coming up until Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. We work the maze for usually two nights in a row, but next weekend it is three nights, so I must carefully figure this all out and plan ahead.

I also have my sister coming up this week to visit (she's moving in with us in the early part of November), and thankfully, she is very supportive of my weight loss and plans to even try the diet herself, as she has 20 pounds to lose, she told me. I don't know where those 20 pounds are, as she is very thin, but she knows her own body better than I do. She even said that she notices herself eating a lot of carby stuff lately and thinks she might have a slight addiction to them now. So, it will help to have someone to go walking with every day or do Walk Away the Pounds with for exercise. I like having a walking buddy when walking outside. We live in the country, and beautiful as it is, it can be a bit nerve wracking walking alone at times, lol.

So, don't beat yourself up- dust yourself off and get back on plan. The great thing about this board is there is always people here to support you and help you get back on track. Remember, you're doing this for yourself- you're own health and well being, along with your own happiness. You're so worth this, and you know you can do it! I'll be here with you every step of our journeys, and I am happy to help keep you on track, and I know you'll do the same for me. So, let's get back on track and get this scale moving backwards!

Audrey

hi-

Tracy, I read your journal. You CAN do this- like Audrey says you just get back on.
Like Nike- Just DO It.

had my RM for brunch yesterday, and then was hungry at 8pm. In the car- went to Arby's (it was the only thing open)- got a Jr roastbeef sandwich and ate the meat.
Today I'm back on normal RM schedule- dinner.
RM(planned): salad, spinach, chicken, red sauce, pasta (for DH and DS), bread, water.
E

Hi everyone- quiet day over here (a big rarity in my life, lol!), so I am getting caught up on some little things around the house like dusting and cleaning odds and ends. I'm making a Jambalaya with rice for dinner, with a salad, green beans, and rolls. It's been a long time since I've had Jambalaya, and it will be nice tonight considering it's a bit chilly today!

I'm still stuck at 269 right now. I've been losing and gaining the same pound all this week, and tomorrow is my weigh in day for the weekly average, which comes out to zero. I didn't think it would happen this soon that I would not lose at least a pound a week, we'll see what tomorrow brings. I know the diet is working, as some clothes are starting to feel a bit loose on me, which they didn't a couple of weeks ago. I have been more active this week, could be muscle gain or water weight, we shall see.

Right now, my two kitties are playing with one of my chimes hanging up- too cute. They're up on a cot sitting next to where they are hanging- I don't have the heart to take them down or move the cot, as they're having a good ole time for themselves. Right now, they're both playing Rock em, Sock em robots on the cot. Kittens are just too dar gone cute!

I had some okra for the first time last week, and while I loved the taste of it (reminded me of eggplant, believe or not), it is a bit slimy. Any tips on how to cut that down a bit? I read somewhere that a woman rinsed it off with vinegar first, but I was wondering if that would change the taste of it? I really love the taste of it, but the slime business is just a little weird, if you know what I mean.

Where is everyone? I hope everyone is ok and not giving up!

Have a great day, everyone!

Audrey

Down another pound this week, so I'm very happy with the progress that I've made this month. Was a busy day for me, thankfully I had our dinner all ready to heat up when we got home from our kids Cross Country meet tonight. Got some exercise in, too, while I was at it.

Going to bed now, hope everyone is doing great! Talk to you all tomorrow!

Audrey

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I have been on program fine since I last posted, but my weight won't budge. My reward meals have been a bit heavy, I guess. I find that I can't get away with that like I did years ago when I was on CAD. I've gone through menopause.. or am still in it, (not sure how you know its over, LOL) so that might have something to do with it, and I am still thinking there might be a thyroid connection too. I won't know till the end of October what the doctor has to say about that one.
In the mean time, I will just continue on. Even when I am not losing, I feel so much more sane on CAD.
Yesterday's food:
CM: 3 chicken weiners
CM: cole slaw with mayo, chicken breast
RM: nachos with chicken, steak, ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, peppers. Ice cream for dessert.

Have a good day everyone.

hi-
RM yesterday was excellent. I went out with friends, and looked at the restaurant menu before going. I had a salad and trout, with spinach and sweet potato fries that I put in the middle of the table for everyone to share. ALso had a small dinner roll and 3 t of DH apple cobler dessert. No alcohol or appetizer.

Tonight had salad, hot dog, bun, sourkraut, cabbage (too much probably!), 2T beans, water, 100 cal yogurt.

Tomorrow I will cut up one of the hotdogs and have it with my eggs for breakfast CM with mustard too- spices it up a bit.

Audrey- WTG!

Tracy- I hope you are feeling better already!

E

Tracy- hang in there. There are times when you will either gain a couple of pounds back or not lose at all. However, changes are happening inside of you. Last time I did this back in the 90's, I went for a month without losing- I gained three pounds one week, lost two the next, lost one the next, then nothing that last week of that month. THAT was the month people started noticing the 40 pound loss, and I also lost a dress size! Just the other day, I had two people ask me if I was losing weight, and that I looked good! When I lost 50 pounds two years ago, no one even noticed a thing until I hit the 50 pound mark. That was on another diet, wish I had remembered this diet back then!

I dropped another 3 pounds the last couple of days. Last week I lost and gained the same pound, now the scale is moving again. This does happen on this diet, and I am well prepared for those weeks or months coming up in this journey- so don't get discouraged, Tracy. The scale will move again!

Eno- that's awesome that you had a great dinner out with friends. I'm at a point where the restaurant eating doesn't scare me anymore, LOL. Before I was worried about will power or not being able to find anything to eat during the CM's. I'm finding that restaurants are accommodating, all you have to do is just ask! I admire your strength and dedication to this diet, Eno- what an inspiration you are, years later, sticking to it and keeping us motivated.

This diet is definitely doable for life- something that the other diets I've done over the years are not. I know a lot of folks do Atkins- I tried three times, and got so sick on it, my doctor forbid me from doing it again. I had two co-workers in the past that did Atkins for a long time- they lost weight rapidly and looked great. Unfortunately, they didn't stick to it, and both did gain some of the weight back. I don't know how they're doing now or if they ever went back to Atkins, but for me, that diet was way too restrictive and very hard to do on a daily basis. I was determined to stick to it, but I kept getting so sick from it.

Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise is another excellent diet, but you are restricted to just 15 grams of sugar (that was the hard part when eating out- figuring out how much sugar was in foods!) and 120 grams of carbs a day, max. I did lost 26 pounds on it, and in a short period of time, but I went off of it when I had several things going on in our family and was traveling back and forth to Massachusetts, visiting ailing and dying relatives. I never got back on it after the 2 months, and gained a lot of it back.

I found the CAD book last year, was doing it for a bit but my thyroid went out of whack and just forgot about it (again!!!! how do you forget something successful like this?!?!?!) and I found my book again in August in my bedroom. I told myself, that's it, back to CAD for me, and no other diet will do for the rest of my life. Been through them all, none were doable for life. Most did work, but was too restrictive or just too hard to follow on a daily basis. Calorie counting was stressful- often times, I would eat up my calories before lunch. Never again will I do calorie counting! And we all know where low fat diets get you..........

Now that I've written a novel again, I must get off the computer and get some housework done. The housework fairy didn't show up, and my back up house cleaner took the day off.

Have a great day, everyone!

Audrey

Audrey- I love your long emails!

Had a really nice RM last night- meatballs and peppers in the leftover sauce from the chicken sausage, salad, fresh spinach, roll.

Going out for dinner tonight and to hear music- I will look at the menu first and pick out my meal.

Going to an annual business meeting tomorrow- I hate the food at this meeting! Sat night at 10pm- ice cream! Breakfast- bagels and pastry! Lunch- potato bar! So I say hi at the ice cream and leave; buy my own breakfast at the hotel restaurant; skip the potato and eat on the way home. Sigh.

I will post again either on SUnday or Monday-

have a great weekend!
E

Eno- eek! That's awful! Hopefully it doesn't cost you too much money out of your own pocket to eat out. Of course, businesses always go for the cheap and convenient foods these days. Bagels and pastries are easy and portable foods and no fuss clean up. It's too bad they don't offer anything low carb, even boiled eggs and cheese would be better than nothing. Good luck at your meeting!

Hubby, oldest daughter, and I are working three nights in a row at the haunted maze we work at. We have two three night weekends that we'll be working this October- very hard to do on this diet, but I am managing. I ate my reward meal last night starting at 12:15 am. I like saving that meal for the end of the day meal, and by then I was hungry! Luckily, I had two CM's yesterday, and it looks like I will be doing that for the next two days as well, as it is hard for me to eat just one CM and then not eat again for another 10 or 11 hours.

Hubby fixed my recumbent exercise bike this afternoon while I was watching the Bruins game (boo- what an awful first game of the season ), so I can at least exercise again while watching my Bruins games and The Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights. Anyone else watch hockey or The Biggest Loser on here? Looking forward to getting more exercise in- while the Bruins tick me off, I pedal faster. If they continue to play like they did today all season long, I'll surely zap 100 pounds off of my frame by April.

CM's today- two fried eggs, sliced turkey breast, bacon for breakfast. CM 2- probably hamburger with celery and cream cheese. I forgot to add a low carb veggie this morning- go me! RM might be just a roast beef sandwich and some chips with a salad, and perhaps a candy bar. Not really sure yet.

I hope everyone is doing well on this lovely Columbus Day weekend! Fall is really here!

Audrey

hi-
the meeting went as expected- I HATE BAKED POTATO BARS!!!

GOt my usual scrambled egg in the restaurant- they only charge me a couple of bucks and it makes me happy to have a hot egg as opposed to a rubbery cold old hardboiled egg that they now throw onto the breakfast table with all the pastries and bagels.

Had a bison burger for RM on Saturday and tofu last night (DS cooked). Tonight is roasted cornish hens and cauliflower and a carrot souffle for carb.

E

hi-
just some updates. I have been limiting alcohol and sugar and I have lost 4 lbs- but I am sure I will be back up because I am going on a vacation! I leave tomorrow, so I won't be posting until the end of the month.
My DD lives overseas, so I am going to visit her for 10 days and will also be in Prague for 3 nights!!! I am sooo excited. I'll stay with DD, so breakfast will still be eggs. Lunch will be protein and salad when I can get it, and dinner will be RM. It is much harder to find salad and green veggies there- it is carb central. I will do my best.

SO-
I'll check back in when I am home. I have been on many trips and vacations since starting this WOL including cruises and hiking trips- I have never been up more than a couple of pounds and I lose that in a day or two. SO I am confident I will be fine when I get home, weight-wise, and will be back on the path to get rid of the 5 lbs I gained last year.
have a great couple of weeks and post a lot!
E

Have a great time, Eno! I'm sure you won't gain too much over there- you're too disciplined not to.

Frustrating week for me. I gained back three pounds, so I am 268 now. Yesterday, I was 269 (making it four pounds), and I lost a pound this morning bringing me back to 268 again. I have NO idea why I gained back that much weight after being 265 for a few days. No idea, and it surprises me, to be honest with you, because it isn't hormones in my case, and I've done nothing different. I haven't really done any exercising- just my normal house work routine and daily going out and about, so it's not a muscle gain. I hope that this diet will continue to work for me. I won't give up just yet, but with so much to lose, it just seems strange that I'm at a stall so early in the game, especially when the first time around that I lost weight on this, I didn't stall so early and lost steadily til the last couple of months.

I might not post as much myself in the next couple of weeks. Most of the posts are coming from Eno and I- I feel like I am talking to myself these days. Not exactly fun to see several of your own posts on the last page with only one other person replying to them. So, until Eno gets back, I'll probably just stay away until she returns.

Have a great day and couple of weeks, everyone! Wishing you great success!

Audrey