OOOHHH...Victoria...I'm jealous. I'm your neighbour over in sunny Alberta! <insert a cough, cough, choke here over the whole sunny thing>

Charran, I was born in Calgary..... snow central.

You get your exercise shovelling the stuff.... can't shovel sunshine LOL

Julie

Hi Char and All:

Very helpful explanation of water weight gain/loss and building muscle, I will do more research to optimize my workouts, have probably been wearing those old muscles out.

For women, weight gain is hormonal in nature. I have read that if your body over produces estrogen, it causes increased insulin production, then the whole cycle of raised blood sugars rears its ugly head.

Hello turtles!
May I join in? Slow is definitely the word here!
My doctor just told me on Friday that my insulin level is 147, when normal is more like 50 (according to him). He said at this level, it is impossible to lose weight. I am now taking Chromium Picolinate (500 mcg twice a day) and Biotin (3g), and he advised me to reduce carbs all the way down (to zero!). Hope this will work!
Any suggestions???

Fauve...Welcome! I'm a little confused by your "insulin" level readings. Are you talking about a BG test for diabetes? A reading of 147 would put you in diabetic range, but a reading of 50 would almost put you close to coma range! So I'm not sure how your doctor thinks that would be "normal" I'd also venture to say that losing weight no matter what your insulin levels are IS possible. (JMHO mind you ) Eating low carb would definetely be beneficial to your BG readings, as would adding in exercise if you don't already do that! By wanting to reduce carbs to zero level, are you thinking about doing something like the meat and egg fast? Good luck with the supplements. I took both and had no success with either of them. Food and exercise is what works for me!

MNLisa- Maybe that would explain why women have a harder time losing weight than men. Makes sense to me anyways!

ttc#2- Welcome! Congrats on 11 cheat free days! I wish you much success in reaching your goal by summer!

Julie- I think I'd rather mow lawn than shovel snow...want to trade?

Tina- Welcome also! Our pond is growing! I've never heard of medifast! What is it if you don't mind me asking?

Hi Char,
It was a fasting insulin test, that's all I know. I am not familiar with those numbers, they don't mean much to me, never had a problem with diabetes so far... Lately, it seems that all my numbers are off, every time I go for blood tests, there is a new problem. It started in February, with high calcium, and it keeps going on. I don't know what happened to my body suddenly that it is going crazy like this...

Fauve...I posted a reply to your post in your journal!

Sorry Char, I'll take my weedwacker over your snow shovel any time!

I worked out pretty hard yesterday and am totally paying for it today!!!!

Julie

But just think of all the calories you burned Julie!

True Charran! Sadly the scale was mean this morning - for my trouble at the gym I earned 3# of water weight! Hope it's gone soon and takes a bunch of friends with them!!!!

How's the new calorie counting thing going?

How's everyone else doing? Any new ideas to try???

Julie

Well, I have lost 2 pounds since yesterday, but don't get too excited because it was all water weight. I woke up Sunday feeling all puffy and ballooned out, so I started drinking water like crazy and 2 pounds of it are gone. Now as far as the calorie counting...see I have an issue with this...in a nut shell, I hate it. I struggle between the need to do it to lose more weight and not doing it because it's time consuming and I just hate weighing and measuring everything I put into my mouth. Right now I'm just following Phase 2 of SB, trying to make good choices, getting in lots of exercise and hoping for the best!

I hate calorie counting too but I know I have no option. I have a good estimate of how much I'm eating - 4 oz meat vs. 3 oz for instance so I don't weigh or measure anything (that would feel too much like WW!!!!! <reminising>)

2# is 2#... that's what I'd like to NOT see tomorrow.

Here's to the NEXT 2!

Julie

Charran, I must try double hard this time. Thanks for noticing my post. I think I'll go meat and eggs for 2 weeks and go from there. Pray for me.

Exotic- Good luck with your M&E fast! I wish you much success with it!

Julie- I think that's the thing that drives me crazy is weighing and measuring every single thing. Then when I try to plot it into Fitday, or My Plan, I end up searching for the right quantity and type and it drives me mad. Do you use either of those for calorie tracking? Perhaps you have some tips that would make things easier? Some people say they don't measure things like veggies. I was weighing every single thing I put into my mouth. It was very time-consuming!

Since admitting that I have become a turtle I have continued to eat cheat free (carbs below 60 grams), portion size under control, only to be rewarded with a gain. TOM is here so I am trying to not to be too upset.

One thing I have not been careful about during the past several months is my water intake. Yesterday was my first day to really concentrate on drinking plenty of water.... unfortunately despite the water, eating well, and walking 2 miles, I still woke up over 140 pounds.

Bye for now-

I am going to try to read through the thread and get to know everyone a little better.

Happy LCing,