Just completed my first run - 1.72 miles at an 8.5/mile pace. Can tell a major difference in my energy depleting about half way through the run, since I'm pulling from fat, not carbs...I really pushed myself though. But it feels good! Heart pumping. Breaking a sweat. It's awesome!!

I like this Self-Love challenge! Count me in:

50 gr of carbs or less
More Omega3 intake
More consistent excercise routine
Less Facebook
Intermittent fasting
Go to sleep at 10 pm
Meditate every morning

I'm about as sedentary as you can be. That has to end. My mom is coming to Scotland to visit me in May and I want to be able to go out walking with her without needing to take a break every 10 mins.

My goal in February is to log 29 miles on the treadmill.

I'm in as well. To Love my Health this month, I'm going to commit to riding my recumbent bike a minimum of 3 times a week, for at least 20 minutes each session. Other than that, keep on with my LCHF diet - I lost a total of 5.8 pounds in January and think it could be even more with consistent exercise.

My goal for this month is NOT to track my intake or weight and see how I do "free range."

February 23rd will be my 1 year lowcarberversary (no cheat days whatsoever, highest carb intake in a single day over the past year was 80g - stupid tortilla chips), so I know I won't go off the reservation in sight of such a momentous streak.

Currently I am primarily, but not strictly, carnivore. For example, onions and garlic in my food is fine. There's spinach in my ground beef lunch that I brought today. I haven't eaten a side dish with a meal since vacationing at Christmastime (I ate a lot of green beans in Disney). Well... sometimes I eat my meat with a side of meat!

Anyway, my biggest problem seems to be that I'm not listening to my hunger cues, eating everything on my plate because it tastes good, or because I put "a serving" on my plate and I already logged it.

I'm hoping to get in touch with the signals of my body this month instead of worrying about numbers. It's seriously freaking me out at this point. I'm afraid I had a lot of protein with my breakfast, and not enough fat. But if I don't track it? Schrodinger's Macros.

I weighed in this morning: 140.6. Down from the weekend (where I politely ate spinach dip with celery at our friends' house and got two pounds of inflammation water weight for my trouble). Higher than where I wanted to be at this point (I started the year below 140). My goal is still 125 by early summer, but I know that if something doesn't change I'll remain in this homeostatis where I'm just bouncing the same pound on and off. That'll be fine for maintenance, but not so fine for getting to where I want to maintain.

And then there's the whole "the scale is a lying liar who lies" aspect. I do believe that an unhealthy obsession with the scale is bad for your brain, and if you're damaging your psyche by "dieting" then you're missing the point of the benefits you can gain from eating low carb/keto/ZC.

I caught myself, this morning, considering a ketone breath analyzer. This brain, she wants her metrics! But no, the idea is to be fully human and not plugged into tracking this month. If I gain weight or inches when I re-weigh in March, then I'll reevaluate. Besides, ZC ≠ Ketogenic.

To give myself something to focus on, I will be continuing the Principia Carnivora lifestyle, and I will try to reach my step goal daily (5,000 steps - I cut myself some slack since I have a standing desk). If I can reach it daily for a week, I'll increase it. I typically do not reach the goal (usually ending between 3,500 and 4,500). Today, I have to run to Stop & Shop for dinner ingredients, and Wal Mart for other things, so I may do a couple extra laps of each store.

Evaluating myself right this moment, I would initially tell you that I'm currently hungry. But when I take a moment, I realize the sensation of "fix this" is in my chest. That's anxiety. Hunger doesn't come from the chest, it comes from the stomach (also not the intestines). So I'll feed myself with some music and try to tune out my noisy office mates. Anxiety and cortisol can also get in the way of progress.

I just drank a cup of bouillon broth, so now that I know my sodium is pretty much covered for the next 6 hours, I'll fill up my water bottle.

To further the connection with myself, I'm also not going to track my water intake (OMGSHE'SCRAZY), which for me means I will refill my water bottle before it empties so I can't keep track by the marks on the side of the bottle. Maybe I'll even get myself an opaque bottle at Wal Mart. I won't drink water to reach a number, I'll drink water when I'm thirsty. Which may not be much today because I burned my tongue three days in a row and it's kinda not talking to me right now. But that's okay.

TL;DR: I will eat when I'm hungry. I will drink when I'm thirsty. I will confirm hunger sensations before acting upon them. I will try to reduce my stress. I will try to move more. I will avoid carbs in general. I will not weigh or track food, water, or macros again until March (with the exception of taking body measurements for a baseline because scales aren't the whole story). I will make the choices I know are healthy and trust myself to be OK.

Which probably means my 'check-ins' will be lengthy, like this, as I will be talking in more abstracts than check boxes. Apologies in advance!

I'm looking forward to this experiment. It's scary, but I hope that listening to my body gets me the results I want rather than focusing on tables and tallies.

Karlottap wrote: »

I'm returning to my carnivore ways! Dropping carbs to zc level (10, or less!) because this is the level where I have felt my best!
Continuing the work on incorporating more exercise into my day.
I really want a new low on the scale and believe these goals will get me there, and beyond!

That reminds me! Mom has signed on for February as well. She says she didn't feel much in the way of relief to her symptoms from January, but I see an increase in activity from her. She doesn't believe me. She just complains that she's still losing weight she doesn't want to lose.

She said she's willing to try just steak for a week (she claims it's to give me a week off, but since I have to cook "variety" for my husband, this means double the work, really), with one day of Shrimp scampi. This starts tonight, though I have plans to eat that IBIH "Chili Dog Soup" recipe. But I'll cook her rib eye since she probably won't butter it without my help. Might make some garlic herbed butter or something to entice her.

Dad's eating his own thing. I don't know if that's part of my 'week off' or what. But the ice cream scoop was in the sink this morning.

slimzandra wrote: »

2.2.16 Checking In
CW: 148.5
GW: 142.5 (on 3.1.2016)

Carbs- Under 30
Exercise - Yes.
Calories - Great

Up a pound from yesterday. I had a lot of salt before bed, so not too worried. Monday weight is what counts. Probably because of the stressful day with the ex yesterday.
I should stop letting him bug me. Friggin idiot.
Side Vent: I'm going on vacation with my son over school week break and yesterday he started texting me that he had "no way of knowing" what days I had planned since one of the weekends is usually his. That he wants to go to a family birthday party and the 13th falls on his weekend. Um? It takes all my energy to write back a civil note, when I just want to scream! I give myself a pat on the back for how good I've handled this. Back in October, I had emailed him the court order which clearly says that Feb vacation includes both weekends, yet yesterday he still is objecting. I then had to forward him an email from October saying "I plan to be on vacation our son Feb 12-Feb 22, I want to take him on a cruise, please confirm." and he did.
He writes back yesterday: "Well, I had made assumptions based on how we handled vacations in the past." What assumptions? It seems I was pretty clear on the dates. I can't juggle dates when the cruise is booked a week away. Then he adds, "Are you making our son healthy lunches?" WTF. Just say you are sorry for now spamming me the entire day with your stupid texts insisting about that weekend. ARRRRRG... So glad I'm divorced. Shut up and just be happy for your son that his mom loves him so much and is doing a nice thing for him.

Oh, this so reminds me of every single interaction with my ex... which is why I only communicate with him when absolutely necessary (i.e., for vacation planning).

I'm in. I like these challenges. So goals for February:

1. Under 30 net carbs daily/50 net special occasions (Daughter turns 21 on Valentine's Day)
2. Exercise of some sort 3-4 days each week with one of those being outdoors if possible.
3. Pay more attention to budget and meal planning. Last month there were too many meals out.
4. Do something relaxing each day like reading or coloring.
5. Clean and organize the house better. Implement a daily chore list.

I'm in...

I'd like, scratch that, WILL ...
1.) Lose 5-10lbs this month;
2.) At least twice a week, get up a half hour earlier and do some yoga before work to get all stretched and energized; and
3.) finish our home gym so myself and my hubby can get fit for summer!!

My goals for this month are:
- going low carb 5 days a week ( i was doing it twice a week) and see how it works out
- not losing my *kitten* when the scale goes up - i get really upset when I do everything right and gain weight, i lose all motivation and go on crazy binges
- keep my workout regimen, six days a week for at least 45 minutes
- I'll be visiting my brother in the USA later this month and I hope to resist temptations with all the delicious food available at every corner, I always put on weight when I travel and this time I'd like to at least keep the same weight.