Lowcarbfriend

I’m going to do some full body/face before/current pics after Easter but I mentioned these in an earlier thread tonight and was inspired to figure out a way post them now.

I gained all of my weight on 4 straight years of high dose steroids for Lupus complications. I started LC’ing March 4, 2008. The before pic was taken that day or maybe the night before. The other was taken probably 5 weeks or so ago. Stomach and arms are looking even better now. I don’t weigh at home – don’t even own a scale but do weigh once a month at the Dr. She’d been tracking it and on the one year anniversary I’d lost 81 pounds. I’ve actually lost 101 in a year but I don’t count the first 20 here because I’m sure it was fluid from the steroids and came off very quickly as soon as I was able to stop them. I’d like to lose 20 – 30 more but my body feels like it’s on a constant trip thru h*ll and back with the Lupus so if this is where it decides it wants to stay I can absolutely live with it.

The main reason I wanted to post these is because I want to encourage others who might be having trouble seeing their own progress to try looking at pics of themselves differently. I said this in the other thread but when I compared this before picture with the picture I took standing in the same spot one year later I finally saw how much I’d lost. Looking at only myself in pictures or the mirror I would think ‘you still look awful’ but when I compared the two and looked at the ‘white’ space of the wall and how much was now visible, I cried. (Yes, I’m fully aware how silly that is.) Anyway, if you too are having problems really ’seeing’ how far you’ve come I encourage you to look at yourself in a different way.

I just got home from Curves, and I think I am going to die! Lol! No seriously, they have this thing called Curves Smart, and it sets a target for each of the machines that you workout on. Well, I misunderstood and thought that I was suppose to exceed the green light on each machine and make it flash. Half way through the workout, I thought I was going to die, literally! I couldnt breath and felt dizzy. I had to completely stop the circuit for a couple minutes to try and get control of my body. So after the workout I put my card that keeps track of the workout in the computer and it said that I burned 456 calories. Monday I only burned 326. The owner came over and said that Friday, I need to slow it down so that the card will set a lower target for me, because I progressed too much in such a short time.

So, anyway, that got me thinking. On shows like the Biggest Loser they exercise like 8hrs a day at high intensity. And while my muscles were not complaining from my workout today, my breathing and heart rate were through the roof. So, do you all think that you can workout too hard? Or too much? Or should you push yourself to your limit every workout?

outlined? I noticed that a lot of people (myself included) always want to change and switch and add to a program. Why can’t we choose a program and follow it the exact way it is outlined?

I found that I always want a little more of this but a little less of that or I want to skip that part and shorten this part, when the author has set guidelines based on their own expertise.

I’m just angry with myself

I just found out I have gout and am doing Atkins induction. The doctor said no Atkins. Does anyone know if there is anyway I can stay on some form of Atkins?

So I went to get my eyebrows done on Friday by the same girl who’s done them forever. When I walked in she did this and said, "OMG!!!! You’ve lost weight! You look so skinny!!!" This is the first time in a very, very long time anyone has said that. Truth is, I’m down only 2-3 pounds from my normal weight, but just having her notice was a great motivator. She started asking a lot of questions about low-carb and said that she’s been doing it but not losing. Come to find out, she’s been doing low carb AND low fat. Talk about a recipe for disaster….I couldn’t stick to LC very long if I had to do low fat with it. Anyway…..what a great way to start my weekend! After 2-1/2 years I’m re-motivated to get to goal!

And — if you can, should you freeze it before or after you cook it? Does it hold up well after being frozen? If you shouldn’t freeze it, and don’t use it all at once, how long can it be kept in the refrigerator after being cut in half?

Thanks for any advice!

Linda