What a great attitude, MelissaWood! Thanks for this perspective. ~ Nita

Nita,

I started following the 4 hour body slow carb diet in mid-February and have lost 13 lbs so far.  I fall into the over 40 with kids category descibed in the book so the first 6 weeks were slow, but now it's starting to come off and I'm losing 1.5 to 2 lbs a week.  I also read Gary Taubes "Why We Get Fat" which essentially provides the science background for Tim Ferriss' book.  The cheat day started out for me as a binge but then I'd feel terrible after.  Now, it's more like a day where I relax the rules a bit and eat a few forbidden foods so I don't mind going 6 days without them. Also, I time this higher carb day for the day before my long run (or a race day), so I refuel my muscles and it does make a difference on my stamina on the long runs.  There's something to that pasta for dinner before a race tradition!

It's a really nice balance.  I think the best thing that has come out of it for me is that I just don't eat much processed foods anymore, and I eat a lot more vegetables.   I'd recommend trying it if it interests you, but you have to give it at least a month if not two to see the results.  I had been plateaued for so long before trying this diet despite the fact that I had a daily calorie deficit of 500-1000 so I this diet has been liberating to me.

Best,
Laura

A lot of us seem to have the same issues. I have been doing weight watchers since June. I have lost 46 pounds and have 35 to go. If I was on maintenance right now I would be a shining star. The scale has not moved except to show a 4 pound gain since November. I work out everyday for about 75 minutes and now since the weather is nice (deduct 5 points for wind misery) I have been doing my running portion outside for 5 miles a day. I am scared of food. In my mind, food is bad. I saw a guy on the show The Talk yesterday, name is Rocco DiSpirito, talked about food. He has a book called Now Eat This Diet. Looks interesting. The foods he made yesterday looked really good. I have found tofu noodles. I am a pastaholic and although a little rubbery, hey are really good. He also says that when you don't eat, your body stores the fat until you give it something to fuel itself. So, what confuses me is where does calorie in/out take play? How do these people that do not eat lose weight? Why can I work out till the cows come home and stay in this frustrating rut?

Glad I found this! I was going to do a post on weight loss today!

Like most of you, I have not been able to drop an ounce of body weight or fat in over 2 years. I started running in November of 2009. I thought that when I started running that I would drop weight like crazy because it was something that my body was not used to. My diet was good and is good. I do not eat sugar, I do not eat white flour, I eat low fat and I eat alot of fruits and veggies with my meat being mostly chicken with red meat only occassionally. I exercise (run, weights) at least 5 days a week. I have trained for and run 2 half marathons so far this year, have run several 10k's and 5k's and I do a long run of 10-14 miles every Saturday. But, I STILL COULD NOT BUDGE THE WEIGHT!! I never gained weight, but I never lost weigh either. I was not overweight, but I had a few pounds that needed to go. I am 5'7" and weighed from 152-154 for around 2 years. Within normal ranges, but a little extra fluff that I wanted to go. I finally decided that something was amiss and decided to really scrutinize my diet. As I said, I eat very healthy, but a part of that healthy diet was almonds. I love almonds and I ate them for snacks alot. In my thinking, they are healthy, have good fats and fiber. Once I really looked at the amount of almonds that I ate each week, I saw where I was taking in MAJOR calories and fat even though it was good fat! As an experiment, I reduced my almond intake to 10 per day. I did not change anything else about my diet or my lifestyle, exercise routine. Results of the experiment............I have dropped 8 lbs and some major inches in the past 5 weeks!!!!  I have dropped even more body fat! I now weigh 143.8 and running is so much easier and my speed is about a minute per mile faster!

Moral to story........take a close look at your diet. Is there something in it that you eat more of than you should even if it is healthy?  As I said, I have not changed anything about my diet other than reducing the amount of almonds I was eating a day. I would grab a small handful several times a day and at night thinking that this was better than eating something unhealthy! No wonder I could not lose the weight!

Congrats Mimi,

Since I have started the C25K back in November (I have not been quite so disciplined until lately) I have lost around 13lbs. I finally noticed it when I started training for a 10K that I am doing in June and I am very happy. I've cut my portions down and am watching what is going into my mouth. I have good days, really good days and bad days. But for me I feel so much better.

Kerry

Good Morning Fellow Runners!

          I am new to the running scene and a friend recommended I try out this website. It is amazing and I love it. Today I started the 9 week challenge to the C25K running a few minutes and building up stamina. I have always found running to be difficult do any of you have any advice or have tried this program to start out?

I am a slow runner usually a 14-16 mm. This August I will be getting married and for the age of 24 have let myself get out of shape after college and would like to lose 15 pounds running always helped me stay fit and trim in the past I just need some advice on getting back into running and going long distances eventually. Any help would be great!!

Mimi - Hmmmm... Almonds are my healthy nut of choice too, and like you, I might eat a few twice a day (vs cookies etc) - but definitely more than a serving.  I'll look at that too. I seem to do well when I fix up a good salad and have that for lunch, and poorly when pasta, Mexican or Chinese is for dinner (too much salt, etc?).

I FINALLY did my long run today, even though I did not feel a lot of energy. I even skipped my 6AM boot camp class, so I'd have no excuse not to complete the full run. 12 miles in almost 3 hrs (~15mm).  Since I'm still trying to beat 3 hrs for the HM, I thought I'd try to run that long, even though I'm slower than the pace I need (13:45).  I wasn't tapered like I would be for the race & it was warm & mildly humid, so I'm hoping that I'll do better in 12 days, when the competition pulls me along.

On Sun or Mon, I'll try a 5-7 mile hill run, and the rest of the time before next Thurs, just do 3-4 mi runs (some fast, some easy) while continuing my Tri cross-training. Today after my run I was at 198 (but not hydrated enough), so I'll only acknowledge a sub-200# wt when I wake up at 199.