erikahollister's Journal, 01 Oct 23

I'm a little mystified why I'm so stuck. I've had a very active two weeks of heavy gardening, interior painting and a start on resistance training, as well as consistent eating. I've paid for a month of coaching with Kelly Hogan which starts in a few days. That is a carnivore, Zero Carb program, so we'll see if that can whip me into shape. 

I've been on the scale a couple of times in the last week and it's been slightly up, but I'm not logging it, just tweaking a couple of things and I'll try again next week. Probably just water or other normal biological processes doing their thing because it definitely shouldn't have been what I ate! 

hang in there, NEVER quit 

Take my word for it, Erika. If you've started strength training, put the scale away for a while. Take lots of pics. They are an even better tool than measuring. I'm sitting at 212. I've only lost a few pounds on the scale in a couple of months, but I can feel muscle growth. Remember 2 things: How important muscle is for us as we get older & when we look at someone, we don't normally don't ask how much the scale says they weigh. We only see what we see. Maybe we should feel the same about ourselves.  

Muscle is heavier than fat for one, carb sensitivity like me and not a diabetic can raise and lower weight. Keep at it 

Sounds like you already started whipping yourself into shape…your month of upcoming coaching, great idea👍🏼. Give the increase in muscle-strengthening their due on the scales! Don’t discourage, with nearly 75 down that’s committed!!! 

Continue to Take it One Day at a Time because You Got This💯🫶🏾 

I agree with Z that you are likely seeing muscle growth. Your metabolism may be down regulated a bit if you increased your protein demand (resistance training) and kept your calories the same. 

Hey Erica. You are doing so well. I would be pulling my hair out if I worked as hard as you and didn't see a loss. I'm proud of you for not giving up!!!! SO, I took a QUICK look at your food log. Your calories look fine! You much taller than me, so lucky you :-). The only think that stands out as a possibility for a stall is the amount of dairy. I personally had to dump the heavy cream, cheese etc. That is when I started losing consistently. DANG, I love my cheese too! It is worth a try. Sometimes when I do more work around the yard/house etc, I don't loose then get a whoosh. I think maybe when we work our muscles they do bulk up with some water also. I hope you enjoy your time with Kelly Hogan. SHE DRIVES ME BONKERS with her energy and accent (ha)but I totally respect her foundation of knowledge. I hope that scale and fat start melting away. Sometimes, I have to go 100% steak. I get NY Strip. I really lose the most consistently when I only eat them. You got this!!!!  

sorry for typos LOL 

Jen, I didn't see your lovely comment, so sorry for not responding. It has been slow, but I agree that the more meat the better for me. Zero carb when possible! I'm not quite there yet consistently. I have given up cow dairy in favor of goat dairy and I think that's a step that is helping. 

On Kelly Hogan. She has given us a lot of good info, but with all the crazy stuff in my life this month, I haven't been able to devote myself fully to the program. I've been printing out her PDF's and will keep it to use as I can. Also, she advocates for a lot of walking, which just hasn't been fitting into my life as I would like it to. So that's something to aspire to, but I have made it to the gym 2x per week for a month. That's a win and I'm feeling the benefit. 

The crazy thing that's been happening with my walking is that I have dogs who are great walking companions, but one of them refuses to walk past a certain point on our dead end street. He just lies down and makes me drag him or turn around. So we walk up a long block and back, which is about a 10-15 min walk, but not more. So do I walk without the dogs? or carry him past the house he's scared of? It's silly, but impacting my exercize! 

Nice commitment with your gym👍🏽 Keep up the walking…. And yes with your great waking companions. Maybe a favorite treat stashed in your pocket to be used as a distraction, until past that certain point. Walking with my little dog definitely helps us both🐾🩷  

Thanks FoodDuty. I do think a little bribery is in order, or a new full-body harness with a handle. 

Or a doggie stroller, it was suggested to me for Baby Girl, she was getting quite out of breath in the beginning, but she has improved, we all have. I have missed our walks this week....stupid knee! 

Aww poor doggie. Ya. Walk without him or make a special walk with 🐕. Mine started to do that this week. I've been looking at strollers on Amazon. You can get a decent one for about $30- $40 bucks! Some look better than others. I think I'll get one and walk part way with him and push him the rest.  

The other problem is that I have two dogs and my daughter, who had twins this year, asked us to take in her dog,'temporarily'. Well, you can guess what happened. It's been temporary since April. Walking three fickle dogs is just a lot! 

Yeah on the twins. 3 dogs!!! That's hard!