It’s probably the fiber and it’s a good thing. If your diet was lower in fiber than you probably were slightly constipated or at the very least had longer transit times. Shorter transit times in the colon are tied with a reduced risk in colon cancer. It will probably adjust some as you adapt to a higher fiber diet.

This is late, and it’s not no-sugar added, but Prego Light Smart is oil free. Happy Herbivore lists Delallo Marinara sauce and Muir Glen Engine2 makes an oil/sugar free spaghetti sauce that you can get at Whole Foods.

Very interesting! Dd is in fact doing better. So far it looks like most of that is behind us now, although I did manage to convince her to try moderating and/or giving up on eating some things that I thought were likely contributing to her issues. It could just be a coincidence, but she’s had a couple of trips/sleepovers with other people and we’ve had no repeats. Ds has discovered that his lactose tolerance is down after eating quite a bit of ice cream in a 12 hour period so @kand that seems to be similar to your experience. Thanks everyone!

I made it in before August was over! Marathon training is cruising along. I have no idea what week of training I’m in, but Oct 7th is so much closer than seems possible. I was going to say less than two months to go, but maybe it’s more accurate to say just over one month. I ran my 20-mile long run last week. This week is a cut back week with slightly less running and the long run was 12-miles. Dh and I are running a 5k with the kids this fall so on top of marathon training, I’m doing couch to 5k with them. It’s just plain fun. My middle child decided to break out the “infinite dab” during our walk segment. Never a dull moment. I have become the proverbial “don’t have time for strength training” runner. I had such a groove going in February and March and feel like a bad runner for abandoning it. It’s also soccer season. I hate soccer season. I’m irritated with an adult on dd2’s team so it’s a darn good thing there’s running. Dh is helping coach so my plan for dealing with the adult in question is to put dh in charge of handling that team and that adult. I’ll be the adult for the two big kids teams. Now if only dh was around to handle taking her to practices and I’d have it made. @soror - that all sounds super stressful! The realist in this partnership of mine (read: not me), would totally say taking a break is very good. He’s usually right, too. I hope things feel a bit more even keeled soon! @wintermom - I’ve probably missed it, but did you injure your wrist? We paintd the house in July and I found that tougher on my hand than my wrist, but I could see how set painting would be more taxing on your wrist. If your diet evens out with more checks in the veggie column, maybe it’s not so bad on the whole. @Monica_in_Switzerland - I don’t blame you for forgoing the planned half. Is the course time limit generous enough to give you enough buffer to stick some longer walk breaks in? October here is generally much cooler and less humid so I’m a big fan of October races, obvs. There’s a race I’ve really wanted to run for a couple of years now, but it’s in mid-August and almost always ridiculously hot and humid. @SKL - Did you go to TKD? New stuff always makes me anxious so I don’t blame you for being nervous! @Kim in Appalachia - It sounds like you’ve been busy! I’ve just about reached the point in the year when summer running is getting a little old. I will change my mind come January/February. It’s a thing. Will it get cooler for you come fall? Or maybe less humid? Those early fall gains from summer heat acclimation are pretty nice if fall is cool.

Not sensitive. I’d go for Farrar’s response. I could let what she said go if it were just me, and not my kid. But it’s not just an adult, it’s your kid who had taken the inititative to plan the camping trip and meet badge requirements. I would be afraid that it would crush my kid’s enthusiasm and I would not want that to happen.

OP - If I were talking 10lbs, I think I’d shift the focus from weight loss and a number on the scale to non-scale based measures. In other words, how active are you? How flexibile? Core strength? General over all strength? Cardio fitness? Am I winded going up stairs? Do I have the energy I need to do the things I want to do? Do I get some level of impact in my chosen form of exercise for bone health? Do I manage stress well? And if I am active, have I worked towards making sure I can maintain that level of activity i to the future? Any number of those measures would be more valuable than weight for longevity purposes. I think it’s normal to gain some weight as you age and I think focusing on the number the scale shows you neglects the wider picture.

@Sarah CB - I’ve found the going out conservative has more to do with passing people at the end than fueling does in the half marathon. Like @wintermom mentioned a few posts back, it’s a short enough distance comparatively that you could muscle through regardless of diet without fueling. Starting out too fast is another matter. My May half was the first time I had my run in Strava and it was fascinating to see the splits of the people I passed at the end. Some of them started in the 11-minute range and finished in the greater than 14-minute range. Having a good hill technique helps too. We’d often get passed on the hills at the start of the hill, but pass them either by the midpoint of the uphill or on the downhill just by running up in a lower gear as it were. All of that makes me want to run another half! It’s possible you could leverage the greater heat acclimation to a faster fall race time. Is your half in the same location you’re in now? Or somewhere cooler/less humid? @Monica_in_Switzerland - Nuun generally has little to no sweetener. I think they’re using monk fruit in the new version? Or monk fruit and stevia? It doesn’t have a noticeable stevia flavor, tho. I like it for training, but do not care for it for races. I don’t fuel beyond periodic Gatorade sips until mile 7 or 8 in the half. Nuun has the most flavors, but almost everyone else has a version of it. Gu has one as does Skratch and Hammer. Skratch is aimed at ultra runners and really long distance folks so I believe theirs has fuel in addition to electrolytes. @soror - test day sounds exciting! I hope it goes well for you. Feedback on training is always nice to have! Today I have to get the kids ready to go camping with the grandparents. Dh is home this morning so while I’d like to head to the gym with him, I should probably make him help with getting the kids ready since he won’t be home to help later. If the rain cooperates I have to do the drive kids places thing too. Somewhere in there I’ll get to the gym for strength training/easy run.

@Kim in Appalachia - That’s good to know! When I’m out on my field trip, I’ll look for it! I tried the Nuun strawberry lemonade and dh has some cherry-limeade Nuun that you’d think the lime would help out with, it is so not the case. There have been times on a long run when I have been out of fluids and he has offeredto share, but I have yet to find a time when I wanted to take him up on the offer. I have the same problem with gels on race courses - they’re usually all fruit flavored. I like fruit. Fruit flavored stuff...not so much.

5 miles outside and I neglected to carry water because it was a shorter run and I hate carrying water so no biggie. Should have taken the water anyway. It’s actually cooler and less humid now than it was when I ran earlier today. Got my post-run mobility and core work in. Still have clamshells to do tonight. I went and got more Nuun after my run because I was out. I’m tired of grape and the other fruity flavors are too sweet even though Nuun itself isn’t really sugary. I spent far too long looking for alternatives. Gu had a lemon tea that I think might have been fine if the lemon was sharp enough, but I think they’ve discontinued it. Skratch has a matcha green tea lemon, but what’s matcha like? The local bike store is supposed to be a Skratch retailer, but no luck there. Clearly I’ll need to embark on a field trip - maybe REI.

To be honest, I’m not sure you’re going to find anyone using it here. The board as a general rule leans against MLMs generally. More specifically, what were hoping the oil was going to fix or address for you? I’d be really careful before I started messing around with hormone levels on my own sans supervision from someone like a doctor or an endocrinologist. It can be easy to reason that it’s “safe” or “more natural” because of who sells it or because it’s OTC or because of what the label reads, but as Mergath points out, since it’s not regulated by the FDA there’s no guarantee that it contains what it says it does or that it will work to address whatever issue you might want addressed. As for YL specifically, for those who like essential oils here, the consensus I’ve seen is they are generally over priced.

@Monica_in_Switzerland - the eternal shoe issue. I’d agree that trying out the elastic laces seems like a good middle option if it enables you to keep running in the Altras. On a non-shoe related note, Greg McMillan was on the Running Rogue podcast recently and it was interesting to hear him talk about the development of his calculator and training approach. I have 80/20 on hold at the library right now. One day I think I might actually need to buy the book myself. @SarahCB - isn’t that funny how it goes? Or things like temperature/humidity, how much sleep you got, etc. Or for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Ran on the treadmill on Friday and then just under 10miles outside with dh yesterday. On the one hand it feels like I should not have lost fitness over the last 5 weeks. On the other hand, everything right now feels way too hard for the effort. I bought new shoes online a couple of days ago since my current shoes are nearing the end of their life. I’m a little afraid that Nike is discontinuing my shoe since they haven’t released a new model yet and the stock of old models is tightening. I may have to stock uo and buy an additional two pairs so I can make it through race day before I have to tackle finding a new shoe. The kids and I went on a slightly longer than 2 mile night hike on Friday which was wonderful. My kids are not always interested in going on hikes and have been rather...whiney when dh and I have taken them in the past. They seemed to enjoy so maybe we can take advantage of that this summer!

Like the time Republicans in my state took recall petitions which were publicly available anyway and made them into a searchable online database so that anyone could search it online, for any reason. On the one hand, sure it’s publicly available information. On the other hand, it wasn’t that easily accesible and it certainly wasn’t quite so easily weaponized. It was wrong when they did it back in 2010. It’s still wrong now. Dh is a LEO and we have zero social media for a very specific reason. Dh’s coworkers do not. I think ours is the safer choice, but I can understand why others would choose differently. I don’t think that opting out should be the only way to avoid someone harassing you personally. On a related note, I’ve seen some people suggest that no good people should be in law enforcement because of how it’s used to systematically disenfranchise people. And yet, I always wonder what these people think will happen when all the good people quit. If all that are left are bad apples? Will it magically be less unjust? I’d really rather see the above in all cases.

@soror - Looks like DCr recommends the Wahoo Tickr chest strap. Amazon has it for $50 and it looks like they have their own app, too. Not sure if that’s within your budget, but maybe you can find it cheaper elsewhere. I think the tech in chest straps is pretty standard aside from certain sport specific metrics so it may just come down to comfort for you since you’ll want to wear it for an extended period. @wintermom - That sounds fairly strong. What was interesting at the end of dh’s marathon was the difference in finishers within the same finish time. Some definitely finished strong and others were really struggling just to finish. If I can train to increase my chances of being within that first group, I’m going to work towards that. It gets me further towards my larger fitness goals, too.

@wintermom - Aside from a pace to shoot for in training, I have no delusions of a particular finish time. I have two goals for this race - finishing within the course time limit (6 1/2 hrs) and finishing strong. Strong I define not as fast, but as not feeling like I’ve injured or wrecked myself along the way. I’m also running it with someone whose run a marathon before and who knows me really well. After spectating at dh’s marathon last year, I could see the struggle was real! One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I really enjoy training for something. If it wasn’t a race, it would be something else. I enjoy race day, but I equally enjoy completing the training plan. I’d feel worse about not finishing than I would about not finishing within a specific time while also holding open the option not to finish because like you pointed out, there are so many variables. Hope the pollen eases up soon! Glad to hear the medicine is helping! @lynn - being comfortable in a swimsuit is huge! I spent so many years not doing things and missing out because I was not comfortable in my own body. @Monica_in_Switzerland - well at 140 I was walking so...yeah. I did learn how to shuffle along at a walking pace while using the muscle chain you use to run so that’s pretty useful. Not sure if that makes sense, but it’s interesting to feel the difference in muscles used when shuffling/walking with pace remaining the same. There was some benefit in running the numbers through McMillan’s calculator and finding that my hr matched the ranges within his paces. It was kind of a “well, duh” moment because of course my heart rates are there. That’s my fitness level and of course dh’s are way lower than mine. He’s that much fitter which is a measure of all sorts of other things and not a reflection on me. If that make sense? I think HR has some value in helping you more accurately feel that “easy” pace so easy is really easy and not “easier” because you could run faster. @soror - do you have a smartphone? You can get a bluetooth chest strap and connect it to just about every fitness app out there. The straps are pretty inexpensive and then you can see if you even find it helpful. I’d check DCRainmaker for reviews. 45 minutes on the bike and strength training today. Next week my goal is to learn how tonise the assisted pull-up machine at the gym.

Well, I say if what you’re doing works, then I’d do that. There are limitations to HR training, especially if you are using a standard calculation instead of your numbers. For instance, since I have a HR strap and a Garmin, my max HR is 202. If I use the standard calculation, then I’m leaving training capacity out. Likewise, if you just go off of HR max then the numbers you get are lower than if you use HR Reserve which takes into account your resting heart rate. Even when calculating my HRR, I used the last resting HR I knew which wasn’t necessarily accurate since I didn’t take it upon first waking and when I’m well rested. And even then there’s HR drift which we know occurs even if intensity or effort doesn’t go up - especially in long runs and probably due to dehydration among other factors. So the longer you run, the more you’ll slow down. To the point that you’re basically walking. Which excludes heat and humidity which impacts heart rate, too. Along with how rested you are. And how stressed you are. Even how stressed or anxious you are when completing the workout. Or if you take a drink.... I’ve found generally that when I use the McMillan calculator with my recent half marathon result, my heart rate generally matches up with the ranges he gives for the training paces the calculator suggests. Since I can tend to run all my workouts too fast if I’m not careful, I think I’ll go with that.

@Monica_in_Switzerland - I like your rule! ? I have hemmed and hawed about this a bit. The great debate in marathon training is time vs. distance. I was following a heart rate plan that’s strongly based on Maffetone’s work which I guess is fine. My plan was definitely geared towards people who do not run consistently and generally need someone to help them work up to consistency and 5 days of running. Well, I’m consistent and have been running 5 days since July of last year which is down from 6 days in early 2017 so I don’t need help with that. Dh says I’m sometimes too focused on following the plan and I could loosen up. But I’ve also never run a marathon. So beginning marathoner, not beginner runner. The appeal of the plan was the coach and the community aspect which was nice, but in the end I just don’t know if I’m sold on limiting runs to hear rate and after reading a few race reports...one especially who was undertrained for the distance...well, I worry about time on feet. I did the math on the plan and it did not look like enough time wise, but of course you can’t really see that until you buy it. I want to finish my marathon strong like I did at the end of my half in May - kicking butt and taking names. ? Anyways, having spent money already on a plan, I didn’t want to spend more money on another plan even if it was plan b. Plan C - I’m going to use some of the things I’ve found worked in the past for half marathon training and then go with the philosophy type bits from the running folks whose work I respect and seems most solidly based in science. I’m using some Tempo runs from Jenny Hadfield’s Intermediate plan and her overall structure with the general mileage from the Hansons “Just Finish” plan. I’m going with Jenny Hadfield’s long run mileage/build up which gets me two 20 mile runs and three or so weeks where you cut back in mileage and split those long runs so the first half of that run is at your training pace and the second half is at race pace. Those runs are a lot like the simulation runs in my half plan which I found invaluable come race day. I’m using my McMillan training paces/heart rate zones to help me gauge intensity. From there, I’m swaping the sixth day of running from Hansons for cycling because six days of running has been too much for me in the past and I liked the cycling from my off season training. One of the five running days I’m going to run on the treadmill so it gets me physically in the gym. Then that day plus the cycling day, I will go back to the strength training I did in the “off season” because that’s the thing I changed from before that resulted in my big PRs. On the three non-weight lifting days I’m going to aim for some core work. Plus clamshells all six days because that helped avoid last year’s hip issue. And the seventh day I’ll take completely off. Long runs I’ll probably do on Friday because during soccer season it would be impossible to fit in. Sundays will be the day I take completely off also because of soccer. @soror - Hills are not bad and the best part of running uphill is that you get to go downhill. Plus, if you “sit” ever so slightly into the downhill then it’s rather restful.

I had to hunt the thread down because apparently it's June and one should not expect to see alerts for the May thread. ? I'm technically five weeks into marathon training, but the first week was the week after my half marathon race which I took off. I'm still running week 5 on the plan so I'm going to call it week 5. Cuz it sounds good. I've decided to stick with what worked really well for me this spring and that led to my PR so I've gone back to my own thing. Running someone else's plans really feels like wearing someone else's shoes. I ran 40 minutes easy on the treadmill today and got in some upper body strength training at the gym and some core work at home. I'll see your hills and speed workouts and trade it for the long run. I like hills and I like speed, but there's nothing quite like running for 2 hours or more. If there's one thing that I learned while trying the new plan, it's that I adore, those long slow miles. @Monica_in_Switzerland - Looks like a good set of goals to work toward! And that's about all I have time for because apparently the people here are going to want to eat dinner. ? But hey, I subscribed so that's half the battle.

A child of mine burnt toast so bad that smoke was billowing out of the toaster. Thankfully there was no fire and we have wiped down everything in the kitchen. However, the upper kitchen cabinet the toaster was under still smells like smoke. The other people in my house say it’s faint. I think they’re crazy. It’s still pretty strong to me. Before calling in one of the restoration companies, I thought I’d ask the Hive. Right now the cabinet door is in the garage because it’s the worst, but the bottom of the cabinet is a close second. Any ideas as to how I can get the smell out?

I should add, too. The cliche “marathon not a sprint” applies to weight loss. Another poster refered to her 25lb weight loss in a year as slow. That’s not slow! You lose 25lbs in a year and maintain that weight loss? That’s winning at life! Here’s how it worked for me- 2014 - Starting weight in January 274.6lbs (this was not my highest weight, I think my highest was closer to 280). Ending weight 245.8. Pounds lost 28.8 2015 - Starting weight 245.8. Ending 206.6. Pounds lost 39.2 2016 - Starting weight 206.6. Ending weight 192. Pounds lost 14.6 2017 - Starting weight 192. Ending weight 172.4. Pounds lost 19.6 2018 - I’m down about 8lbs Lost in all that are lots of times when my weight went up. And down. And up. And down. It also doesn’t show any of the non-scale changes I made. I cut my 5k time by 10 minutes. I cut my half marathon time by 27 minutes. I wear smaller clothes. I can see bones I never saw before. I can start to see muscle definition. I’ve also got lose skin and extra body fat I’d like to say goodbye to. But I also found a tougher, stronger version of myself. I can pick any measure above and either celebrate it or consider myself a failure if I choose to. I could have given up at any point if I had chosen the negative ones. Please take the long view. It’s pretty darn sweet four years later.

I really cannot stress this enough. Do not panic at 2lbs. A 2lb regain is not a sign that whatever you’re doing is not working. 2 weeks and 2lbs is not enough information to evaluate what’s happening. For example, between yesterday first thing and today after breakfast I “gained” 4lbs. Does that mean that what I’m doing is not working or that I actually put on 4lbs of fat? Heck no! So many factors are at play here. In my case, my first thing weight is always lower than my after breakfast weight, I was pretty sick this weekend, I was probably slightly dehydrated, I had a few more carbs yesterday, I had a higher sodium food day yesterday, etc, etc. In your case, I’m pretty confident that it’s water and/or glycogen weight and over time may either even back out or you’ll notice your weight start going down as you move from a higher water/glycogen level to more fat loss. If you gain a pound each week for four weeks then let’s start worrying about what works or doesn’t. Here’s the thing about phase based diets - they aren’t magic. The more drastic the phase, the more “results” you’ll get, but if you’re measuring success based solely upon the number the scale tells you which says nothing about muscle or fat in your body composition then you really have no idea if what you did “worked.” The drastic phases can work on a motivational level provided you can turn that into long term success. They don’t work when they are so restrictive that you can’t maintain it and then when you regain you judge you and not the diet. Also, 30 days is a short time frame. In this case it’s long enough to tell you that you probably can’t sustain the effort to keep it going long term. That’s good data to have. It is not enough to form new habits, change tastebuds, create new normals. Six months is a good time frame for that. I’m not saying you have to keep doing Whole30 or that you can’t do it or that it isn’t going to be your solution. I just don’t want you to feel discouraged and give up all hope. It’s generally unwise to lose weight in a way that you can’t sustain forever and ever. If what you’re doing now feels more sustainable, give it awhile and see. At four weeks, maybe eight depending on how the next two weeks go, reevaluate how things are working and then tweak it.

What about starting from where you are right now. Instead of taking on a whole new way of eating, what if you focused on working within what’s already normal for you? Because of those I know who lost weight and maintained that weight loss, a “diet” wasn’t how they did it unless that “diet” allowed them some semblance of normalcy. Or rather that the changes made moved what was normal over time. How drastically different from how you eat on a regular basis is Whole30? What are you eliminating? How many changes will you need to make? And finally, how much weight are we talking about?

I’m vegan so I feel ya. A couple of tweaks that work for me that you might consider - Snoothies are pretty easy calories. You've done all the work and made those calories a lot more likely to be absorbed. If you liked oatmeal before, you could always eat that and add your protein powder to it. Top your oatmeal with your yogurt and berries. Another option is to mix your yogurt and protein powder and top with the berries. Chew your calories and see if that helps. Beyond Meat has chicken-less strips. They’re more expensive, but lower in fat and higher in protein. It’s just that two pounds could be a lot of things like water weight or hormones or the moon. I mean, probably not the moon, but you get my drift. And if you don’t have any physical activity, I’d add something in. Walking works. Biking. Swimming. Doesn’t have to be crazy high impact, but should be something you enjoy. I’m betting your goal is more than just the number on the scale. You could lose weight and still have high body fat. Physical activity helps in that regard. It may not make you gave crazy muscle definition, but it’s going to tell your body some pretty important things that helps out in the long run. Mainly - hey, keep those muscles. We need them.

Ok, so I’m not a nutritionist and I don’t play one on TV, but what about starting from what you know. Pretty low cal doesn’t work. 40/30/30 doesn’t work. What if you took that as a starting point and messed around with it for a bit. How long have you been following the dietician’s plan? I’d give it a good solid 4 weeks at least unless I gained a crazy huge amount of weight. For me, I’d start being concerned at 7lbs and I’d start tweaking at 10lbs. 2lbs is just too little to hit the panic button because there are enough other factors that could cause it. If you’ve stuck with it for at least a month then maybe I’d consider adjusting, but I’d probably give it two months. Then, if I were adjusting, I’d look at small changes and I’d pick one thing to change. Less fat, more protein? Less fat, keep protein the same, a few more whole carbs? Working towards satiety with lower calorie density? Work that one thing for a month or two at least. Changing a bunch of stuff makes it difficult to see what’s working and what’s not. This is generally how I lost 110-ish lbs. I have 30-ish to go and it’s how I’ll lose the rest. I lose mine slowly (this is year four). 40lbs would have me expecting at least two years. Faster is nice, but faster, ime is just not sustainable. Satisfying is subjective. Tastebuds change. The Biggest Loser is a lie. There is no magic pill. Work it like it’s n=1 and just keep on keeping on. I think that about covers it.

I have sometimes wondered how x historical people could allow certain wrongs to continue. It seemed so foreign to me at the time, clearly the right answer was to do something. I don’t find it so foreign anymore. In fact, I can see how it happens(ed). We all like to think that we would have been on the right side of history as seen through the lens of looking backward. I’m not so sure. It all makes me mighty uncomfortable. Now I wonder what those looking back through the lens of history will say about us. As an atheist, I also find the discussion amongst Christians interesting, only in so far as there are several Christians who have more in common on this issue with me, the atheist humanist than they do with other Christians. In so far as their personal beliefs inform their voting record and leave space for a plurality of other ethical understandings, I see no issue with this or the separation of church in state. TechWife and ktgrok are talking about a very different perspective than the theocrats who begin with Christianity is right ergo, it’s the only way and the government should only consider that perspective and legislate accordingly.

Yeah, it was really rather the equivalent of me saying that since Republicans have ruined my homestate, I’d be kind of tempted to ask that the OP not move here either because we have enough reactionary folks. I imagine one could have a discussion about where to move without also trying to get a dig in. Heck, you could even say one could have left that part out and still have a useful and productive discussion