Okay, someone please tell me if I dreamed this up, because I cannot find any reference to it now, despite multiple google searches. But I swear that I remember reading that in one of these bakery lawsuits (in which the bakery was owned and operated jointly by a husband and wife), the wife had testified on the stand that they refused to provide baked goods ONLY for gay weddings, not to gay people. But then the husband blew it, because when he took the stand, he said they would not provide any baked goods to any gay person for any occasion whatsoever (and thus they lost the case). I thought I read about this on Slate, but I can't find it now. I'm not sure I see how the distinction matters, though.

Oh no! :( I'm so sorry. I hope that the doctor will be able to do something to help.

No. I gave it very serious thought not that long ago when there was a series of horrifying crimes in broad daylight in areas very close to my home and which I frequent (the place where I run, a shopping center that I go to often, etc.) Violent crimes against women are on the rise where I live. So it's tempting. But then the reality of carrying a gun started to set in, and I realized it is not a responsibility that I want. The logical part of my mind knows that statistically that gun is more likely to end up being used against me or someone that I love. The illogical part (superstitious part) of my mind feels that it's inviting negative energy and something bad would happen as a result. And the spiritual part of me feels that it is not God's will for me. I bought some pepper spray instead. And I have zero interest in hunting, so that's not an issue. And I live in the suburbs, so no need to protect myself or my property from any wild animals (just human animals). That said, though, I hesitated to select the last option in your poll, because I feel there's a danger to saying "never"! We have had a lot of close-calls with crime here, but we've never been victims. If that changes, though, as much as I'd like to think that I would stick to my principles, I can't guarantee that I would. But my VERY STRONG preference, rather than arming myself, would be to move to a safer part of the country (or even a safer country!). My husband is eligible for retirement in March of 2016. We're counting down the days.

I think that this is a really tough, really challenging program. The name "couch to 5k" makes it sound so easy, like anybody can do this! But in reality, it's very hard. Going from non-runner to 5k runner in just nine weeks is really ambitious. Honestly, I think three to even five months might be more realistic for most of us! I'm not saying that because I don't believe in the program. I'm just saying that I don't think any of us should get discouraged or feel that we've somehow "failed" if this isn't easy for us, or if we have to adapt the schedule. I'm definitely planning to adapt the schedule! I was originally thinking I would just repeat weeks as needed, but there's no reason that you couldn't modify this week to have somewhat shorter running intervals and/or somewhat longer recovery intervals. Make up your own Week 3.5 and then try Week 4 later. Just a thought! :)

Well mine was Spock! :lol: I knew he couldn't love me back, but that didn't stop me from loving him. That was when I was very young (the show was in reruns) and when I was a teen it was Jon Bon Jovi. Guess my tastes had changed quite a bit by then. Ha!

I would just like to say to Sadie and Joker and anyone else who has a child who has been hurt in this way, that I am sorry. I know that as a parent, your child's pain is worse than your own, and you would do anything you could to take it away for them, to protect them. Also, thank you Cammie for your post.

Regarding Americans being loud, my daughter and I observed today that the London underground is quieter than our public library!

Mine is only 15, so we haven't been through all of the teen years yet, but so far YES they are my absolute favorite. I am still her parent and always will be, but I love that we are now friends as well as mother and daughter.

I did the first run of Week 4 this morning. It looked like a pretty big jump from Week 3 so I was a little nervous. Then on the "Running into Shape" podcast, Carli said "don't be scared!" Have you ever noticed that when someone says not to be scared, it only makes you more scared? I mean, if there was no reason to be scared, they wouldn't have to say it! :lol: It actually worked out just fine. It wasn't as much harder regarding heart/lungs and endurance as I feared it would be. I did have more ankle pain this time, though, so I'm afraid I may have to do something about that. I just wish I knew what to do! I'm thinking about trying this: https://www.painscience.com/articles/mobilizing.php LavenderGirl, enjoy your vacation!

That is a fantastic idea!

Thank you for all of these great suggestions! I really appreciate your help. I do eat quite a lot of fat - I'm not fat phobic at all. ;) But I'd never thought about "dosing" with it right before a higher-carb meal or treat. That is a GREAT idea! Another thing I was thinking about (after I posted) regarding the green chile stew is the possibility of substituting potato with, believe it or not, radishes. I don't care for radishes that much when they're raw, but when you cook them, they become surprisingly mild and soft with just a hint of sweetness. If anyone is interested, this is pretty good: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/radish_home_fries.html They're not a lot like potatoes, so I don't want to give anyone false hope! But they're not bad.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a place where Italian was the thing instead of Mexican, because I would be a lot less tempted! Wheat makes me so sick that pizza and pasta just don't have the appeal to me that they used to. But corn, potatoes, and beans . . . yeah, those things are hard to give up. Especially corn (for me). So true! I'd never thought of it in quite those terms before, but that hits the nail on the head. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I guess I have been doing that, because I honestly don't pay much attention to my calories. In the past, counting carbs was all I needed to keep my weight where I wanted it. I gained about 8 pounds in November, and this was *before* I faltered on my diet, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to get more strict. :( I have never read that book, but I will do so. Thanks for the suggestion!

Sounds yummy!

:grouphug: I appreciate the understanding and support! I do think that's really important, to plan the cheat days in advance, and not just wing it. If I wing it, there's way too much temptation to just keep indulging. And I know that my immune system is much stronger when I'm in ketosis, so I don't want to be knocking myself out of ketosis every weekend! That's crazy! Maybe a once-a-month cheat is the way to go. Gosh, I went like three years without a single cheat meal, I don't know why I can't make it a week now! :( Sounds like you are doing fantastic!

Oh, and I should mention that I use sea salt! I don't know for sure, but it just seems to me that using the standard, iodized table salt would possibly result in too much iodine.

I just wanted to add that I had a similar experience - had to learn this the hard way. :) I had read that you needed to increase your sodium intake when you go LC, but I mistakenly thought it was just during that first week or so when you're suffering from "Atkins flu". So after I got through that, I stopped doing it. And I was fine for awhile. What I didn't realize is that any time (all the time) that your carb intake is less than 60g per day, it changes the way that your kidneys process salt and water. I started experiencing chronic, horrible muscle cramps, constipation, weakness/fatigue, and hair loss. These things all came on gradually, with the hair loss being the last to show up, so I didn't realize they were related. I was trying so hard to figure out what was going on, and I even saw my doctor, who ran some blood tests which didn't reveal anything abnormal. Finally one day I put ALL of my symptoms into a google search, and I found the wiki page on hyponatremia (too little sodium). Since then, I've been drinking some super-salted broth every single day. I warm up some broth in the microwave, add yet more salt to it, and chug it. It isn't pleasant, but it works. My hair stopped falling out, my digestion went back to normal, and the muscle cramps are greatly relieved. For whatever reason, the cramps are like the canary in the mine for me, the first signal that my salt is getting low. If I miss a day, they reappear. And sometimes they creep back even when I haven't missed a day, so I'll double the dose one day, and then I'm fine. I have to admit, though, not a huge fan of that broth! I'm going to have to look for those Nuun electrolyte tablets - that might be a nice change. Are they hard to find?

Sure! I appreciate the offer for help! Let's see, one of my favorites is this one: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/green_enchilada_chicken_casserole.html But sadly, my daughter doesn't like it, so I don't make it very often. I'd heard that you could substitute jicama for potatoes, so I tried that for the green chile stew once. It was a disaster. Yuck. Jicama doesn't get soft as you cook it. It stays crunchy. I'm sure it would be great in other recipes, but not in stew! I've made posole stew by just using a whole lot less of the posole (corn), and more of the chorizo. Of course you can't add too much chorizo because then it gets too hot, so I added chicken too to make it more filling. It was really good, and while it was lower carb than the original, it's not super low carb. Lots of times if I'm making tacos or fajitas for the family, I will just put my fillings in a bowl and skip the tortilla. That's easy, and it's pretty darn good, though I can't pretend I don't miss the tortilla! :) http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/fiesta_bowl.html Of course, I don't think there is any substitute for tortilla chips or papas. I can live without papas, but I sure miss tortilla chips! Oh, this recipe is pretty good too: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/taco_bake.html

These are wonderful ideas! Thank you so much!!! I really like that phrase "lazy keto" -- that suits me well! :D My favorite cheat meals/foods are definitely not low-glycemic. :( Tortilla chips are my favorite carb food in the world. I live in New Mexico, and I love the local foods: chips and salsa, enchiladas, papas, posole, beans, green chile stew, carbs, carbs, carbs. I do make low-carb versions of these, but they are just not the same without the corn or potatoes.

I'd love to join in. But, even though I've been doing LC for years, I'm going to start by asking for help! I'm burned out. I have to stay LC because I have reactive hypoglycemia and I've had blood glucose numbers up in the pre-diabetic range. For years I have followed a ketogenic HFLC diet, 50g or less per day, never "cheated", kept my weight steady, everything was great. Until it wasn't. I am so freaking sick of counting carb grams. I hate to say that to all of you who are working so hard to do this every day, but I am just so tired of measuring, weighing, counting because it makes me obsessive about it. I feel like the diet is in charge of my life instead of me being in charge of my diet. I did not used to feel that way at all. I used to ENJOY counting and recording and all that stuff. I don't know why my feelings changed. And I've really been struggling lately with wanting a "cheat meal" on the weekends, which turns into a cheat day, which turns into a cheat weekend. Monday morning I get back on track. Friday evening the cycle starts all over again. This has got to stop, because it will kill me. I will end up diabetic if I don't get this under control. So I need two things: to get my motivation back (where did it disappear to??), and to find a plan that is super simple and doesn't involve counting every gram. I'd like something that just goes by general serving sizes or simply says "eat these foods, don't eat those" or something like that. Is there such a plan or should I just develop my own? And if you have any tips for getting back some enthusiasm, that would be great. I used to read a lot of books and listen to a ton of podcasts about LC, but I don't even want to do that anymore! I hope that I haven't been too much of a drag. I would be most appreciative of any help. I really need to eat this way for the rest of my life. I have to find a way to make it work!

Yes, that certainly seems like wise advice!

/facepalm

Thanks, I certainly suspected that would be the case!

That's fascinating. I had no idea! :) When we were planning our trip to London, we asked a friend here who has a lot of experience travelling there for advice on how to dress so as not to scream "American tourists!!!" He said there was basically nothing we could do, everyone was going to know instantly that we're Americans, so just relax and don't worry about it. What's funny to me, though, is that I don't think the reverse is true. I don't think that most Americans would be able to identify a tourist from the UK by any means except the accent. (Fellow Americans, please correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe it's just me who is oblivious! :lol:) So, are Americans less aware of other cultures than other cultures are of us? I suspect that we are. I remember noting during my brief time in London how much more global the television news was. And people that we interacted with could identify what region of the US I'm from after hearing me speak a single sentence. I can distinguish a London accent from a Sheffield one, but that's about it, and it takes me more than one sentence!

Thanks, that's interesting. I've never lived outside of the U.S. (though I would love to have that opportunity) so I think it's hard in some ways to judge a culture from within it. I grew up in OK and lived a little while in TX, and when I moved to upstate NY I was pretty shocked by how different it was. But for non-Americans, would the average Texan and the average New Yorker seem a lot more like each other than either one of them does to the non-American? Would they both give off a distinctly American vibe? If so, then I'm willing to say that America has a singular culture, though I believe that those outside of that culture can probably do a better job of defining or describing it than I can.

:lol: Greta works very hard at keeping her natural snarky tendencies in check.