How about getting on the Board of a non-profit? That would help with the networking and would look good on a resume.

I remember. Sounds like this switch over will be a lot smoother. We had to re-register last time, right? That's when I changed my user name.

I'm not sad, either. I prefer smaller. Nice work on faithful gym attendance! I ate crap on Monday. And on Tuesday :( I find March really hard. I've been tracking good days and bad days and I've had 8 bad days in March, whereas I only had 4 bad days in all of February. I'm having way more good days than last year though, so that's a big win. And we leave on Monday for two weeks in the sun :) I can't wait until I get through this season.

You'll have to post an update.

Mine have shrunk beyond recognition. Dh keeps saying it's like they're an entirely new set of bOOks. I'm interested in your lifting plans. Is Girls Who Lift a book? We're moving at the end of the school year and I won't be able to see my trainer at all anymore, but I'd really like something to follow. I enjoy dead lifts and benching and I do a lot of things like elevated split squats with weights, walking lunges with weights, etc. I just wouldn't know where to start in terms of making progress in the gym without someone telling me how many reps to do and when to increase the weight.

Nice work on the cleanse! That's tough. It's great that you've got more info from the chiropractor. I am really hoping chiro is able to help you. Three months is a reasonable amount of time to give it to see if there's any improvement. I'm rooting for you! I did something to my old shoulder injury while bench pressing yesterday. I think I got off track and went up at the wrong angle and I heard a little crack in my shoulder. We stopped benching at that point, but by the time I got home it was sore and cracked loudly when I moved it in certain directions. I was able to get in to see my chiropractor yesterday and he wants to see me again today. I'm hoping that whatever he's doing works fast as we leave on vacation for 2 weeks on Monday, so today is the last time I'll see him.

That's so weird. It's funny how different people respond to different things... I find keto is great for my endurance. When I first switched over to keto it took a few weeks for me to adjust, but then I quickly took off from there. I ran a half marathon in February in a fasted state and was very happy with my time. I feel like I have a ton of energy and I think my skin looks great ;) I've also noticed my immune system seems stronger. I don't get headaches or heartburn anymore. I'm getting stronger in the gym - deadlifted 225 lbs this week :) The weight loss was really just the beginning. And just to address the weight loss - I had been hovering around 30 lbs above what I weighed when I was 19 for years. I tried a variety of different things - slim fast, calorie restriction, weird cabbage soup diets, etc. These would work for a while and then I'd plateau and get frustrated and eventually give up. I had clothes in my closet that I didn't think I would ever fit into again. About five years ago, I read the Japanese decluttering book and actually got rid of the majority of clothes that didn't fit. I figured I'd weigh about 155 lbs forever and that there was no point in hanging on to anything small. We moved here, I got hit with really horrible seasonal depression, and in two years I gained about 30 more pounds. When I saw 183.9 on the scale I decided that was enough. I started calorie restriction at first, using the Lose It app and logging all my food. I had a friend who was doing keto and I researched that and eventually began eating keto. When I was researching, the info about how calorie restriction can reduce your basal metabolic rate really resonated with me. I was sure that's what I did when I was trying to restrict calories all those times I attempted to lose weight. The info about insulin resistance also resonated with me, as did the link between increased insulin and increased weight gain. I lost 60 lbs in 7 months following a ketogenic diet with some intermittent fasting. I got down to 122 lbs - I hadn't seen that weight since I was 19. I didn't believe it was possible, but it happened. Then I gained 25 back during my worst winter of seasonal depression. I'm still battling seasonal depression this year, but I'm using a bunch of strategies to fight it and I have more good days than bad days. I'm 13 lbs above goal weight at the moment - I keep bouncing around from 4 lbs above to 14 lbs above, but I think once I get through the worst of the winter I'll be able to get back down pretty easily. I honestly did not think it was possible for me to lose this much weight or to ever fit into xs clothing. I feel like I'm myself again.

Forgot to post my workout update. I didn't run last night. Dh got home after being away and it was rainy so we had a nice family dinner and then watched Up together. I went early to the gym this morning and got in a 25 minute run on the treadmill before my workout. Had a new personal best on the deadlift - 225! We're going to a friend's house for dinner tonight. They're making Indian food. I imagine there will be some wine. I'm looking forward to a fun night. I've been starved for adult company so have been looking forward to this for a long time.

Wow! I really hope the chiropractor is able to help you. I can't imagine being in that much pain - definitely sounds depressing. I was a chiropractor skeptic, too. I had a friend who went quite a bit and I always thought it was a waste, but then I hurt my shoulder and my lower back and I was desperate so I went to the chiropractor. I couldn't believe the difference in both my shoulder and my back in a very short time. I hope you have the same kind of progress and can get to the bottom of your pain.

Nice to see progress already!

You're so close, too! The last baby was what did me in, too. I always gain a ton in pregnancy - I get up past 200 lbs for some reason. Well, I know the reason ;) Anyway, I was pretty good at getting down to a reasonable (not goal) weight after each one, but after the last one I had a really hard time and basically hovered around 150 until I moved here and gained about 35 lbs in two years :(

That's great that it's not impacting your running at the 16 day mark. I hear so many people talk about there being an adjustment period when starting keto and during that time their training is harder and slower. I think keeping electrolytes up is key. This sounds gross, but I dissolve 1/4 tsp of No-Salt (potassium) and 1/4 tsp pink salt in about 1/8 cup of pickle juice. I take magnesium at night before bed. I do think fasting has been good for my immune system. I haven't been sick at all this year. But, yes, it sounds crazy. I don't talk to anyone about fasting. I've never discussed it on Facebook or really anywhere except here. I don't tell anyone I'm fasting. If I'm fasting and I have to go out with people I just say I ate right before I left or I say my stomach is off or something like that. I also plan my fasts so I can do things like go out for dinner or go to events without it impacting a fast.

I'm 4 lbs away from my goal weight so I will be changing things up somewhat. I actually enjoy fasting and I think there are a lot of benefits to fasting outside of weight loss. I don't think I'll ever eat breakfast again - not regularly, anyway, but I will likely cut down my longer fasts to two 22 hour fasts per week (dinner to dinner the next day) and see where that gets me. I will also likely plan a 3 or 4 day fast maybe every few months or so. I already eat about 1700 calories on eating days and am still losing weight. Once I lose these last 4 lbs I'll have to figure out how many calories I need to maintain. I'm actually looking forward to the maintenance stage. Last time I got down to my goal weight (just before Christmas of 2016) I ended up going through my worst winter of seasonal depression and gained 25lbs so there was no maintenance at all.

Apparently the body handles zero calories much differently than say, 800 calories. I ran a half-marathon in the beginning of February. During my training, I was fasting for 45 hours, twice a week and doing intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast) on eating days. I was also following a ketogenic diet. I had chicken thighs with a fennel curry cream sauce for dinner the night before and then I ran without breakfast the next day. I am definitely not the fastest runner in the world, but I was really pleased with my time - 2 hours and 10 minutes. I felt awesome during the race, even though it was awfully cold! I was even able to pick up the pace during the final third of the race and actually passed a bunch of people. When you're fasting, you get an increase of human growth hormone, so it's actually conducive to building lean muscle mass. Fasting is muscle sparing - Dr. Fung talks a lot about this in his book, The Complete Guide to Fasting. He has overseen the fasting regimes of hundreds of patients. I would guess that he is probably the most experienced physician out there when it comes to the care and tracking of patients who fast. I can say with confidence that I have definitely built muscle while fasting. I'm now deadlifting 215 lbs and I'm benching 95 lbs. Here's a link explaining how fasting affects your physiology and hormones (it explains things much better than my attempt!): https://www.dietdoctor.com/fasting-affects-physiology-hormones

No, most religious fasts are actually just calorie restrictive. During Ramadan, the fast ends when the sun sets (I think). It's much harder on your body to restrict calories than it is to abstain from all calories. There's a pretty good intro on fasting here: https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting I follow a ketogenic diet and am fat adapted, so fasting comes pretty easily and my body is very efficient at using fat stores for energy. I'm not running without fuel - I've got lots of reserves around my waist ;) I feel way more energized on fasting days. And I require less sleep, which actually bugs me a little because I do like to sleep. I was wide awake at 4:45 this morning after going to bed at 10. This is from the IDM site: The IDMP is the world leader in the use of intermittent and extended fasting in the treatment of metabolic diseases. Dr. Jason Fung and Megan Ramos’ clinic in Toronto has successfully treated thousands of clients with fasting for many years. Dr. Jason Fung has lectured physicians throughout the world about this ancient dietary technique, appeared on television, and written a comprehensive bestseller on its use. Other dietary strategies include eating whole unrefined foods, lowering dietary intake of refined grains, added sugars and increasing natural fats.

Training run with my group on Tuesday and then was at the gym on Wednesday. I have running group again tonight. I'm hoping the streets are dry. Yesterday it snowed and then it rained and everything was slushy and soaking. I am just at the tail end of my longest ever fast. I'm at 4 days and 9 hours now. I have had so much energy and have felt great the whole time. During the fast I've run a total of 28km, had a home workout and a gym workout, completed a ton of errands that I had been putting off, and cleaned my house :) I'm planning on breaking the fast at 11am or so. I had planned to stop yesterday, but I got home from the gym and put a pan on the stove and took out some eggs from the fridge and realized I wasn't hungry so I put it off and now here I am a day later. I was much more diligent about supplementing this time (salt and potassium) and I think that made a world of difference. I know fasting is still kind of a weird thing. It works for me and it works well with my keto diet. I follow the protocols in Dr. Fung's book, The Complete Guide to Fasting. Plus, dh and I are in the Intensive Dietary Management Program, so we have support through that as well.

Sounds like an epic fall! I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt.

Check out Ketogenic recipes. They won't have fruit, but they also won't have anything with gluten, rice, or soy. Whole 30 and Paleo recipes would also be good, I think. Some great recipe sites: https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com https://www.ruled.me/keto-recipes/ https://meljoulwan.com/category/recipes/ I've been keto for some time now. There is no end to the amazing things I can eat. It may take a while for your sister to adjust, but once she does she may not miss the foods she can't have at all.

Definitely. I was 16 and working at Denny's. He came in for an interview and ended up being hired. I remember thinking he was attractive and wondering who he was. Once I got to know him better I had a huge crush on him, but he was 7 years older than I was and wasn't interested. We did hang out a bit, but there was absolutely no romance. We both stopped working there some time later and we lost touch until I was 18 and phoned him out of the blue.

Awesome! Getting dressed for the gym is half the battle. That's something I started doing - I know that if I don't do it early in the day then it doesn't get done at all, so I just get up in the morning and put on my gym clothes. I tell myself I have to workout before I shower and get dressed. It seems to make it a little easier to actually get a workout in. And I had the best workout at home today! This is progress because I'd much rather be at the gym. I started with a warm up - running on the treadmill - and I ended up running for just over an hour. That was - by far - the longest I've ever spent on a treadmill. I was listening to old 90's songs from my teens ;) Then I did my weights. I'm not a huge fan of the bowflex, but I'm getting used to it. I did leg press and lat pull downs on the bowflex and I did incline bench press with dumb bells and bicep curls along with some glute bridges with a band and another ab exercise. Feeling great today.

My run was cancelled yesterday because we ended up with about 15cm of snow. I went today on my own and ran 14.2 km. The weather was great. It was 2 celsius and there was no wind. Unfortunately, none of the sidewalks were cleared so I had to run on the road the whole way, but people here are used to pedestrians out on the road so it wasn't a big deal.

I really liked Lion.

I've updated my wardrobe quite a bit in the last year and a half or so. I wear a mix of jeans, skirts, and dresses, but I don't like dress pants so I don't really have any. You need to buy things that you're actually going to wear, otherwise there is no point. I think the shoes you were talking about would be cute and stylish and definitely not limited to women in their twenties. There are lots of things you can pair with jeans that will be up to date, but not inappropriate for your age. If I were you, I'd make sure I had a nice turtle neck sweater or two. I have a black cashmere turtleneck in black that fits well and can be worn with jeans or a skirt. Neutral colours are really in and are timeless, so you could go with white, cream, or a light blush. A white collared shirt with buttons is another item that looks great with jeans. Throw on a cute cardigan (maybe in a neutral colour or in something that goes with your shoes) or a blazer and you're set to go. I found a great navy blazer at Winners (like Marshalls) a few weeks ago and it really dresses up a pair of jeans. I have a white t-shirt, blush t-shirt, white sweater, and a mustard and navy blouse that all look great under the blazer with a pair of jeans. If you want to be a little trendy without looking like you're trying to be 20, you could buy a shirt with flutter sleeves or a bit of ruffle. I really do think sticking to neutral colours instead of a lot of patterns helps make people look put together. Although, I do really like all of the floral prints that are out right now. I'm a little more adventurous with my shoes these days. I have a cute pair of ankle boots that go well with all of my jeans. I had a pair of Converse that I wore until I wore them out. I *love* Converse with jeans. Stylish and comfortable and great at any age. I recently bought a pair of pointy black suede flats with a black and white bow on them, a pair of leopard print pointy flats with a black bow, and a pair of blue velvet loafers with a sparkly bar on them. All of them were bought from the clearance rack at The Bay for less than $30 each. It's been fun to have something a little different in my wardrobe.

This is the salmon recipe. I've probably made it ten times now. Everyone in the family loves it, even the ones who aren't really keen on fish. http://meljoulwan.com/2010/05/06/moroccan-grilled-salmon/ This is the Brussels sprouts recipe: https://cafedelites.com/creamy-garlic-parmesan-brussels-sprouts-bacon/ I leave out the corn starch and I cook mine differently. I cut the Brussels in quarters and cut raw bacon into small pieces and toss both on a baking sheet. I bake them at 375 until the Brussels are soft. Meanwhile, I make the sauce in a pan. When the Brussels are ready, I put them in a bowl and pour the sauce over them. I left out the mozzarella as well - just did it with parmesan. I've made this recipe twice now - once with bacon and last night without. Chia seed pudding is my new favourite dessert. I use this recipe: https://lowcarbyum.com/simple-chia-seed-vanilla-pudding/ Last night I had it with caramel extract instead of vanilla. So good.

I'm in Newfoundland and we get big dumps of snow. Plus, much crazy wind so the drifts are often much higher. I think the most we've had at one time since we got here (4 years ago) was 50 cm, which is almost 2 feet. I've got some great pictures.