<p>Bromfield, I really like Injinji “finger” socks - they seem to prevent toe against toe rubbing and blistering. I would also carry some Moleskin just in case.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The hikers swear by two pair of socks, starting with [liner</a> socks](<a href=“L.L.Bean: Page Not Available”>L.L.Bean: Page Not Available) next to the skin and then wool blend socks on top. The theory is that any friction occurs between the two socks rather than against the skin. I don’t know, but I’ve been following this approach and have never had a blister.</p>
<p>I guess for walking, you’d probably want to find some of those little polypro low socks that are intended to wear with women’s dress shoes, with regular running socks on top. Probably be worth a try beforehand just to see how it works out.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I would suggest using a calorie-tracker like MyPlate at the Livestrong site.</p>
<p>You enter in what you eat (name of food, quantity, when you ate it), and it provides you with running totals of calories for the day, grams of carbs, fiber, sugars, fat, protein, sodium and cholesterol, and also provides you with a pie-chart of fat, protein and carbs. You set a calorie target based on your weight and how fast you are trying to lose weight and you can see how many calories you have left for the day.</p>
<p>I found that just knowing how many carbs I had an the percentage so far in the day gave me a feel for the kinds of foods that I want to eat for the rest of the day to be in relative balance at the end of the day.</p>
<p>I run a fair bit and I need carbs for running so I usually have some carbs before a run and then have protein/fat after the run so that I don’t feel really hungry. Some folks have a lot of protein for breakfast so that they don’t get hungry until lunch.</p>
<p>It seems like you are already getting a lot of low-intensity and some strength-training (I consider Pilates strength-training). Do you feel time pressure on exercise (I frequently do)? Idad posted the hierarchy of fat burning a few years ago and it shows the relative time-efficiency for various classes of exercise in losing fat. This article is reproduced all over the web and here’s a sample link (ignore the body builder pictures - the important thing is the text).</p>
<p>[T</a> NATION | Hierarchy of Fat Loss](<a href=“The Hierarchy of Fat Loss - T Nation Content - COMMUNITY - T NATION”>The Hierarchy of Fat Loss - T Nation Content - COMMUNITY - T NATION)</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I have patellar issues too, particularly from playing tennis. In general, I manage the issue by controlling the amount of tennis that I play and using heavily cushioned shoes. I also often use knee sleeves when playing tennis and those help with tracking. Some issues can be managed and some can be fixed with surgery. I’ve had issues for over 20 years and have basically managed it. I did have to use crutches for a while because the patella got so bad.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There are two schools of thought. One school (i.e. Atkins) is that it is best to just go cold turkey, live with the “induction flu” for a week or two and break the addiction that way. I guess that, if I were faced with a serious health problem (diabetes diagnosis, etc.) and needing immediate intervention, that’s probably the way to go. </p>
<p>I did it the gradual way. I simply looked at my diet and identified something I could cut out or cut back. For example, no more soda, sweet tea, or juice. That was cold turkey. Just stop drinking sugar. Pasta, however, I scaled back. I decided that I could have one pizza/pasta meal per week.</p>
<p>The low carb experts all say the biggest problem is people who try to cut back carbs while, at the same time, trying to stick to strict low fat. You have to eat something. Protein is fixed within a pretty narrow window. So, if you eat fewer carbs, you have to eat more fat – or vice versa. And, in fact, that’s the tradeoff with all the “low-fat” products in the grocery. They have taken the fat out and replaced it with carbs in most cases.</p>
<p>The same tradeoff can work in reverse. I didn’t miss having a starch with dinner tonight because I had a big pile of broccoli sauteed in butter and steamed in white wine. I have an extra egg or extra piece of bacon for breakfast and skip the toast. Instead of two flour tortillas with fajitas, I just make a huge serving of fajitas – chicken and veggies and cheese and skip the extra carbs. But, those are all the result of incremental changes over several years. I didn’t start skipping the tortillas at first, although I probably did cut back from two to one before realizing that the tortilla wasn’t really adding anything to the meal. It’s pretty short sighted to “watch the portion size” on boneless skinless chicken, onions, and peppers while eating a refined white flour tortilla that has absolutely zero nutritional value.</p>
<p>So my meals arrived this evening. They start tomorrow. I did Day 2 of Week 8 of Show&Go this afternoon and I included about a 30 minute walk. I’m considering another walk here shortly…</p>
<p>Injinji or Wright socks (2 thin layers together) for blisters. </p>
<p>Congrats KMC!!</p>
<p>BC - thank you for the information. I will try tracking on MyPlate. I imagine having a visual of my carbohydrate consumption will help me to make different choices. I also like protein, but I just seem to gravitate to carbs. I wonder if my Diet Coke addiction contributes to my Carb addiction? That is something else that I really would like to break.</p>
<p>I think the main reason I walk for exercise is that I started walking with my mom about 15 years ago and it has just become our daily time together. I am an empty nester, live 2 blocks from the fitness center, and work from home so getting to the gym to shake up my routine wouldn’t be an issue. I currently go to 45 minute Pilates classes very early on Tues and Thurs morning, and sometimes goes on Monday evening and Saturday morning. I should add something on Mon, Wed and Friday mornings. I seem to do better when I go to some sort of class rather than trying to figure it out on my own. I used a trainer for several years on the Pilates Reformer machines, but dropped that to just attend the Pilates classes.</p>
<p>I gave up tennis due to the knee pain. I have braces that I wear when my knees are acting up. I have seen an Ortho and within 2 minutes of reviewing my x-rays he wanted to cut a few inches out of my shin bone and move the knee cap back in place. I decided that I wasn’t really interested in that and decided to just live with it.</p>
<p>What was his diagnosis? Is one leg longer than the other? Surgery would be a last resort for me and I’d have to be convinced that it would fix the problem. I have tennis friends that have had rotator cuff surgery and knee replacement surgery and all were successful but the downtime was significant.</p>
<p>mom2010grad, I’ve done what was essentially Atkins and lost weight, but eventually I really missed bread, and when I fell off the wagon, I gained the weight back. Frustrating since I haven’t really eaten a lot of carbs in years. Three years ago I sat down and really decided what carbs I couldn’t live with out and planned how often I could have them in my diet. I also made sure I had snacks that weren’t too carb-y for late afternoons when I am often hungry. I drink a cup of coffee and think about whether I am still hungry. If I am there is usually hummus and carrot sticks, or plain Greek yogurt and fruit available. </p>
<p>Despite the fact that everyone says you can’t lose weight by exercising, I find that the easiest way for me to lose weight is to up the exercise a little. I think it just gets my metabolism going.</p>
<p>
What is your end goal?</p>
<p>If you have a healthy weight, you are getting exercise, and your blood tests are good, what are you trying to accomplish by cutting back on carbs?</p>
<p>It sounds like you are one of the lucky ones who can eat lots of carbs.</p>
<p>I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m way too fond of sweets so I like hearing about alternatives that are better choices (healthier) since my first inclination isn’t always the best.</p>
<p>5 mile walk this evening in 76 minutes. That makes for 7 miles on the day.</p>
<p>A lot of carbs are empty calories. Rather than bread/pasta (and certainly rather than desserts) you’d be better off eating more veggies/protein. Think nutrient dense and you will automatically cut out foods that are “bad” for you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Probably my biggest surprise is how much my “sweet” sensors have recalibrated after largely eliminating added sugar and added sugar processed foods from my diet. Remember, I use to drink 2 liter bottle of Pepsi and eat bags of red twizzlers and have Honey Nut Cheerios for a snack. So, I was a major sugar junkie. Now, the only sugar I eat is whatever I use in making bar-b-q sauce and certain recipes (like cole slaw) that just don’t work without it and whatever I get from condiments like ketchup, tonkatsu sauce, and so forth. I haven’t had dessert in over a year and the only candy I’ve eaten was a rather unfortunate binge on halloween candy back in October.</p>
<p>Now, an apple is intensely sweet to me. It’s literally like biting into a piece of candy. So instead of a brownie or ice cream or Honey Nut Cheerios, an apple cut up into pieces like a candy bar, is a very sweet treat.</p>
<p>I like adkins. In my experience, it works for me, plus I have a lot less digestive issues (reflux, heartburn), and I feel stronger and healthier.</p>
<p>There’s nothing wrong IMO with low carb if it works for you. My calorie intake has been slashed, and I never go hungry.</p>
<p>My issue isn’t sweets. Most of my carbs come from bread type products and hand fulls of tortilla chips just because I happened to walk by them (which means I should get them out of the house.) My biggest concern is just wanting to eat healthier so I stay healthy as I age. Most people would probably consider my diet fairly healthy, but I just feel like it is disproportionately heavy on the carbs (and I’m sure tracking it would prove that to be the case.) I amgoing to try idad’s suggestion of reducing my carbs gradually. I will start with making my breakfast protein based rather than carb based. I definitely also need to get more vegetables added to my diet at all meals.</p>
<p>Mom2010, I think if you make a distinction between healthier carbs and high glycemic index carbs and then eliminate the latter from your household you may find you don’t crave them as much – it sounds lie te “carb crave” phenom is what you’re trying to avoid.</p>
<p>It’s not a bad plan, because many folks seem to become gluten-sensitive when older due to over consumption of increasingly gluten-rich foods (don’t have hard science on this, but suspect it will emerge.)</p>
<p>Eg. Fast-sugar carb, eg bagels made with white flour, sourdough bread, regular potatoes, cakes made with refined flour, corn products, all make me hungrier for more – they’re “fast” sugars that signal an over production of insulin, which in turn makes you hungry (SouthBeach books have good info on this.)</p>
<p>In my case, I quit having bread of any kind in the house, but if I’m on the road and need “fast” food due to poor planning, I will do something like subway whole grain with oven roasted chicken. But only occasionally.</p>
<p>So now when I’m hungry for carb/bread thing (which surprisingly doesnt happen much) I instead will have gluten free rice crackers made with pecans, dipped into hummus…but again, not too many (white rice flour is still a fast carb, but with lots of nuts, etc, becomes more complex and breaks down more slowly, which makes you feel more satisfied.)</p>
<p>A friend of mine sticks to organic, spelt based breads, but for me, any kind of bread seems to become a problem (I have a wheat allergy which exacerbates this.)</p>
<p>And if you want to reconstruct your carb composition of your diet but you like cake, choose a flourless cake. You’ll notice a difference (eg on the rare occasions I do cake anymore, I can actually leave it unfinished.) Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Broomfield, thanks for the positive info on the mosquito magnets. It’s good to know as I will continue to be looking at different routes I suspect.</p>
<p>And idad, too funny re health policy pundits 
maybe you should offer to coach em on weightloss!</p>
<p>
This should be a public service announcement. You’d ave a heyday with the lobbyist if you were our chief medical officer! :)</p>
<p>Low carb is one thing. No carb is another.</p>
<p>I had about 35lbs to lose in January when I started trying to lose weight. Since then I’ve exercised twice a day and limited my calorie intake to proper amounts. I eat virtually no sweets anyway and haven’t for years, and my diet is naturally low in fat and salt because I just don’t like those things. My carb/fat/protein ratio is almost perfect by current research suggestions, but my carbs are just a bit higher and my protein just a bit lower than is advised on most days, so I am tweaking that and also removing all processed foods to see if that gets me better results. It has taken a lot of research to figure out what my diet should be, because unlike the average american I actually have to limit my fiber intake or I get very sick, and I can’t eat any dairy. I need more protein, iron, and B12, so I am going to take some of the carbs I regularly consume and replace them with proteins instead and see if that helps me.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I am losing maybe a pound a month and losing my mind instead. Other than tweaking my diet that last bit it needs and ramping up my exercise I am at a loss, and I can only ramp up the exercise so much. A couple of months ago I think I was overdoing it and keeping weight on and ended up hurting myself, so I had to slow down. I had good results that first month of slowing down, better than before, but then things leveled off and stopped again. I’ve gained the last two weeks even though I haven’t been “cheating” and my weight does not normally fluctuate that way, I haven’t experienced real gains since I started in January… normally it just inches down a bit or doesn’t move at all, it never goes back up until now. </p>
<p>I am 23 years old and while my metabolism may not be what it was when I was 12 anymore it isn’t as though it should have stopped. I do have an enlarged thyroid but my blood tests were normal, they are having me go back in June for a retest. I am sure it will still be normal, it was when it was tested 5 years ago, too.</p>
<p>Mom2010, MANY of us here started with MyPlate (or a similar program) and it was the necessary “launch” to really get a visual of what we were putting into our mouths. If you make MyPlate a routine for awhile, the content of food will become more second nature to you and you will KNOW when you have gone overboard or just make better choices in general. It is very, very eye opening and really, kind of FUN to track your food. It truly puts the control in your hands instead of your eyes making the choices (of taking a handful of chips as you walk by!)</p>
<p>Second tip I’ll give - truly stop and evaluate before you put everything in your mouth. No eating on the fly. Before you think about having a half a bagel with butter think about what you have already had that day and what means are coming up. In fact, when you wake up in the morning have a couple meals already planned out in your head. I take both breakfast and lunch with me to work - when I wake up I know what I’m going to throw in the lunchbag and my first priorities are protein and veggies. I make a point to not pack many carbs. (key word: not many - which is not the same as “none”!)</p>
<p>I think it’s pretty safe to say that most of us love to eat. So we just have to figure out a way to eat well most of the time, splurge, but within limitations. For me, I want a small sweet at night - most every night - but that means no junk/crabby carbs the rest of the day.</p>