It sounds like you're doing fantastic so far.  If it's working for you then
don't change a thing.  The impatience is normal. Don't let it drive you to
doing anything silly.

It is awesome!    :o)  The longest journey starts with the first step.

Don't we all.  If you stick with the diet and exercise one day it will be
GONE.

I can I get rid of this feeling of impatience?  I guess I just

Even if it's half what you already lost, DO NOT GIVE UP!

LW
Re-Start - 7/5/06 - 170lbs
Today - 155.5 lbs
Goal - 130 lbs
Height: 5'6" Female. Age: 61
Don't worry about what people think,
they don't do it very often.
===================================

    Good work.

    Be careful.  Running is an impact activity.
    Nothing slows progress and lowers morale
    like an injury.  Think through any increases
    in exercise volume carefully.  Consistency
    is most important.  Better to stay at a
    lower volume consistently and happily than
    to increase it and end up injured or burned
    out.

    Excellent.

    It works for me.
    I started out with low carb to curb hunger,
    curb cravings (for more than just food),
    and get my dieting head together.  Low carb
    is good that way as it makes it possible
    to back away and see the big picture as far
    as ones consumption of all things is concerned.
    I lost a lot of weight and spared a lot of
    muscle without doing anything more than walking.
    When one has a lot of fat to lose, that's all
    that's necessary.  It's easy and comfortable.

    However, after awhile, my body had adapted to
    low carb and walking.  I had to figure out where
    to go next.  It was troubling to discover that
    low carb and walking wasn't going to take me
    all the way home.

    To shake things up I went from one extreme to
    the other, from low carb to low fat.  That really
    did shake things up.  At times it felt like I
    was on a drug.  Mildly light headed, mild
    confusion, a bit giddy, hungry most of the time;
    I felt all of those things during that period.
    I gained back the water and glycogen weight that
    was much of the initial loss when I began low
    carbing.

    At that point I transitioned back to low carb to
    see if cycling back and forth would help me
    achieve a new low weight and bodyfat percentage.
    It worked.  I also discovered that I didn't have
    to go all the way back to strict low carb to keep
    progressing.  That was great news as it allowed
    for a much wider range of dietary choices.

    That's where I'm at now.  My diet most of the time
    is around 30-40% carb, 30-40% protein, and 30-35%
    fat.  I decreased the walking and rediscovered an
    old friend: weight/resistance training.  With a
    moderate carb intake I can go at it pretty hard
    in the gym.  But again, one has to be careful.
    I been working with good intensity and working
    especially hard to bring my back up.  I was making
    good progress until the pain began.  At first it
    was just a hardly noticeable dull ache in the middle
    left of my back.  I ignored it.  Working through it
    made it worse.  It got to the point where sharper
    pain would come and go throughout the day.  Sometimes
    the pain was enough to distract me from activities
    where I was focused.  So, finally I had to give in to
    it and lay off the training.  I made that decision
    5 days ago.  Today will be the third session that
    I'll have missed.  It's difficult to stay away when
    I was making such good progress.  The good news is
    that my back is getting better.  The pain has
    decreased back to the dull ache stage.  There are
    no more distracting stabs.  Hopefully in a couple
    of weeks I'll be virtually pain free and can begin
    stretching and training again.  I picked up some
    back pain books at the library.  When I'd normally
    be headed for the gym I instead walk to a park and
    read a back pain book.  The moral of the story is:
    make exercise decisions carefully and be thankful
    for what you can do and the fact that you're making
    progress.  Rushing it may just lead to a setback.

    Excellent.

    Yes, very much so.  The only thing I'd suggest is
    that with the running try to be as much in tune with
    your lower body as possible.  By that I mean take
    time to really feel your feet, ankles, knees, hips
    and associated muscles and connective tissues.  Are
    there any feelings of pain, stiffness, looseness,
    clicking, or anything weird at all?  And even if
    there isn't, what would you do if there was?
    That's a sobering question that can help temper
    ones exercise decisions.  Consistency is more
    important than trying to figure out what might be
    optimum.

    Neither do I.  As time goes by your progress will
    slow and you'll look back on this and laugh at how
    ridiculous it was to not be anything but absolutely
    ecstatic at this point in the adventure.

    Think about what it's going to be like when your
    loss rate is averaging a half pound a week or less.
    Start working on your coping and consistency
    strategies.  When dieting/exercise are working
    at a good clip, impatience is indicative of an
    upcoming consistency/compliance problem.  Look
    at the big long-term picture and figure out
    what you're willing to do as far as diet and
    exercise for the rest of your life.  Get ready
    for the bad times and realize that these are
    the good times.

    Good luck.
--

It's about 4 times the ideal rate of 4 per month - studies of folks
who keep off their loss 5+ years tend to show losing around
4 per month tends to give best chance of keepng it off.

All great.

If it works for you it is good for you.  Don't imagine that there is
any
such thing as a percentage that is good for everyone.  There isn't.
It's not even likely there is a percentage that is good for even one
person.  More than one mixture of fuels works.

Somewhere in that range should be fine.

There's never been a starting dieter in history who was patient,
near as I can tell.  it goes with the territory.

The road to self inflicted sabotage.  Step number one in advice
on ASD is "fix your head".  Statements like this is what that
advice is about.

At some point it becomes about keeping it off and patience stops
being an issue.  Between now and then impatience equals a
temptation to quit equals gaining it all back.  Of course, once
patience stops being an issue there's still the temptation to go
back to eating the old way and gain it all back.

Have you noticed how rare the temptation to quit brushing your
teeth happens?  Brushing teeth doesn't trigger the same issues
as eating, but the new eating habits have to become like that.