Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 02-04-2010, 10:04 PM   #61  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

139.7 lbs. this morning. And here's the thing....the 195 starting weight was taken in the doctor's office BUT my goal weight was based on my normal weight that I got from my old scale....one of those cheapo ones with the needle jumping around on the numbers. However....we now have a digital scale....so I went and dug out the old scale and it shows me at 137 lbs...so I may be even closer to goal than I originally thought.

I've dropped a pants size since those last photos were taken so I'm going to get my son's girlfriend to bring her expensive camera over and take a new photo and put it on here for me.....so I can show you guys. To be honest, I'm just skating now....because in the mirror, I look just like I was aiming for...plus fitting into the clothes I wanted to.

Soon I have to start adding in more veggies just to make sure I don't continue to lose below goal. I love eating this way...I only intend to add veggies and fruits and that's it. I'm giving up simple sugars and processed stuff for good.

deena
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2010, 06:23 AM   #62  
Caroline
 
thistoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 2,317

Height: 5'0"

Default

That is awesome! You are a total inspiration. And I love seeing pictures, so I will be looking forward to yours! WTG on getting so very close to goal.
thistoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2010, 07:48 AM   #63  
Senior Member
 
Violet73's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,070

Default

Deena wow! congrats! Do you mind sharing how long it took you to get to this weight? I'm just curious....not trying to rush my progress but just wanna know You certainly are an inspiration!
Violet73 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2010, 09:29 AM   #64  
Senior Member
 
SaskNewfie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: St John's, Newfoundland
Posts: 398

S/C/G: 264/264/199

Height: 5'10"

Default

Wow, that's awesome...it's hearing how great others feel when they reach their goal that motivates me and makes me look forward to sharing that same feeling in a few months!
SaskNewfie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2010, 10:43 AM   #65  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate that.

Let's see....it's a bit muddled because I'd attempted to do Atkins over and over (once I got off the medication that had caused the 60 lb. gain) for several years and couldn't figure out why I couldn't get it to work, especially since it had worked so great for me in the early 90's. Finally, I had them trouble-shoot for me on a different site. THEN, I had to use trial and error in order to figure out which one of the suggestions was the culprit (turned out I could no longer use plenty of artificial sweetener like I could back in the early 90's and now can only have 3 packs of Splenda a day maximum). SO...I have to try and figure out WHEN exactly, I actually started to spill ketones and started to see the scale moving down FINALLY.....and my best recollection is that it was sometime in the early summer ('09)....because I remember bringing Atkins-friendly food with us when dad and I went to stay with my sister and her family at their beach rental in late June and remember being in ketosis down there...so I had definitely been successful by that point.

So I would approximate that it's taken me somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 months to lose approx. 55 lbs.

But...when I consider my success...I do not think of it in terms of the fact that I lost the weight. I consider it to be that despite several years of failure, I refused to give up and persistently sought the answer to why I couldn't get Atkins to work this time. Once I got the diet to work, it was pretty much smooth sailing for me....so I don't consider that to be any huge accomplishment since this diet makes it so easy for me. It's the fact that I refused to give up....and believe me, I was beyond frustrated....almost cursing the skies many, many times.

Not sure exactly why, but this diet makes it so, so easy for me. In fact, that's part of the reason I'm doing all this reading and investigating....particularly the Taubes' theories. I watched his lecture video again last night with my dad (he wanted to see it and now wants to read the book).

One example from the lecture is that Taubes gives multiple examples of different cultures during various points in history...when they were in famine states (plus did a great deal of physical activity), yet many were fat but a percentage were underweight...but all generally malnourished. He was showing reasons why there are doubts regarding the old "calories in and calories out" theories....and that obesity is caused by over-eating. Many studies are not backing these widely-held theories.

BUT...it's clear that there were individual differences. Not ALL were fat. Some were severely underweight. So I'm confident that Atkins probably works far better for me (and others like me) than it does for some others. My question is...WHY?

According to Taubes...we don't get fat from over-eating. We overeat when we are fat...or more specifically, there is a physiologic process that causes us to accumulate fat, regardless of how much we eat....and the process drives us to eat. In other words, it's the other way around. They have it backwards.

Will try not to get too technical but we require glucose in order to convert fat to fatty acids so that they can enter the fat cells and accumulate as triglycerides. Without the glucose, we cannot store fat. The more glucose we eat, the more fat we store.....AND, the more we overwork our pancreas because in order for the glucose to enter the cells and be used to convert fat to fatty acids and then store it as fat, it requires insulin. Therefore, one of the main keys to controlling fat storage is insulin....and what causes insulin levels to rise is glucose.

Now this is the general physiologic principle...BUT I am sure that a percentage of people have metabolisms that are much more efficient at storing fat, etc....than mine is. Mine requires a great deal of glucose (carbs) but once it gets them, it goes totally nuts.....and I totally switch over to having no ability to control portions, have cravings and sugar binges...and am constantly hungry. However...off the carbs, I have NO problem with any of these behaviors. So my theory is that I (and others like me) are the percentage who are truly carb addicts.....and not totally sure how and why some others are not.

Now to be fair, a certain percentage of people are simply picky eaters....and eat mainly carbs and claim they cannot eat meat, fish, veggies, etc. For those people, Atkins doesn't work due to them being picky eaters, not because their metabolisms are different. I'm sure Atkins would probably work great for a percentage of them.

Back to Taubes for a second....what he learned, when he set out to write his book....was that ever since the main theory became "fat makes you fat", there has been a literal explosion of obesity and diabetes. When they began to make all these fat-free products, in order to maintain a reasonable palatability, they had to increase the sugar, mainly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. This appears to be the MAIN culprit in this massive epidemic over the past few decades. In a nutshell, his basic premise is that fat doesn't make you fat...carbs make you fat.

The biochemical/physiologic explanation above applies to everyone...but what I'm really interested in now is the variations....what and why. Why doesn't everyone get diabetes? Why do low-calorie diets with much higher levels of carbs, even simple carbs, work for some and not for ME? (Believe me, I've tried...multiple times...never work for me). Why is Atkins so darn easy for me yet anything with carbs is a nightmare? Why doesn't this apply in the exact same way for everyone?

Another example...I tend to become fascinated with random topics that become relevant in my life and go into a frenzy of reading and investigation. Back some years ago, I did this when I was trying to learn why certain medications cause weight gain. Learned all sorts of stuff about how they affect the HAP-annex (hypothalamic-adrenal-pituitary annex) and all the implications of affecting the entire endocrine system. But here's the thing....the same meds make some people LOSE weight and get thinner. WHY? The physiology is the physiology....right?

Another question....how do Fat Smash and Crack the Code diets work for others when that level of carbs would never work for me? What are the success rates when comparing them with Atkins? How many are like me and MUST keep their net carbs VERY low in order to lose weight? Who can NEVER eat simple carbs and still lose weight?

Anyway....I'm threatening to write a book here...not to mention having totally veered off-track.

My point is....doing this diet is beyond easy for me. I did it back in the early 90's and kept the weight off for around 12 years with no problem, too. The accomplishment, from my perspective, was my persistence in finding why I could not get it to work this second time around....to find out what it was, exactly, that my altered metabolism now needed tweaking for....and what was it? Because THAT part was beyond frustrating. From about late 2006 to mid-2009, I was literally banging my head against the wall. But once I got it to work, it was a breeze.....seriously.

deena

Last edited by Deena52; 02-05-2010 at 10:45 AM.
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2010, 09:36 PM   #66  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

I just realized I have some of the details wrong in this prior paragraph:


Will try not to get too technical but we require glucose in order to convert fat to fatty acids so that they can enter the fat cells and accumulate as triglycerides. Without the glucose, we cannot store fat. The more glucose we eat, the more fat we store.....AND, the more we overwork our pancreas because in order for the glucose to enter the cells and be used to convert fat to fatty acids and then store it as fat, it requires insulin. Therefore, one of the main keys to controlling fat storage is insulin....and what causes insulin levels to rise is glucose.

The basic premise is correct....that insulin causes fat storage and that glucose (carbs) cause release of insulin....but it's the details that are a bit off....the part related to fatty acids/triglycerides. I have to go back and check the details again...but I know something is off just by reading it again.

I'll fix this as soon as I recheck the specifics.

deena
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-09-2010, 07:53 AM   #67  
Senior Member
 
sarahinparis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 757

S/C/G: 235 / 189 / 165

Default

What the Taubes book did for me was to remove a lot of the guilt I'd lived with all my life - that being fat was my fault, a failure of self control at so many different levels (eating too much, having poor control over appetite, not being an intrinsic exerciser, etc.).

For me understanding that BIOLOGY was driving most of what was going on with my weight made sense and removed a lot of the guilt I've felt forever. I decided to give trying low carb eating a go (I'm not an Atkins follower, I'm just a strict low-carber). It's also made sticking to very low carb levels (I try for around 20-35 most of the time) much easier, because I understand what higher carb levels do to my biochemistry, therefore I avoid them without drama, without a sense of deprivation. It's not some guy in a white coat telling me what I can and can't eat -- it's my deep understanding of how the foods affect me that drives my choices day in, day out. That's why I can live with it.

I also felt the lifting of "hunger" within days of starting low carb. As someone who's struggled her whole life with hunger (how to control it, feed it, prevent it, etc), removing it from 90% of my day was huge.
sarahinparis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 09:32 AM   #68  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

Well, I think I'm breaking through the long stall finally. I suspected I might be because my skinniest jeans were getting loose on me....a bit frustrating because they were my current fave and now I need to find a new fave....nice snug jeans that fit great. They fit great when they first come out of the dryer now but quickly start getting loose as I wear them during the day...and am now faced with having to wash and dry them daily in order for them to fit good when I first put them on. I'd gone to the thrift shop this last time, to get some 32" waist jeans and had gotten 4 pairs (heck, they're only a few bucks) but soon all were too loose but this one great pair I've been wearing. I specifically remember going down to Annapolis with my one brother (all these Annapolis treks to settle our other brother's estate/affairs) and remember them being VERY snug. We went to Annapolis again yesterday (all the snow had postponed this particular trip) and within about an hour, they were very loose again.
BUT....the scale still said 140 lbs.

But this morning....139.3 lbs.....which, mind you, may fluctuate back up to 140 on and off (up and down) for a while.....but this generally indicates a downward trend of some sort. What's really weird though....is that after I weighed myself and silently cheered, I noticed that my fingers looked a bit swollen....so tried on my rings and they were very tight...couldn't even get one of them on all the way....so clearly some fluid retention. The swelling has been going down as the morning has progressed (not serious swelling, but I can tell when they have a bit of swelling going on).....and I can now put on the rings....though they are not as loose as they normally are....so still have a bit more fluid to dump. But I thought it was so odd that I was simultaneously retaining fluid AND showed a weight loss on the scale finally. Hoping this means the scale will even go lower once I dump the extra fluid.

I will add this.....like the other typical Annapolis trips...it was getting up at the crack of dawn, one cuppa coffee, and leaving super early. Then....tons of physical exercise (yesterday was several hours of bagging heavy clothing....about 30 huge bags worth...the 30 gallon lawn bags) and basically not eating all day (nothing available)....but then having a nice big dinner/snack when I got home....which was a nice big batch of chicken salad mixed with a pre-mixed salad/lettuce mix plus tomatoes and cukes, etc. Also....drank way over my allotted 3 cups of coffee (usually 3 in the am. and one in the pm.).....as my brother and I were basically running on coffee/caffeine all day until we completed the tasks we'd set out to get done.
So...who knows....this weird form of calorie-cycling (which always happens on the Annapolis trips) may be responsible for breaking this particular but very long stall....even though I do realize it had been happening for some days prior, due to the jeans getting loose....but today was the first time it showed on the scale.

Anyhoo......that was a whole lotta writing over just one bit of new info....though typical of me. I'm clearly not a person of few words and never have been.

Sarahinparis......I agree with every single thing you said here. I love reading the posts you write because they are always so intelligent, accurate, and exhibit a really good understanding of this WOE. It IS truly a relief to learn that biology can be responsible for making it so difficult to control our appetite and our weight.....so that we do not take on the entire burden or convince ourselves that it's all our fault and due to a lack of will-power, commitment and/or motivation.

I find myself going to the "chicks in control" forum here on an almost daily basis ( I go to introductions, chicks in control and of course, Atkins, daily....then the other ones, esp. the ones about other diets, intermittently)......but I ALWAYS seem to find myself feeling simultaneously bad and frustrated, reading about so many who struggle SO much with constant hunger, cravings and wanting to binge/bingeing. I feel so compelled to want to convert them, to bring them over here....to show them how to relieve all their pain and frustration. However, I always try to be mindful that what works for me/us may not work for everyone.

I see quite a few here who will post something that essentially says that they tried Atkins in the past.....but seem to NOT be considering it again. Some say they lost a great deal of weight on it....and some were unsuccessful right off the bat...but my suspicions are that there must have been elements of either re-gaining the weight due to not following maintenance and/or not following the diet correctly and assuming it just wasn't working. However, I do also have to consider that it possibly just doesn't work for certain others....but like I said in an earlier post, this works SO darn well for me that I have a really hard time trying to understand why it didn't for them....to be honest.

I'm still trying to deal with this issue that I have on this particular site...wanting to convert everyone...tell them the good news, more or less. I still struggle with this.
You know, I believe that I suspected the things explained in the Taubes' book....just not in the concise form and terms he put his theories/theory into. I just began to put 2 and 2 together...but in a non-scientific way....and this is probably why I have NO problem eating plenty of fat....because I truly don't see it as being bad or making us fat anymore....even before I ever read the Taubes' book. This is why I love this book so much (and BTW, there are several other books that are also breaking ground on this subject).....because it totally corroborated finally...what I'd begun to suspect for quite some time.

But boy oh boy....I now study what's in everyone else's grocery carts...see the boxed, processed cereals, all the processed and sugary junk in boxes, all the sugary stuff in all it's many forms, all the low-fat stuff, even the lean meats......and it looks to me like they are all poisoning themselves now. It's as if I removed my rose-colored glasses.
I was never a big junk-food, horrible high-carb (simple carbs) and processed crap eater....but I WAS/AM a foodie....love recipes, photos of beautiful dishes, etc. Am from a background where food is love and where and what we are going to eat is ALWAYS immediately included in EVERY family gathering or event.

Plus...this isn't just me here...my sons and my father are eating very healthy and similar to me (not to mention, I am slowly converting them on various details....now have dad eating real butter and tossed the "Smart Balance", full of chemicals, in the trash....yay!).
So just about every single thing in my cart is good stuff....rarely from the aisles and almost always from the perimeter of the store. Perhaps others are checking MY cart out, horrified by all the full-fat items.

Although it's frustrating to see what others may be eating, I do have to add that it is also quite intriguing and interesting right now.....due to the various dietary theories circulating that are so different. I always try to enjoy things and will try to include an objective viewpoint, simply enjoying watching the show. And for me.....seeing all these contrasting theories going up against each other....and seeing all this new ground-breaking stuff going up against the old entrenched beliefs of the medical/nutrition establishment.....IS truly very interesting to watch.....and I'm enjoying the show.

deena

Last edited by Deena52; 02-20-2010 at 09:37 AM.
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 11:25 AM   #69  
Re-newbie
 
firefly68's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 142

S/C/G: 161/139/128

Height: 5'4"

Default

Deena, WOW! This has been the most amazing thread ever. Thank you for going into such detail and for being so inspirational. I can relate to your posts about trial and error -- I am in that stage right now. I lost about 7 lbs during Induction (although I admit I didn't do it as cleanly as I'd have liked) and I'm starting out fresh again hoping to have a breakthrough.

Did you use any of the Atkins shakes or bars at all during your weight loss? Particularly the ones that are labeled as being appropriate for Phase 1? Forgive me if you already addressed this in another post in this thread. I may have overlooked it.

Thanks!
firefly68 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 11:44 AM   #70  
Larry's Angel
 
JerseyGyrl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NW New Jersey But, My Heart's In Pittsburgh!! GO STEELERS & PENGUINS!!!
Posts: 3,060

S/C/G: 245/143/145

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by firefly68 View Post
Did you use any of the Atkins shakes or bars at all during your weight loss? Particularly the ones that are labeled as being appropriate for Phase 1? Forgive me if you already addressed this in another post in this thread. I may have overlooked it.
I'm not Deena but, I'd like to address this if I may
Those products are NOT "appropriate for Phase 1". The bars contain soy, milk & peanuts....none of those ingredients are on the acceptable foods list for Induction.
Do yourself a BIG favor Firefly and steer clear of those things unless you are in a situation where absolutely no other low carb food is available.
This may help you understand more clearly:
http://www.phlaunt.com/lowcarb/19059967.php

Last edited by JerseyGyrl; 02-20-2010 at 11:46 AM.
JerseyGyrl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 11:57 AM   #71  
Re-newbie
 
firefly68's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 142

S/C/G: 161/139/128

Height: 5'4"

Default

JerseyGyrl: thanks! You know...this may be exactly why I have only lost a little weight so far. Any loss is much appreciated of course, but I could be doing better, and this may be why.

While I've got you here, can I ask one more little question? Is a MIM okay for Induction? I've heard mixed responses. Thanks again!
firefly68 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 12:20 PM   #72  
Larry's Angel
 
JerseyGyrl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NW New Jersey But, My Heart's In Pittsburgh!! GO STEELERS & PENGUINS!!!
Posts: 3,060

S/C/G: 245/143/145

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by firefly68 View Post
While I've got you here, can I ask one more little question? Is a MIM okay for Induction? I've heard mixed responses. Thanks again!
Not sure what a MIM is
JerseyGyrl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 12:36 PM   #73  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

Hi firefly.

Don't worry honey...ask anything you want. I'm just happy to have a visitor!

Back when I did Atkins for the first time, in the early 90's, they did not have all these new, smaller Atkins bars. They only had the big ones and they also had the shakes...but not a huge selection in the grocery stores/drug stores and you had to go to GNC, etc. to get any selection. I fell in love with the chocolate coconut ones and began to allow myself one a day once I hit goal. And mind you...I was healthier and younger then....well, am still pretty healthy but my metabolism had not yet taken the huge hit it took in 2005 from a medication.
So back then, I could use Equal sweetener with no problem and didn't even really worry exactly how many packets I used....though I was not using a huge amount or anything.

Ultimately....the main thing responsible for me maintaining my weight for about 12 years was this rule I had that if I gained 5 lbs....I immediately went back on induction and lost it. But I did learn a lot during those 12 years...one of which was the bad road I ended up on eating those choc-coconut Atkins bars. What happened was that they began to become the thing I looked forward to eating...I thought about them every day...several times a day. Going shopping was an excuse to go and buy them.
And it was not that I was necessarily gaining weight from only them....it was that eating them began to put me into the "thinking of sweets" mode....which segued into the craving sweets mode....and I was likely headed for binge mode.

Long story short, I eliminated them altogether....and have not used them at all this time at all.

There is this one particular dish I make...where I take a block of farmer cheese and add in diced cucumbers and tomatoes and sprinkle with onion powder....that I literally drool in anticipation of. I also really look forward to steamed broccoli with butter and some cheddar and feta sprinkled on it....also a nice omelet with cheddar and shredded bacon....etc. I feel like I REALLY taste the fresh ingredients...kinda difficult to explain...but the processed, sweet stuff (the bars, etc.) seem to blunt my taste for the really great, fresh, REAL and whole foods.
To me, things like sugared breakfast cereal or Twinkies...would taste like crap if I ate them. That generally happens when you become accustomed to fresh, whole foods. But by the same token, eating the Atkins sweets, for me, begins to deprived me of the fabulous taste of those fresh veggies, etc.....all the enjoyment I get from eating all the healthy and approved foods. Not to mention....putting me in danger of going into craving and binge mode.

Hope that made some sense. I'm a person who would rather avoid/prevent problems than try to come up with ways to try and climb over/around them. I read so many times here about how those on calorie-counting plans factor a candy bar or piece of chocolate cake into their daily calorie allotment.....and can't figure-out how they do it. That would spell big trouble for me....not necessarily in terms of threatening that daily intake allowed...but triggering my cravings for sweets....subsequently threatening to take me to binge mode.

It's funny....I can remember this really bad sweets mode I got myself into while I was frustrated and struggling to get Atkins to work for me again and running into so much difficulty. To cut to the chase...every evening I would crave sugar to the point where it was screaming in my head and I could not even go to sleep to prevent it. I would take an entire box of these chocolate-coated sugar wafers....and I would remember that the first few tasted like pure sugar/chocolate heaven and joy. They tasted so good! But once I ate the first few, I'd begin to just robotically eat the rest, hardly tasting them. It was like my taste-buds almost became anesthetized, once they experienced that pure chocolate-sugar rush. Yet I would continue to shovel them in....and then panic, seeing that over half the box was suddenly gone....and then in "beat myself up over it" mode....convince myself I might as well just finish the box...which I almost always did.
Or even more idiotic....leave a few in the box...thereby convincing myself that at least I'd managed to not eat every single one...so therefore, it wasn't quite so bad.

That behavior rates right up there with shaving tiny slices off a whole chocolate cake...convincing myself that all these tiny slices couldn't be that bad....even though I could clearly see that I'd shaved off half a cake or more. I would reason myself into all these optical illusions.

In my opinion....THE biggest factor (besides the elimination of constant hunger and cravings) in the success of doing Atkins....is understanding, as much as possible, HOW and WHY this WOE works.

Had I not understood this...I highly doubt that I would have stuck with it, for almost 4 years, trying to figure out why I couldn't get it to work this second time around. I would have just figured the diet didn't work for me...or work for me anymore. But my understanding made me see that the whole fat metabolism was a big equation....and that there was one critical piece of it that I was getting wrong (which was probably due to how the medication had altered my metabolism). I KNEW the equation was right....but just had to figure out which small part of it was off for me. I KNEW it was in my power to fix it....but I just had to figure out which tiny part needed to be altered. Had I not understood, I'd have given up long before....."one second before the miracle"..more or less.

And the reason why, since early last summer, I have not gone off plan even ONCE, not even for one second...is also due to understanding it. In my mind, I see my metabolism as a big fat-burning furnace. Literally see the fire burning.....and picture any type of non-allowed food as literally dousing the flames with a fire extinguisher. KNOW that it will set me back a day or two just to get that fire burning again to the same level.

For ME, I wanted to get to goal ASAP. So I refused to set it back even a day. But for sarahinparis, for instance, she is willing to allow more time and to slow it down in exchange for planned luxuries. The critical thing is that she understands this. And so she won't lapse into "the diet doesn't work" if it slows down. She already knows it will and expects it to happen....knows exactly what trade-off she's making. Her understanding it is the key. It prevents making incorrect assumptions, prevents giving up or getting frustrated or discouraged....so she has a great chance of long-term success, IMO.

If you get yourself in a mode where you totally understand exactly what slipping-in just a tidbit of something not allowed will result in/cause.....you will be much less likely to do it if, like me, you want to get to goal ASAP. If you want that fat-burning furnace to be running at full blast....and actually picture it in your mind....you will do what you gotta do to keep it burning that way.

Picture YOU at goal. And then picture that fat-burning furnace getting you there.
And you literally have to re-train your brain from all the entrenched beliefs we held for so many years.....that fat is bad, that just a tiny amount of sugar can be fit into the daily allotment, etc. This is a totally different WOE. It's almost magical if you do it the right way.
You can eat all sorts of fattening and filling foods....and still lose weight. But take those exact same foods...but add a tsp. of sugar? And you gain weight. It's as simple as that, really.

And you begin to learn and to just sense how your body will react to everything you put in it. Will just sense how much cheese YOUR body will allow and still lose, how much extra allowed veggies you can eat and still lose, whether any sort of Atkins-approved sweets will kick in cravings, how many calories might be too much or too little, etc. You'll become an expert regarding how YOUR body works on Atkins. And by the time you reach goal, you will be able to sense exactly what you need to eat and not eat in order to maintain the weight loss.

If I am out somewhere and having a difficult time trying to find something allowed and I'm hungry.....I will get a small package of nuts or get some hard-boiled eggs or celery sticks, etc. at a convenience store....and just avoid the bars...and anything processed, really....altogether.

deena

Last edited by Deena52; 02-20-2010 at 12:43 PM.
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2010, 03:00 PM   #74  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

Hi Kim.
You can address anything you'd like on this thread. I would be honored...especially because to me, you are a major success and a role model. I hope I can continue to do as well as you've done.

Firefly....are those the little muffins with the flax seed meal? I'll be honest....on the one hand, the recipe I saw looked totally fine to me and I saw no problem with them....certainly, if one is past induction. Kim would know if they are appropriate for induction but I'd probably have to go and check the Atkins book.

For me...and I hope I explain this okay and don't come across as too rigid (so mind you, this is only for ME)......but in general, I tend to try to avoid making things that pretend to be things I generally cannot have...bread, cake, etc. I don't even want to venture there, if that makes any sense.

For starters, I have to severely limit my intake of artificial sweeteners this time around, so that pretty much rules out most of the low carb desserts or dessert recipes for me. I remember back in the early 90's, I attempted to make low-carb meringues using splenda with the whipped egg whites. Although the use of splenda in place of sugar caused them to deflate quite a bit and not be as stiff as desired, I could still not stop eating the darn things.

When I eat the pure farmer cheese with fresh veggies, the cheese omelet, the broccoli with butter and cheese, not only does it taste fantastic to me but also....I never over-eat them. I will stop as soon as I'm satiated....and don't keep eating and eating.

So it's not just about WHAT I can have but also about what they do to me. And for ME....going into the mode of taking low-carb ingredients and trying to duplicate all the forbidden stuff just took me down a bad road. Around the time I first did Atkins about 20 years ago....they began to come out with ALL these low-carb ingredients in the stores. Low-carb ketchup, low-carb barbecue sauce, etc. Now, I can eat plain roasted chicken and love the taste. BUT, if I decided to put low-carb barbecue sauce on it, I would 1) add additional carbs, 2) risk hidden sugars and 3) adjust my taste so that I'd want something sweet on my chicken and decrease the awesome taste of the plain chicken.....not to mention, kick in sweet cravings and risk wanting to binge.

What *I* do is this: I use ALL of the allowed ingredients on the induction list to create all sorts of interesting dishes. I don't use ANY processed low-carb stuff out of boxes, etc. You can make just a myriad of delicious dishes just from the limited list of allowed induction foods. In fact, IMO, you can make tons more filling dishes on Atkins induction than you can from many of these Ideal protein, fat smash, breaking the fat-loss code, etc. diets that limit what proteins you can eat and severely limit the fats. The liberal fats really increase the variety and satisfaction levels of dishes or snacks you can create.

Just today, I saw someone complaining of being hungry between meals on Ideal Protein, I believe it was, and another advised eating sliced cucumbers with sea salt for that. Not that there's anything wrong with cucumber slices with sea salt, mind you....but let's face it, not very filling or satiating when you're really hungry. Not like chopped eggs with mayo or chicken salad or all sorts of other things we are allowed to have on Atkins.

Like I said, this is just for ME and if it helps you in any way, it will really make me feel good......but I just found that going down the road of "I will figure out ways to make foods I can't have in a way that can slide me past the limits" that was not a good one. I love to cook and I was trying to invent cakes and all sort of stuff that was triggering me to want to over-eat. I am just SO much safer doing it the strict way.

I'll tell you one other thing that might be helpful......spend some time reading the other forums here, particularly the ones devoted to the other specific diet plans and also the general ones dealing with craving and binge issues. You will begin to notice a huge carb connection to the craving/ binge/repeatedly going off plan/repeated frustration issues.
It has really just intensified my commitment when reading these other forums....because I see clear clinical patterns and become more and more convinced that this plan is the best....and why. And this makes me totally committed to doing it the right way.

deena

Last edited by Deena52; 02-20-2010 at 03:04 PM.
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2010, 04:08 PM   #75  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Deena52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Posts: 552

S/C/G: 195/130/135

Height: 5'4"

Default

OK, 139.3 lbs. again this morning....which is good. 2 days in a row indicates a more permanent stabilization below the 140 mark where I'd been stalled for some time. I'd gotten below it a few random times but never for 2 consecutive days in a row...so I'm feeling hopeful now that I am finally making a dent in these last 5 lbs.

Like I said, you can almost sense the scale is getting ready to drop.....I'd noticed my jeans getting looser so knew fat was being burned.

This can be so baffling though, detail-wise. On Friday, when I went to Annapolis with my brother (and got a great deal of physical exercise filling 30-40 huge bags with men's clothing)...I ended up having 6 cups of coffee...and that equaled 6 packets of Splenda (when I can only have 3 packets daily MAX)....which did slow (but didn't eliminate) my ketosis (dropped to trace)......YET, Saturday morning was when I showed the drop. Hard to figure out what the heck my body was doing with that one.

I'm still sitting here shaking my head over what Kim posted about that bread thing. It sounded to me like it was a written advertisement for low-carb bread, to be honest. That's what I first thought it was.

I'm not shaking my head over low-carb bread specifically....though there ARE a few things about just the bread that would make me shake my head (along the lines of how can margarine be that low-fat when fat is fat?) but more about the whole issue of people thinking Atkins is SO very difficult to adhere to....so very boring, so limited, etc. Just a total misconception.

I never have a problem finding something to eat when I'm out...if I feel hungry. That alone refutes the whole "so limited" belief. I just don't get it...suddenly humans cannot live without bread, pasta and sugar?

What I REALLY don't understand is that they are much more accepting of vegetarian/vegan diets than they are of low-carb diets. When the reality is that vegetarian/vegan diets, IMO, should be the ones they should be more skeptical of.

Our ancestors ate meat and fat....have we totally evolved from omnivores to herbivores? Are we now related more to giraffes? Where is the logic in that? Are they absolutely sure that they can get ALL of the aminos they need without eating meat/fish/eggs? All the iron they need?

Yet knocking out the stuff our ancestors did NOT eat is more dangerous?
I just don't get it.

Well, like I said..."res ipsa loquitur"...the facts speak for themselves. I have lost almost all the weight I set out to lose. I feel fabulous and it's been very easy. And I will keep it off....I am totally confident. Did it before and will do it again. Not even remotely worried. AND don't even have the remotest intention of changing the way I'm eating. I love eating this way. It's changed my life, actually. I'd have been fat all of my adult life had it not been for Atkins.

deena
Deena52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:33 AM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.