YAY!! I am so happy to see so many visitors here!! I love visitors! Thanks so much you guys!
honeyb....I actually started (well, finally got the diet to actually start working) in early summer of '09 (so about 8 months ago) and I registered here at 3FC in October of '09, at which time I was about 165...so had lost approx. 30 lbs. Then lost another approx. 25+ lbs. since October. And amazingly...I should have normally slowed down during the second half...but my loss actually accelerated a bit (the first 30 in about 5 months but the second 25+ in less than 4 months)....and to be honest, I have to credit participating here on 3FC for that almost 100% (with just a tiny bit credited to a bit of calorie cycling...which I learned about here at 3FC). The friends, the support, the info and advice...it's just been fantastic. I love it here.
Plus...you don't have a little heart, honeyb...you have a BIG heart
(not to mention, a great sense-of-humor)
CJZee.....Thank you so much.
I'm often quite chagrined at how much I go on and on....pontificating on my soapbox.
I'm so glad someone appreciates it/is interested in it. And I cannot thank you enough for those links. I cannot wait to go and click on them!! They sound just like what I love to check out!
Have you read anything regarding the latest Mayo Clinic study that showed no direct link between fat and heart disease? I had briefly heard it mentioned on CNN and then literally saw or heard nothing further....and I do check on the news regularly and have for years. I will have to go and search for this on the net to get the specific details....but interesting how they simply mentioned it in passing. You would think that should be pretty interesting news, wouldn't you?
I will post link(s) for you on this as soon as I track it down. My recollection is that it was a major study and very large.....with a high number of test subjects. Basically, that it met the specs for a significant study, the results of which should be seriously considered.
I totally agree with you and do Atkins for the exact same reason.....that my cravings and intense, constant hunger are gone. This is exactly what would defeat me on my other diet plans....and result in self-doubt and self-recrimination. What a cluster-F....to be suffering, hungry and feeling deprived, yet headed for failure, no matter what I did. Who in their right mind would want to put themselves through that? Just salivating at the thought of finally being able to go off the diet....and ruining any chance of maintaining right there, even if I did lose some weight.
I get so thrilled when I see others here low-carbing, I can't even tell you. Makes me cheer inside my head.
The more people I see low-carbing here and the more who come to this Atkins forum, the happier I am. It was very quiet here back when I first registered in October and I'm so happy more have joined in.
LeslieLou.....My estranged husband also rarely did things with me. To this day, he has no idea how to work the washing machine or to even grocery shop. He is also an RN and back in the late 80's he developed sudden onset of insulin-dependent diabetes. Remembering back, we'd taken the boys to the beach and he didn't feel well....and he bought some of those diastix and showed sugar in his urine...then bought an accu-check and his sugar was in the 600's! He had to go on insulin immediately and later, several oral hypoglycemics were added (metformin is one of them...can't recall the other....avandia, possibly?)
So....he had been listening to this sports doctor named Jim Corea on the radio for a long time...and he revered the guy. And this doctor highly recommended complex carbs...low-fat and relatively low-protein (only fish and lean fowl...no red meat).....and I remember my husband going on this big granola kick for months...and I was horrified when I read the calorie and sugar stats on the packages. Hubby bought a whole lot of whole wheat bread and whole grain cereal, I remember.....but I was then doing Atkins and tried and tried to convince him that low-carbing was the way to go....that I felt sure he could decrease his insulin/oral hypoglycemic doses....but he ignored me. And remember....he's an RN...so should have been able to comprehend this stuff on a technical level....if only he'd been willing to even listen.
In addition to that....he was hospitalized around that time for angina/chest pain, and it was discovered that he had an enlarged heart (cardiomegaly) and hypertension...and was put on norvasc...and one or two other meds.
Now...to be fair...he's also been an alcoholic for many years (an angry alcoholic) and so the alcohol, I'm sure, has been a huge factor in his declining health at the age of only 55 right now. BUT, his diet was also a huge factor, IMO. Oh, and BTW, this Jim Corea, the sports doctor, dropped dead of a heart attack/massive MI years ago.
And my husband always WAS interested in health issues related to himself. He was an avid walker and went out walking every single day....and this was why he listened so religiously to Jim Corea on the radio. Unfortunately....he set his mind on a particular set of recommendations and never had an open mind for new info...esp. info that might contradict his entrenched beliefs. And the thing is, he certainly was intelligent enough to have recognized how much the diabetes issue was growing to massive epidemic proportions. He worked in the hospital (and still does, I presume) for years and years...and the evidence was right there to clearly see.
And I think I already told the story, on my thread here, about my very healthy brother-in-law, a marathon runner.....and a radiologist (so went to medical school)....who insists on believing that low-fat is the way to go to prevent heart disease (he has a fear of this, due to his father dying of an MI in his 70's).....and in fact, has prescribed himself statins. And there is a whole array of negative side-effects of these statins, if you check them out. His wife (my sister), on the other hand, avidly keeps up with the latest medical/nutrition podcasts.....and believes in low-carbing...and basically in the theories Taubes set forth in his book. She just rolls her eyes and shakes her head at her husband's belief and that he refuses to contemplate they might be incorrect.
Back to hubby for a minute....he would go out and walk daily, then have breakfast somewhere....then go sit in his car, listen to the radio, and drink (Coors Light, mainly). Later, he would arrive home, intoxicated and often angry....with an armload of fast food, which he would quickly demolish (pizza, McDonald's, hot wings, subs, etc.)...and would then follow that up with several PB&J sandwiches (on his wholewheat bread...oh, and always diet coke).......and eventually, go to bed and pass out.....and wake up sober late at night, shower and go to work. My whole married life was all about keeping peace in the house, at any cost, for my sons.
Being a nurse, he knew how to adjust his own insulin, to cover himself for these daily carb binges/gluts. He knew enough medical info to be dangerous...because he was not open-minded about the best and latest treatments.
The story of what led to me being separated (since late '05) is a sad one..our youngest son was killed in a MVA, hubby's drinking escalated to a dangerous level and my other 2 sons made me leave...best thing I ever did. But while it's sad, it's also got an inspiring message (well, so far at least) in terms of how we managed to make good come from a bad situation, my sons and I. So if anyone ever wants to hear the story, let me know. But the reason I mention it is that I avoid seeing or speaking with him at this time (due to him showing up drunk any time I agreed to be friendly and meet, etc.) but due to circumstances, I have been under the impression (from a few of his siblings) that his health is NOT good and has been deteriorating. His sister can't even believe he's still managing to get to work and he's had to deal with DUI issues since we left.
Anyhoo, LeslieLou (lol, it rhymes)......that is my sad husband story, in a nutshell. I could count on one hand the number of times we actually did anything together, just the two of us.
And finally, for
Lori.....and BTW, I want to tell you, Lori, how much I appreciate the fact that I can count on you to be here every day. You are a huge source of support for me and for everyone else here on this Atkins forum.
And again, I am thrilled that your husband is reading the book and telling you his thoughts regarding it. Being totally honest here...I am generally quite a skeptical person, I swear. I am NOT the type who gets sucked-into or gloms onto any new theory coming down the pike. If anything, I am the total opposite. It is only when something makes total sense to me....that I will be in the mind-frame of considering it seriously and wanting to learn more and more.
BUT...even knowing this about myself....it still makes me feel MUCH better to know that your husband, who has the knowledge and background to understand this book....sees it from the same perspective that I (and we) do. It really reinforces for me that I was viewing it in the right way and in the open-minded way I've hoped I've been doing. Please continue to share his thoughts on the book. I really want to know everything he says regarding it and regarding anything he reads in it.
And finally...for real this time
.....I don't even want to post here what my weight was this morning. Let's just say (and here is a "TMI ALERT!").....my stomach was acting up and I spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom very early this morning.......and the results of that showed on the scale (literally mere millimeters from goal)................because I am absolutely SURE that there is NO way I lost several pounds overnight and this is a temporary optical illusion due to my body sorting itself out after my morning in the bathroom. I have IBS, as do many in my family (we're Jewish...goes with the territory
) so I'm accustomed to this......though it only happens on occasion. I definitely feel like I dropped a ton of liquid/water and the fluid balance needs to be sorted out here.....and the scale will show my real/actual weight in a day or so.
And shoot...I don't want to jump to goal this fast!
That's gonna take away all the fun I'm having getting there now that I have all you guys on the forum here. This makes it so much fun than it was just doing it by myself. I'm not ready to be the maintenance gal quite yet.
I really appreciate you guys so much!
But I definitely feel sure that I've dropped below 140...which IS the big deal for me. I'm guessing I'm around 139.0 right now....REAL weight....so 4 lbs. or so to go. DON'T RUSH ME, SCALE! Let me enjoy the last leg of this journey.
deena
Oh...and I promise I will get new pics taken and post them here. I poked around and actually found an old pair of lady's jeans (usually wear men's) in size 10...that not only fit me but are a bit loose!!! I am sure I was born no less than a size 10......it's the lowest size I EVER remember wearing (I'm big boned...hands like a peasant, I'm serious). And what's fantastic is now I don't have to wash and dry that one and only pair that fit me....I now have 2 pair that I can alternate...giving me plenty of time to get more at the thrift shop.
So I WILL get pics for you to show you. PROMISE.