I'm stalled. This diet is tough and I am basically doing Atkins but adding grapefruit to it. I'm sure it's not unhealthy for me to include a fruit, but every time I drink my grody grapefruit juice I can't help but think "too many carbs in here! I'm not even getting to enjoy the carbs I eat!"
I mean, there's no way to go into ketosis, so I'm not sure what the point is of the diet. My husband is maybe down 2 lbs as well.... so maybe we're going to drop the grapefruit totally.
Or maybe we try something else. I don't know. I need something easy to follow and where I'm not going to the store to buy new ingredients all the time. It's easy for me to pick up some eggs and sausage and cheese and veggies and call it good.....
But I wonder if something else would be easier like a diet with frozen dinners or some meal bars and canned soups.... My husband has high cholesterol (not taking his meds) and I'm thinking about going to even being a vegan if it will help him. (Nutrisystem is out, but I think I could do a modifed version of it with low fat granola bars for breakfast and a lean cuisine with a veggie for lunch and dinner.)
Thoughts?
Let me also say that I don't mind eating the same thing over and over. We're very motivated here... we just don't feel very good and it doesn't seem to be working.
I'm going to throw this in some sort of general forum, too.)
Have you thought about counting calories? You are free to choose your own foods, staying within your recommended calories. I find this way to to be the most flexible , non restrictive diet. I watch my carbs and sodium intake and also keep fried foods at a minimum.I plan what I will eat thru the day and most of the time I stick to my plan.
I have thought about counting calories... and also volumetrics.
Not that it wouldn't be possible, but my "diet life" up to this point has allowed me (being on low carb things usually) to not worry so much about calorie counting, but to be more concerned about carb counting...
I think I could shift my thinking, but it would take some doing and I'd need to make sure I was being more regimented with a plan at first.... for example, I would need to write out exactly what I am going to eat down to each grape and stuff like that.
I can follow a plan... exactly... I just also don't want to buy tons of stuff and it seems like the prepackaged stuff is going to have a lot of stuff in it that's got chemicals and sodium and stuff?
I do write everything down , even the last grape. I find if I stick to my plan I am successful. It was not planning that brought me to my highest weight of 206. With calorie counting you don't have to buy tons of stuff, you will eat ordinary food, you know, fruit, veggies , lean meat, fish, chicken, etc,if you want you can have Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice or Slimfast. The main thing is to stay within your calorie allowance.I think fresh food is the best choice, but it is a matter of preferance and what is easiest for you to follow.
Grapefruit - It sounds like your looking for a diet that is relatively easy to stick with. If you don't like the concept of keeping food journals or counting calories...I think the Atkins diet may be best for you. You should buy Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution book, read it and then make your choice. For me (as I am extremely busy, not a good cook, and in no way could ever find time to count calories or keep food journal), Atkins is the best of them and the easiest to follow. I don't count anything! I just stay away from all the bad foods mentioned in his book with the exception of fruit, but I stick to the lower carb fruit. The key word here is fruit (not fruit juices, which contain high volumes of natural sugar without the benefit of the fiber). I think you and your hubby would be fine on Atkins, if you just had the actual grapefruit as part of your meal, instead of just the juice. Once you've been on the diet for a week or two, you'll see your appetite will naturally deminish and you will feel more control over food. You'll get hungry, but not savagely hungry! Wishing you and hubby all the best...whatever you decide. Joyce
You should buy Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution book, read it and then make your choice.
I have it and have read it. It's been a couple of years, but I really did ok on that diet. I think I really have 2 choices here after talking this through with you ladies....
Stick w/ diet I'm on but stop the grapefruit.
or
Go to a calorie counting thing.
Thanks everyone for helping me think this through.... I knew I could get support here.
That's true...dieting can certainly be expensive...but your worth it!!! And...think of all the money you save by not eating junk (i.e., mickey dees, chinese takeout, etc.). Hope you find your niche. Sending you [[[[[good vibes]]]]] Joyce
You can include anything you want in a low-cal diet, as long as you stick to your calorie allottment for the day. That's not to say anyone should be eating 1500 calories worth of fast food or anything since that would be plain unhealthy, but you don't have to completely eliminate any type of food from your plan.
Have you considered South Beach? You can have many of the same foods as on Atkins (lots of veggies, lean meats, lean dairy), but you can also have some fruits and whole grain products (healthy breads and pastas and brown rice), and you don't have to actually COUNT anything (no counting calories, no counting carbs, no counting fat grams, nothin'). You have to watch your fats a little more closely than on Atkins, but if hubby has high cholesterol like you mentioned, this would be good anyway (limit saturated fats). And you wouldn't have to feel guilty about your grapefruit because you could easily incorporate it into your plan and still be ON plan.
You can use your prepackaged meat either with Atkins or calorie counting. I have done both and was successful with both, I just find calorie counting works best for long term, again do what works best for you and it is perfectly OK to experiment until you find what is best for you.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grapefruitisgrody
My husband has high cholesterol
My advice would be to read 3 books....Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr. Malcom Kendricks. I think they will prove to be very interesting.
Doing Atkins correctly (as outlined in the book) will greatly benefit your husband's cholesterol.
GG, Atkins did amazing things for my cholesterol. LDL way down, HDL way up, lipids way down. Turned my doc from a confirmed sceptic to a reformed believer. One of the thoughts I use to motivate me to stay on track is that all this fat and protein isn't bad for me .. UNLESS I eat carbs too. If I eat a whole bunch of carbs in addition to Atkins, I might as well just inject window caulk in all my arteries and skip the interim wait for the inevitable cardiovascular disaster. I tell myself "Girl, make your choice and stick with it. You can have the English muffins and the raisin bran and the bread, OR you can have the smoked salmon with cream cheese for breakfast, tuna stuffed avocado for lunch, and a bbq'd pork chop marinated in something wonderful for dinner, and butter on your veggies and real cream in your coffee. You really, really don't want to have both." I vote for the salmon, and butter for my artichoke!
Frustrated (cross posted)
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