Hey! Five pounds is great! The weightloss is not consistent, I find. I will stay at the same weight for a week to ten days and then drop 2 or more pounds overnight. Just keep at it and drink that water!
Yes, it is possible to overeat - calories do count. Fitday has a free journal and food calculator you might want to use. It's at www.fitday.com.
You really don't HAVE to count cals and carbs. I do think it is a good idea to keep the fats in a reasonable range. You need 20-30 grams per day to process vitamins and minerals. However, fats are twice the caloric value of protein or veggies so.......
My fats run 30-45 per day.
Actually, Jan, I'd just stick to your plan. What plan is it? Maybe post some menues for others to check out.
Keep on trucking - or is it keep on lorrying in the UK?
OK, here's my two cents (and probably worth less than that) . . .
Fats DO count! I was on Atkins last year for 9 weeks and last 19 pounds. Yeah, that was great. Unfortunately, my blood pressure went through the roof! Just be careful. Despite what Dr. Atkins says, MY doctor absolutely freaked when she read my journal and say the amount of bacon, eggs, cheese, and red meat (despite being lean) that I was consuming.
My blood pressure is now under control. I eat less fat (still enough to meet nutrition requirements) and more vegies and some complex carbohydrates. (Of course, the weight would probably come off faster if I avoided the simple carbs. But I'm working on that, too.)
Whatever you do, make sure it feels right and that your doctor approves (or at least doesn't disapprove) of the plan. Believe me, you do not want any nasty surprises like high blood pressure or chlosteral problems!
At lunchtime I had a salad with mixed leaves ( about 1 cupful) with some half fat cheese, grated, maybe about 2oz. ( I usually have an apple then but today I am trying to cut right back on the carbs) 2 spoons mayo (regular, which i have swapped to from low fat version)
I have jsut had 2 x peperami sticks (Salami) and later I will have a piece of steak (fried in a little olive oil) with more salad and veggies kebabs.
Yesterday I ate.
2 rashers bacon and egg (fried) at about 11.00am
2 plums
2 large pieces of fish done in a cream and white wine sauce.
Sugar free jelly with about 4 strawberies and cream
About 3 cups of coffee over the day
Loads of water.
2 whiskey at water at bed time.
Saturday had
Eggs for breakfast
Mushrooms cooked in Garlic butter with a little bread ( 2pieces of french about an inch each) salad and mayo. (Lunch)
Goats cheese and salad with a raspberry sauce (made with jam and port) just a drizzle.
2 pieces of Duck in a cherry sauce, (again just a drizzle), roasted with with cabbage and a few carrots.
Well, you certainly eat a nice variety of food. A bit high on the fat level for me -- but if you're watching your blood pressure & getting your chlestoral checked regular, you should be OK.
I suggest you invest in a book that gives you the calorie, fat & carbhoydrate counts for foods (I have "The Doctor's Pocket Calorie, Fat, & Carbohydrate Counter". It fits in my purse so I can have it for quick reference before consumption.
HHHMMM I did not see any body mention WATER!!! are you drinking enough water???
Commonly whne one starts any diet it looses much water. as a result of losing much of the glycogen stores, the body then reacts by starting to retain as much fluid as it can. the only way to stop it is to drink like a fish. at least 1/2 of your body weight so if you weigh 200 then aim for 100 oz of water. that will let your body know that it is not dehydrated and it will release the water. so it is imoportant to drink. there are many other bennifits of drinking water. such as less headaches, less hunger twinges, increased metabolism let alone the inceased exercise running and squatting!!! and your body can get rid of the wate products better with being flushed out. so drink drink drink!!!
I'm pretty new at low carb-ing, but doesn't alcohol have a lot of carbs in it? Or maybe just certain types of alcohol? I noticed that you had some whiskey one night and some wine another night. My point is to watch those hidden carbs. I have a lot of trouble with that myself.
Wine has some carbs - depending on the sweetness. WHiskey and other pure alcohols have 0 carbs. However, your body uses the CALORIES from alcohol first which means you are not burning real food. Therefore, booze can slow weightloss.
In spite of all I lost 1/2 lb tonight at the official weigh in so that's not too bad.
Gearing up to go away now and looking forward to some Spanish Salads and Sun.
Will certainly come back to the WOE on my return but with a little tweaking.
Ii now know why my shorts from last year do not fit. I am in the habit of measuring myself periodically. I did it again this am. I have lost 1" bust, 1" hips even 1" from the top of each leg BUT I have gained 1" around my waist. Any ideas anyone what has caused that... I think it is the fats I have suddlnly started to eat.
Well, now I am going to butt in and give you my 200 cents worth.
If you eat lots of cream, cream cheese, cheese, greasy beef, and bacon each day, you may well be getting a bit much in the calorie department.
Think balanced diet, and think about using the "good fats" (very little animal fat, more vegetable fats like olive oil or canola oil) and try to eat more vegetables. I saw some cabbage one day, but no other vegetabes other than carrots, and a kebob of veggies.
When I say vegetables, I mean spinach, kale, squash, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, Swiss chard, and many others you may only have read about but never had the courage to try. Now is the time to try them! And the lettuce: iceberg lettuce, the round stuff that is used to death around here, is mostly water. Try eaing some Romaine (the lettuce with the most nutrients), red lettuce, Boston lettuce, red Romaine, and others mixed with dandilion leaves, bean sprouts, radiccio, and other exotic and nutritious greens and foods.
The foods you should really try to avoid are: anything with real sugar, white potatoes, bananas, carrots, all breads (maybe a half slice of whole grain or multigrain bread once a week), use whole grain pasta very sparingly if at all, beets, and just about anything made with flour.
And jdoneil, as to the problem of high blood pressure with this diet, I am really surprised. I cannot tell you how many people have come to this site and another I often visit (for diabetics who have finally controlled their blood sugars with the low carb diet) and said their cholesterol, high blood pressure, and their blood sugars were all corrected finally with low carbs after using a river of pills unsuccessfully. I wonder if your diet was unusually high in salt, or if you actually did increase your blood pressure only with the diet and had no problem with blood pressure before or since. At any rate, whatever caused your pressure to go so high, I am glad to hear it is down now. High blood pressure is indeed dangerous to have.
The medical world is still convinced this is a fad diet. They see the foods we eat and simply shake their heads with the certainty that we could not live more than 6 more hours on these foods. Yet, on the other hand, there are more and more physicians, diet therapists, and just plain folk who are swearing by this diet. (Fad diets are usually proposed by one person - this diet has so many people suggesting how to do it, including physicians [Dr Atkins, and Dr Nancy Schwarzbein, an endocrinologist, for example] that I am convinced it is a good idea. But there are still thousands or tens of thousands of MDs who will look at this and roll their eyes back in disbelief. And yet, the low fat diet has not worked so far anyway.
You don't really have to count calories, but you do have to remember that if you eat as though you could have all you want, you are going to have trouble. It is wise to eat less fatty proteins, and keep the dairy fats down a bit too. Especially if you are not one of those eager people who run nine miles a day (or at least exercise three times a week for an hour.) Balance also includes some reasonableness. A balanced diet should include some carbs, but usually they can be from vegetables and a few fruits, and balance that with protein, and some good fats.
I have not found any good answers about the liquor and wines question. The alcohol is converted to sugar in the liver. However, I cannot seem to get an answer as to whether they should be counted as carbs or, espeically with whiskey and other hard liquors that are not mixed with any sugary mix, whether they can be considered non-carb. I did read somewhere that the alcohol is converted to sugar, but since it has to be done by the liver, that process slows down the speed with which alcohol sugar gets to the blood and therefore it is a low glycemic substance or can be considered almost a non-carb. If anyone has some really good info from a book or article, please let me know. I have really been curious about that.
Again, let me go into this weighing problem. When you get on this diet, especially if you have been doing low fat for a while and have avoided meats as well as dairy and fats, your body may have been deprived of the foods it needs to keep healthy. After about 3 days to two weeks on this diet, people often say they have more energy, feel better than they have in years, and have lost some great amount of weight.
Then they hit a week or two where every day they weigh themselves and get depressed because they have not lost any weight. In fact, one or two days they may have a higher weight. But you have to understand in most cases we can only burn about 1 to 2 pounds of fat each WEEK. This means, if you are losing one pound of body fat each week burned as energy, in one day it is ... well, about 2 to 3 ounces. Our bathroom scales usually don't detect that kind of change. Then, you have to account for the comings and goings of water, which is very heavy. Plus your other body functions, such as TOM, or hormones causing bloating or water retention, and many other variables. The first week or two, when you lose 73 pounds (well, maybe that is an exaggeration - I do that sometimes) it is from the change of burning sugar for energy to burning fats for energy. The liver first uses up the quick-release form of sugar for emergencies, called glycogen, which holds lots of water. So, indeed, the first big weight loss is water. But burning fats from your bodies' stores is done very slowly.
So, don't even get on the scale every day if it depresses you not to lose each minute. Measure yourself each week. Or weigh yourself and every week average the weights, so you can overcome that problem of water coming and going and fooling you into believing it is an actual weight.
Also, if you are the kind who feels more energy and feels better, it is usually because you finally are getting the proteins and fats your body needs to stay healthy. With the extra energy, you may be moving more and perhaps exercsing for the first time in years. This builds muscles - which, inch for inch, weigh more than fat. So, although it seems you are not losing, but your measurments are getting smaller, it could be from gaining muscle tissue and losing fat at the rate that the weigt stays about the same but you are definitely getting better and losing fats. And if you get a chance to read a few of the low carb books (I strongly recommend you read at least one or two if you have not done so already) you will read that eating fats does not cause you to get fat or add fat tissue to your body. It is really a radical idea, but in fact it is the carbs wich cause the fats to be added to our lovely bodies.
The first months of this diet are just a beginning. If you can eat a balanced diet rather than restricting yourself so much that you begin to feel deprived, you can get closer to being successful on low carbs.
And success is such a self-esteem builder and is what we have wanted for sooooo very long.
Now, Jano, if you are ready to get back to real life from the wonders of Spain, hang in there and do it. Just do it. It can be hard to learn and understand all of this low carb stuff, but it certainly can be rewarding.
Overeating
But I'm working on that, too.)
A bit high on the fat level for me -- but if you're watching your blood pressure & getting your chlestoral checked regular, you should be OK.
Happened to me to
