[qsuzi1]

I may be carb sensitive but want to know if there is a way I can be more sure if I am or am not. During weeks 4 and 5, I lost 1 lb only each week (prior weeks were 3 lbs or more). The only difference from prior weeks was that I increased from 3 to 5 restricted (bars) items per week. Maybe this was just a fluke 2-week period and could be attributed to starting blood pressure medicine. I have continued at 3 restricted per week and last WI I lost 2.5 lbs. I've read some post comments that say their weight loss increased when they ADDED or DECREASED the restricted items. Do you have any information about this subject?

[LizRR]

It's all different for each person. I would think the best way to be sure is to use yourself as an experiment. I personally don't eat any restricted -but that's only because I find them too tempting (I had to fight myself not to eat the box of soy puffs in one sitting).

[purple sky]

Like, LizRR, said you sort of have to experiment. There is no real method or weight loss tricks. You basically follow the program and then you play with what works for you. Generally speaking the restricted are recommend and part of the protocol for a reason. People eat them every day and lose weight.

I would play around with my meat choices. Like if i felt the scale was not moving, I would switch from beef/steak to chicken breast. BUT, I also noticed the opposite. That when I went from too much chicken breast to beef or ground beef (something with more fat) there was more weight loss. I also noticed this when I upped my oil (over the limit) sometimes. Sometimes salads helped, and not the healthy kind. Iceberg. Something about the roughage.

I just found that changing it up after a period of doing the same seemed to help. For example just because the scales was good after a day or two with ground beef and ice berg lettuce did not mean I could eat that the whole week. There were weeks where I only had 3 or 4 restricted. Made no difference.

There's a lot of stuff in the bars that made me uneasy. I cut them out for a while and instead ate like the dill pickle zippers/sw curls and then added soy balls. Those are tricky. Hard to eat just one packet.

I also found that eating restricted early in the day (breakfast or lunch) made me want another later in the day.

Some cut out restricted for a period of time and do show losses on the scale. I just could not do it. Would make me sad.

[qsuzi1]

Thanks for your comments Liz and Purple Sky. I will continue to play with it, eat more roughage, and when I use restricted it will be in the morning when I need my most energy. The good news is that I have lost good inches each time although I know that I will not get the large inches lost in the future. It's great to get feedback to know that you are trying all the possible ideas and solutions. This is a journey. I'm also not going to order those chocolate soy puffs again. Like you say they are too tempting and I want more.

[purple sky]

Yes, some weeks you lose pounds and some you lose inches.