Low Carb Alternachicks???
 

Hello all,
I read a thread recently where someone was asking if there was interest in a low carb group specifically for the alternachicks.....I thought it was cool & noticed that it had been "closed" to start one somewhere else. I can't find it though. Anyone know what I'm talking about? If so, where'd it go? If not, wanna start one? I know there are some low carb groups in the main forum but I liked the bios I've read so far for Alternachicks & thought I'd like to keep hanging out here.
As to ATkins, or my version of it...lol...it's the only diet I've ever really lost much on. I recently went back on the bandwagon & today has been yet another reinforcement for why I like to stick with it. I started cutting most of (not all) my carbs about two weeks ago I think. Most of my carbs have been from things like tomatoes & broccoli....grilled onions, etc. I have (as is usual with lower carb diets) felt almost zero cravings for food not on my diet since day three or four. I have a ton more energy & feel like my hypoglycemia has been much more controlled. The last couple days I have not felt a pull toward my beloved baked goods at all! Well..this morning I walked my dog too long on the beach & was running late. I did not have time for my usual bacon & eggs breakfast so I headed out & grabbed a bacon & egg croisanwich. Bad, bad move. I felt like I was starving in about an hour & thought of nothing except food until I got home at noon. I seriously thought about every single store I could stop at to get crispy kremes or mountain dew that I passed! I just devoured two entire bowls of pasta with cream sauce. It tasted good but not THAT good. I'm currently Stuffed & thinking hey, tiramisu or chocolate cake would be JUST what I'd like right NOWWWW! If I don't stick with my diet from the time I wake up, I'm lost. I find I can cheat a bit but it's best done late at night so that I go to bed before I go overboard. Probably not typical advice but it works for me.
I know that reduced carbs (good carbs vs bad carbs) diets like south beach are better for many people...and probably much healthier in a nutrient sort of way. I just find that for ME, I don't have the self control for it. I have to really cut back on carbs or I just keep going back & binging on them.
Anyone else feel this way? anyone feel like talking carbs?
;)

Dawn
http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tra...0/115/135/.png

I'm doing a combo of South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers. I find I gain quickly if I am constantly eating rice/pasta/bread and potatoes.

I also find if I eat carbs at lunch time I get headaches and can't focus very well on whatever task I am doing. :( It's better if I eat carbs in the morning.

It's funny that you mention the headaches....I had more carbs at lunch (followed by lime pie & a chocolate eclair afterwords) than I've had in ages. Now I have a Splitting headache! ugh. Maybe drinking more water will flush it out. :) can't hurt to hope. I can certainly say I have not gotten as much done this afternoon as I normally do! I definitely cannot do carbs in the morning though....it just sets me up for craving them all day.

wooohoo! I lost another five pds sometime or other. Weighed in at the docs today! Yippeee! After everything I ate yesterday that's a miracle! http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tra...0/115/130/.png

Congratulations Dawn! :bravo:

Good 4 U!!! that's great Dawn!

Dawn, congratulations! :hat:
I'm doing South Beach, but I'll talk carbs with you. ;)

I managed to have a mostly carb free weekend except for a hamburger bun. Other than that I stayed op :cb:

Wow...I did not know that you were cutting that many carbs Mauvais (what AM I supposed to call you by the way? I don't think I've caught your name & your screen name is long...lol) You did a lot better than me, I cheated left right & center over the weekend. I even had chocolate & a pastry! I don't worry too much about weekends so long as I stick with my diet during the week though. And when I went to the doctors on Monday I was down to 128 so I lost a few more pounds. I've been slacking on my exercize though so maybe I just lost some muscle...my clothes are not really fitting THAT much looser yet. Anyone got good dinner plans? I'm trying to figure out what to do for supper. My roommate is being drawn into Atkins against his will....hee hee. I'm thinking either crockpot mock chuck steak with a cream of mushroom base or else something to do with chicken. I don't use mine all that much now but when I am working or in school it's about the only item in the kitchen that gets used. Any other crockpot fiends on here? Technical question about the site: anyone have problems with the code for their little weight tracker thingy? When I cut & paste mine to a document to save so that I can grab it later...it never saves it. I go & open the doc & nothing is there. Anyone else have that prob? Is there someway to save it on the site?

Mauvais or Mauv is just fine :lol:

Yep! I have cut all those carbs out for the next 2 weeks and I'm cutting out sugar :faint: The I will re-introduce the whole wheat varieties pasta, bread and cereal but in small quantities - i.e . once per week as per the SBD book. Still counting my points and going to my WW meetings though - and my weigh in last night was great! Lost 2 lbs! :cb:

I have to admit that weekends are my toughest challenge :( but I made a huge effort last weekend not to eat out (except for the burger place on Saturday) and to keep regular meal times.

Hmmm... I don't have a tracker so I'm not sure what happened with yours. I will check into that to see how that works.

Mauv, how MARVY! Down 2 pounds ...excellent ! ... It's interesting how some of us combine and blend different weight loss formats.. I do SB, no refined carbs or sugars... and count my calories... and use some of the WW receipes...
Hey ! Whatever works ! DH is on Atkins... he does real well with it..now then, I tried it about a year ago.. DH Lost 7lbs the first week... and I FOUND them all..I gained 7 lbs ! Figured that it's not something that works for me. :)

Thanks Schatzi! :)

Dawn did you check this out http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56332
it might help you.

Okay, so I tried it out myself this evening. If you make the tracker then copy and paste it into your signature in the user cp section then save it you can then go back and edit your signature later to change the amount of weight loss - it worked for me! :cp:

I didn't want to keep the tracker so I just deleted it from my signature....

Thanks Mauv! I'm off to the grocery store in a few minutes so I will fuss around with doing it later. Congrats on the 2 pounds! Do you like the whole wheat pasta by the way? I have tried the soy based pasta that atkins espouses, hated the texture, would rather not have pasta. I have tried Spelt pasta, which this fitness chic named Teresa Tapp suggests for people with O Positive (me) blood have. I'm not sure what her rationale is but she claims O's digest spelt better than wheat. Anyways, I've not gotten around to checking the glycemic rating on it but it tastes really good. Thanks for the congrats Shatz!

Hi everyone - just putting in my 2 cents. I follow the zone - mostly. What I really like about it is that I dont give up a food group - I simply tweek it in favor of better choices or more bulk/less calories. I only buy multi grain bread - the kind with all the seeds in it - and I only eat it with specific recipes - granted the zone requires some planning and sometimes I just eat a apple rather than making a whole recipe - but the main recipes I make are all around 350-450 calories (I have snacks that are less but then I have to eat twice) and I dont get headaches and I dont get hungry or wierd cravings - I do eat at 4-5 hr interval 4 times a day and that helps. WATER WATER WATER.

But you are all correct that what works for some wont work for others - I tried atkins and there was just not enough fiber if you get my drift -so I felt ucky. So I dont just choose good carbs, I combine with fat and prot to slow them down.

I have tried Whole Wheat macaroni - bulk - it was ok - but kind of gooey. And I used to eat the low carb whole wheat tortilla's but they tasted weired and the whole net carb thing doesnt apply to my plan.

I like the Best Foods 2g fat mayo - not horrible and a decent substitute.

And I use no cal butter spray on toast, pasta and veggies - that is pretty good (tastes like micro popcorn butter)

I eat brocoli, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatos, no sugar added applesauce, apples, oranges, tuna, chicken, fish, oatmeal, cottage cheese FF, (a lots of other things) I add unflavored protein powder to smoothies and my oats to balance it out, last night I had a cheese burger using 7% fat burger, FF Kraft sliced cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketsup, 2g fat mayo, on a Whole grain bun. It was yummy, balanced and low GI.

I can take just about any ingredients and make them work - I made up a cool spreadsheet in Excel - I am a number freak.

Blah Blah Blah - have I bored you all to death yet - sorry for the ramble.

Later.

Hey PJ,
Oddly enough....I find that I eat a LOT more fiber now than I did when I was not on Atkins. I think its because I don't ever do Induction though. I lose plenty of weight on maintenance...plus I'm not sure I really do THAT in a strict fashion. For instance, I think your supposed to stick with a cup or so of greens (can't remember if its per day or per meal) but I eat a pretty big bowl of them. I generally have a salad with both dinner & lunch now....or I'll have veggies & dip instead. It seems like as long as I up my protein intake I can get by with eating more veggies than your supposed to. I have dropped carrots out mostly though...and fruit. I don't miss carrots THAT much & fruit tends to make my mouth break out...too much acid, so I don't miss that all that much. On weekends I like to have blueberries or strawberries with cool whip, I just can't do it too often. Oddly, I found out from my doctor that bananas are one of the most acidic fruits, pretty strange huh? I just love the fact that I can have things like pudding with heavy cream & cream cheese as a base....and heavy cream in my coffee with splenda...and still drop sizes. When I try to do diets like south beach or w/w I tend to find myself seduced by those cute little pasta servings....next thing you know I'm eating an entire bowl of macaroni & cheese all by myself again! As I mentioned someplace else, I do let myself be bad with the pasta most weekends but at least I'm going back to my diet on Monday instead of just giving up like I used to.

Dawn,

Sounds like you are doing the healthy approach to Atkins and really sides a lot like Sugar Busters. But as I said what ever works works. I never made it past the induction phase and I love fruit especially apples and applesauce. Of course I really like pasta, bread and butter with salt too - but until I reach my goal there are certain things I avoid and other things I allow as cheats - like ice cream on sunday with choc sauce - not a lot and even still my over all calories are low - I just need to move my big butt out of this chair and outside. LOL

Nice to meet you by the way - I posted a bio - way too long - more than anyone wanted to know I am sure.

PJ,
I'll agree with you there...doesnt much matter what you call it so long as it works! I guess I still consider myself atkins mostly because that is the first place that I started getting the ideas I'm following now. That is me in ANYTHING in life though, use what I like & leave the rest...lol. I'm not so good at following directions to a T...I like to modify things. :) When I read about induction I was like Ha, yeah, right. Too harsh for me to even attempt with all the hypoglycemic issues I have. Maintenance sounded acceptable though. I definitly don't fit in with weight watchers & low cal type diets though. I eat my piggy head off & don't even bother with counting carbs anymore. I spent my teenage & early adult years counting calories & being utterly miserable. I just know roughly what stuff to avoid & what stuff I can't eat plenty of without wearing it. Speaking of wearing what you eat...As a joke, when I was still with my husband (who was also getting sort of pudgy) I once did some signs on my computer in fancy script that said "HUGE BUTT", "THUNDER THIGHS INCLUDED", and "STRAIGHT OUT LARD" and then printed them & taped them over all the labels on the pasta & bread in my house. My ex got a huge kick out of it...so did any visitors until it all got eaten up since he kept dragging them into the kitchen to show them. :)

http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tra...0/115/128/.png

Dawn - those signs are hilarious! :rofl:

Fortunately my hubby will eat the same stuff as me most of the time. He is really glad we don't do the low fat thing as it means we don't buy diet products. We tried it once before and found that a lot of the "diet products" on the market taste horrible with a few exceptions.

We eat fresh fruit & veggies (whatever is in season) and neither of us can stand the taste of frozen entrees and most convenience foods so we make a lot of our meals from scratch. This might sound like a lot of work but if you start out with small simple meals then you eventually get in the routine.

My basic requirements for a recipe are:

1) A small list of main ingredients (not including spices)

2) Ingredients are available in most grocery stores or health food stores ( I am not driving all over town to find exotic items for one recipe :no: )

3) Must be ready in 30 -40 minutes or I ain't makin' it! :lol:

The only low fat items we buy are dairy products, low fat pudding, sugar free Jello and Crystal Light. Oh, yeah we also buy the Healthy Choice brand of fudgesicles and ice cream bars :T

DH and I can't stand margarine either so we buy butter but use very little of it. I usually end up freezing half the butter so it won't go bad.

We are now out of the habit of eating chips and cookies and have replaced those with nuts, sesame snacks and salsa with tortilla chips (for him anyway).

I can happily say that I no longer crave doughnuts thanks to SBD! :D

The only "diet" stuff I buy is the FF dairy, 1% milk, and FF cheese, cottage cheese and cream cheese. Then I add a good fat, like almonds or olive oil or avocado to get my zone balance on.

Hubby has cholesterol issues so if it tastes the same to us - I will buy the LF or FF version - otherwise it only original. For butter - I was buying "cant beleive its not butter" since it was cheaper than the real thing - I dont eat it at all anymore and DH only had occasionally - once the stuff I bought is gone - I will buy him some REAL butter since he prefers it and if not using all the time will not be as expensive. I like the Light Ranch and the Kraft 2g Mayo - obviously not as good as the originals but passable for now - once I reach my goal - I will allow the real stuff back in the fridge since I will have such control over my habits by then that a little real mayo on my sandwich wont undo everything - I jsut cant stand at the fridge and eat it out of the jar. LOL

I currently dont buy any kind of munchies except for DH to take on Road and no salty or choc - as I would scarf it all down - craving or not - if I know it is here I must have it. Still working on that problem - I can stop myself from buying in but not eating it once it is bought.

DH doesnt really mind - he does like his snacks and being able to eat what ever he wants he always wants dessert - I have to remind him that if he wants me to lose weight - he is just gonna have to suffer right along with me - and he likes to eat healthy anyway. Fresh and homemade - I will eat the LC entrees when working - but I really need to make some homemade Tv dinners and freeze them - way less salt that way and more veggies.

Well I blew it yesterday and had mashed potatoes :( but mum cooked us supper last night so what could I do? :dunno:

I'll just have to behave today :yes:

Mauv, don't feel bad, your in excellent company...lol. I got a little bit of unexpected & much needed cash & was so happy that I decided to celebrate...in the WRONG way. lol. Oven baked pizza with artichoke hearts, proscuitto & mushrooms. mmm....it was so good! I'm rationalizing it away to some extent by thinking well...at least it was a thin oven baked crust right? lol. HAS to be healthier than pizza hut deep pan right? As if! Anyways.
btw, how long does butter last? I thought it was almost indefinite! I bought some at Sam's, bulk, a few months ago & am still using it. Is it obvious when its bad? The only fat free stuff I buy is the Jello pudding but I buy that because its sugar free, the fat free is inconsequential for me.
Pj, I'm so hearing you about salty stuff. I used to mainline potato chips. Loved any & all varieties, salt & vinegar....sour cream & cheddar, plain. I'm lucky, with atkins I can eat nuts so now I get my sugar fix from pistachios. They are like lays though, you can't eat just one.

You can tell butter is bad when it smells funny or devlops a bit of blackish mold on it. I try to keep mine in the fridge, especially with this heat we are having lately.

I buy a 1lb brick and split it into 3 or four smaller sections, wrap them individually in plastic wrap then put them into a freezer container and pop them into the freeze. I take it out and put it in the butter container as needed. This seems to extend the shelf life of the butter and it doesn't go to waste if we don't eat much of it that week. It takes us about a month to eat 1lb butter so doing it this way works for us.

Blackish mold? Oh gross Mauv! I am certain that has never been a problem thus far! lol. I just put a bunch of mine in the freezer though just in case! Thanks!

How's the low carbing going for everyone?

I'm still passing on the rice and potatoes but I have eaten some whole wheat rolls lately - I have to watch that as they are really good and one can easily eat 2 or 3 :lol:

My big challenge is going to be while I am away on holiday. I plan on eating a lot of salad but I will be indulging in some sushi :T

Hi -

Since I follow the Zone (more often than not) my low carbs are in the sense that I eat less than before.

Also - since I combine my good carbs with prot and fat - it's all good.

But I would say on average - I have 2 servings of grain a day and about 6 servings of veggies - and on avg about 2-3 fruits.

I have 1/2 c oats with prot pwdr, almonds, vanilla, and a side of FF cott ch plus 1% milk and splenda for bkfst - under 400 cal and super filling. Like good for 4-5 hrs full.

Then the rest of the day I fake my way through the balance of 40-30-30.

Right now I am eating an apple with some Peanut butter -- mmm
Not really balanced - but close enough for me.

I've been eating the yummiest new snack this week...you take pepperoni's, lay them out on a baking sheet. Cook on 400 for about 10 min, blot with a paper towel or six...then return them to the oven until they are crispy but not burnt. Blot again. They are sooo good in dip! I'll never cry over the loss of potato chips again! I found the recipe in that cookbook by the Stella guy, the one who lost a combined weight with his family of like 590 pds or something. Alas, in addition to the low carb stuff I binged and ate the best tiramisu ever the day before yesterday. Bad. Bad Dawn. LOL.

I'm probably not an alternachick (except for my blue hair) but if you're running late, an Atkins Advantage bar can be really good. I keep a supply on hand - bought cheaply off e-bay - and they make for a good quick breakfast.

And, like you, if I start eating carbs, I can't stop. I think it's my meds that do that, but going off the meds isn't an option.

What meds are you on? I take like...handfulls, every day for autoimmune stuff. No clue what any of it does to my appetite. The one for my thyroid are a GOOD thing though, without that little green pill I'd be the size of a house no matter what I ate/drank/did. Anyways. I had not thought to check e-bay for atkins stuff. I will try that, thanks for the suggestion! I found some really good low carb bars by slim fast that are peanut butter crunch. They taste just like a candy bar. Alas, I can't seem to find them now that my membership to cosco has expired. They make some that are NOT low carb, just low fat & the box looks almost exactly the same & I accidentally bought them. They sell those everywhere. And yeah, blue hair seems pretty alternative to me:) Mine is Vampire Red at the moment.

my 2 cents
 

I just bought some South Beach Cereal Bars and some Pria (powerbar) choc shakes that are very low carb - they have a zone balance of close to 40-30-30. And they are yummy - I eat a bar then about 2 hrs later a shake - for me 100 cal last 1 hr (avg) so 170 cal last almost 2 hrs and 150 cal last an hr and half. If they were good balanced calories.

For a budgetwise way to go lo-carb - I would plan my meals around the meat and the veggie and I would just not have bread or pasta or rice or potatoes. And only 1-3 servings of fruit per day. (most veggies are so lo carb and lo cal as to be able to eat buckets before you reach a countable # - http://www.nutritiondata.com/ is free and has loads of items broken down into readable nutrition labels and they rate foods on nutritional density and fullness)

For example for dinner have your meat choice - even if it is low fat burger (7%), put a slice of cheese on it, have that with sliced tomatoes, or a salad. Grilled chicken with steamed brocoli (do you realize how filling 3 cups of broc is with next to no calories? - 96 cal total, 18 g Carb 6g Prot ) and when combined with the hi prot Chic - you wont have cravings.

Cromium Picolanate is a supplement taken to control the sugar cravings - if you take 2 a day for 30 days you will find you can walk right past the donuts without the slightest craving.

My diet allows for whole grains and fruit when eaten in combination with fat and prot at the 40-30-30 ratio. The premise is based on the Glycemic Index (GI) so that by combining carb-fat-prot, you can make any meal lo GI and your blood sugar stays steady - without the spikes and valleys so you dont have cravings and you stay full longer. When I have grain carbs - it is alway the high fiber, rough kind - like nutty bread instead of white. Oatmeal for bkfst mixed with some Prot pwdr, almonds and a side of cottage cheese.

But my step mom in law - just gave up all the grain and starch and eats only meat, fruits and veggies and she lost a ton of weight - getting all her fiber from the fruits and veggies. So you dont have to buy more food - just eliminate a food group. And you dont have to buy fresh - the frozen veggies are good too except carrots - but carrots and corn are both hi GI and should be avoided if you are going lo carb.

Phsyllium Husk is a great fiber supplement - you can add to any cereal or drink - it only take a tsp and it will thicken whatever you add it to making it more filling and giving you the fiber you need as a bonus.

After doing this for 4 months - I dont have the bread and butter cravings I used to - I still like choc - who doesnt? But I dont buy it. We had a bunch of sweets here last weekend and I dont need to crave it to eat it when it is right here - but I only had fun for 2 days then sent the rest to work with DH and managed to save him the last cherry turnover. And went back on plan like a good girl. And I didnt gain an oz. So my daily cal were ok - just bad choices.

Ok - yapper off. :D

Yep, I second what PJ said. Good suggestions! I tend to just go around the grocery store & buy a lot of eggs, whichever bacon is on sale, lunchmeat. I found ham slices on sale today for 4.00 for two pounds for instance. I roll ham up in cream cheese (I found the cheap off brand for 99cents a brick)...or rather, I thinly layer the cream cheese on the ham & roll it up...for a snack. We eat a really great dish with a v-8 (kmart makes a veggie juice that tastes just like v-8 for under a dollar) as a base. Ok, the bf is waiting on me, lemme see how quick I can post this...you grill up some ground beef which is usually cheap. Since I'm low carb I don't worry too much about the fat so its less expensive. I take that off & drain it & set it aside. Then I saute about a half a head of cabbage (also way cheap) in about a cup or so of the veggie juice. Keep an eye though & add more if the bottom of the pan starts getting browned too much. When its wilted down nicely I toss the burger back in & add a ton of garlic & chilli powder &/or chilli peppers. This recipe is also nice with grilled onions & green peppers tossed in. A few minutes before serving I put some sour cream in & mix it. Its the equivalent of chilli but low carb. Everyone I make it for loves it & it reheats great. I've also found that if you check labels some of the hot dogs are very low in carbs. I eat them with a small spinach salad for lunch sometimes. Another good lunch suggestion is to take romaine lettuce, smear on some mayo & dried oregano, then layer a piece of lunchmeat & a piece of chees on & fold up like a sandwhich. You can add tomato too, that is so good for you that I figure it counters the carbs. :) It IS a bit messy though so make sure you take napkins with you if your taking it to work. ok, I'll come back w/some more cheapo recipes tomorrow. I don't wanna keep my honey waiting any longer.

oopss..that was CHEESE on the lettuce thingy, not Chess. lol.

I take Celexa. Before that was Wellbutrin (only worked so-so), and before that was Zoloft. The Zoloft caused my weight gain. The Celexa probably would but as long as I stay on low carb I can keep the carb craving mostly under control. The Wellbutrin was good as a secondary med, but I just couldn't afford it anymore.

Hair's kinda green at the moment. I need to redo the color. After this, I want bright pink. Unfortunetly, the dyes are all semi-permanent and the color comes out really fast. And I only wash my hair 3 times a week!

It's not a very good pic, but here's what it kinda looks like as it washes out. It's just a teeny bit longer now. It was really long, but I had to chop it off because I can't swim with long hair - I can't get it under the cap and the clorine ruins it.

http://my_sigs.home.mindspring.com/sigs/me/short.jpg

>For example for dinner have your meat choice - even if it is low fat burger (7%), put a slice of cheese on it, have that with sliced tomatoes, or a salad. Grilled chicken with steamed brocoli (do you realize how filling 3 cups of broc is with next to no calories? - 96 cal total, 18 g Carb 6g Prot ) and when combined with the hi prot Chic - you wont have cravings.<

It has less than 18g. You can subtract fiber because fiber does not raise blood sugar.

I still like chocolate, too. I just get the sugar free stuff now.

I do low carb, I feel the best on it. I try to have 5 big servings of veggies a day, usually one serving of low sugar fruit and one serving of a whole grain. I try not to eat a lot of cheese, but will have some. I am going to the pool tomorrow to start swimming again.

I cannot eat sugar, pasta and white rice, it completely triggers me. I had a BBQ chicken wrap tonight from this great sandwich place and salad, the wrap was white flour, but becuase I had so much protein, it won't trigger me.

This is the best low carb way for me to lose weight. I am eating that way right now about 65% and each day I am doing a bit better.

Sugar is the worst thing for me, it totally triggers me. I always try to have SF stuff to quench my sweet tooth. I saw Rachel Ray do a desert where she took strawberreies and hulled them, then put semi sweet choc in the middle and baked it at 400 until the choc melted.....then she put whipped cream but you can make sf whipped cream and it would be an acceptable low carb desert, I am going to try that this weekend. I live in So. Calif and strawberries are available just about year round.

I think that eating low carb is really eating high veggie, high protein....but I think that you have to do what works for you.....