I have been doing the bead diet for almost three months now, on and off, and never imagined it would be this tough. I am hungry all the time. Water helps for only a minute. It is so hard in fact that doing this diet for only a day feels like a week to me. The worst part is that everyone on it is really on their own. It's an independent program, at least for the long distance part, and not having someone close by to talk to at least on the phone, regularly and frequently, really stinks.
I know. I know that this isn't for everyone, but come on, I have already sacrificed too much, in terms of money, time and effort, to just give up. And honestly the email support group that they have isn't that supportive, and this thread here at 3FC is slow. There just aren't a lot of people to go around.
I don't know about you, but nights are hardest for me. They say that all you can do after 6 pm is drink water, and I'm starving at night. I got so depressed seeing the scale move up and down just from water weight when I drank and peed that I stopped weighing. I only know that my clothes size is the same.
Lomalin Welcome! Your right this thread is slow but its better then most and people here are nothing but supportive and not harsh at all. The diet is hard of course they tel you that from the beginning. I am also on the long distance program and all the way in canada. I have been on this diet for exactly a month and a few days and only have talked to my counselor twice. I understand your frusteration but mayeb you should try to do every nine days and at the end of it have one cheat day or a day of eating healthy meals. I know someone who did that and its works for them and i do that as well now an dit also works for me. AS far as spending too much money try to reuse your points. I dont if know you have noticed but it seems like after your 4 th set the points are repeated. I dont really know how else to encourage you. Other then to keep at it. I have so far lost about 18 lbs in one month and have cheated numerous numerous times. BUt the most important thing is to keep at it. In the end everyone is on their own, its all about your mind. Were alll here for you to help in anyway we can. Hugs.
Annleslie: No i havent taken any supplements and i dont really ever get hungry when ever i do i just rub my beads.
I weighed in today and exactly 136lbs i am a little disappointed. I REALLY REALLY wanted to get down to 130 lbs by the end of this month. Hopefully i can?
Oh wow, I'm so sorry you're so hungry all the time. I am surprised to hear that - I'm astonishingly NOT hungry, and I am sure it's the "magic beads' that do it. I have a LOT to lose, so I get one large egg, hardboiled every morning to supplement, but then I don't even think about eating until 1:30 or 2pm. Are you being religious about the beads? (not finger pointing, but sometimes I forget and that's when I get a little pang.. )
I'm down 27 lbs today, and this week was rough. I was *so* good, but my doctor had me on a 5 day course of steroids for some swelling... I just tried to keep telling myself that the steroids cause major water retention, and that this week (i'm off them now) it should be a good week. I have only lost 2 lbs this week as opposed to 9 last week (not expecting that every week, but 5 would be nice.. LOL!).
I *did* have a meat attack last night. Bad Bad Bad... I'm going on a business trip today, so I was packing and at midnight? I suddenly HAD to have a piece of ham. so sue me. It's been 3 weeks, and I'll pay the consequences, but .. it was tasty
BACK TO BEING PERFECT THIS MORNING!!
I'm not sure I can manage to stay exactly on the diet in a hotel room, so I'll do my best to only eat between 12-6, drink all my water, i already packed hard boiled eggs in my bag (not lying - the TSA is going to have a ball with that one.. ) and will stick to lean protein and veggies with no carbs if I'm stuck.
It's a plan... let's see how we do this week.
If I miss you all - have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! And see you next week!
I am hungry all the time as well. On AW, we are going 3/4 of each day without food, and in the 1/4 when we can have food, it is strictly limited. My stomach tells me this is a deficit.
I notice that when I massage my beads, the hunger subsides, but only as long as I'm rubbing. Relief is only temporary. So, for those of us who battle constant hunger, we need to be even more disciplined.
Lose25, clarify this for me...you said that after the 4th set, the bead replacements repeat. I thought I had this all figured out, but I'm confused again. A SET=2 Beads for 9 Days. A complete ORDER=6 Beads for 27 Days. So, do you mean the positions repeat ON the 4th SET or ORDER? I have received 3, 27 Day orders so far for a total of 18 beads in 9 positions, and my positions haven't repeated yet. But, I certainly don't want to place another order at the end of November for a 4th ORDER if they will just repeat positions. Hmmm...Do you see why I am confused about this?
Back to hunger. I was hoping to find someone on 3FC who knew about PGX fiber supplement, which is supposed to target between meals hunger and cravings. Basically, in another thread here, I got a lot of people speaking down to me for even asking about a fiber supplement, and found this unproductive. So, I went ahead and began using it anyway. I have already noticed that the 1 capsule I take with my last meal at 5 PM, tends to extend my feeling of fullness and satiety. I plan to wait a few days, and then increase the dose to 2 capsules to see if they will completely curb my appetite throughout the entire evening until bedtime.
AW allows for a fiber supplement, BTW. However, they recommend psyllium, which tends to cause remarkable stomach irritation for me. The reason I have determined to need this is that the hunger is severly affecting my sleep. I will lie awake in bed going over my AW protocol in my mind for hours trying to get to sleep while my stomach cramps and growls. Many nights I don't finally drift off until as late as 4 AM due to hunger. I am hoping PGX will help.
How Low Fat Dairy Products Helps to Burn Fat: Milk is thought to increase the body's ability to burn fat and build muscle when compared to other post-work out drink options because of its nutrient rich content. Studies are still being conducted to determine exactly how it burns fat, but current research shows it can help individuals lose up to twice the amount of fat than using other drink options such as soy or protein shakes. When the body builds muscle, it burns more fat on its own even at rest.
How to Add Low Fat Dairy Products to Your Diet: We already are.
How Essential Fatty Acids Help to Burn Fat: It may seem counterintuitive that fats help burn fat. What is important to consider is there are different kinds of fats, and it is more of caloric intake versus burn that leads to weight gain, not fat itself. Fatty acids burn fat by transferring fat soluable vitamins through the body and are a necessary factor in maintaining healthy skin, eyesight, and brain development.
How to Add Essential Fatty Acids to Your Diet: There are several different food sources for essential fatty acids which are not permitted on AW, but avocados are!
How Garlic Helps to Burn Fat: It is the vitamin C in garlic which helps it to burn fat. It is a natural antibiotic and helps to stabilize the blood sugar levels. By keeping the insulin levels low, it boosts the body's fat burning power.
How to Add Garlic to Your Diet: Garlic is commonly found in Mexican and Italian Cuisine. Add it to your tomato sauce, salsa, salads, soups, and so forth. Eat it roasted.
Here is another interesting 7 day diet I found that claims to result in 10-17 lbs. lost in only a week. The menu contains significantly more variety than AW, but cannot possibly be lower in calories. I thought I would reference it here, in case there are those like me who sometimes wonder if we will survive on AW, and definitely don't want to destroy any of our sucesses thus far.
Heldenmom congrats on your weight loss so far. And dont worry as long as you got back on track you should be alright.
Annleslie: I dont mean the beads itself i mean the positions. BUt if you have recieved 9 different positions then keep going with it. For me i just repeated it because i could afford to buy it anymore. BUt it works perfectly for me. As for you guys being hungry i am exactly like Helden mom i am not hungry at all. I do rotate my beads a lot and forget sometimes too. Maybe you guys should talk to your counselors?
As far as weight loss i am weighing myself tomorrow and going to see if i have lost anyhing. Still at 136 lbs. How is everyone else doing? I just want to know how long everyone is been on the bead diet and how much your losing weekly or per bead set. and how many more lbs you have to lose? and Finally how many lbs you've lost so far.
For those of you who have reused the beads or do so now, how does that work in terms of your relationship with the AW office? Do you lose support from them because you didn't reorder?
I'm sure I can help you out with that, LillyLover. Support would cease in terms of having an assigned counselor, office visits (obviously) and the Acculist (email). However, even before I officially began this program, I called at least to get brief information. Calling for lengthy discussions would definitely require them to verify your participation in the program.
I am considering reusing and repeating bead positions at the end of my current 27 days (end of November). I am not so concerned with losing support though, since long-distance is more of a lack of support (my counselor is rarely available. We have only spoken twice.) I am more concerned with sustaining the effect of the beads.
So i have gained two lbs in my weigh in today. Back to 138 lbs. So freaking disappointed. Which means that in a whole month i have lost only about 2 lbs if i dont lose in thenext week. sigh...
Thanks Annleslie! I think I'll just stick with it since I'm so close--as in I could be in transition by mid-December. It just depends on how badly I mess up tomorrow, since I'm making Thanksgiving a planned cheat day. Well, I may actually try to do the Thanksgiving protocol, so who knows. I only have 9 pounds to go as of today!!
Lose25, hang in there!! I saw some of your other posts in threads that I've been lurking in, and it seems like it's been a rough time for you lately. You can do this, though!!
I weighed in at 129.8 today. It was a little bit surreal. I actually got back into the 120-somethings?? Who knew. I remember setting my original goal weight at 130, and I'm glad I ended up changing it to 120. While I like where I'm at now, I think another 10 pounds will really help clean up my stomach and thunder-calves. And then once I hit goal, it's off to the workouts I go! I'll be home for two months starting mid-December and plan to hit the gym hard.
Back when I was a lonely adolescent, I discovered that negative attention was better than no attention at all, and the easiest way to get that attention without infringing on someone else was to overeat. I ate 2 or 3 desserts and listened to the "Wows" of other people witnessing my gluttony. Eventually, food, particularly sweets, became my only friend, but it was a terribly embarrasing habit once I became fat and was called names or "Moo'd" at. I can remember making plans to go to a barbecue or get together at church, and before I went, I'd run to the store to get some Oreo ice cream and eat half of a half gallon before the event, where I would only stuff myself more.
I am thinking that years of dietary of abuse of my system is the reason I am famished right now on this restrictive diet. I envy those who don't suffer from actual hunger, because you've won 1/3 the battle. Next, it's cravings and social pressure you have to address.
So, I have had 3 consecutive perfect days and I have to credit my intake of PGX fiber supplement as the reason. I only start taking it after 6 PM when my hunger is at its worst, and may need 1 every 2 or 3 hours.
If anyone else is struggling with hunger or even cravings, consider PGX. It originated in Canada (seems all the best supplements do) and is easy to find there. In the US it is found in health food stores and Costco, and hopefully at WalMart and Trader Joes in the future.
Agh so I got out of bed this morning and kind of collapsed in my hallway. I didn't lose consciousness or anything, but I just got kind of disoriented and lost feeling in my legs so I fell down. Unfortunately, my mom saw me and got really worried and made me eat a banana. So I suppose this is the start of my cheat day Thanksgiving...I was kind of determined to stay on plan until dinner, but I guess that's not happening.
By the way, this isn't the first time I've had a collapse/whatever event take place. In fact, it happened sometimes when I was younger and definitely not dieting or overweight. I've noticed that it only happens when I get up too fast out of a sitting or lying down position.
What I'm a bit confused about is what to do tomorrow. According to the Thanksgiving protocol posted on the AW website, you're supposed to do two milk days tomorrow. But if I don't strictly follow the protocol today, does that mean I should just stick to my normal cycle, which would be a veggie day tomorrow?
Last edited by LillyLover; 11-25-2010 at 09:11 AM.
