Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I've been following a low carb plan (modified Atkins) for one year and have lost almost 60 pounds. I have another 5 pounds or so to lose, but am not in a hurry.

I have already upped the carbs to include 10 from a fruit daily and sometimes have an additional 10 from a high fiber bread (like Wasa).

Are there other people here who are near or at maintenance and can give me some ideas?

Hallo JacartaJo

Welcome, I am glad you joined us.

Today is the 10th week that I am on Atkins, I have lost 21lbs, and are feeling great. Up to date I have not touched bread or any starch. The only fruit that I eat is strawberries, I snack on peanuts and nuts, and eat allot of biltong. I drink about 3 to 4 liters of water a day and soda water witch I mix with some diet-flavored drink. For the last 3 to 4 weeks my weight will drop to 199/198 and then it will go up again to 200/201 every week. I am getting frustrated now,

Please tell me how are did jou modified the diet, I would love to have some bread some days. You must feel great after loosing 60 pounds. Please give me some tips and tell me more or less what you eat on a particular day, that will give me an idea.

Hello and Welcome,

Sorry I'm not even near my goal.....wish I was.

But this is a great group, loving and supportive.

Leens

Hi JakartaJo, Hensa and Leens !

Yes, please share all your secrets ! You are doing FANTASTIC !!!

Hensa - how many grams of carbs are you limiting yourself to a day ? Atkin's newer book/version says to start with 20 and to build up from there. Maybe you need some more ? Are you using those testing strips ? That could let you know whether or not you're still in ketosis ? If so, maybe you're just building some muscle and the clothes should be getting loser. If they show you aren't... maybe we can figure something else out ? Maybe something you're eating - is somehow raising your insulin levels ?

Getting back to the newer book - like I said, he says to start with 20 grams for 2 weeks I believe. Then he has you add 5-8 each week until you reach the point where you stop losing. Then he has you drop just below that point until you get close to goal like JakartaJo is. He then has a pre-maintenance plan and ultimately once you hit goal - a maintenance one to help keep you there. The new book is only $7.50 for the smaller paperback version and $14. for the larger one (which I prefer). Well worth picking up. He's got updated stuff in there and 3 new chapters too ! Plus, it's been along time since the original book came out - something like 30 years so of course... alot's changed since then.

If you'd like me to check on the pre-maintence stuff - just let me know. Okay ? Take care and I'll TTUL ! Denise

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the welcome. I think I'm one of those people who can eat a higher level of carbs and still lose. After reading the "GO Diet" I added in plain non sweetened yogurt with almonds or walnuts and 2 tablespoons of oat bran or wheat germ. I have a yogurt breakfast about 4 times a week. The authors of the GO Diet claim that the carb count of yogurt on the package is misleading and that it's really much less than stated on the package. The GO Diet also pushes for a high fiber content to your daily food. (I'm mostly an Atkins follower except for the yogurt)

I also eat 5 servings of low carb veggies everyday. I limit artifically sweetened items to a treat once every week or so. I don't consume them on a daily basis. I eat no low carb "diet food" I have eliminated my sweet tooth in this way.

At one point my body shifted from a size 16 to a size 12 in a months time. My skin was saggy so I went on maintenance for a month to give my skin time to catch up. It was at this time that I began having either 10 carbs of fruit a day, or 2 slices of WASA bread. I found that I continued losing weight (although slowly) in spite of the increased carbs. So I never stopped!

Total carbs per day?? I'm not sure. I just stick to my guidelines above. I have hit many plateaus and I don't lose quickly, but I don't let it bother me. I don't even own a scale, but go to a clinic once every couple of weeks for a weigh in. I'm almost in a size 8 now (my 10's are loose). So although I haven't been fastidiuous in keeping records, I know that my way of using the diet works (at least for me). I'm not suggesting that this is right for everyone. Everyone needs to find a program that fits with their own individual life style.

stats: 202/143?/135

You've got some Great ideas !!! Thanks ! That was really smart of you to switch to maintenance for awhile to let your body catch up ! Sounds like you've got it pretty much figured out. I noticed that Atkin's recommended it take weeks if not months to lose the last 5 or 10 lbs. sortof premaintenance. Then maintenance is supposed to be easier. I'm not familiar with the Go Diet ? Has anyone else read that we are allowed to subtract the fiber counts on labels from the carbs ? I don't remember exactly "why" but for some reason - the fiber carbs didn't count ? Either because they went right thru or they didn't raise the blood sugars or something ? I think tho that some books have already figured this out tho ? Was I imagining this ? Congratulations again on how Super you are doing !!! Take care, Denise

Hensa stop the peanuts that can cause a stall. double check the amounts that you are eating i found that a stall i had for about a month or so was because i was eating to much calories in the amount of fat that i was eating mosly in the nuts dept. check your calories on www.fitday.com that should help.

Hi JJ glad to heat that you did so great!!! I wish that i was on maintanance. i have lost 60 but have about 20-30 more to go before i am at goal. i do have times that i want my carbs and if i want them really bad i will have them but i am still in intervention for now.

I do know that if you increase your carbs like it says in atkins till you no longer loose weigh do it for a week at a time then you will not have the rebound weight gain. there is also the low glycemic index foods that you should target for your carbs and those are the things like whle grain foods and not the pure sugar stuff. there should bve a section in the book regarding that. good luck and congrats on the great loss!!!!

Once again, just sticking my nose in to say welcome and please do join us on the daily thread and let us get to know you!

Hallo everyone.

Dnees, JakartaJo and Sue – I would lie if I say I am counting the carbs I eat only the food that is allowed in the induction. I start my day with eggs (some days I eat 3 eggs for breakfast) I use butter and not oil, and 1 cup of coffee with cream. At lunchtime I usually eat a tuna salad that I make with 1 can of tuna, lectures, a little bit of onion and 1 or 2 tomato slices with a spoon of mirecalewip or lite chutney made without sugar the carbs in the chutney (1.6 per 10ml). Some days I take some leftovers from the previous night to the office for lunch. For dinner I have either steak, chicken, with 1 green vegetable or a salad, with some lite chutney (I love chutney). Through the day I drink allot of water and some days I have a glass or 2 of sodawater, I snack on peanuts.

I am going to do as Sue suggested, stop eating the peanuts. I don’t want to continue on the induction because I still have about 60lbs to loose. I guess I stil have to go without the bread for a while, I have to decide what do I want more the bread or to wear a size 8! I definitely can go without the bread for a while longer.

Dnees – I don’t test for ketosis, that is something that I can consider starting doing. I took medication last night for waterretention had to get up 3 times through the night, feel allot better today, It is summer here and we have very hot days, that causes me to have waterretention. This morning my weight is down to 193.95lbs. I am going to limit the carbs for the weekend try to keep it off. My clothes are definitely looser I bought myself a size 16 last week and today it is very loose.

JJ – You really have some great ideas. It must feel great to go down from a size 16 to 12 in one month. What size did you wear before you started, and how does it feel to be able to wear a size 8, OOOOHHHH I think that must feel fantastic. How long did your plateaus last?



216/193.9/132

(1 for every 10 pounds lost)

Good morning everyone !

It's great to see so many new faces ! And people following different but similar plans . We've got 2 super losers who have lost similar amounts of weight so we've got lots of knowledge about how to do these programs successfully ! Of course Hensa's doing great also ! I can't wait for my losing to kick in again. I'm almost rid of my TOM water this morning. What a time to start a diet ! Oh well, gotta grab the motivation when it strikes ! I'm gonna try real hard to watch my carbs for the next 2 days before weigh in and hopefully (fingers crossed) I'll be able to squeeze out some sortof loss on Sunday !

Cutting down on the nuts sounds like a very good idea Hensa. I think I'm gonna check into those testing strips myself. I think I'd like a visual that what I'm doing is working ? Especially when the scale's not going down at "this time". I'm still reading the newer Atkin's book to see how it's changed over the years. Then on to the Protein Power book. After that - I'll check out Sugar Busters just cause I've already got it ! Between them - I think I should be able to pick one. I think the reward meal - for me - could be dangerous so it's best if I stay away from some of my old favorite foods. I'm actually starting to not even miss them ! Of course if I had them anytime soon... the taste for them might come right back ? Of course I'm just in my 2nd week so I'm still a baby around here.

I'm so glad to have found all you other low carbers !!! I'm surrounded by alot of doubters around here ! But I'm hanging in there and hoping for the best ! Have a Super day everyone and I'll TTUL ! Denise

Hi Hensa,

I have a question about the peanuts, are they salted? An increase in salt can cause water retention which could be causing your weight to go up and down slightly...Just a thought.

My stalls have lasted up to a month, but each time I was in a big stall wonderful things started happening to my body. I shrink sizes when I'm stalled. It's almost as if the body needs time to adjust to the new weight. Lose and shrink, lose and shrink, but not at the same time.

Because I've never weighed daily, the stress of seeing my weight go up and down (which is natural) was never an issue. That's why I chose to go elsewhere for my weigh-in's (of course anytime I see a scale such as in a hotel or health club, I hop on and usually my weight is less than the scale at the clinic. So when I get back to the clinic I usually feel cheated at what the scale reports) C'est la vie!

D'nees. Nasus. Pooky. Leens. Thanks for the hearty welcome and the words of encouragment.

It seems like everyone is doing great. I'm sorry but it will probably take a while for me to get your names right. . . the problem with being the new kid on the block.

Cheers

ps...how do you add the little smilies into the messages. Sorry but my computer illiteracy is showing.LOL.

Hi JJ ! Actually, alot of us are new around here. I've only been less than a week myself. I'm sure the smiley faces etc. have something to do with those on the left side while we're posting ? I'll let someone else tell us about them. I do know that when I do a : and a ) together - the computer automatically makes it into a smiley face ! I'm a very cheery person and sometimes, my messges are sent back to me for having too many smileys etc. ! I'll check back later to see if anyone has answer your ? Take care, Denise

Yes you are right. if you click on them they are added to the end of your note. so click on them as you are typing them in. do not go back and add them in as they will appear at the end of your message. then there are some places that you can get smilies and paste them in.
such as these!

and these

so there is endless things that you can do just do not put to many in they limit them as it slows the downloading on the puters especially when someone has a slower puter and connection.

I'm just attempting to see if I can get the smileys to work. I guess they must come out as text before you send the message. I'll give it a shot and send it.

Nasus, where did you get the pasted ones?

Thanks for the help.

I had to pop in here and say hi cuz I noticed you were from Indonesia and I have very fond memories of visiting your beautiful country about 17 years ago.

Kel