Okay, It seemed at first I was doing okay on this diet. Now I don't seem to be losing any weight and I'm still eating this crappy protein without hardly any carbs. Here's what I can remember from the last several days...
Friday, a "Carb solutions" bar for breakfast. Diet pop and water. Some Sugar-free Jell-O for a snack. Another bar for lunch and some pepperoni with sauce (very low carb) and cheese for a snack. Dinner was two plain grilled chicken halves that had marinated in Italian dressing (2 carbs per tablespoon.) And for dessert, about a cup of sugar-free Jell-O.
Saturday I was out of town all day at a baby shower. I had my "bar" for breakfast (3 net carbs) and a Fresca and a bottle of water. Around 12:00 I had a grilled hamburger with a tad of mustard NO BUN, of course. At the shower I had one small glass of chardonnay and I ate the inside of a chicken salad sandwich (left that yummy, buttery croissant alone!) and a handful of broccoli dipped in Ranch dressing. Also a small handful of peanuts. Then went to dinner with my mom and had a diet coke we split a SMALL appetizer of calamari (yes, I know, the breading was bad - but my only real deviation from the diet in 5 weeks) and about a teaspoon of marinara sauce and a salad with grilled chicken.
Sunday, a bar for breakfast. A couple of slices of cheese for snack. Lunch I split a greek Salad with hubby and had some beef from a Chinese restaurant. The beef tasted really sweet so I actually put it in a colander and ran it under hot water for a while (ick!) Dinner- cobb salad at Bob Evans w/bleu cheese dressing- I ate about half, maybe a little more.
Today, I started my day at 5:20... I had a bar at about 7:00 in the car, two bottles of water, a small, plain coffee, two large slices of cheddar cheese. That's it so far.
While my Saturday wasn't too great, it was really my worst day on the diet so far. I'm working out 2-3 times a week on the eclipse machine at the gym and I'm walking a lot. I don't think I'm eating TOO many calories, do you guys?
Honestly, there is no way I can do this diet if I can't have the bars and the pop. I really don't like enough protein enough to eat sufficient quantities. I would end up eating probably too few calories. I'm on the road ALL THE TIME and I can't eat bunless hamburgers all day. I don't know what to do. I really feel at a loss now.
You are eating too little calories especially with working out!!
that is the fastest way to a stall!! your body shuts down the fat loss in trying to prevent a starvation mode. so eat more plug your numbers in to www.fitday.com and you will find that you are eating too little calories you should take in about 1200 - 1500 calories dailyor more if you are heavier and/or work out. i figure you are eating about 200 with each bar then salad about 100 if that and the the meat for dinner and vegies would put you well below 1200, if my guess is right. let me put you numbers into my fit day and see what I come up with, for friday you came up about 1200 and that is only because I said you ate the whole chicken with the skin. it did not take in to consideration that you may have left meat and how small the ckicken was. the other days I do not have figured out but I am sure it is less than that. you need to eat more.
I know the soda and the bars are your life line, but try a shake for a change, carb solutions make a delish van which you can doctor up with fresh fruit (you do not need much and it gives you protein and nutrients and fiber, and a variety and antioxidants too ) Now what vits are you taking??
a supp of chromium will also help get out fo a stall vit B's too and so will l-carnatine.
The bars have 230 calories - I went to fitdoday.com (thanks!) and I signed up and entered in all my info. Sure hate to see that big blue dot so far to the right!
Anyway, I opted for pepperoni + 3tsp of sauce + 2 ounces mozz. cheese for lunch instead of the salad I'll have for dinner. So far I've had about 663 calories with the only carbs coming from that bar. With the salad and chicken for dinner - that looks like it will only be about 350 calories, well, wait, add the dressing... 150 calories... that will be a dinner of 500 calories.
Okay, so that would be a total of about 1163 calories. Right? That's without another bar. Total carbs are less than 10, though for the entire day. My "snack" was going to be sugar-free jell-o but I think that has almost no calories - 8, to be exact (I really like that website- thanks again!)
I'm taking 1 chromium picolonate and 3 multi-vitamins two times a day (the daily reccomended doses on the bottles.) Thanks for taking the time to walk through this with me.
I'm a "renewed" low carber... first time was Protein Power, now Atkins. I'm still on Induction.
I'm on the road with my job too... here's a typical day:
Breakfast (at home) 2 pork links (I fry a ton up ahead and freeze, then just zap in microwave) and 2 Tbsp. cream cheese
Morning snack: 2 boiled eggs (again, I do a bunch up ahead and keep in fridge)
Lunch: salad with either canned chicken or tuna mixed with mayo
Aft. snack: 2 oz cheddar cheese
Supper: Meat (varies from day to day)
veggies (on induction I'm sticking to green beans, or cauliflower, or broccoli.. which are limited.... and lotsa fried mushrooms)
I work really hard to get those 8 glasses of water a day in. That's hard for me.. I drink a lot of coffee in the morning and diet pop, but I've found if I drink water before the coffee, I'm naturally cutting down. I'm also limiting my diet pop to 1 can a day. Big changes for me, but I've lost 5 pounds in my first 5 days. I know it will slow down.
Hope these suggestions help!
My daughter is doing it with me.. she likes celery (I don't) and will put cream cheese in the stalk.
by the way... I've read in the Atkins book that artificial sweetners may affect weight loss in some people (as well as those bars). Maybe between the sugar free Jello AND the diet pop AND the bars, that's what's happening to you? I'm going to try the recipes for the protein bars listed in the recipe section here when I'm off induction. Apparently some of them don't seem to affect some people as much as the bought bars.
Ok - just my experience but to get results you really have to cut the processed foods out and go natural. AND from the looks of both of your menus you need to increase your salad and veggie intake.
Breakfast and meals/snacks on the run can be anything: meat/cheese roll-ups, sfPB on a wassa cracker (may be too carby for some), BBQ chicken leg, etc.
Thanks for the input! I am kinda limited with vegetable amounts and choices right now because of induction. 3 cups of loosely packed lettuce OR 2 cups loosely packed lettuce and 1 cup choice cooked vegetables (from a very limited list for induction).
Or did I read that wrong?? Is it per meal?? *hopeful*
Adrienne, I agree with the others, the bars and caffeine are probably doing it. The bars have glycerine and other carbs that aren't supposed to affect the glucose, but they still make many people stall. Caffeine does it too. If you look at your menu, a good part of your food is artificially sweetened. Believe me, I feel your pain!
One way you can boost your calories after cutting the bars is to add fat. Fat has more calories per gram than carbs, so it will be easy to add up. Try adding avocados to your salad, that will be good fat, and will help fill you up. Adding bacon and cheese is another good way to add on. Do you like eggs? You can boil them a dozen at a time, and eat on them for a few days. I like to make egg salad and spread it on romaine hearts, or another thick lettuce.
Peanut butter on wasa crackers aren't bad, either. Wasa isn't allowed on induction, but if you aren't following induction it is a good choice.
Have you tried Atkin's bread? They have it in the freezer at my Krogers. Really good! I toast it and make egg blt's. Or just toast it and put cream cheese on it.
More veggies and dip! You can bring a little cooler with you if you are on the run and keep it in there. You can snack on it pretty easily.
Rollups are a lifesaver! Get some deli meat and spread it with cream cheese, a strip of roasted red pepper, and roll it up. I pack them in baggies. You can also just add cheddar cheese, or bring meat and some salad dressing to dip it in.
Small bowls of chicken salad and tuna salad, that can be packed in an insulated lunch bag with a plastic fork.
If you are still having a hard time eating on the go, you can always pull into McD's and get double burgers, and dump the bun. It is more tempting to have buns and fries waved in your face, but you are strong! I bet if you just dump the bars and the caffeine for a few days, you'll see a quick drop! I know the protein is hard to get used to at first, but you'll get used to it, I promise, then you'll love it!
I agree that you are not eating enough calories. In addition...
I REALLY think that you need to do what is right for YOU. Eating is something that you are going to do for the rest of your life, so it doesn't make sense to stick with doing something that you don't like.
If you don't like it now, will stick with it even if you lose weight? Even if you hate it?
I've always said (in a business context) that if the honeymoon isn't right, the relationship isn't going to get any better. What this means is that if you don't like it now, it's not likely that you are going to like it down the road.
If you change your habits and diet and excercise and lose weight, but hate diet and excercise, then you won't stick with it for the rest of your life. Whenever you fail at anything, it MAY give you the drive for the next thing, but more often it makes you feel defeated and makes more difficult to try the next thing.
So the best thing is to find what you like NOW and stick to that. Not just for a month, but for life! If something doesn't work for you, don't take it as failure, but as learning another thing that doesn't work for you.
I would look at other plans, read testimonials for people who have been on these plans for a LONG time, and make sure that the meals are those that you like and that you can live with and are those that you can afford and fit into your lifestyle. Your plan has to make sense for you and your family, NOT to just lose a quick few pounds, but for the rest of your life.
I've been doing the Zone and I feel great with that. I've been averaging about 2.5-3.0 lbs of weight loss per week for about 4 1/2 months now.
From what I've seen, it's similar to South Beach and other 40-30-30 dietary plans out there. I was very strict on it for a while, and I still make all of my meals Zone meals, but now if I have a craving for a Zone unfavorable food, I make it a Zone meal. (In other words, rather than fight the temptation, I indulge myself, making sure that I keep the indulgence in balance (ie. small portions))
Today I was craving a Cafe Mocha, which is not the best thing for you, but I added some cheese and turkey and it was my lunch. Now I can make the rest of my meals today healthy meals and I won't feel like I've been deprived. Since I made it a meal in the right proportions of Protein, Carbs and Fat, my scale will probably be even lower tomorrow. The worst that has ever happened to me is that the next day I'm a little (1/4-1/2 lb.) heavier, but it has never lasted more than a day.
My needs are different from yours, though. I drink almost strictly water and brewed herbal teas and I can deal with sodas, coffee and alcohol as a once in a while indulgence. Diet sodas, although low cal., contain a lot of sweeteners which raise your insulin levels and causes your body to store fat.
It would be tougher for me to stick with my plan in a fast food environment, but I could make it work. Most places have chicken salads. The protein on 1 of the salads and the veggies on 2 of the salads would make up a meal. About 1 tablespoon of dressing would make up the fat. If that's too much work, an entire double cheeseburger with half the bun could make up a whole meal. If I don't want that, Boston Market has a healthy oriental salad, with just a little too much protein and too much dressing, but I can cut the excess of those 2 things and make it work. Or I can eat half of their fatty chicken and add green beans and steamed veggies on the side or say the **** with it and have one of their unhealthy carbo sides. There are ZonePerfect, Balance and other 40-30-30 bars out there. If I need a snack, I jump into 7-11 and get an apple, some peanuts and a little cheddar cheese snack.
My point is, whatever you find that DOES work for you, with the foods that you like, with lifestyle changes that you are willing to make, then find out how to make convenience stores and fast food joints fit into it. And if you have a BAD meal, just proportion it to make it as good as you can. You can make up for it next time.
and adrienne.. believe it or not, i've been thinking about you and your eating the past few days,. and wondering what i could suggest.
we are both on the road a lot, and it's not easy. i cope with an insulated bag with protein snacks. right now, cottage cheese, bean salad with feta, deli rollups, some cheese, and lunch was chicken with gravy and 1/2 an artichoke. and a few cherries. yeah, i'm not exactly on atkins induction, but i still have to eat mostly protein.
but most important, wasabi had great advice,. if you don't like what you're eating, there's NO WAY this will work over the long haul...
Thanks to you all - I really do appreciate your help. Today I've had NO diet pops! The caffeine thing isn't a problem, all the soda I drink is either Fresca or Diet Sprite, but I'm cutting those out for now. I still have to have at least one bar a day because I simply don't like eggs enough to work them into my diet. The fitday.com website is helping me tremendously to see what I'm eating and it's giving me a lot of help. It's also helping me to target the number of calories and carbs I want to consume in a day and that is a great help.
All you ladies have been very helpful. I'm going to be eating more celery with cream cheese, that's for sure!
One step at a time- no pop and no jell-o. The bars I'm keeping but cutting down to only one a day. That's my NEW goal!
Hi all i am just starting myself and seriously confused. I totaled my food on fitday.com and I was amazed at my outcome. calories 3,241, fat 242, carbs 16 and protein 240. Is this too much! I am so curious thinking that I am cheating somehow. but this is what I had...
AM: 2 srambled eggs, sausage patty
Snack: Stringcheese
Lunch: 2 beef patties with cheese, mayo and lettuce from wendy's
Snack: Slim Jim
Dinner: grilled chicken with cheese and bacon with salad of lettuce, cheese and ranch dressing
snack: a few pork skins
New thread for the frustrated low-carber...ME!
lol
