Hi ladies! So I didn't realize canned beans have a high GI. I think Tim Ferriss's meals included canned beans, but then again I didn't read his book so I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to finish the couple of cans I have left and then use the dried ones after this. I found a good lentil bean recipe I want to make that should last for a few days as a supplement to my meals. I think for me I really need a healthy carb because I like to exercise. I also ready that when you are over 40 it is even more important to eat more protein and wieght train to slow down the muscle loss, which also helps decrease the fat gain. That is also what I'm aiming to do.

I did manage to lose two pounds yesterday even though I had my fancy work Christmas party last night. It was hard while waiters were passing around some really delish apps, but I tried to stay away from the carbs except for the two glasses of red wine.

I hear ya about doing what works for us. I'm probably going to try to stick with Tim's rules for a bit, and then when I feel I'm happier with my weight will bring some things here and there for everyday, like coffee creamer, yogurt, quinoa.

**I do love beans and last night when I came home I made a black bean salad with rinsed low sodium black beans, one chopped tomato, one green pepper, cilantro and some southwest seasoning. Yum!

I was thinking of making my cheat day for the next couple of weeks be Xmas eve and NYE, as Xmas eve will be 8 days into my diet and I'm throwing a party. So on that day I'll have meatball sandwich, brie and crackers, Xmas martini my sister is making, and lots of other yummy apps, etc. I think I'll be good up until the evening for my cheat day...?

Missy, good job on the 2lbs down I think your plan is gonna give you great results

Missy, I agree with Rennie! I think you are going to do great! Congrats on the 2-lb loss! And I wouldn't say that canned beans have a high GI. Glucose is 100. Dry beans are about 25. Canned and pressure cooked beans are about double that, between 40-60, so they are more medium than high. But I think with Rennie being diabetic, dry beans would be such a better choice if she wants to eat them everyday. I agree that they are a very healthy source of carbs! And Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are excellent choices for cheat day!

Rennie, adding chicken to the beans is a great idea for meals! And it sounds delicious!

I am back down to my low of 174! I'm always happy when I match my ticker (because goodness knows, I am not moving that sucker back up) lol!

Week 20:
12/14: 174 Cheat Day
12/15: 175.5
12/16: 174.5
12/17: 175.5
12/18: 174
12/19:
12/20: Cheat Day

Todays's meals:
Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs, a teapot of green tea, Mio water
Lunch: leftover fried chicken (skin removed), broccoli and cauliflower salad, cottage cheese, Mio water
Snack: Diet Dr. Pepper, handful of walnuts
Dinner: Chicken salad, green beans, a teapot of green tea, Mio water

LOL Jacqui, I am with you on not moving that back up. I pray that I don't have to. I bought some pinto beans and I'll do the soaking of them when I get home from church this evening. I also took out some chicken. I wonder if my husband will like the chicken in them? Maybe I should just separate his to be safe on getting back to your ticker weight YOU

Good job Jacqui! You are surpassing your 2009 success story!!

I'm going to try this lentil recipe that I mentioned. Lentils are so delicate, but I've never really cooked with them before so I was happy to find an easy recipe. As the person who posted this in the "The Slow-Carb Cookbook" mentioned this could last me a few days! Although I may need to invest in some "Beano." LOL

But thought I'd share in case you would like to give it a try too. :-)

Leon’s Lentils
“One bag of lentils can last me almost a week, and really helps with keeping me full.” — Shrinking Leon

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 tsp of chopped garlic
2 cans of beef broth
Rosemary
1 bag of Italian lentils

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pour 2 Tbsp of olive oil into a saucepan, along with 2 tsp of chopped garlic. Sauté
the garlic for a minute or two.
2. Pour two cans of beef broth in the saucepan, and let everything boil for about 5
minutes.
3. Sprinkle a bit of rosemary and Italian seasoning into the broth.
4. Add 1 cup of water.
5. Rinse the lentils (no need to soak them like other dry beans) and pour them into the
broth. Cook the lentils at a medium heat for about 20-30 minutes until they are soft.
ACTIVE COOKING TIME: 5-10 minutes
TOTAL TIME (START TO FINISH): 35 minutes
SERVINGS: 1 bag of lentils

decided to soak my beans now so I can cook them later

meals so far today …

B ~ nice size fried chicken thigh, pu'erh tea and a cup of coffee (I've been wanting coffee so I figured it's better to drink that than eat something I have no business eating)
L ~ smoked salmon, no sugar added grapefruit

I haven't been very hungry today and I just realized I have only drank one bottle of water. Gotta chug two before I leave

Rennie, sounds like a good meal planned! And I think you are right in separating the beans and chicken for hubby. He can always mix them together if he wants!

Misty, thank you for the recipe! Looks great! And it appears to be pretty simple to make. You'll have to let us know!

So I had a friend tell me today that she thought I might be losing weight too quickly. Similarly, I had an acquaintance last week tell me that I shouldn't try to go too low because I was a big woman. (He didn't mean it in a rude way and quickly tried to backtrack when he realized how it sounded, lol!) While it's true I am on the tall side, I am not big boned. I have tiny little wrists and supposedly that's how you can tell. To give you an idea, my engagement ring is a size 4 3/4 and my wedding ring is a 5. Needless to say, I haven't worn them on my pudgy fingers for years now, lol! My 10-year anniversary ring is a 5 1/2 and I just recently started wearing it again. I don't know if I will get down low enough to wear my wedding set again. I can't remember exactly when I stopped wearing it, but I am far from being in danger of becoming too thin! As for losing weight quickly, although I lost weight quickly at first (most dieters do, no matter the method), on average I've lost a little less than 2 lbs per week, and 2 lbs a week is considered a healthy pace. Anyway, I find these comments interesting. I think maybe people I've known only in the last 15 years just don't think of me as a thin person and perhaps are a little disturbed by my weight loss, whereas people who knew me beyond 15 years ago do remember me as a thin person and are rooting me on. Isn't it funny how people form a concept of you and don't really like it to change?

Missy I want to try lentils. I've never had them before. What do they taste like?

Jacqui after posting those meals that I did eat … I failed massively

Jacqui it is funny how people see you/me/us. One of my co-workers told me today that I was getting skinny. I smiled and said I am far from skinny, but thank you. BTW you do have a small frame. My wedding ring is a size 7 and on a good low sodium day it constantly rotates around my finger, drives me nuts.

I think today I had one of my worse eating days in a long while, worse than Thanksgiving. I have been wanting birthday cake and ice cream, so tonight after church I went to Food Lion and I got it. The whole family sat down like it was someone's birthday and we had cake and ice cream. Earlier I had a bunch of mini vanilla wafers and then after the cake I ate some hot cheeto fries (only what one of the boys left in the bag) he should have ate that little bit .
I'm not expecting a loss at all tomorrow … possibly a two pound up. But I will go to the gym with one of my sons who's out of school for winter break so I will work it off … prayerfully

Missy and Jacqui wish me luck for a not too big of a gain the kids ate all of the chicken that my son cooked before I got home . My beans are almost done.

Rennie, I have my fingers crossed for you! Why don't you just count yesterday as your cheat day for this week? And today just get back on plan as usual. Yesterday as a cheat day may not have been planned, but it works! Plus, it gives you some time before Christmas Day, which I assume will also be a cheat day. Yep, quick-burning carbs can sneak up on you like that! The bad thing about them is that they make us crave more quick-burning carbs (Nilla Wafers --> cake and ice cream --> cheetos). That's why I won't touch any kind of breads, grains, or sweets on any day other than cheat day, because I know what it would do to me. It's not a willpower battle. It's a physiological battle. And the hard part is that it does get emotionally tempting around this time of year. My hubby likes to bake around Christmas and he made chocolate fudge yesterday and chocolate chip cookies today. He wanted me to taste just the littlest piece of fudge, but I politely declined and assured him that I would eat some on cheat day. The reason for declining was not because I'm worried about calories or being true to my diet. The reason is because I'm afraid it will trigger me. I know that I am carb-sensitive and carbs mess with my blood sugar levels which mess with my insulin levels which cause cravings and hunger. Non-carb-sensitive people don't respond that way. I do. I can handle going that route on cheat day because I can treat myself all day if I want and then just go to sleep that night and wake up the next day all set to go low carb again. I can't risk that kind of blood sugar spike on other days. I did that for too much of my life and got this heavy as a result, and I have too much diabetes in my family history to continue eating like that every day or multiple times a week. So anyway, don't fret about the unplanned treats. If I were you, I would just count yesterday as this week's cheat day. It's just a little early!

I'm down a half lb to 173.5 today!

Week 20:
12/14: 174 Cheat Day
12/15: 175.5
12/16: 174.5
12/17: 175.5
12/18: 174
12/19: 173.5
12/20: Cheat Day

Today's meals:
Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs, a teapot of green tea, Mio water
Lunch: Pulled pork BBQ, double helping of green beans, water
Snack: a teapot of green tea (still full from lunch)
Dinner: a lean hamburger patty, broccoli and cauliflower salad, cottage cheese, Mio water

Rennie I think Jacqui's idea is a really good one, to treat yesterday as a cheat day and then your next one can be in a week on Xmas!

Now, I just had a slip and had a decadant chocolate chip cookie my daughters made last night. I think I'll try and hope for the best, head to the gym and do some serious cardio and weights to burn it off. Oddly I was just saying last night to my boyfriend that I don't have sugar cravings as much since trying to do Atkins a few months ago. Well.....it was just one.

Oh, to answer you question I made the lentils this morning with Chicken stock. Not bad. It picks up the flavor of the spices and I used a Ms Dash and am not sure if it was the best choice. But I made a large batch and am sure will gobble them up when hungry.

I lost another pound. I was actually hoping to lose this a bit sooner since I gained 6 pounds in just a couple of weeks, but still....3 pounds in two days is pretty good. Maybe I should not focus on the day-to-day stats and instead wait a couple of days at least to weight myself....if I can resist it?

Great job Jacqui on your loss!!!! Oh, that is strange that you get those comments from people. You are definately losing weight at the medical recommended rate, and it's so much better for your all around health to lose the extra weight. Just keep that in mind and enjoy your results. :-)

Hey ladies. How do I create the weight tracker that you include on the bottom of your postings. It's a nice visual and encouraging to see, especially encouraging to see the progress others are making too.

Missy, you have to be a member for 20 days (to the minute) and have 20 posts to get a ticker. Here is the link to the info about it: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/anno...questions.html.

Now see, I think eating a cookie last night probably wasn't because of sugar cravings. I think it was an emotional response. Your daughters made the cookies, it's Christmastime, it feels cozy and right, the smell is irresistible, that kind of thing. And since it didn't seem to trigger you, I wouldn't worry about it. One cookie wouldn't have enough calories to do your weight any harm if you are eating right in every other way. You might hold a little water temporarily, but that will drop back off easily enough. I'm not saying make a habit of it though, lol! I'm just saying this one slip-up is no big deal.

Hi everybody, I've been reading thru the thread and would love to join you. I started doing low carb on 7/4 and am very happy with my results....however I'm starting to miss some of my favorite things. Sooooo instead of sabotaging myself I've been looking for a way to continue losing but also incorporating a few treats to satisfy myself.

By George I think I have found it! Lol....Great job all and continued success.