Hi SeeMyFeet! I have seen you here and there around 3FC and I just love your member name. I probably told you that before. I am a member of this thread that is not really following the plan, or not following any plan right at the moment, but I like to read everyone's ideas and cheer them on.

Sorry to hear you are having trouble reading the posts. That would bum me out, too.

Jacqui, you were doing 2-3 hrs of exercise daily? OMG that is excessive. I realize it was helping you get better results, but I think you could do 1.5 hrs per day and still be getting plenty of exercise. At cardiac rehab the physiologist told me that 150 min per week was required for health, and 300 min per week for weight loss. I realize that everyone is different and that should just be considered a guide.

Yeah, Carol, I've been visiting this forum off and on for some time now...(Oh the shame!)....if only the weight loss efforts had worked even a just liiiiittle bit during this whole time......oooooo, I'd better not think about that! And I can read the forum ok, it's just that the line length is too long for my screen--on this page of thread posts, but not on earlier pages.

Back to weight loss--OK....here's the plan....see what you think...
Off limits: potato, bread/crackers and the like, pasta, alcohol, rice....(been doing all this for some time (except when I'm not...cheating); no alcohol ) Also, avoid food from boxes, cans, and bags....and swim like Michael Phelps.

OK, here's how yesterday went:
B: 2 eggs (microwaved with H2O) and coffee w/ 2% milk;

L &S: Salad (leafy greens, ~8 cherry tomatoes, peppers, 2 eggs, 1T feta, little bitta red cabbage and spring onions and 2-4T ranch); Fruit (1.5-2C fresh pineapple, ~10 blueberries, coupla nibbles cantaloupe and honeydew).

D: (not good ) Ben & Jerry's (had to spell that one out) Chunky Monkey--"treat" from DH--I made him eat 3/4.

Calories 1258 Carbs 139g.

I've decided to splurge Big Time and purchase salads from the salad bar for my major meal of the day. Expensive, but tasty, plus a good selection of fresh veggies--And I don't have to chop! (RA is still affecting my hands ). Enough for lunch and snack.

Similar plan for today, minus the B&J's . I need to plan ahead for a healthy protein at dinnertime--getting tired of salmon. (boy, how Spoiled did that sound?)

Would you lose this way?...ignoring the ice cream part, of course, which I swear is not the norm for me! (usually a protein, not ice cream!).

Hi SeeMyFeet & welcome!
You will get some great support here! Really curious to see what Jacqui's take will be on your menu. Here's my 2 cents fwiw! Oooh how I love to give advice, if only I would follow it consistently!

Trial & error are your friend because what works for one will be different for you. Just takes some patience. Instead of self-scolding for cheats, best to try to see what was going on in order to re-arrnge things so it will be easier to stay on track next time.

That said, here are some suggestions (again with caveat that we are all different)!
B: Eat more. Maybe protein, fat or low carb vegs, unless you are ok with fruit in the morning--it makes me hungry so I eat it later on. [I never was a big breakfast person but now I am. It's easier to burn up those morning calories, and once you get used to it, it can prevent the hungries later in the day).

question: how much milk are you having in your coffee? Just something to look into if you aren't losing. For some, it can slow wt loss, for others it's fine.

L Great idea to use the salad bar. It has kept me on track & is worth the extra $$. Once you get your rhythm, you can always buy a head of lettuce and rinse/store it ahead of time & just use the salad bar for the other things.

question:What kind of Ranch dressing do you use? Some are full of sugar. Again, it might be fine for you, just keep an eye on how you feel after lunch--are you craving anything or still hungry? And if that's going on or if you aren't losing wt, consider using a nice extra virgin olive oil with balsamic, or making your own concoction. (I use Walden Farms zero calorie dressings with evoo that I add).

D Great job for getting DH to eat most of that B&J's! Not sure I coulda pulled that off. I'm not a terribly inspired cook, but I lose wt with turkey chili, adding some beans, and bell pepper, onion, maybe carrot, canned tomatoes that I saute in coconut oil. With some good spices. Basically this is a low carb hearty recipe that keeps in the fridge, endlessly tweakable.

I always have roasted veggies around, rotating between cauliflower & butternut squash, 1" 'steaks' of cabbage roasted in evoo, broccoli steamed in chicken broth.

If DH is going to be offering up treats, you could ask him to hold them for Carb Day.

Hope there's something useful in that novel! Sending you best wishes & glad you're joining us!

Morning everyone
On the heels of a cheaty week, I dove headfirst into Carb Day. Today I feel pretty good, ready to renew & drink a ton of water! I will hold off weighing--it isn't gonna be pretty for a few days, lol. I also stayed up too late reading, and got up late, the opposite of my time-adjustment plan. Today I am going to try to get my place & my head a little more organized.

Lol, SeeMyFeet, yes, you should be able to lose on that diet, even with an occasional Ben & Jerry's treat. Your menu up to the Ben & Jerry's looks really good, although I'd add some meat, veggies, and/or yogurt to the breakfast to make it a little heartier. Breakfast is amazing at keeping you full so you won't want to cheat! Even the B&J's wasn't terrible diet-wise; it just isn't the healthiest choice (says the woman who had pumpkin roll for dinner last night), lol! But I'd save it for one day a week. And yes, while you are having trouble with your RA, do whatever you need to do to protect your joints. I think the grocery salad bar is a great idea! I buy bagged field greens salad and then go to the deli in my grocery store and they usually have some kind of a broccoli-cauliflower combination salad there, so I just buy some of that, add it to my bagged salad, and ta-da!

Carol Sue, yes, I started out reasonably but then I just kept adding this and that to my exercise routine and regularly stayed for 2 hours and at least once a week for up to 3 hours. (When my DH used to go with me, he kept me from that because he'd only stay for an hour and a half at most.) I don't have enough hours in the day to spend that much time at the gym. It's not reasonable (300 minutes a week sounds reasonable), and I'm going to end up hurting myself. As you know, some exercise is good for RA but too much is not, and I have to not be a crazy person about it, lol!

Mars, I'm glad you enjoyed your Carb Day! And now you're all ready to get back on plan! Yay!

I have to tell you this amazing story. I just can't believe it. I cleaned out my computer desk today and threw away a lot of old outdated stuff. I had a little folder of recipes I had cut out of magazines and printed off the internet. There was this one recipe for Real Texas Chili. It was cut out of a June 1975 Family Circle magazine. The list of ingredients was there but the directions were on another page and that page was missing. I googled "Real Texas Chili" but didn't really expect to find the same recipe. I got a long list but none of them was the same. Then I googled "Real Texas Chili Family Circle" and the recipe came up!! The exact same recipe, with the name of the same person who had submitted it to Family Circle! What are the chances of that being online from 1975? 40 years ago!! LOL The internet amazes me.

Everyone, thought I better pop in

Thank Goodness tomorrow is Monday, day to get back in the swing of things. I have not been doing bad on plan, but I need some structure (sad, that it has to be going back to work that will bring it on). Still holding the same for wt and numbers.

Not to dwell on this, but I did go to the doctor, I am now on BP medication for spiking BP out of control. It is not due to diet, just my body not handling stress well I guess, it is from long term stress I think, now I pay the price for holding all that stress in. Crazy. I hate meds, and my body hates them as well. But he kind of told me if I don't find the right medication for me to control this, one of two things will happen and I didn't like either of those two things.

So staying with original life style change in eating and hopefully, someday I can actually enjoy walking.

Today:

B: Egg scramble, tomato, zucchini, leftover pizza topping, coffee
L: popcorn, green smoothie
S: Cheese stick
S: Brats, turkey burger, broccoli, salad

Carol Sue, yes, that is amazing! Was it on a Family Circle website or did someone just type it in? If it was official, that means Family Circle probably has had someone go back and key in all their old recipes, and just think about how huge a task that would be! If someone else just typed it in, what incredible luck! Yes, the internet is amazing! And I'm so glad you you were able to find the rest of the recipe! It sounds pretty good!

Chickadeee, I'm glad that since it's important you get on BP meds that you are going to be taking them. Once they have a chance to work, and with your improved way of eating, maybe you can reduce or even eliminate them down the road.

So somehow I lucked out and didn't gain during Carb Day (probably because I didn't eat much for dinner and had nothing afterwards). Of course, that may mean I'll gain tomorrow. Sometimes that happens, but as of today, I'm happy still to be in the 170's!

Week 18: High 190.5, Low 186.5
8/30--190.5
8/31--189.5
9/1--188
9/2--187
9/3--188
9/4--187
9/5--186.5 Carb Day

Week 19: High 186; Low 183.5
9/6--186
9/7--186
9/8--185
9/9--184
9/10--184
9/11--184.5
9/12--183.5 Carb Day

Week 20: High 184, Low 180.5
9/13--184
9/14--184
9/15--182.5
9/16--181
9/17--181.5
9/18--181
9/19--180.5 Carb Day

Week 21: High 181.5, Low 179
9/20--181
9/21--181.5
9/22--DNW
9/23--180
9/24--179.5
9/25--179
9/26--179.5 Carb Day

Week 22:
9/27--179.5
9/28--
9/29--
9/30--
9/1--
9/2--
9/3--

Today's Meals
Breakfast
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch: @ Wendy's
Double cheeseburger (no bun)
Small chili
Water

Snack:

Dinner:
2 chili-dogs (without the bun)
small salad with ranch dressing
Water with Mio

Today's Exercise:
Just housework and crab-walking with Ichabod

Hi Everyone,

Just wanting to say Hi and what a wonderful thread you have going here. I am also carb sensitive and I would like to join you all. I bounce around with various types of Low to No carb diets and overall I feel great. But the truth be known, I cheat to much to really lose at a good pace, but I'm not giving up because I've tried other ways of eating and it just makes me feel bad. So low carb I am until I lose it all, then I'll go slow carb or just see how many carbs my body will be happy with when I get there.

Jacqui, kitties are funny You are truly on a roll, GO YOU Jacqui, there is nothing wrong with your computer her last post was on 8/12/15 on the old thread. She hasn't checked in here yet and we were all responding from the old thread since you had to close it due to reaching 500+.

Bewildered, we are missing

Mars, yesterday I had a 1.5lb up. I think it was the sodium seasoning I had on the blue crabs because that is the only off plan thing I had on Saturday. And then yesterday my youngest went with me to get an oil change and we went to Jimmy John's. I had an unwrapped turkey, just turkey, lettuce and tomato. You aren't supposed to have the veggies during the Attack Phase. Then she wanted a frozen yogurt so we went to Chikfila (the closest place on the ride home) and I got a Dream cup and had a 1.2lb drop Yeah I am definitely easing into walking again. I get in over 15000 steps at work and most are brisk so I don't want to over do it. Luckily my Gear tells me how much is counted as active steps so I know when I've done well . I think the eggs are a staple at all stages. Since oat bran is part of the requirement and I usually like grits over my eggs. This morning I poured the oat bran over the eggs and it wasn't so bad (taste wise) and NO burping. The bars are helping. I actually ate a whole one yesterday the peanut butter. It's really good and I think it helps with my bathroom issue due to the high fiber content. I ate the chocolate mint one today, not bad but not as good as the pb to me. They fill me up, which I don't know if that is good or bad because today my calories were pretty low, once I added in the exercise calories. LOL, Mars, no he didn't take me up on a challenge but you know me (or getting to know me) I have my own challenges 1) to catch up with you and 2) to stay up with Jacqui (man you two are keeping me on my toes)

Carol, it's easy to have a challenge with him. He eats every thing He will do good for awhile just like me, work out till he pooped and then eat a platter of fries I'll bet that sub was good though

ok I gotta go to bed ... still catching up on page 19 ... good night

Jacqui, it was an official Family Circle Website. The name was Craig Claiborne, and he was a famous chef, food critic etc, not just someone who submitted a recipe, so his recipes must be famous and that's why it's still around. Either way, I'm glad, because now I have the recipe. It said that real Texas Chili does not have tomatoes or beans, just meat (beef chunks, not ground beef) and spices. DH would like that...he doesn't like beans much and picks them out of his chili.

Yay FinallyFree! I'm so glad you're joining us!

Carol Sue, thanks! I'll have to look that up. No tomatoes or beans, wow! I can't imagine that, lol! It has to be good though to still be around!

Rennie, I hope you're right! I thought she had posted on this thread.

Bewildered, if you haven't left us, please check in! We want to know you're okay!

Finally Free! This is a great thread and place to test out what works for you

Re Bewlidered's last post, there are replies to her as late as 9/18, things like 'you menu looks good' so I think she posted up to about 9/17. I hope she returns one of these days. Ya hear that Bewildered???

Rennie You go girl! Yay on the drop! I'm glad you like the oat bran on your eggs! And the B-up bars!Is that PB or PB&J? I have the latter, and like it a lot. If you have a GNC near you, another bar to check out is Advanced Protein (I think that's the name). They make an apple pie flavor that is yummy. (Those bars are more expensive, but nice to have options).

Rennie just tossing out an idea, if you want a formal challenge. Something like who can lose the highest % body weight in a month, something like that? I don't know how I would handle it but I'm game if you are interested! Anyone else is more than welcome too, of course.

Jacqui We are coming into the season of the pumpkin. Do you like pumpkin spice lattes? I keep hearing people raving about them. Should we change the name of Carb Day to Pumpkin Day? Whatever it's called, you really handle it well!!!

I remember Craig Claiborne from trying to learn to cook in the 1970s with the bestselling NY Times cookbook. I'll never forget his lead in to gazpacho:Is there anyone left who doesn't know gazpacho is a liquid salad from Spain? I tried his chocolate cake & moussaka recipes. Very labor-intensive!!!

As for chili, i love how different it can be. I vary my bean amounts a lot depending on how I feel. Sometimes I just keep the beans out and add as I go, with a big batch of just the meat, peppers, onion, spice. I don't care all that much for tomatoes but I use such low fat turkey that I need something to contribute liquid just so I can swallow it . I've been using some yummy mole powders from Arizona. There is a company there that uses traditional recipes and good ingredients. My favorite is red, called Pipian Rojo. It has Chiles, Pumpkin seed, Almonds, Corn tortilla meal (corn, lime), Dried cane juice, Onion, Garlic, Salt, Sesame seed. Whoops, just noticed the sugar.

Here is Mole Dulce, which is spicier that the red mole: Mexican Chocolate (cacao, cane sugar, cinnamon, almonds), Raisins (with palm oil), Chiles, Almonds, Corn tortilla meal (corn, lime), Banana (with coconut oil), Graham crackers (flour, graham flour, dried cane syrup, safflower or sunflower oil, honey, molasses, baking soda, ammonium bicarbonate, sea salt, cream of tartar), Spices, Salt, Garlic, Onion, dried cane juice.

There are also green & black mole powders. I think it's just as easy to throw in your favorite spices. I'm happy with just adding a bunch of garlic powder to every single thing I cook!

Since a couple people have expressed interest, I will post a link to the recipe. I hope I'm allowed to do that.

http://www.familycircle.com/recipe/b...l-texas-chili/

In the online recipe, he lists pinto beans as an ingredient. In the magazine it was listed as optional. Here is a paragraph from the article in the magazine.

It must be explained that authentic Texas Chili is a pure and unadulterated combination of beef, chili, garlic, cumin, oregano and beef broth. and that's all! When I say beef, I mean chuck cut into small chunks, never ground beef. And no chopped vegetables, either. When Texans add a can of either pinto or kidney beans to it they call the dish Chili con Frijoles.