Carb-Sensitive Dieting (Thread 4)
 

This thread is for carb-sensitive dieters who are following various low-, slow- or moderate-carb diet plans. Come join us, posting as much or as little as you like, as we share our diet plans, menus, recipes, exercise, daily progress, and healthy tips, and chat, inspire, motivate, and encourage each other! Please let us know what carb-conscious plan you are following, even if it's your own individual plan, and we will do our best to support you!

As for me, I am doing a modified version of Tim Ferriss's Slow Carb Diet. I like it because I never feel "starved" (as I always have while dieting in the past) and that's because I no longer experience daily blood sugar spikes and drops due to quick-burning, high glycemic index carbs. I also never feel deprived because this diet includes one day each week when I can eat ANY foods I want. And although exercise is recommended, it is not required. I'm not much of an exerciser, although I am getting better, but I try at least to walk for 20-30 minutes each day. The Slow Carb Diet is not for everyone though. Everybody's different!

The gist of the actual Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet is: For 6 days of the week, eat lean, preferably organic meats and fish/seafood, eggs, legumes, and non-starchy veggies. (Sugar-free Jello, 16 oz. of diet soda per day, and 1-2 glasses of red wine per day are also allowed.) On these 6 days, avoid breads/grains, dairy (except for cottage cheese), pasta, fruits (except for tomatoes and avocados), sweets, and starchy vegetables. The 7th day of the week (you choose the day) is a "cheat day," when you can eat anything at all as much as you want, including anything on the forbidden list. The cheat day is recommended to keep you from feeling deprived so you'll stay on the diet and to shake up your metabolism each week to keep it from stalling. Ferriss recommends eating 20 grams of protein with each meal, eating 30-60 minutes within waking up in the morning, eating the same meals over and over, having five low-carb days before taking a cheat day, and some other fine details, which I don't really know because I haven't read his book, The Four Hour Body, nor do I intend to. I'm happy with my own version of the diet!

I am a big believer in doing what works for you (as long as it DOES work), so I have tweaked the Slow Carb Diet, and my personalized plan looks like this:

For 6 days of the week, I eat
--meat (not necessarily lean or organic)
--fish
--legumes (including baked beans)
--eggs
--non-potato veggies
--veggie-like fruits (like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc.)
--nuts and seeds in moderation (a handful)
--peanut butter in moderation (not natural, just regular Jif)
--yogurt
--cottage cheese
--other dairy in moderation
--black and green olives
--condiments and sauces (including ketchup and honey bbq sauce)
--full-fat salad dressings (usually ranch)
--breaded convenience/fast food meats like chicken tenders (It's too much trouble to try to peel the breading off, so I just allow it since I don't eat these foods very often.)
--protein bars on occasion (for convenience--I've found I have to eat these sparingly because they can trigger my hunger)
--fibrous fruit and berries in moderation (I didn't add this until I reached my goal of a normal BMI. So far it's working for me without a problem, but I don't overdo it)

and I drink
--Water, often flavored with Mio Liquid Water Enhancer (I try to drink a half oz of water for every lb I weigh, daily)
--Diet Dr. Pepper (I'm addicted to this and I'm trying to stay away from it, but I still don't want to remove it from my list!)
--Green tea, sweetened with Splenda

For these 6 days, I avoid
--breads, cereals, and grains (including corn)
--pasta
--fruits (except veggie-like fruits)
--potatoes
--sweets

I count no calories. I count no carbs. I count no grams. I don't eat within 30-60 minutes of waking up. I don't eat every 4 hours. I don't pay attention to numbers at all. I don't necessarily eat the same meals over and over. (If I do, it's simply because I like those foods!) I eat when I'm hungry. I stop when I'm full, and I try not to eat late at night, although if I'm hungry, I will.

The 7th day of the week (I've chosen Saturday, although I'll move it for a special occasion) is what Tim Ferriss calls Cheat Day but what I call Carb Day. (It's not cheating on the plan but rather an actual part of the plan!) I can eat WHATEVER I want as much as I want on Carb Day, but again, I eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. Plus, I do try to be mindful that the more quick carbs I eat, the more I am going to crave them, so I try not to go "all out" (although occasionally I will). I do gain between .5 and 2.5 lbs the day after Carb Day, but it's just water weight and it usually falls back off in the next couple of days while I continue to lose fat. It's all figured into the plan, so I don't worry about it.

So that's what I'm doing! What are you doing? If you are carb-conscious, feel free to join us!

(If you'd like to see what the other "regulars" on this thread are doing, here is a link to thread 1: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/othe...-dieting.html;, thread 2: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/othe...hread-2-a.html), and thread 3: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/othe...hread-3-a.html.

Jacqui, I'm back .... It's consecration time at church. Once again no rice, bread, pasta, sweets, soda, junk food and only protein powder since I have decided to do smoothies for the first ten days. Then I will add in fish and eggs for ten days. And I forgot what will be added the last fifteen days. I am back down to my ticker weight as of today. Work has slowed down thank goodness so back to normal hours. I joined a gym on Monday. I haven't been yet to workout but I wanted to get in on their on going holiday special. Ok all updated on me. I need to catch up on you all :hug:

Rennie, thank you for the heads up on the threads! :hug: Yay! I'm so glad you're back! :hug: Woohoo on the ticker weight and joining a gym! Fantastic! :trampo:

SeeMyFeet, oh yeah, moving the ticker is the best! :flow2:

Trish, good for you on incorporating parts from diet plans that work best for you! :cp: I think we all have the most success when we put our own personal touches on what we're doing! :yes:

Carol Sue, go get some Vitamin B6! Wouldn't it be great if that helped your psoriasis? :crossed:

Today I weighed 170. I'm still staying busy and eating too much in the evenings. I did drink sips of water between bites for breakfast and that helped me fill up really full, but I was on the run for lunch and didn't do that. :shrug: As long as I'm staying around 170, I'm not too worried...yet! :lol:

Thanks everyone for thinking of bro. I know I ramble on about him, but I'm just so thankful. He will be going to a rehab facility on Friday, since he's going to have to have some type of swallowing therapy. The neurologist hadn't been in yet to discuss the problem so I don't know any details.

Today's menu...

Break - two sausage links and gravy, half a bun, ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - chicken/cheese burrito, white grapes
Dinner - two chicken cutlets w/lemon mushroom sauce over angel hair pasta
Snack - maybe a skinny margarita since I have plenty of calories left for the day :)

Well, I confidently put my load of pants into the dryer...kno whut I meen?

yesterday's menu (not great--relying on leftovers):

B: oatmeal, no raisins; coffee w/ hh
L: 1C black eye peas; orange; few chunks pineapple
D: 3/4 C cornbread stuffing
S: ~40-50 pistachios

960cal; 138total carb; 32g fat; 38g protein; salt all the way up to ~1600mg.....too many carbs

SMF, that didn't help with my new jeans. They are still a little too loose for me. Need to get out the sewing machine. If buy something and it just fits, guaranteed it will shrink. If it's too big, guaranteed it will NOT shrink.

Last night I ate a small portion of DH's oatmeal before bed and surprisingly it didn't spike my blood sugar, unless it came back down by morning.

Good to see you joining us again Rennie!

Jacqui, I have a bottle of Vit B6. I can't remember why I started taking it but I mught have read about the skin issues before. I had quit taking it, probably didn't notice a difference. I might not have taken it long enough, so I started taking it again this morning. At least this time I know for sure that I am deficient.

PQ, I think bro really needs that rehab. They are educated to know what he needs to help with his problem. Things are really looking up for him!


I am not usually one to post my meals, but I've done so good so far I think I will.

B - 2 scrambled eggs 2 pieces of crust from DH's french toast- 2 slices of bacon
L - steamed kale with sauteed onion and garlic, topped with Feta Cheese
and a gala apple sprinkled with cinnamon for blood sugar
D - Will be leftover stuffed cabbage rolls

If I have a snack it will probably be in the evening, after dinner, as we will probably be eating around 4PM.

I decided to go back to eating kale. The reason I stopped is because I am the only one who eats it and it goes bad before I can finish it. I got an idea that I'm going to try. It comes already cut up in a big 16 oz bag. Probably around 4 servings. I used my Food Saver. You put it in bags and it sucks all the air out of the bag and seals it. Now I have to find out if it will keep that way in the refrigerator, or if I should freeze it. I'll google. When I was eating it before I noticed that my nails grew faster and stronger and I didn't get as much back/hip pain. It was probably doing some other things that I didn't realize.

Rennie Hi Rennie. Glad to see you here.

SMF I decided to have oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I do love the health benefits of oatmeal. My Mama's family had high cholesterol so she used it to protect herself from having it. It actually worked, but she didn't like fruits and veggies and ended up with cancer. So I add berries to mine.

I've had 3 days now of 3 miles in 25 minutes on my recumbent bike. Hopefully it will become a habit.

My Plan today

B - oatmeal with yogurt, blueberries and walnuts. Coffee with Stevia and hh
L - salad w/EVOO and ACV, steak and broccoli
D - 3 eggs, 3 sl bacon, shredded cheddar/Monterey Jack cheese and kale

Wow, I weigh 169 today and that's pretty amazing considering how much I ate last night! I ate all the right foods but just a lot of them! :moo: My scale may go up tomorrow, but for today, I'm thrilled! :cloud9:

SeeMyFeet, are you vegetarian/vegan? (I can't remember). I'm asking because it's best to surround your carbs with protein. There is protein in your oatmeal, your black-eyed peas, and your pistachios, but that 3/4 cup of cornbread stuffing as a meal by itself is not going to do good things for you. If you are not vegetarian/vegan, you could eat some meat or yogurt or cheese with that to help offset a spike in blood sugar, or if you are vegetarian/vegan, it would help to eat some green veggies with it, like spinach or even green beans to get some protein. Maybe even drink some almond milk with it. Or just eat some of those pistachios with the dinner and then some as a snack. I do think there's a link between carbs and RA. My joints are always worse after one of my Carb Days (although you'll notice that doesn't stop me from taking Carb Days, lol). If you can just eat a bite of protein before and/or after a bite of carbs, it can help. (Notice I didn't say anything about the number of calories!) :lol:

PrairieQueen, you're not rambling on, and besides, if you didn't keep us updated, we'd just ask, so it all works out! :D One strange coincidence, you mentioned your brother is named Mark and SeeMyFeet recently commented that her brother was also named Mark, and believe it or not, my brother too was named Mark. (I have four brothers, but it was my brother Mark who passed in September.) I think that's just bizarre. :shrug: Needless to say, I really want your brother Mark to pull through with flying colors! I'm continuing to pray for him each day. I hope therapy helps him quickly and he'll be off the feeding tube very soon! :crossed:

Carol Sue, yum on your menu! :hungry: Yes, I agree you should start taking the B6 again since you know now that you are deficient, but I hope you do notice a difference this time! Like you said, it may just take a while. I wonder about the kale and how it made you feel better. It may have been just what you needed! From what I've read about it, it's supposed to be a good source of vitamin B6! :yes:

Rennie, I meant to mention I am so glad your work schedule has slowed down! :cp: And I know you are going to do so well during consecration! :yes: I'm so glad you're back! Now if only Mars' schedule will slow down and we can get her back posting with us here! :yes: I'm afraid we may have lost Chickadeee for a while. Since she stopped posting with us, I haven't seen her posting anywhere else on 3FC, so she may be taking a long break. :dunno:

Trish, your menu looks wonderful! :spin: And great job on the recumbent bike! :bravo:

Where are my ruby red slippers when I need them? I need to go to the gym, I need to go to the gym, I need to go to the gym! Ugh. I just do not feel motivated to go! :kickcan:

Week 34:
1/3--169.5
1/4--169.5
1/5--170.5
1/6--170
1/7--169
1/8--
1/9--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
Protein bar
Fage yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch:
Chicken salad
Veggies and ranch dressing
Mio water

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Chuck roast
Steamed broccoli
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

Hi all and Jacqui that is bizarre. We've always called my bro Mark or Marky even though it's his middle name...my dad decided right away that he looked more like a Mark and not a Tim.i have another younger brother and we are all Ts....T-cubed :)

Today's menu.....

Break - chicken/cheese burrito, ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - leftover chicken cutlet, lemon mushroom sauce, angel hair pasta
Dinner - 1/3 rack of ribs, potatoes patties w/cheese, mixed greens salad

Jacqui, for a long time I couldn't lie on my right side without getting bad pain in my hip. I was ok on my left side. After I started eating the kale regularly I could lie on my right side without pain. I have no idea why. Other than that i noticed the my toenails were growing so fast! And my fingernails that were always weak and breaking off got stronger and grew out a little bit. One got so hard that I had a hard time filing it back. I figure if it's doing these things that I can see, it must also be doing things I can't see.

I asked about freezing the kale on a cooking forum and everyone said to blanch it all and then freeze in small bags. I chose not to do that. I think blanching them before freezing them will add water that will freeze in the bag. I portioned it in qt size bags, dry, pushing it down tight. I got 4 portions from the 16 oz bag. I vacuum sealed it with my Food Saver. It was amazing how small those portions became! I just put them in the refrigerator rather than freezing them. DH said they should keep well because it is airtight. We'll see. I figure I can afford to do an experiment on a $2.99 bag of kale. Maybe I will throw one of them in the freezer and see which process works the best. I will clean them and blanch them as I use them. Leaving the bits of water on the leaves helps with the cooking.

That's weird about the Marks. I think it has something to do with the fact that they are all in the same age group and that name was popular back then. We have friends who live on a street near to us. Three men died from that street in a year's time, all named John. They were all in their 60s, and the name John was very common in that era.

I hope SMF doesn't leave because you yelled at her. LOL

Carol Sue I've never frozen kale before, but I do spinach and I do not blanch even though they tell you to. I chop it first, then freeze. I use it later for dip recipes, or mixing with cheese to stuff chicken.

thanks Jacqui :hug: You are really doing well. I'm so happy for you :hug: Jacqui, in reading your comment to SMF ... I read that people who take the weekends off Sat and Sun to eat what they want tend to lose more weight. I immediately thought about you. I wonder if that would work for me after the consecration? It' a thought :) I'm thankful that our schedules have slowed down. I actually got off early yesterday and it was Rissa's 12th birthday so I got to do a little running around before she got home. I am doing well on the consecration (I resisted Rissa's cake, taco bell and Chinese food yesterday). I thought I had Mars cell but I don't. I'll have to see if I can get it the next time she's here :) I need those Ruby Red slippers to go to the gym also :)

PrairieQueen I don't know all that is going on with your brother but he, you and your family are definitely in my prayers :hug: PrairieQueen does the spinach hold up well? Keep it's firmness and color after being thawed?

SeeMyFeet, I have my things that I dry and the things that I don't for that very fearful reason ;) What eating plan are you following now?

LOL Carol Sue, that is the way the ball bounces with the clothes dryer, lol. I think I'm gonna start adding a small amount of uncooked oats to my smoothies. I read somewhere that it helps as a filler and the benefits are great also. :) You know I can't eat it cooked, makes me gag. But blended in a smoothie should be fine :) Glad to be back :) I'm adding Kale to my smoothies also :) Carol Sue do you always eat the kale cooked? If so I'd blanch them before freezing :) that's what I do to my mustard and turnip greens.

Hi Trish :hug: good to see you over here :) 3 miles in 25 minutes GO YOU! :cheer:

I'm doing good, despite all of the temptations that I face with a house full of children. When I start to crave something ... someone will say, "well you'd better make a smoothie :D!" They're so helpful (:(:mad::)) I have mixed emotions about that ;)

Bro update - doc thinks he may have had a stroke during his 2nd cardiac arrest. His right side is weaker than left and he's partially blind in his right eye. They have to do mri to be sure, which will direct his therapy. He can swallow and has been eating crackers and sips of water, but that's all he's been allowed. He def gets moved to great rehab facility Monday morning.

My gluttonous menu today...

Break - chicken/cheese burrito and t a
Lunch chicken w/lemon mushroom sauce (last of it!) and pasta
Dinner - too much takeout pizza, but it was so good and I got it out of my system

Yay! Back down to my low! :cp:

Haha, Carol Sue! Now I know I definitely didn't yell (I'm not a yeller), but you did make me look! :lol: It will be interesting to see how your kale turns out. My sister told me she just had fried kale at a friend's house and really liked it. Have you ever had it that way? It seems like it could make a pretty good crunchy snack. And yes, if you could tell that big of a difference in your hips and nails when you ate it before, I also wonder in what other ways it was benefiting you that you weren't aware of! :chin:

SeeMyFeet, I was not yelling at you, lol! :lol: I was offering suggestions, because you asked for help and because we have RA in common and I figure anything we can do to help each other with that is worth mentioning! :D

Rennie, the first time I ever heard about taking a weekly day off while dieting was years ago when I was watching a talk show (it might have even been Phil Donahue it was so long ago), and this one couple in the audience stood up and mentioned that they had lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off for 7 years using that method. I remember I was amazed by that. Taking a cheat day was such a foreign concept to me that I even couldn't imagine it, but I never forgot it. Years later, after so many tries at dieting and finally reaching the conclusion that I couldn't stick to a diet, I had resigned myself to being obese, until I read about the Slow Carb Diet. The concept of eating non-starchy/non-sugary carbs made sense to me, given my family history of diabetes, and the cheat day brought back the memory of that couple on that talk show and gave me hope that maybe this particular diet could work for me. I think the tricky part for you would be that because you're diabetic, unlimited carbs for one or two days each week could be troublesome for you. For a diabetic, it's all about balance. I don't think you want to eat too many carbs, too much protein, or too much fat on any given day, but rather a balance of all three. If "whatever you want to eat" happens to be balanced, then weekends off could work great for you! But if you lean toward starchy/sugary carbs, which would only serve to raise your blood sugar, it's possible you'd still need to watch it. I think it's definitely an idea worth discussing with your doctor or dietician to see what they think! They're the experts and I'm just guessing, lol! :D I'm so glad you are doing so wonderfully! :bravo:

PrairieQueen, my youngest brother''s name is Tim! :dizzy: I'm so glad your brother is eating even if it's not very much right now! :carrot: How scary that he might have suffered a stroke during a heart attack! Wow, he's been through so much! :yes: Sometimes you just have to get pizza (or chocolate) out of your system, lol! :D

Week 34:
1/3--169.5
1/4--169.5
1/5--170.5
1/6--170
1/7--169
1/8--167.5
1/9--

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

Lunch:
Protein bar
Mio water

Snack:
Protein bar

Dinner: @ local pizza place with friends
Large salad w/ranch dressing
Water

Today's Exercise:

Ronnie the color stays good but I don't know about texture since I bake it as an ingredient in something else. It seems okay to me, but no leafy greens hold up well to processing like other veggies (peppers or brocolli for example). I always have a lot more garden spinach than I can use at once so I freeze it.....I hate to waste food :)

SMF you are doing a great job! And I know it is a job, a very tough one.

Jacqui that is awesome that you're back down even after splurging. Its funny how are bodies work, I know.

I thought I was going to get through this month's "visit" without any salty/fat cravings but last night I was tired and hungry ..... Didn't want to do homemade, so I sent hubs up to Donatos. I def overdid it and had a tummy ache a little later. "That'll learn me."

Hi Trish !

Right now I didn't freeze the kale. I processed it dry in vacuum bags. It's amazing how small those bags got. I just put it in the refrigerator to see how long it stays fresh without any air in the bag. If it's OK, I will just rinse it in a colander and steam. I think what I do to it is steaming. I saute some onions in a bit of olive oil, then I add the kale, with the water clinging to it from rinsing it, then put a lid on it and turn the heat down. It just wilts down and gets soft in several minutes. I saw on a cooking show that a woman used unseasoned meat tenderizer on her greens to help them soften but I never tried it.

Carol Sue, ooo, that sounds good! :hungry:

PrairieQueen, yep, Donatos will definitely quench that salty craving! :jeno: Be sure to drink lots of water! :cheers: I hope Tom doesn't give you too hard of a time. :crossed:

I finally get to change my ticker! I hit a new low 167 flat this morning! :carrot: Of course, today was my Carb Day, and no kidding, I think I ate the equivalent of a lb bag of mint M&M's! :ink: No doubt I'll be back up into the 170's tomorrow, lol! :shrug:

Even though I got 10 hours of sleep Friday night, I was "out" before 10 last night. We ran into our farmer friends at grocery and decided we'd all go out for dinner together, so my food choices were poor again.

Yesterday's menu....

Lunchfast - 1.5 cups homemade tomato soup (more salt), Coke Life, pita strips, grapes
Snack - 1 serving of Skinny black pepper popcorn
Dinner - fried chicken wings and handout fries. (At least I brought half of wings home), 2 lite beers

My calories were still at deficit, but sodium numbers were high. And I didn't get my usual 2 liters of water in. I made a choice not to weigh this morning :) I'll try to be "good" today and drink lots of water and take in less sodium.

We have a little bit of snow on the ground. I've got the firewood in and got the 'big fire' going.....the temps are dropping again. I'm going to make some beef veg soup to freeze and bread buns for the week. And then Downton Abbey tonight. I need to wash my five outfits for school. I refuse to buy any more clothes until I'm at my "final" weight, even if that means wearing the same thing every work week. Nobody notices anyway.

PrairieQueen, another woman on another thread said she was going to make cabbage soup. That made me decided to make home made vegetable soup, to which I add lots of chopped cabbage. And you're making it, too. LOL My soup has a beef bone, short ribs, cabbage, onions, celery, barley, tomatoes, mixed vegetables and 2 whole peeled potatoes for DH. He just has to have his potatoes! LOL

It was snowing last night in Cincinnati when the Steelers stomped on the Bengals. Today it's been raining here all day and later on when the temps drop it's supposed to turn to snow. I hope we get a foot!!

I'm upset. I've been telling everyone I am 5'4" for years. At the doctor they measured me and said I am 5'1 1/2. DH measured and I stood up as straight and tall as I could get and I was 5'2". All that does is raise my BMI.

PrairieQueen glad to hear your brother is eating, still in my prayers :hug: and thanks on freezing kale. I wish I lived near you ... I'd help you with your extra/abundance of veggies, if allowed of course :)

Thanks Jacqui and YAY on being back down to your low and changing your ticker :high: You never know the M&M's might surprise you and not show on the scale ;)

Carol Sue I like the sound of a meat seasoning on the kale :) Well I guess that's 3 of us on the cabbage soup. I made it also last week but I blended it ... taste like the homemade vegetable soup that my Mom makes :) but no corn, potatoes, peas or lima beans :) I like 5"2 you don't have to worry about the length on pants. It will always be petite :) Sorry about the BMI number.

I have 3 more days of this part of the consecration. I have been really good. My Pastor even said something about different foods he's rebuking right now ... we all thought that was funny since the bulk of the congregation has eliminated something for the consecration. I got 7 hours of sleep and was rewarded with a 1.2lb drop. I can't wait till he 14th. I really want to see how my body does when I add the fish and eggs. Weigh in this morning 168.9

Carol & RennieMy soup has beef stew meat and meaty soup bones from our side we get in summer ( I needed to start using both of these up or that's all we're going to be eating in May before our next small side is ready in June). Veggies are diced tomatoes, green and wax beans, limas, corn, onions, and carrots. I just added a cup of ditalini. I forgot that I had meat thawed for lasagna I needed to make as well. I had planned on putting it all together last night for tonight's dinner and one for freezer, so I did that as well. It's nasty outside here anyway....nothing else to do but clean and I'm not in mood for that!

Rennie if you did live close, of course I'd share :). I take stuff to a widow friend of ours (she's also English) and my adult kids. There's always plenty it seems.

PrairieQueen sounds really good. I'm not doing any meat right now though. I would have probably added chicken for sure :)

... it's been cold and rainy here also but today turned out to be 60 degrees and sunny, what a blessing :)

Wfhew! What a week! I've been doing a pretty good job with the diet and exercise, but it's been tough. Been busy working, keeping up with all these challenges I've joined, repairing things and keeping a houseful of teenagers fed, but the youngers are back in school and we took DD to the airport early this am :cry:. Food would have been Great, except I made cookies for the kids Fri night, and I had a few...lots of calories in them. Hopefully, this new exercise regime will knock those calories out. (don't worry, I don't have issues with insulin/diabetes)

Catching up:
--keep your snow, please
--I have some cabbage in the fridge...maybe I should make some soup, too
--That's interesting about the kale affecting your hip pain, hair and nails, PQ. I got some over the weekend for a Mediterranean veggie casserole. Relief of your hip pain is the best reason I've heard to join the kale craze! (tho, I suspect bok choy and cabbage would also work.)
--I'm not vegetarian, Jac, but am not eating much meat these days. I did eat the pistachios with a meal, but that seems weird, so I listed them as Snack. I put quinoa in the veggie casserole, and am planning to break out the tuna for lunches next week, so don't worry. I've also seen reports that a vegetarian diet is good for RA. Overall, I feel better when I'm exercising and hungry. (and losing weight)


...time to get some more things done around the house...

Today's menu...

Breakfast - Coke Life, 2 sausage links, fried egg, 1/2 English muffin
Lunch - 4 wings, small side salad
Snack - pineapple slice
Dinner - 1/2 serving lasagna, small roll

I haven't been here in a few days. Busy last few days. Went to a campaign rally at the college coliseum where DGS graduated high school and will graduate from college in May. I've been dreading going there because it sits on a hill and it was really hard for me to walk up to the building and going up and down the stairs. Almost had to crawl up the steps to go potty and when we left. That's why I've been riding the recumbent bike to try to strengthen my legs to get me ready to walk it.

My best friend and beautician wanted to go to the rally and wanted DH and me to go because she didn't want to go alone. I planned to use the hugo walker at the coliseum, but once we got there we had to park on the grass and I decided to just use my cane. What little exercise I've been doing has been helping. I was so surprised at how well I did. At one point I was huffing and puffing, but I didn't have to stop. The line in was very long and slow up into the building which made it easier for me. Of course, I had DH to hold on too. The steps probably were not as hard as they were last time although I have to admit that I have a fear of falling that I need to learn to overcome. I have bumped up my exercise on the bike to 4 miles in 30 minutes today so I hope by the time May gets here that I will have no problem at all going to DGS graduation.

I guess today and the last few days have been carb days since I have over done them. I finally put the Townhouse flatbread I had leftover down the garbage disposal. Sometime I have to do that as much as I hate throwing food away. I think it was the salt in them. Tomorrow is my WI day and that should be interesting.

Back OP tomorrow. I've been reading about DASH online. I may use it on my carb days and track the starchy carbs on MFP. I do like eating oatmeal, but I also really enjoy eggs and bacon. I will either alternate them for breakfast or just have the oats on my carb days.

I'll do Indies tomorrow.

Hi. New here...trying to get motivated....it is so easy to fall off that wagon! Flour and high carbs definitely fuel the inflammation for RA and other inflammatory issues.

Yay :carrot: on the walking, PattyGirl! Isn't it great when you realize that exercise is making you stronger? Keep going!....and I'm hoping that you and PQ and everyone else who has issues with bs/insulin can successfully stay away from carbs and sugar. (I know it's not just a weight loss issue for you!)

Welcome SoupNut!

Oh, I forgot to mention that the dryer trick did not work on my pants....soooo....now I have a give-away box in my closet :carrot:. Fortunately, I have some smaller sizes lying around, so I don't have to go to work pants-less.

So far this year, I have had a rabbit-like weight loss, which is my usual pattern. At this point, the rabbit usually lies down and rests for a few months...then I have to start the race all over again with a bigger rabbit. We'll see if these changes I've made will keep this one on the race track for a while longer. And, ugh, I have been so consumed with weight loss and keeping my head afloat with work and house chores, that I am forgetting to take my RA meds and vitamins...the hands are feeling it and my brain is mushy (more than usual, ha!)....gotta make another resolution to be more compliant...

:welcome: SoupNut! Yes, it really is very easy to fall off the wagon. That was always my problem before I started following a diet plan with one day each week when I can eat whatever I want! :yes:

PrairieQueen, I'm a Downton Abbey fan too! I'm so sad that this is the final season. It's such a spectacular show! :queen: I was hoping for a warm winter based on how it felt in October and November, but it's feeling like an Ohio winter now! :brr:

Carol Sue, oh my, finding out you're a couple of inches shorter than you thought you were would be distressing news! People have always said I am 5'9" while I have said I am 5'8", but now with age, I'm positive I'm 5'8"! So how much of a difference is there when it comes to your BMI? :?:

Rennie, wow, you are doing incredibly! Congrats on being another half-lb down! Keep it up! :dust:

SeeMyFeet, I used to be a semi-vegetarian (I ate fish) back in my teens and 20's, but I didn't have RA then so I can't really say if it did good things for it, other than...I didn't have RA then! :lol: Yay on needing smaller clothes! :high:

Trish, I love oatmeal too, but I definitely limit it to my Carb Days. In fact, I used to eat it every morning, and now I eat eggs every morning and I forget to eat oatmeal, even when I can! :dizzy: I do love it though, with cinnamon, bananas, and blueberries. Yum! :T Great job on increasing your exercise! :ebike: Your DGS's graduation location will be a breeze for you by the time May rolls around! :flow2:

Mars, where are you?! :hug:

I was going along so well today, until I ate salted nuts for a snack! :devil: I'm drinking a lot of water, hoping I can offset the inevitable water gaiin! :cheers: Hopefully I won't hold enough water to jump back into the 170's because I'm on a roll right now of 5 days in a row in the 160's! :woohoo:

Week 34: High 170.5, Low 167
1/3--169.5
1/4--169.5
1/5--170.5
1/6--170
1/7--169
1/8--167.5
1/9--167 Carb Day

Week 35:
1/10: 169.5
1/11: 168.5
1/12:
1/13:
1/14:
1/15:
1/16:

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

Lunch:
Large field greens salad with chicken and ranch dressing
Mio water

Snack:
Roasted, salted mixed nuts

Dinner:
Nothing (Fell asleep with a bad sinus headache! :stars:)

Today's Exercise:

SeeMyFeet you are busy busy busy, WOW!

PrairieQueen, Carol Sue :wave:

SoupNut :wel3fc: and to the thread :)

Trish I need to get caught up with regards to you my friend. Sorry I've been out of the loop :hug: praying things get better with your walking :hug:

Thanks Jacqui :) I'm trying to keep up with you. ;) Though I don't know how things will go starting on the 14th :crossed: I continue to do well :)

Evening all!

Hubs and I are "computing" in dining room tonight in front of the wood fire. You are so right Jacqui....our normal Ohio winter is back. Tonight we watch the DVRd "The Good Wife" and our Monday sitcoms.... We can live :) Fingers crossed for a delay tomorrow. It's going to be snowy and windy and cold. It was not fun this morning in five below wind chill.

Menu today....

Break - McD's burrito and ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - 1/2 portion lasagna
Dinner - 1.5 cups beef veg soup, roll, pineapple slice
Snack - maybe slice of choc/zuke bread, got some out of freezer for hubs

nothing to report other than finally going to the gym and getting on my favorite "the treadmill". I did 3.57 miles at 3.0-3.7 mph at an incline of 2.0-6.0. Felt good gonna try again tomorrow :)

Rennie, whatever happens after the 15th is under your control! :yes: Great job on the treadmill! :bravo: Oh hey, I like your new ticker! :flow2:

PrairieQueen, did you have off today? :snowglo: I sure felt the snow coming. My head is like a barometer. I always feel snow and rainstorms coming, and I had the worst sinus headache yesterday evening. My sinuses are still bothering me, but last night it felt like a migraine it was so strong. :stars:

So I didn't eat dinner last night. My head hurt so bad, I didn't want to cook and I didn't want to eat. I just wanted to go to bed. I overate mixed nuts as a snack yesterday afternoon anyway so I wasn't hungry. I thought I'd gain from all the salt I ate but then not eating last night probably offset that because I weighed 168 this morning! :cp:

Week 34: High 170.5, Low 167
1/3--169.5
1/4--169.5
1/5--170.5
1/6--170
1/7--169
1/8--167.5
1/9--167 Carb Day

Week 35:
1/10: 169.5
1/11: 168.5
1/12: 168
1/13:
1/14:
1/15:
1/16:

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

Lunch:
Veggies and ranch dressing
Mio water

Snack:
a handful of Emerald cocoa almonds

Dinner:
Large field greens salad with pieces of pork tenderloin and ranch dressing
Mio water

Today's Exercise:

Thanks Jacqui :) Hope your sinus pressure/headaches ease up :hug:

Hi all! My internet is slooooooow tonight, and it's freezing here :(

We had 2-hour delay today and should have been called off. There were several accidents and ditched cars of students and one teacher. The buses were late and one by half hour...couldn't get up a hill and had to turn around and go another route. Every other school in county was off. They eventually called off the elementary schools (they go later) after the morning fiasco. I'm sure the super got quite a few calls today.

Today's food choices ....

Break - chicken/cheese burrito
Lunch - 1/2 portion lasagna
Dinner - grilled wings and 2 lite beers

Rennie, thanks. I am resorting to drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper to see if the caffeine will help. :dunno:

PrairieQueen, I can't believe y'all were in school today! There were lots of accidents around here too. :eek:

I spent much of today finishing cleaning out my closets and drawers and discarding clothes! I kept some XL sweatshirts, because I like to wear them big, along with some favorite XL Ohio State t-shirts, as long as they didn't droop on me too badly (women's XL vs. men's XL). but everything else that is too big on me now, I put into the donate pile. I have 5 bags to take to Goodwill, and other than those few XL shirts, nothing to move back into if I gain weight! It's getting real now, lol! :cp:

Totally off plan for most of this week. Only good thing was exercise. Hopefully I will back OP tomorrow at least that is the plan.

Rennie, Good for you on the treadmill and sticking to your food plan. I didn't even know you belonged to a gym. Go figure!

Prairie Queen and Jacqui, I am not far from you here in PA and our weather is usually the same. We got about 4 inches of snow but they didn't cancel or delay school. In the morning, it hadn't started snowing much. Then it didn't start to get really bad until around 4PM. Rush hour was bad, but I think the school buses made it through dismissal. There was a period around 4-6PM when there were a lot of accidents during rush hour. We were home, safe and warm. It always seems to be bad when we get the first significant snow of the winter.

Jacqui, I can't not have something around in a bigger size. Not a lot, but at least 1 pair of jeans to fall back on. My weight doesn't fluctuate much, but my waist is where I run into trouble. I have stayed the same size for the past several years. I guess it's a good thing that I don't gain, but I sure would like to start seeing losses. I've got plenty of smaller size clothes.

...I cannot imagine getting rid of that many clothes....but I can dream about it....

Not sure what you're talking about Rennie...I'm always trying to fit more into my day 'cause I don't get enough done!

Whell...I stopped by a new organic grocery store and got lots of yummy stuff. A prepared Greek salad, and a yummy vegetable mix, and Oh! fancy Medjool dates! I had to exert superhuman will power to avoid eating all the dates. oh oh oh...and coconut water--I decided I needed the potassium. Soooo, waaay too many calories and carbs yesterday .....but..... wait for it...... the scale did not go up! Woo and Hoo!

Jacqui Wonderful that you can get rid of the big clothes. You are doing so well with the weight loss. I hope your sinus headache is gone today.

I am back OP today and pretty much have my plan for today. Went back to exercising just 3 miles on bike. I didn't like the way I could actually feel the hip joints after the 4 mile last time I did it. Strange feeling. Didn't hurt, I could just feel them. Not sure what that was, but I think I'll stick with the 3 miles 4 or 5 days a week for a while.

I am going to stick with the CAD idea of any carby food I eat will be eaten at the main meal and my other meals (and snacks if I need one) will be low carb. I just need to get more self disciplined about my eating like I have with the exercise. However, maybe this will work in my favor. I've always worked it the opposite in the past. Disciplined eating and none when it came to the exercise. Maybe this time I can get them both disciplined at the same time. :dizzy:

P.Q., Rennie, Carol Sue, SMF and all. :wave:

Have a great day.

Carol Sue, yikes! A snowstorm during rush hour sounds treacherous! I'm glad you and DH were safe and sound at home! :yes: Right now I can wear a size 10 and a size 12 in pants, with the 12's being a little loose (and comfy), so in a sense that's like having the next size up. I could gain a few lbs until the 12's become tight. Now if I were really planning to keep a size up, I would have kept the 14's, and I admit I did hesitate to put my favorite pair of 14 jeans in the bag, but in they went! So if I gain much more than the amount I circle around 170 with, I'm going to have to buy new jeans, and that's exactly the inconvenience I was going for. :swim: Sink or swim! :lol:

Trish, thanks! My headache is gone today, thank goodness! I do wonder if the caffeine in the Diet Dr. Pepper I drank last night had anything to do with it. I'll have to try that again next time it happens and see if it helps. :shrug: I agree that you should stick to 3 miles if you're feeling it in your joints, even if it doesn't hurt right now. :ebike: And when it comes to having discipline with both eating and exercise, you can do it! :cheer: Just set your mind to it and you can do it! :dust: In fact, I'm going to do more than just talk the talk on that. When I'm done typing this, I'm going to walk the walk! I'm going to pull myself off this couch, throw some gym clothes and shoes in a bag, bundle up and go out into this freezing cold night :brr: and go to the Y (which I haven't done since the new year started even though I keep saying I need to)! Believe me, I don't want to, lol, but we are all in control of what we eat and how much we exercise! If you didn't happen to get all the way through eating on plan today, tomorrow is a brand new day! We can do this! :carrot:

SeeMyFeet, yay on the healthy foods and congrats on the scale cooperating with them! :goodscale:

Rennie and PrairieQueen, I hope y'all are doing well today! :wave:

Wow, I am so happy to still be in the 160's! :broc: Okay, as I just told Trish, I am off to the gym and I'll be back to update today's exercise! :exercise:

Week 34: High 170.5, Low 167
1/3--169.5
1/4--169.5
1/5--170.5
1/6--170
1/7--169
1/8--167.5
1/9--167 Carb Day

Week 35:
1/10: 169.5
1/11: 168.5
1/12: 168
1/13: 168
1/14:
1/15:
1/16:

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Mio water

Lunch:
Protein bar
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
Crockpot chili (2 bowls)
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
2-mile walk around the track. :carrot: Oooo, can I tell I am out of shape! I wanted to do 3 miles but there was no way, so I definitely need to keep this up and get back into shape! Of course, everyone and their mother was at the gym busily working on their New Year's resolutions, lol! Luckily, they were in the classes and on the machines and only a few were on the track. I took this pic (blurry because I was walking) at a point when it looks like no one else is there, but just off to the left there are all kinds of people! (I didn't think they'd appreciate me taking a pic of them, lol!) The worse part was having to park way out in the parking lot and walk through the cold! :brr: My joints do not appreciate it! :lol:
http://i.imgur.com/9RVKA1C.jpg