Dawn,

Sounds like you are doing the healthy approach to Atkins and really sides a lot like Sugar Busters. But as I said what ever works works. I never made it past the induction phase and I love fruit especially apples and applesauce. Of course I really like pasta, bread and butter with salt too - but until I reach my goal there are certain things I avoid and other things I allow as cheats - like ice cream on sunday with choc sauce - not a lot and even still my over all calories are low - I just need to move my big butt out of this chair and outside. LOL

Nice to meet you by the way - I posted a bio - way too long - more than anyone wanted to know I am sure.

PJ,
I'll agree with you there...doesnt much matter what you call it so long as it works! I guess I still consider myself atkins mostly because that is the first place that I started getting the ideas I'm following now. That is me in ANYTHING in life though, use what I like & leave the rest...lol. I'm not so good at following directions to a T...I like to modify things. When I read about induction I was like Ha, yeah, right. Too harsh for me to even attempt with all the hypoglycemic issues I have. Maintenance sounded acceptable though. I definitly don't fit in with weight watchers & low cal type diets though. I eat my piggy head off & don't even bother with counting carbs anymore. I spent my teenage & early adult years counting calories & being utterly miserable. I just know roughly what stuff to avoid & what stuff I can't eat plenty of without wearing it. Speaking of wearing what you eat...As a joke, when I was still with my husband (who was also getting sort of pudgy) I once did some signs on my computer in fancy script that said "HUGE BUTT", "THUNDER THIGHS INCLUDED", and "STRAIGHT OUT LARD" and then printed them & taped them over all the labels on the pasta & bread in my house. My ex got a huge kick out of it...so did any visitors until it all got eaten up since he kept dragging them into the kitchen to show them.

Dawn - those signs are hilarious!

Fortunately my hubby will eat the same stuff as me most of the time. He is really glad we don't do the low fat thing as it means we don't buy diet products. We tried it once before and found that a lot of the "diet products" on the market taste horrible with a few exceptions.

We eat fresh fruit & veggies (whatever is in season) and neither of us can stand the taste of frozen entrees and most convenience foods so we make a lot of our meals from scratch. This might sound like a lot of work but if you start out with small simple meals then you eventually get in the routine.

My basic requirements for a recipe are:

1) A small list of main ingredients (not including spices)

2) Ingredients are available in most grocery stores or health food stores ( I am not driving all over town to find exotic items for one recipe )

3) Must be ready in 30 -40 minutes or I ain't makin' it!

The only low fat items we buy are dairy products, low fat pudding, sugar free Jello and Crystal Light. Oh, yeah we also buy the Healthy Choice brand of fudgesicles and ice cream bars

DH and I can't stand margarine either so we buy butter but use very little of it. I usually end up freezing half the butter so it won't go bad.

We are now out of the habit of eating chips and cookies and have replaced those with nuts, sesame snacks and salsa with tortilla chips (for him anyway).

I can happily say that I no longer crave doughnuts thanks to SBD!

The only "diet" stuff I buy is the FF dairy, 1% milk, and FF cheese, cottage cheese and cream cheese. Then I add a good fat, like almonds or olive oil or avocado to get my zone balance on.

Hubby has cholesterol issues so if it tastes the same to us - I will buy the LF or FF version - otherwise it only original. For butter - I was buying "cant beleive its not butter" since it was cheaper than the real thing - I dont eat it at all anymore and DH only had occasionally - once the stuff I bought is gone - I will buy him some REAL butter since he prefers it and if not using all the time will not be as expensive. I like the Light Ranch and the Kraft 2g Mayo - obviously not as good as the originals but passable for now - once I reach my goal - I will allow the real stuff back in the fridge since I will have such control over my habits by then that a little real mayo on my sandwich wont undo everything - I jsut cant stand at the fridge and eat it out of the jar. LOL

I currently dont buy any kind of munchies except for DH to take on Road and no salty or choc - as I would scarf it all down - craving or not - if I know it is here I must have it. Still working on that problem - I can stop myself from buying in but not eating it once it is bought.

DH doesnt really mind - he does like his snacks and being able to eat what ever he wants he always wants dessert - I have to remind him that if he wants me to lose weight - he is just gonna have to suffer right along with me - and he likes to eat healthy anyway. Fresh and homemade - I will eat the LC entrees when working - but I really need to make some homemade Tv dinners and freeze them - way less salt that way and more veggies.

Well I blew it yesterday and had mashed potatoes but mum cooked us supper last night so what could I do?

I'll just have to behave today

Mauv, don't feel bad, your in excellent company...lol. I got a little bit of unexpected & much needed cash & was so happy that I decided to celebrate...in the WRONG way. lol. Oven baked pizza with artichoke hearts, proscuitto & mushrooms. mmm....it was so good! I'm rationalizing it away to some extent by thinking well...at least it was a thin oven baked crust right? lol. HAS to be healthier than pizza hut deep pan right? As if! Anyways.
btw, how long does butter last? I thought it was almost indefinite! I bought some at Sam's, bulk, a few months ago & am still using it. Is it obvious when its bad? The only fat free stuff I buy is the Jello pudding but I buy that because its sugar free, the fat free is inconsequential for me.
Pj, I'm so hearing you about salty stuff. I used to mainline potato chips. Loved any & all varieties, salt & vinegar....sour cream & cheddar, plain. I'm lucky, with atkins I can eat nuts so now I get my sugar fix from pistachios. They are like lays though, you can't eat just one.

You can tell butter is bad when it smells funny or devlops a bit of blackish mold on it. I try to keep mine in the fridge, especially with this heat we are having lately.

I buy a 1lb brick and split it into 3 or four smaller sections, wrap them individually in plastic wrap then put them into a freezer container and pop them into the freeze. I take it out and put it in the butter container as needed. This seems to extend the shelf life of the butter and it doesn't go to waste if we don't eat much of it that week. It takes us about a month to eat 1lb butter so doing it this way works for us.

Blackish mold? Oh gross Mauv! I am certain that has never been a problem thus far! lol. I just put a bunch of mine in the freezer though just in case! Thanks!

How's the low carbing going for everyone?

I'm still passing on the rice and potatoes but I have eaten some whole wheat rolls lately - I have to watch that as they are really good and one can easily eat 2 or 3

My big challenge is going to be while I am away on holiday. I plan on eating a lot of salad but I will be indulging in some sushi

Hi -

Since I follow the Zone (more often than not) my low carbs are in the sense that I eat less than before.

Also - since I combine my good carbs with prot and fat - it's all good.

But I would say on average - I have 2 servings of grain a day and about 6 servings of veggies - and on avg about 2-3 fruits.

I have 1/2 c oats with prot pwdr, almonds, vanilla, and a side of FF cott ch plus 1% milk and splenda for bkfst - under 400 cal and super filling. Like good for 4-5 hrs full.

Then the rest of the day I fake my way through the balance of 40-30-30.

Right now I am eating an apple with some Peanut butter -- mmm
Not really balanced - but close enough for me.

I've been eating the yummiest new snack this week...you take pepperoni's, lay them out on a baking sheet. Cook on 400 for about 10 min, blot with a paper towel or six...then return them to the oven until they are crispy but not burnt. Blot again. They are sooo good in dip! I'll never cry over the loss of potato chips again! I found the recipe in that cookbook by the Stella guy, the one who lost a combined weight with his family of like 590 pds or something. Alas, in addition to the low carb stuff I binged and ate the best tiramisu ever the day before yesterday. Bad. Bad Dawn. LOL.

I'm probably not an alternachick (except for my blue hair) but if you're running late, an Atkins Advantage bar can be really good. I keep a supply on hand - bought cheaply off e-bay - and they make for a good quick breakfast.

And, like you, if I start eating carbs, I can't stop. I think it's my meds that do that, but going off the meds isn't an option.

What meds are you on? I take like...handfulls, every day for autoimmune stuff. No clue what any of it does to my appetite. The one for my thyroid are a GOOD thing though, without that little green pill I'd be the size of a house no matter what I ate/drank/did. Anyways. I had not thought to check e-bay for atkins stuff. I will try that, thanks for the suggestion! I found some really good low carb bars by slim fast that are peanut butter crunch. They taste just like a candy bar. Alas, I can't seem to find them now that my membership to cosco has expired. They make some that are NOT low carb, just low fat & the box looks almost exactly the same & I accidentally bought them. They sell those everywhere. And yeah, blue hair seems pretty alternative to me Mine is Vampire Red at the moment.

I just bought some South Beach Cereal Bars and some Pria (powerbar) choc shakes that are very low carb - they have a zone balance of close to 40-30-30. And they are yummy - I eat a bar then about 2 hrs later a shake - for me 100 cal last 1 hr (avg) so 170 cal last almost 2 hrs and 150 cal last an hr and half. If they were good balanced calories.

For a budgetwise way to go lo-carb - I would plan my meals around the meat and the veggie and I would just not have bread or pasta or rice or potatoes. And only 1-3 servings of fruit per day. (most veggies are so lo carb and lo cal as to be able to eat buckets before you reach a countable # - http://www.nutritiondata.com/ is free and has loads of items broken down into readable nutrition labels and they rate foods on nutritional density and fullness)

For example for dinner have your meat choice - even if it is low fat burger (7%), put a slice of cheese on it, have that with sliced tomatoes, or a salad. Grilled chicken with steamed brocoli (do you realize how filling 3 cups of broc is with next to no calories? - 96 cal total, 18 g Carb 6g Prot ) and when combined with the hi prot Chic - you wont have cravings.

Cromium Picolanate is a supplement taken to control the sugar cravings - if you take 2 a day for 30 days you will find you can walk right past the donuts without the slightest craving.

My diet allows for whole grains and fruit when eaten in combination with fat and prot at the 40-30-30 ratio. The premise is based on the Glycemic Index (GI) so that by combining carb-fat-prot, you can make any meal lo GI and your blood sugar stays steady - without the spikes and valleys so you dont have cravings and you stay full longer. When I have grain carbs - it is alway the high fiber, rough kind - like nutty bread instead of white. Oatmeal for bkfst mixed with some Prot pwdr, almonds and a side of cottage cheese.

But my step mom in law - just gave up all the grain and starch and eats only meat, fruits and veggies and she lost a ton of weight - getting all her fiber from the fruits and veggies. So you dont have to buy more food - just eliminate a food group. And you dont have to buy fresh - the frozen veggies are good too except carrots - but carrots and corn are both hi GI and should be avoided if you are going lo carb.

Phsyllium Husk is a great fiber supplement - you can add to any cereal or drink - it only take a tsp and it will thicken whatever you add it to making it more filling and giving you the fiber you need as a bonus.

After doing this for 4 months - I dont have the bread and butter cravings I used to - I still like choc - who doesnt? But I dont buy it. We had a bunch of sweets here last weekend and I dont need to crave it to eat it when it is right here - but I only had fun for 2 days then sent the rest to work with DH and managed to save him the last cherry turnover. And went back on plan like a good girl. And I didnt gain an oz. So my daily cal were ok - just bad choices.

Ok - yapper off.

Yep, I second what PJ said. Good suggestions! I tend to just go around the grocery store & buy a lot of eggs, whichever bacon is on sale, lunchmeat. I found ham slices on sale today for 4.00 for two pounds for instance. I roll ham up in cream cheese (I found the cheap off brand for 99cents a brick)...or rather, I thinly layer the cream cheese on the ham & roll it up...for a snack. We eat a really great dish with a v-8 (kmart makes a veggie juice that tastes just like v-8 for under a dollar) as a base. Ok, the bf is waiting on me, lemme see how quick I can post this...you grill up some ground beef which is usually cheap. Since I'm low carb I don't worry too much about the fat so its less expensive. I take that off & drain it & set it aside. Then I saute about a half a head of cabbage (also way cheap) in about a cup or so of the veggie juice. Keep an eye though & add more if the bottom of the pan starts getting browned too much. When its wilted down nicely I toss the burger back in & add a ton of garlic & chilli powder &/or chilli peppers. This recipe is also nice with grilled onions & green peppers tossed in. A few minutes before serving I put some sour cream in & mix it. Its the equivalent of chilli but low carb. Everyone I make it for loves it & it reheats great. I've also found that if you check labels some of the hot dogs are very low in carbs. I eat them with a small spinach salad for lunch sometimes. Another good lunch suggestion is to take romaine lettuce, smear on some mayo & dried oregano, then layer a piece of lunchmeat & a piece of chees on & fold up like a sandwhich. You can add tomato too, that is so good for you that I figure it counters the carbs. It IS a bit messy though so make sure you take napkins with you if your taking it to work. ok, I'll come back w/some more cheapo recipes tomorrow. I don't wanna keep my honey waiting any longer.