Jacqui That's fantastic that you are barely up! Remember that your metabolism gets a boost from the carbs so whatever the gain is, it should recede quickly. You were brave to weigh yourself; I'll wait until tomorrow.

I have to confess that after I posted, I ate a whole avocado and the leftover blueberries, right before bedtime. So my calories were right up there with yours, and probably more if I count the pre--meal almonds and pita chips, lol! I got another good night's sleep though and feel great, and that's without tryptophan supplement. For now I am going to eat a pear or 2 to see if I can continue with good sleep. The pears are from Argentina and not very sweet so no problem with keeping them around. Medicinal fast carb!

I am up 2 lbs from Carb Day...at 202. It wasn't worth it. I ate things that I expected to enjoy more than I did. I had a hamburger on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo. It was disappointing. I think the only thing I really liked was the brat. I have always loved brats but never bought them because DH didn't like them. I finally decided that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life not eating the things I like because he doesn't like them. I would rather cook 2 different things for each of us that just eat what he wants. The potato salad was good, and the beans. Normally, I rinse the sauce off the beans but this time I ate them, sauce and all. And I couldn't even look at the cheese cake after the nausea the night before. At bedtime my blood sugar was 279. Definately not worth it. I don't think I will ever do that again. I don't know if this plan is right for me because Carb Day is not something I enjoy. It seems that pasta is the only really satisfying carb for me. I have not been eating my daily vegetables and I need to get back to that.

Beautiful sewing machines, Chickadeee! My grandmother had a manual, and so did my mother-in-law. My mother was fancy schmantzy with an electric! LOL

I used to have a stepper similar to yours, but mine had tall handles so you had arm motion as well. After my knee went it was painful for me to use and I got rid of it. I used the handles more to keep myself from falling off. LOL

Mars, I forgot to answer you about my sleeping without 5-HTP. To tell you the truth, I just don't know. Some nights I sleep well. Others I don't, and I'm not sure it has to do with anything. I do think the 5-HTP was making it harder for me to go to sleep, so I think that's improved, but I tend to toss and turn all night. I find it amazing that pears are helping you to sleep! That's great!

Carol Sue, like you, I didn't enjoy all the things I ate yesterday like I thought I would. I mean, they were good, but maybe something inside me has changed. However, I LOVE being able to eat without guilt, so that's the best part of the Slow Carb Diet for me! Let's face it, I don't have to eat quick carbs on Carb Day, but the thing is, if I do, I don't worry about it! And I usually do enjoy eating some, not loads like on a holiday, but some. I like to have some pizza on Carb Day or eat a baked potato with my dinner or have a piece of whole wheat toast with my breakfast. I like being able to eat a piece of chocolate or a brownie without thinking I've "blown" my diet. But those things are definitely not something I want to give myself permission to do everyday because then it will get out of hand for me. I will never go back to counting calories. I despise it, and if I'm not going to do that, I can't eat quick-carbs everyday because they do cause me to have cravings and I'd start eating more and more. (Been there, done that!) So although I may not be doing the Slow Carb Diet anything like Tim Ferriss intended, the Slow Carb Diet version that I am doing is perfect for me!

Carol Sue, I have seen that stepper as well. and the one I got does come with straps that you can hold in your hands as you use it and move your arms too. But, they say to use it without them once you get use to it, it helps build your core better,you teach yourself to balance, plus hold hand weights.

Can I ask, or is this out of line. What is everyone's ages? Curious, I read about the sleep issues, and I had them until 2 months ago, it was like I never had a good sound sleep until then. I am 59 1/2.

Today, I have chores, cooking to do and sewing - regardless of what else gets done. And I have off work tomorrow. Yippee.

On a personal note, I wish this changing of lifestyle was easier and I seen better results, but I know the weigh crept on slowly and before you know it, there it is, so of course it is not going to fall right off! (I know that, but it still does not make me accept it.)

chickadeee I turned 62 in May. Do you feel your sleep issues are better because of your life style change? That's a big reason to stick with it! I think it becomes easier the longer it is practiced. Each individual challenge that emerges gets solved or tweaked, and after a while the things that seem difficult just aren't. Hope so, anyway!

I've never had trouble falling asleep or getting a good's night's sleep until my recent bouts with dieting. And until recently, I did not really notice negatives from only sleeping 5 1/2 hrs. My working theory is that my extreme diet that got the major weight off + low carb since then (not counting binges ) has tapped out some nutrient in my body that regulates sleep. It might be serotonin. Or maybe it's just that I got older!

To see if it was too low carbs vs too low calories, I tried a couple of days eating high calorie, low carb and then later this week a few nights of ''normal calorie' higher carbs, ie pears. I slept longer and felt rested and energetic, better mood, not so overwhelmed by small tasks. So I think for me, there is level of carbs now that is more than before. I wish I could tolerate lower carb because it does keep hunger and weight in check with minimal thinking. I also think if I exercise and get some feel-good chemicals stimulated from it, that would help stabilize sleep, mood and thinking.

It sounds like the stepper is well worth the investment and I'm about ready to order one! Thanks for posting yours, too Carol Sue!

carol sue Your reaction to Carb Day is really interesting! Although you had a high BS reading, it's great that your weight didn't go up much. If it's ok to ask, how much higher is the BS than it usually is at bedtime?

I think the thing about this WOE is that it is extremely flexible. The main thing is to stabiize insulin/BS and spare ourselves cravings. The Carb Day as I see it is to indulge without guilt and also to stoke up the metabolic furnace. I hope to gradual tame my Carb Days just be a withering away of the desire to splurge. I think once the guilt is removed, a lot of the allure of forbidden foods disappears. Maybe that was your experience from yesterday, and maybe the plan IS working for you.

There might be a middle ground for you to spread your fast carb consumption throughout the week rather than concentrated in one day. Maybe not every single day, rather, smaller amounts that do not tax your BS so much. For me, I would still need structure or else I would be on the slippery slope to Sugarville. But the goal is to find that very individual WOE that works.

Chickadeee, I have seen the steppers with the handles that you speak of, but I needed the sturdy poles to balance myself. I do think it would be good to be using hand held weights while stepping. I think that's for a younger person. I am 69 and proud to say it. I'm the first member of my immediate family to live past 64. I think I'm the senior member here. I can remember going to bed and not awakening until my alarm clock went off. I haven't done that for years. Normally, I don't take anything for sleep because I am on so much medication I don't want to add any more. Yesterday, my allergies were bothering me, either from the smoke from the fireworks, or the citronella candles we were burning, so I took a Benadryl before bed and it helped with sleep, and also the runny nose and watery eyes.

Our bodies do not want to give up that extra weight and are going to fight every step of the way.

Jacqui, I think I have to go back to counting calories because I'm not losing. I know I have a big appetite and can easily eat more than DH. I have to know exactly how many calories I'm taking in so I will know where to cut back. I see on my Fitbit how many calories I'm burning, and I'm sure I'm not eating a calorie deficit. Just for fun, I think I will plug in everything I ate yesterday to see just how much I ate. I know it was a lot.

I seem to get gabby on post Carb Day!

Jacqui I have read so much hype about these aminos and neuro-transmitter precursors supplements! But I have yet to meet anyone who takes them for any length of time. I imagine those folks are out there, but I sure am not one of them as far as I can tell. I looked in my cupboard and found tyorsine, LD-phenylalanine, l-phenylalanine, GABA, & l-tryptophan. I know i should give them all a good try but taking anything on a schedule is about impossible for me on work days. And if they require an empty stomach, forget it!

I do love pears, really crisp Anjou pears that are only in season for a short time in the fall. I always did like them. The ones now from SA are tasteless. I'll be curious to how well I sleep this week with them on board. I'm also tapering down meat a little and increasing beans.

Imho, Slow Carb is a healing process. That word get thrown around a lot, but it makes sense to me. It's a sort of safe house of structure that allows flexibility and a chance to learn about what will work for each us in the long term. The cravings and some of our health issues are from a long long time of eating the old way--esp. cravings. As that falls away, I think it's possible to re-connect with earlier & healthier WOE that felt natural a long time ago. Sort of an intuitive eating message I suppose, though I know I will always need to be vigilant.

Re slow weight loss, if I were to average out my fast weight loss on IP over the 29 months since I began that diet, it would not be nearly as fast as it seems just looking at start to goal dates. (I started it after losing ~25 lbs on WW, so began at 217 lbs).

From start to phase off at 140 lbs, it looks great:77 lbs/7mo = 11lb/mo. It's not so fast if you look at it from start to now, 29 months:
50 net lost/29 months = 1.7 lbs/month. There was a lot of angst in that process about what to eat, bingeing, rebooting, dreading social occasions, not feeling great---all of that in maintenance! I'll be quite happy to lose 1.7/month on this plan that spares me all of the obsessiveness and bingeing. It just takes a while to see what works and get into a rhythm. Having this thread for support and cheerleading is a key nutrient. We need to be our own best friend too, 24/7!

I think I need to do it too. My avocados are getting bigger and bigger! I don't adhere to it religiously but tracking helps me to interpret my appetite cues--if I am hungry and ate 1700 calories, normal exercise, am i really just bored and would a cup of tea work just as well vs I ate 1500 and that is just too low for me. It's also helping me figure out how much carbs I need to sleep & not get hungry or crave sweets.

Beyond that, I don't take it too seriously.

I'm a big believer that we each need to do what works best for us! I want to throw this out to all you ladies: I have to start a new thread soon since we are almost at 500 posts, and I've been thinking about changing the title for some time now (ever since Rennie stopped posting her meals) to "Carb Sensitive Dieters" or something like that to have it fit all of us better and maybe even some others who follow along but have been reluctant to join in because the Slow Carb Diet is not quite what they are doing. It's not like any one of us--me, Carol Sue, Chickadee, Mars, or Rennie--has ever been doing the actual Tim Ferriss Slow Carb Diet anyway! In previous threads, there were some people who were, but any change I might make to the title could cover a "real" Slow-Carber too. I do think we all have issues with quick-burning carbs, but we all approach that problem slightly differently. I will definitely be sticking with the Slow Carb version that I am doing, and I'll probably continue to tweak it as I continue to "experiment," lol, but the title of the thread doesn't have to be Slow Carb. What do y'all think? Any suggestions?

Chickadeee, I turned 54 at the end of April. I think a number of factors contribute to my unstable sleeping pattern: my uncomfortable bed (perfect for DH, too hard for me), my aches and pains of RA and fibromyalsia, my emotional state related to anxiety and depression, what I eat, my entering menopause and experiencing hot flashes more and more, my cats who sleep with me and want under the covers, out of the covers, under the covers, out of the covers, lol! (It's like a closed door for them I guess, always have to be on the other side! )

Great idea, Jacqui! Fwiw, I liked the description of Slow Carb and your tweaks in the first post.

Thanks Mars! I can still include a description of what I am doing. In fact, it might be helpful to others who may be looking for a plan if each of us tells what we are doing. Plus, if anyone new joins, if they can see what we are doing and they tell us what they are doing, we can all help support each other in our individual plans better!

And btw, I like your post-Carb Day gabbiness!

Re: supplements, my biggest problem is I hate taking pills or anything that resembles meds. Unless I notice something working right away in a positive way, I tend to stop taking it! My DH gets so mad when I buy these things and stop taking them, lol!

Re: slow weight loss, wow, that is a big difference when you look at the big picture. From the last time I did this diet, I know that my weight loss will continue to slow down each month, which reminds me, I need to look at my comparison list since 2 months have now passed! Woohoo! But this really is the best plan for me. I love its flexibility and yet it has just enough rules to keep me from being triggered and overeating each day!

This me me to a T.

I'm not sure if your weight loss is that slow since you haven't been on it all that long & still getting routines with exercise, etc. As Carol Sue pointed out, maybe in another thread, the body will fight tooth and nail to keep from losing weight. It seems like a good strategy is to lose slowly enough for the body not to notice much, but just fast enough to stay motivated. Goldilocks again!

Looks like we'll be at the magic new thread number soon. I'm glad to chime in with what I'm doing, though I'm not exactly sure what it is yet

Oh one more thing, re those supplements, Whole Foods by me has a pretty good lineup, and they take anything back if you don't like it, no questions asked. Since no one sells trial size bottles, I have no compunction about returning them. Unfortunately i got these ones at the single-store where they can't be as liberal about returns. so I may trot them out in the fall, SAD season. I can't stand taking pills either. It's all I can do to et the fish oil down. The only others I manage are under-the-tongue D3 & sprinkle Braggs yeast powder for B vits on my salads. my protein shake is loaded with supplements that I'm too scared to tease out from the other additives

So here's my comparison between last time and this time so far. I had lost 20 lbs by 2 months last time and I've lost 21.5 lbs by 2 months this time. I'd be happy for the "losing-more-total-lbs" trend to continue! However, I lost more weight in the first month this time but less than last time in the 2nd month, so it will be interesting to see how this upcoming month compares!

Slow Carb Diet Progress Last Time vs This Time

LAST TIME:
Start Date: July 19 2013
End Date: February 2014
Start Weight: 211
End Weight: 168

1 month, Aug 19: 199 lbs, -12 lbs = -12 lbs total
2 months, Sep 19: 191 lbs, -8 lbs = -20 lbs total
3 months, Oct 19: 184.5 lbs, -6.5 lbs = -26.5 lbs total
4 months, Nov 19: 178 lbs, -6.5 lbs = -33 lbs total
5 months, Dec 19: 173.5 lbs, -4.5 lbs = -37.5 lbs total
6 months, Jan 19: 170.5 lbs, -3 lbs = -40.5 lbs total
7 months, Feb 19: 168 lbs, -2.5 lbs = -43 lbs total

THIS TIME:
Start Date: May 3 2015
Start Weight: 220

1 month, Jun 3: 204.5 lbs, -15.5 lbs = -15.5 lbs total
2 months, Jul 3: 198.5, -6 lbs = -21.5 lbs total
3 months, Aug 3:
4 months, Sep 3:
5 months, Oct 3:
6 months, Nov 3:
7 months, Dec 3:

8 months, Jan 3:
9 months, Feb 3:
10 months, Mar 3:
11 months, Apr 3:
12 months, May 3:

On a different topic, I had a hamburger salad for lunch today that was really good! On the website I posted a few days ago with the no/low-sugar recipes, the author mentioned having this. It's a hamburger and everything you'd normally put on a hamburger but in salad form and of course no bun. So I started with lettuce in a bowl (unfortunately I only had iceberg on hand for our burgers yesterday) and added more than I would normally have on a hamburger. Then I chopped up tomato and dill pickle and added those. (Onion would be great too but raw onion upsets my stomach. And for some reason I simply forgot to add shredded cheese!) Then I put a dab of mayo and some ketchup and mustard. Then I chopped up two hamburger patties and mixed it all together. And yep, tasted just like a loaded hamburger without the bun! Yum!

Jacqui !!!!! Your weight loss is not slow! !!! Im inspired!

Hamburger in a bowl looks wonderful and will be on the menu along with Pizza in a Bowl. I may resort to reordering a little Walden Farms--they have a nice Thousand Island that I've been using for Taco in a Bowl. I add ancho chili powder & evoo and it's really good. I don't know if Spicely brand spices are national, but I like them a lot. They come in small boxes so its easy to use them up before the flavor fades.

I went ahead and ordered the Gold's stepper from Walmart. Can't wait! it sure was nice to have the extra day off with no big plans. I cooked all day and cleaned, now getting ready to tackle all the paperwork I've put off. But first going to get some more pears. What a difference a couple of nights' sleep makes. I even look better, without the dark circles under the eyes.

Thanks, Mars!

Oooo, thousand Island would be good on a hamburger salad, kind of like a Big Mac salad! I used to love Big Macs. I haven't had one in forever!

Oh and speaking of steppers, so my daughter went with me to the gym and when I got on the elliptical, she said, you know that's a crossramp elliptical, right? No, I don't even know what that means. She said it's kind of like a cross between an elliptical and stepper, and I had it on a 10, the highest incline. She said it's no wonder my knees have been bothering me! So today, I put it down to a 5 incline and I walked for only 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes. My left knee is still bothering me some, but we'll see how it goes. I will lower it all the way down to a 1 if I need to but I really like the incline. She put me on a regular elliptical for a few minutes and I didn't like it at all. Figures!