Hello! First week of school here in my part of the world and I've been too busy to post anything. This is my busy time of year, but I wanted to get a thread started because I miss you guys when I don't post! Hope everyone is well and on plan! I'm still not competely dedicated to staying OP. Too much going on lately, but I promise I will get more serious soon. Last night I made two dinners because it's probably the only time all week that I will cook. So I have left over spaghetti squash with canned tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms, onions and ground beef and DH and DD have regular spaghetti with meat sauce. I made enuf that we can eat it for a couple of days. Now I just have to convince them to eat it for a couple of days. I'm the only one in the family who appreciates left overs! Do you think that's because I'm the cook?

ToM, just quit smoking and gaining weight are making me really struggle right now. I'm eating on plan, not experiencing the 'carb creep', but am gaining weight anyway.

I attribute it to...

1) ToM. I bloat anyway, usually really (painfully) bad and am pretty bloated right now. In addition during my ToM is when I experience my worst cravings for salty carbs.
2) No smoking for over a week and a half now. It's been -really- hard to not replace the lack of smoking with snacking, which I did night before last (had a small bag of celery sticks and then had about 20 baked pepperonis which makes em crisp like chips). Kind of frustrated because I posted in the support area looking for some advice from someone who had quit smoking and not a soul posted.

So eating too much OP, ToM and very little cardio exercise (DD5 being home means I avoid the no-AC gym)...needless to say I'm a mess.

I am going to wait out things improving (I can do this!). Next Monday DD starts school again and I can get back into my routine of gym every weekday morning. It's going to be super hot in there (no AC) but if I can do it as soon as I drop DD off I'll be good.

Hope you guys don't mind I am joining your chat

I quit smoking cold turkey Thanksgiving 2006. I feel your pain! I used the website quitnet.com for support - my DH and I quit together. What helped us was thinking about how much $ we were saving by not buying cigarettes. You are doing great! "They" say that after 3 days all the nicotine is gone from your system. Keep it up!

Started low carbing about a month ago, have lost 5 lbs - I would like to get back down into the 130's. I'm 5 ft 2 so every lb makes a difference! Plus there is a lot of diabetes in my family. LCing is really making a big difference in stabilizing my blood sugar levels. I tend towards hypoglycemia so I like to eat throughout the day.

Hi Lolita Angels. I've been a lurker for some time about to embark on my LC WOE. I'll be following a Dr. supervised protein sparing modified fast. I'm gonna start on Sunday. I followed a few yrs ago and lost 60 pds in 4 months. I'm not looking for speed just results. I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes but have been flirting with it for years. Oh and I'll be turning 40 in November and just celebrated 10yrs of wedded bliss (or something close) heehee. Snappie I quit cold turkey in 1996 and my weight gain wasn't related. You can do it! Stay strong. I'm also working the Beck program which is all the mind stuff related to overeating. Sorry for the ramble look forward to posting. Have a good night all!

Welcome new posters! I really like having more people to talk with! I suspect my doctor would tell me I'm "flirting with" Type 2 diabetes if I gave him the chance. My husband got that same news a year or so ago, but hasn't changed anything about his WOE. I keep telling him he's going low carb in September- we have a big vacation planned in November and we need to be in shape!
Snappie, I quit smoking way back in 85 (although there have been some secret cigarettes I don't talk about!). If you can do it without snacking - great, but I don't think celery sticks are going to make you gain weight! The way I remember it - after the first week or so, the carvings were much better but that was when I had to change my thinking. I had to re-imagine myself as someone who didn't smoke and that took some time. The thing that helped me the most was exercise. The summer I quit smoking I tried to run. It wasn't a great plan since it was like 100 degrees in rural Kentucky at the time, but it did give me the chance to change my image of myself to someone who does stuff like running in 100 plus degrees. I never really was a successful runner - I really wanted to do a 5K, but was never able to go that far - but just trying was enough. Also when I really really wanted a cigarette the running was something to do. When you get back to the gym next week, you'll feel much better!
Busy day ahead for me so I need to get going on it. Hello to all lurkers and later posters!

Haven't posted in here yet, so hi everyone!
I have almost completed Induction, 3 days to go, and honestly I'm kind of disappointed. I've been doing the couch to 5k and going about 2 miles (running/walking) and staying on my low carb plan, yet the scale still says 206. It is my TOM, but I guess I was just hoping I would lose more throughout Induction. I think that maybe I'll stay on it an extra week because I would like to see a little more gone by September and I'm not getting sick of the food selection.

Plus Lynnar I bet that running was easier since you weren't smoking!!!! Great advice.

soure1sl I don't think staying on Induction would be a problem for more than 2 weeks, it says in DANDR but I can't remember exactly, maybe someone with more info will post.

I've lost 6 lbs in about the last month and am very pleased. My husband and I have been going for walks at night and golfing (no cart). If I could drag my arse to the gym that I belong to lol I think it could be faster

Thanks for the great advice Lynn and I'll look into that website Jessie. I'm hoping my cravings (it's been 2 weeks now!) will lessen after tomorrow. Back to heavy cardio routines then as DD5 starts 1st grade tomorrow. It's been a crazy week of getting ready for school!

I'm also done with ToM and losing weight again - so I know now the weight gain was related to the bloating and nothing else. I was getting concerned about the snacks even though I was trying to snack OP! I know (from experience) that on low carb, if you are hungry - EAT! - but my brain was telling me I was eating too much because the scales said so... I should know better.

to low carb Mommacat! Glad to have you and thank you for the warm words of support!

Steph: While seeing a menu plan of what/how much you've been eating would definitely help us help you, I'll just throw out some suggestions.Hopefully some of those will help or Kim will have more suggestions.

Jessie: According to the book Induction lasts as long as you make it last, it just has to last a minimum of 2 weeks. This is the minimal amount of time your body needs to detox.

Thanks snapless - I edited my post b/c I meant to say it wouldn't be a problem to do Induction for more than 2 weeks. I'm still doing it and it's been a month lol...

The first time I "did Atkins" I was using a lot of the protein bars, etc...and besides being very expensive I think they just increased my sweet tooth. Not saying they aren't helpful but I don't want to use them just yet. I'm trying to stay away from eating things that come in a box or wrapper

Interested to see what happens this week b/c this coming week is TOM. (fyi? lol)

Those protein bars aren't suitable for Induction and since I'm a fan of whole, natural foods I wouldn't recommend them even afterward. Personal preference I suppose for OWL thru Maintenance but definitely not good on Induction.