Hello Everyone! another newbie here!

I posted the same message on the WW board this morning - so my apologies to anyone who reads this twice.


I was a member of WW for 2 weeks last year, but dropped out
because I found myself using all my points for fast food and sugary stuff.

I knew I needed to lose weight, but I also needed to think of my health. My father died of heart disease and my mother has adult onset diabetes.

I've worked on eating healthier foods - but my weight has been stuck and I have a ways to go.

I tried Atkins - but I needed more flexibility for eating on business travel and my sweet tooth nearly killed me.

So I thought I would try combining the best parts of both programs and have come with up a lower carb version of WW, keeping saturated fat in check.


At the moment, I am challenged in coming up with daily eating plans - sample menus, etc.

I am trying to come up with just enough structure that I don't have to keep obsessing over what my next meal will consist of - but not so much structure that when I have to grab something when I am away from home - I feel like I am cheating.

I would much appreciate it if any of you could share with me - what kinds of things you typically eat - what your meals usually look like?

Thank you so so much - I look forward to sharing the journey with you -----

barefootgrrrl

Hey barefootgrrrl! (did I get those rrrrs right? )

Anyway, glad to see you here! I do a the ww/low carb plan and so far I am really enjoying it. I can say nothing bad about Atkins though because is taught me an extremely good lesson on how I feel with out all of the high carb food. I lost 40 pounds on that plan, but as with any plan I gained 20 pounds back after I went off of it.

I am in the 26-31 point range of ww. I am close to going down to the next level so I tend to eat at the low range now. I keep my protein points between 10 and 14.

Everyone is different but here are the guidelines that work for me. It does appear to be very structured but the control over food through that structure has really been quite liberating!

-3 meals, 1 snack all with a bit of protein

-no snacking (ie grazing...a huge accomplishment for me)

- desert before bedtime. This is the only time I eat something without protein. I sleep like a log when I do this! Desert is either of the sugar variety or what I am trying to do now is eat some fiber (kashi) and fat free milk. Fiber makes me happy!

Meals on a typical day look like this:

b...egg sandwich

l...ham and cheese sandwich/ carrots or a side salad

snack 1T peanut butter on light toast

d...chicken or fish, broccoli, 1/2c (carefully measured rice or pasta, salad

desert....either a skinny cow ice cream thing or cereal and milk, or maybe an apple and 1oz of cheese.

I am heading into my 14th week, I am not perfect but I am making progress! 25.4 pounds and I do go to meetings!

hope this helps, and again, I look forward to seeing you posting. Come join us on the daily were we really support each other on a daily basis just checking in, saying "hey" and gabbing over the cyber fence!


all the best to you!
peach

barefootgrrrl -
Welcome!!

Trust me, I know the pain of obsessing and the whole Atkins thing. I did strict induction for 4 days and stopped. But then, I did this-I just cut out flour, sugar, rice, potatos...high carbs. For my sweet tooth, I do sugar free hard candies or popsicles.

A typical menu for me is
b-omlett with mushrooms, onions....cheese...or maybe hard boiled eggs and some ham
lunch-big salad, no crutons or side bread. wendys has great salads
dinner-whatever i make my husband, minus the mashed potatos or rice, chicken and a low carb veggie, a big steak-i just eat more meat really. I've switched to leaner cuts though; all of the fat was freaking me out. Dinner is funny, I'll eat 2 chicken breasts and my husband has his chicken, potatos, veggie, bread.....but he's 6'2 and 205 and the boy can eat!

It's easy business wise. I travel alot too and do things like get a BK egg/bacon crossanwich and chuck the bread. Or I get a prime rib sandwich at lunch, 86 the fries and bread and go for a side salad. This weekend I went to Chilis and ate the inside of a chicken taco order-no tortillas.

It's easy once you get into the groove. I've been doing this for a week and i've lost 9lbs. I feel really good. TOO GOOD.

Good luck to you, and if you need support, this is the place to be!
Amy

Peach Pit,
you mentioned both sandwich for breakfast, and for lunch. What kind of bread do you use for your sandwich?? I'm not a big bread fan (I've always eaten sandwiches and burgers without the bread) but DH loves and misses bread!
Thanks
McMom

hey there, barefootgrrrrrrrl and zay!!!

welcome to the gang!!! we're just all full of advice.. some of it's great. some of it's just plain good.

i also have a lot of limits on what i can eat, and that means absolutely no bread or pasta.

yet. i still cope with fast food on occasion.. wendy's seems to be the best, and the chili is pretty good. salads are a good choice, but hard to eat while you're driving [well, so's chili for that matter!!!]

and last week i had a chicken whopper with cheese, and didn't touch the bun

in the past, there have been weeks where many low carbers post their daily menus. check out these threads. there's lots of good ideas on them.

do you have boston market? you can always get some chicken and a veg side or two...

good luck.. and post often... we LOVE to put in our two cents!!!! and we welcome pennies from others as well

oh. and one more thing. a couple of us make wraps out of large lettuce leaves. i like the romaine, but i take out the chewy rib thing.

Jiff? do you take the chewy rib thing out while you are driving!? (sorry, couldn't help it!)

McMom, the bread I use is the 40 calorie per slice bread. Two slices for one weight watcher's point. Most of the time I use Arnold whole wheat but there are times when I use "flabby" light Wonder bread Italian. I know that bread, rice, cereal and pasta make me crazy and in the past have triggered me into an eating binge. Now, after three years of trying and falling and learning about myself I measure all of those items very carefully (well, obviously not the bread) and always have them with protein except before I go to bed. Works for me...everyone is different!

Hope that helps!

peach

zay.. peachie's probably in bed asleep by now, so i'll answer that question. she often says to me 'potatoes not prozac' and that's why she does it.

she and i are real life sisters. that's why we make such smart-a** comments to each other!!

and i'm sure she'll have a few more thoughts when she comes back..

Wow! all these ideas and suggestions are giving me tons to think about for when I get bored (frequently!) and totally fed-up with Atkins -not yet, tho... altho, I gotta admit, I do miss my bread - pasta has to be a nono for me, I get totally out of control and absolutely CANNOT control a portion (unless you consider a portion to be 1/2 lb!!!

I have been having my hamburgers nested in a bed of letuce. It looks awful funny but the letuce is the buns for me. I have known may that do the same for a sadwhich. or roll up the meat with mayo and letuce. very yummy and i do not miss the bread that way!

Thanks to all for the warm welcomes and tips and suggestions!



I surely need them - getting started is the hardest part, I think!


Also, I noticed that Nasus40 is from Cortland, NY - I am originally from Chenango County - so, familiar with the area.



Thanks again, look forward to getting to know you all.


barefoot

Hi,

Welcome to our little chicken coop.

These ninnies are just wonderful, full of love, support and well you know ...... advice .... sheeeesh what did you think I was going to say

Glad you can hang with us.

Love, Leens <----I really do look like this.

Zay,

BINGO! That is exactly why I eat a carb without protein before bed. I kind of fall into a carb coma and can just sleep it off! If I should have a bowl of cereal (kashi) during the day I would be hungry in 30 minutes and feel awful and have those really raunchy cravings.

I think...and Susan help me out here! If you want to find out your carb count for the day you can just plug it into fitday. What I am doing is not low carb, but it may, and I kind of think, that it is low carbish. BUT! I never ever would have been able to do it if I did not spend a good part of 3 years dabbling in the strict low carb programs...it was a great learning experience for me!

hope this helps!

your ninnie friend,
peach
ROFL Leens!!!

I, too, am glad I stumbled into this thread. I've been doing low fat for too long, and still gaining weight at 1000 - 1500 calories per day.

My husband works with a guy who lost 40 pounds on Atkins and swears by an altered version of it for lifestyle. He's kept off the weight for six months so far. His wife has started and has lost 22 pounds on it.

I began the induction phase of Atkins today. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I ate scrambled eggs and cheese cooked in butter and linked sausages with coffee and heavy cream in it...mmmmm That coffee was the best I'd ever had after using lowfat creamers all the while!!!! Splenda also tastes good in it!

Anyway, would love to know experiences / successes / difficulties / tips etc.

Lisa

I'm on a low carbish plan too. I keep it 50-70 grams Mon Tues Thurs Fri and under 200 Wed and weekends. My plan is also lean protein so I keep an eye on fat and calories as well. I find that I definitely am in ketosis on Tuesdays' and Fridays' and my scale dips down at least a pound everytime. This with the low fat plan has allowed me to lose an average of 3.5 pounds a week for the last 5 weeks. I just started keeping a journal at FitDay- link is in my profile.

Today my food will look like this-

kashi Go Lean with skim for breakfast

8 oz chicken and 8 oz of bell peppers and onions cooked without fat and low fat sourcream fat free cheese, mixed green salad, lite dressing

Fresh tuna steamed asparagus
mixed greens
cucumber
spinach
lite dressing

several coffees-Splenda
tea
diet soda and lots of water

oh and sugarless gum!

I do get a carb with every meal, fruit milk or bread usually on On Days and on Off Days I also get pasta or rice with lunch and dinner and 2 Cravers- IE small portions of the bad stuff I can't stop thinking about.

Anyway, it's sort of an intense diet, if I eat too many carbs I am starving all day because the appetite suppression doesn't kick in. But I can always have burgers and fries or pizza on the Off Days, so it's a good trade off for me.