Hi everyone!
I've been around this website for some time. Like everyone else I've tried everything. Weight watchers, TOPS, low carb etc. etc.......

But with time I've come to the conclusion that low carb is the best thing for me personally. I feel the best, feel less deprived and have more energy when I'm low carbing. I've read just about every book out there and find things I like about each one. So I was wondering if anyone is doing their own thing. Taking something from each plan or just keeping their carb intake at a certain point, but not following any plan (so to speak).

I'm interested in finding out what works for you. I've been doing Atkins induction the last 7 days and I'm feeling great, I've lost about 4 lbs. But I'm not sure I can stick with the really low carb amount because of boredom. And I know this is what will do me in. I am 5'3", weigh 218, and want to get down to 135 lbs. So this is something that I will be doing for awhile.

My mind is like a sponge so tell me what works for you.

Thanks!
Joyce

Hi Joyce
I too have been on every plan under the sun And low carb works really well for me as well, BUT I do get bored easy and I guess because I have been taught to eat lots of fruit and veggies, I tend to want them So I went on the South Beach Plan and it works well for me too...the first 2 weeks is like induction to Atkins Then it goes to phase 2 which is Sugar Busters...I will say that Atkins will get you to goal though and fairly quick. Everyone is different so stick with what works well for you

I also do best on some sort of low carb. And don't particularly like to follow rules .

I haven't really researched all of the low carb programs out there, except for Atkins, and even then I have not been strict. I could never see the point of worrying about a little tomato or shredded carrots in my salad, and WILL NOT give up coffee. I also eat a fair amount of dairy and refuse to obsess or worry about it.

Maybe why I was stalled for so long. I am just too darn oppositional.

That said, since my highest weight back in 1998, just before I FINALLY got diagnosed hypothyroid, 196, to yesterday at 148, it has been low carb that has gotten the weight off, with 2 reversals for thyroiditis flare ups, and several breaks, and a loooonnngg stall at around 152.

It's the only thing that works at all for me. At least it is the only one that is painless enough for me to stick to with any regularity at all. And I personally do not feel the need to stick to any particular program.

I also tell folks I "moderate" my carbs - helps avoid the anti- low carb hysteria.

Nona

Hello everyone, I used to post frequently almost 2 years ago, and was doing a low fat plan.... I had moved, and fell of any kind of plan, and gained back all that I had lost then, which was bout 40 lbs.. and I am almost at the starting point again..

I do find that low carbs keep me energized, and not starving, I lost about 5 lbs the first week, then 2 in the second.. I then fell off the plan because I kept weighing myself not realizing that the scale wasnt showing my true fat loss.. I am now going back to the store today to find some food, lower in carbs for the next week at work..

I believe once I get mentally prepared and stick to this, I will lose it all, my goal, is not a set weight but, I just want to have a healthier way of life, and feel more comfortable with it.. I look forward to anyones advice who has been doing low carbs... I had tried the Curves plan, and atkins, but I really want to establish my own guidelines...

I, like you all, have tried everything to get the weight off. I, like a lot of you, haven't been successful at anything. I would always lose a few pounds on the plan I decided to follow then decide I'd had enough. Two years ago I divorced my husband of 31 years. It was the first time in my life that I ever mustered up the courage to do what was right for me. My ex hubby and I looked okay on the outside but we were dead on the inside. We were both aware of this, but he refused to talk or to try to change things. I didn't want to be part of the living dead lifestyle any longer. I was about to turn 50 and I wanted to enjoy life. I had never worked outside the home. I raised four sons and it was a fulltime job. When I left my hubby I had to go on welfare/foodstamps...the whole nine yards. I lived with my sister until I met a wonderful man right here online. We are now living together and will wed in June or July...when his divorce is final. This man made me realize that I am a pretty special person. I never thought of myself as anything but a wife and mother. I never asked myself what I wanted. It was always what they wanted. I got my first picture ID when I was 50 years old. I don't drive. I will drive just as soon as I get married because the first thing we are going to do is get me a little car...nothing fancy, but something for me to drive. When I left my hubby two of my sons were very bitter. I was told that I leeched off my ex for 31 years and I owe him. They all have a way of making me feel useless. My poor boyfriend had a fulltime job just trying to build me a little self esteem. I am there now. I feel like I can conquer the world. It is time for me to reach all of my goals. My 12 year old son that lives with me has a disease that requires me to be here with him to help him with schoolwork because he misses a lot of school. I wanted to work to earn some spending money but the chances of me getting my first job at 50 years old and no college education were slim...very slim. I could get a job but not with the hours I needed. I have always done a lot of work with my childrens' schools. One day I was helping out one of the teachers and she asked why I didn't substitute. I asked her what was involved, she told me. I got on the subbie list and I am now the most sought after subbie on the list. I am dawggone good at my job. I love it because I love children and I think the children relate to that because they all love me. I am here to help my son with his schoolwork and I work at the same time. That's another goal I set and reached. Now, the big goal...the biggest challenge of them all...my weight. How can I make this happen...how can I reach this goal after trying so hard for so long? The answer I have found is to do it MY WAY!! I quit making the authors of the diet books rich. I quit buying their products. No more pills...enough of that. I needed a diet that I knew what I could eat and not eat. I needed to go on the low carb plan, but I wasn't about to go through that yukky induction thing. I decided to limit my carbs to 20-50 a day. I knew I had to log and journal so I joined fitday and I log everything. Some days I don't have time but those days are few. I MUST know what I am doing right or wrong. Logging shows me. It takes time, but it's worth it. I must have my morning coffee with caffeine. I must have at least one diet coke a day...with caffeine. I don't want to sit here and eat six eggss and a pound of bacon at one sitting but I know if I do, it's okay because there's very few carbs there. I research a lot and find recipes to satisfy my cravings. If you are low carb and you are craving something just go to google and type it in but put low carb in front of it. You can usually find a low carb version of whatever you are craving, within reason. I don't think you will find a low carb banana split.

Here's a few things I have discovered:

The spaghetti squash really is a good substitute for pasta when you crave spaghetti. I would never try this. I tried it last night and it hit the spot. It will also take the place of baked potatoes because it is delicious with butter and salt. Don't be scared to try it. It will surprise you. Also, I used to make cheese stuffed pasta shells. Now I make the same cheese filling but I wrap the filling in eggplant and use low carb spagetti sauce on it. It's wonderful. Makes my mouth water just talking about it.

I have gotten accustomed to starting each day with a high protein shake. The one I make is simply delicious. I combined a couple of recipes that were posted and came up with a shake that is delicious. At my age I want to pump in a lot of protein to keep from losing what little bit of muscle I have left.

Go to foodtv and download the recipes for pizza making a soy flour crust. It is also wonderful. Does the crust taste just like regualr crust...no. I actually like it better. I made a slight adjustment, though. Before I baked the crust I brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled garlic powder, and italian seasoning on it. It gave the crust a better taste. This crust has a nutty taste as opposed to a flour crust. It's good enough and holds up the pizza toppings. There's also some good mexican recipes on foodtv that I am going to try.

I always keep those pre-cooked chicken breasts in the freezer to grab if I get a craving. I buy honey mustard flavored and grilled rotisserie flavored. They are delicious.

Pork rinds...the low carb miracle food. I was never a fan of them until now. I use them for everything. I make tuna salad and eat it on rinds just like I would eat it on crackers. I eat low carb peanut butter on the rinds as well. I snack on rinds if I get the munchies. I am used to holding bread in my left hand when I eat. Now I hold rinds. I am southern and I like to "sop". I use rinds to "sop" now.

Water...I used to say I can't drink it...no way...not me. I can drink it and I do. I can't drink it out of one of those big mugs or a glass. I have to drink it from a bottle. I drink four 16.5 ounce bottle a day. I usually have a diet green tea, too simply because they have fruit flavors now and I crave fruity. Walgreens has the big 25 ounce bottles of water on sell until tomorrow. They are 4 for a dollar. I am drinking 3 of those a day now. They also have the arizona green tea on sale. They have the coupons in the sale paper in the store and they don't hold you to a limit so stock up if you can get there today.

I am used to eating some kind of fattening dessert every night after supper. It's routine I we got used to. I enjoy it. Now I keep different flavors of fat free sugar free jello made at all times. I get a big bowl of it and put whipped cream on it. I love it. It also fills my fruity craving and I LOVE whipped cream. To fill the creamy chocolate craving I eat the low carb fudge ice cream bars put out by Eskimo Pie. They are yummy.

I buy all kinds of seasonings and extracts to add flavors to my foods. I always read the nutrition info to make sure there's no carbs.

Coffee...I use heavy whipping cream (1 TBL) and 3 packets of splenda. I have 2 cups a day.

Salad dressing...Kraft low carb..it's actually 0 carbs and delicious.

Booze...I like a drink every now and then. I drink 2 Michelob Ultra beers. If I want exotic I make a mock pina colada using heavy cream, pineapple extract, coconut extract, rum, splenda, ice cubes and blender...simply delicious.

Before we go out to eat I look up the restaurant's menu online and plan my low carb meal. I take my salad dressing with me. We are going on vaction next week and I have been printing out menus and making notes as to what I can order at different fast food places. My sister thinks I am crazy. My sister is as overweight, if not more, than me. My other sister is also just about as big as me. I call us Mama's three little piggies.

I am doing this thing binge free until we go on vacation. I am allowing myself one binge per vacation. That binge doesn't mean a pigging out binge. It means one restaurant of my choice without counting carbs. I won't add any fattening desserts or what have you simply because I don't crave them. When we go to the mountains there is this awesome barbque place that we eat at and I want to go there. When we go to the beach there is a wonderful Italian restaurant that I want to go to. It's buffet style but not the kind where you serve yourself. You go through a line and tell them what you want which keeps me from really pigging out. I will eat normal portions at these two places. I was gonna allow myself one day a week to binge a little but I don't really miss anything enough to do it. I enjoy learning ways to cook and eat low carb style.

I think the problem that most of us have is going into any diet plan thinking it will be easy. Nothing worth having is easy. It was easy to gain this weight. Look at us now. It will be so awesome when we reach our goals because we worked to get there. Those of us that work outside the home look forward to our paycheck. Think of "goals" as a paycheck. When my sisters and I go shopping for clothes we get all bent out of shape because we can't find anything that looks good on us. We gripe at the store or how the clothes are made. I finally realized that it's not the designer or the store. It's the fact that we expect to look slim when we try these clothes on. The thing that made me get here is when I tried on a swimsuit. UGGHHHHH!!!!! Talking about shock treatment!!!

I would love to keep this thread going if you guys are up to it. I would love to hear what is working for you. I would also love to know if you don't feel like you can do it because maybe there's something one of us can do to help you.

We can call this the "I did it my way" thread.

Everything we need is right here on the computer. We have the support we need here and we have Google.

Good luck to all of you. One more thing....I weighed 240.5 last Tuesday. In search of the right protein powder I had my weight calculated and it said that I needed between 84 and 234 grams of protein a day being on a diet. I found a protein powder that has 1 gram of carbs and 82 grams of protein. I can't wait till payday to buy some. I really want to keep from losing a lot of muscle tone if I can.

Have a good weekend.

Gail

This thread has been SO informational. I've been following Atkins. I'm the type of person that can't just go off on her own. I need structure and limits and I need to know what to do when. Or thereabouts. Even the slightest deviation from plan for me could lead to carb disaster (pigout city). I'm on induction yet...but not STRICT induction. And I allow myself off plan on occassions (like mothers day). But for the most part Atkins works for me.
I think everyone is different and everyone can find their own niche in this low-carb lifestyle. We've all got the same goal

Wow this thread is awesome. I am doing South Beach and you, JustGail, gave me a bunch of new ideas. This is great for me because I am so not creative in the kitchen and now I want to try the egg plant thing. And that Pina Coloda recipe made me drool.

I will follow SBD for awhile but I am sure I will make my own adjustments along the way to see what works for me. I am not sure on this plan if we can have pork rinds though but just as well because I have not been able to find them around here, and the one brand I did find was filled with transfats

I find low carb is the only way for me. I have tried everything and only when I watch the amount of carbs I consume do the pounds start melting away.

Thanks for this thread, I think it would be great for those to post what works for them. I am new at this so don't have too many secrets yet but I know the past few days I have been having some sugar free treats, LC vanilla ice cream and fudgesicle, which is technically not allowed on SBD but I have lost 6lbs in 11 days so as long as I continue to lose 1-2 pounds per week, I will be happy. I think once the novelty of the SF items wear off, I will stop eating them since i am not much of a sweet eater anyways.

Well I will be back to check in on this thread. Good idea to keep it going JustGail

I'm following atkins, and not bored with the food since there is so much out there now.

Great reading, thanks everyone.

Today I am going to try my first low carb Sunday dinner. I'm going to cook a Boston Butt pork roast, make gravy from the drippings using heavy cream and egg yolks and mock mashed potatoes using cauliflower. On foodtv the chef has this mashed potato recipe posted and it's in the top five recipes so it can't be too bad. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's good. I will also have a salad because the salads are so delicious when you can have cheese, egg and all kinds of good stuff in them. I'm going to make a dessert something like a mousse. It has cream cheese, heavy cream, fat free/sugar free chocolate pudding and splenda. You whip all of this up together and chow down. I will put it in pretty dessert cups and my family won't know that they are eating diet stuff. For breakfast today I am going to have fried eggs and bacon because my son looks forward to sit down Sunday family breakfasts. I will add a piece of toast because I found a low carb bread that is simply delicious. It's Nature's Own, Healthline, Wheat n' Fiber. It has 7 grams of carbs...these are real carbs, not net carbs.

I weighed this morning for a spot check to make sure I wasn't fooling myself and I have lost three more pounds. That puts me at 10 pounds in twelve days. I hope to lose three more by Friday, but I won't be too disappointed if I don't as long as I stay on the diet. I'm going to push myself to walk just a little further each time I walk. I can't believe how out of shape I am. That's okay...a year ago I could hardly make it around the block. I can make it a mile now. That's good.

I sure hate to see the weight loss slow down. It's so much fun watching the weight fall off. Oh well, my doctor always tells me it doesn't matter how much that scale goes backwards at a time...it's the idea that it's going backwards instead of forwards that I should be happy about. I reckon I can settle for that.

Oh yeah...before I started this thing my doctor checked my cholesterol and it was better than his. He even checked me for diabetes and that was good, too. I didn't have any of the weight related illnesses. He told me to do the low carb thing. He will check my cholesterol again in six weeks to make sure the diet isn't affecting it. I do eat a lot of fat, but he said not to worry about it until we check it in six weeks.

I don't have the time or the patience to watch everything...fat, sugar, carbs...calories...blah blah, blah. I am watching carbs and only carbs until my doctor tells me differently. Hopefully, I will keep checking out okay.

Ladies and gents (if any males) have a good, relaxing Sunday and tell us what and how you are doing.

Gail

Hello Everyone!
Thank you all for the replies. They were all very informative and helpful.

I've had a very busy weekend my Mother came down to bring her dog so that I can dog sit while she is on vacation. So that left only this morning to catch up on my house cleaning and to prepare for work next week.

DH said he's seen all of my energy since starting low carb and has agreed to do it with me. {{{{{{YEAH!!!!}}}}}} That will make my life so much easier.

We had Eggplant pizza for supper last night. Basically you cut the eggplant in 1/3" slices brush with olive oil and bake till golden brown. Put in a pie plate and top with low carb pasta sauce. I made mine with petite diced can tomatoes and 2 TBS tomatoe paste, a little olive oil and italian seasonings. Then top with genoa salami, pepperoni, mozzarella or any other favorite low carb item. 6.1g carbs per serving

This morning tried a recipe out of the low carb magazine. Zuchinni Frittata sp?
It' made with eggs, turkey sausage, zuchinni, cream cheese, mozzarella, cheddar cheese. It was delicious. ummmmmm..... I will make this again to freeze and grab for breakfast. 4g carbs per serving

Again thank you all for you input. Gail your meal ideals sound fantastic. I can't wait to give them a try.

I've got to get back to my house work. I just want to let everyone know that I really appreciate the support here and love hearing what works for everyone.

Have a great Sunday everyone!
Joyce

Joyce, your meal ideas sound wonderful. We have eggplant growing in our garden. We planted them with the intentions of buttermilking, battering and frying them. We planted six plants. I wondered what in the world were we gonna do with so much eggplant. I knew I wasn't gonna fry it every day...that's way too much work. I have so many uses for it now that I started low carbing. It has such a good taste.

My Sunday dinner was wonderful. I feel like I cheated, but I know I didn't. The dessert was out of this world. Gonna share a few yummy ideas with you:

I baked a pork roast. I put deep slits in the roast and stuffed each slit with a piece of garlic and a strip of jalapeno pepper. After I seasoned the inside I rubbed it down with vinegar then salt and peppered it. I cooked it for almost three hours on 375 degrees. It always makes wonderful drippings for gravy. I poured the drippings into a small saucepan and brought them to a boil. I added heavy cream until it looked thick. It didn't take much. This gravy is rich so it doesn't take much per serving.

The mock mashed potatoes...I cut up a cauliflower and bowled it in salted water until it was tender. I drained it then patted out as much excess water as I could with paper towels. I added butter, white cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese and a TBS of cream cheese. I also add garlic powder and ground white pepper. I added salt to it while it was boiling so I didn't need more. These were delicious. They had a better taste than mashed potatoes. They tasted like a cross between broccoli casserole and garlic mashed potatoes. My son and boyfriend both liked them. My boyfriend is doing the calorie thing but I know he will doing this as soon as he eats all the low cal foods we have accumulated.

The dessert...YUM!!

8 oz. cream cheese at room temp and beated with electric mixer.
1 cup heavy cream
1cup water
1 pack of any flavor fat free/sugar free instant pudding. I chose chocolate.

Add all this together and beat it until it's light and fluffy. Refrigerate until it gets cold.

This has 3 grams of carbs a serving.

The mock potatoes have 8 real carbs and 4 net carbs. I always count real carbs to stay on the safe side.

Gonna go record my meals on fitday now. I feel like I ate Christmas dinner or something. I hope I didn't go over my carb allowance.

See y'all tomorrow.

Gail

hi all,

I do Atkins, have used so many LC programs- have read every book out there! But I still use Atkins as the "gold standard" for me. It gets me into weight loss more reliably than anything else.

BUT...once I get going, I do use tips from other dieters, and other plans. Like from CALP, once in a while I do a reward meal, just eating limited carbs in a balanced meal. I find South Beach too restrictive on fats, I feel like I might as well be eating WW! I retried WW in April, and GAINED 3 lbs. How's that?

So Atkins, but every lc website, dieter, recipe snack and food prep tip I find is gold! I have been eating this way to diet on and off for years...but I have found I can't go back to eating the old way...not cause it's bad to eat carbs, but cause I can't "eat just one!"

good luck!

come say hello on the daily chat thread, it is for everyone to just check in each day or so, up date progress, and whatever else is new! LOve to have you join in.

dottie

Hello everyone,
I have read your info. took a few ideas as always. I started out on South Beach and lost some weight , picked up some new ideas, now I watch my carbs, don't just do low carb but good carb, bad carb. The South Beach little guidebook which cost around 6 dollars cam in handy. It fits right in your purse. It gives you ideas of what you should be eating. I found it very helpful. I try to also keep track of calories not by adding them up but by reading labels, making better choices. This seems to be working and journal tracking of my menus makes me more accountable for my eating. So far I have lost 11 lbs. and recently joined this forum and it has helped me get going again. I am grateful to others for their support. Check out the 21 day journal challenge. I also find that if there is a lot of variety in my diet that I will stick to it better. Increasing the water is very important, exercise increase mine lately is gardening I have several gardens to keep up with. I have a gym membership but in the nice weather enjoy being outside. Well good luck and if you'd like some recipes let me know. I have started to keep a little ledger book next to my computer and find it handy to write in new recipes from this site and others. This gives me new things to try and keeps me interested in eating better and being healthier. Good luck!!!
Skyfirefly