Eydie, thanks. I'm not feeling very good, sickish and just down. The weather's not helping. It snowed overnight and snow just stops Tokyo. Now it's raining but there's a lot of snow on the ground and I had planned to get to the gym, which entails a 50-min. walk. I have stayed sugar-free. It's now two weeks and two days. I'm very interested in hearing about the white flour and bloating. Anything to get this fat off. I'm so down about that too. Just got on the scale and I'm way up. My riding boots were really hard to get on yesterday. I'd say it's water weight. Don't know why. Aftereffect of the drinking the other night perhaps. You're so right about the warding off the food pushers. Here, the word "diet" is magic. Diets and losing weight (for a woman) are seen as ultra commendable. Everybody nods with respect when you say you're dieting. I guess it's seen as so respectable because of the discipline involved and also because the Japanese put so much importance on being slim. However, it doesn't work with drinking and THAT'S where your excuse, "doctor's orders" is the only way to stop them from forcing alcohol on you! :lol: You'll be fine Eydie, with your mammogram. Good for you for going.

Red Balloon - Sorry you are not feeling well in addition to everything else. Good for you for staying sugar-free under so much stress! You should feel very proud of yourself. I laughed when I saw you had a 50min. walk just to get to the gym. I am so out of shape that I would walk there and then back (without working out) and think that was great exercise! I love to walk and wish I lived in a "walking" city. Instead I drive everywhere - which explains some of my problem. LOL! As for being depressed about your weight, I think that is normal (becuase it happens to me too! :D ). It is amazing how much a number can affect how I feel for the rest of the day. May I ask if you are japanese or an ex-pat.?

Edyie - Great idea! I love "sugar-itis." My family is wierd. No one is overweight and some are downright obsessed with it but they also want you to eat. Umm...skinny and pigging out do not go together but I do think I will find some "quasi-medical" excuse! :D As for mammogram - I have had 2 (Breast Cancer runs in my family so I think I was probably 28 when I had my first one). I was so nervous but it really isn't bad. Kind of like pap - its cold and uncomfortable but usually over pretty quickly. Good Luck and I agree - good for you for getting one and taking care of yourself!

Does the book deal with all flour or just white flour? I am thinking (i.e.trying to get the courage to say this out loud and stick to it) that I may give up flour for awhile and see it my body feels better. I think I said before that I have as much problem with whole wheat as white. Lucky me!! :o

How is everyone else today?

Thanks Macon, I feel better now. I did make it to the gym after all. Put my winter boots on and trudged through the slop. Made fine time. Just before I got there I did feel funny and sat down on a bench but pulled myself together and went on. I didn't do much at the gym actually, pedaled for what was supposed to be 100 cal. loss on the bike, did some leg weight training, stretching.

Yes, it's good to be in a walking city. The driving is really the reason for so much of the weight problems I think, even more perhaps than overeating. Even here, I have to force myself to walk as it is easy to hop trains and buses everywhere. Still, one probably still gets a lot of exercise just getting to the train stations etc. I'm American by the way but not an ex-pat, which to me means someone transferred by their company. I'm just on my own, struggling. I'm originally from Pittsburgh, been here over 20 years. Don't know why, just did all sorts of things and then got stuck kind of. Where on the East Coast are you from Macon, if you don't mind saying?

I was thinking about that book Eydie mentioned, the False Fat Diet and I looked it up on Amazon. I once did McDougall's and the weight just dropped off me, so fast, it was scary. But I didn't stay on it long. It was just too weird for me. I was craving all those foods I always eat, which is probably why I can't see to lose weight. Of course, I am very short, 5' 1 1/2" but still, the fat seems to just really, really stick to me and I'm starting to wonder if I have serious food sensitivities. I really hear you when you hesitate to say you'll give up flour! :lol: I hestitate to say I'll give up white flour, though I have done it before for a while. But, flour, wow, that would be tough and yet I think this could well be linked to my seeming inability to lose fat. Let's see. There was a time some years ago, when I gave up white flour but still was eating some white rice and buckwheat flour, walking a whole lot, riding a whole lot (horses) but still drinking lots of beer. The weight was melting off me. Of course, that could have been all the exercise. But it was coming off with ease it seemed. Now, I just don't seem to lose it even though I do think I'm walking. I would love to dare to get rid of flour just to see what happens.

Has anyone else done this? Macon, do you want to give it a try together sometime, just for a short time, set number of days, kind of do it together? Oh, by the way, I'm vegetarian too. I know Eydie is, who else here is vegetarian (and I mean No fish, so many people say veggie even though they eat fish)? I am lacto-ovo.

Hey all! I feel like a bit of a fraud being on this thread, when I've been so off-p the past week. Yesterday I had pecan pie with ice cream and hot chocolate with a shot of whiskey in it for dinner -- Seriously! :eek: And it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I'm going to at least get the sugar out again today and then going back to South Beach induction again (as part of the Oprah boot camp thing) Monday. It's just hard to feel together enough to focus when I'm sick (why can't I be one of those people that just loses their appetite when ill? :rolleyes: )

I was reading (trying to remember where -- in a magazine, maybe?) about the green tea thing. The doctor who proposes this diet says you can lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks by substituting green tea for coffee. Sounds hard to believe, but I guess coffee affects insulin. Hmmmm... I KNOW I feel better after drinking green tea than coffee. Trying to gear up to do that -- it's just getting over the initial hump, I think.

Re: flour -- I think it's good to avoid if you're trying to lose weight. Just the fact that it's ground so finely means we'll digest it very quickly. I think after the SB induction I'm going back to WW core program, which I found very livable.

Eydie, thanks for mentioning that book -- I found it at the library here and put in a request for it. I've heard of the "false fat" concept before and think it makes some sense. Congrats on your Dr.'s appointment -- doesn't it feel good to have it over!

Hi, everyone! Hope you're all doing well. I'm a bit sleep-deprived. My one-year-old's sleeping habits are off. He was up from about 12-3:30 last night, wanting to play.

I haven't had white flour since Monday, and a few people asked me yesterday if I've lost weight. I'd lost 22 pounds prior to giving up white flour, but no one's noticed until now (except my husband).

ARabella, you're not a fraud! There's no requirement to be completely sugar-free here. In fact, I'm planning to have a dessert on my birthday next month.

Eydie, good luck with your mammogram. I hadn't heard about "false fat." I'm wondering if I'm sensitive to anything else. I've always suspected dairy, but I eat so much of it (I don't eat much meat), and I don't eat soy, that I don't know what I'd eat!

Jana - :cheer: Congratulations on the loss! That is fantastic!
AS for your upcoming surgery - good luck. It really is amazing how far technology/medicine has come. Really is life-changing.

Darlene :dancer: 5 days white-flour free is great - and while sleep-deprived! 22 pounds is amazing. I think sometimes people are hestitant to comment - they do not wish to imply that you needed to lose weight but I think it is a great motivator. Congrats and keep it up!

Arabella - You are not a fraud, you just need to find what works for you! Just try to get better! My husband always jokes that during Lent, Sundays don't count so if you gave up sugar, you could still have it on Sundays. Not trying to create a religious discussion but it does point out the flaw in "anything-free." For some, it could led to binging so maybe say every 2 weeks, you can have a treat. I am the opposite, once I have a little, I want a lot! :o We are all differnet though so don't feel bad.

Red Balloon - What is McDougall's? I will go look it up when I have a chance. I would love a flour-free buddy. Maybe try it for 2 weeks starting Sunday or Monday? Anyone else? I will still have occasionally brown rice and maybe oatmeal if I am struggling but no flour (whole wheat, white, whatever). Anyone else want to join??

As for diet, I will eat fish (rarely but if I am in restaurant that is meat-centered, that is what I get) but no other meat, and a little cheese. I never drink milk or eat eggs but maybe a few times a month have had a product with those in it.

RB - I am in North Carolina but have been going to Asia (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan mostly) for the past 20 years. I have only been to Tokyo once (not counting lay-overs). That is fascinating that you ended up there! Good for you for being so courageous.

Edyie - I hope you had a great day!

Amarantha - How are you? Is today Day 40?? If so, congratulations! I am only on day 6 but hope to get to day 40~

Sorry I haven't gotten back with any info from The False Fat Diet. My intentions were good and remain so. I'll see what I can do.

Macon, where are you in NC? I'm in Virginia, very close to North Carolina. We live far out in the country, and go to Greensboro or Winston-Salem very often for our 'city-fix'! Going to Greensboro tomorrow actually!

Garry's birthday is Monday. I asked him what sort of birthday cake he wanted, and he said "something without sugar!" That kind of surprised me--but he's been going along with me on not eating sugar. So I made a rice syrup sweetened chocolate cake for him, the icing's going to be alittle trickier. I don't have all the ingredients for it, will do that part tomorrow.

Arabella, you're not a fraud. Put that out of your mind! :lol:

Macon, quick note. Here is a link for one of McDougall's books. This is a totally vegan way of eating, but it was the best I have ever felt, the fat melted off me. This is my ideal and what I think I will be striving for again.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

And here's the link to the McDougall center:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/

Others! Good morning. Will try to talk to you all later! :wave:

Hi all! I love all the input on various plans here. I've just got a second, but wanted to post this link I found to a Q&A about the false fat diet: http://www.elsonhaas.com/q_and_a/qa_05.html I know that everything she says about it is true for me when I follow that kind of diet (although I haven't gone as far as the combining aspects of it). Have a great day, all!

Hello all!

KInd of at loose ends .... Dh got involved in 2 or 3 little projects and just NOW left...now a big deal but I thought he'd leave hours ago and be back about now..

SO... I am just finished w/ lunch and needing to go find some safe hot soup to
feel full...

craving sweet and made a big mistake bringing whipped topping into the house... short story... its gone...

I am interested in the links ... will check them out asap.

Just wanted to stick my head in and say hello... Have done ok on the daily stuff White Carb stuff, I think the cravings are TOM.....

Tea anyone?

Too funny Amarantha!! :rofl: Really, I was wondering at first what you were doing. Was a bit confused and was thinking you were going to say hello again after all! It sounds like quite an affair you were having there! And yes, the temptation to go back does come up, doesn't it? Well, you're a better woman than I! And you have much more courage! Best of luck and I hope you find satisfying and even more fulfilling friendships on your new path!

Arabella, thanks so much for providing that link! I haven't done the food combining either, doesn't feel necesarry for me. I will tell everyone that within days of dropping white sugar I miraculously felt lean. That 'bloated' feeling that I'd walked around with for years was gone, and as long as I don't overeat it remains gone. What freedom!

Let me ask you if you've had this experience: You get dressed in the morning, check yourself out in the ol' full length mirror and everything looks good, belly profile even nice and flattish. As the day goes on, you catch your profile reflected somewhere and in a couple of hours you've developed a pronounced belly 'pooch'. That used to happen to me all the time and it was so frustrating! It HAD TO be the sugar, because it doesn't happen anymore. All that sugar fermenting away and distending everything maybe?

Hi Kaylets!

Amarantha, Just wanted to say agin again that it's totally normal to have those feelings toward sweets. They'll still try to hook you. I've experienced it lately. Nothing to do but just say no, not for me! It happened to me yesterday when I saw a new candy bar that I'll never get to try!
And you're SOOOOO RIGHT about how you can't go back to old friendships. I tried to do that recently--with a human not a cupcake, :lol: and it was just sad and maddening. As it always had been. Only now it's diamond clear! I'll have to write you about the whole sorry tale sometime...

Congratulations on your 6-week anniversary! :strong: :bravo: :cheers: :encore: :cheer:

Oh one more thing, I bought a used Pilates machine yesterday and I think I'm going to love it!

I have a question for anyone who can answer it. Do you think that my body's stubbornness in holding on to fat (that's what it seems to be to me!) can be due to food sensitivities, allergies? I mean, I can understand bloating or a bit of water retention but not an outright inability to lose fat, right? I suppose I'm just not trying hard enough, but it really seems that I have cut out a ton of calories through not eating sugar, and yet, I see no loss, in fact, I see a gain. And my clothes are not especially looser. Could I be retaining water due to the foods I'm eating yet still be losting fat? I don't know, just am so frustrated and ready to throw in the towel! Help!