No Carb Nation

Why I love Atkins

2007-03-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Why I love The Atkins Diet.
By Christine W.

I love the Atkins Diet for several reasons. Firstly, I get to eat a lot of bacon. I love bacon because it is salty, crispy, and delicious. Also, when added to any meal (or even eaten alone) it has the added benefit of making and keeping me full, for hours. Its ability to do this is darn near miraculous, especially given its relatively small volume.
Secondly, on the Atkins diet I get to eat until I am full, and of rich, delicious, satisfying food like cheese, salads, deviled eggs, steaks, and seafood. This keeps me from getting hungry or discouraged at any time. For example, a cheese stick and a handful of walnuts make a delightful snack that will tide me over for hours without creating more cravings or energy dips. On low fat diets that I have tried in the past, I was cranky, tired, and perpetually hungry. This is a much better way to live.
Thirdly, it makes me feel great. I have much more clarity of mind and energy of body when I am eating this way. Getting up is so much easier every morning now, and I actually have the compulsion to exercise. While at work I feel like I am bouncing off the walls. This is such a stark contrast to the previous way I felt, which was chronically lethargic.
But most of all, I love this diet BECAUSE IT WORKS. And it works well. This is a way of eating I will adopt for the rest of my life, as I am firmly convinced that for me at least, this is how I need to eat to work best with my body chemistry. When not eating sugar or flour or starch of any kind, my weight returns to a normal range all by itself, as does my mental state. Elevated, even. I lost 60 pounds easily, almost pleasurably, eating this way. I love the Atkins Way of Life.

Back!

2007-03-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

Again!!!! I have been gone for a while again. Was in a dark place. Its been interesting to go back and read the previous posts I did here. Well over the weekend (it was my birthday) I weighed in, after 2 days of food and cake, and was an unbeleivable 192. Oh boy. I knew I was gaining, because again my clothes and bras are very uncomfortable and nothing looks good when I wear it. Too much back and side fat spilling out, and is visible under the clothes. But even with that, I was having some trouble getting kicked started again. So I did 2 things. I put Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution boo on cd into my ipod and started listening, which worked amazingly well to motivate me and remind me how wonderful it is to live low carb. I also realized I was having some resistance to doing it again full speed for some reason, so a great book I found recently that deals with letting go is The Sedona Method. Well I did the Sedona Method on my resistance to dieting and here we are! Day 4, motivated as ever, 4.2 pounds down. I dont care if that was water. Some other things I have been letting go of around this area are the notion in my head that is is hard to lose weight, easy to gain, the fact that I am still a fat person (back from when I was a size 18), and the idea that it is a constant struggle to lose weight and is super hard work and on and on. I think those limiting beliefs were making it harder for me than it needed to be.
I have had to do some real work on myself and my job too, the last couple of months I have been reading a lot about positive thinking, the power of intent, the law of attraction, etc. I think I have made some really good progress in detaching from the automatic negative responses to everything that I was doing before, and to everyone that I interact with at work. True, as predicted in a post from a few months ago, the new job is not exactly what I had thought or hoped, but I have learned a lot, gained confidence, learned new skills, and being so confronted here forced me to deal with my feelings. It forced me to find a way to reframe people and events and circumstances, it forced me to find the way to leg go and unplug from all that negative energy.
Another motivating thing I did yesterday was poke around the atkins website, and also read some blogs by dr. eades on proteinpower.com. I like his writings. It reminded me of the intermittent fast option, however modifed. I tried to skip dinner last night but was really hungry when I got home (even though I had a pink keto stick test) so as a compromise, I only had a piece of chicken, thinking I will try again tonight.
Oh, item, I devised what I think is THE perfect lunch for me:
A handful of fresh spinach, a scoop of tuna salad, a side of bacon, one cherry tomato, and a handful of raw almonds. I had this yesterday, and felt great all afternoon. It kept me satisfied for 6 hours, with no cravings or energy dips. I am going to try to replicate my exact food diet from yesterday, it was perfect. Breakfast was 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 pcs of bacon, and a small peice of cheese, coffee with cream and splenda and an Atkins bar mid morning. Meat and salad for dinner would put me at about 17 carbs for the day. Nice.

Want to go sit at Forest Lawn

2007-01-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

What is wrong? I will take a stab at it.
I worked my ass off for almost 2 weeks (practically starved at only 20 carbs a day, worked out every day) only to find that I actually gained weight. If Atkins now doesn’t work for me then I truly have no hope at all. Atkins is (was) the only thing that worked for me. Here I was, all excited to eat my hard boiled eggs and string cheese and to get up early and exercise. For nothing. NO, I don’t “feel” better, and I want to lose weight to LOOK better. Of course, hubby lost 10 pounds the first week, without exercise. I feel run down and cranky and sad.
I feel exhausted and have a lot of trouble staying awake at work, because hubby won’t let me go to bed early and when I finally do go to bed, he won’t let me stay asleep.
I don’t know what to do about my mother. I simply cannot stand to be around her and to participate in the circus of self inflicted degeneration and the circus that is her arrival. I want to take a very long time off from her but don’t know how to make that happen. No one cares how painful this relationship is for ME, everyone only cares that if I pull away it will hurt her.
I am let down that the holidays are over, and that a beautiful month was capped by a horrible day and that I was robbed of a normal family Christmas. Or a normal family at all, for that matter.
The job is not turning out like I hoped, like I planned. The only useful information I get from him is doled out in little tiny and infrequent pieces with hardly any backup. I feel like I am in a maze.
I wonder if it is unhealthy that I want to stop on the way home, buy about 10 sugar free chocolate bars and eat them all at once. Who cares if I am in the bathroom all night? Bet I lose weight THEN.

I Love Turbo Jam!

2007-01-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

What a goofball I am to sing the praises of a workout video but its so fun! All those reveiws on Amazon were right, I keep looking forward to the next time I get to do the video. I did the 40 minute workout this morning, and I feel a little bit like I wasted it. I didnt work as hard as I could or should because I woke up in a bad mood and kept concentrating on that. By the end of the workout, my mood had improved, and I instantly regretted wasting time and energy being cranky and petulant. When it was over and I wasnt nearly as winded and worked as I was on Sunday, I immediately wanted to do the workout over again but my time was up, it was 7 and I had to start gettign ready for work. That workout is the best! Not only is it fun, the participants really look like they are having fun and my stomach and arms and back really feel it! All those girls with the 6 pack abs are very motivating, too.

Day 7

2007-01-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

Today marks day 7 of my new and improved steely resolve. Tomorrow I will weigh in again for the one week mark. Not one processed carb has been eaten. I have also been exercising every day. Over this past weekend I started doing Turbo Jam the kickboxing workout. Its tough, and exactly like the one at the gym. My arms, back, sides, and stomach are very sore. I did it 3 days in a row and took today off. Undecided about whether I will do it tonight or take today off all together. I could see that working quite well for me. After I did the 40 minute workout yesterday ( I ate breakfast at 1bout 11), not only was I mildy nauseous until about 8 (thus, did not eat) but an hour after doing the workout I tested my ketones and registered very dark pink, bordering on purple. I very seldom get that color, no matter what I eat. I usually have to exercise very long or very hard to achieve that. This workout was hard but only about 40 minutes. I am anxious to start losing more, when I look in the mirror now all I see is love handles and stomach. Ick.

Day 4 - 3.2 lbs down, 36.8 to go

2007-01-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

On Day 4 of the No Carbs for One Year Quest.
I know that is ambitious, but why set goals that are easy to attain? Nothing is gained by that. Lost 3.2 pounds since my All-Time-High-Since-Losing-The-Weight of 190 on New Years Day.
Arrrgh just thinking about it makes me cringe. I am spilling over my low rise boot cut jeans. Is there anything less becoming than that? Hence my cardigan over the hideous sight. There is a great line in The Devil Wears Prada, when Andy is getting some corn chowder for lunch and the guy says "You know cellulite is the main ingredient in corn chowder". How true. A nice coworker brought in fresh made coffee cake this morning and while it smells divine, I said to myself: "You know the main ingredient in that cake is backfat" and poof, the desire to eat it was gone, just like that.

Happy New Year - Day 1

2007-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, happy new diet. Yes, like everyone else in the world today, I am starting my diet and exercise plan anew. I have made a bet with my husband that i can go more days without eating carbs this year. Got on the scale this morning. 190. I almost fainted. Wanted to jump out the window. In that sense, I am so glad the holidays are over. I brought all the leftover chocoloate and cake to work. 5 minutes and it was gone. Better them than me, I say. Not surprisingly, I did not stick to my zero carb meal plan over Christmas. I had lots of cookies and pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread and lots and lots of chocolate. Other things I had lots of: Tiredness, grogginess, cravings, hunger, highs and lows, anger, bloating, weight gain. Sugar really is the devil. Nothing says "sexy" like newly regained backfat. Ugh.
Only going to look forward now. What's done is done.
Resolution number one, lose 40 pounds this year. That puts me squarely at 150 pounds. I havent been that weight since probably 8th or 9th grade.
Number 2, exercise 4 times a week, varying my workouts to keep my muscles guessing and evolving.
Number 3, and this is more of a life resolution, not to get above 155 again. Ever.
To take the Great Dr. Atkins advice of never allowing yourself to backslide more than five pounds from where I am on the journey.
Induction is always available, and at this point, quite easy to implement. It is just the first 2 days (I am in them now, started this monring) that are tough.
My husband and I are taking a trip to England in early June, maybe I can use that for my goal. To be fitter and thinner by then, for the plane ride and the pictures. Would rather be in size 8 jeans than the current awful 12's.
Tonight am cleaning out the fridge of all the holiday and assorted CRAP. The starchy gravy and rolls that are left, the last piece of pumpkin pie, the dry turkey cuts and wings, the full sugar pudding packs, the vitamin d milk and cereal, the icky fruitcake and sugar bread, the fudge that the neighbor brought over, the rice krispy treats and chocolate covered pretzels. The half loafs of cranberry bread and dried out remaining pieces of red velvet cake. Good riddance.

Day 2

2006-12-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

2 days without cheating! And by the way I made a practice sweet potato pie last night, it was awesome. The ingredients are 2 large sweet potatoes, cream, splenda, eggs, and spice! That's it! I also sprinkled chopped nuts and splenda granules on the top, delicious.

Day 1

2006-12-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks Wanda, for your inspiring LiveJournal and positive comments. You have inspired me to start counting days without cheating. Today is day 1. I had a low carb ham and cheese sanni (7 carbs) a south beach bar (3 carbs), and a cobb salad today, that I would guess has about 11 carbs if i dont eat all the boring lettuce. Plus walked for 20 mins. Day 1, in the can. I am really hoping that if I actually start counting the days that will make me accountable and will start to take on a life of its own. I cannot beleive that I never thought of that before. I have always envied those people that I read on the net who say things like that they havent had a piece of bread in 2 years or longer. Or havent had sugar in 3 years bla bla bla. When I first started this nearly 2 years ago, my resolve was steely, I went MONTHS without a single carb slip. Now, having regained about 12 of the lost 60 I can say that my fatal flaw was that day last year, when I told myself I would "allow' myself one cheat day per quarter. That might have been a good idea if:
1. I was already at my goal weight.
2. I double exercised around the day to compensate.
3. I limited it to only that day and truly kept it to only 4 days a year (my b-day, july 4th, Halloween, and Christmas).
The problem at the heart of all of this is I didnt stick to that. By allowing a little slip, I allowed a bigger slip. And a bigger one. Now, I am probably at 40- 50 carbs a day. Which is fine for maintenance, IF exercising, which I am not. As a result my weight is creeping. So much also for my vow of never gaining more than 5 pounds from where I am at any point. I have gained about 12.
Anyway I think it will be interesting, to see how many days I can go. And yes I know that Christmas is less than a week away. All the better incentive. I will make a sweet potato pie with splenda and not eat the crust. I'll eat turkey and ham and green beans and salad and no one will be the wiser. Meanwhile, I will be reporting online the number of days. If I slip I will know that anyone reading this will be sorely disappointed. Hope and pray that keeps me honest.

Loser

2006-12-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

I am losing still, the same competition, that I should not be losing. Still being too complacent, too busy, too lazy, and cheating a tiny bit, a bit too often. I cant beleive that she is kicking my ass. I will admit to not thinking, initially, that she had the moral fortitude to stick to this diet, as addicted to sugar and flour as she was. As we all were. I am younger and stronger, both emotionally and physically. Yet she is the one losing, losing, losing as I maintain or even gaining a bit. I could say that the surgery really put me back, but who am I kidding, I wasnt exactly tearing up the gym floor before. Every time I think about resuming though, all these stupid excuses come up. Here they are, lets get them out there:
1. Since moving, I now commute one hour each way to work, so I have lost almost 2 hours a day that I had before.
2. Having a house now, there is too much to do at night when I do get home, further limiting my time.
3. The walking paths around the house are not good.
4. I dont have a lot of space, the way the furniture is currently laid out.
5. I dont have space or money for a treadmill or elliptical machine.
6. My knees have started hurting and my surgery incision site is not fully healed.
7. I could go walking at lunch here, but dont want to get all sweaty and then come back to work.
8. I could be eating better, but with the holidays here, what is the point.
9. It is too cold and dark to work out in the morning, and I am too hungry and it is too late at night.

Yes, yes, as I am typing them, I see how silly they sound. And I am keenly aware how badly I want to win the next round of competition, how much I want to be awesome and to feel again the confidence and even-keeled mind that comes with regular, vigourous exercise. Now, how do I get over all these excuses?

Back from the Brink

2006-12-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

I have been gone, gone for a while. Had to go into the hospital for abdonimal surgery. It was horrible. I am back at work, but will have a scar and still have some discomfort and pain. Was surprised to find that hospital food is quite unhealthy, from the perspective of a low carb persion. It probably has to do with economics; why they serve every meal with only a modicum of cheap tasting formed protein and heaps of cheap carbs. Every meal came with rice or potatoes, a roll, and fruit cocktail. Ick. I was faced with eat it, and be hungry an hour later, or dont eat it, and be hungry an hour later. Most times I didnt eat it. I gained some weight none the less, when I got back home the only thing I could stomach was oatmeal and soup and was not very mobile. I was told not to excercise for several weeks outside of brief walks. Strange how much that made me want to get better so that I could vigorously work out. It was also hard emotionally, being in the hospital, being helpless, being in all that pain, not being able to walk for 2 days, and just knowing that I had been cut open. I feel like I am less for it. I didnt like being so slow, and so dependent on others. I am usually going along at such a pace... very rigorous, and this was very confronting how I had to slow down and do almost nothing while my mind raced. I didnt really enjoy the time off, as a matter of fact I came back to work after only 2 weeks, even though the doctor thought that was ridiculous, she said why not take more time if I can. I didnt want to. I realized during that time that I could NOT be a housewife, even if we didnt need the money and I didnt have to work. I realized I would be like the very rich, who work for reasons other than money. I hated sitting at home, not feeling a part of something.

Meat Only

2006-11-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

Has anyone besides Bear done this? How is it? I would think it would be phenomenally effective at breaking a plateau... anyone?

Back to Life

2006-11-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Thank you to those who stopped by and gave me encouragement. I am back on. Stronger than ever. A couple of interesting things happened over the weekend to help get my head on straight again. Firstly, I lost a weight loss contest that I thought for sure I would win (but in all fairness, the winner lost 51 pounds in 6 months, anyone care to guess HOW?? :-) ) and the second, is that while at a Halloween party this weekend, I looked around at what the other fellow losers were eating. No exaggeration here:
Two little palm sized sandwiches
a HUGE scoop of spanish rice
A huge scoop of refried beans
A huge slice of the 6 foot bean and rice burrito made by Acapulco's
Chips with onion dip
chips and salsa

eEeeesh. The winner of the contest and I were the ONLY ones eating the insides of the sandwiches only, and the only ones eating the green salad. We looked at each other's plates, and the others, and gave each other a knowing nod, and just like that I was back on, firmly. When the losers were asked if they wanted to run again, for another 6 month contest, one of them, the one with the most rice who then had cake for desert while (Winner and I had a small scoop of melon) sadly shook her head no. She said I just cant do this. Its so sad and frustrating, they dont even want to hear it. I have talked myself silly, until blue in the face. Sigh.
Anyway, as I told the winner, its ON now. I will win the next six hundred dollar prize. If I win, all us bloggers win too, if only in spririt. I have you guys, she doesnt! :-)

Backslide

2006-10-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

I feel terrible. Grumpy, groggy, tired, leaden, unmotivated. Anyone reading this can guess why. I ate sugar. I have been eating the evil, dastardly Halloween candy that is all around me for the last couple of days. I am having the worst cramps of my life, my job is in turmoil, and I cant keep up with all the bills and the demands of my new (very old) house. These things are what first turned me to the chocolate, but then it has a way of keeping itself going. I could really use some encouragement, my once steely resolve to avoid candy is nothing but a faint memory. I feel awful, physically and emotionally. I dont know how to get back.
When I go home at night, too, I say to myself that since I already ate 15 fun size kit kats and snickers, why not eat a slice of zuccini bread before dinner? At at work, why not partake of the chinese food buffet, what's a little sweet and sour sauce next to a 3 musketeers bar? I am sleepy all day, really angry and sad, and everything is blown out of proportion and the smallest perceived slight provokes tears. Ugh, this is madness. I feel my control and fitness slipping away. What is happening to me?

Skipping dinner

2006-10-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

What started out as a modified, less painful intermittent fast has now become a bit of a boon for me. I havent had any dinner the last 3 nights now. I have been having a snack at work about 4:30, and that is it for the rest of the night. By the third night, I no longer missed dinner, and it seemed like a huge burden to make somehting, clean up the dishes, etc. So not only have I saved money and time but I keep losing, too.

Also, there seems to be a progressive effect, this morning I woke up the most alert of all. Before, even when I would eat a very clean, small low carb dinner I would invariably wake up with some degree of dizzyness, intense sleepiness, and a bad mood. Of course, when I was on a low fat diet, I had to sleep 9 hours a night just to get up at all. I think I like the feeling of going to bed a little hungry instead of stuffed and heavy. I think my insides like being able to take the night off. I wasnt ravenous this morning, either. I think not eating after 5 pm is a great aide in my weight loss efforts. I dont feel like I am starving at all, I wake up better, and it has speeded up my weight loss a bit.
Since the baseball playoffs are on tonight though, we are going to BBQ some meat and have a salad. I am ambivalent about that.

A whole new world

2006-10-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

In the last 3 weeks or so, specifically since I started this blog, my whole world view has shifted again. Its funny, since I have an office job in a cubicle I naturally spend a lot of time on the intertnet each day (during my breaks, of course) and have read many articles and information about low carbing. But since starting this blog, a whole new world has opened up to me. The world of the low carb bloggers! I didnt know there were so many of us, and I never could have predicted how mutually supportive everyone is. I often find myself looking forward to each person's new post, for it is often a source of smiling, head-nodding, and motivation to stay on this road always. I no longer feel like the last atkins dieter on earth, thank you! And even though I always considered myself quite knowledable on this subject (I actually read the whole books, not just the first 2 pages), now I feel armed with emotional support as well as intellectual confidence in this area. It is just so darn nice to read other people that have this in common with me. :-)

Big Fat Lie / Int. Fast

2006-10-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

I didnt eat yesterday after 1:30 pm. And all I had at 1:30 was an Atkins shake. I wasnt hungry yesterday. I am probably not all that hungry most days. What I cant get over is how much better I felt this morning upon waking, not having had any food last night. I ususally wake up dizzy and groggy, today I woke up alert and awake. Yesterday I re-read the masterpiece by Gary Taubes called What if Its All a Big Fat Lie and how I feel this morning reminds me of a sentence in that article that says (paraphrasing here) that it isnt normal to have food on every corner, to eat every two hours, its normal to starve. Dr. Eades excellent post on intermittent fasting said the same, that humans probably function best when eating is done more sporadically, with a chance to get really hungry in between. It started yesterday with just not being hungry for lunch but by the time I got home from work at 8, I didnt want to ruin the good progress of the day, and even though my stomach was a little bit grumbly I also think it wanted a break from constant feeding. I have been reading on some of the low carb blogs that some didnt like how they felt, which I can certainly understand, but I cant help but wonder if at least part of that icky feeling was from also cutting out caffeine simulataneously? I wonder why they didnt drink diet soda with caffeine if they were going to cut out the coffee with cream, for example. Personally, I have dont the fast twice, but each time I have done it for 20 hours instead of 24. I liked the feeling of control, I liked the money savings, I liked the feeling of not being stuffed. I think a good middle ground might be to just do this once a week, maybe twice, just to keep myself honest. Good news on the scale this morning, I am down 7 pounds in 3 weeks. I hope to keep up this pace and be at 15 by Halloween.

Update

2006-09-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Its not all gravy

2006-09-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

I am mad about and at the gravy. Is it silly to be mad at the gravy? I am also quite irate at the portion size and the amount of green beans that I ate. Why did I ask for gravy when I know it is filled with flour? I was doing so good, too. It will probaly kick me out of ketosis for like, 5 days while I burn off all the carbs in the gravy. Is it silly to be mad at the gravy? Its so hard when we go over there for dinner. They dont want to hear it, they all eat terrible. I eat way too much, and a lot of the time, I dont even want the food. I never eat that much in my own house. I must be worried on some level of offeding her if I dont gobble up a huge portion. If you dont like corn, potatoes, and bread with gravy, then you dont eat. Or, if you dont like tacos and taquitos that are light on the meat and heavy on the corn totilla. Then you dont eat again. We are going again tonight and I am bringing my own BBQ sauce. I also didnt excercise this morning and am mad about that becuase I get scared it will start a trend. Hopefully tomorrow is better. Hopefully tonight at dinner I will have an appropriate portion, eaten at the appropriate speed.
Ugh. I am so bored here. No privacy here at work. It is lunchtime and I am again the only one who takes a lunch (if you call this "taking a lunch"). I dont like these people and I am starting to not like the work as the work I enjoyed and did well is being replaced by the messy things I am inheriting from the "other side".

FAT

2006-09-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

I have FAT everywhere. Fat stomach fat legs fat butt. FAT huge uncomfortable boobs. I dont feel light, I dont feel any ease of movement. Most of my clothes are uncomfortable. That is because I did the wise thing and got rid of all of my fat clothes. My L shirts are uncomfortable and too tight. My stomach is always threatening to come out the bottom of the shorter tshirts. My 38 bras are insanely uncomfortable. My size 10 pants are almost a joke. I can wear the 12s in al the pants just fine, and the shirts that are XL are slightly too big. But I dont really want to wear size 12 pants and XL shirts. For that 10 minutes that I was a 10 on the bottom and L on top it was great. Hoodia kicked in today. I have that weird feeling in the back of my throat. Yep, the stuff works. I am not crazy about taking it forever, for the rest of my life. I hope to lose 10 pounds quick this time. That ought to be enought to get into my clothes again more comfortably and to boost my energy so I can be less reliant on the pills and more reliant on working out more often.

RANDOM

2006-09-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

I want to be indifferent about food right now. I sure feel that way today, even a little bit hostile. A little bit angry and a little bit sick. I am having something strange go on in my head. Normally, when not really in weight loss mode but just in day to day life, even thought i dont really eat refined carbs like bread too often, I eat just enough nuts, l.c. ice cream, and bars that I am always a little bit hungry. I am still always trying to fight off thoughts of food and munchies and "when can I eat again". Granted, it is no where NEAR what it was when I was on my 20 year low fat diet which got me up to 233 pounds. But this week, the absence of that feeling is very, very noticeable. Usually, I am looking at the clock, thinking that I just ate 2 hours ago, but what can I snack on and can I just wait a little longer. NOw, I am not really hungry at all, but still finding it hard to resist the temptation to eat at certain times. Normally, I frequently say to myself "ugh, if I could just turn it OFF". Now, I find my mind kind of wishing that I was hungry, like wishing I could turn it ON. Twice this morning I have had to say HEY! Stop! Its okay that I am not hungry. Its ok if I dont eat yet. What a weird reversal. Feels strange to have these thoughts. To quote Louis from Interveiw With The Vampire when asked if he missed Lestat (even though Lestat treated him badly and was full of lies), "He was all I knew". That is how it feels today. I think this is a pretty common feeling, to miss the food. To miss the feelings (even the stuffed feeling, a tiny bit), to miss the tastes and textures. A croissant feels different than bacon. But I think what we may miss most is the escape into oblivion. Especially the more and longer we were overweight. It is admittedly hard to find something else that gives as heady a swoon as full sugar ice cream or a giant bowl of sugared cereal. I will have to go through this again, wont I. At least this time, I have the advantage of KNOWING that this works, that I will lose weight, that it makes me feel great. Cannot say the same thing for any other diets out there (this isnt really a diet). I remember the restless feeling, which comes from 2 sources. One is, a whole bunch of newfound energy and clarity of mind not experienced before and a lot more time each night, since hours are not spend eating anymore. What do people who have always been thin do at night with their time?

Funnel Cake Madness

2006-09-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

OMG the funnel cake was like crack. It induced insanity immediately, I did not even have to finish chewing the first bite. I then could not stop. Wild boars could not have made me stop. Ron and I immediately starting fighting over it like 2 monkeys fighting over a banana. Needless to say, I didnt stick to the only meat and cheese rule. BUT, I did only have the funnel cake (half), a turkey leg, and a couple of bites of polish sausage. The fair is so fun, I cant wait to go back, but I am going to have to think very seriously about whether to devitate from the diet again. I was mad at myself immdiately after eating it, especially when I was fiending for more. I was mad when I got home and I had to spend 30 minutes in the bathroom with stomach cramps and the runns. And I was mad that I knew I had to wake up early this mornig and do some kickboxing workout from fittv. I actually did get up and do that. And I replayed the middle section, to make the workout total 35 minutes instead of only 22. I havent worked out in so long, right now my knees hurt and I can feel that my stomach and arms are going to be sore. I am so glad I did it though, I feel so much more balanced this morning. And in truth, it wasnt all that hard to get up and do it. Its so nice to be in one's own house, no worries about making noise for the stupid neighbors. Like I mentioned in my last post, at least for the next 2 or 3 days, exerise is going to be one of those things that I will just have to make myself do until it starts to take on its own momentum. But I had to do it today, last night when I got home I got pink on the ketostick, I was officially in ketosis and what did I do but eat half a funnel cake. Today then, will super nazi low carb day. I must burn off that evil flour and sugar. Started with the exercise, that's good. For breakfast, I only had bacon and cheese (no eggs at home, will remedy that tonight with a trip to The Super Wal Mart). For lunch I will have turkey, lettuce and tomato and am not even going to allow myself one of the LC tortillas. For dinner i will have a small steak and a small spinach salad and that is going to do it for me. I will also work on the house to burn a few extra carbies.

Ah, Friday, how wonderful. I need to pick up my weights and yoga mat as soon as possible. I hope there is something good on fittv in the morning tomorrow that I can use without the weights just yet. Oh, maybe I will do that swiss ball workout, that looked really fun and will be easy on my knees. Carry on low carbers, keep up the good fight against the evil sugar and flour regime. Revolution!

Living in a carbless society

2006-09-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

Ah, wouldnt that be great. If the vending machines were filled with unsalted mixed nuts in the correct portion size, and celery sticks with ranch dip... and beef jerkey without nitrates and soy crisps and Advantage bars... if all cereal was made with flax seeds and soy flour...office drones would find their weight control easier and their tempers softer and their energy more even throughout the day.
I want to list my menu and carb count for the day
Breakfast: 2 eggs and 2 sausage links, plus a sprinkly of cheese crumbles= 1 carb
Lunch: 4 bite size pieces of chicken breast wrapped up in l.c. tortilla, 1 cheese stick = 6
Snack: 4 Cut up celery sticks with a little bit of cream cheese = 3??
Atkins snack bar = 2
Leaves me with about 10 carbs for dinner. Would like to have large spinach salad and small steak but the fair is tonight so will have copious portions of fair meat (no doubt on a stick) and a big piece of sugar free fudge. Cant wait. :-)
3 pm update, day 4: Not hungry at all. Only at half the lunch I brought. I think I definitley hit ketosis today. The mental part is going to be harder to do, I so much expect to eat at certain times all day long, I will have to begin to listen to my insides again, it is quite possible that in this state of mind and detox I do not require 3 full meals a day with 2 snacks. I am getting even more motivated. I am finding it everywhere I look. I am already thinking about the clothes I want to wear when I am down into the 160s and beyond. I am SO not hungry right now, as to almost be nauseous.

HTML! Look at my tracker

2006-09-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

Day 3

2006-09-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about this. I am going to the store in a few minutes, here is my shopping list:
Eggs
bacon
cheese sticks
pork chops
small steaks
frozen chicken breasts
tuna
celery lettuce radishes cucumber
fresh spinach
low carb bars (for snack, limit to ONE a day)
low carb shakes (on sale at Pavilions, limit to ONE a day)
frozen asparagus

Only glitch is that the fair is in town, one of my favorite things that I look forward to all year. To make it work, I will either have to work out for 2 hours that day or only eat meat and cheese and sugar free fudge when I am there.
I am so glad I am "back on". Something I have noticed is that sugar is just like alcohol, it is very hard to simply "manage" it, or just "eat less". From my own experience, sugar and bread need to be cut out COMPLETELY. Eating a tiny bit only makes you want ever more.

I feel great right now. I am starting to remember just how great I felt when I was really in the throws of this great way of life. How great I feel tonight is also reminding me how much I have been backsliding, as hunger pangs and mental fog and fatigue were fast becoming a part of every day again. I made a vow to never gain more than five pounds again, and I broke that. Here is where I make amends.

My hunger is definitely dissipated today. I started taking Hoodia Gordonii Monday too, figuring I needed any help I could get. I havent really been all that hungry all day, and shocked myself by only eating half of the low carb wrap I had made with turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a small low carb tortilla. I ate the 2nd half at 4 pm, and it is now 6 and I dont really care for dinner. I dont know if it is the hoodia or if low-grade ketosis (low grade because I havent started exericsing yet) has kicked in or if it is a combination of the 2. I have a friend who is getting married the weekend before Halloween and my short term goal for the 7 weeks is 15 pounds. That may be too agressive, but I am banking on a quick start from induction. I slowed down the goals after. 10/30 goal: 171 11/30 goal: 166 12/30 goal: 163 1/30 goal: 158 2/28 goal: 153 3/30 goal: 148!!!!!

Back on the Wagon

2006-09-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Although this is the first post and would appear to be day one, it is actually day three of my return to the low carb way of life. I have (or had) lost 60 pounds eating this way during 2005, spurred on by my wedding which was earlier this year. Sadly, the wedding was 6 months ago, and I have now posted a 12 pound weight gain since my alltime lowest weight (right before my wedding I was the smallest I had been since early high school) of 173 pounds. Doing the math, obvioulsy, my highest weight was 233 when I was at one of the lowest points in my life about 3 years ago.

I started this blog today for several reasons. I consider myself pretty educated in this arena, having read many books, articles, blogs, and websites about how and why low carb dieting works for ME. I never try to push it on anyone unless they ask for advice. But I enjoy talking about it, reading about it, thinking about it. It really spoke to me and worked for me WAY better than any other diet, period. And it really is a way of life for me, I know that my body does not handle starch and sugar well at all, and I am just "better" in the world without them.

But lately I have noticed the cravings and snack attacks have crept back into my life a bit, and I already have sized myself out of the smallest clothes purchased for my honeymoon (size 10 ). They are too tight to be comfortable and I dont feel that they look good anymore. 12 pounds may not sound like a lot but it is a whole size difference and the mental change is huge. So, this past Monday, when I got on the scale expecting 179 or so, it said 186 I was shocked and dismayed. I have let it go too long. I had allowed "carb creep" to set in and the pounds crept on as well. It works like clockwork, doesnt it.

I made up my mind right then. Back on induction, full time. I knew that motivation though, would come some time after the actual decision, such is the same with exercise. First you have to decide, then just WORK OUT A COUPLE OF TIMES, THEN the motivation will come. When I got to work I started reading up on it again (stuff I already knew but it is still motivating) and by the end of Monday I was back in. Its now end of day Wednesday, I have lost a pound and a half (from water, salt, bloat, who cares) and have energy and resolve to spare. So much so that I wanted a place to track my thoughts and progress. I dont even care if no one reads this but me. I feel great about my decision, and THIS time, I want to finish the job. Here it is officially: Start weight 233
Current Weight (9/13) 185
Goal: 148 (37 pounds additional will make the grand total 85 pounds lost)
by one year anniversary (March 07)