To Lessara
 

you asked if anyone else was a non-cheater and I am too. I did go thru huge withdrawl symptoms day 2-6 on atkins but after that felt so much better. One reason I have remained on track is that every other time I tried to lose weight I would be constantly hungry and now im not and if I am I eat. I reached my goal weight in mid August of 145 and today I weigh 138. Part of the reason I have gone down more is my fear of eating too many carbs and gaining weight back. I have added fruit about 4 days a week, today I had a small apple cut up with cream. We are all human and if we all off the wagon then we no how to go about getting back on.

Hey Dorreen T
 

I saw in a post that you have fibromyalgia and wanted to know how low carbing has helped it. Until I started atkins I was so tired, so sore and extremely moody. I was on trazadone to help me with sleep but have been off for several months now and just take cal-mag before bed. How long have U had FM? I know I have had it since I was a kid, Im 37 but it was during pregnancy 13 yrs ago I became worse. I wasnt even diagnosed until 4 years ago. I started and managed a support group for a while in my home town. Im just curious as tohow this has all effected your FM.

NUTS!
 

I eat nuts as snacks fairly regularly. I don't eat peanuts too much, cause I just don't like them as much as others. Macadamia nuts are very expensive, and difficult to find. My favorites are almonds and cashews - I tend to eat almonds the most. I allow myself a small hand full when ever I get hungry between meals, and even after supper sometimes. I am careful not to eat a jarful, and they seem to be OK for me. Almonds are also a source of calcium so I figure that they are good for me. I am allergic to cheese, and don't like hard boiled eggs (which my husband uses for between meal snacks) so these are really life savers for me.

I do monitor myself and keep track of the carbs, and track everything that I eat in case my weight goes up so I know what I have been doing. :)

I was attracted to this topic because ... this morning I didn't have time to eat any breakfast so at about 11 am I went into my neighbour's office (at work). He had a bunch of food on his desk and he gave me a 300 gr bag of macadamia nuts. I could've had lots of other junk but I thought this was the closest thing to protein, so I ate a ton of them. I thought, oh well. Then because it was Halloween, our office was full of little Mars bars, little Twix bars, little Reece's Peanut Butter cups.... well, you get the picture. Man am I full. :eek:

Reading further in this thread, people were talking about cheating. This is a real cheater day but I really learned something valuable. Last year at Halloween I think I had a lot more chocolate and could probably have eaten more. This year... I'm still full! Although I feel crummy, full, yukky, I guess it's a win because I sure couldn't eat as much junk as I could last year before I started the Atkins diet. And I really wish I had eaten healthier today.

To NDSmith 4366-- ( did I put your handle correctly?)
I LOVE your stats!! -- Too much, don't know, etc.

ROFLMAO!! (Rolling on floor, laughing my you-know- what off)

YB

Hormones
 

Dairy cows are given hormones to increase milk production and to make them grow faster. They (and chickens & pigs) are feed antibiotics which is linked to anti-biotic resistant bacteria.
That's why I use organic dairy products.

Here's a snip from Horizon website that explains it better. http://www.horizonorganic.com/organ...20response.html

rBGH
Horizon Organic dairy products contain no antibiotics or added hormones, and none of the controversial, genetically engineered rBGH (Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone). While producers utilizing rBGH typically see an increase in milk output, we at Horizon Organic Dairy believe it is unhealthy for cows, and unnecessary in dairy production. Besides the artificial hormone's effects on cows, the long-term effects of rBGH on human health are unknown. And, while the FDA has approved rBGH for use in the U.S., the hormone has been reviewed and banned - several times - in Europe and Canada.

Antibiotics & Hormones
Cows that produce organic milk at Horizon Organic Dairy are not treated with antibiotics or hormones. When a cow gets sick, she is treated naturally, usually withmassage and aspirin. An on-site health herdsman and veterinarian closely observeher. Should the cow's condition worsen to the extent that she needs an antibiotic, sheis removed from the herd, treated and sold to a conventional dairy. She is not returned to the milking herd. At Horizon Organic Dairy, we carefully practice individual monitoring and daily observation of each animal, a central feature of early sick-cow recognition and preventive treatment. The earlier we diagnose a cow, the better the chance that we will be able to prevent the cow from becoming ill.

to cheat or not
 

This whole conversation about cheating or not has reminded me of a conversation I had with a Catholic Nun a few years ago. I was a little frustrated with the church and my faith and wondered how I could go on in the church when I knew that there were rules of the church that I just could not and never would accept. I felt like, if I was not in it for the whole shebang, that I was a hypocrite for being there at all. It was a "why join the team if you don't want to play by the rules" sort of issue.

Anyway, I am reminded of it in this discussion. Her advice was very good. She said, some people can give 95%, and some people can afford to give only 5%, but at least everyone is giving, or trying to give and each persons gift is respected and appreciated individually.

I'm not saying that anyone should approach this WOE with a 5% effort, but at the same time, maybe you can't be 100% all the time, and that is ok. Some people need to not cheat in order to keep motivated, or for fear of falling backward, or because for them, this kind of a decision is all or nothing. For religion, it was all or nothing for a while for me, (I PICKED NOTHING by the way), but I have recently started to become more interested and am incorporating it in my life in a way I never thought I could ever again. Maybe I'm at the 50/50 mark.

Point is, everyone here knows that this diet plan is going to work better when you don't cheat. That is a given. But some people are not ready to make a decision to go for it 100%. That is ok too. You don't owe anyone else an explanation for your actions. The only person you have to answer to is yourself. Get on the track that suits you and be prepared to field the repercussion or the rewards of your actions.

Mari

Ahhh Grasshopper
 

Mari,
You're such a wise woman. I absolutely agree with you. It's self acceptance and acceptance of others... :) can't go wrong with that. :thup:
BTW, I haven't heard a sausage report yet. How are the ELK sausages coming along?

thanks
 

Thanks Katherine;

It is caribou sausage by the way (but your "grasshopper" quote just gave me a new idea? HMMMM, I wonder how many carbs are in locust meat? eww, just kidding.

Anyway, I have all systems in place here almost. We have casings, caribou meat, spices, beef and pork fat to experiment with, and alas, as of yet, no stuffer has arrived. I have to organize all of this stuff (except the caribou meat) to be flown in or mail ordered in, and so far the sausage stuffer is just taking its darn time. I hope that we will have a real live report by next weekend.

Cheers,

Mari

:o Opps, sorry. I confess that I've never seen a real caribou. I have seen lots of elk, I got them confused...to me they both seem like very exotic meat. I've only had game a few times in my life. When I eat out and every now and then I buy it at Keller's, the meat market. ONe Buffalo steak, as of this week was over $20. Ground buffalo was $10 a lb. I didn't get it either. I ate elk jerky once. I was camping in Oregon and our camp host made it himself. Very tasty. :thup:

You must have to have a lot of patience to live where you have to have everything flown in like that. It makes me think about the people who honk their horns at red lights because people haven't moved fast enough for them. ;) They should take lessons from you.
:wave: Keep us posted on your sausage adventure!

back to the macadamia theme
 

I am confused... While travelling on holidays last week we stopped at a service station (gas station??) and the only thing remotely locarb was hanging on the 'nuts' display.
I'm not keen on peanuts so I grabbed the Nobby's Dry Roasted Macadamia Nuts.
The stats said something like - Carbs 5.9, Fibre 7.2.
If I subtract the fibre from the carbs - it's a negative ????

I ate the 100g or so over 2 days as a snack while travelling the vast distances in Australia. I found them very filling but rather expensive.

My question is - how could they have a negative carb count??? and Isn't that a good thing??? So long as I don't go overboard which I don't think I did.

Help!

Wendye

Negative carbs!
 

Wouldn't that be great.

Unfortunately it is not so. I believe that in Oz like UK the fibre has already been deducted to show the effective carbs.

This means that the real carbs are about 12.

ALREADY DEDUCTED!!
 

i'LL HAVE TO CHECK THAT OUT!

This thread does not have a history of keeping on theme so I will continue ...

aRE YOU SAYING THAT FOR MOST PACKAGED FOOD IN THE UK (AND POSSIBBLY oz) THE FIBRE IS ALREADY TAKEN OFF?

WOE - I think the only way to be sure is to actually have a slightly higher daily carb quota and NOT subtract the fibre

or

stick mainly to natural stuff and not have packaged things with many carbs at all

what do you think??

I still like the idea of negative carbs - maybe one day ...

It is certainly true in the UK

It is best to check with the carb counter on this site or on Fitday.com

In the UK Fibre is normally written extra. A bit further down from the Carbs. I think it is deducted, but you have to read the whole label. Sometimes you see carbs and fibre, sometimes it says carbs of which fibre (then you have to deduct it yourself).