I've been struggling with the same 20-30# for years. LC seems to be the thing that works, but I want it to be permanent. I'm 5'1" and excersize 4-6 times a week, but I eat too much at night. Been working on this current LC since April. Still doing too much cheating and need to get serious about this. Any takers????

This must be providence! I cruised through to see if there are any recently started challenges to join in on. And there you were...waiting for a buddy/challenge partner.

I'm 48, had lost 35 pounds in 2002 on Protein Power, then put on 20 while trying (unsuccessfully) to quit smoking. Since May I've managed to lose about 8 of those revived 20 pounds. I'm struggling...finding it hard to focus, and not much interested in cooking right now because of the heat.

So how do you want to tackle this? Rules? Guidelines?

Are we trying to be "clean" or go back to basics or shoot for a dealine/goal?

Hi Angela

Thank you for your response. 23 pounds is a lot of weight, you've done very well. You obviously can stick to a plan when you set your mind to it. Basics, goals or clean???? For me I vote for clean without total paranoia. I just read in Thin 4 Good that we are responsible for what we do and what we want. Nothing new, but it says everything. I struggle with, "what a long day, I deserve to relax. Sharing one glass of wine with my DH won't hurt. " Never works, it always leads to food. I've got to cut the excuses and do things right or nothing will ever change. I do very well in the daytime, but I turn into this maniac at night. If I follow the plan the cravings cease after 3-4 days... but one day off plan starts it up again. (The day off is usually precipitated by a family gathering (6 daughters & spouses, one in college.. and they like to have fun) or a night out with friends. Seeeee EXCUSES! Enough is enough. My goal is to go one week totally on plan and see what happens. No excuses.

What do you think???

Still smoking?? Hope you don't mind, but my DH had a mild heart attack at 50yrs because of long term smoking. He has low blood pressure and low cholesterol (apparent minimal risk), but the scar tissue in his coronary arteries caused by the smoke caused a plaque build up. He stopped smoking and is doing very well now. Smoking is a bigger problem than weight, but mentally weight is a real killer. I know how frustrated you are. Maybe we can do this together.

Regarding cooking: Do you like salads with protein? I grill a bunch of chicken at one time to put cold on salads. Also keep frozen precooked shrimp in the freezer for a quick thaw. Always have organic hard boiled eggs on hand. We usually make extra of any meat for leftovers.

Connie

A clean week...Just what I need to strive for!

I ordered the Thin for Good book yesterday from our local bookstore. I've been toying with the idea of switching to TFG for a few weeks, after reading the reviews and needing a change. The book doesn't arrive until the end of next week.

But that shouldn't stop me from doing a clean week of Protein Power Introduction phase (similar to Atkins Induction but starting at 30 gr carbs) My biggest downfall is that I have a huge appetite and have always eaten larger than normal portions "for a girl" When I was weighing an measuring everything, things were going fine. But then I moved away from being precise to eyeballing portions, and over the last year my visual concept of a cup of something is more like 2 cups in reality. So a clean week for me would be by the book, weighing, measuring and recording.

It looks like we both struggle with finding ways to reward ourselves. I tend to reward myself every time I hit a new low, and of course then the side affects kick in.

Salads...yummy...I live off of them. I'm a vegetable lover too. A salad of some sort is usually lunch, and part of dinner. Like you I cook ahead and add any kind of meat to mine. At lunch it's usually canned tuna or cooked salmon fillet leftover from the previous night. Warm meat and grilled or lightly stir fried veggies are wonderful on top of ice cold salad greens.

So when do we start? Today? Tomorrow? Confession time...breakfast and lunch were very clean for me, but I just finished making 2 peach crumble pies and had a large slice. My excuse was that I had to see if they turned out ok...I baked them on the BBQ since we are still under electricity consumption limits here as a result of last Thursday's blackout. (and yes, they turned out just fine!)

If for some reason I don't check back in here later today or tomorrow, it's because we've been put on rotating blackouts. Things will be iffy here until Monday electricity wise. But I preplanned the grocery shopping to include legal meals that don't require electricity, so I should be able to make it through.

On the smoking bit..hubby and I were both off it for 3 months. He had to have an emergency angioplasty at Christmas to put a stent in to open a clogged artery. It scared the living daylights out of us. Unfortuanately I started up again after 3 months. He has 3 or 4 a day now from my packs. I'm down to the last 2 packs in the carton, and bought nicotine patches today while grocery shopping. Last time around I allowed myself to cheat while trying to deal with cravings. This time around I'm going to battle both cravings at once. If I'm going to go "clean" I might as well go "really clean" I am no longer going to be his cigarette supplier.

I'm glad you posted. This will be fun, and a good way to help each other find a new and better way through this. I'm looking forward to getting to know you, and working together to do this.

As I posted above, the peach crumble pie did me in. The peaches got ripe way too fast and needed to be used..but they didn't need to be eaten by me. My rough calculation on the large slice (which by the way made me feel bloated) was 83 carbs. When the heat dies down, I'd like to try to make an LC version of this, using ground almonds and butter for the base, fruit with splenda and some kind of small amount of healthy thickener, and for the crumble. ground almonds instead of flour, splenda and butter. It's gotta be way lower than 83 gr carbs

Dinner is on the BBQ. Salad is ready except for the oil and vinegar dressing. The day should round out like this:

Br: chicken leg
L: yogurt with protein powder and blueberries
Sn: Peach crumble pie
D: roast beef slow cooked in a pot on the BBQ, tossed salad greens with red & green peppers and radish, oil & vinegar dressing

Calories: 1573
Protein: 102
Fat: 100
Carbs: 107
Fiber: 7
ECC: 100

Analysis..calories are below my ideal range. Protein is ok. Fat is low, but considering the extra carbage, probably not a bad idea.

Connie, I noticed just now that you started a journal today. Good for you!!! It really does help to keep a person on track. I expect it would be better if we posted our meals in our journals and posted other stuff in here?

Just got back from the library at school after spending 4.5 hours on the computer and the whole day before that at work. Reward time???? Just downed a plate of melted cheese ( YUM for me) which is over my cheese allotment, but it's better than chips. Had a bacon cheeseburger w/o bun at 4pm to kill hunger pains.

I love to eat too and my portions go way over. That's why I like T4G. The portions aren't that small, but at least there are some guidelines. Atkins leaves me too much freedom. It looks like you use fitday. I've done that but I get so obsessive looking for an excuse to eat that lo cal days I eat more and hi cal I get discouraged and eat too. Right now I'm trying to follow the basic rules with some weighing and measuring.

We can start tommorrow if that works for you.
Your pie sounds wonderful. T4G has a recipe for lemon cheesecake made with cream cheese and SF lemon jello. We can have dessert every night, but it's very small portions and has to be from the book. I'm one of those who can't stop at one bite (at least not yet), so I'm afraid to make "diet" desserts.

I really admire your determination to stick to this as well as quit smoking. I really hope we can genuinely help eachother. Like you said one mouthful, one meal and one day at a time.

I've overstepped my cheese limits today, but that's no reason to eat anything else. The kitchen is closed for the night.

Can't imagine what those rolling blackouts are like. Write when you can and thank you again for your response.
Connie

Yeah for you for closing the kitchen last night. 1 step at a time does it.

What's this plate of melted cheese? Is it like cheese chips?

Today is day 1. I'll post my eating in my journal. It's all planned out for the day and I will be weighing and measuring.

Start weight===> 165.5

Today's rude awakening....eyeballing it has been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off. Today I measured out my yogurt and fruit allotment and sighed. It was a nibble compared to what I have been dishing up. 100 gr of yogurt and 1/4 cup of fruit plus the protein powder gives me in range protein, fat, carbs and fiber. I've been eating 3-4 times that in the morning for many days over the last year without measuring. By eyeballing it, the carbs alone in breakfast have been closer to 12-15 I was still hungry afterwards, so slurped back 2 tbsp of flax seed oil

Morning supplements:
a whole mittful, including evening primrose, potassium, multivitamin, b complex, magnesium, gucosamine sulphate with condroitin, MSM, E, selenium, St John's Wort, C , cal-mag. I've been really slack on the supplements since January. Most notably I'm tired, and my achy joints have come back with a vengence. It will take a few more weeks of glu-sul-cond and MSM to get that back in order.

So where are the other over 40 with less than 40 folks??????? You are welcome to join in. We are going by the book clean (any plan) until next Friday, then will figure out how to deal with week 2.

Confession: The kitchen reopened last night. The key was "i'll start tommorrow".
I'm up 2 # this am, but it's time to move on. I will do this cleanly because we are in this together. Got a terribly busy day, no excersize yet but I'll be back tonight to journal and post mysuccess. Yes it will be success. Got to figure out where to fit excersize in with school starting.
Good breakfast and supps so far.

Done with work today and still doing well. Had a leftover salmon pattie for dinner and will have a salad later when DH picks up his fish lunch. He's got his glass of wine, but I don't and won't. Clean it will be.

I forgot we have a big dinner to go to tommorrow, but I can usually find something to eat. It's just that darn cocktail stuff. This group likes to party, but I've been out with them before & behaved myself. It helps that I have a patient I have to see at 8am Sunday morning.

I belong to curves and don't know how to fit 3 days of excersize into my crazy schedule. It will take real committment to figure it out. I usually walk in the mornings and sometimes bike as well.

DH and I bought bikes 3 weeks ago. I haven't been on one since I was 15 and that was a pedal brake and no speeds. I have a terrible time in narrow spaces and in narrow turns. Also have problems stopping sometimes. I leaped off once when the tire got caught in the space between the sidewalk and the grass. Talk about embarrassed. I took off as fast as possible and never looked back. Got to keep trying no matter what.

Connie - how did you make out after 6pm? Was the kitchen open or closed???? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the day ended on a happy note for you to report.

Like you, I'm wrestling with the exercise. We try to walk for an hour 3-4 times a week, but it seems to be hit and miss right now with the heat.

All you need is a little more practice on the bike before you feel more comfortable.

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99% clean. In an effort to get the peach crumble pie out of harm's way, I divided it into pieces and froze them. Unfortunately, I scooped up about 2 tablespoons of loose pieces from the bottom of the pie plate. that added about another 15-20 carbs on top of my legal 21 carbs.

Calories 1750
Protein 101
Fat 139
ECC 21 plus 15-20 for the crumble pieces
%fat 71

So what is it with me and illegal desserts lately??? I am not a sweets eater. I prefer salty snacks. I am not a dessert eater. We grew up in a household that NEVER had desserts. Even now when I entertain I have to leave a note on the fridge for myself to make some sort of dessert because it is not a habit. The odd bit of baking I do for hubby is considered "during the day and evening" snacks for him. I make pies only 2-3 times a year, usually a peach pie in the summer and a few apple pies in the fall.

Goal for Sunday - make a legal LC dessert. If I'm into a sweets phase I might as well deal with it in a more acceptable manner.

I tried a new water strategy today, because getting it all in has been hit and miss. In the morning I put 8 elastic bands on my right wrist. As I finished a 1/2 liter bottle of water, I moved a band to my left wrist. It was easy to see my progress and know when to pick up the speed a bit. By 1 pm I had only had 1 litre of water. By 9 pm another 1 1/2 was down. I've always done most of my water drinking after lunch.

For Saturday - we'll be visiting my sister and her hubby on their boat all day. I'm bringing an LC lunch (veggies and LC dip, tossed salad, seasoned chicken legs I baked last night, tons of water) Dottie is doing a "no wheat" thing. I'm bringing my extra copy of Protein Power to loan to her if she is interested. She has a ton of medicl problems including asthma, borderline lupus, suspected fibermyalgia? (this is new), lactose intolerance, so I'm reluctant to push any eating plan. She's an avid health researcher, so maybe some of the reasearch stuff in the book with enlighten her.

Where are the rest of you 40 + with 40 - folks????? Technically I don't fit into the category because my goal is to lose 45 pounds. But it was close enough for me to give it a try. This isn't just a T4G challenge. It just happens that Connie is on it and I'm switching to it.

Made it through clean yesterday even watching my DD/DH and my DH sharing a nice red or two. They also made bruschetta the Italian way by toasting the bread, rubbing w/garlic and pouring on the olive oil. Not one bite for me and not even tempted, even though I was encouraged.

Still OK today. Had to be at a patient's house at 7am so finished a salmon patty. Just made cauliflied rice and was very impressed. I think I will combine Atkins with my T4G. The meat restrictions help but I'd rather count carbs than restrict my vegees so severely. I had 1.5c cauliflower and T4G restricts me to 1/2c. Been reluctant to go back to fitday because it makes me crazy, but it would be more accurate w/carbs.
Angela I like your water strategy. I usually get a glass w/each meal and fill up my Curves bottle twice, which gives me 9 8oz glasses. It gets hard with school and work because finding bathrooms difficult. Sounds like you've got today figured out foodwise. We've got our party tonight but I'll behave. BTW I was up ANOTHER POUND this morning but it payment for my prior sins this week and my lack of excersize. I'm OK with that because I know if I stay clean things will happen as they should.

Love to have some of you join us. We are just looking for some battle weary yo-yo's who have had enough and want to finish the job!!!!

Eats were all legal today and within PP Introduction levels. Water was only 1 liter by 7pm (due to restricted facilities while driving and on the boat) I should be able to get another liter in before bed.

Cigs progress...done from 1 1/2 packs a day to 1/2 a pack. I'm using nicorette gum during the day. Still can't shake off the morning smokes

It was a great day out on the boat. Not too warm, but kind of windy. It was wonderful visiting with my sister. We had a really interesting discussion about approaching 50 and all the strange things that happen to our bodies and our minds as we gracefully age. Our older sister will be turning 50 on Friday. It makes for reflection time for all of us.

Good going Connie on having a clean day yesterday.

I'm with Connie on this one...I'm tired of being a battle weary yo-yo. I want to get the job done. I can see the finish line. I want to be in maintenance mode, not losing mode.

Dear Connie and Angela,

Angela, I'm still drooling over just the thought of those two peach crumble pies made in the BarBQ. It's been a long time since I've had pie (I have cheated on cake and ice cream) but pie is my favorite.

You bet -- this is a great idea! Partnering will hopefully give me the boost I need to lose about 10-15 more lbs. Maintenance will be the tough one for me, though. About two years ago I went on a diet and lost 30 lbs in about eight months--not lc, just dropping fried foods, soda pops, less white flour and eating more times but less amounts. However in less than eight months I gained 24 lbs back.

So here I am on another diet, but I chose LC because of my cholesterol, not just for weight loss. I need to get my HDLs up.

Connie, I see you will be graduating nursing school in next December. Congratulations! This is something I've been threatening to do but with working 50 hour weeks, I haven't had the time to commit. I've taken some classes relevant to my office job but nursing would be great! You sound like you are already "practicing" nursing.

I use fitday and will make my "eating" habits public. Not a good day for low carbs and high fats.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/Public...?Owner=jeanne48

See you all later,

Jeanne48

So glad you joined us. The more the merrier.

So tell us a little more about the Redbook LC plan. There are so many LC plans out there it's amazing that LC still gets such a bad rap. When I was at the book store this week looking for Thin for Good, the diet and nutrition section was filled with low carb books. I bet 90% of what was there was LC of one sort or another. It was quite surprising when you think of how terribly people talk about LC. Thing is they tend to use LC and Atkins together, but don't often recognize that not all LC is Atkins.

So what we are doing is 1 week of clean eating by the book whatever plan you are on. We'll decide next week what's up for week 2 (although I expect that by the book clean eating will be the underlying foundation)