In the beginning, at first diet, when I was flailing around on WW, trying to figure out how NOT to eat all my daily points by 9:00 a.m., I used to PUSH thoughts of food out of my head. Block them! Ban them! Food BAAAAADDD... HUNGER.... GOOOOODDD.

Then once on low carb - enjoying the success of it all, I would have the occasional evening craving for something...

....and my mind would start to run through the possibilities. I started having those usual diet thoughts, you know the ones: "hmmm, there's cream cheese, and butter - I have some splenda - .... I could melt a batch together and pour it over pork rinds and then blob salsa on it...." (wow I feel sorry for low fat dieters )

Anyway initially when I had these urges, I fell into old habits of pushing those thoughts out of my head.

Then I had an idea. Instead of trying NOT to think about a snack, I did think about it. I envisioned making it and eating it. I thought about how it would taste. I actually *experienced* it in a virtual way. Then I thought about making it and not eating it. Then I thought about not eating it. And then I drank 8 ounces of water. And the urge went away.

BUT !!!!!! What a feeling of empowerment it left in its wake. Try it sometime. Its a wonderful motivator when the pounds aren't dripping off like you wish they would. You end up saying to yourself - "Wow, so I haven't lost this week, who cares - I'm one POWERFUL individual!" (you can insert BABE or HUNK instead of *individual*, I'm trying to be politically correct)

LC Sponge,

What wit and wisdom you posess. I especially liked your recipe for pork rinds/cream cheese/Splenda/salsa. You left off the chocolate syrup. Or maybe you're just saving that for the week when you really blow it. My problem when I get a craving is that if the craving goes away on its own, I'm unhappy and start looking around for it. But I'm going to try your little visualization technique-- imagine myself NOT eating whatever it is. I'm beginning to see now why you're at goal and I'm still flailing around in the doldrums. I look forward to more of your posts!

Missydog

Spoken like a true addict. Do you by chance have the other half of this amulet I wear around my neck??

There is a story in AA (my ex was a recovering alcoholic) about the difference between and addictive personality and a non-addictive personality - in a nutshell:

Two guys are in a waiting room. The waiting room has 2 exits. One say "To Eternal Heaven" the other door is labelled "To Eternal Hell". The non-alcoholic gets up and walks through the door to Eternal Hell. On the other side of the door, just waiting for him, is a big guy with an even bigger stick. He beats the non-alcoholic upside the head. The non-alcoholic comes back into the waiting room all battered up. He sits down.... and thinks about this for a while... then he gets up and goes thru the door to Eternal Heaven - and never comes back...

The alcoholic has been watching this whole thing. He too, gets up and goes thru the door to Eternal Hell. Same thing happens to him - big guy, big stick, lotsa bruises. He comes back to the waiting room and sits. And thinks. Gets up, and goes back thru the same door to Eternal Hell. Same thing happens. Wack- right upside the head. Returns to the waiting room. Sits. Thinks. Gets up. Right back thru the door to Eternal Hell.

This time the guy with the big stick isn't there. So the alcoholic goes looking for him.

It's a story all of us carb-addicts know too well.

I don't know if I wierd or something, but I love reading the success stories section of the site (I know each of them all too well...especially the ones with all the pictures). I would love to read your full story and see some before/after pics. It's just a suggestion....

Great Job on all your success...I'll be there some day with you

Yeah! Conditioned responses held for a life time are hard to recognize to begin with...what door? What guy? what big sti Then comes the re-training process! Patience, patience!
Now that's what I need to be saying to myself 100+ times a day!

K. and Erin - I've posted my success story - my most recent after pic is the one in my signature. I'll think about posting my before....

And you will BOTH be at goal someday and you will be posting YOUR before pics for the newbies!!!!! So don't be throwing them out or anything

Yikes! A five month stall! How did you keep the faith and not just throw in the towel? Did you try diferent things to break the stall?
I find it *extremely* difficult to believe my regime is doing any good at all, even with just a stall of two weeks!

Missydog

Missydog - I made up my mind that this was a WOE for life. That had a drastic effect on my *goal dates* - Since I fully accepted that I was going to be eating this way forever, I let go of the race to lose pounds and make goal.

Even if I had let the frustration take hold, I guess the alternative was.... well ... going back to low-fat, and there was no way I was going to do that.

I focused on other things - like how good I felt generally, all the money I was saving on TUMS, my measurements, researching vitamins, trying new recipes - there's lots to keep busy with while you wait for the weight loss to continue....

Anyway, when you are on stall day #4 - you have no idea it will stretch into 5 months.

You just keep plugging away... but one thing is a fact.

All stalls end.

Originally posted by LC Sponge:

I made up my mind that this was a WOE for life.
**************************************

Good point. And one I now realize I've overlooked. Oh, I pay lip service to it and call it a WOE for life, but deep down I'm still doing it for the weight loss and if that doesn't happen the way I want I feel cheated. And you're right that there's really no alternative-- I mean we all know how wonderful low-fat eating is....NOT! I guess I'll be doing some work on the old attitude.

Missydog

Once again, LC, you've given me the additional pick me up that I needed.

All frustrated this morning because I somehow gained a pound and a half of water weight overnight. And this morning I was going to change my stats to reflect the half pound drop in weight that I have been showing for about a week. Grrrrrrr

Of course, I did the mantra: Keep up the good work, it's only water weight, probably due to my cycle, I am feeling so healthy, I've come a long way, etc, etc, ad nauseum. But it doesn't change the disappointment that it's not going as fast as I want.

Soooooo, it is wonderful to get on the forum and be reminded that others have been here and done it before me and who are willing to share the wisdom of time (lots of it ) and experience.

Please keep writing and sharing.

BTW, what is your take on AS? I try to keep it to an absolute minimum but I sometimes make chocolate mousse (w/ 1 pkt of AS to 1/2 cup whipping cream) and lemon mousse (1 tbsp AS plus 10 drops of AS to 1 cup whipping cream) for the times when I fancy something that is sweet. Sort of my treat to eat when everyone else is eating icecream or popcorn w/ tons of butter and salt. Do you use it at all or do you stay away from it.

I would say, that little bit of AS is my only vice as I don't drink coffee, tea or alcohol and I don't do any other processed locarb bars or anything like that.

Missydog - you are not alone - it is a true transition when you really take this WOE into your heart and not just your head - sounds a bit *moushy* I know, but it's a fact. We get distracted by the weight loss and it becomes a main focus. But when you hit goal girl, you better have something else to focus ON - because there will be no more weight to lose. That's why some people gain it back.

Homegirl - just keep in mind how you felt the day BEFORE you started LC'ing. Compare THAT day to now, don't compare yesterday to today - you'll drive yourself nuts - keep your before pic near you all the time, if you have to.

I use very little artificial sweeteners - I treat myself to a small cheesecake sweetened with no more than 1/4 cup of Splenda about once a month - I used to take it in coffee but knocked that off January this year.

However, I will confess - I have the occasional (about once a month) treat of REAL maple syrup (usually on pancakes). It could be just my own twisted thinking - but I believe that my food should come from the farm, not the laboratory. Quite frankly, I feel better about having the once a month maple syrup than I do about the once a month Splenda.

LC~

I might have missed your saying so, somewhere,...but when you stalled, was it due to any cheating at all?...or were you still strict with your regimen?

I find, like you...I'm probably one of the slowest loosers on this board. And yet, it's not like I don't have that much to loose, so I can't use that argument. However, I know that when I stall it's from having a few too many pieces of low carb chocolate; too many nuts; alot of cheese,hidden carbs...that might in actuality bring my levels up more toward 34-40 carbs/day vs. the ol' 20-25.

For example the last couple of days, I cut back the cheese and had no chocolate..dropped 2 lbs...whereas I'd held it for 2 weeks. So I'm wondering if your stall was due to any relaxation of the program? ... Like I'm hoping mine is LOL.

Missydog and Homey...I also know how you feel We don't like to see that scale fluctuate, and it really is easy to think of this as a diet, once again. I find myself slightly worried when I think, I'll never have this again or that...I don't know if I will ever be able to think of multigrain bread, potatoes, or a real dessert as completely forbidden...I do think however, they will never be the main focus of my food choices, and that I'll know how to handle my next few meals should I choose to stray.

I also am realistic in the sense that once we have this all figured out...and it's ours, we claim it...something new will come along and be the next rage...with new studies, and new research...so while it is my wol...now...who knows what the next 10 years will bring. An open mind is a good thing. (sorry had a Martha Stewart moment there, it's the interior designer in me _

Thanks for starting this tread!

This I really needed to read. It's one thing to know in your head you need a complete attitude change. It's another to see how other people approach it pratically.

I've been at or around 213 for way to long now. and got discouraged after a week or two, and went astray. That's not the alternative i'm picking anymore. although its hard to admit it, in the long run i guess its better to loose only one pound in a month than to gain 5 back in a week.

Jeanette

Muse - you have said a word that is not in my vocabulary: cheat.

I never cheated - not once, not a single time. None of us do. It's a word that low-carbers have come up with to punish themselves and others. This WOE isn't about punishment, it's about rewards.

Once upon a time I was fat. I didn't know how to get thin. Then I read a Low Carb Plan that somebody else invented. I read it over and over until I learned the principles of low carb living. I ate all the foods the plan told me to eat. And stayed away from the ones it told me not to eat. I started to see some results... then when I was within 10-12 pounds of my goal, I started to have a problem - namely STALLING.

I tried everything. I started (gasp) experimenting. Up the carbs, down the carbs, up the calories, down the calories, reversal diets, fat fasts, different supplements, added foods, took out foods, exercise up, exercise down, - you name it, I did it. I experimented, and tweaked, and cajoled, and worked at it nothing really seemed to do the trick. However during the last year I lost the final and last 10 pounds I had to lose.

During that time I made an astonishing discovery. I had not been working the 'Atkins' plan - or the 'Sommersizing' plan---- I was working MY plan - not 'CAD', not 'PP' - MINE. My plan still involved low carbs and no processed foods, and no sugar... the basics are still there - the guidelines that Atkins taught me were well learned.. but my plan all the same.

In MY plan there is no such thing as a cheat. I am fully aware of what I am putting in my mouth, and have been throughout this journey - and it is all PLANNED, even if the plan began only 3 seconds before I ate it. That's not a cheat - that food I ate just became part of my PLAN. I can keep it in my plan daily, enjoy it monthly or drop it altogether. The choices are all mine because it's MY plan.

Guilt doesn't come 'with or without' carbs. In fact, guilt isn't a FOOD type at all and shouldn't be *eaten* at mealtime. Guilt should be saved for things like raising children to be criminals, or running over the neighbours dog.

Jeanette - that is brilliantly said. I am adding that to my toolbox. Thank you very much.