Hi all! I'm re-introducing myself after about a year absence (and my weight shows it). Due to my crazy job, I might not be able to post much, but I WILL be lurking, and soaking in the encouragement I found here.

I began low-carbing at 320 lbs in 2000, getting to about 225 lbs. Unfortunately, I went off LC and gained back up to 265. THEN, went on again on this board, and lost about seven pounds, got discouraged, and dropped out again - also got busy. On the day they asked me here to be a mentor, my life got so dramatically crazy, I had to say thanks, and then a day later, no thanks. Again, I went off low-carb, gaining back to 283 lbs.

I began to really look at LC again in February, and have lost 25 lbs since that time. I found that the following were misakes I made the first times that caused me to stall and get discouraged:

1. LC bars - bad, bad, bad. It doesn't matter that they say Low carb - they are classic stallers, AND they don't do anything to help those of us who are sugar addicts learn to live without junk. It just went from one "junk" to another.

2. I complicated things - I HATE to cook! So, why was I forever trying to motivate myself by copying recipes and telling myself I'd cook them? This leads me to:

3. KISS - keep it simple, stupid (telling myself, not you) - I find that I do MUCH better by just keeping it simple. Meat, eggs, 4 or less ounces of cheese, 1 to 3 cups leafy greens or 1 cup other allowed vegi. That's it. If I have a major craving for chocolate (such as at certain times), I get a lower quality, waxy individually wrapped in small pieces type (those brachs foil wrapped little eggs work great), let two melt in my mouth over a 45 minute period, and I'm good to go for another week.

I found that when I was doing the "allowed" cheats like sugar free jello, heavy cream, cream cheese, etc., I stalled...why? Because being addicted to carbs and sweets, it kept my tastebuds wanting them all the time. And, for some reason, even when I didn't eat more than I was told of those things, they stalled me.

So, that's where I've been and what I've learned In the meantime, I'll enjoy getting re-acquainted to the board, even if I can't post often.

Shalom,
Sh'ra

Hi K.,

Welcome back!!!!

Good for you to recognise your limitations, and thankyou for sharing. I'm sure it'll help and inspire others

Keep up the good work, you can do this!!

{{big hug}}

Doreen

Thanks Doreen For the encouragement and the hug

sh'ra

Welcome back!

Welcome back Sh'ra,

I'm in total agreement with you on keeping it simple. Most of the time I eat lots of salads and protein. When I start with the allowed treats I also get in trouble.

And congratulations on staying well below your starting weight, even with a crazy job and even with starting and stopping low carbing. It's nice to know that you never went above 300 -- it gives me hope that I'll never go back there myself.

Hello Sh'ra,

Your post was very informative for a newbie like myself.

I have never done LC in my life. I am a carb/sugar addict.

My Induction withdrawal was really bad. Just shows how addicted I was.

I will be looking forward to your posts.

Welcome back.

Welcome Sh'ra! I'm glad you came back.
We are all here for you!

Thanks for the welcomes, all! I haven't had such a great weekend, but rather than dwelling on the mistakes, as Anne of Green Gables said, "Tomorrow is another day, with no mistakes in it." Lost my focus (and so did hubby), but we're both determined to stay completely on track tomorrow, and from then on. we have good motivation. In about 1 1/2 years, we're moving south, to the Gulf area of Florida - I don't want to be "the fat lady on the beach," and I miss being able to do the things I used to do.

Liz - yep, I'm definitely thankful I didn't get over 300 again. It would have been even more disouraging to try to start completely over again. At least I can look and see I have lost a certain percentage and kept it off for three years - but it was certainly creeping back up quickly. I definitely appreciate that there are others, you as well as others here, who go through the same stuff with carb addiction (especially sugar), and who can encourage one another.

Chloe - it's a good lesson to learn. Sometimes, if we get bogged down in a whole lot of details, or "cheat foods," or "mock" whatever, we're focusing so much on that, we forget our real goal, which is to learn to be happy WITHOUT the sweets and carbs. And, we can also get so off track in our thinking. We don't want to think, "I want to eat as much as I can of the wrong stuff while still losing weight." Instead, we want to think, "I want to see how LITTLE of that old stuff I can eat and still survive, and survive well."

Keeping it simple is so much easier; and then we can concentrate on the emotional and spiritual side of this issue with each of us, rather than just the physical...after all, for most of us, that's where the problems really lie, and why we're in this boat of overeating and "comfort foods" in the first place.

Thanks Zora and Saski, and thanks again, all, for the welcome back!

Sh'ra

Welcome back, Sh'ra! I remember seeing your posts a long, long time ago!

I hope you will find time to share youir experiences (as you already have) with the many new members of this group. Ever since LCing started to be more widely accepted, there's been a huge increase in the number of people in the forum. We can all learn so much from each other!

Good luck and welcome home!

Donald

Welcome back Sh'ra

Glad to see that you are firmly back on the wagon. I totally agree with you about keeping it simple and I certainly find that that helps me.

Every success in staying with low carb for the long term.

Thanks, Don and Little Anne

Don - I think I remember you also - different pic, though I noticed the rate of posts is so much higher! I don't know how anyone would keep up with all this! Wow! I had to find this thread on a second page, after only being gone for three! Used to be, there were only one or two posts per day! Whew!

Sh'ra