Good morning! Just starting the thread.

Ellie, sorry to hear you're still not feeling good. I don't mean to intrude, but do you think maybe you should see a different doctor for a second opinion?

And thanks for the heads-up on the low-carb (mega-high-calorie) entrees. A while back Wendy mentioned she had a low-carb meal at a restaurant and splurged and had cheesecake. Said she couldn't finish the dessert because it was so rich and tasted like it was probably 1,000 calories all on its own.

We low-carbers have the metabolic advantage of being able to eat more calories than high-carbers (for solid scientific reasons I won't go into here), but calories do still matter. Both Dr. Atkins and the Drs. Eades have said so.

And while we're on the subject . . . Acipenser, I think 1600 calories sounds more in the right ballpark for you. Why don't you try it for a while (several weeks) and see what happens?

When I looked back in my FitDay journal, I found I was eating no more than 1300 calories per day, even though I wasn't worried back then about calories at all. I do remember not EVER being hungry. People at work used to comment all the time about "Is that all you're going to eat? Is that going to hold you until dinner?" And it always did.

According to the "10 times your body weight" idea, I should be eating 1600 calories a day. That just doesn't seem to work for me.

And speaking of how I'm doing, let's just say that I've invented a new form of exercise and have taken it to new levels.

It's called "back-sliding."



Renee, I'm up 3 pounds again, too. I know what it is. Every time I have a glass of wine or whiskey in the evening, I end up eating something else I shouldn't (or more of "legal" food than I should). Also, I've been eating off plan here and there. Although I don't think it's a problem to eat off plan occasionally, doing so several times a week is too much.

I keep complaining that I'm having so much trouble dropping the weight this time, and yet not doing what I need to do. Those 6 little words from Dr. Phil (not that I necessarily take stock in anything he says) have been pinging around in my head lately: "So how's that working for you?"

Not well. I know what I need to do. I need to just do it.

PS: Kat, I don't have time right this second to go to your journal (have errands to run), but I'll definitely look at it this afternoon. You don't have to use FitDay; your own spreadsheet is just fine. Just so you have a record to look back on.

"So how's that working for you?"

I can't get this out of my head. My answer is
"it isn't" Which pertains to more than LCing.

Have a great weekend.

Thanks to all who have taken a look at and commented on my menu! I am beginning to feel that if I have to give up one more thing, this WOE is just not worth doing! ! Compared to the way I USED to eat I am being a SAINT ! so WHY is NOTHING HAPPENING????? I think I need to get a punching bag!
Hope everyone is having a good week-end!
KAT

Bawdy - You are not being intrusive The BCPs were the less invasive of my options. He put me on a very low dose which could be the problem. I will call on Monday and see if he wants to switch or move to the next step.

Calories certainly do matter for me as well. I don't care much for fitday, too much work , but it did help find where my problem areas were. I thought I was eating around 1500 calories a day only to find that I was in fact eating well over 2000! A few changes here and there and I finally started losing.

Also interesting to note that we all lose differently. I tend to lose in whooshes while others lose a steady 1 -2 pounds a week.

Yesterday's menu:
B - 2 cups coffee w/H&H splenda

L - 8 chili lime chicken wings, 1 TBS lc BBQ sauce, 1 can Diet Rite

D - 6-9 oz rotessere chicken (mostly dark w.skin), 1 cup leafy romaine w/1 TBS light ranch dressing

S- SF jello w/whipped cream

Late night attack - 1/3 of carbwise bar

Hello everyone! I'm kinda new here. I'm not new to Protein Power, I lost about 40 lbs on it a few years back, but quit for two reasons, it was expensive, and my dh made me feel bad because he said I always got to eat the "good stuff" like I said, it was expensive. Well, I started again on Monday, I feel great, my pants are looser already, but last night my dh and I had a talk over a nice prime rib dinner out. He said he didn't mind me doing Protein Power ( it's the only diet he thinks I should do), but he doesn't think it's fair if I eat meat and salad if everyone else is having soup, so basically he thinks we should all eat the same thing, but he says no, I don't mean that, because then it's to expensive. The only thing I can think to do is eat part of my meal before I serve the family so he won't notice. What do ya'll think?

My other question is, do all of you do a food journal? It sounds like some of you do it on line?

Songberrie

How is it so expensive? You can get great cuts of meat relatively inexpensively. Go to your grocery store early in the morning. That's typically when they mark down their meat. I've been able to get great deals, including a 20-pound turkey for about $8.

And buy in bulk. Meat is always cheaper when you buy in bulk. Why bake 4 chicken drumsticks when you can bake a dozen, pop them in the fridge, and then have some the next couple days for lunch?

Sure, if you eat prime rib every day (not that I think you do), it would be expensive. Eggs are another example. Eggs are cheap!

And think all the money you'll save by not buying junk food.

My husband doesn't low-carb, but I do (and we have no kids). For dinner I make a protein (beef, pork, or poultry), one or two veggies (he doesn't like many, so I often make one for him and one for me), and a starch for him. He likes the frozen mac and cheese or the frozen potato side dishes, so it's easy. Other times, I'll make up a bunch of rice or potatoes and then serve it several days in a row.

Making more than one veggie isn't much work, when you think a couple minutes in the microwave is all that is needed. I'll often have a salad instead of a veggie, so then I make only one.

How many in the family? Ages?

Hope that helps.

To answer your other question, a lot of us keep food journals. Some in Excel spreadsheet format, some in the free online FitDay program (www.fitday.com), some in FitDay PC (the one you buy), and others in other programs. Or, just get a book on nutritional counts and use that. FitDay is so much easier, though.

Boy I just "crashed". Upped my exercise level this morning and found out that I should have eaten after instead of waiting for lunch time. I get migraines with the halo lights and prism effect and coming home from town with DH started with the prisms about 1 mile from home and by the time I could make a salad and sit down to eat could hardly see. About 5 mins after eating it was like a light bulb switched on in my body and the lights and prisms stopped. I always thought these migraines and symptoms were stress related but what if all this time they were actually blood sugar drops and I just didnt know?!
Going out dancing tonight-yea!!! Finally talked DH into going. He doesnt like to dance at all and we finally found another couple that he can hang out at the bar with the other husband and we girls can go dance to our hearts content.
This is only the second time in 4 years so I am really looking forward to going out. Now if I can only find something cute to wear

Sorry to be so hit and miss with posting, I am starting to get busy before my surgery on the 25th-errands, cleaning, etc, not to mention work. So Hi to everyone and welcome Songberrie
Not worrying about counting and weighing in, etc. right now but eating clean. Getting exercise just cleaning the house really good because 1) I won't be able to do it for a few weeks after surgery and 2) my sister the neat freak is coming to stay with me for a week post op.
I found these frozen "Life Choice" dinners that are about 12-13 carbs a meal and two lower carb Lean Cuisines (3 cheese chicken) to help me through the first week so my sister doesn't have to do a lot of cooking, etc. She's going to restock my groceries before she goes home at the end of that week.
Eightc, are the 'prisms' you're talking about when you see sort of jagged lines in your vision? I get them once in a while but I don't get killer migraines.I think mine are usually from eye stress, though.
Hi Bawdy. You should start a 'How to PP/LC cheap" sticky.You have some great ideas. PS,how's your lipliner supply?
Elaine

I do shop the marked down meats, and I stock up on sales. I guess to me it seems more expensive because I make a lot of casseroles and soups with lots of starches and not much meat. That's always been my comfort food. If I do just meat and veggies it would cost more. We eat a lot of hamburger in casseroles. I don't mind eating a hamburger patty every night, but my dh would get tired of it. I've been thinking about it today and decided that maybe I just won't do as many casseroles. I guess I could do more of stir fry type things too. I told my dh I wanted to make me a cheesecake and he said that would be a waste because then the rest of the family would only get little slices of "their" cheesecake and I'd get one all to myself. Geesh, I can't seem to win. I've thought about passing off a low carb one on him, but he's pretty sensitive to sugar replacements and can usually taste the difference. Right now I'm making chocolate chip cookies for the family. So, I don't mind making them one thing and me another, and if my dh would think about it he'd realize that I'm giving up a lot of things that I still make for them, like the 6 loaves of homemade bread I make every week for my dh sandwiches, the cakes, cookies biscuits and cornbread. I'm still cooking for the family. We have a 16 yr old boy, an 8 yr old boy and a 6 yr old girl still at home, we have two others that are on their own now. You're right, we don't eat prime rib often, my dh took me out for a treat.

Songberrie

Wow, Songberrie, you do have a handful there. Have you checked out the recipe board and forums here? There are a ton of LC recipes, and tons of casserole recipes. Also check out the Atkins site (www.atkinscenter.com) for recipes. There are a lot of things you can put into a casserole other than potatoes and noodles.

You might just have to lay down the law to DH, as hard as that sounds. You say he supports you (I think you said the LC "was the only diet he thinks I should do), and yet his actions don't sound very supportive. This is your life and your health. Please excuse me if I'm getting too personal, but I see from your stats that you're around 300 pounds. You really need to get a handle on your weight before it causes serious health issues. Is DH in need of a low-carb lifestyle change also?

I say sneak it in. He wants real cheesecake? Fine. Make him a real cheesecake, but substitute Splenda (or SF flavored syrup) for half the sugar. Then next time, make it more Splenda and even less sugar. Pretty soon he'll be eating your low-carb desserts and not knowing the difference.

Try some new recipes. Any "diet" can get boring if you eat the same things every day. Mix it up. Try new recipes. You (and he) might be pleasantly surprised!

Hi again-
Ewinpa-yes, the prisms are jagged lines but also have rainbow colors as if you are looking thru a prism.
Still feeling a little shakey this afternoon-will probably snack on some almonds.

Songberrie-we also are on a fairly tight budget. I just gradually stopped adding potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.. a little at a time and now the kids dont even seem to miss them. You can also make a cheesecake and freeze the whole thing and just get out "your little slice" while the rest of the family is having "their little slices". Also, tell DH that you need to do this for your health in order to continue taking care of all that you do

Off again to do my nails for tonight

Your right, I need to just tell him this is the way for me to do it. Sometimes they will get treats, sometimes I get treats sometimes we all get treats. I love your idea of gradually reducing the sugar. I hadn't even thought of that! My dh has always been under weight, I've never had that problem, right now he's about the right weight. He doesn't really want to do low carb, but I've been adding more breakfasts meats for him so he doesn't feel left out. I have been really lucky that I haven't had any health problems because of my weight, but someone inspired me to loose weight again on a low carb diet. My dh old boss lost 80 lbs, and when I saw him, all I could think was, this is someone who loves food as much as me, and he did it, so I know I can. I decided not to think about it and just do it. I think it's easier now than when I did it a few years ago. It's more common, even fast food restaurants feature low carb burgers, and there are products in the store too.

I just read in a fitness magazine that they found that people that snacked on almonds everyday lost more weight than those that didn't. They thought it was something in the almonds that blocks the starch. I thought that was interesting. I'm going to have to get me some.

I've been listening to this tip show, and I can't remember who said they were going to go do their nails, but the show said to paint your nails with vinegar, let it dry then apply your polish, your polish will last longer.

I appreciate your support, I have a lot to loose, but I know I can do it!

Songberrie