Or at least the tight outline. You’ll see the word count bounce around as I replace ‘outline’ with finished text.
You’ll note I’m down another pound: this one has been a battle. But we’re there. Lower weight than any time since the 1980’s. And halfway to the goal.
We’ve been good. We’ve been at this since March. It didn’t come on easily, so it’s not going to go off easily. We started off with the Atkins frozen meals, and have graduated to actual cooking, within limits.
What we’re doing: since March, we’ve limited carb intake to 20 carbs a day, and those carbs from green vegetables. We’ve coupled this with doctor visits and careful attention (usually) to vitamins and minerals that might be shorted by cutting out almost all starches, which is the big difference. As long as our protein level is high, and our starch level is low, and carbs are around 20, we don’t have hunger-attacks. Seems to be a trigger mechanism in, perhaps, blood sugar. Whatever it is, we don’t often feel hungry and we’re able to avoid snacking.
We’d be ahead of the game now if we hadn’t started off allowing nuts as a snack. That’s not a good thing, and they have carbs. We cut that out. We did get the Soda Stream machine, so we can have soda whenever we like…and Soda Stream uses Splenda, which is allowable for Atkins: it doesn’t have a blood-sugar rebound, for those that can tolerate it. I don’t get along with their lime flavor in anything: it gives me an upset stomach. But then most artificial flavors don’t work for me: many taste ‘off’. The one delight is their diet root beer, which helps me cut off cravings if they start. Jane likes it too, and she doesn’t like modern root beer. (This is much more like the old-fashioned stuff.)
What we’re doing now. We found some little diet cakes from Dixie Diner, mixes that produce a piece of cake that’s under 4 carbs for a tasty ‘sometime’ treat. Again—not to get carried away with. But when we MUST have a sweet. These are iced with Splenda-sugared cream cheese with vanilla, and refrigerated after baking. One 8″ pan produces 9 little cakes. Occasionally we have dry Champagne, when we need a break. Otherwise no alcohol.
Breakfast: 3 Jimmy Dean sausage links and a scrambled egg. Each. No carbs.
Lunch: an Akins frozen dinner (4-5 carbs) or an Atkins diet bar (4 carbs) [Peanut and chocolate.]
Dinner: 1 piece breaded white fish, with tartar sauce made of dill and mayo and lime juice, 1/2 packet steamed broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, green beans, etc. about 18 carbs.
or: half a cup of chicken pieces (grilled) with cheese and jalapenos, and veggies; about 12 carbs
or: a no-bun bacon cheeseburger with veggies, 12 carbs. [The carbs are all from the veggies.]
Dessert, occasional, a snack cake, 4 carbs.
On this, we’ve been losing a pound a week or a pound over 2 weeks, gradually inching down. It’s not grand cuisine, but we’re healthy, even healthier—climbing stairs has become, for me, an of course, not an oh-my-God; and I’m comfy in my skinny jeans, at a 14.
I think we can sort of keep this up indefinitely. We’re headed for party-season, in which Jane and I both have birthdays…and then Thanksgiving…and then Christmas…and then New Years. The fact we can have Champagne without diet disaster is good. These little cakes help. But we may venture as far as a cheese cake, or if we’re really bad, a cream pie.
Tell you one thing—cheat on this diet—and you will feel it. You go out and eat something laden with sugar and starch—and within thirty minutes your body is saying to you, oh, no, that was not such a good idea. Oh, dear. Oh, my, I’m not feeling so good. You feel like you did when you ate the whole box of your mother’s Valentine chocolates. And that restrains you from doing it again soon.
I think the best course for birthdays is going to be a nice peppercorn steak, a small baked potato and salad, and a cheesecake dessert, or only a part of a helping.
Great! Massive congrats to you both.
I’m down about 40lbs since the beginning of December and now have to get that last 1 and-a-bit pounds off to make maintenance in Weight Watchers. Then another 6 weeks after that, keeping my weight +/- 2lbs of the goal and I’ll be lifetime with free access to all the tools as long as I stay less than 2lbs over goal.
This last little bit is unbelievably slow (age doesn’t help one iota).
Can you modify South Beach recipes for your allergies? I’ve found Kalyn’s Kitchen at http://www.kalynskitchen.org has some good ideas.
Drat – http://www.kalynskitchen.com
Yes. Our favorite is the ricotta dessert, perfectly legal: ricotta cheese in a cup, having been stirred with bits of nuts, vanilla, maple flavoring, sugar free latte syrup, real unsweetened (buy it in bulk) coconut [great moderation] or a dose of sugarfree jam, then chilled within an inch of freezing. Unfortunately we can’t have the beans (starch) or the barbecue sauce [I have one good one that is no carb] and Jane can’t eat tomatoes [much], olives [at all], and you can practically tick off everything in Italian or Greek cuisine, Jane has a gag reflex—except for what you’d put on a pizza or over spaghetti, and can’t tolerate all of that, either.
I’ve found a fat free feta cheese that is really yummy (for fat free, of course). All other fat free cheeses are quite revolting. I’ve been enjoying a lot of Greek salads.
I came across some great South African peppers (www.peppadewusa.com) called, of course Peppadew. I’ve no idea if they are related to the ones you can’t tolerate. If they’re not related you should look out for them. The Peppadew Gold are mild hot and sweet. They’re in Reasor’s here (Reasor’s is a regional OK grocery chain – 50 years old this year and started in Tahlequah).
My wife and I are trying the 5:2 diet, I’ve lost about 5 lbs in 2 weeks and she is losing as well. So far, so good, and not too hard to live with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5:2_diet
Me too! (Though I can’t conveniently get to 600, but can to ~700 and figger that’s close enough.)
Sigh, I hate food allergies. Being allergic to dairy protein, (both egg protein and milk protein) the majority of low carb diets just don’t cut it. I’d REALLY be in trouble though without onion and garlic, I’m very definitely NOT vampire!
Doc put me on blood pressure meds with a diuretic. That was good for a quick ~8lbs. But the during the summer when I have to work outside, the diuretic was making me somewhat dehydrated. 🙁 It also has some interaction effects with an anticholinergic I sometimes take for IBS. 🙁 For my developing scoliosis I may take NSAIDS, and the sheet says in that combination this diuretic can cause renal failure! 🙁 🙁 I started cutting the tablets in half, got most of my 8# back, but Doc & I are gonna talk soon!
I think that’s a good idea. There are a lot of diuretics. Be a little careful of the OTC ones, that contain Bear Grapes (uvi ursi) —that one gives me racing heartbeat and tunnel vision, real scary stuff. Also just drinking herbal teas can have a diuretic effect: he likely wouldn’t like you on high caffeine. but ask him about things you can drink that would be good.
We both take meds that *require* us to consume a certain amount of food and carbs, so the really calorie-restricting diets aren’t too helpful for us. I can’t tolerate any of the no-carb sweeteners, either, but found some years ago that doing without sweets was easier than expected (we still have occasional treats). So, I’m more on the “shed 1/2 or 1 pound per month” diet, and am rather pleased when the scale simply doesn’t venture upwards.
It helps that I like to cook and we have access to a great CSA.
In addition, we’ve increased our physical activity, so we’re changing the fat:muscle ratio, which also affects the weight.
As a result, we measure success more by how clothes fit and how we feel than by what the scale says. My arms and shoulders have bulked up a bit, of course, but I don’t mind that change.
Congrats to both of you for adhering to the life style that helps you reach your goal!