The very-low carb thing DOES work. I have "lost" over 5 pounds since Monday. While intellectually I know that this is not REAL loss yet, it gives me a lot of encouragement to continue. We'll see if everything stays off next week when I add back in some starches. DB's weight is holding steady on his Week 2 with adding back starches so that is encouraging. :-)
I actually like eating like this (protein and green veggies)...don't miss too much at all. I have been mostly drinking on the weekend so not drinking during the week is not a big sacrifice. We almost always have a big salad for dinner during the week so that's not hard either. I like having small "meals" between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. I even had a business lunch yesterday and stayed totally with the program.
The one hard thing so far is that I AM hungry. I usually am careful not to get hungry because that makes me afraid I will overeat. On Monday, I was a cranky hungry monkey at dinner time. Yesterday was better. And, as DB says, he feels like when he's hungry it means the fat is burning off. I hope today will be even better. :-)
If I can be strong, it is clearly possible for me to get the 15 pounds off that I would like to before we go away. I must be strong.
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So, if I am understanding correctly - this is the sort of plan where it is down to almost NO carbs for the first week (I always think of this as carb awareness training) and then you add back slowly but stay down to a very low/reasonable amount of carbs (vs society's version of food plans that are WAY too heavy on carbs)?
I think I remember that you were low fat for the your first go around (the big loss). But what I am wondering - were you eating a disproportional amount of carbs regularly (now)?
And - also interested in example of what you (or DB) would have ordered/eaten at a social event before vs what you would eat now (with this plan)?
Add this on to my first paragraph - what is the difference between the kind of carbs that DB was eating vs what kinds he is adding back now (week 2) - ? And the kind that you were eating and will be adding back?
You go down to almost no carbs for the first week -- less than 20g per day. Obviously this limits you to lettuce, broccoli, mushrooms, cucumber and things like that on the veggie front. You also eat protein for every meal. The proportions are different for men and women but, in some cases, (our nighttime salad, for example) I actually am eating double the protein (we used to split a can of no-salt salmon or tuna and now we eat a whole can each).
When I lost The Big Weight, I did very low fat and that meant LOTS of carbs. I remember eating a ton of pasta and bread. That worked, but that was 15 years ago. I'm thinking that the older you get the more different things you have to pay attention to.
The weeks that follow, there is a routine for "carb-down" (one starch a day), "baseline" (two a day) and "carb-up" days. I'm not sure about all that yet because I'm taking one step at a time...reading the instructions in the book as we go. I think you can add fruits (which I don't care about AT ALL) in limited ways later.
The idea here is to fool your body into letting go of the fat...make it know that it will be getting SOME carbs, but not every day. I think it's a good THEORY and, once my weight is off, I think it will be something I will incorporate in my own way into my future eating.
DB was eating all kinds of carbs -- he'd even have Fritos, full-on Mexican and stuff like that for lunch sometimes (when I'm not around). He is much less aware of nutrition and what is in different foods than I am. But he is very good with the chemistry...so he's really relating to this book that we are reading and he can explain some to me.
I truly think our biggest downfall has been...BEER. We have just been drinking too much and too often. Getting rid of all those empty calories will help get the weight off...I have no doubt. BUT I'm also sure we'll add it back in...hopefully in a measured way...I did that last year after The Drastic and maintained until social activities of the holidays.
As to social life and eating...when we go out to eat, we are usually pretty healthy orderers...but with restaurant/processed food, you never know. We have traditionally eaten A LOT of sushi...the rice carbs and soy sauce now need to be sparing and/or a thing of the past. We went out last Saturday and DB got a very nice sashimi salad (just fish and salad). :-)
The carbs you add back are very specific in week 2 (not sure about the future) -- Ezekiel bread, rice, potatoes, oatmeal.
Mmmm. Beer.
I think that the first day of a new plan is the TOUGHEST. So Kudos to you for making it through the first two days.
that seems like an odd list of carbs to be their first choice for adding back. I can see the oatmeal - but I wonder what the thinking is with bread, rice and potatoes (do they mean WHITE potatoes)? I would have thought a very different list.
Another carb to "add back" is certain beans. The Ezekiel bread is very healthy, whole grain, low sodium. I don't remember all the carbs because I'm not there yet! ;-)
This is all very good to read (all of the comments too!).
Will write more -- catching up!
I posted this reply on Lynn's
http://lynnsweigh.blogspot.com/
maintenance blog today and thought you might like to read it.
My eyes caught your ‘normal’ wishes right away.
I remember writing a posting where I talked about the fact that I always had my eyes 'set' on 'normal' and Helen (college friend and now blogging buddy) http://hellysbelly.blogspot.com/
told me to stop and take a look at normal, that I seemed to be a little too hung up on my perception of normal.
And I did - I looked at normal everywhere I went.
And I thought about 'normal' as being
av•er•age (vr-j, vrj)
n.
1. Mathematics
a. A number that typifies a set of numbers of which it is a function.
b. See arithmetic mean.
2.
a. An intermediate level or degree: near the average in size.
b. The usual or ordinary kind or quality: Although the wines vary, the average is quite good.
So I looked at the usual choices people were making in food by looking in shopping carts.
And I looked at the typical body sizes that people had while waiting in line at the license bureau or a store.
And I looked at the quality of people's muscle tone and posture everywhere I went.
It was a week or two of looking at everyone EXCEPT me.
And my thoughts about wanting to be 'normal' have never been the same.
I don't want normal - I think I am above and beyond normal.
I think it will take 'normal' a good long while to understand and catch up with my (now) choices and life.
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