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Jun 12, 2004
People Who Snubbed Me In Past
Today I was asked whether there was someone I wanted to show up by losing all the weight I have to lose and I really thought about it.
I really am losing the weight jkust for myself ... funny but suddenly I do not care about any and all people who have snubbed me in the past. At the start of this weightloss journey I did care.
It is like being obese made me think that they were right and I should be ashamed so I seethed about things and resented these folks at the same time becoming a self-loathing people-pleaser. Losing the fat has let me out of prison. Those folks are no one to me anymore, lol!!!!
So, I will not snub them or make them feel as low as they made me feel ... because I am soooooooo much better than that ... and all of you are too!!!!
I say, Dazzle them with your grace!!!!!
Posted at 07:20 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jun 9, 2004
Binge Eating -- Problem Solving
In only the last two months, pretty much since I hit a weight that I have never weighed before which was under 165, I developed this problem. (I'm now at 146) I find myself obsessing over foods I normally do not eat - legal ones - and I binge. We are not talking normal overeating, we are talking about gorging myself until I am sick and can feel food coming back up on me - huge quantities of a food that is not meant to be eaten like that.
This always happens at night after I have eaten everything I have allowed myself for the day. Obviously it is not hunger. It is some kind of feeling of scarcity, or fear, or something like that. (As a child and teen, my mother used to shout "The Kitchen Is Closed!!" and she used to stalk me to make sure I was not eating so it may be resentment)
No matter how well I seem to do getting back on track, there is always a next time.
After thinking this through, I realized each time, it is the same foods - my comfort foods?:
peanuts (dh's)
morningstart bars (dh's)
Lowcarb cereal
cheese
sf chocolate (no more of that in the house!)
So, I have come up with a new plan, when I am having these urges, I will allow myself an extra lc OWL meal that I like. Something like:
Cheese Omelette with broccoli
Salad with oil/vinegar, eggs, shrimp
Fried Tofu with veggies and sauce
etc.
I am going to try to start cooking one of these the minute I feel like I cannot get a hold of my feelings.
Last night, I had the feelings but I munched on a couple of leaves of raw collard greens and got into bed with a book and before I knew it I was sleepy. If that can work I won't start making an OWL meal, but if I feel like I am losing control, I will ..
It'll up my carbs and calories for the day, but I will still be under my basal metabolic rate ..
Here's hoping it works!!!!
Posted at 03:57 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jun 5, 2004
My Modified Fat Fast Menu ...
I was asked for a sample of my fat fast menu by one of my online weightloss buddies. This is it complete with a few recipes. I made up the "sandwiches" myself so they may be a bit weird for most people ... Lately I have eaten the same meals day after day, lol!
Here's the Modified Fat Fast menu that I use:
Breakfast:
Peanut Butter Pudding
Decaf with 1T cream
Lunch:
Avocado Shrimp "sandwich"
Water
Snack:
Peanut Butter Pudding
Decaf with 1T cream
Dinner:
Fat Fast Enchilada
Water
Snack:
Peanut Butter Pudding
Herbal Tea with Davincis
Peanut Butter Pudding
1 oz cream cheese
1 T peanut Butter (I use the lowcarb)
Coconut Davincis
PB Davincis
I heat the cream cheese and peanut butter slightly in the microwave and then cream it together. Now I slowly add davincis syrup, mixing as I go so it stays creamy not lumpy until I get the consistency I like.
When I am done, I heat it a little more 'cause I like mine warm
Avocado Shrimp Sandwich
1/2 avocado
1T basil pesto (Pastene brand)
5 Large Shrimp
Large Lettuce Leaf
Mash the 1/2 avocado with 1T basil pesto. Heat til warm, Spoon into a large iceberg lettuce leaf. add 5-10 chopped Shrimp (also warm). Roll up and eat like a wrap.
Fat Fast Enchilada
2 Large Lettuce Leaves (I prefer iceberg for wraps)
1.5 oz cheddar cheese
1 oz cream cheese
2 T salsa (I use Paul Newman's Garlic salsa)
Lay the smaller lettuce leaf on a plate. Layer with cheddar and cream cheese. Now zap in the microwave for 25 secs. Take it out and spread the cream cheese kinda evenly.
Spoon the salsa on top of the cheese mixture. Heat again in microwave a bit.
Now the lettuce will be a bit wilted, so fold up the lettuce roll and placve the whole thing in a second crisp lettuce leaf. Eat with plenty of napkins
Posted at 08:34 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jun 4, 2004
Losing 20lbs w/o Really Trying
Well, my dh has lost 20 lbs this past year without really trying - although he knew what I was doing and did buy into it. He does exercise regularly so of course that helped immensely, I am sure!
What we did for him was really not Atkins per se but lower carb and over the course of a year it has worked. Just changing some of his sugary carby foods for lower carb ones has done its magic. It is almost like he is on maintenance levels:
Breakfast:
Atkins morningstart bar
cup coffee with cream
Lunch:
Packed lunch
meat and cheese sandwich on 12 grain bread
Peanuts
sugarfree yogourt
apple
Dinner:
A normal meat and veg dinner with a side of rice or potatoes BUT the starch portion would be rather small and the meat and veggies portion would be quite big.
Snacks:
Peanuts (and he eats a lot of them!)
Apples
Occasional banana
Sugarfree Yogourt
(you could also do an occasional Beef Jerky)
Eating Out:
He gets whatever he wants including the bad stuff, but if he is ordering fries, he won't get dessert for example. Or if he wants dessert, he'll just have the meat and veg during the meal.
I think when someone doesn't really doesn't want to be on a "diet," they shouldn't have to be. Not everyone can do it the tough way like we are doing for maximum loss in minimum amount of time .... Heck, if we had gotten control of our lives years ago, we wouldn't have had such a huge task ahead of us! But that's water under the bridge, so to speak.
Anything you can do today, can make your tomorrows better.
Posted at 08:07 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jun 3, 2004
My Menus ...
A few people have asked me for "my menus" ... Well, I am no model or poster child for how someone should eat!!! In my case, in fact, you might want to study what i eat to see what a person should not do ...
Also, I exercise every day. OK, it is only 35 minutes day, but emulating what I eat, etc is going to be less effective for 99.9% of people than getting serious about your exercise. Seriously. If you are not exercising religiously, do not even read the rest of my post. The exercise is more magic than any possible food combination.
As far as food, my food has changed every few months based on what I saw my weight doing etc. For my induction and probably the first month or so I ate like 1800-1900 calories, 20 carbs, 55% fat.
From there I moved on to OWL 1250 calories a day, 20 carbs, 60% fat. I based this number on what my BMR would be at goal weight. Since I am not only short, but also actually have a wrist measurement waaaaay under the size "small" frame, my goal weight is pretty low - 115-125. At goal, to maintain weight, I will eat like 2000 calories!!! What am I trying to say? 1250 calories is going to be too low for most of you out there who are taller, bigger boned than I am - which is pretty much most of the population.
While on OWL at that calorie level, I would eat a morningstart bar for breakfast and a sf chocolate bar after lunch EVERY DAY - This is definitely not for everyone. I think it may tend to stall most people!! and I believe it is a prominent item on the stall buster list! LOL!
I did find that all lc wheat products and lc milk/yogourt do stall me. I really think you have to find your own way.
In the last two months I had a month-long stall and decided to do fat fast. I found the 1000 calorie limit really hard and so I decided to try the modified fat fast (MFF). It worked really well for me, so lately I have been doing MFF for 5-6 days a week and then an OWL meal or two over the weekend with the rest of the day MFF.
basically, I have just altered what I eat as needed. Each of us is a living experiment as far as i see and we will not lose at the same rate. We're just different people with different metabolisms, etc. Heck, I only lost 6 lbs on induction!!!!
Posted at 08:23 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jun 2, 2004
One Year on Atkins! 91 Pounds Gone!
I think this may have been the best year of my life ... I have never been on any weightloss program/diet for an entire year without cheating. I have never been able to stick with any diet or exercise regime. I have never lost this much weight before. Hell, even as a child (!!!) I have never been this close to the "healthy weight" category.
When I see that number in my stats I have to do a double take. That is only 10 pounds above my original goal weight! Not only does it blow my mind ... People around me just stare and stare. Folks who haven't seen me in a while gape and say, "You look like a different person."
Hell Yeah! 91 pounds later and I am a different person and I can equally credit the incredible Dr. Atkins himself and my friends on the Century Club at lowcarbfriends.com. Without that place to check into each day and my friends to help me work through my thoughts, hopes, and dreams I do not think I would be where I am today.
I just do not have a few hundred friends with 100+ pounds to lose in real life!! I cannot tell you how much it means to me that those people have been there for me all year. I really am so very very grateful -- I feel as if I have a couple of hundred new best friends.
I have between 20-30 lbs more to lose, but I already feel as if I have won this fight -- because all of this is a habit now. Yes there are some struggles, but for the most part, this is just the way I eat, the way I start my day (exercise) -- not any superhuman feat of self-denial or torture ...
Posted at 07:34 pm by TadaTheVeg
May 23, 2004
Struggle
This is a struggle. This is not easy. If it was easy, I would have solved the problem 35 or so years ago.
Who knows truly why we overeat, why we allow an instantaneous impulse to stand in the way of all the progress we have made, all our hard work. All we can do is to do our best to stay vigilant.
I do not think that my occasional binge is going to stop once I lose all the weight - no matter what I do. I think compulsive/emotional eating is a problem I will live with for the rest of my life -- like alcoholism.
Hopefully now though, I have the tools to get me back on track immediately and realize that one mistake will not ruin everything unless I allow it to so so ...
We will conquer this!!!!!!!!!!!!!
p.s. Who knows? Maybe at some point I will consult a psychiatrist to help me learn about my destructive behaviours and to see whether I am coping with it properly. This is life and death for those of us with this much weight to lose.
Posted at 08:19 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jan 4, 2004
Atkins As A Vegetarian
Induction is very limiting for an ovo-lacto vegetarian. i did eat tofu, cheese and eggs on induction. Unfortunately i did not realize the full scope of the induction-worthy foods I could prepare until much later (see ideas below!)
Key to doing Atkins as a vegetarian is to remember, you want your protein portion bigger and your veggie portion will be smaller -- on OWL, you can eat more veggies.
Proteins: Cheese, eggs, tofu, tempeh, some veggie burgers, some fake veggie "meats" (hotfdogs, etc), wheat seitan, quorn (mushroom protein), Nuts (AFTER Induction).
As far as tempeh, be careful to make sure you eat all-soy tempeh. Many of them have grains in them!!! so check the carb count on the back. if it is similar to tofu carb count, that's the one you want.
Here is a list of ovo-lacto vegetarian meals that are Atkins legal. The items with stars are induction-worthy:
-Sandwiches made in a lettuce wrap or raw collard green wrap (my current favorite .5 c cheddar, 1 oz cream cheese, 2T salsa melted in a lettuce leaf. Wrap a second lettuce leaf around that)
-Sandwiches made with homemade "spinach bread" See recipe below.
* stirfried tofu + vegetables with soy sauce or lc hoisin sauce (made by Steele - not induction)
* greek salad with feta, olives, hardboiled egg - you could even throw some tofu or almonds(not induction) in.
* Omelette with cheddar cheese or Swiss Jarlsberg Cheese or veggies
* Spinach or Broccoli Quiche - either egg-based or tofu-based
- Swiss Cheese and Spinach melt on lowcarb bread or spinach "bread" recipe (see below)
- Portobello Mushie sandwich with cheese
* Eggplant parmesan (I dip eggplant slices in egg, fry em up, eat with cheese on top and/or a tiny amount of tomato sauce.)
- Lasagna made with cabbage leaves as noodles (recipe on recipe board)
* Miso Soup with Tofu
- Vegetable soups, like cream of broccoli made with vegetarian bouillon (mine is 1 carb per cube)
- Fried Tofu with Lowcarb peanut sauce (also made by Steele) and cauliflower "rice"
- Sheratake Noodles with alfredo sauce or sauteed roasted vegetables and parmesan, or LC tomato sauce
* Spaghetti Squash instead of noodles with a creamy tomato sauce and stirfried tofu (one of my favorites!)
- lowcarb Tortillas with stirfried tofu and spices, cheddar, lettuce, etc etc (you can also use the "spinach bread" or fried cheese base for the tortillas)
- Vegetarian fajitas wrapped in lettuce leaf wrap or raw collard green wrap
- Cheese and veg quesadillas using the LC tortillas or other options above
* Indian food! Like Saag Paneer - use either the paneer cheese or substitut stirfried tofu- yum!!
- Pizza with LC Tortilla or spinach bread recipe as a pizza base or check out all the pizza recipes on the recipe board
* use vegetarian soy fake hamburger for the meaty recipes from the recipe board
* Check out the "quorn" products at the healthfood store - a protein derived from mushrooms.
- black soybeans are a good alternative for beans in chilis as they are lower carb. Also add some crumbled tofu or fake hamburger.
* Check out the cauliflower recipes on the Recipe board for fake mashed potatoes and for fake fried rice. I like to serve different concoctions over these as you would with rice or noodles ...
- Do not forget nuts as a protein source. There are many recipes for nut roasts (mostly from the uk). They are like a meatloaf made of nuts, lol! I am sure you could tweak to make lc.
- All-soy tempeh .. but beware of the tempeh with grains in it it is higher carb.
At restaurants, order either: 1. eggs, omelettes, etc and a vegetable, or 2. A big salad like a Cobb salad minus the turkey or chicken and bacon. 3. Ask for pasta dish minus the pasta, have them put the sauce over a plate of steamed veggies, 4. Stirfried tofu at the Chinese 5. Saag Paneer and other dishes at indian restaurants
hth! If I can help in any other way, feel free to contact me
******Spinach Bread******
Butter for greasing baking dish
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach - thawed and drained
4 large eggs - beaten
1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 8x8 glass baking dish.
Mix together spinach, eggs, garlic and season with salt and pepper.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 15 minutes until mixture is set.
Allow to cool slightly. Cut into 4 squares.
Use spatula to remove squares from pan.
Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
Variation: To make a whole loaf of this bread, triple the ingredients and
pour into well buttered loaf pan. Place pan on baking sheet and bake for 1
hour and 15 minutes at 350 degrees. A whole loaf will yield 12 slices. Use
what you need and wrap well and freeze extra slices or loaves.
Quote from Suzanne: This is a must-try recipe. I consider it one of the
cornerstone recipes of this book. I have given you two ways to make this
bread-- in a glass baking dish or tripling the recipe and making it in a
loaf pan. It takes longer to cook in the loaf pan, but you end up with a
whole loaf of bread that you can slice and freeze. Then you have spinach
"bread" for a whole variety of sandwiches. Try my green eggs and ham recipe
(p.181), or invent some of your own.
Also make sure you get all the water out of the spinach or you won't get it
to turn into a dry loaf! You can also try with half the eggs called for …
The total carb count: Carbs: 11, Fiber 7, Calories 430, Protein 39 and Fat
20
Per slice (4 slices): 1 net carb, 107 calories
My tweaks:
I have been making this using 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites in order to
lower the calories since I am eating very low-cal as well as lowcarb. I
upped the crushed garlic to .5 teaspoon since it wasn't garlic-y enough for
me, lol! and swapped out the salt for garlic salt. I also use a larger pan
- - -- like 13x9 and it comes out nice and thin for a pizza crust.
Posted at 08:49 pm by TadaTheVeg
Jul 11, 2003
I Was A Sceptic
I did not enter this with a defeatist attitude, but I must say that after past dismal failures, I just had a huge fear that this time would be the same . . .
For that very reason, I have not "dieted" in about 10 years!!!!! Despite weighing over 220 for most of that time. The reason?
I was convinced by experts of the low fat high carb truth . . and about 12 years ago I lost 60 lbs - got down to 160, was running 10k races, was looking pretty darned good and I hit a plateau, was hungry all the time on the lowfat thing, quit running, quit dieting and gained everything back!
2 children later and here I am!! After a few weeks of Atkins I am a total convert! And I feel like you do - I will never cheat! This is just way too easy!!
But, I do understand how the beginners feel . . after that last major attempt I mentioned above, I totally gave up for a looooong time and to have faith in a new woe took a bit of time. I think they'll all get there eventually!
Posted at 09:03 pm by TadaTheVeg
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