Cutting the Carbs in the NEW YEAR!!! - Page 2

[lil_earthmomma]

Today has been a hard day. I'm surrounded by little bags of candy, chocolates and left over cake and whipped cream. AURGH!

I've eaten:

2 poached eggs, which I poached in cream, diced jalapenos, spices and chopped spinach and a tbsp of creamcheese. Super yummy!!!
Some bacon cooked with diced garlic dipped in dijon mustard. (I know, I'm weird.)

So then I was fine for the entire afternoon, but started thinking about the boxes of chocolates, and even the jar of nutella in the pantry was calling my name. I needed to resist the thoughts of "Oh, well I'll just start tomorrow instead..." so I cooked up some more bacon and garlic, and I feel good again.\

I may make myself a "milkshake" with a banana, some frozen raspberries and heavy cream later tonight.

[crunchy_mama]

Today was my feast day, although honestly I felt like I over did it with the carbs. I was trying to live it up a bit, but didn't feel like it too much.

b-fast l and lunch - low sugar version choco coconut flour muffins 4-5 maybe- some homemade sausage and bacon
snack- sauteed kale and onions and dark chocolate (weird huh?)
supper- salmon and stirfry veggies- homemade sauce w/ some fresh ginger, garlic,crushed red pepper, sea salt, a bit of balsalmic vinegar, bit of blackstrap molasses and a bit of all natural pb

still waiting for a chance to workout this evening- it will happen at some point even if I have to wait for dh to come home!

Oh, and I am lol'ing a bit at the other pantry lists, I was trying to type one handed earlier, so it was a bit brief. I have lots of nuts and seeds as well, coco, almond flour, cocoa, stevia and I don't remember what else. Mostly I try to eat meat, veggies and fat. Baked goods are a once a week thing and fruit usually a couple of times a week.

[crunchy_mama]

on the If'ing I don't think it works well until you work yourself down to pretty darn low carb. It didn't work for me on just grain free. However, grain free now w/ maybe a few servings of fruit per week, at most 1 serving of nuts/seeds per day. tubers only on rare occasion. It wasn't until I dropped it down that low that I was able to have my blood sugar stay stabilized better w/out eating so much and so often.

[Violet2]

Reporting in...

So far so good. Yesterday was better than all the days before even with a few cheats. Progress although not perfection

I ate:

Spinach feta egg 'muffins'
1 bite of pumpkin/banana flaxseed muffins with dried cherries. Yummy!
taco salad
cornish hens roasted with lemon, garlic and rosemary w/ green beans on the side
LC ice cream with homemade chocolate sauce (the full sugar, bad for you kind)

I've been wondering if I could make the pumpkin muffins with coconut flour and some homemade unsweetened applesauce to make it low carb???

AND I worked out. Late--finished at 11pm but I did it and no one wanted me to either. DH wanted to go to bed and told me to throw in the towel. The elliptical's batteries died so I had to change workouts midstream, but I did it. I feel so good today.

Now I just need to eliminate the cheats and exercise my brains out b/c it appears I have some low level hypertension going now which I am sure is because I am/have been sooooo out of shape since Dd was born.

ETA: I sprinkled almonds on the taco salad for crunch and it was delish. A great substitute for taco chips.

V

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

Today was my feast day, although honestly I felt like I over did it with the carbs. I was trying to live it up a bit, but didn't feel like it too much.

b-fast l and lunch - low sugar version choco coconut flour muffins 4-5 maybe- some homemade sausage and bacon
snack- sauteed kale and onions and dark chocolate (weird huh?)
supper- salmon and stirfry veggies- homemade sauce w/ some fresh ginger, garlic,crushed red pepper, sea salt, a bit of balsalmic vinegar, bit of blackstrap molasses and a bit of all natural pb

still waiting for a chance to workout this evening- it will happen at some point even if I have to wait for dh to come home!

Oh, and I am lol'ing a bit at the other pantry lists, I was trying to type one handed earlier, so it was a bit brief. I have lots of nuts and seeds as well, coco, almond flour, cocoa, stevia and I don't remember what else. Mostly I try to eat meat, veggies and fat. Baked goods are a once a week thing and fruit usually a couple of times a week.

Do you have a recipe for the coconut muffins? I've not cooked with coconut flour before and am interested in doing so.

V

[greenmom4]

I'm in. I fell off the wagon big time over the holidays but I'm ready to get back on now. I just feel like I'm not doing things quite right. I haven't seen super amazing results and I feel like I should be seeing more changes than I am. I'm going to take measurements tonight because the scale annoys me; there is just so much fluctuation day to day, it doesn't make sense.

I'm also going to try and use fitday for awhile and see if that helps.

Today's meals:

B: coffee w/ cream, Greek yogurt w/ pumpkin seeds
L: Leftover pork roast, roasted green beans
D: Not sure yet.

I'm also headed back to the gym today (I'm sure it will be mobbed, not looking forward to that). I'm trying to decide whether I want to restart C25K or just stick with lifting and yoga for now.

[425lisamarie]

Wow some yummy food ideas! I posted on the TF forum how I make fruit purees and cook them down for sweetner.....

I made myself an egg, flax, almond "flour," coconut oil, and banana pancake thing for breakfast as always. Then I spread more almond butter and coconut oil on top after frying it in coconut oil.

Heavy workout today, deadlifts, bench press and abs, and some cardio after so I'll need a good meal later and will make a smoothie and have a homemade protein bar.

I have some date/apple puree that I'm going to make some new snack bars for the kids with. I dip the tops in good quality melted chocoate and they LOVE them, it makes them look like those rip off protein bars you can buy.

For dinner tonight I'm making veggie "chips" and chicken burgers, sans the bun for me. I use sweet potatoes and I have a couple rutabagas so I will slice them in the food processor, then toss in a bowl with coconut oil, a little garlic oil (less of a bit then powder), paprika, salt and pepper, and bake. DD eats an eats and licks her fingers after them!

[mommathea]

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Edited by mommathea - 5/11/11 at 4:42pm

[wendyland]

I'm so behind! I just found this thread. I've been nearly sugar and grain free for 4 days. I've allowed myself very small amounts each day to wean myself. Day 2 was so hard. Yesterday was pretty easy, but today has been a little hard. I'm not having any problems with temptation or cravings, but I've had withdrawal headaches and generally feel like my blood sugar is low. I've trying to eat often and eat more veggies. Tomorrow will be my first day without any sugar or grains all day.

Now, I'll have to read the rest of the posts to catch up. I'm so excited about this way of eating!

[crunchy_mama]

hey guys! well- I had my first 24 hr fast, although not willingly. sigh.... I caught the stomach flu dd had yesterday, so was puking my guts out. I didn't even make it out of bed until 6 p last night and that was to take a bath and lay on the couch and then to bed at 8:30! Nasty stuff! so, obviously no working out for me, I could barely walk. Feeling like a human again today, thank goodness.

I ate just a bit before bed last night:
taco salad- ie home seasoned grassfed beef w/ chopped tomatoes- over lettuce, w/ sliced black olives, avocado, and salsa (I am so going to have to try that w/ some almonds sounds yummy!)

oh, the coconut flour muffins are from Fife's cookbook, will try to post sometime.

OH, and I tested my pushups(standard) Sunday ....sigh...2.....very depressing. I am sure I couldn't even pull off half of a pullup so haven't tried that. Dh's fitness competition starts in 1.5 weeks so hopefully we can start some more intense workouts then. My endurance and strength although not good now seem to be returning fairly quickly. I notice improvements every day. I am hoping we can start back on some CF workouts or p90x.

[Violet2]

Oh the stomach flu sucks! Esp when LCing. I remember I had it while doing a protein sparing fast with an endocrinologist. I just sucked on frozen blueberries all day b/c I didn't want the sugar in Sprite and couldn't stomach diet.

The nutritionist gave me the ol' stink eye about the blueberries and I was like, are you kidding me? I had maybe 1/2 cup and nothing else for 36 hours. Bite me.

Anyway, hope you feel better!

What is Fife's cookbook? Is it on Amazon? I would like to look at it. I've been looking at coconut recipes and am wary. Does it really taste good? So many eggs are used, how does it not taste eggy??? Could I just use unsweetened coconut and run it through a food processor to make flour???

Yesterday went well, even less sugar than the day before. I notice it takes me a few days to get completely clean.

Spinach/egg/feta muffins
Salad with chicken and almonds
Vienerschnitzl and peas (not the best LC meal but I had small portions)
LC ice cream with more hot fudge sauce (the last of it!)

30 minutes on the elliptical.

And I need to call an endocrinologist. I have better health insurance this year and can go back to someone who, I hope, can help me with the hormonal mess that causes me to be so sensitive to the weight gain effects of sugar.

This morning I didn't get bfast as I was trying to corral an unruly & uncooperative toddler who needed to go take pictures with grandma (and Dd refused to smile and was just oppositional ALL dang morning). So my blood sugar nose dived from the lack of food and I got super cranky and have finally eaten, even had some dried cherries for the sugar and I'm still in a foul mood. Hope that passes soon.

V

[babygrant]

Back on track today!!!!

Breakfast: spinach, feta, and scrambled egg

Lunch: big salad. Mixed greens, crumbled bacon, little bit of green pepper, red pepper, celery, bean sprouts, homemade honey mustard dressing

Dinner: bacon wrapped venison, some sort of veggie - I haven't decided yet.

IF I choose a snack it will be hardboiled eggs and mixed nuts.

Workout: Biggest Loser Wii, hill climbing on my treadmill.

[crunchy_mama]

It is The Coconut Flour cookbook- there are sample recipes around the internet as well. I have to ask the nutritionist was made you ate blueberries instead of sprite, weird. I had some Vitamin 10 water, which is sweetened w/ stevia and sugar alcohols, which I am not a huge fan of, but knew that something real sugary would kill me and by golly that sounded good and after wretching my guts up I thought what the hell

I am noticing that I just keep gravitating lower and lower carb as well. I am just going with it and trying to listen to my body, I figure I cannot go wrong there.

I have to ask what is veinerschneitzel(sp?) always wondered that. Oh, and we did pics a couple of weeks ago w/ the kids. It is impossible I think to get 3 kids looking at the camera let alone smiling. So not fun! I feel for you!

I still don't have much of an appetite here, but it is hard to say as my appetite hasn't been real huge lately anyway. Had some 2 fried eggs and a homemade sausage patty, a bit of dark chocolate and almonds. So, about 20 g carbs today so far. Getting ready for lunch here, will be salmon and stirfry or taco salad. I plan on working out this evening, I think I will be up to it as I am feeling pretty fine today, not quite 100%, but pretty good.

[wendyland]

I just had my first social lunch outting on my new way of eating. We went to a mexican restaurant. I can't believe it didn't bother me not eating chips. I've been keeping my mind on the big prize. I ended up ordering chicken/steak fajitas, but without the fixings or tortillas. Then, I got a salad on the side. The waiter thought I was a little weird, but it was really good.

Dinner tonight will be spaghetti squash with arrabiata sauce and meatballs.

Does anyone count their calories as well as carbs? I've been putting my info in thedailyplate and feel like it takes a lot of effort to get above 1200 calories unless I add a lot of oils. This is so weird since I used to not be satisfied even on 1800 cal. a day.

[JTA Mom]

It's weigh in day for me!

Week 7, day 7
Starting weight: 199.5
Last week's weight: 197.5
This week: 195.0
Lost this week: 2.5
Total lost: 4.5

Yay, I lost the weight I gained the last two weeks PLUS some!!! WOOOOOOTTT!!!!

And this was after a big fight dh & I had yesterday. I had 2 squares of chocolate and a handful of blackberries in consolation. Argh, sometimes I wish there was a 'smack sense' stick I could use.

This week, I'm going to stick to the diet (again). I'm not sure about exercise. Yesterday really threw me for a loop. I still don't feel totally on 'balance'. We still have a lot of talking to do, and I'm not sure I can (nicely) deal with the hordes at the gym. It's hard. Before I would have buried myself in food. Now I can't (well, I can, but seriously, eggs are not comfort food) and I'm feeling restless. How do you guys work out your emotions when eating them is no longer an option?

Originally Posted by greenmom4

I'm in. I fell off the wagon big time over the holidays but I'm ready to get back on now. I just feel like I'm not doing things quite right. I haven't seen super amazing results and I feel like I should be seeing more changes than I am. I'm going to take measurements tonight because the scale annoys me; there is just so much fluctuation day to day, it doesn't make sense.

What results are you looking for? Also, what program (if any) are you following? The scale fluctuates for me daily too. So I only pick one day a week where it 'counts', which is Tuesdays. I might weigh lower or higher all week, but it doesn't matter unless it's Tuesday. Day to day it's too easy to get lost in the trees. Week to week you can start seeing the forest.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

hey guys! well- I had my first 24 hr fast, although not willingly. sigh.... I caught the stomach flu dd had yesterday, so was puking my guts out. I didn't even make it out of bed until 6 p last night and that was to take a bath and lay on the couch and then to bed at 8:30! Nasty stuff! so, obviously no working out for me, I could barely walk. Feeling like a human again today, thank goodness.
OH, and I tested my pushups(standard) Sunday ....sigh...2.....very depressing. I am sure I couldn't even pull off half of a pullup so haven't tried that. Dh's fitness competition starts in 1.5 weeks so hopefully we can start some more intense workouts then. My endurance and strength although not good now seem to be returning fairly quickly. I notice improvements every day. I am hoping we can start back on some CF workouts or p90x.

I'm glad you are feeling better! I remember of all the illnesses I could get, I hated.hated.hated the stomach flu the most. Not only are you feeling weak and sick but you have to spend energy puking.

Hey, right now I can only do 1 standard push up. I can do more 'girly' (knees) push ups. I've never been able to do a pull up. I want to be able to do at least one this year. I know the gym has an assist machine, so I will be hitting that.

Originally Posted by Violet2

And I need to call an endocrinologist. I have better health insurance this year and can go back to someone who, I hope, can help me with the hormonal mess that causes me to be so sensitive to the weight gain effects of sugar.

This morning I didn't get bfast as I was trying to corral an unruly & uncooperative toddler who needed to go take pictures with grandma (and Dd refused to smile and was just oppositional ALL dang morning). So my blood sugar nose dived from the lack of food and I got super cranky and have finally eaten, even had some dried cherries for the sugar and I'm still in a foul mood. Hope that passes soon.

V

How many carbs are you getting a day? I've noticed that if I stay under 20g, I can skip meals without blood sugar crashes. And this is from the girl who would start getting the shakes if she didn't eat every 2-3hrs! As for doctors and food stink eyes, ugh! I had a nutritionist berate me once for not eating enough veggies--during my first trimester. She didn't get that getting water to stay down was an effort, so spinach and carrots were a bit, shall we say, out of my league.

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I am noticing that I just keep gravitating lower and lower carb as well. I am just going with it and trying to listen to my body, I figure I cannot go wrong there.

Same here. I just feel better lower carb. No hypoglycemic issues, no tiredness issues. It's wonderful!

Originally Posted by wendyland

Does anyone count their calories as well as carbs? I've been putting my info in thedailyplate and feel like it takes a lot of effort to get above 1200 calories unless I add a lot of oils. This is so weird since I used to not be satisfied even on 1800 cal. a day.

I used to count calories. But the weeks where I didn't count, I lost more than the weeks where I did count. I have a history of binge/starvation eating issues, and calories, no matter how well I start out, are a control thing for me, where I keep trying to go lower and lower. It's a mind thing for me. Although I too noticed that I felt a lot more satisfied on fewer calories. I could stay at 1200 (with just headaches from too little food) and feel 'full' whereas I felt constant hunger when eating Weight Watchers at 1500 calories a day.

Btw, your Mexican dinner sounds divine! Good enough that I think I'll just steal it to make for dinner.

Ami

[greenmom4]

How do you stay under 20g of carbs? I'm at 32g so far today and I don't really feel like I've had anything particularly "carb-y." By the time I eat dinner, I imagine I'll be up over 50.

I've had:

B: Coffee w/ cream (.8g). Greek yogurt (5g) with about 10 pecans (2g).
L: Salad w/ chicken and bacon(10.1g), avocado(14.8g).
D: TBD. Maybe eggs w/ kale and mushrooms or something.

Do you stay away from veggies? I guess when I look at fitday the thing that really sticks out is that an avocado has almost 15g. But they're such a good source of fat and with almost 12g of fiber the net carb load is hardly anything. And I'm only at 908 calories. I don't feel like I'm doing this very well.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by greenmom4

How do you stay under 20g of carbs? I'm at 32g so far today and I don't really feel like I've had anything particularly "carb-y." By the time I eat dinner, I imagine I'll be up over 50.

I've had:

B: Coffee w/ cream (.8g). Greek yogurt (5g) with about 10 pecans (2g).
L: Salad w/ chicken and bacon(10.1g), avocado(14.8g).
D: TBD. Maybe eggs w/ kale and mushrooms or something.

Do you stay away from veggies? I guess when I look at fitday the thing that really sticks out is that an avocado has almost 15g. But they're such a good source of fat and with almost 12g of fiber the net carb load is hardly anything. And I'm only at 908 calories. I don't feel like I'm doing this very well.

Well, I count net carbs, but even then, I'm under 30 total carbs (not counting fiber). What makes you feel like you are not doing this well?

In terms of veggie intake:

2cups spinach (2gms)
5oz roma tomato (5) (weighed)
9 oz cauliflower (9) (weighed--measured, like 3 cups)
1/2 cuke (1) (about a cup, chopped up)
1/4 c onion (4)

is a typical day.

My bacon has no carbs (no sugar), I can't eat nuts (technically; I have eaten them sometimes), no fruits, and no dairy (allergic). I'm also at the strictest level. I can have lots of leafy greens (spinach, mustard, kale, etc), without going over and getting lots and lots of servings. I can also have things like spaghetti squash, zucchini, eggplant. There are lots of veggies to be had on Induction.

It is more meat heavy than my diet beforehand. Sometimes it can get boring, but spices help.

Typical breakfast is either leftover roast with an over easy egg on top, of 5 strips bacon & two eggs. Lunch is usually a salad (leafy green, cuke, tomato, onion) with either meat or fish on top. Dinner is a roast/fish/ground meat and veggie side. Snacks are salami/pepperoni, egg, leftovers, or, if I can't take another meat bite, some almonds.

Ami

[greenmom4]

Hmmm, this is making me wonder how accurate fitday is. Yesterday I had kale for dinner - granted it was a good 4 cups (before cooking) and in fitday that comes in at 22 carbs!! Or maybe I need to break down and buy a darn food scale since measuring stuff doesn't seem to be too exact.

I guess I'm just having a hard time balancing. I'm great with no grains and I really limit fruit and aside from cream and butter I don't really do dairy. But I don't want to be too protein heavy and if I eat a lot of veggies that ups the carbs.

I think I need to just take a step back and keep my carbs in the 50-60 gross per day and see how it goes.


Why can't I just be one of those people who are skinny without even trying?

[Violet2]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

It is The Coconut Flour cookbook- there are sample recipes around the internet as well. I have to ask the nutritionist was made you ate blueberries instead of sprite, weird. I had some Vitamin 10 water, which is sweetened w/ stevia and sugar alcohols, which I am not a huge fan of, but knew that something real sugary would kill me and by golly that sounded good and after wretching my guts up I thought what the hell

I am noticing that I just keep gravitating lower and lower carb as well. I am just going with it and trying to listen to my body, I figure I cannot go wrong there.

I have to ask what is veinerschneitzel(sp?) always wondered that. Oh, and we did pics a couple of weeks ago w/ the kids. It is impossible I think to get 3 kids looking at the camera let alone smiling. So not fun! I feel for you!

I still don't have much of an appetite here, but it is hard to say as my appetite hasn't been real huge lately anyway. Had some 2 fried eggs and a homemade sausage patty, a bit of dark chocolate and almonds. So, about 20 g carbs today so far. Getting ready for lunch here, will be salmon and stirfry or taco salad. I plan on working out this evening, I think I will be up to it as I am feeling pretty fine today, not quite 100%, but pretty good.

Vienerschnitzl is just breaded, fried porkchop. So some carbs. I lightly bread it, so it's not too terrible.

You inspired me to have some almonds and chocolate.

V

[Violet2]

JTA Mom: I'm so far away from ketosis, it might as well be another planet in a different galaxy. I'm still carbing down so carbs are higher than they should be still. I haven't counted them. Tonight there was a restaurant meal that did not go well--the salad had sugar in it and I helped DD with her ice cream.

With the protein sparing modified fast, I was on 10 carbs a day as a limit. Of course I ate more than that, probably between 20 and 50 a day.

Yeah, as ketosis kicked in, I ate less. But I also eventually developed really bad hypoglycemia. I did a doctor supervised protein sparing modified fast for about a year. Right before I got pg, I started having super bad hypoglycemia for whatever reason and I notice I can't just skip meals without consequence. Maybe it has something to do with all the hormonal stuff that doesn't work properly in my body. DD was an IVF baby. (PS. And I'm not diabetic yet either. I keep passing the da*n glucose tests, even the 3 hour.)


A few things for new low carbers....

1. The first time you do this, weight loss is super fast. I lost 20 lbs in 4 weeks the first time. If you keep getting off and on the wagon it gets harder and harder to lose weight b/c your body adapts. Now? A month of pristine almost no carb eating not only doesn't result in weight loss, I don't even see ketosis.

2. A few carbs now and then so long as you eat clean all the other times, can actually help weight loss. But you have to get right back on the diet after the indulgence and stay on it, hard core, for several days in order for those few carbs to push off some more pounds. If you start yo-yoing the weight comes back on.

3.Plateaus are common around week 3 or 4 so don't panic if the weight loss stalls. If you stay the course, it will come off. You can also decrease dairy and cheese as that can sometimes slow down weight loss.

4.Drink lots of water. It helps the kidneys process the extra protein and ushers fat out of your body much faster. I have been known to drink 6 liters a day while in ketosis.

5.You might need some supplements. Magnesium helps with constipation and relaxes muscles. Potassium relaxes twitchy muscles. Calcium is good too. Extra salt is also sometimes needed due to the way low carb affects fluid balance in the body.

If you want to read about the science of low carb I like Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Hard reading (like a 500 page medical study) but really thorough and full of good info. It's not a diet book, it's the science behind all the diets and includes kind of a historical retrospective that shows how the science evolved and then jumped off the cliff of low fat/high carb.

V