spilling my guts...

[fourstubbs]

and I am in need of support. I have been lurking here on the efgt board and I am pretty interested in it!! I started LC again on Jan 1st and I lost 8 pounds since. That is more than I have ever lost, so I am happy with it. I have thyroid issues and I have diabetes. The reason why I am so frustrated is because the scale moves around constantly on me. Up 2 pounds, down 2 then I went out with a friend to this place called the ultimate buffet, it is a chinese place to eat. I ate meats and veggies, so I was good, knowing about the sodium etc. Probably lurking sugars too. Next day I was up 5 pounds. Salt was the culprit or so I thought, well it has been about 2 weeks now and the scale didn't go down at all!!! I know I didn't eat enough cals to gain that much, but it is such a downer to see the scale. I feel like I can't lose fast enough. I watch the biggest loser and these people are losing 8+ pounds a week, granted they are working like dogs, but I want to lose weight and i just can't. My dh is in Iraq right now, so I thought I would take this opportunity to drop the 50 i need to lose. He is coming home in May for R and R and I haven't met even a 10 pound goal. It has been 90 or so days. I won't give up, but would like to see progress. I guess in a nutshell, I need you guys.
Sorry for dumping on you all, I just don't have anyone to tell. My dh has no idea I am doing this. On the bright side, my labs are really good, so that is positive. THANKS for listening to me blather away. fourstubbs (mary)

[butterfly4701]

Hello there, I too have been waiting on the side line and feel the same way you do. I came to Florida 3 and a half months ago and promised myself and friends that I was going to walk every day and lose some weight and I go home next week qnd haven't lost any
I am loat and nothing takes it off I am verrrrrrrrry discusted can any one help please!!!!!: annoyed:


Trying to lose this weight is for the Birds

[LECould]

Hi Ladies and welcome out of the vast lands of "Lurkdome"!!! It always helps if you post what you're actually eating. That way the people who have been where you are can look and see where the potential stumbling blocks are. Tell us what you're eating!!

[Lise]

Congrats for taking the big step out of lurkdom....

I agree with LE....post menus from the last couple of days....include everything if you can....I'm awful for forgetting that I had a few nuts or SF Candy...or CO bark but please post it all and we will try to help...

Mary...congrats on the good labs....I'd rather be chubby and healthy than skinny and unheathy.........on the whole though I really want to be one hot mama with great labs ....my labs have also gotten better since eating LC....I am type II diabetic with almost normal A1C's thanks to this WOE.......

[CarolynF]

Hi..

Thanks for sharing your concerns and struggles with us.

Chinese food is the kiss of death for the LCer. I love it, too..and I always gain when I eat it. Between the salt, the msg, the sugar, and the starch it can be very deadly to any weight loss..Been there, done that.

The very best thing you can do is to sign up for ****** - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal and keep track of every morsel that goes into your mouth..

I would start off being extra squeaky clean and doing an induction of no more than 20 carbs (just veggies). Watch your protein...don't sweat the fats, and eat good LC veggies. Then you can tell what's going on.

Being hypo and diabetic is very tricky, Mary. I'm hypo, too and really have to watch the calorie intake for my body. One suggestion that seems to help me is to eat a bigger breakie, medium lunch and smaller dinner.

Butterfly: Welcome to our group..Walking will help a bit, and it is good for your heart, bones. However, it won't help you lose weight. This is a bummer. Your food intake is crucial to weightloss..

Have you guys figured out your protein allotment? Most of us "gals" can only eat 70-80 grams a day........

Keep posting and come to our Challenge..We would love to have you part of our group..OR pm any of us for extra help.

[fourstubbs]

thanks everyone for responding. I was just at wits end yesterday. My daughter told me to ditch the scale and not worry about what the scale says for a while. I think that is good advice.
I think what I might do I up my veggies, I think I am not eating enough of them. I also I might try to wean myself off of crystal light. I drink it in place of water. (by gosh, I DO NOT LIKE WATER!!!) I will try these things and see what happens. The funny thing is that my pant legs are huge but my waist is the same, doesn't = on the scale.

Lise: I wanna be a hot mamma too, we will see, it has to happen, because this time I am NOT GIVING UP. My labs are better I used to have a a1c of 10 (yikes) and then a 7 now a 6. I AM pleased with that, in fact, I am kicking diabetes in the butt, and THAT feels good.
I want to start posting here on the efgt boards for accountability and support. I will go to fit day and see how that works for me too. I will pay more attention to what goes into my mouth. I am not really counting the carbs, it is only an estimate of about 25 to 30, so that is sloppy on my part. Time to re-adjust. THANK YOU so much for taking time to answer this post.

[Tesaje]

Barry Groves says that diabetics do much better on a high fat, very low carb, moderate protein diet. He says before they discovered insulin, this was the way they treated diabetes and diabetics could reverse their disease this way.

You might try upping your fat whenever you feel hungry, crave a sweet, or just in general. I'm thinking that it takes a month or 2 for your body to adjust to this WOE and calm down the insulin/glucose thing. He cites all kinds of diets that are nearly no carb and says you can get all you need from animal foods, especially if you eat the organs and eat a lot of fat. I have a tough time with the organs. I've found that by eating a lot of fat that my sweet cravings have gone away.

I think it is hard to find the balance and it is really hard to get your head around the health of this WOE having been told for most of our lives that it is bad. But the actual data do not show this. It shows that this WOE is healthier. Keep at it. Do you have the books or have you checked out his web sites?

[fourstubbs]

So you think my body could still be adjusting to all this? That gives me hope. I just put my menu into ****** and it turns out I might be eating more carbs than I thought I was!!! I ate approx a square or so of unsweetened chocolate sweetened with splenda and that in itself was 10 carbs!!!!!!!!! half my allotment for the day! I will up my fat somehow, and stay away from the extras...gee, I am shocked. Then I put in the cup of cabbage and that put me in over the top!! The cabbage alone was 8.3 carbs for the cup. I honestly didn't know. I don't have his book yet, maybe i can pick it up at the library. I have skimmed through the website though. Thanks so much. Mary

PS: Organs are for playing not for eating in my book!!! LOL

[LECould]

Originally Posted by fourstubbs

So you think my body could still be adjusting to all this? That gives me hope. I just put my menu into ****** and it turns out I might be eating more carbs than I thought I was!!! I ate approx a square or so of unsweetened chocolate sweetened with splenda and that in itself was 10 carbs!!!!!!!!! half my allotment for the day! I will up my fat somehow, and stay away from the extras...gee, I am shocked. Then I put in the cup of cabbage and that put me in over the top!! The cabbage alone was 8.3 carbs for the cup. I honestly didn't know. I don't have his book yet, maybe i can pick it up at the library. I have skimmed through the website though. Thanks so much. Mary

PS: Organs are for playing not for eating in my book!!! LOL

Carbs add up quickly - that's why we were interested in what you've been eating and why ****** is an essential tool. It's so easy to underestimate your carbs if you're not strictly counting/monitoring them. It gets easier with time - but, even after you're a seasoned pro, Carb Creep is always the first place to look when you hit a weight stall.

[LadyJulieAnn]

Based on my experience, when you are truly losing fat, the scale doesn't always go along. I tend to go by how my clothes are fitting to measure true progress. Keep up the good work!

[Lise]

Originally Posted by fourstubbs

PS: Organs are for playing not for eating in my book!!! LOL

.....you sound soooo much like me....he calls them offal....I call them awful....I just can't go there.....

You are getting some great advise here...especially to increase your fat intake and reduce your carbs as much as you can...

I really recommend that you get the book and keep using ****** for at least a little while...I have to admit I don't use it anymore but I did use it long enough to get a good idea where the hidden carbs are...

I was just reading on pg 31 of Natural Health and Weight Loss...a paragraph called Relax which deals precisely with what you are going through...paraphrased it says not to get uptight about rates of weight loss...not to be too anxious if it doesn't happen as quickly as you would like. If you are stressed, this increases the levels of stress hormone in your blood which increase blood glucose levels and that makes weight loss more difficult..

I have interpreted this to mean....relax...don't stress...and eat more fat...yum yum....lots of cream, butter and bacon for me lately....

My A1C's were 7.9 when I was diagnosed....I have brought them down to 6 at my last screeening and I'm due to go again in May...you have done even better...since April I am down 20 lbs.....most of that was in the first 3 months and then I struggled with eating SF candies and chocolates and anything else I could get away with in amounts small enough not to spike my blood sugar....I had a rude awakening and realized that I was on a slippery slope and once I found Barry I have been on the right track and I don't plan on turning back....carbs are not an option for me....I refuse to medicate for something that I can fix with the correct foods...

Have a great day

[fourstubbs]

Lise, Hi and thanks for replying. Yea, I am not going to give up and I am watching my carbs alot more now. I am so amazed, I understand carb creep now. I thought I was doing fine, till I put everything I had yesterday into ******. I put my scale away and I am just going to concentrate on what goes into my mouth, and happy about the labs. Congrats on your labs too. I thought I would never be in a place where my BS was down a reasonable amount. I look forward to chatting with you in the future here on these boards.
Today I had the worst cravings all of a sudden! I work at Michaels and I am the one that takes care of the candy in the front, and I felt like an addict trying to avoid the drugs!!! So at least you were eating the sf varieties, although they add up and stall people from what I have heard. Anything to keep us from stalling, huh, I don't need help in that area.
Blessings,
Mary
ps, beautiful dog by the way.... I have a yorkie that thinks she is a doberman!!!

[CarolynF]

Mary: You can do the "net" carbs which means subtracting the fiber from the cabbage..It is best to stay away from the SF candy until you get a handle on what's going on with your body and weight loss. It can a real downfall for many of us.. Barry's book is only available on-line in Canada or the UK..I'm not sure if on-line USA carries it.

You can do it, girl..................

[Lise]

Mary...I agree with Carolyn about avoiding the SF carbage....if you scroll up you will see that I was having it a while back and even though it didn't affect my BS it really messed up my weight loss so please try to avoid them as much as possible....I do have 85% chocolate around which I have when I really want something...Barry is fine with dark chocolate in moderation.......I tend to quench my sweet craving with berries and cream and I still put Crystal light in my water which I know is a no no but I am a work in progress...one day at a time....you should really join us in the monthly chat thread...I think it's called marching into fitness....lots of great gals with lots of ideas....whatever you do just keep posting and we will keep supporting each other in any way we can



Oh and that's Missy in my Avi...she just thinks she's the Queen of Sheba....

[fourstubbs]

thanks for the words of wisdom from all of you. I will be sticking around!!! I went to wm and bought myself a steak and I am going to try those mashed fauxtatoes.

Also, my dog, my baby is named Missy too!!!!

[fourstubbs]

Here is my baby, Missy

[CarolynF]

Missy is adorable

[fourstubbs]

Thank you Carolyn....she was a gift from my dh before he left for Iraq the second time. (My kids are 18 and 20 so the empty nest syndrome won't be as hard) i hope!!!

[Lise]

Mary....your Missy is adorable too....we got our Missy for a similar reason....my DH had to retire early for medical reasons so we got Missy to keep him company during the day while I'm at work and the kids are at school...she just turned one and weighs 4.5 lbs.....