you must get rid of your old way of thinking

[tanyaol]

let me tell you!!!! you need to get out of your head that the less you eat the more you will lose!!!!!!!! I know its hard but if you do not eat enough eventually you will not lose and you will stall!!!!!! The more I stick to eating every couple hours the more I lose but when I go without eating enough I stall!!!

[WendyK1974]

Originally Posted by tanyaol

let me tell you!!!! you need to get out of your head that the less you eat the more you will lose!!!!!!!! I know its hard but if you do not eat enough eventually you will not lose and you will stall!!!!!! The more I stick to eating every couple hours the more I lose but when I go without eating enough I stall!!!

So true. And getting the idea out of your head that fat is bad. Or that lower fat will help you lose faster. Upping my fat has helped me lose more steadily. And I mean WAY upping it. Some people here say...well I added 1/2 a tsp of olive oil to my bone dry chicken breast. NOT ENOUGH. Seriously. Not enough.

Carbs are the new Fat. Fat is the new lean. Think about how many fat free products we have these days. More than ever. Do we have more thinner people these days than ever? Nope!

Reverse the food pyramid. Bread and starches should be the itty bitty triangle on top. They should be treated like they have the plague or like how fat has been treated. Butter is the new gravy. And it really makes everything taste great!

Hehe..ok off my soapbox.

[dae_tona]

I hear ya on this!! This is so true. I just wish more people would understand this & at least eat up to their BMR (which I do but focused on a calorie deficit for fat loss-and that's about body weight x 12) and eat every few hours. I've seen better results in a week than I have in 9 months based on:

eating 5-7x a day
eating up to my BMR with a caloric deficit (at 1620 calories, I'm not starving)
writing down everything I put in my mouth (1 spoonful of diet jello-it goes on the log)
doing no more than 30 minutes a day of intense exercise 5 days a week

I came here. I listened. I experimented. And my results tell me I'm on the right track.

Dyan

[ollamo]

I have been trying to eat every couple of hours, to keep the insulin levels down. I can't seem to get over 1200 cal a day I have read the threads about the bmr, mine is 1400(a little over) Maybe this is why i am hardly loseing It seems like i would have to up the proteins, but then they will out weigh my fats(which need to be the majority) Guess ill figure it out eventually.........

[dae_tona]

If I wasn't getting enough in, I would cook eggs in 1 TBSP of Olive Oil. (120 calories right there) or add 1 TBSP of butter to something (100 calories) Those are still 0 carbs but have calories in them. So if you're struggling, try upping the fats like this-just to ensure you are eating enough.

Dyan

[WendyK1974]

Yes it can be as simple as adding more butter.

I don't do the "eat several times a day" thing. I eat 3 large meals. Or 2 huge meals and something smaller for dinner. This works for me. But I know I am getting plenty of fat and calories.

[junkfoodmonkey]

Butter is the new gravy.

I think I'll print that out in a big font and pin it on my fridge.

Funny, first time around I didn't use butter all that much, this time, bring on the butter, baby!

While I think I have reduced my calories, I'm certainly not attempting to do low calorie. I've reduced portion sizes, so that I no longer feel stuffed after meals the way I used to, and I don't snack all evening as I used to. But of course, fat is more calories in less volume than carbs, so the meals may be smaller, but the composition is different and the calories therefore not that much lower.

[jezzie]

The more I stick to eating every couple hours

Fortunately for me my body won't let me go much longer than two hours.

I don't do hunger ... ever.

.

[Magicsmom]

Originally Posted by WendyK1974

Yes it can be as simple as adding more butter.

I don't do the "eat several times a day" thing. I eat 3 large meals. Or 2 huge meals and something smaller for dinner. This works for me. But I know I am getting plenty of fat and calories.

This is what I do too, on the advice of a nutritionist. She wants my blood sugar to stabilize between meals.

[flatferenghi]

my problem is too many calories. Also, i am sure that prisoners of war and concentrations camp victims were not getting their 3 square meals a day. we have, i am sure seen photos of liberation day. all of them looked like skeletons and the walking dead. In order for me to eat such a small amount of calories, I would have to be in a camp like that. So, i wonder about the rule of too few calories will cause one to stall. I do not know enough about biochemistry, Hewmon or Ferenghi to solve that mystery. Love & Profits: FLATFERENGHI

[jezzie]

Originally Posted by flatferenghi

my problem is too many calories. Also, i am sure that prisoners of war and concentrations camp victims were not getting their 3 square meals a day. we have, i am sure seen photos of liberation day. all of them looked like skeletons and the walking dead. In order for me to eat such a small amount of calories, I would have to be in a camp like that. So, i wonder about the rule of too few calories will cause one to stall. I do not know enough about biochemistry, Hewmon or Ferenghi to solve that mystery. Love & Profits: FLATFERENGHI

I know a number of people who have successfully lost weight and maintained by eating less.

If I don't eat every two to two and a half hours I get light headed and slightly nauseous.

It's either my blood sugar or a head problem. Doesn't much matter which though.

[tanyaol]

yeppers

[Ilpirata]

eat more calories
eat more frequently
eat more fat.


AMEN

[Prozak]

I had an eating disorder for almost 30 years.

I ate too little.... and gained 90lbs while doing so.

It is probably as hard a disorder to overcome than overeating... and I still deal with it every day.

but you are absolutely right

[wifezilla]

I am starting the mini meals throughout the day thing. I resisted trying this for the longest time because back when I was eating carbs, eating anything AT ALL meant I would be stuffing myself and getting hungrier and hungrier all day.

Now that I no longer scarf carbs and have figured out that hypoglycemia is my issue and mini meals help keep blood sugar stable, I am willing to give it a try. Been 1 week and so far so good

[Prozak]

When I was on Atkins before, after losing only 30lbs in 7 months, i started eating every 3 hours. it was hard, but I lost another 19lbs in the next 3 months... 13 of them like in the first 6 weeks.

[LaRae]

Originally Posted by Prozak

When I was on Atkins before, after losing only 30lbs in 7 months, i started eating every 3 hours. it was hard, but I lost another 19lbs in the next 3 months... 13 of them like in the first 6 weeks.

I so relate! I have lost about 35 lbs., but it has taken over a year. Talk about frustrating!

Did you count calories, too, or just eat high fat and adequate protein? I know I have asked you many questions! You are always very helpful! I'm still struggling even adding more fat. I am up 5 lbs.!

What really bothers me, besides not losing this weight, is that people see me and don't even notice that I have lost any weight. Also, it bothers me that they may think that low-carb does not work. I want them to know that it works, and that it is the right way to eat!

[Prozak]

I only tracked for the first little while when I discovered fitday, a few months after starting Atkins.

i actually started with the Atkins Essentials book, which allowed me to eat the bars and shakes and when I discovered DANDR I had already lost 14lbs (but it took me almost 3 months).

i never really tracked calories, but I tried to keep my ratios in check (65/30/5). After awhile it became easy to do that without checking.

Once I lost 49lbs.. (I never made that 50lb mark LOL) my life went upside down with a new house and renovations that lasted a year... and i started to take the easy way out and was eating more low-carb pastas and was able to maintain my loss for 2 years with around 40 grams of carbs.. but I never counted (my weight would go up every Christmas though and then I would go back to lowcarb and it would come off again).

It is so not an exact science, and it took me a year of struggles, stalls, yeast problems and frustrations... but that year gained me more tools to work with than any other research or books could give me.

If your carbs are in check (that is the easiest thing to track because we really do not NEED a set amount, but Atkins gave us the grams to work with). Then you need a certain amount of protein for the building blocks of our bodies, which is different for everyone depending on their muscle and bone mass, as well as our activity levels. I found my minimal amount of protein is around 55-60 grams a day... never less but sometimes more (if I am active and using muscles, my muscles will need more for repair). If I eat too much protein I will get blood sugary, crabby and start to crave sugar.. and this means the excess protein had been converted to glucose and I had a surge of insulin).

The fat is the filler... the satiator, the fuel to get me around. If I am still hungry after eating my protein amounts for the day it is usually the fat that I crave.. if I have had enough fat but not enough protein, I find it is the protein that I crave. We are told that we have natural switches in our brains to tell us to stop eating fat and protein, but there is no switch to tell us we do not need any more carbs. Listening to these signals is difficult, especially after years of abuse and starvation and too many carbs.

Once again, my weight loss has slowed down (I am going up and down 5-6lbs all month, but I drank 2 weeks ago and found I actually consumed over 300 carbs that day in tonics and gin when I thought I had only the lime to count!!).

I am not getting frustrated this time.. and I am trying REALLY hard to not judge my success on what other people say to me. There are people I know who cannot BELIEVE how much size I have lost, and then 2 of my BFF's who see me every week who have not.said.one.word. Even my FIL mentioned last week that i hadn't lost much weight (it was a legit comment, not rude and it fit into the conversation we were having), BUT he probably never paid attention to how much weight I GAINED with my pregnancy. A year ago at 6 months pregnant I only weighed 10lbs more than I do now.. I gained over 40lbs in the last 3 months last summer. Anyone who did not see me last fall after giving birth, also might even think I had put on weight if they see me now (I was 222ish after giving birth and never went anywhere in this small town)

All I can say is pish posh to them.. I may be heavier, but I am healthier and GETTING better everyday.

Eating every 3 hours is a PITA, and so against my WOE for my entire adult life.. it is like trying to write with my right hand (I am a lefty). And I STILL need to focus on that, but what happens is if I eat a large breakfast of 3 eggs, cream and CO it can keep me going for 4 hours or more (sometime 6 hours before I start to feel like I have to eat NOW)... then if I am busy I just get into my old habit of ignoring the hunger signals like I did all my life. the difference being, when I was hungry before I was like a blind woman grabbing anything I could at 3pm and shoving it in my mouth (an entire sleeve of saltines???). It was like a junkie or an alcoholic finally getting their fix of their drug of choice. Now it is not like that... I can have a small amount of fat and protein without the shakes and low blood sugar rage I was so familiar with, as was my family. I wish I could just eat breakfast and then go all day and not eat anything until suppertime (which I still do all.the.time.) but when I do that, I know that my body will hang onto the fat and I don't get angry when the weight does not go down because I know that I was not 'working it'. More often than not I am under eating my calories, and starting today I am going to have a smaller breakfast and try to eat every 2-3 hours instead. I bet that will make a huge difference. (I tend to get my needs in 2 meals and 1 snack throughout the day which maybe is too much at once, and too little overall)

So, I am in the same spot as you right now... but we both need realize:

A) we are not not men (grrrrr, hubby can lose 5lbs just by cutting the crust off of his bread for a week)
B) we are not 20 anymore
C) we have abused our bodies over the years and they are not going to get fixed overnight
D) That food is fuel, not the enemy.. as long as it is the right food.



It will happen, it might not be as fast as some people lose, and we WILL have ups and downs because of our hormones... but I bet if our cells had a voice, we would be hearing them very clearly saying to us 'thank you for feeding me what I truly do need' and they will repay us with good health. The slimming part of this journey is a SIDE EFFECT of better health and is inevitable no matter how long it takes.

yeah, i could bore anyone to tears I am sure.... but I am so passionate and still searching for ways to make it easier for me to get there sooner. Perhaps I should forget all of that and just start focusing on TODAY!!! Tomorrow will always come, no matter what that scale tells me.

[LaRae]

Bravo! Well said! I'm printing out your response to remind myself.

My mother is always saying that she doesn't know how I keep from getting discouraged from not losing weight. That really bums me out because I try so hard, and I have lost from 268lbs. down to 231lbs. (now 236lbs.). I have to remember that she isn't the type to cheer me on; she is very unemotional and negative. It would be nice to hear a little encouragement.

I plan to eat low carb for the rest of my life, and my DH loves it! He is built slim and has no issues with weight other than that little pouch that sometimes gets a little too big. But, with men's metabolisms, he can lose that real quick. I don't think he will get that again eating this way. He just loves it; we eat well!

I'm going to try to keep my ratios in check, keep my calories up and eat throughout the day.

Thanks, Prozak, again, for all of your help.

(I hope I'm not thread-jacking; the subject of this thread "struck home")

[wifezilla]

There are a million reasons to low carb that have nothing to do with weight loss.

Wifezilla's Way: If I Never Lose Another Pound...

[Katie914]

yay a very helpful post!! i know ive had to completely re-think eating myself!!

[MarblesLongGone]

So true!