My story

mvanheck · 05-04-2012, 09:10 AM

Hello everyone,
I am new to low carb friends but have been low carbing off and on for a while. It started a few years back when I reached my heaviest at 240. I decided to go on a low carb diet to help lose weight to reach a healthy weight range. I did really well and even went to the gym regularly. I got down to about 170 lbs. Then as I got busy with school and work my weight began to creep up again. About this time, I went to my OBGYN only to discover I have what is called PCOS. This is what was causing my issues with weight. Evidently my body doesn't process carbs correctly and if I continued down that path I was at risk of becoming diabetic. Therefore, my doctor put me on Metformin which is given to people with PCOS and diabetics. I have been on the meds for about 6 months and have noticed a huge difference in the way I feel. My weight tends to fluctuate because I will do really well and lose a few lbs and then gain a few back. I am currently on a low carb diet and plan to make it part of my life not just temporarily. I have already lost about 3 lbs in the last week. Any tips or advice on low carbing would be greatly appreciated as I try to reach a 150 lb healthy weight.

catne · 05-04-2012, 11:12 AM

Hello!

One thing I notice on your stats is the "100 Carbs or less"...I think you'll find that the vast majority of us have found that is probably way too high to lose effectively (heck, it's too high to even maintain weight for a lot of people.)

My advice would be to drop your Daily Carb intake to 50 carbs total...20-30 net if you're counting net carbs.

I suspect you'll have much greater success, more quickly that way...which maybe would help you make the change more permanent.

Best of luck to you on the LC way of eating.

Annabel Lee · 05-04-2012, 11:12 AM

Hi mvanheck!

I don't have the same issues that you have but
I just wanted to say welcome back to Low Carbing!
I applaud your making Low carb a permeant change in your life!

mvanheck · 05-04-2012, 12:18 PM

Catne,

Yes I realize it is probably still too high. My first week I really just wanted to start logging my food intake because it is something I haven't been able to do in the past. Therefore, my initial goal was to just stay around 100. I actually lost 3 lbs this week so I did find it slightly effective. Next week I want to drop it to 75. Ultimately, I want to get to about 50. The thing I am finding is it is hard to find meals where the carb levels aren't too high. Currently I am doing eggs or egg omletes for breakfast, salads for lunch, and then a meat with sides for dinner. Do you have any meal suggestions???

nspeedracer · 05-04-2012, 12:52 PM

Im going to try making chicken fingers using parm cheese as the "breading" tonight, never tried it before...
tacos using a romaine lettuce leaf as the shell, buffalo wings, personal pizzas using a mushroom as the crust.... just cruise the recipe section

mvanheck · 05-04-2012, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nspeedracer

Im going to try making chicken fingers using parm cheese as the "breading" tonight, never tried it before...
tacos using a romaine lettuce leaf as the shell, buffalo wings, personal pizzas using a mushroom as the crust.... just cruise the recipe section

Thanks I will check that out!!!

Janknitz · 05-04-2012, 01:13 PM

Welcome!

There are a lot of us here with PCOS and many of us take Metformin as well, so you don't need to feel you are alone in this.

This forum has the Low Carb Menus and Recipes section with a lot of great meal ideas, and if you google "low carb recipes" or "paleo" recipes you'll find tons more.

One thing I would suggest as you decrease the carbs (and the gradual way you are doing it is perfectly OK, as long as you really do keep reducing the carbs--50 grams per day would still be a lot for some people, BTW) that you consider not only the carb counts of the foods you eat but the QUALITY of the food you eat. Try to stay away from "frankenfoods" like low carb products (i.e. Atkins shakes) and eat REAL WHOLE foods. The very best thing for your body is organic, grass fed meats, dairy and eggs and organic veggies. If you can't access or make everything in your diet organic and grass fed as much as you can. Limit or avoid the artificial sweeteners. Try to avoid grains--they're not good for you and they are too high in carbs in any case.

With PCOS we have pretty messed up metabolisms and the best thing we can do for ourselves is to make our diet as whole and healthy as possible.

mvanheck · 05-04-2012, 01:16 PM

Janknitz,

Thanks for all of the advice. I actually do eat pretty healthy and don't do a whole lot of packaged foods so I am good there. I do tend to drink diet soda and use splenda in coffee so that is something I should work on. How many carbs do you eat per day? Have you seen good results?

juliekaboolie · 05-04-2012, 01:55 PM

Hello and welcome!

I'm also someone with PCOS and as of 1 week ago, I used to take Metformin....was on it for around 10 years! I find I have to eat around 20g net carbs per day. I do not eat frankenfoods as a rule...only real food. I also do not use artificial sweetners because I found I cannot seem to lose weight when using them and I don't believe they are good for me. I don't eat any grains of any kind. What DO I eat?? I eat meats, eggs, fish, cream, butter, coconut oil, olive oil, veggies (no corn or potatoes), flaxseed, nuts, a little cheese, coffee, and water. It's a limited diet but it works for me. Weight loss is still very slow for me because I'm broken. My husband eats this way, too, even though he has no weight issues at all as do our children (although they will make sandwiches for lunch using gluten-free bread). We make scrambled eggs, bacon, hardboiled eggs, omelettes, salads, grilled meats/fish, roasted veggies, and have nuts and maybe a little cheese if we need a snack.

It helps a lot if you are willing to cook and try out new recipes. It makes this WOE not boring at all. I wish you nothing but success!!

PghPALady1974 · 05-05-2012, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvanheck

Catne,

Yes I realize it is probably still too high. My first week I really just wanted to start logging my food intake because it is something I haven't been able to do in the past. Therefore, my initial goal was to just stay around 100. I actually lost 3 lbs this week so I did find it slightly effective. Next week I want to drop it to 75. Ultimately, I want to get to about 50. The thing I am finding is it is hard to find meals where the carb levels aren't too high. Currently I am doing eggs or egg omletes for breakfast, salads for lunch, and then a meat with sides for dinner. Do you have any meal suggestions???

Are you actually tracking your carbs? 100 seems very high for this kind of food, unless the sides are rice or noodles or similar.

picklepete · 05-05-2012, 08:01 AM

The only advice I can give is to be your own lab rat. Commit your intake and your results to writing and over time the patterns will become clear. IMO a few folks are led astray by sticking to a particular book or guru's plan too strictly even though it's not the right one for them.

The biggest step is to eliminate the "industrial powders" (flour, sugar) which make up almost half of the US calorie supply. It seems like a major upheaval, and unfortunately tends to bring the food pushers out of the woodwork, but when you take a positive view of what's left over (plants, animals) there's really no way to feel deprived. Even if I'm exhausted and feel like gorging on convenience store junk, I can find jerky, cheese, mixed nuts, boiled eggs, veggie sticks, etc.

Don't be afraid to spend one or two looooong supermarket trips reading labels carefully and collecting information. Once you know what you enjoy on a weekly basis you won't have to spend so much mental energy on it. For virtually every food in the supermarket there will be a book describing how it will kill you and someone advising you to prohibit it, but be your own boss. If you can eat a cherished food and still lose at a pace that is acceptable to you, you'll arrive at the same finish line eventually.

mvanheck · 05-05-2012, 02:54 PM

I have been doing some beans and some fruit. I am going to have to cut those out to get to about 50.

Picklepete,
Thanks for all of the good advice. I am def. one of those people who read the label on everything and have found a few good things that I know I will eat and don't have to research. Basically it all comes down to meats and vegetables from what I can tell.

juliekaboolie · 05-07-2012, 08:07 AM

Great post picklepete!!!!

mvanheck: a good place to start in understanding why we put on fat is to read Gary Taube's "Why We Get Fat and What to do About it". Very informative. He is a science writer who analyzes scientific studies.

05-04-2012, 09:10 AM	#1
mvanheck Junior LCF Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: South Carolina Posts: 10 Gallery: mvanheck Stats: 5'7" Currently 197 lbs. WOE: 100 carbs or less, 1200-1500 cal, 1500mg sodium Start Date: 5/1/2012	My story Hello everyone, I am new to low carb friends but have been low carbing off and on for a while. It started a few years back when I reached my heaviest at 240. I decided to go on a low carb diet to help lose weight to reach a healthy weight range. I did really well and even went to the gym regularly. I got down to about 170 lbs. Then as I got busy with school and work my weight began to creep up again. About this time, I went to my OBGYN only to discover I have what is called PCOS. This is what was causing my issues with weight. Evidently my body doesn't process carbs correctly and if I continued down that path I was at risk of becoming diabetic. Therefore, my doctor put me on Metformin which is given to people with PCOS and diabetics. I have been on the meds for about 6 months and have noticed a huge difference in the way I feel. My weight tends to fluctuate because I will do really well and lose a few lbs and then gain a few back. I am currently on a low carb diet and plan to make it part of my life not just temporarily. I have already lost about 3 lbs in the last week. Any tips or advice on low carbing would be greatly appreciated as I try to reach a 150 lb healthy weight.

05-04-2012, 11:12 AM	#2
catne Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Smack dab in the Middle Posts: 1,828 Gallery: catne Stats: XXX/X/??? WOE: Low Carb, Cycling Atkins/Stillmans Start Date: restart 3/06/2012	Hello! One thing I notice on your stats is the "100 Carbs or less"...I think you'll find that the vast majority of us have found that is probably way too high to lose effectively (heck, it's too high to even maintain weight for a lot of people.) My advice would be to drop your Daily Carb intake to 50 carbs total...20-30 net if you're counting net carbs. I suspect you'll have much greater success, more quickly that way...which maybe would help you make the change more permanent. Best of luck to you on the LC way of eating. __________________ Cathy from Nebraska (and Florida!) RE-START date 3/06/2012 -65 lbs. Club for 2012 Re-start! Now at lowest weight in 8 years. Down 75 lbs. from all-time highest weight. 2013 losses= -5

05-04-2012, 01:55 PM	#9
juliekaboolie Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 1,382 Gallery: juliekaboolie WOE: Whole30 Start Date: 1/7/11	Hello and welcome! I'm also someone with PCOS and as of 1 week ago, I used to take Metformin....was on it for around 10 years! I find I have to eat around 20g net carbs per day. I do not eat frankenfoods as a rule...only real food. I also do not use artificial sweetners because I found I cannot seem to lose weight when using them and I don't believe they are good for me. I don't eat any grains of any kind. What DO I eat?? I eat meats, eggs, fish, cream, butter, coconut oil, olive oil, veggies (no corn or potatoes), flaxseed, nuts, a little cheese, coffee, and water. It's a limited diet but it works for me. Weight loss is still very slow for me because I'm broken. My husband eats this way, too, even though he has no weight issues at all as do our children (although they will make sandwiches for lunch using gluten-free bread). We make scrambled eggs, bacon, hardboiled eggs, omelettes, salads, grilled meats/fish, roasted veggies, and have nuts and maybe a little cheese if we need a snack. It helps a lot if you are willing to cook and try out new recipes. It makes this WOE not boring at all. I wish you nothing but success!! __________________ ~ "Before"- 227lbs (2008) ~ "Current"-185lbs (April, 2013) My goal has changed from mere weight loss to health, quality of life, and longevity. This is no longer a diet but a way of life. "NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!"~Winston Churchill

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05-04-2012, 11:12 AM	#3
Annabel Lee Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: CA Posts: 1,895 Gallery: Annabel Lee Stats: 278/190/174 for now WOE: Gary Taubes inspired LC Start Date: May 24, 2011	Hi mvanheck! I don't have the same issues that you have but I just wanted to say welcome back to Low Carbing! I applaud your making Low carb a permeant change in your life!

05-04-2012, 12:18 PM	#4
mvanheck Junior LCF Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: South Carolina Posts: 10 Gallery: mvanheck Stats: 5'7" Currently 197 lbs. WOE: 100 carbs or less, 1200-1500 cal, 1500mg sodium Start Date: 5/1/2012	Catne, Yes I realize it is probably still too high. My first week I really just wanted to start logging my food intake because it is something I haven't been able to do in the past. Therefore, my initial goal was to just stay around 100. I actually lost 3 lbs this week so I did find it slightly effective. Next week I want to drop it to 75. Ultimately, I want to get to about 50. The thing I am finding is it is hard to find meals where the carb levels aren't too high. Currently I am doing eggs or egg omletes for breakfast, salads for lunch, and then a meat with sides for dinner. Do you have any meal suggestions???

05-04-2012, 12:52 PM	#5
nspeedracer Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Honolulu, Hawaii Posts: 258 Gallery: nspeedracer Stats: 149/139/115 5'3''0	Im going to try making chicken fingers using parm cheese as the "breading" tonight, never tried it before... tacos using a romaine lettuce leaf as the shell, buffalo wings, personal pizzas using a mushroom as the crust.... just cruise the recipe section

05-04-2012, 01:13 PM	#7
Janknitz Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 1,753 Gallery: Janknitz Stats: 254/195/150 WOE: Low Carb High Fat, No Grains Start Date: June 16, 2011	Welcome! There are a lot of us here with PCOS and many of us take Metformin as well, so you don't need to feel you are alone in this. This forum has the Low Carb Menus and Recipes section with a lot of great meal ideas, and if you google "low carb recipes" or "paleo" recipes you'll find tons more. One thing I would suggest as you decrease the carbs (and the gradual way you are doing it is perfectly OK, as long as you really do keep reducing the carbs--50 grams per day would still be a lot for some people, BTW) that you consider not only the carb counts of the foods you eat but the QUALITY of the food you eat. Try to stay away from "frankenfoods" like low carb products (i.e. Atkins shakes) and eat REAL WHOLE foods. The very best thing for your body is organic, grass fed meats, dairy and eggs and organic veggies. If you can't access or make everything in your diet organic and grass fed as much as you can. Limit or avoid the artificial sweeteners. Try to avoid grains--they're not good for you and they are too high in carbs in any case. With PCOS we have pretty messed up metabolisms and the best thing we can do for ourselves is to make our diet as whole and healthy as possible.

05-04-2012, 01:16 PM	#8
mvanheck Junior LCF Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: South Carolina Posts: 10 Gallery: mvanheck Stats: 5'7" Currently 197 lbs. WOE: 100 carbs or less, 1200-1500 cal, 1500mg sodium Start Date: 5/1/2012	Janknitz, Thanks for all of the advice. I actually do eat pretty healthy and don't do a whole lot of packaged foods so I am good there. I do tend to drink diet soda and use splenda in coffee so that is something I should work on. How many carbs do you eat per day? Have you seen good results?

05-05-2012, 08:01 AM	#11
picklepete Senior LCF Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 750 Gallery: picklepete Stats: 265/189/189 WOE: 6hr window + no refined calories	The only advice I can give is to be your own lab rat. Commit your intake and your results to writing and over time the patterns will become clear. IMO a few folks are led astray by sticking to a particular book or guru's plan too strictly even though it's not the right one for them. The biggest step is to eliminate the "industrial powders" (flour, sugar) which make up almost half of the US calorie supply. It seems like a major upheaval, and unfortunately tends to bring the food pushers out of the woodwork, but when you take a positive view of what's left over (plants, animals) there's really no way to feel deprived. Even if I'm exhausted and feel like gorging on convenience store junk, I can find jerky, cheese, mixed nuts, boiled eggs, veggie sticks, etc. Don't be afraid to spend one or two looooong supermarket trips reading labels carefully and collecting information. Once you know what you enjoy on a weekly basis you won't have to spend so much mental energy on it. For virtually every food in the supermarket there will be a book describing how it will kill you and someone advising you to prohibit it, but be your own boss. If you can eat a cherished food and still lose at a pace that is acceptable to you, you'll arrive at the same finish line eventually.

05-05-2012, 02:54 PM	#12
mvanheck Junior LCF Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: South Carolina Posts: 10 Gallery: mvanheck Stats: 5'7" Currently 197 lbs. WOE: 100 carbs or less, 1200-1500 cal, 1500mg sodium Start Date: 5/1/2012	I have been doing some beans and some fruit. I am going to have to cut those out to get to about 50. Picklepete, Thanks for all of the good advice. I am def. one of those people who read the label on everything and have found a few good things that I know I will eat and don't have to research. Basically it all comes down to meats and vegetables from what I can tell.

05-07-2012, 08:07 AM	#13
juliekaboolie Major LCF Poster! Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 1,382 Gallery: juliekaboolie WOE: Whole30 Start Date: 1/7/11	Great post picklepete!!!! mvanheck: a good place to start in understanding why we put on fat is to read Gary Taube's "Why We Get Fat and What to do About it". Very informative. He is a science writer who analyzes scientific studies.