~*Stillman's February 2009 QWL Get 'Er Done!*~

[eetinmeet]

so...no workout today...shoot me, please.

hardly ate too..runnin around all afternoon.

bfast, I had eggs.....surprise

I was at Fred Meyer in the afternoon and all they had was baked chicken so I had a piece of that..ate only about 5 bites cuz it was super fatty. I ate the leaner parts.

1 piece of FF cheese.

not enough water....

I will go scrounging for food shortly....perhaps a shrimp cocktail with celery. and Jello, of course.

[farmgirl]

Originally Posted by sassymanal

I have "The Doctor's Quick inches-off Diet" by Irwin Maxwell Stillman, M.D.,D-IM and Samm Sinclair Baker. There are so many plans in this book and i got it super cheap! Examples of the variety diets are QWL Skim-Milk , QWL Slice-Of-Bread, QWl Cocktail-Wine-Whiskey, Mixed, 7 day QWL, Repetition QWL, Fasting QWL, Two-Meals-A-Day QWL, Rice QWL,Anti-Heart attack QWL, Anti-High Blood Pressure QWL, Salt-Free QWL,Rice-Vegetable Fruit QWL, Anti-Ulcer QWL, All-Protein Anti-Ulcer QWL, Low-Protein QWL, Anti "Stomach Troubles" QWL, QWL for Acute and Chronic Indigestion, Anti-Diverticukitis QWL,Anti-Acne and Skin Problems QWL and many more

That's the book I have. I've read it several times. I guess i just forgot! Anyway, I'm glad you're doing so well on it.

to everyone!

I lost the 2 lbs that I had *gained*. Salt I guess. I was hungry alot yesterday for some reason-pms? I ate on plan, but more than usual.

Today I'm going to do my new Jillian Michaels shred dvd. It's supposed to be great....we'll see.

Ya'll have a great day! I hope to hear some losses soon!

Lisa

[KSS]

hello everyone... doing good on stillmans so far. Yesterday my calories were only around 750. Do you think that is too low?
What do you all usually take in carorie wise? I do not want to go in to starvation mode.

[anniethepooh]

hi all! good job on staying on plan!

my week of stillman's has been going great so far. I am also worried about too low of calories... Monday's deli meat fast was pretty darned low, probably only 600.. and so yesterday I tried to up the amount. I have to learn to pack more meat (I make two ham and turkey rolls with a touch of mustard) for during work. I ate some of my hubby's chicken breast last night which helped out so I calculated over 1000 calories for Tuesday, which is looking better. I use ***********.com for calorie counting.

My general intake so far is something like the following:

1/2 cup eggbeaters for breakfast, possibly with a slice or two of ham
2 ham/turkey rolls throughout the day = 150 cal ea (maybe i should add a third)
random meat for dinner-tonight will be lean pork loin chops.

I tried a slice of FF kraft cheese last night w/ my chicken, yummy! I bought the low sugar ketchup (didn't see a sugar free or carb free but this one is only 1 carb so I hope it's the right one) but haven't used it yet.

I have been drinking at least 3 32oz nalgene bottles of water and also have coffee in the morning w/ splendas and a blip of coffeemate, and I have 2 diet pops and 3 SF jello cups throughout the day.

I just got a pedometer last week and found I was walking around 3000 steps on a non-workout week day. I have added a M-F 1-hour walk in tunnels underneath my office buildings and aim for around 10,000 steps each day now. I also work out an additional 60 minutes at the gym 4-5 times a week, usually elliptical, spinning, or more walking. I used to jog but I haven't had a taste for it lately. Maybe once I'm lighter.

Anyway I plan to "meat it up" all week and then add in some salads this weekend and I am pulling for a loss on WI on Monday. I am trying to stay away from the scale until then but I did weigh myself Tuesday for a -1 so that was nice to see.

I have been exhibiting some excellent will power, my husband is training for another marathon so he is actually in NEED of carbs so I have been cooking pastas and potatoes, all my favorites, along with the meat. Also I had to buy cookies to offer at our house last night but didn't touch a single one, and even had them at my desk all day at work (to fatten up the coworkers). A little piggy just ate the last ones so that's out of the way. I did smell the cookies, which was almost as good. I'd rather see the scale move down than taste 'em, though.

I hope you all are having great Wednesdays!! Sorry for the long post, I'm wordy.

[eetinmeet]

Lisa..thats great....I have to stay away from processed meats because of the salt...I know its just water gain but I don't want ANY gain!!! also I have to watch my blood pressure.

I shopped last night and got some mortons light salt and some nusalt. they had some other brand, but it was 10 bucks!

I lost the 1/2 lb and lost another 1/2 lb so I guess it was the salt in the broth I made. I still have some left so I 'm going to add it to my "hominy-less" pozole that I am going to make. it will be LESS salt per serving that way.

I odered some WaldenFarms stuff today...I will keep you posted on what was good and what sux.

[paleopaleo]

I'm so excited for everyone sticking to plan so well. Way to go ladies! I know it's early days for me, but I'm very pleased with how it's going so far.

I just looked at my ****** weight log and realized that even the day I thought the scale hadn't moved, I had actually released 0.4lbs. In fact, since the initial whoosh of 3lbs, I've been letting go of just under half a pound every day, including today. If only I'd tried this when I didn't have an extra 12lbs of holiday weight to get rid of first...oh well.

So first, confessions. After I posted last night I actually had a midnight snack of MRM whey protein mixed with a little almond breeze and stevia. It's Stillman legal, but not paleo and I've always found dairy to be a stall for me. Maybe my body is just in losing mode now, but it seems ok this time as far as I can tell. Heck knows, I can use a bit of variety right about now!

Today I had/will have:
2 cups black tea with almond breeze
2 cups green tea
4oz lean, stewed steak (no salt or seasoning)
2 grilled hamburger patties (lightly salted)
1 scoop MRM whey protein with almond breeze
3oz mixed salad greens
5oz lean, stewed lamb (no salt or seasoning)
lots of water and supplements

Have a great day tomorrow everyone.

[paleopaleo]

Originally Posted by eetinmeet

I'm totally in love with our deli guy!

Oh my gosh, too funny. I totally think I know the guy you're talking about. I've actually noticed that there seems to a higher than average number of hotties - male and female - working at our PCC. Must be all those healthy, free deli leftovers.

[farmgirl]

Paleo...When i cut out carbs cheese seems to take up the slack! Recently I found that if you carefully melt your string cheese in a nonstick pan...by heating it on one side til it kind of gets a crust on the bottom then carefully flipping it and frying the other side...it tastes wonderful! Like LC cheesy breadsticks. I dip it a little homemade LC marinara. YUM! Problem is it's toooo yum....And those dang string cheese are only 60 cals. So I think well, how many can I eat...hmmm...you get the picture. I guess you try to do a paleo diet? I would like to go zero carb and see how I felt and how I lost. Maybe one day...The cheese and condiments are hard to give up.

Anyway, I did JM shred dvd and my arms are too tired to type anymore. So catch ya'll tomorrow!

Lisa

[eetinmeet]

Lisa...I have gone carb free (on QWL) and IT WORKS!! but I end up getting jittery...I am not sure why that happens. at the end of the day I'll be trying to sleep and my heart pounds and my brain races. that's why I cycle..3 days QWL at the most!

Paleo...well I don't know that he's hot on the traditional sense.....he has longish dark blond hair and the sweetest face and he's VEEERRRRY helpful...one time I gave him my order then went walking around and he followed me around to deliver it! now THAT'S service! he's kinda funny too. I think he's adorable.

[icandoit]

Hello everyone

Yesterday i didn't feel like eating but i made myself. I made it seafood day and had shrimp, salmon and tuna with lettuce and squash. eta-2 eggs too.

Today i had an entire chicken with roasted toms and lettuce. The roasted toms taste so good and so sweet!!! yummmmmmmmm!

[farmgirl]

[COLOR="Indigo"]Morning!

Good news...I'm down 2 lbs this AM!

Eet...when I do strict QWL I get into such a deep ketosis that I don't need as much sleep.

Sassy....your menu sounds good! I love not being hungry!

to everyone else!

Gotta run,

Lisa[/COLOR]

[anniethepooh]

eet: hmm jittery/heart pounding/etc all sounds bad - be careful!

i'm wondering what the connection is between ketosis and sleep needs? i hope everyone is watching their calories and making sure they're not too low. i'm thinking mine might be - between 800-1000 - so i plan to do more research on effects of this and symptoms to look for if something is wrong. I don't want to wait until all my hair is falling out, yuck! It's hard to pass up losing weight faster but at what cost?

anyway today is going well. I wish we had a cute deli guy. All I get are foreign ladies who consistently give me a half pound when I ask for 1. I should be married to these ladies, considering how often I'm going to the deli counter these days! Yay for boar's head black forest ham and peppermill turkey, a lunch of champions. I thought I would be sick of meat and eggs by now, but not so far. I can't wait for my burger tonight!

Hope everyone is making progress!

[paleopaleo]

Hiya ladies. It's a beautiful morning here and I'm excited to get outside and enjoy it with my little son.

Anyway, I'm up half a pound today and the only changes yesterday were eating more protein with less fat and adding dairy, which I know has affected my weight loss in the past. So today I'm going back into purist mode and eating only meat and greens with a bit more added fat. And no salt at all.

Have a great day everyone!

[paleopaleo]

Ladies, I hope no-one will be offended if I share a slightly more formal opinion about some of the latest posts. I have a degree in Nutrition Science and much as I don't want to interfere with anyone's success, I do worry a little about some of the stuff I read here.

Of course, after many years of new research, I generally have to ignore about 90% of what I learned at school, but I still think anyone doing this diet for more than a few days at a time will have to make some adjustments to the basic low fat, high protein strategy.

First, it might be a good idea to keep calories around the 1200 mark to protect the metabolism. Also, keeping your protein intake at a reasonable level is probably wise (I aim for no more than 150g a day). That means you may have to add a little more fat if you're doing this diet for more than a few days at a time, and your weight loss will be slower.

As for supplements, DEFINITELY take extra magnesium, potassium and calcium. Once these electrolytes become low in the body, typical for this type of diet, you will feel jittery, faint and your heart may race. It can even become more serious than that, but I don't think anyone here will ignore serious side effects just so they can lose a few extra pounds.

As for potential hair loss, that's also a known side effect on this type of diet. The way to prevent it is to eat enough calories and supplement with ample fish oil and biotin. And again, if you're doing this for more than a few days at a time, up you fat intake slightly.

Again, I really hope I haven't offended anyone. I usually avoid any kind of "preachy" posts like the plague, since folks typically do a lot of research on their own before embarking on a fairly extreme diet like this.

[eetinmeet]

thanks Paleo, for your input....I can't imagine that anyone would be offended.

I do take supplements ...a vitamin/mineral sup., "b" supplement, "c" supplement, omega 3, and I am using salt sub (potassium) biotin, and cal/mag.

that is exactly why I don't stay on QWL for more than 3 days. I am pretty strict except that I do include a small amount of canola/olive oil for cooking. more current (than Stillman)research shows that some fat is essential to the diet.

[eetinmeet]

thanks Paleo, for your input....I can't imagine that anyone would be offended.

I do take supplements ...a vitamin/mineral sup., "b" supplement, "c" supplement, omega 3, and I am using salt sub (potassium) biotin, and cal/mag.

that is exactly why I don't stay on QWL for more than 3 days. I am pretty strict except that I do include a small amount of canola/olive oil for cooking. more current (than Stillman)research shows that some fat is essential to the diet.

I don't really count calories...I time my meals for every 3 hours (try to) and try not to eat the same amt each day. I take my supplements with food. I guess I am sort of trying to fool my body into thinking I'm eating more than I am,that seems to work for me, I guess we'll see how it works in the long term.

fortunately, my hair and nails are doing GREAT. better than before, actually.

Lisa that's GREAT!!

sorry about the double post....not quite sure what happened there....

[paleopaleo]

eetinmeet - cuteness is in definitely in the eye of the beholder. I also seem to notice fairly non-traditional types, especially if they're kind to boot!

[icandoit]

Originally Posted by anniethepooh

eet: hmm jittery/heart pounding/etc all sounds bad - be careful!

i'm wondering what the connection is between ketosis and sleep needs? i hope everyone is watching their calories and making sure they're not too low. i'm thinking mine might be - between 800-1000 - so i plan to do more research on effects of this and symptoms to look for if something is wrong. I don't want to wait until all my hair is falling out, yuck! It's hard to pass up losing weight faster but at what cost?

anyway today is going well. I wish we had a cute deli guy. All I get are foreign ladies who consistently give me a half pound when I ask for 1. I should be married to these ladies, considering how often I'm going to the deli counter these days! Yay for boar's head black forest ham and peppermill turkey, a lunch of champions. I thought I would be sick of meat and eggs by now, but not so far. I can't wait for my burger tonight!

Hope everyone is making progress!

I definitely don't need as much sleep as before because today i was up until 3am!
Make sure you watch the scale when you order deli meat. I always watch anywhere i go.

Originally Posted by paleopaleo

Ladies, I hope no-one will be offended if I share a slightly more formal opinion about some of the latest posts. I have a degree in Nutrition Science and much as I don't want to interfere with anyone's success, I do worry a little about some of the stuff I read here.

Of course, after many years of new research, I generally have to ignore about 90% of what I learned at school, but I still think anyone doing this diet for more than a few days at a time will have to make some adjustments to the basic low fat, high protein strategy.

First, it might be a good idea to keep calories around the 1200 mark to protect the metabolism. Also, keeping your protein intake at a reasonable level is probably wise (I aim for no more than 150g a day). That means you may have to add a little more fat if you're doing this diet for more than a few days at a time, and your weight loss will be slower.

As for supplements, DEFINITELY take extra magnesium, potassium and calcium. Once these electrolytes become low in the body, typical for this type of diet, you will feel jittery, faint and your heart may race. It can even become more serious than that, but I don't think anyone here will ignore serious side effects just so they can lose a few extra pounds.

As for potential hair loss, that's also a known side effect on this type of diet. The way to prevent it is to eat enough calories and supplement with ample fish oil and biotin. And again, if you're doing this for more than a few days at a time, up you fat intake slightly.

Again, I really hope I haven't offended anyone. I usually avoid any kind of "preachy" posts like the plague, since folks typically do a lot of research on their own before embarking on a fairly extreme diet like this.

I take biotin, calcium, milk of magnesium, potassium from my low salt shaker, vb6, omega and i used to take a high potency multivitamin/multimineral but it caused me to have headaches (i'm thinking the iron). What do you think about a multivitamin without iron. I would think i was getting enough iron, right?

Originally Posted by eetinmeet

thanks Paleo, for your input....I can't imagine that anyone would be offended.

I do take supplements ...a vitamin/mineral sup., "b" supplement, "c" supplement, omega 3, and I am using salt sub (potassium) biotin, and cal/mag.

that is exactly why I don't stay on QWL for more than 3 days. I am pretty strict except that I do include a small amount of canola/olive oil for cooking. more current (than Stillman)research shows that some fat is essential to the diet.

I cook my foods with olive oil (1tbs 258calories) but it has never affected my weight loss.

[paleopaleo]

Lisa - from what I've read, eating only meat is fine, as long as you add a bit of fat and keep your actual protein intake reasonable. That said, typical paleos actually eat quite a lot of low glycemic veggies and fruits as well. Our family's normal diet is basically lots of greens, low carb veggies, high-quality meats, seafood, eggs, nuts and berries (no grains, dairy, potatoes or processed foods). When I stray from that I gain weight and feel lousy. As for cheese, I absolutely LOVE the stuff, but it doesn't love me, so sadly it's a rare treat only.

[eetinmeet]

Annie...I was just googling some info on the ketosis/sleep thing, but I wasn't finding anything objective.

I know that I NEED sleep, regardless. I have insomnia anyway, but if I exercise and eat right I will sleep better. I lose more weight if I sleep 7 or more hours. I can tell if it's time to stop QWL...I can FEEL it.

[KSS]

hell everyone... I am trying to keep my calories at least up to 1000 because I worry about my body going into starvation mode. I pretty much only take a multi vitamin at night.

[Marie.B.]

Hi Everybody,

I've been on Stillman's ending my 2nd week now and I am down about 11lbs. I took the wkend off and was actually pretty good with my only real no-no's being alcohol (it was the Superbowl!) and baked beans. It felt soooo good to eat a salad and veggies!!!

I plan to stay on this for a few more weeks and cycle into Atkins, but I'm wondering will the change drastically effect my weight and how I loose? I mean it's going from nothing to just about anything you want. I feel like because I'm only eating when I'm hungry now in Stillmans, my portion control may be better but on Atkins I can eat high fat etc...
Should I try to get a little below my goal weight and then go on Atkins so when I gain, its not as tramautic?

[eetinmeet]

I don't lose weight on Atkins......maybe for the 1st couple of days...but after that I either stay the same or gain. too much poor quality fat for me.

I like Stillmans 14 day Shape up plan better.

[paleopaleo]

Gosh, I'm spending too much time on this board today! Well, I actually feel quite reassured now. It seems that folks are taking the supplements etc. seriously. Yay us!

It's interesting what folks are saying about ketosis and sleep. I've never needed very much sleep even as a young child, but when I do get a bit more I also lose better. Ketosis seems to affect the quality of my sleep a lot though. I'm fairly restless at night right now, although I don't feel particularly tired during the day.

[paleopaleo]

sassymanal - my guess is you're getting plenty of iron if you're eating high-purine meats, which it seems you are. I also get headaches from multis sometimes, but I'm taking the Rainbow Light prenatal 1-a-day right now and that seems to be ok.

[icandoit]

I'm going to be looking for no iron multivitamin. I bought a prenatal and i didn't notice it had more iron then my high poteny multivitamin (28mg)!! eek

[anniethepooh]

sassy, paleo, eet: thank you soo much for your posts! very insightful.

sassy - Just wondering if you've had a bad experience with deli meat / scales? I usually watch just to see how close to 1.00lb she gets, but I'm interested to know your experience in case there's something we should look for.

i'm going to check my vitamins and compare to the notes about extra supplements. i typically take either a women's formula multi, or i just bought some pre-natal ones.. i almost bought milk of magnesia last night but i was too embarassed.. silly i know. how often do you guys take that? i just started taking fish oil so i hope that counteracts anything that may cause hair to come out.. and I'll look into biotin.

i haven't even thought about salt intake yet, i think i will see how this goes before i start "cutting out" more items. not too many left to cut out!

So from everyone's experience, what is your "favorite" way to cycle off of stillmans (like if you're going off it every 3 or 4 or 5 days or so). Is it adding more calories, adding fat, adding veggies, adding carbs,... just wondering - I am finding all of your comments so very helpful. Thanks!!

As far as sleep changes go, I haven't noticed anything too much yet - been having vivid dreams but that's not unusual for me, and I still seem to love sleep as much as usual.

I did some googling myself and read a few interesting links... made me feel a bit better. Also, found this one that I thought was interesting, though not much of a reference or anything - but even the comments were interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/health/05diet.html

[eetinmeet]

Originally Posted by anniethepooh

sassy, paleo, eet: thank you soo much for your posts! very insightful.

sassy - Just wondering if you've had a bad experience with deli meat / scales? I usually watch just to see how close to 1.00lb she gets, but I'm interested to know your experience in case there's something we should look for.

i'm going to check my vitamins and compare to the notes about extra supplements. i typically take either a women's formula multi, or i just bought some pre-natal ones.. i almost bought milk of magnesia last night but i was too embarassed.. silly i know. how often do you guys take that? i just started taking fish oil so i hope that counteracts anything that may cause hair to come out.. and I'll look into biotin.

i haven't even thought about salt intake yet, i think i will see how this goes before i start "cutting out" more items. not too many left to cut out!

So from everyone's experience, what is your "favorite" way to cycle off of stillmans (like if you're going off it every 3 or 4 or 5 days or so). Is it adding more calories, adding fat, adding veggies, adding carbs,... just wondering - I am finding all of your comments so very helpful. Thanks!!

As far as sleep changes go, I haven't noticed anything too much yet - been having vivid dreams but that's not unusual for me, and I still seem to love sleep as much as usual.

I did some googling myself and read a few interesting links... made me feel a bit better. Also, found this one that I thought was interesting, though not much of a reference or anything - but even the comments were interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/health/05diet.html

I do Stillmans 14 Day Shapeup and switch to QWL for about 3 days every week or 2.

about the study....I thought it was interesting that Ms. Key lost 28 lbs in 2 months on an 890 cal. diet and Mr. Couvillion lost 30 lbs by cutting calories only 25%.

I think that cutting calories is effective, but going TOO low doesn't seem to offer any added benefit. also, all calories are not created equal. you could prob. lose weight on a 900 calorie a day all Twinkie diet, but you would look and feel like crap. and I think that there is adequate proof (albeit, mostly anecdotal) that a high protein low carb diet is more effective for QUICKER weight loss. I think that those faster results help keep us motivated.

[Marie.B.]

Originally Posted by Marie.B.

Hi Everybody,

I've been on Stillman's ending my 2nd week now and I am down about 11lbs. I took the wkend off and was actually pretty good with my only real no-no's being alcohol (it was the Superbowl!) and baked beans. It felt soooo good to eat a salad and veggies!!!

I plan to stay on this for a few more weeks and cycle into Atkins, but I'm wondering will the change drastically effect my weight and how I loose? I mean it's going from nothing to just about anything you want. I feel like because I'm only eating when I'm hungry now in Stillmans, my portion control may be better but on Atkins I can eat high fat etc...
Should I try to get a little below my goal weight and then go on Atkins so when I gain, its not as tramautic?

Any other responders? I don't think I can stay on this much longer but I don't want to give up what I've gained (more accurately lost for that matter).

[farmgirl]

I don't think you'll gain on Atkins, unless you overeat. I wouldn't go underweight. I believe Stillman rec'd switching up his diets when w/in 20 lbs of goal. i don't have the book w/ me, but it was something like that. When I got down close to goal 2 years ago I went back to just eating regular food in moderation. I did fine until about 6 months go when things went crappy. Totally my fault.

I don't eat as low fat as Stillmans rec'd. I eat quite a bit of fat. I just don't post it. I suppose i should really be posting on the m/e thread cause I can't do the low fat thing for very long. I feel my very best on m/e, high fat. I don't know why, but I have more NRG, less moodiness (not today peeps have been ticking me off ), no cravings/binging. It's awesome. I don't think it's for everyone, but for some metabolisms it seems to work. I feel good. I don't feel deprived. I'm in control. I see no reason to change.

Glad to see everyone doing so well!

Catch ya'll tomorrow!

Lisa