Mandy's 2009 Journey

[PalmTreeGal]

162.4

Okay . . . 2008 is over and a new year is beginning! I lost almost 20 pounds in 2008 . . . twice. Unfortunately I gained them back plus some in between so I'm not down 40 pounds.

Since getting back on track in September I have lost 18.6 pounds. I have 42.4 pounds left. Goal is 1 pound per week. Plan is to continue to keep carbs under 50 and keep up with the exercise I recently started (but not get obsessive about it because I do that sometimes). I am getting to a point where I think I may have to count calories. I'm dreading it but I hate living in this body and I will do what I have to do!

[bekki1]

hi Mandy1 happy New Year. You can do it this time.

[Lizbeth927]

Yay for a new journal! I'll be back on the LC train myself starting January 5th. It's been too hard to stick to it while on vacation. We can support each other - I know you will be successful!

[momov2boys]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

Okay . . . 2008 is over and a new year is beginning!

Exactly!

I'm marking my spot and will be here to cheer you on, Mandy!

[PalmTreeGal]

163.8

[PalmTreeGal]

Nice to have visitors already!

Still frustrated, weight up again today, and I went out and had an enormous meal at Texas Roadhouse. All LC, total carbs for the day 38, but calories 2194! I think I have decided, cutting calories is the tack I am going to take, I have been debating going back to Induction, increasing cals, doing the induction plan from Protein Power. But counting calories is simplest and I know how to do it only too well. Next week I am going up to VT for an interview and I always seem to gain weight when I travel, so I'll start the new calorie-reduced lifestyle when I get back. What should I aim for? I don't think I can handle less than 1600. Maybe I should try for 1800?

Or maybe my weight will drop miraculously in the next few days and I can forget all this foolishness.

[bekki1]

Interviewing for a new job, tell all?

[Amyb1569]

I happen to find your journal through another blog I have been reading. So here I am..lol
I see we are close to the same weight with a close goal. I say we just do it...what ya think?
I was curious how tall you are.

[PalmTreeGal]

We're looking to move out of this area and there are a couple options. One is to go "home" to VT, it's where I grew up and went to nursing school and met DH (he is actually from Boston). So next week I go to interview. Other options are Asheville NC or Bay Area of California, which is where I went to grad school. Each has pros and cons . . . we will just see which places have jobs available and go from there. Thanks for asking!

[PalmTreeGal]

5'2 Amy. What are your stats? How do you eat? You look great in that photo.

What do you mean just do it? I am trying so hard to just do it!

[Amyb1569]

Ha..I did not mean anything about Just do it..I guess I mean..let's just get it done. We can do it..

My stats. I started at 233 and I got to 136 ...the wrong way...I was doing kimkins and gained a whole host of issues while losing the weight.

I have had some medical issues and gained some weight.

I am now 160.

Here is a picture time line...

[PalmTreeGal]

Yeah, dammit, let's do it! If only I knew how! So your final goal is close to mine? Are you 5'2 also? Have you been losing well lately? Did Kimkins fry your metabolism?

[Amyb1569]

I am 5'3.
Kimkins was a mess ...I just feel like a fool to of done her plan..and now she is has a law suit filed against me. Heidi Diaz and I are not friends..lol
Well I have been sick and fighting some pretty serious medical stuff ..so my weight has gone up.
So now what are we going to do to get this started...I am thinking...strict induction...what ya think?

[PalmTreeGal]

She has a lawsuit against you? What for?

I've considered strict induction, but I have basically been on plan with carbs under 50 for months now. I'd hate to go back to a more restrictive eating plan. I've been in ketosis all this time too. So right now I'm going to try restricting calories.

If you have been off plan, I say go for it as far as doing Induction - it's exactly what I need when I've been off plan a while. Kills those cravings dead.

[Amyb1569]

Oh it is a long ugly story...lol. It could be because I was on vacation and happen to see her in a parking lot of a store and snap a few pictures ...But then again I snapped some pictures of John McCain when I saw him too,...and he is not suing me..

Then again..Heidi has said some pretty awful things about me in public involving my son etc.

Heidi is just pathetic..sorry to be so blunt but true.

explain to me about you have been eating...and what your plan is to lower your calories.

[PalmTreeGal]

Ooh, it was you that got those photos! You go girl! She is one screwed-up excuse for a human being.

I just posted a thread in the ML looking for help with how many cals I should be eating . . . anyway, I have been eating average 38 cals (often higher, up to 50) and 1913 cals. Eating some non-lc whole foods but still pretty heavy on the meat/veggies/oils. So time to start tweaking.

[Amyb1569]

Umm...yes I am that Amy B ...ya know someone had to do it...

What is the ML? And will you post what answers you get?

[PalmTreeGal]

ML is the Main Lobby. Here is the thread, got some good responses already.

Help with restricting calories - how many?

[Vanessa120]

Mandy,
I have a different perspective to consider......I was using fitday and obssessively counted calories/carbs at the beginning of my journey. I decided to let go of it for a few reasons:

(1) I felt that behavior was of the "diet mentality" and I planned to make this a low carb lifestyle....
(2) It reinforced a focus on food....constantly thinking about where I was at for the day, how much more I could eat, etc....
(3) Although not extremely time consuming it was time that could be spent doing something else....

Metabolism is unique to every individual and as much as science would like to put a formula on it, in my experience (professional), formulas are off 70% of the time with a 30% margin of error.

I see you mention Gary Taubes so I am assuming you have read GCBC.....recall what he says about what happens when one restricts calories. When you start having a dieter's mentality and restrict calories your energy production decreases both in output and at a cellular level. Feed your body what it needs and you get rewarded with more energy and an expenditure of more calories.

In my own experience on this journey I broke up my long standing relationship with fitday. I have counted and tracked for the better part of the past 10 years and it didn't stop me from gaining weight or binging on cookies. I made a decision that if this is going to be my lifestyle I can be mindful of my calories/carbs and at the same time be more aware of my body and the signals it gives me.

Currently you are averaging 1900 cals per day --- are you hungry? Do you eat for reasons other then hunger?

I don't believe you need to cut out nuts, dairy, wine & dark chocolate but you may need to cut back if you are consuming more than your body needs.

Hope this helps.....

[PalmTreeGal]

162.2

Vanessa, in theory I totally agree with you. What I love about LC is that you DON'T have to restrict or count, you just eat LC foods when you are hungry. You can order in a restaurant easily and you can, as I was doing until recently, not even count carbs closely. It doesn't feel like a diet and it frees your mind to think about other things. That's how I want to live! I don't have cravings and I don't binge; there are a few odd foods I have trouble with (roast beef/provolone/pickle rollups?) but even those are pretty well controlled, I don't go running out in my slippers at 11 PM to buy them like I used to with ice cream!

But all that said - I am not losing and this weight is not acceptable! Still technically obese. I am very satisfied on my 1900 cals. In general I don't eat when I am not hungry although I tend to eat whatever is on my plate even if I'm satisfied before then. Partly because it's irritating to try and count carbs/calories when you don't finish what you've measured, isn't that goofy?

I am going to try for 1700 calories, averaged over 6 days a week (not necessarily on any one day) and a free-for-all but still LC day once a week. I am hoping I can effect this with minor tweaks - 2% Fage instead of full fat, maybe Almond Breeze and 1 TB cream instead of 2 TB cream in my coffee? I haven't played around with that one to see how to make it taste good yet. Stop eating when I'm full even if there is food left.

But basically I do NOT want to be obsessed. The hardcore people posting in the ML about how I have to make sacrifices are irritating me. I have done the borderline-eating-disorder thing - the obsession, 600 cals a day, diet pills, 40 pounds in a few months. I don't want to go there or anywhere remotely close again.

Thank you so much for injecting some fresh air into this discussion!

[Amyb1569]

Mandy
I wanted to share something with you. I do really well with my obsession thoughts UNTIL I cut it back too low. Then it is like a roller coaster...I lose whatever control I feel like I have trying to gain control...does this make sense?
I bet if you do just what you said and cut back a little here and there...you will get a better response with your weight then going half crazy and white knuckle weight loss...Cause you and i both know..that white knuckle is not good.
Can you do me a favor? remind me of this when I need it.

[PalmTreeGal]

It's a deal Amy. You remind me and I'll remind you. Obsession sucks.

[Lizbeth927]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

162.2

But basically I do NOT want to be obsessed. The hardcore people posting in the ML about how I have to make sacrifices are irritating me. I have done the borderline-eating-disorder thing - the obsession, 600 cals a day, diet pills, 40 pounds in a few months. I don't want to go there or anywhere remotely close again.

I read the thread and had almost the exact same thoughts. Making "sacrifices" in order to lose weight isn't that easy for some of us. When I lost down to goal a few years back, I was definitely borderline-eating-disorder and it was awful! Letting food control my every thought and emotion was so completely exhausting, and I think you're absolutely right not to want to return to that place. It's incredibly unhealthy. I think that you're doing everything right, and that perhaps by making a few tweaks here and there and by being patient with your body you'll be able to power through your stall in no time. Seeing you lose so consistently and NOT limit yourself to Induction gives me hope that I can get there too

[PalmTreeGal]

160.8

New low! Yay! Going to order that necklace I promised myself when I hit 20 lbs down. I ate a ton of bacon and olives yesterday so was quite surprised by the number.

Lizbeth, I'm glad you understand. I am not willing to be miserable or count every morsel I eat. At this point I don't think it's necessary. Maybe after I have exhausted all other options I would consider it, because I really do want/need to lose this weight. But I am not insulin resistant, my thyroid is optimized, I am relatively young and I am exercising. I don't think I should have to be draconian to lose.

I guess I do lose "consistently" - just slowly! And not at all in December, but there were good reasons for that, and things seem to be moving again.

You are young and healthy too and I bet you could lose doing what I do. Here's what I eat in addition to induction foods:

Grapefruit
Berries
Other fruit when served in restaurants
Sweet potatoes (not too often)
Wine
85% chocolate
Nuts
Almond Breeze
LC treats from jacksmixedtape's blog (carefully, easy to overdo!)

[momov2boys]

Originally Posted by Lizbeth927

When I lost down to goal a few years back, I was definitely borderline-eating-disorder and it was awful!
Letting food control my every thought and emotion was so completely exhausting, and I think you're absolutely right not to want to return to that place.
It's incredibly unhealthy.

Complete Ditto!

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

160.8

New low! Yay!
Going to order that necklace I promised myself when I hit 20 lbs down.

...I am not willing to be miserable or count every morsel I eat.
...I don't think I should have to be draconian to lose.

[Jean@125]

Hi Mandy,
I just wanted to throw something out to you and I could be misled or misinformed but my understanding is we can stall or lose very slowly even if we aren't insulin resistant because the body releases insulin when we eat whether they are the so called good carbs or not and in turn the more releases we have the more fat the body will continue to store. I thought I was a slow loser and I am a binger as well but since I gave up splenda and eat only fatty cuts of meat and a minimum of carbs the pounds have been melting off and more importantly I have no cravings. I am not implying that you use splenda or overeat this or that just wanted to say what is finally working for me. Jeanie

[PalmTreeGal]

Jean are you saying that Splenda causes insulin release, which encourages fat storage? May be so; I do consume a fair amount of it. If I continue to stall out I might give it a try. I would probably still use some Stevia and erythritol though. Maybe someday I will be able to go cold turkey on the sweeteners but I'm not ready now!

Thanks so much for your input.

[Lizbeth927]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

Jean are you saying that Splenda causes insulin release, which encourages fat storage? .

Hmmm, I'm intersted to hear more about this. I don't use Splenda, I think it tastes strange - but I do consume a fair amount of sweet n' low in my coffee and also drink diet soda from time to time. I don't know if I could give those up cold turkey though!! Maybe I should do some research about artificial sweeteners and fat storage.

[steady]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

160.8

New low! Yay!

Keep going!

[Jean@125]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

Jean are you saying that Splenda causes insulin release, which encourages fat storage? May be so; I do consume a fair amount of it. If I continue to stall out I might give it a try. I would probably still use some Stevia and erythritol though. Maybe someday I will be able to go cold turkey on the sweeteners but I'm not ready now!

Thanks so much for your input.

My best guess is that it does for me. If I use splenda in my coffee or drink diet pepsi with splenda I can feel a difference in my hunger levels and the amount of cravings I have. It is very hard to give it up and I only did so how of pure desperation the binges were getting way out of control and I was literally afraid for my mental and physical well being. Jeanie