How is everyone doing with their healthy living endeavors? I started doing the Atkins plan the day after Thanksgiving. I'm in day 11 of induction now and so far I've lost 7 pounds. I had a few little problems at the start. Ketosis made me nauseous and I couldn't eat all of my carbs, which put me even deeper into ketosis and even more nauseous etc. and also stalled out my weight loss. I had to make a real effort to get in all of my carbs and now I feel much better and my weight loss has started again. I'll probably stay at induction levels through December and then progress to OWL in January.

I'm also down from 5-6 cans of Diet Mt.Dew a day to 1 can a day. I'm not ready to cut it out completely, I honestly don't know if I'll ever be ready to make that step. But I do feel good about decreasing my consumption, and it's helping my grocery bill too.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

Answers

Sounds like you are doing GREAT! Congrats on being a loser! :) I bet before long you will surptise yourself and not want the Mt. Dew anymore. Give it time.

We are still working out and eating clean. Had to change our schedule a bit to be able to use the child care at the gym. My oldest daughter (babysitter) is no longer living with us and makes it necessary for us to schedule things more efficiently. This is our second week of BodyRx. So far so good. I was pleased with the results of BFL with the exception of not building much muscle. I'm hoping the new program will aid in building up what I've lost in the past decade. All of my measurements and computations say that I either need to lose 10 lbs. of fat OR build about 6 lbs. of muscle. Losing the fat would only make me a smaller but same shaped version of what I am now. Building the muscle would make me a bit smaller (because muscle is more compact and muscle burns fat) but better shaped and less jiggly in areas. Wish me luck! I figure this could take another 6-9 months to reach my goal.

What about you Joy? Anyone else?

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

They were just talking about the BodyRX program on the Low Carb Friends board today Denise. It sounds interesting, although my idea of strenuous exercise is crochet!

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

Hmpf! I feel stupid for not starting this December thread -- I blame that on being chronically behind . . . This is the 9th of December and most days, I still think it's November! So, thanks Sherri for starting it!

I haven't done anything very "new" or newsworthy to report. I did make it through Thanksgiving dinner only a bit off-plan, and got right back on the plan afterwards. I made a pumpkin cheesecake (with Splenda & stevia). It was okay -- not horrible, very edible, but not so delicious that it was worth the work. I'd rather have just pumpkin pie. I have the feeling I already said this . . .

So, since then, I have made pumpkin pie to get in some of my veggie carbs and fiber (also with Splenda & stevia). The first time I forgot the salt and that I had planned to add some flax seed meal. I made a new one yesterday, remembering the salt and flax -- only I was guesstimating on the flax, so put in 1/4 cup (for the whole pie/custard) -- TOO much. It's also edible, but the flax is a little overwhelming in taste. Good for bowel function too. Though eating it every day might not be a good idea. Next time, I'm going to try about 1.5 tablespoons for the whole thing.

Sherri, I think Diet-Rite cola is using Splenda/sucralose rather than aspartame, if that appeals to you. I don't think a LOT of sucralose is a good idea either, but so far, better than aspartame or sacchrine.

I am continuing to lose, averaging 1.4 pounds a week. In the first five weeks, I lost about 18 pounds, but since then (10 more weeks), it's been in the 1-1.5 per week range. So that's 15 weeks I've been on this, almost 1/3 of the year, now.

I have no celebration plans for Christmas, not making any cookies or such, so I expect it to be easier than Thanksgiving.

I haven't really started exercising yet. I've been doing some wall push-ups (yes, that is quite strenuous enough for me to begin with!), but none of the other stuff. I need to schedule time for it! Yes, I definitely need to do the body shaping stuff. The majority of my fat is around the middle, and though it is coming off, not as fast as other areas (proportionally, that is). I'm beginning to look even more like a barrel on toothpicks.

I know I posted these before, but I plan to start with the exercises in Strong Women Stay Young and in Strong Women Stay Slim. Their format just appealed to me more. And again, I took them out from the library first. I bought the Stay Young one, but I'm just going to xerox the exercise pages from Stay Slim, as I don't agree with her eating plan.

I did order some almond flour, but have not tried making anything out of it yet. EM, if you read this, should I be refrigerating it? It's a big jar, but I could put it in the garage for the winter. Being allergic or sensitive to wheat/glutens IS a challenge. Luckily for me, I can get away with a SMALL amount occasionally. I usually try the bread samples at Whole Foods as I wander through there -- I get a taste, but not overloaded on carbs or wheat.

My goals include losing weight, but my MAJOR goal is to make this my way of life (with as little backsliding as possible).

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2002

I can't wait for all of this holiday stuff to be over. I'm doing well so far even though all of these expectations from others is driving me crazy. It just makes me have to clean and cook more for something I'm not all that invested in.

In spite of all that my BF% is down to 26% and scale weight went down a lb. I thought I had reached the normal range but I was informed at the gym that I should be between 19-22%. One thing I have noticed about this gym is that the staff who are also the owners aren't very friendly or interested in the members. They don't even say hi when you walk in. It's definitely not a necessity to getting in shape but it's a lot different than the other gyms I've belonged to in the past. They were always so friendly and personable. Oh well! LOL!

We are starting our 3rd week of BRX today. So at the end of this week we'll already be halfway through cycle one. It seems to be going quickly. I'm anxious to get to cycle 2 because that's when I think we'll begin to see visual changes in muscularity again. Cycle 1 is all about heavy liftng and increasing strength and size of muscles. Cycle 2 will start to shape and sculpt what happened in cycle 1.

It's been another week or so. Any updates, thoughts, or developments? The pumpkin pie sounds interesting, Joy. I love pumpkin pie. Did you make a nut crust? or no crust?

-- Anonymous, December 16, 2002

Denise, no nut crust. I did that on the pumpkin cheesecake and didn't think it was worth the expense, effort, etc. I just bake the filling in an oven proof casserole. I added 1/4 cup of ground flax seed for more fiber -- TOO MUCH! Maybe 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) would be better.

-- Anonymous, December 16, 2002

Joy I have been drinking some Diet Rite, both the Red Raspberry and the Kiwi Strawberry (which both taste the same to me). But there's just something about the taste of Mt Dew first thing in the morning....

I've been on Atkins for 4 weeks now and I've lost 10 lbs. I think that in the past week I gained and lost the same pound at least seven times! I'm having problems getting used to cooking this way but I'm afraid that if I start adding carbs back in I'll stop losing weight. I tried out some new recipes this week and out of the four that I tried I only liked one of them. I'm feeling kind of discouraged right now.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2002

Sherri, what was it you didnt like about the recipes? Are you wunna those fussy eaters? :)

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2002

I wouldn't exactly say fussy because I'll try just about anything. Critical might be a better word. One recipe was for a cheeseburger pie using Atkins bake mix instead of Bisquick. It was very dry and didn't have a whole lot of flavor too it. Same thing for the zucchini bread, way too dry. The meatloaf wasn't too bad although without any breadcrumbs or oatmeal it didn't stick together too well, and it had too much Italian sausage in it. I like the taste of Italian sausage but it upsets my tummy something fierce. The portabello mushroom lasagne was pretty yummy though, I'll probably make it again.

I had something happen a few weeks ago that really sent my self-image into a tailspin. Now I can feel myself getting too obsessed about losing weight and it's making me unhappy so I'm going to stop it now. I'm going to try to only weigh myself once a week, right now I'm doing it twice a day! I'm also going to stop agonizing over every little carb that enters my mouth. I'm still going to avoid the "white death" products, but if I dust my swiss steak with flour before I brown it or make the meatloaf that I like that uses oatmeal as a binder I'm not going to have a meltdown. I need to refocus on healthier eating with weight loss as a possible side benefit, rather than agonizing over every little ounce I gain or lose.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2002

Sherri, many people who are sensitive to excess carbs can't have those miniscule amounts of grain products without triggering huge cravings and great difficulty staying on the low-carb WOE.

I highly recommend reading the Protein Power Lifeplan book for very interesting information about insulin sensitivity, carb cravings, what grains do to your intestines, etc. As I mentioned before, you can probably get it from the public library.

Since I get stomaches from any wheat or other gluten products, I don't eat it, including the substitute "baking mixes" etc. Lots of people on the PP discussion board have said they don't like the baking mixes from Atkins. :-(

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2002

Yeah, I know. I'm just going to experiment and see what happens.

I did read the Protein Power book, I got it from the library and I couldn't renew it because someone else wanted it so I had to read it pretty fast.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002

Yes, it's popular here too. I just went ahead and bought my own copy -- but I lucked out and hit that period where the paperback is coming out so the hardcover is "remaindered". I got it for about five bucks! :-) I don't know if you'd be able to find it for that cheap anymore. Of course, the paperback (trade size, not mass market) is more than that! :-(

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002

I dunno whats in Atkins bake mix, and never used Bisquick, but whenever I need some kind of crust or topping with little carbs, we use almond flour. Tastes great, and very filling and nutritious.

I agree that going cold turkey on carbs is a very difficult thing for most people to do, especially if they've been used to overdoing them, like most amurikans are. One had to be really motivated to go there. And although Joy is right about lots of folks needing to go into ketosis for that quick weight loss effect, and to kill the cravings, if you just cannot do that, you will most likely still lose weight and get healthier if you just cut out as many carbs as possible, especially the ones you know are nasty for you. ( white flour and mountain dew :)) And that's forever.

Don't get discouraged; I doubt there are too many folks out there with the apparent willpower and focus of Denise! I know I ain't got it!

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002

Awwww, thanks for the compliment, EM! I agree that if you are obsessing and it doesn't get your cravings going that it would be OK not to be so precise about things. But as Joy said, some people can't take even the smallest amount of carbs added into their food. You'll just have to see how it affects YOU. I think the almond flour would be just perfect for what you are talking about, Sherri. I didn't like those bake mixes either.

I have been having some treats over the past couple of weeks but have been trying to keep it to a minimum. We still haven't missed any workouts! We just finished week 4 of cycle 1 (2 weeks to go until cycle 2)!! I got on the scale and measured this morning. To my dismay, I had gained a pound. But once I did the measurements and did the figuring it's good weight gain. My measurements had gone down some. I only lost .3% body fat but I had gained a pound of Lean Body Mass in the last month!

We just had our last holiday gathering for this year with my Dad and his wife today. So I went ahead and took a free day but will eat clean starting tomorrow until next Sunday. So I guess I'm saying that I should be back on track again after today. I may increase my cardio and see what that does for fat loss. But I don't want to do too much cardio as it could stall muscle growth. It's hard to find the right balance because it's such an individual thing.

I'm glad you all are doing well with your programs. It's exciting to see progress!

Oh EM, the girls on a BFL board were discussing Nourishing Traditions the other day. It seems that quite a few are going to try it for awhile. It sounds like a lot of work. Do you cook from it often? Which things do you like from it?

Have a great week everyone!

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2002

Too many anacronyms! I sat there and puzzled over BFL for awhile, until I finally remembered it was Body for Life. Duh!

I did not lose a thing this week. But, I dropped 2.5 lb the week before, so I guess I'd better not complain . . . .

I'm am getting tired of my food. Which means I should find some new recipes, I guess. I'm pretty much of a plain cook, that is, I cook the meat however (fry, broil, roast, etc. usually just with some seasonings) and steam the veggies, and that's it. I'm starting to hanker for Mexican or pizza or Chinese, so I guess I'm actually going to have to make something like that! {sigh} At least there are recipes on the PPLP board. I just don't like to cook .. . . I wish I could order low carb pizza (though what that might taste like, I don't know!) Or maybe I need a "break" for one meal. Any opinions?

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2002

Denise, what's the eating plan like on Body Rx? I'm sorry if you talked about this already, I'm on my old slow laptop tonight and it takes forever to look though the old posts.

Joy, are you going to start going to a gym when you start doing the Smart Woman stuff or are you going to work out at home? My employer offers a discount on membership at a fitness center, but it's one of those "beautiful people" places and not my style at all. There's a Ladies Only gym about 3 blocks from my house, I may have to check them out but I don't know if I want to sign up for a place where Keith can't go too. I may ask my buddy Jason where he works out, hopefully it's not one of those hard-core places where everyone looks like The Rock (even the women!)

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2002

LOL! "too many acronyms!" I wuz havin the same trouble!

Pizza: sorry to repeat myself, I use almond flour pizza dough. I have a couple helpful cookbooks with nut flour substitutions for common stuff.

Chinese: we do stir-frys once a week. Basically just meat and veggies, and a good tasty sauce. Usually just tamari, ginger, garlic, a little wine/broth, maybe some sesame. Sometimes I curry it up and use cocoanut milk, but I have no idea if that's legal for low carb?

Mexican is hard without corn, but heavy on the mexican spices on any meat or eggs, taco salad without the taco shell, chili, use pepper jack cheese a lot.

ABout the Nourishing Traditions discussion: I'm assuming you told all your friends what cute little internet bookstore they could buy that book? mine :)

What do you find as lots of work specifically? It does take extra planning ahead to do some of that stuff, like marinating and soaking stuff. I use the book all the time. My favorite soup in the world is her peanut soup!

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2002

EM, do you have a recipe for a nut-flour pie crust? I've been trying to figure out some way to make chicken pot pies without a pastry crust. I've also been trying to figure out a way to remake another one of my favorite casseroles, it's cubed chicken, cheese, broccoli, and rice. Any ideas for a rice substitute? Isn't there a grain that's really high in protein, I forgot what the name is but I think it starts with a Q.

Joy, some of the folks on the low carb friends board recommend grating cauliflower and cooking it with tamari sauce or other Chinese seasonings as a substitue for rice in chinese dishes.

I tried another baking experiment yesterday. I made low carb sandwich rolls. They look like they turned out OK. I don't know how they taste yet because you're supposed to let them sit for a day or two before you eat them. It will be nice to have a hamburger on a bun once in a while. I also have a recipe for some flax seed meal muffins I'm going to try out as soon as I can get to the health food store to buy some flax seed. My grocery store does sell flax seed meal but since the good omega fatty acids supposedly go rancid pretty quickly I'm thinking it would be better to grind it fresh myself.

I'm still having problems figuring out side dishes and food combinations. I was raised in your typical meat and potatoes family, it just seems strange to me to serve roast beef without mashed potatoes and gravy. I've been in charge of cooking family meals since I was 12 years old and it's frustrating that every menu I have is now wrong. I actually have to think about what I'm cooking now, which can be a real pain in the butt after a long day at work. :>

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2002

First of all, you have to accept that when substituting nut flours, you are not dealing with the same texture we are all used to from using glutinous grain flours. It will not taste the same, feel the same, behave in the same manner. Its maybe a good idea to not compare the two, but to look at it as a new, more healthy way to eat. Maybe visit a hypnotist to program you to hate flour products might be helpful!

Anyway, here's the pizza crust recipe I use: (from Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall)

makes 2 regular or 1 very large pizza

5-6cups almond flour 3-4 eggs 1 T olive oil 1/4 tsp salt

all ingredients are approximate; you might have to play with a little. Mix everything together until you can form a ball. Oil your pan and press dough ball down and shape with hands. The hardest part is getting it thin enough.

Put pan into oven, turn on to 350*. (You are preheating with pan in oven). By the time oven has come to temperature, crust should be ready to fill (a little firmed up).

I have never tried this with pot pies, Sherri, so have no idea if they will hold up or crust will crumble if you try to remove them. Maybe better to just make individually sized ones?

Almonds do have a taste of their own, and it will be different than you are used to, a little sweet, a lot more delicate in texture, and way more filling.

another choice for crust:

CHEESE BREAD

2½ C ground nuts 1/4 cup soft butter 1 cup cheese, cut into small pieces 1 tsp soda 1/8 tsp salt 3 eggs, beaten

Mix butter, flour, cheese. Add eggs, soda, salt. For bread, pour into well greased loaf pan (4x8) and bake until golden on top. For crust,pat down in greased pan as thin as you can (1/3 to 1/2 inch) and proceed as above.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2002

(cont.......this is so annoying!) The grain you're thinking of is quinoa; I have used it just a little. You have to rinse it good first (like rice, only much more) cuz otherwise it tastes like soap! Its little itty bitty, like poppy seeds, kinda weird, but tastes fine. I havent used it in baking though. This link indicates quinoa is high in protein but really not all that much higher than wheat. And look at the carb value of corn!? I always thought corn was high in carbs! That doesn't look right!

Ive really gotten where we just dont eat that much baked stuff, which I would have thought bren would never have adjusted to since she was always a breadstuff nut, but she has gotten kind of used to it too, although she's started requesting some rice flour products/recipes lately again. (she made a pumpkin pie with rice flour crust for xmas) I havent been baking with the almond flour as much lately, have started back using some rice flour mixes, since our biggest problem here is her gluten intolerance. She eats way too many carbs of most kinds (and keeps getting bigger); my one seemingly immovable sin is sugar.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2002

(chapter three...grrrr....)

About your menu changes, Sherri. I love potatoes too, really I do, but I try never ever to eat carbs for dinner, except on special occasions, so I just dont make them with the dinner meal anymore. A lovely piece of meat, or egg dish, or beans/rice main dish, along with a big salad, or slaw, or a couple different kinds of cooked veggies, or some fruit, and you have a hearty, satisfying meal.

We do stir-fries a lot, and at first we missed the rice or chow mein noodles, but dont miss em at all anymore. (well bren does). Its a whole meal in one dish.

Or a big salad with taco-flavored meat and lots of taco-type addtions. Yum. Or a chef's salad. Or tuna salad. Or chicken salad. Or antipasta. Or chicken caesar salad. Or asparagus and leftover roast beef or ham. (yea ham has some sugar,but tuff I eat it once in awhile anyway). Or turkey and avocado. Or shrimp salad.

Sherri, your menu is not 'wrong'. Just remove the carb part, increase the other parts, and you'll probably adjust in no time!

Maybe. :)

Could happen.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2002

The Eades have out a cookbook on low-carb "comfort foods". I looked at it today, but didn't buy it. I was getting impatient and decided to just leave. I'll probably buy in eventually! But I did see a recipe for mashed "potatoes" using cauliflower. And here is a thread on the PPLP discussion board with a different recipe to make "faux- tatoes" -- but I haven't tried it yet. I did buy a head of cauliflower (a good first step!). link

EM, I think the explanation for the "low carbs" on the corn is that they are listing the PERCENTAGE in the grain. Look at the percentage of water in corn compared to the other grains. Perhaps they were listing fresh corn rather than dried? Percentage don't matter anyway in low carb, its the grams of carbs, and corn is DEFINITELY high.

My carb counting book says that corn meal has 107 grams of carbs per cup! And quinoa (pronouced keen-wha) is 117 grams per cup of uncooked. Of course, you wouldn't eat that much, but even 1/4 cup (which probably would cook up to about 1/2 cup or a bit more) would be 29 grams of carbs. Quinoa won't be on my list of foods to eat . . .

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2002

continuing . . .

Taco salad would be good, if it were warm weather. I can't tolerate raw veggies, especially lettuce, in cold weather. I get major diarrhea. I have to eat only cooked, hot veggies. My acupuncturist (also practices traditional Chinese medicine) told me this, and darned if she wasn't right! My digestion definitely improved when I started following her instructions. The coldest thing I can tolerate in cold weather is room temperature water.

Stir-fry Chinese sounds doable, except that I am miserable at keeping the oil from spattering everywhere. I might just go out and get some Chinese take out and just not eat the rice. There are plenty of carbs in a lot of the veggies anyway (carrots, peapods).

I should try making a lower carb version of chili too -- more meat, less tomato and beans. The Eades are recommending black soybeans as having fewer carbs than other beans -- anyone ever try those? Not the same as black beans, those are really black turtle beans (yum).

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2002