Finally made a decision and Schwarzbein is it!

[Boo]

Hello everyone,

I've been laying low for the past week as I totally ruined everything I've been working on for the past month! I did not lose any weight and got so frustrated and I guess I just had my fit with food. Have to admit that the damage of this past week quickly showed... I'm tired again; I get super sleepy early afternoon; during aerobics (afternoon class) I have to push myself as my energy is just down.... :o This me most the day :o

Anyways, lucky enough, I received Dr. Schwarzbein's book and have been reading it for the past 2 days. She did a very good job of explaining everything and the low carb way... So, I promised myself to start again tomorrow, put my scale away for now, and just start working on feeling good. I also realized that one of my past mistakes was not planning ahead of time and preparing my food and making sure I was happy with what I was eating. Its going to take more effort and time as I'm very busy during the day (I do not have a lunch break during working hours - have my lunch at my desk - then I hit the gym straight after work - I get home around 6.00 and by then I'm zonked out...and just wish everything could be ready and prepared for me... :(

Okay, now I feel much better that I've acknowledged the damage I have done and I shall start again....once again...

How can we start a section/thread for the Schwarzbein followers???

Take care everyone!

[Muse]

Boo,

I for one will be watching with great enthusiasm your low carb journey with Schwarzbein. I read her book and to me it is something with which I can live for the rest of my life. However, as I have so much to loose, I'm following Atkins until I am at goal, at which point I hope to maintain, using Schwarzbein. Please keep us up to date. I know others are following her program as well. Best of luck to you!

Muse :wave:

[MamaPlucky]

Can you give me the basics of that plan? What makes it different than Atkins?? Muse, I'm with you. I'm doing Atkins to lose weight and then will find something more manageable to maintain. I've been looking at Sugar Busters, CAD and now you've caught my attention!! Do tell!! :confused:

[tamarian]

Originally posted by Boo
How can we start a section/thread for the Schwarzbein followers???

Hi Boo,

By section, you mean like a seperate sub-forum, similar to the way we've sectioned the low-carb kitchen and bootcamp? I've been thinking of adding sub-forums to discuss ow-carb plans seperately (Atkins, CAD, Protein Power, Zone, Schwarzbein, etc) but wasn't sure if it's a good idea.

What do you guys think?

Wa'il

[tamarian]

Originally posted by MamaPlucky
Can you give me the basics of that plan? What makes it different than Atkins??

Hi Mama (feels funny saying this!) :)

There's a good thread discussing the basics in our low-carb plans forum:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=68

Wa'il

[MamaPlucky]

Thanks for the link...and don't feel funny about calling me that...I'm not YOUR Mama! :spin:

[judy130]

Hello everyone
I have just started on the Schwarzbein Principle and am trying to concentrate on the fact that it is better for my health and the weight loss will come. I have to lose about 30 pounds so hope I can stick with it. She says you should throw the scales away and think about the health gains, but it is difficult not to keep weighing yourself.

Well good luck everyone

Judy

[LCer in NW]

Welcome, and good eating! Those scales. some of them lie and, well, the others only speak in half truths. You only get weight from the scale, you don't get other goodies like estimated body fat percentage. When weight is not decreasing, often you are reshaping. It your main interest is in reshaping, you (and your pants, etc.) are better measures of that!

Have a look around, and perhaps start a journal, as this will let you track your progress by whatever measure you choose.

[judy130]

Thanks, LCer. Last year I had tried the SP and did well, losing about a pound a week. Then I heard about Atkins and wanted faster weight-loss. I lost about 5 pounds in the first week and then it stopped and I started getting all the sugar cravings back.

So now I am back on SP and will start again from this weekend. The only problem is I don't eat red meat so I get bored with just chicken and fish. Hope I can keep it up: the feel-good factor is worth it! I am also glad to have found this site as I need the support.

[DebPenny]

Judy, I just finished rereading Dr. Schwarzbein's book and the one thing I got out of it again is that it is "physiologically impossible" for you to metabolize more than 2 pounds of fat a week. Therefore, if Atkins is promising faster weight loss, it is at the expense of lean body mass.

My weight loss started fast (normal "water weight" loss), which was very gratifying, but it has now slowed down. I find that since I understand why, I'm comforted by that. I'm instead focusing on how I feel, which is better than I've felt in over 10 years!

I'm keeping my scales until I'm below 200. Then I'm throwing them away.

:-Deb

[LCer in NW]

I never read that about physiological impossibility of losing more than 2 lbs. of fat a week. Really? I know it wasn't muscle, or similarily dense body parts, since I used to float, but don't anymore. To my knowledge, the only thing that does that is the loss of fat (or shall I say stored carbos). If I lost water, it would be an even trade or I would shift slightly to more bouyant, and if it were bone density, I would go more bouyant. If it were muscle, the results would even be more significant. I also wonder if this physiological effect is somewhat dependent on how overweight you are or what size your body is. Is it dependent on the size of your kidneys or liver or pancreas, or some such thing? I drank abundant water before and after induction cycle, and obtained a 15 lb drop in 16 days. I might have lost 1 lb of lean tissue, maybe 1 or 2 lbs. of water, though I don't know how. That still left 12-13 lbs in 16 days, and lost bouyancy too.

[DebPenny]

LCer, I haven't read the Atkins diet, just reviews. So I don't know what claims it actually makes. But I have been reading posts from people who've gone on that program expecting dramatic results.

So you made me go look it up. On page 22, Dr. Dchwarzbein has a box that explains what "water weight" loss is. And on Page 155 is the box that expalins why it is impossible to lose more that 2 pounds of body fat a week. It's in other places too, but I couldn't find them as easily.

This is what I like about Dr. Schwarzbein's book. She talks about how things work. She gives good, sound reasons to change your lifestyle and eating habits. And her program is easy to follow and satisfying from the first -- at least it was for me. ;)

BTW: How are you testing your bouyancy? With that small a change you should not be able to tell yourself. I know that when I was a swimmer, in my teens, as my weight fluctuated and went up, I couldn't tell the difference, and at that time I was gaining a lot of fat.

BTW: An interesting note, I presume you edited your post a few times? ;) I received 4 notices that you had posted it. I do the same thing -- go back and edit my posts. I didn't realize it caused multiple notices to thread subscribers. ;)

Happy low-carbing, whatever method you choose,
;-Deb

:daizy:

[LCer in NW]

Thanks Deb, guess I'll have to get smart about how come I shed weight and what the weight really was. I had a glitch in my posting, and did not edit it 4 times, however there were (for a short time) 4 duplicate postings. Luckily, a moderator was on hand and deleted the last 3, leaving only one when you accessed the list.
At the time, I did not make any quantitative measurements on my bouyancy, just qualitative, and I was getting less floaty and significantly so.
:cool: Recently I developed a calculation that estimated my body fat percentage based on how much of my head was above water when I took a deep breath and hold it. I floated to the tip of my nose, and by the calculation estimated my percentage as about 16%. I used one of the calculators on the web, independently with weight - height - waist size, and it popped up 16%. I was amazed, but think it was coincidental. There is probably a 1 or 2% error in my estimation due to lack of control over exact head orientation in the water and exact quantity of air inhaled.
Someday maybe I'll pop some money down for a real analysis. :p

[jujubaby]

Hi; I'm new to the low carber and a little confused on how to post. I don't see any dates so I don't know to what day I'm replying.
At anyrate, LCer, I thank you for a response on another thread and Tofi as well.
I like this board, because there is more of a discussion, than just asking if this food is legal or that food is legal {a term I dislike} and people trying to find subsitutes for their favorate treats, like candy, pastry or chips.
In my case, I started Sugar busters with my son as a challenge for him and I to do it together {even though he doesn't need to lose weight :34 waist}.
I went along with it because I thought I would show him how easy it was NOT going to be. But I did lose from 270 to 244 and was amazed that I was eating quite normal, excepting for the SGWW bread and pasta requirements. BUT then, I stopped losing. I reexamined what I was doing and people on the SB board said if you stall, you have to drop the bread and the pasta. So I started to eat less of those items, and used them as treats instead.
In all truth, I do not know what I was doing wrong or if I am just in denial.
But slowly my son stopped cooking the SGWW pasta because his wife asked when are we going to get rid of this brown pasta? {my son lost 8 lbs in 4 to 6 weeks and drank a glass of red wine every night and the occassional beer}
I slowly gained back some of the weight, now at 249.
So what happened? I started to get increased pain in my joints and bad gout attacks!
Two evils to work on, if diet is part of the gout problem.
Every week now, something different is happening, this week I caught a cold from my grandkids, and mine goes into asthma and maybe a touch of pneumonia{?}
I'm blaming the heavy duty meds for how lousy I feel, but inside I'm scared.
I want to beat this weight problem , especially considering I was not ever a fat girl and most of my life I was pretty trim between 117 and 130 pounds. Then it went between 150 and 180.
After doing the protein shake diet, I never could get in control again! {1987}.

Forgive me for writing such a long and lame post, but I need to talk to someone, there are no doctors to listen how to help.
There must be some other medical reason besides the usual:
the food intake must be lower than the mechanical output!! {body movement}
I'm scared out of my wits!

[DebPenny]

Hi, Jujubaby. I understand how you feel. Right now I am having serious problems with my ovaries (thankfully, not related to the program) but it's very scary. However, I think there is a solution to your problems.

As a devout Schwarzbeiner, I would like to suggest you try her program. On the Schwarzbein Principle program, you do not eat pasta, bread or sugar. But it's also easy to follow and not as restrictive as it sounds -- as long as you are not caught up in "replacing" all the goodies you are used to eating. For me that was easy (I grew up without desert after dinner), for others it's hard.

My daily meal plan includes "Joe's Special" (hamburger, eggs, spinach onions...) for breakfast, usually a tuna salad for lunch (including an avocado -- one of my favorite foods), and a dinner of meat and vegetables for dinner. Snacks include cheese, nuts, and homemade hummus with celery sticks. I'm even able to eat out on program with very little adjustment.

I keep it fairly simple, and I am feeling better (not counting the ovary pain) than I have felt in years. I have had asthma problems (mostly uncontrolable coughing in the mornings) for many years -- those problems have apparently abated just when our toughest alergy season is starting.

Again, as a devout Schwarbeiner, I think that the pasta and bread you had on Sugar Busters is the problem.

You should read Dr. Schwarzbein's book. She details very clearly what the different food groups do to your body. And the case studies are very compelling. For me, that is most all the inspiration I need.

I hope you feel better and find what will work for you. Good luck.

;-Deb

:daizy:

[jujubaby]

Goodmorning to you and thanks for your response. I think your judgement on the bread and pasta is right on. I was feeling pretty hopeless last time I posted. So many things going on with my physical being that eating becomes a chore. If I can control the gout, I just may feel some sense of well being that I can look forward to preparing meals with some faith and enjoyment.

I will get her book, I certainly had heard of her before and was looking for a site or forum with just her followers. But in reading from people like your self I gather she is a leader in the idea that there is more to dieting than calories. A concept most Dr. interns have not grasped at all.

I'm new to this forum and also the board style, {and computers as well} My son gave me a Dell for Christmas, so I'm not doing badly for the time on it. I have been retired from NYS Dept. of Economic Developement since 1996, so I knew enough to do my own work, but never had used it to control work flow or employee
production. I had other personnel that did that for me.

I moved to Texas a year ago, {to be closer to my only son and family} because I had a bad experience with silent bleeding
from taking Vioxx for arthritis and Fibromyalgia. So getting used to a new area, leaving old friends and home, is as dramatic as you can get , when you are approaching old age.

Thank you again and I hope that you can find the energy to get past my whinning, and hopefully I can add something to the forum, besides take.

[LCer in NW]

jujubaby,

you just concentrate on taking right now! We'll do some of that giving. That's why you have mentors. You've got alot to do just getting back to comfortable living, enough of this lack of health.

I wish you an enjoyable time of life near family and hope you'll find ways to connect with old friends and to find new ones.

I have a question though. Did you have gout attacks before you began dieting, and they just reappeared when you regained weight? It almost sounded like you got gout symptoms as a result of the diet and it offended you once you gained the weight.

At any rate, get celery into your diet, as this will help relieve gout. So will real cherry extract, but this is more expensive and harder to incorporate into meals.

[jujubaby]

I just back from the Intern and the blood work was excellent excepting I get it with meds. She said I had to lose the weight because I was in a spiral, downward and that all they could do was give me more and more medicines.

Of course her story was the same, I'm lying about the food I consume! and I must eat less than I use. but last year, my gastroenterologyst said, that just sitting in a chair required you to use at least 1500 calories. But she also added that I needed to stay out of carbs way, because FOR ME this was a losing battle. She said it will be a long while before the medical profession will admit there is more to losing weight than just cutting calories.

So now I have to keep a diary and weigh every morsel and measure everything I put in my mouth. I was hurt about her saying I lie, so I agreed to do this for a week to prove something or other to her and myself. So this afternoon I purposely went out of my way to prepare a lunch that would be well rounded and still low carb,{even though she doesn't agree w/this}
It turned out that this is a bigger lunch than I normally eat!!
4 oz roasted chicken, steamed broccoli, small salad w/ olive oil and vinegar.
tea and water.

She also said to try glucophage as an inhibitor to insulin pushes and a diet suppressor. She claims this is a new approach and I should lose about 4 lbs in a couple of weeks if it's working.
Still thinking about that and want to search the internet about how safe and who started this new thinking, since I am not diabetic YET.

Anyone with any knowledge about this?

So I couldn't wait to get on the net to see what my new friends at lowcarbers were up to. I realy, really appreciate the input from all of you. If you want to email me separately I would be happy to chat more, I need the companionship, even though it is remote.

Feeling hopeful today!

[jujubaby]

It appears that I have had since 1996 and maybe before strange attacks in my joints and in NY state, no one suggested that it might be gout, because my blood tests for uric acid were normal. and oddly enough never in the toe as with classic attacks. I went round and round and finnally they said it was osteoarthritis, and I was lighter than now. {a good 60 lbs.lighter} A bad divorce after 37 years and breaking up my home left me devastated.

So, perhaps the increase in weight has made it more critical. Also I am trying to take cherry extract capsule 2x 3 per day with the colchicine to see if it can be controlled. This is my third week and still seems okay. I went on a strick no protein diet for two weeks, to help start a new and I am now introducing chicken and fish. Before I had been {for about six months} eating more beans everyday and they are supposed to contain purines that can cause gout. So if I can relate to what happened with my diet, I thought for sure the real bad gout attacks became closer together with the eating of beans and nuts. {Sugar busters encourages eating of nuts and beans and SGWW bread and pasta. I'm going to eliminate most and use as a treat once in awhile. Imagine a slice of toast with a little whipped butter and tea, is a delight for me. No alcohol, no sugar.
I'll try adding celery now, should be good with chicken and tuna salad, things that I had avoided to make food more simple. Now I think I should have more enjoyment eating what the little is allowed.

Thanks again LCer

Where in the northwest?

[LCer in NW]

round about Seattle.

[jujubaby]

I'm an eastern seaboard person, and was born near the east river of Manhattan and Brooklyn. {just road ways now}

Moved out to Long Island, where the winters were particularly mild from the Gulf Coast water, riding up the coast and warming the land. Then inland and upstate to ALbany NY where it used to get to be 20 below zero!

Now sunny Teaxs extremes!