Former Atkins follower loving TSP

[bluesky]

In 2000 I did the Atkins Plan and lost 20 pounds. I maintained that loss until Christmas Eve. That day I decided to eat ALL those things that I only got at holiday time. I've been on an 18 month binge ever since!!! (Is that possible?)
In the past few months I've gotten more and more sick of feeling tired, grouchy, headachy, hungry and generally miserable because of my eating habits. I tried going back to Atkins, but I felt nauseous and I didn't lose anything this time. My "gut" feeling was that there had to be a healthier low carb way of eating.
Don't even know where I first heard of SP, but I am so thrilled. It puts togther the low carb WOE and the healthy foods that my body needs. I feel so much better. Bought the book, read it cover to cover. I even got out a highlighter and filled the book with color. SO many things rang true.
It's been 3 weeks and I've lost 5-6 lbs. Nice and slow. More important, I know I'm eating all real foods (except for a bit of Splenda now & then) and I'm being good to my poor body! My energy level is so much better and I can really tell if I've had too many carbs because I can feel it.
Thanks to all of you for your helpful posts. I'm in this for good!!

[slimchance]

Hey bluesky! :wave:

Just count yourself lucky that you decided to do something about it when you did! The road to slimness will be much shorter for you than it could have been if you waited. :)

Welcome aboard and hope to hear from you often! :D

KC :spin:

[lisaf]

Hi bluesky!

Welcome to the board and TSP...its a great plan and anything that works for you has to be good right?

Keep up the great work and feel free to drop in with questions or to help someone else!

Lisa

[30lbsmore]

I hate to be a wet blanket.. but..... I was a patient of Dr. Schwarzbein's... saw her faithfully for 1 year... followed the plan, took the blood test, she even prescribed vitamin B shots every day. I am sorry to say that I went from 180 lbs.. which I thought was awful... to now 200 lbs!

I read the book, booked an appointment with her and waited for 3 months to get into her office. She is beautiful and very nice.. AND very thin. BUT, I asked her and her staff that if for some reason this way of eating didn't work for me... would they say STOP!? They said that they were sure it would work. 30lbs later... here I am, back to sensible eating... not sure which way is the right way.. but I KNOW it's NOT Schwarzbein.

I started October 2000... and stopped December 2001. I haven't gained any more weight.. but am maintaining at steady 200..... I have developed Sleep Apnea because of the fat.. I'm really upset. Please be careful. I'm not saying that it doesn't work for some... because it does. But there are many that it won't work for and you'll be like me... a recovering Schwarzbeinian.

Good luck to all... and remember, use your intiuition :roll:

[Karen]

Interesting...

Good luck to all... and remember, use your intiuition

I'm wondering in what direction your intuition is taking you to now?

Karen

[rosarugosa]

30 lbsmore, my question is similar to Karen's, you say that you are back to "sensible eating" what are you doing differently from sp that you consider such a contrast?

Personally I have not seen a more sensible, balanced program than sp. It can certainly be customized. I know to lose I have to follow the lowest carb suggestion in her chart and consistent exercise is a must for me.

I have read somewhere that b vitamins can be overdone easily and it seems as though I have read where they can cause weight gain in some people. Did you question her or her staff about that. What was their reaction to your dilemma? Did they test for thyroid & hormonal imbalances?

Bluesky, welcome. You might find the link I put in a post 'Dr.Sp Interveiw' helpful. It is an hour long interview with Dr. S.

[30lbsmore]

Dr. Schwarzbein was my endocrinologist. We worked closely together and with her staff. They kept saying that the weight loss would come, just wait. Like I said, I did it for a year and 2 months... believing that it would work. I wanted to so bad. I felt that 200 lbs was not a success for me.

I had every test in the book... at least once a month, with a consultation every two weeks. Believe me, I gave the program a fighting chance. I have the medical bills to prove it!

I do have other medical concerns, but this should have worked! Ovarian Cancer puts a person into surgical menopause and that is what Dr. S does... balance hormones.

What I am doing now is trying to recover. I'm confused and I am real disappointed in a doctor that I put my trust in. And I'm not just talking about a book.. I saw the real McCoy! Frankly, I think she was happy with my decision to stop seeing her..

I eat almost no dairy, go to the gym twice a day... keep the carbs low.. but not out altogether... and I keep the fat intake low. I supplement with CLA and some of the vitamins that Dr. S. gave me... Salmon oil, etc.

I don't want to be a "basher" of Dr. S. I like her! I live in the same town as her and see her occasionally. It didn't work for me. I'm 30lbs heavier... and they watched me get that way....

[rosarugosa]

I am curious, did you confront the Dr. with why it was not working for you. If so did she have any answers as to why you did not get your money worth?

[30lbsmore]

Yes I did. I talked with her many times about why I was gaining weight instead of losing weight. I got the same answer from her and all of her staff.... "weight loss is just around the corner, your body is healing"... but after a year I felt like a fool for believing her. My internist that also went to Dr. S. said that she was glad to get me out of the clutches of Diana Schwarzbein.

I think it works for a lot of people. I'm happy for them... but not everyone is wired the same... I must be the minority. I am very uncomfortable as a result of it.. and I am mad that I have to find ways to lose the 30lbs in addition to the 30 that I originally went to see Diana Schwarzbein for....

Enough said... sorry to rain on everyones parade... it just didn't work for me.

[mmoranmic]

Welcome BlueSky!
I too switched from Atkins to Schwarzbein as I believe her program offers the most balance and, as you said, the most wholesome food choices. I beat up my body for many years with sugar in one form or another and I expect that it will take time and effort to heal. The good news is that I feel so good right now!
I don't have the highs and lows from sugar (corn in any form was my carb of choice!), my complexion has cleared up, my stomach doesn't bother me and I've lost weight.
I do need the support of this group as I've been sneaking in a few non-SP items back into my daily fare and I'm getting back on track so I thank you for joining our group. Good luck to you!
Maureen

[DebPenny]

I hope I'm not beating a dead horse, but 30lbsmore, you say, "keep the carbs low.. but not out altogether." Were you eating carbs when you were following Dr. Schwarbein's instructions?

The reaon I ask is the her program seems to allow the highest intake of carbs of the truly low-carb plans. Just curious since her new book hasn't come out and I'm really curious to know if her direction has changed at all.

Good luck with your endeavours to achieve a cure and weight loss.

And welcome! bluesky!

;-Deb
:daizy:

[30lbsmore]

I followed Dr. Schwarzbein's plan to the letter. Remember, I saw her in person... really, I don't think that every plan is for every person. This plan did not work for me... I worked very closely with Dr. S herself and her staff... I know it's hard for some of you to believe my experience.. but it's true...

[DebPenny]

So are you eating more carbs or fewer now?

And I agree with you. There is no one-size-fits-all plan. I have never been healthier since I started TSP. I even went on a 9.3-mile hike today. It wiped me out, but I could never even have attempted it before I started TSP.

Obviously, in your case, it's not working for you. I'm just curious to know what is working.

Thanks,
;-Deb
:daizy:

[30lbsmore]

I did have more energy and slept better with TSP.. but the lbs just piled on.

Now I am working out at the gym twice a day and counting calories. I keep the carbs low.. and I don't eat all the fat that Dr. S's plan has. I eat small meals, low fat, no dairy... little animal fat, but lots of fresh food. about 300 cals each... 5 times a day. I haven't found the right thing for me yet. Still at 200lbs when I should be at 130-140... I think that's why I'm so discouraged.. I was 180 when I first saw her... so I'm 3 steps behind.

Good luck to you.. whatever works for you is the way to go! Exercise is so important. Your hike sounds like a wonderful bonus to the plan.

[clodagh]

Hi all

very interesting discussion.

From what I can understand,those of us for whom LOw carbing works, are all suffering from insulin resistance?

I had been going to weight watchers for many years and watching women around me lose weight on weekly basis while I sat there depressed only losing an odd lb every now and then. I know the leader wondered if I really did follow the programme...when in actualy fact I did, but it just didn't work for me.

So there must be people out there who are not insulin resistant..right?

So maybe these means that those people won't succeed on a low carb diet?

I was at a lecture by a doctor on Saturday, who's an expert on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. most/many women with this condition suffer from insulin resistance which is the core reason for the development of their other symptoms.

He explained it from an evolutionary point of view in that insulin resistant women often develop PCOS which often causes them to lose their fertility. However in the past, when a famine occured, it was the PCOS women who regained their fertility and kept the human race going while the non-pcos women lost ther fertility as they starved.
This is an evolutionary thing to keep the human race going.

Obviously most of us will never experience a famine and the westernised diet we now eat is identifying the insulin resistant from the non-insulin resistant?

Anyway, my point is we are not all the same so there may well be a big group of the population who don't find the Low carb diet the best for them.

that's my tuppence worth anyway.....
Clo

[DebPenny]

Clo, you're right. There must be people who don't need and don't react well to low-carbing. And I think it all comes down to insulin resistance, although that's probably somewhat of a simplistic view.

30lbsmore, one more thing I have read is that hormone therapy can make it impossible, not just near, but impossible, to lose weight. Even on low-carb. You might look into that.

;-Deb
:daizy:

[Talon]

I find this thread very interesting. 30morelbs, I didn't see if you answered the question as to how many carbs you were eating before and how many you are eating now?

[TheBetty]

I think Clo & DebPenny are onto something. It's an insulin resistance thing. And I do agree that hormone therapy can stall weight loss, from my own experience.

Once I stopped taking my thyroid meds about 6 or 7 weeks ago, the weight stalls stopped and the bloating stopped too. Since being on the SP, my throid is no longer testing "underactive." For the first time in years, I don't HAVE to take that blasted levethroid pill every stinking day! :daze:

So, if these types of hormones (and the lowest dosage, I might add) can halt weight loss, why can't other types of hormone therapy cause trouble, too. Especially if the body is still healing itelf?

And that's the key--the body must first heal itself! Who knows how long that can take? What if it takes 3 years? Is the goal just to lose weight? I want to lose all this blubber, but I understand it's going to take time, and I have that b/c I am not focused on the eating anymore.

It makes sense that while the body is still healing, that it's not going to function properly. And since 30lbsmore states she was suffering through cancer, her body was further struggling to repair itself. And perhaps the treatments she was undergoing for cancer stalled the weight loss?

Her body may have needed more than a year and 2 months to repair itself. And perhaps she was NOT unsulin resistant, as Deb and Clo have suggested.

And then there's the rest of the story, the part we are not hearing. Perhaps we will read of her story in the new SP book?

For those of us for whom this WOE works, we know that:

A.) We are NOT headed toward FAT gain on this plan (only muscle gain!).
B.) We will not use HER unfortunate experience as an excuse for stopping OUR plan when we don't see immediate weight loss, without seeking medical advice first.
C.) We will remember the solid, scientific, medical basis for this WOE, and press on patiently, knowing our bodies are healing and will eventually run the way they were created to.

30lbsmore, I wish you well. I, too, will offer you a warning, since you were kind enough to warn us: Working out twice daily is not healthy for your body. It needs 24- to 48-hours in between workouts to repair the muscle tissue. I undersand your desire to lose weight, believe me! But please don't be so desperate to lose weight that you damage your body further. Take care!

--TheBetty

[tired_mum]

Hi all I just had to chime in here with my experience on exercise.

TheBetty is right, it is best for you to wait at least a day between exercising. I had read somewhere in a article that a test was done on a certain number of women exercising everyday and a certain number of women exercising every other day and guess who lost the most weight???? The women exercising every other day!

So I did my own experiment exercising everyday for a week and I noticed that my body seemed more swollen (hands and feet) I must have been retaining more water. I saw some weight loss, but only a couple of pounds. The next week I exercised every other day and I noticed my clothes started fitting better, much less swelling in my hands and feet and I started looking more toned. the scale said I lost 5 lbs that week. Bye the way the exercise I did was just plain ole walking but for 45 min. straight.

Debpenny and thebetty, you gals are so nice and sweet as many of you others are. I really look forward to reading your posts everyday, I may not post much ( I am a newbie) but I'm lurking!

Keep up the good work!
Steph :daze:

[DebPenny]

Thanks for the info, Steph. As I have posted in a few other places, I went on a long, torturous hike this weekend. I really over did it. And I expected a weight gain from it that I got -- 3 pounds of water weight gain that will come off soon.

But the thing that was bothering me, and not anymore, is that my legs (especially my calves) are really swollen. I think that's where the "weight" is. And it's water retention. My calves are the most sore of all my muscles that hurt. ;) And in the picture I had taken of me at the falls to which I hiked, I look like I haven't lost a pound -- again swelling. By the time I got to my car I was bursting my shorts because of the swelling and my hands looked like they did when I started low-carbing.

I'm doing two things to hopefully speed my recovery: 1) I'm drinking even more water than I usually do and 2) I'm taking extra glutamine. Glutamine is supposed to help your muscles recover from exercise faster. At least that's what I read in the BFL thread. However, I so over did it, I expect I'm going to be most of the week recovering.

Now don't think I'm regretting my hike. I am very proud of myself that I did it. It was very hard (9.3 miles with about 2500 feet of cumulative elevation gain) and took a lot out of me. But it has given me renewed determination to get into shape for hiking and backpacking. I haven't done either since my early 20s and I have really missed it. In two weeks I'm going on another hike, only this one will have easy to moderate elevation gain and not be over 5 miles long. I'll work up to attacking Feather Falls again without dying.

Whoops, sorry for the length. I'm still on a high from Sunday's hike.

;-Deb
:daizy:

[mmoranmic]

Good Morning Ladies<
RE; the twice daily workouts and the swelling of the limbs. I have noticed that on my longer runs that I need a sodium replacement such as ThermaTabs. These include sodium and potasium. Drinking huge amounts of water without sodium and potasium will flush the existing out, causing the body to hang onto the remaining water.
One of the mentors on this board posted an excellent article on the subject, I can't locate it now.
Also, if you are NOT drinking enough water (20 oz an hour) then your body will swell. Altitude also affects swelling. One time I gained eight pounds in a 24 hour period from retention! It was tough and I thought I would explode.
RE: twice daily workouts, I believe the advice is to refrain from weight lifting to allow the muscles time to recover. Suggestions include working the lower body one day and the upper body the next. Nat has posted some excellent information on this and I think it can be found in the exercise section. I think working out twice a day is not a problem at all as long as you do something different such as weight training and aerobic activity. Of course everything in moderation and begin a workout program slowly to avoid injuries.
I'm heading up to the southern end of Yosemite this weekend to run/shuffle a 50k. It's called the Shadow of the Giants 50K. SHould be pretty and I'm experimenting with some new homemade lowcarb performance food. I'll let you know how it works.
Life is Good!
Maureen

[mctrish]

What the heck it this? I'm not up to date on all the plans out there but I'd be interested in the condensed version of it. I'm on Atkins but can't get into ketosis since going on pain medicine. I gained 20 lbs the first 2 months while faithfully eating no carbs. I changed meds a few months ago and lost a whooping 3 lbs! That was exciting but still can't figure out why. My dr doesn't seem to care and I need to be on this the rest of my life so I just keep up what I've been doing for the past 3 years. It is pathetic though.

[DebPenny]

For those of you reading this thread who are not familiar with Schwarzbein and considering it, please read the book. It's easy to read and understand. In the meantime:

On Schwarzbein you eat more carbs than Atkins, there is no induction, you are not encouraged to go into ketosis, and, IMO, you have much more freedom to eat naturally.

In the book there are charts detailing foods that are non-starchy vegetables, starchy vegetables (listed in 15 carb equivalents), amounts of dairy that equal 5 carbs, and other foods and carb counts. Basically, her charts are a guide. You will still need to read labels and find out what the carb counts are of foods not on the lists. And there is also a chart to help you determine how many carbs you should be eating.

About carbs, on TSP you do not count carbs in non-starchy vegetables, however, she also says that if you eat enough non-starchies, you don't have to supplement with other carbs to get your allowance.

Generally speaking, you are supposed to combine carbs, fats and carbohydrates at meals and snacks, although I often eat just protein because that's what I prefer.

On TSP you are strongly encouraged to give up alcohol, drugs, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, and sugars. She does allow some starches (low-carb bread, rice), but I stay away from them all, it's easier for me that way.

She also explains the benefits of low-carbing through case studies, and I can assure you you will find yourself in one of them.

I hope this helps, but please, read the book. Also, she has a new book that will hopefully come out in September. I have that one on order. And for those of you outside the USA, I am sure that Amazon.com delivers internationally and it also has some international divisions. You should be able to get it through Amazon.

And for anyone who's interested, I have now lost the four pounds I gained from my hike to Feather Falls. ;)

;-Deb
:daizy: