just switched from atkins - question

[marisa]

Hello Everyone,

I have been doing the LC thing for a while now. Just switched from Atkins to Schwarzbein. I didn't like how restrictive Atkins was and didn't feel well at all. I have been doing Schwarzbein for a few days and I feel really hungry. Has anyone had this after introducing a few more carbs? :q: On Atkins I wasn't having any fruit or grains - just green veggies for carbs. The past three days for breakfast I have had cottage cheese, a small amount of scrambled eggs, and three strawberries. Then a handful of almonds or peanuts for a snack, a big green salad with turkey or hard boiled eggs for lunch, nuts for a snack again, then another salad or cooked green veggie, tuna, and 2tbsp. of popcorn cooked in olive oil for dinner. Today I am really hungry! :thdown: I wonder if it is the nuts. I have been having them alone and maybe they are too much carb and not enough protein. I did stop drinking coffee and black tea the last few days (I feel so much more even keeled, even though I've had a couple mugs of green tea).

This morning, with my peanut snack, I also had a decaf coffee with some soy milk creamer (just 1 carb per tablespoon). Maybe that is affecting my blood sugar too. Can't wait for my big salad at lunch!

:) Anyway, I am happy to be doing Schwarzbein. Atkins just didn't feel right to me. I have read almost all of her book and can really relate to everything she says. It makes sense. Need to get moving too. I have a tendency to start an execise program really vigilantly and then fall off. Hope to get in a walk during work today. Going to try and start slowly.

Have a good day everyone! :wave:

Marisa

[lisaf]

A few thoughts...you don't say what amounts you are eating...are you sure you are getting enough calories. Also, the carbs could be contributing to your hunger particularly since you are coming off Atkins...you may want to cut back and then slowly phast them in. Could it be something else like having PMS?

Certainly the nuts are fairly carby and you should add some veggies into your snacks to balance that out. Also, are you getting enough water?

Lisa

[marisa]

I have read so many of your posts - they're great.

I do drink lots of water. A big glass before work, two REALLY big glasses at work (a 32 oz. container), then one before dinner, and some herbal tea before bed. I feel like I live in the bathroom (lol)!
My son says, "Mom, you have to go to the bathroom again?"

I really like nuts and I think my system may be a bit shocked at having them back in full force. Don't seem to have a good stopping point with nuts (especially these roasted and salted almonds I picked up at Fresh Fields); I can just keep snacking and snacking on them. I may try adding a hard boiled egg and maybe some cucumber slices to round out the snack.

I don't really measure my food (except for the popcorn before I pop it - it's so easy to just pour a bunch of kernels into the pot). In the morning I have about 3/4cup of regular cottage cheese and a small serving of scrambled eggs with three strawberries from the breakfast bar/deli near my office. Snack is a handful of peanuts in the shell or 1/4cup of almonds. At lunch I have a BIG salad (almost always a greek salad with feta cheese, olives, and oil and vinegar dressing) and about a palm-sized portion of turkey and maybe a few strawberries again. Another snack of nuts in the afternoon. Then dinner is another BIG salad or a BIG portion of cooked green veggies, with a can of tuna mixed with mayo, and the 2Tbsp. of popcorn (I'm a big fan of popcorn so this is my daily treat). Seems like a lot of food! I don't think too few calories is the problem.

Another question, is green tea OK? It is not the decaf kind. I know that Dr. Schwarzbein says no caffeine (and I haven't had any coffee or black tea - big step for me) but I have heard conflicting info about green tea. Let me know if you have anything to offer on this.

BTW, I saw on a previous post that you toss a hard-boiled egg in a tupperware with a dollop of mayo for egg salad at lunch. Good idea! I'm going to try that.

[lisaf]

I think I've spotted the problem...I think you need more protein! Your veggies and fats seem good but when you're only getting a palm sized portion of chicken or beef...that's a food pyramid serving size. I know you are doing SP, but I would suggest perhaps a more Protein Power approach to protein intake...try for 1 gram of protein per pound of body fat. It'll fill you up more. I also know that cravings for sugar are often the body asking for protein. So try bumping that up and see if it helps a bit.

As for green tea...I've never wholely given up caffeing...but if your weight loss is stalling or you aren't losing inches thenconsider giving it up and seeing what happens. AT the same time, green tea is supposed to promote fat burning but you would have to drink a LOT of it. You can buy Green Tea Extract (in capsule form) and its a lot more concentrated.

Lisa

[marisa]

Hi again,

I've been on the coffee/tea ups :thup: and downs :thdown: for so long. Trouble is, I love them both. After reading SP though I could totally relate to the serotonin surge and then depletion that she talks about caffeine causing. I think the initial surge is why I love them so much. So I am tapering off with the green tea. Hopefully I will drop it all together soon. Like everything, it's a process.

I will try bumping up the protein. How do I know how many pounds of body fat I have? Do I need to get a body fat measurement for that? I try not to weigh myself because I get really caught up with the numbers so I'm not totally sure how much I weigh right now. I try to go by my clothes and just how I feel overall.

I really just want to have enough energy to get through the day and evening without needing a nap or a cup of coffee! I am a single mom so having enough ooomph in me to last the whole day is really important to me. Having enough in me to exercise would be great too! I know it's such a cycle: eat right and exercise and you have the energy to keep doing both. If you don't eat right and exercise it is SO HARD to start.

Anyway, I could go on and on about this.

Bye for now. :daizy:

[lisaf]

Why don't you just try doubling your protein intake...have two chicken breasts instead of one...1 1/2 cans tuna etc.? That way you aren't measuring allthe time. Have more than a bit of scrambled eggs... That's my suggestion. That way you can see if the extra protein helps and you aren't stuck having to weigh yourself.

Lisa

[SunnyCal]

I started the eating plan a little over a week ago. Several days during that first week I found myself very very hungry. I found a few ways to counteract this. The first thing I discovered is that conventional wisdom is right -- a big breakfast really is good. (This has always been my least-favorite meal.) If I don't have a really solid breakfast, I spend the rest of the day panting after food. The second thing is that I snack on non-starchy vegetables throughout the day. Not a lot, but it's surprising how much two little mini-carrots can help get me through to the next meal.

As for what you've described of your diet, I have a few suggestions based on my readong of the SP:

1) I agree with Lisa that you should have more eggs in the morning. And possibly less cottage cheese.

2) I think you need to work on balancing your meals, especially your snacks. I eat nuts for snacks quite a bit, but they could never satisfy me. According to the SP, you should have non-starchy vegetables with every meal. (And that includes the snacks!) I will often make my snack half fruit and half nut (actually, I try to get my snack carbs from fruit, but sometimes I just crave those nuts). I often have string cheese (yes, damaged fat, I try to limit it), or a hard-boiled eggs for my protein, and then green peppers or carrots or celery for my veggie. Green peppers or celery with peanut butter works for me too.

3) Are you sure you're using the right activity level? You might not be eating enough carbs. I suppose it is possible that returning to carbs after being off of them through Atkins may be causing some of the hunger, but I suspect the biggest problems come from eating too little and not getting enough of each kind of nutrient.

4) I was quite hungry the first few days, and I was also kicking caffeine. I don't know if they're related, but I know that caffeine has always helped me curb my appetite. If you've decreased your caffeine intake, perhaps the hunger comes partly from that?

5) Looking at your description of your meals...you sound like you're on a diet. One of the things I like about this eating plan is that it doesn't make me eat like I'm on a diet. My roommate and I have found that the following make good meals: a) Melts. Tuna melt, roast beef melt, etc. This allows you to use one piece of bread (we get health whole-grain bread that's 15g per slice) and get plenty of protein. Add a side of vegetables, et voila. b) Omelettes. Add cheese and peppers and onions and garlic and mushrooms. Or spinach and feta cheese. Use 2 or 3 eggs per person. And butter. Fry up some no-nitrate bacon. c) Hamburger. You have to be careful and get low-carb buns, and if your activity level is low then you might have to have just one bun, but still. Also, steaks, fish, etc. d) Salads. Yes, you mentioned this, but I say ADD MORE STUFF. I add no-nitrate bacon, hard-boiled eggs, feta cheese, avocado, peppers, onion. Mix greens so you have lettuce and spinach and other fun stuff.

One of the thing that stood out to me was when Schwarzbein said that our bodies know how much protein and fats we need. Listen to your body. Make sure you have veggies close at hand.

And let me know if you can think of good breakfast veggies. Beyond the omelette, we're a bit stumped.

Thanks for listening.

[lisaf]

SunnyCal -

That's a great post!

Here are some ways to boost scrambled with stuff including veggies (I always have some leftovers) -

1. Stir fry some baby spinach....pour eggs over and add feta cheese
2. Kitchen sink omlette - fry up diced leftover bacon w/ diced onion, green pepper, spinach, zucchini etc. Add eggs and shredded cheese.
3. Prosciutto and brie...need I say more? Okay there aren't any veggies but its nice beside a salad.
4. Smoked salmon and diced cream cheese and green onion
5. Asparagus and parmesan

I could go on and on and on...

Scrambled Egg Queen of the World! Lisa

[marisa]

thanks for all the tips and advice. i love those eggs too...

:wave: