Truth is stranger than fiction

[Twinkle]

Third day on CAD after switching from Atkins. I "thought" I might have a problem with wanting to overdo the carbs on my RM. Instead, I am finding that I don't even like some of the things that used to be my favorites. Also, there is NO WAY that I can eat for anywhere near an hour. Now, I can see where the hour would come in handy if I were eating and having cocktails with my meal. But to just purely eat? Not me.

Also, I can't hold nearly as much food on that RM as I thought I would be able to eat. And another thing.....I eat a CM in the morning for breakfast. This morning it was two sausages. Then I have my RM for lunch. After that, I can't eat another bite, period. I drink water like a fish but I have absolutely no appetite. I admit to eating a healthy RM but so far I have only been able to eat about half of the volume of food that I thought I would be eating.

I am actually eating so much less on CAD than I was on Atkins that I am a little concerned about it. I never had a big appetite at night since I am a "morning eater" which is why I make my RM at lunch. But I mean NO APPETITE for anything except water. I drink it right up to the time I crawl into bed and sometimes drink some more when I get up during the middle of the night.

So am I going to starve to death down here in Alabama? I haven't lost anything yet but I haven't gained anything either and I've had anything I wanted to eat at RM. I refuse to do the weight averaging thing. Makes no sense to me and I won't do it even if someone tries to explain to me why it might be a good idea (for them, anyway).

[Zuleikaa]

You will not starve. You are just finding your body and listening to it. Once you can have carbs and time them properly with CAD, your sweet tooth subsides and you are in control.

Now you're finding out why we all sound high over here. We've never felt normal before and it gives us a natural high.

Each CA is different and the time of day for the RM and how much food they need can be different too.

Just watch how your body reacts to foods and listen to it.

The weight will come off. Give it time.

[JudyTrue]

Hi Twinkle:

Isn't it great not to be hungry? I could have written your post as it's exactly how I feel, too.

We're so lucky on CAD/CALP--no hunger and we get to eat anything we want once a day. YEAH................

[skyspinner]

Yeppers, this is the Way It Works! Ain't it great????? We can play at being normal, at last!!! I love it.

I have been eating no more than twice a day and have dropped back to just once, and I am feeling fine. Candy, once an endangered speicies in my house, is now enjoying an unprecedented extended life expectancy.

I have finally had some progress at not overeating at RM...that "bowling ball in the middle" feeling is not something I want to repeat every day. :)

Naw, you won't starve....your body is probably enjoying the break from waves of insulin washing through it every couple hours! Relax and enjoy it.

I didn't lose any weight at all for the first three days, then started heading downward, but slowly.....as long as it trends downward, I'm happy.

On the averaging thing, it really helps you figure out which CAD plan you're going to follow next week. If you just take a daily weight, how do you decide which daily weight to count? If you just take a weekly weight, you may miss that wonderful day when you dropped 3 pounds. When you are getting started, I think it's valid to follow their plan. After you've got it going well is the time to start tweaking it. IMHO, anyway. :)

[Twinkle]

"If you just take a weekly weight, you may miss that wonderful day when you dropped 3 pounds. "

The way I see it, if I only lose the weight for one day, I haven't really lost the weight. I only count weight loss when I show it being gone for two or three days. The averaging thing just doesn't cut it with me. I don't take a weekly weight, I take a daily weight. I don't average it. I weigh whatever I weight on that particular day. No one can convince me that you can start the week out weighing 165 and end the week weighing 170 but somehow average it out and come up with a loss. I weigh whatever I weigh on that day, period, as far as I am concerned.

[plum]

Twinkle and everyone
amazing, isnt it ? Ive had a total of 20 months (in 2 phases) of Atkins. I felt hungry and dissatisfied most of the time. Now armed with my new knowledge, it seems my dissatisfaction may have been caused... not by my doing anything wrong... but from my legal Atkins feedings of avocado, broccoli, cream in drinks at various times of the day.

I am so pleased to feel so well, and astonished that my appetite has gone completely. I remind myself to eat my 2 x CM and am ready for my RM, but food has lost its importance.

and the obsessing has gone. And the anxiety.

I wouldnt even worry about the weighing. Each to his own. Personally I am weighing every day as its a relief to get on the scale and not actually care about it. Weighing the same day in and day out on Atkins is frustrating, weighing the same on CAD is not such an issue ( yet, lol) because I feel so good with everything else.

[RedLisaP]

Twinkle,

So do you weigh yourself every day or just once per week?

When you say you haven't lost or gained anything, does that mean your weight is exactly the same every time you weigh? My weight goes up and down almost every single day so I have to average in order for me to see that consistent progress.

Just wondering how it works for you.

Lisa

[Twinkle]

I weigh everyday just like I have always done. I step on the scales first thing in the morning before I get into the shower. What I can't figure is this....if you weigh 145 on Monday, 143 on Tuesday, 144 on Wednesday, 142 on Thursday, 141 on Friday and 148 on Saturday, how on earth can you figure you lost anything and your average weight is 143 when you are standing there at 148...heavier than you have been all week? Where is the loss? In other words, "Show me the money" because what I see is that you have GAINED regardless of what you average for the week. Maybe my weight doesn't fluctuate as much as other people but when I step on the scale in the morning, I figure that is what I weigh. I don't look at a loss of one pound today and project it to a gain of four pounds later in the week. That just doesn't make sense to me.

Someone asked how I could decide what plan to use if I don't average weight. Well, I stick to the same way of eating day in and day out. I eat a CM in the morning and an RM at lunch. I have no appetite after that but if I did, I would eat another CM at night rather than go hungry. If I have dinner plans, I will try a CM in the morning, a CM at lunch and my RM at dinner. I haven't had that happen yet but I normally have several social activities that I can see the need for swapping up the RM later. I am a morning eater. By noon, I have usually eaten all the food that I eat in the entire day.

[luv67fire]

Twinkle,

The averaging is math and that is why it works. The week you described, you would have an AVERAGE of a 1.2lb drop. If you were to have weighed in at 145 and at the week's end saw 148, you would think, "Man, this diet sucks! I've gained 3 lbs!" When really, you could have just ate WAY too much salt the day before, and so you were bloated. You would have never known that at one point you were 4pounds down, and was consistently weighing below 145 (beginning weight).


The reason why a lot of people view the importance of averaging your weight, is because there are SOO many factors as to why your weight might have spiked upwards for a day or two. TOM, too much salt, stress, medications, etc. All of them are part of your weight, and the variations of it.

The way you are doing it is just fine, though, for you. If you do not see the need to average, no one will make you. I think some people here though, just wanted to explain to you why it is actually important, but it is still ultimately your choice. I know sometimes I do a bit of both, because if I gain a few pounds over a day, I think to myself, what did I do differently? If nothing, than it might be TOM ready to come in, or stress, etc. If I did change something, like have a diet soda for CM, than I will know to cut it out.

Either way, I am glad you are doing well on CAD. The loss of apetite is really how normal people are. They don't think about food all the time, and are not hungry all that often (unless you have my DH, where his metabolism burns food at lightning speed, but I see a slight carb addiction, even in him). If you feel you are not eating enough, than force yourself to add at least a CS. Either way, as long as your total calories for the day does not go below 1100, you should be fine. Going below that is where your body is not burning fat anymore (on any diet), but muscle, so watch out!

Anyways, good luck!!

[BASpider]

I don't average my weight, but I do weigh daily. That's how I discovered that chicken causes me to gain weight. Even the chicken with no additives. Such a bummer, but glad I found it. It's just part of a food diary.