Looking for a Buddy 50+
 

:D Am 56 and need a buddy. I am married , have three grown children, five grandchildren, and a nine year old stepdaughter who lives in home fulltime. Do alot of gardening, live in the sticks, LOL Want a buddy who needs someone to help them and vice versa. Two years ago lost 80 lbs. on Atkins. went back to old way of eating, gained all back. Started back first of month. Little harder now, at home all the time, was working at a very physical job before. Have fibro. and diabetes, lo thyroid., so losing this weight has meaning other than looks.

Hello Lorilynn,

My goodness, when I read your post, it was like you were describing me.

I am 59, married, stay at home Mom. My 3 grown sons are long gone and I have a daughter home from college. I love to garden, we have 21 rose bushes, her and I tend.

I also have low thyroid, still being adjusted. Only recently was diagnosed with fibro and arthritis. No diabetes, but my dr. said that is around the corner, if I don't get this weight off.

I was doing WW for almost a year. I lost so slowly and then would regain when I couldn't exercise. This is my first time ever on Atkins. I am definately a sugar/carb addict. I had the most awful withdrawal symptoms. I lost 14 lbs. during Induction and am at a stand still, but still doing Induction with a tiny bit of fruit and nuts.

Would very much like to be your LC buddy. I will offer encouragement and support in return. Hope to hear from you soon.

My email addy is in my profile, also my IM AOL name is Junebugofva.

Whoops, my email is not in my profile. I can't send you a PM until you have 25 posts.

But you can send me your email in a PM.

Hi - I'm also over 50 and am having a hard time getting back on Lo Carbing. I lost 50 lbs some time ago, went back to my old eating habits and gained it back.

I'm still working, too broke to stop. Don't have any kids, threw out the husband a long time ago. But I do love to work. And I love to eat. That's the problem.

I am trying to get back into lo-carbing but just cannot get started. I need the support.

Cheers from Chiqui

Dear Lorilynne & Chloe Mae
 

Today is June 1 and I tried to not overeat. So far so good.... but the day's not over.

I have a terrible problem going thru shopping ctrs and always end up at the food court. Today I controlled it, only had a chicken on pita bread, then some soy nuts.

I really enjoy 'shakes'. I found cocoa powder for flavoring, but I like them thick. Something called guar gum, just a pinch, will make it like the soda fountain shake.

It's been a month since I weighed myself because I was afraid to. Now I know why. I just hit the scales and I'm at 205. I'm only 5 ft 1, so you can imagine how that looks.

I'm more interested in being healthy and able to move quickly.

Take care and enjoy this weekend. Cheers from Chiqui

I'd like to join your little group. I'm 55 and as my stats record below, I've been doing Atkins for a little over 3 months. I really don't exercise. Work 10 hour days and am exhausted at the end so besides being more active on weekends that's about it for any formal exercise. I have 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren which I take care of whenever I get the chance. I really want this woe to work. All the stories I hear of people re-gaining after going off leads me to believe this is going to have to be the way it is always. I love chocolate and before Atkins I lived on pasta and bagels.

I like the idea of a 50+ group
 

Dear Fishie:

A 50+ group sounds good to me. We older folks have other issues, such as losing weight primarily for health than for looks, altho being able to wear nice clothes is certainly an incentive.

I am now at 205, heaviest ever, and feel physically awful. I work on my feet and my knees are starting to hurt me. I want June to be my startup month to get things going.

Your weight loss progress and the goals you set out for yourself are impressive. What did you eat on induction? Perhaps I could do the same in order to get started. I need some outside direction; I can't get started by myself, in spite of knowing what to do and wanting to do it.

Cheers from Chiqui

Hi Chiqui,
I found that I ate 2 eggs and 3/4 pieces of bacon or sausage every morning. The first month or so I ate as much as I wanted, never kept track of calories or anything. For lunch I would eat egg salad, tuna or chicken salad, (3 eggs, 2 cans of tuna, 1 cup of diced chicken), 2 tbsp of mayo and chopped romaine. Usually a cup of sliced cumcumber with it. (I take my lunch to work). For dinner it could be a roasted chicken, hamburger patties (4), fish, steak-ums with mushrooms and more romaine with ranch or blue cheese dressing. Snacks usually just at night, but I do keep a bag of pork rinds in my car were usually the 20 black olives, sometimes fresh shrimp or peppperoni. I started using fit-day on April 1. I didn't eat any fruit, lo-carb candy bars or nuts until I was 2 months into it and even now that is just occasionally.
Sorry this was so long.

What is Fit Day?
 

Dear Fishie: What is fit day and how do you use it? And what are steak-ums? Here in Canada we have fiddleheads from the Maritime provinces and poutine from Quebec but I usually don't eat them as they are regional foods.

Your appetite sounds as large as mine. I also like fried eggs & bacon, plus any fish from a can.

I often use the crock pot, throw in some chicken or a piece of meat, onions, garlic, and a dry spice mix, even a dry soup mix. Then leave it for a couple of hours.

Last night I ate late at night - another no-no. I haven't done it so much lately but it certainly puts a damper in your diet.

I bought a house 2 yrs ago and am making an apartment in the basement for me. The other tenants share the kitchen. I am moving all my kitchen stuff downstairs as they keep inviting me to eat some of what they made. Frequently it's hi carb or I'm not hungry but just can't say no.

Thanks for the advice and I will try what you've been doing.

Cheers from Chiqui

FitDay.com is a great web site where you can enter everything you eat and it keeps track of fat, carbs, etc. Its a little tedious at first but if you eat mostly the same things every day it remembers about 10-20. You can also customize some things. It also charts and graphs your calorie intake, weight changes, etc.
Now for the steak-ums. You may not have them in Canada. They are frozen, almost paperthin steak that comes in a box with individual pieces of meat separated by paper. Its so easy to just brown them with sliced mushrooms in a teflon fry pan. I don't know the manufacturer but when I go home tonight, there are some in my freezer. Its a quick easy main dish. I get home later and usually try to fix something quick because I'm starving.

What an eye-opener
 

Hi Fishie:

I signed up on FitDay and logged in my stats. The hard part was remembering what I ate all day.

When I posted my food, I couldn't believe it. No wonder I can't lose. It's so much that I had no idea I was doing this.

Furthermore, I watched Dr. Phil today, who's program was on overeating. Believe me, I am not alone. There are others like me who can't get started dieting and can't stop eating. It's insidious.

Thanks for the tip. I want to get down to 198 in 3 weeks and I can do it.

Cheers from Chiqui

I checked the steak-um package this morning Chiqui and I think you may be out of luck. That is the name of the company and they are manufactured out of Connecticut, USA, so if you haven't seen them in your frozen section of the market, they probably aren't distributed in Canada. I'm sure you will be able to reach your goal if you stay true to the Atkins legal foods even if in large quantities.

Large quantities
 

Thanks for checking, Fishie

Yesterday I ate compulsively. It was really bad. I didn't finish taking my kitchen stuff downstairs. When I went upstairs, my tenant had made mashed potatoes and offered me some. I have no willpower to say no.

I overate last night and feel awful, very full still. And worse, I get gas when I do this so I spend a very uncomfortable day. This has got to stop. It's as if I am punishing myself by hurting myself with food. I can't understand why I do this.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

Sincerely, Chiqui

Don't beat yourself up over a cheat, just start immediately to get back on track. I think people make a mistake saying tomorrow I'll be better and continue to binge in the present and it just makes it worse later. If I eat more than I should I start drinking water like crazy. Somewhere in my unscientific brain I think I'll just wash that food right out of my body. hang in there....

was very surprised by the smount
 

Thanks for the support, Fishie.

I went to choir practice tonight and so few of us showed up that we didn't have any practice at all. So I went to eat, ended up at KFC, where I shouldn't be. You're right, I should just stop and have a large glass of water.

Another good idea to keep me on track is have my goals, as you do, at the bottom of each message. I don't know how you do that on the computer, but it must keep you centered.

How is your diet doing? I am entering everything on FitDAy and it's an education.

Cheers from Chiqui