Restart....restart....and restart....sigh.
 

I can't help but feel a bit defeated posting that I'm starting...again...but then again, the ultimate defeat would be to give up completely right?

I was shocked when I stepped on the scales today to see that I'm at 259. Holy crap. I've never weighed that much in my life. I hide it fairly well fortunately. I figured that my ideal weight should be 190 or so. That's 69 lbs to lose. 69!!! It might as well be 70!

But it's ok, I have hope!!! I can do this....

It's great to be here and I can't wait to get to know some of you...

Good luck and congratulations for being back here ~ you can do it!

Read some of the success stories, there are women on here who have lost more than 100 lbs. and men who have lost more than 200, so 69 is doable!!!

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

But you are successful after eight only if you learned from the first seven times. What are you going to do differently? What habits can you change right now and keep forever?
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=468195
Here are a few ideas that may help you related to eating:
http://www.gretchenrubin.com/wp-con...ng_onesheet.pdf
Just being back here IS a good "accountability" step...maybe join a weigh in group? All the best,

Welcome back! I think most of us "backslide" (old Southern Baptist term) from time to time. Janet (JEY100) always gives great tips and links. Follow her advice, read up.

I'm in a 5 pound weight loss challenge and a January daily weigh-in group. Come join us if you would like. Some people prefer to get on the scale less often than every day, but you can still pop in and see how others are doing for encouragement.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you everyone for your encouragement. I appreciate your words of wisdom and learning from the past is something I definitely want to do. I've had the most success when I planned out my menu in great detail and knew exactly what I was going to eat and when. I think I faltered in the past when that planning went awry because life got crazy and it was not made a priority.

The challenge that I have this go around is my work hours. I start a little bit later in the morning and will finish work and be home at night around 8:30-9pm. I run a route so I'm trying to figure out my meals still at this point. I have not officially started yet because there is a big change happening at work this month with our routes plus we're smack dab in the middle of the NFL playoffs, lol, so I was going to wait until the beginning of Feb then I'm off to the races.

I know that working until that time of the night doesn't really allow me to have a large dinner. I'll have time to have a nice breakfast but lunch is what I'm worried about. As I mentioned I'll be on my route so I won't be able to have a hot lunch which really bums me out. I've already accepted the fact that a decent sized salad will be a major part of my lunches. I've thought about using a lettuce wrap around lunch meat too. Certain days of the week I might be close to a burger place where I can get a couple of patties minus the bread and ketchup and everything but mustard of course and that will help bulk up my lunch. I'm still in the planning stages of what I'm go to eat and when. Can anyone recommend a specific forum thread where it would be appropriate to post an eating plan/menu with the goal of getting some feedback on it?

Thanks again everyone!

You are so not alone! Welcome back, and good thoughts.
You do well to take some time to plan out your strategy and allow for current life events. When you do get going, you'll have a strong sense of purpose. Of course, that purpose is to re-educate yourself for a lifetime way of eating that FITS INTO your life. So many of us derail when life gets...interesting. The idea is to stand in the way with a plan that works in spite of obstacles.

Best wishes.

Point 7 on the habit sheet above, Loophole Spotting, is so much fun. What a classic Tomorrow Loophole you have ! :lol:
http://gretchenrubin.com/happiness_...orrow-loophole/

NFL playoffs? ..how many games and weeks is that? Don't forget the College playoffs tomorrow and baseball playoffs this summer. And they all repeat every year. Holidays, your birthday, National cheesecake day, whatever ;) at some point you need to start and make it a lifestyle. :idea:

There are many low carb foods perfect for Game day snacks, just as there are cold or room temperature meals you can pack, or put something hot in a thermos, but yes, you have to plan ahead for them. Meat and cheese roll-ups are great, so much variety. Anything can go in a wide mouth thermos.

Check the recipe section for quick meals and snacks..LC wings, ribs, cheese, salami, olives etc.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=40

Post your menu ideas in the Atkins section, there are some similar threads already: http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=98

For a really simple weekly menu, check what this guy did:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/...bilebasic?pli=1

Janet I love ya already! I can tell you're one to call people on their BS...I love it. To be totally honest, all the other sports playoffs I could care less about. But I will certainly take your points into consideration.

A thermos! I didn't think of that...although the only thing that I can think of that would go in there is soup and I know that's a no-no for the most part. (if I remember correctly) But I'm going to check out your other links now. Thanks!

If the journey was an easy one, we wouldn't all still be here. I started Atkins in 1972 and I'm still "in the battle," so to speak. We all start over, some of us more than others (and I do mean ME) but the only sin in that is to give up and never start over again.

Look. I can always find an excuse to eat carb-age. All of us can. The secret to the success of this WOE is never to give up trying.

You're young. But, take my word for it, when you're my age you want to be healthy. The alternative is all around you. When you're in the supermarket and you see those old fat people riding around on the carts, you probably ignore them. That will never be YOU. Guess what? It can be you.

So put on your big-boy pants and get with the program. This is a great forum and the people here will help you when you fall, but only if you try.

Thanks Glenda! That was awesome! It's funny you say that I'm young because I feel old in some ways. It's all relative I guess. And you're right, I do not want to be one of those people riding a shopping cart! Now excuse me while I go put my big boy underwear, pants, & T shirt on. :) Also, go Seahawks!

See why I hang out here? Other people are "meaner" than I am and keep me on the straight and narrow(er). :lol: You've heard from two (at least) of the best. Do what they say!

And by the way, Go Chiefs!! I think they are in competition with the Royals for a championship in the "other" sport, so look out!

Mean? Can't imagine that :lol: thank you waterboy for understanding the loophole spotting. If Super Bowl is Feb 7th, writing off 1/10 of 2016 as being impossible to low carb seemed to be a very extended "tomorrow".

Looking on Amazon, turns out what I meant is called a Thermos "Food Jar" now. A 16oz food jar could hold a lot of hot casserole! Make big casseroles like that Reddit guy did, reheat it very hot in the morning, fill the food jar for lunch. Must try Clackslaw ;)
Roll-ups can be any deli meat, with any soft or sliced cheese, around any veg, e.g. Roast beef, Swiss wrapped around a pickle, or ham wrapped around a cream cheese stuffed celery. Keep all the usual LC snacks in your truck...pork rinds, nuts(careful with amount), cheese and pepperoni sticks, jerky, etc. Start now and some higher carbs snacks on game days, while not perfect, will have a temporary impact. And there are low carb beers ;)

Not a fan of pork rinds myself but Kristie from cooking Keto made a LC "Chex Mix" which is quite clever.
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCFGt_87bzlJXHxzvsU8leOQ

A food thermos! That is the best news I've ever heard! I kind of forgot that those existed. I am totally psyched now! Maybe I can switch it around and have my hot lunch while working and have the salad when I get home at night because there won't be much time from after I get home to when I go to bed. I don't want to put on a heavy meal before going to sleep so this could work great! Thank you so much! I will head to Wally World tonight to see what they have for food thermoses.

Of course Janet knows I'm kidding about being "mean." She's one of the best resource providers ever. I don't know how she keeps track of all the helpful links she sends out.

On this forum, we do tend to sort out the wannabe's from the people seriously interested in change. Some folks have a never-ending list of excuses. After a while, there's no point in having a conversation. Some folks disappear pretty fast, not only after January, but all the time.

So...you can do this! Best wishes.

Barbara... I appreciate your words. I can see how it would be very frustrating helping people only to have them disappear without doing anything. I know in my heart what I need to do, want to do, have to do. But I will save that and let my actions speak for themselves. It's easy to talk about it but pulling the trigger is a whole other thing. There are some major changes happening at work that could affect me in a big way and I guess I'm kind of waiting for that shoe to drop. I know sometimes starting something new when there are major life changes can be a recipe for disaster. But I may end up starting earlier than my original date anyway. At any rate it is awesome to feel such support and I appreciate it more than you know!

I'd also like to suggest that you plan for those times you're too busy to do all that planning. Where can you go and buy a LC meal on the run? I go to In&Out burger and get a cheese burger and diet soda but have the cheeseburger wrapped in lettuce.

Almost any burger joint will do that for you.

There's also the rotisserie chickens man super markets have. I wouldn't worry too much about a bit of carb they add to them. Sometimes I think people worry about minute things and then get overwhelmed and eat something entirely inappropriate.

Any time you fall off, you've got to ask yourself how to fix it. If the answer is: try harder, you've learned nothing about yourself in the process. You need concrete answers like:

I should take a different route in the grocery store so I don't pass this display.

Don't eat the first potato chip and then the 99th one is much easier to resist. Bring a veggie dip tray to the party for yourself (and to share).

Have a square of 85% chocolate instead of an entire milk chocolate bar.

So a quick question...in the past when doing low-carb eating, I had enjoyed a sugar free jello Cup nearly every day. Are there any thoughts about this whether it affects weight loss or not? I didn't have any issues of it triggering sugar cravings. There also seems to be different opinions about artificial sweeteners and how they can affect weight loss. This go around I will not be including any diet coke on a regular basis unless it's just totally a treat. I'll be working hard enough getting my 160 oz of water down every day lol

Only because I just heard Dr Westman say that SF jello are great to use, enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, and add some whipped cream while you're at it, go for it. :) :)

[QUOTE=JEY100]Only because I just heard Dr Westman say that SF jello are great to use, enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, and add some whipped cream while you're at it, go for it. :) :)[/QUOTE

Oops...never mind

Look what I ordered this morning! Should be here Thur. I'll get my Schwan order next week, Wed 20th (I'll be eating primarily Schwan's food. I started a thread about this but apparently it got deleted because someone felt it was advertising) so I will officially start the following Monday 1/25!

Awesome, That's it, and a top quality version to boot. :thup: I grew up around the Stanley Tools plants, knew many employees... sure that will Work well and last forever. Can see it filled with hearty beef stews, chilis, etc. to keep your LC plan on track.

I have a lot of stupid little silly questions but I don't feel it's worthy enough to start a whole new thread about them so I hope that's okay if I ask them here. I'm in the process of lining up my menu and looking at the exact foods I will buy. One of the items is called roasted chicken bites. They are a non breaded chicken bite that has some seasoning already on it. In the ingredients it shows "less than 2% of sugar.' I don't know if that is used for flavoring or preservatives or what but is it something that I should be concerned about? Modified corn starch, carrageenan, maltodextrin are also some of the other ingredients. The carb content is .5 grams per 3 ounce serving.

I'd avoid the commercial chicken bites and make my own, but that's just me, I don't trust Big Food. Food companies get away with so much evil...even just listing "natural flavorings" in the ingredients can harbor things like sugar and MSG...my daughter calls these collectively "beaver butts." It's how they hide the real truth. Like I said, I don't trust Big Food. They have THEIR bottom line in mind, not yours.

I like that you are getting your ducks in a row, or beaver butts as it were, ahead of time. Read up. Much to learn. A lot of what is wrong with you/me/us is not our fault, but what they are doing to our food.

Here's a fun blog, brought to you by the always sardonic Tom McNaughton and chock-full of no-nonsense information with a healthy dose of witty nonsense mixed in. http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/about/ If you haven't seen Fat Head the movie, I think it's available on Netflix. Very worthwhile.

Also Fed Up. I think you have to pay a couple bucks to watch it, but see the trailer and decide for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUbvOwwfWM

And stay away from beaver butt! Bad juju!

Uno mas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cpdb78pWl4
You can download Michael Moss's book, Salt, Sugar, Fat for free (PDF). You just have to look for it. Real eye-opener.

Hey everyone I posted this elsewhere but didn't get an answer so thought I would try here. Do you have to have a certain number of posts in for your profile picture shows up? I uploaded a picture and it shows up on my profile just fine but its not showing up on any threads.

I just learned this today. I had a pic on my profile as well but it wasn't showing up on my posts. On left hand side click on Avatar and then you will upload your pic to that.

Way to go on planning your lifestyle. My sons bring ginormous, and I mean huge-gantic sized lunch boxes to their 10 hour shifts. They throw their food in the night before a shift. Cut up meat, cheese, your jello (YAY), salads, cut up veggies, etc. They'll have a huge bin of cut up veggies in their fridge and just grab some for their backpacks the night before. I like your plan of a loaded breakfast and then graze on your food all day while en route. You will feel so good doing it, no matter what comes down the pike. Good luck.

Thanks Greekribs! That avatar idea worked great!

So I was thinking about laying out my menu and sharing it for ideas from people that might have some input. Would the best way to do that would be to start a journal?

You could start a journal, but then would need to direct others to read it. I've never been in the habit of reading journals except for a few folks. Ken has a great journal, and you could post there asking him and his readers to check your menu ideas.
Another way to have more input on it would be to start a new post on the Atkins forum (there are others about menu there) or Newbie questions. General advice...keep it simple to start. Can't go wrong with meat and veg like greek's sons...hot meat dish in your thermos, and veggies in a cooler, up to 4 oz cheese, then eat when hungry, stop when full.
Listen to your hunger signals, you may want a large lunch but if you are not that hungry after your long day, skip dinner or only have a light snack.

Ok...planning is going well! I thought about starting a separate thread about my meal plan, etc but after other suggestions, I'll just do it here.

This is what I have planned for meals for the first two weeks. Please, any input would be welcome. Shoot holes in it...make suggestions...whatever you want because this time....THIS TIME I WILL be successful!!!!

Along with downing 160 oz of water a day (and you know I'll be carting around a few empty gatorade bottles in my truck, lol I know...TMI) this is what I'm thinking...(a small plug because I work for Schwan's and love them - all veggies and meat will be from Schwan's) And my meals during the week (M-F) will be similar and as easy as I can make them. I'll cook the hot lunch the Sunday before, then heat up a portion each morning and put it in my brand new Stanley thermos! (Thank you Jey100)


Meals for M-F

Breakfast

3-4 eggs, different styles. A bit of shredded cheese if scrambled with "you-know-who's" roasted peppers and onions. I'll throw a bit of salsa and sour cream on them if I'm wanting it. Also 3 bacon or sausage links. Water.

Lunch M-F

This is the casserole that I will pre-cook the Sunday before. I'll heat a portion up each morning and put it in the thermos. I've decided the first week I'll make the Chicken Broccoli Bake and then the Yummy Chicken Alfredo the second week. In the thermos it goes along with some jerky to nibble on throughout the day, tons of water and a sugar free jello.

Dinner M-F

I'll have a salad and try and keep it a bit light since I won't be up for very long before heading to bed. I will probably add some veggies like brussel sprouts and maybe a few jumbo cooked shrimp. (not with the sprouts...just to munch on.)

Sat & Sun

Similar bfast as I have during the week.

Lunch will probably be the larger salad with some added meat. Oh and my jello. I like the jello. : )

Dinner - I'm planning on marinated salmon/asp spears and bone in pork chops and some other green veggie. Again, with lot's of water.

Then Sunday I'll make my lunch for the following week.

That sound ok?

That sounds fantastic. I'll be right over.
Seriously, it's got lots of variety, different types of proteins, lots of vegetables. Sounds very good. Don't be surprised if you do need a decent size supper. The beauty of low carb is you don't have to worry .. if you're hungry, you eat.