Newbie Question
 

Ok it's official - my head is spinning - I read Dr. Atkin's book, followed the plan - bitching and moaning the whole way until it just twigged that I have to live my LIFE on a plan - may as well be one that allows me to indulge.

I felt frustrated at my whopping 2 pound weight loss in 2 months so I read the South Beach Diet - I received great support from people who suggested that I try Protein Power. It is the most difficult read - and I have to say I played twister with my tape measure to find that once I went to that zone site that someone else on one of the posts recommended - I found my numbers.
% body fat 32
total body fat 49
lean body mass 105
Daily Protein req 63grams
great now how do I go about incorporating this information into my life? I took the book out of the library, found it so not user friendly, Atkins and SB I thoroughly enjoyed reading - this one is going to be turned into amissile soon :) Could someone please advise me?
I work out with a trainer two mornings a week, I have 2 young kids (7&9) and while I am not sedentary I am not exactly looking to fill the post of fitness guru.

Would you mind telling me what your diet plan is because I swear my mind is atkins now but I am cheating with berries and cream - I had it the last 2 nights - I feel like I need to whack some sense into my head and was hoping you could help (be gentle :)
Thanks,
Tammy
:help:

Well, I'm not exactly follow Protein Power. (I have enormous respect for the Drs. Eades, and I understood the book, but found it to be a rather dull read! :lol: ) I do follow the recommendations for the amount of protein I need every day, along with a few other bits and pieces of PP. I've been on Atkins for a year and have moved up the Carbohydrate Ladder, so I already eat most of the foods the Drs. Eades included in their plan.

I have a copy of PPLP, but haven't yet had time to read it. :)

I found Protein Power Life Plan (PPLP) to be a much more useful read. If you don't care about the 'mechanics' behind the plan, it might be less helpful. You can look at my journal if you like; I post my menus almost every day (not obsessive enough to use fit day though). I probably eat less carbs than allowed most days, just because I don't care to eat more of them. I do enjoy berries often, but tend to forego the faux foods (bars, LC tortillas, etc), just because I like 'regular' food better. PP is pretty simple to follow & I find it more enjoyable than Atkins (which I did successfully several years ago) and also more doable for the long haul.

Good luck!

To make it really simple as one of the people on the protein power board says: Atkins recommends you start out very restrictive and slowly add new foods to see what trips you up. PP allows you start out more permissive and recommends you become more restrictive if you find something trips you up.
Eat your protein minimum everyday. Less than 40 grams net carbs daily, the calories will usually sort themselves out.

I would agree PPLP is an easier read.

I keep it simple. My meals are mainly a protein source (mostly red meat) and vegetables. I start with the meat and add a veggie or two....that's it. Breakfast is either leftovers, so the same thing as other meals....or I'll have a shake or yogurt (with berries and walnuts).

Basically, with protein power, you eat your minimum amount of protein per day, stay under your carb allotment (less than 10g per meal or snack, in addition to eating less than 40g per day) and eat as much fat and extra protein as you need to feel full. There are no specifically "fobidden" foods, as long as you don't go over your carb allotment.

The book officially recomend specific amounts of protein per meal, but I always eat less at breakfast and make it up later in the day.

As you can see, the flexibility of this plan is why a lot of people prefer it to Atkins.

One thing I'll mention -- according to the Eades the minimum protein requirement that you derive from PP with all that twister measuring :D you did is supposed to be quite close to the true minimum. Protein Power LifePlan simply uses weight and height, and recommends a minimum amount that is a lot higher (at least for me).

I find that eating the PPLP minimum everyday works better for me because it knocks out hunger. The minimum from PP doesn't do that for me.

Yesterday's menu:
6 turkey sausages
3 large cups coffee with half & half

fried chicken breast
1/8th wedge of a large cantaloupe

pork loin roast
1/4c applesauce (Splenda sweetened)
cabbage

low carb tortilla, toasted in a skillet with
1 oz cheddar

The cabbage was sauteed in butter, and the tortilla was toasted with a little butter in the pan.

Hi there! I can really empathize with you--I am a really slow loser and know this will be the struggle of my life--but it is worth a better life for me so I'm determined to DO IT! Someone on the boards recommended Jonny Bowden's book, Living the Low Carb Life, and I am so thankful! He's a nutritionist, and compares 17 plans, gives you info to tweak your own plan, great resources and tips.

For me, definitely giving up the wine I was enjoying every few days (okay, every other) was essential--after hovering at the same weight for days, I'm down1.5 today! I eat berries occasionally--one of my favorite treats! I feel it's important to keep my food interesting, so even though I have salad most days, I use different ingredients and make my own dressings.

It sounds like you want to enjoy a simple plan with good results, and many here can share their personal successes with you. But you've still got to find what fits YOUR lifestyle. Read the book--maybe you can combine 2 plans together like I've seen throughout the forum. Good luck!

And I found that trying to eat the minimum from PPLP left me feeling bloated and full and "oh, no, I HAVE TO eat more protein now even though I'd really rather have a salad"- it just interfered with listening to my body's cues on fullness. It made the plan unlivable.

Some days I do get the protein minimum from PPLP, and some days I don't. Not forcing myself to eat that higher amount of protein daily was a huge step forward for me, and made this into a "life plan" rather than a "diet."

Ruth your post made me realize that the protein requirements from both PP and PPLP are based upon what a "normal" person will require. The numbers represent those that will meet the requirements of most, say something like 95% of the people. But, as we can see from the posts here, people are not all EXACTLY the same, so if you would plot the protein requirements on a curve, the curve would almost certainly be a "normal distribution" with some points being at the extremes in both directions. So you just may be one of the (what the statistician would call) "out liers", i.e. beyond the range that includes 90% of the people. My step father would have been one of the out layers at the other end, he could eat enormous amounts of food and not gain, but he also had the cystic fibrosis gene.

Or maybe it had to do with my physical activity (or lack thereof.) Most "normal healthy" people my weight and height probably get a lot more physical activity than I do, or at least more than I was capable of when I first started on PP. Since cutting out gluten my energy level has risen significantly.

here's how I do PPFL. (with a tip of the hat to the Zone and also Dr. Bernstein)

I divide my day into 3 parts: morning, afternoon, and evening.
For each part, I divide my protein equally, about 5 oz of meat for each part.
For each part, I divide my carbs at 6, 12, and 12 (I'm diabetic and follow Bernstein)
I don't count fat, but I eat nuts, chocolate, and like to have olive oil in my salad. Also some coconut oil in the form of chocolate bark.

For morning, I usually eat my full load for breakfast.

For afternoon, I have a small lunch with about 4 ounces of meat, and then a small snack around 4 pm.

For evening, I have a small dinner with veggies and salad. Then before I go to bed, I have some cheese and wine.

I was a long-time follower of PP (the old one, about 7 years on it) now doing a kind of high-fat very low carb Atkins/PP hybrid--I would actually call it a very high fat very low carb PP for the most accuracy. :) PP heavily influences my eating in the sense of the protein requirement and the freedom to choose the carb selections.

My PP protein min. is 60g per day, my PPLP min. is 81g per day. It doesn't seem like much of a difference, but I cannot lose on 81g per day. I found that I had to cut the protein back to the PP-60g and make up the rest of the cals with fat to keep losing. (I refuse to cut calories!)

I also have to be careful of the carbs I choose. Unlike most people, I guess, I won't lose if my daily allotment contains grains. I also have to keep my carbs lower because I do eat so much fat...more than most folks around here.

Larry is right. There is a bell curve under which the majority of people will fall. Then there's "outside 2 standard deviations from the mean." I'm afraid I fall out there in more than just diet, but that is another story! ;) Some will find that the "norm" just doesn't work, but it's always best to try the "norm" first, and give it a good solid go.

I lost over 30 pounds on traditional Atkins, eating all the protein I wanted (100-125 grams) then I stopped losing, about 10 pounds short of where I'd really like to be. I remembered about PP/PPLP, and cut back to my minimum per Dr Eades advice when I didn't lose for 5 weeks.

You'll find what works for you. Give the plan a good solid go as written and see what happens.

Thanks for your post, ElleH, I appreciate your positive, helpful comments and advice. I will keep it in mind as I go on this journey. BTW, you have done fantastic!