Oh, you mean those wonderful batwings that work as airconditioners in the summer if you move your arms fast enough - I have no lack of those either!

I just bought the Protein Power book, which Fran McCullough calls, "the thinking person's low-carb plan." So I'm looking forward to it. From the FAQ's on the Eades' website, it does seem the way to go.

I've been following it informally for about a week now, and while I haven't lost any more weight, my shorts are actually loose on me! So I musta lost some of that inner tube, LOL.

Good luck with your exercise programs, gals. Let us know how it goes.

RoseTattoo: I don't think you'll be disappointed ! When I decided to go low carb, I read Atkins and Eades, deciding on PP. I have never regretted it for a minute. I have nothing to say but good things about their plan . I visit their forum also - there's a lot of knowledgable people there too. Between their site and this one, there is such an abundance of information that you can't go wrong! Good luck !

sorry, thought it was in my stats. I'm 44 and 'perimenopausal' 5 4 and today was 145/122/122

Stand back when I raise my arms or you might get whapped by my batwings.

About the tummy thing. I have an all-in-one pilates tape workout with the best ab workout. Now if I can just find the time to do it.

Montignac has the following suggestions for a flat tummy:

1) eat fruit on an empty stomach OR before you eat carbs and at least 4 hrs after eating fat

2) be careful what you eat with fruit, fruit and grains can ferment and cause bloating

3) drink lots of water (6-10 glasses)

4) work out

I had my 1st baby at 40 so I blame my tummy on that. But it's not too bad. Just not ready for exposure.

Iluv2cook - batwings are horrid - but I'm just thankful mine aren't as big as my mom's were!!! Mine drive me crazy but it could be worse. What pilates tape do you have? I have the Pilates for Dummies tape - just a beginner workout. Have thought of getting another one - just not sure which one to get. Course, I tend to do weight workouts 99% of the time, but it would be nice to have a back-up workout for days these old muscles just don't want to go. Interesting what Montignac says about fruit - what is the reasoning behind it? I actually only eat fruit with breakfast - and only raspberries at that since they're the lowest net carb option. And I just started eating them since they came into season, so I can't blame the tummy pouch! I've always had the pouch....

Shadow01

Okay got my book out it says;

eat fruit on an empty stomach
never combine protein/fat with carbohydrates (the diet is based on combining you can have a protein/fat meal OR a fat-free carbohydrate/fiber meal)
never drink carbonated beverages
exercise abs 15 minutes/day
combat constipation by eating wholegrain bread, brown bread with bran and lots of fiber
relax

the reasoning behind eating fruit alone (don't know if I buy this) is that fruit is quickly digested. If there is something else in there the fruit will try to race by it causing havoc. The exceptions being: strawberries, rasberries and blackberries, bcs these have so little carbohydrate that they can't really do much fermenting

I have another question, friends. (Feeling like we're a sorority here Been reading Protein Power today, and it says NOT to undertake this without a doctor's supervision if you're on cholesterol lowering meds because the WOE itself will drastically lower cholesterol. Well, I'm taking Lipitor for what was a very elevated cholesterol, and I'm afraid to tell my doctor about this WOE. He's very lean, a runner, and urged me to go on a vegan diet that is high on complex carbs. He's not going to like this one bit.

Unfortunately my insurance company will NOT pay for another lipid screen for 6 months--otherwise I'd ask him to order another round of tests to show him how well this is working (I think). It will be very hard to convince him that it's the WOE that's lowering my numbers and not the Lipitor, anyway. Any advice?

LOVE the book! It doesn't ask you to take anything on faith! You can reason things out for yourself.

Thanks for your encouragement.

Iluv2cook - Thanks for the information . I don't think that plan would appeal to me - good thing I'm happy with PP. I think the meal combining would cause me to not look forward to meals - it's much easier to just worrry about my protein/carb grams per meal! Interesting with the fruit... hmm

RoseTattoo - Tough question! (It has been nice to have all this contact, hasn't it?) It's very tough when you're faced with a narrow-minded doctor! I am not/nor have I been on meds for cholesterol so I won't be any help to you. My SO - who takes Lipitor and is diabetic - started a modified Schwarzbein not telling the doctor - expecting to get a bunch of grief over it. However, the doctor - amazingly - was encouraging about Schwarzbein once my SO confessed after a recent blood test showed a drop in LDL's and triglycerides. Personally, I would consider it my right to do what I thought was in my health's best interest - I'm getting much more forward about this kind of thing as I get older! I would probably go in and explain that I was going to change my eating habits to try a more natural approach to lowering my cholesterol - cutting out trans fats, sugar and pretty much all fake and manufactured foods. As a vegetarian he certainly shouldn't have a problem with you eating more natural foods! If he questions further, you could offer to take to him or send him the information from the cholesterol chapter or ask him if he's read the book. I would tell him that the worst that could happen would be that it does no good (and how can eating natural foods as opposed to fake foods not do you good?) and that the best that could happen would be getting of the medication (which can have some pretty serious side effects from what I understand). That, or I would wait until the next blood test and when the results are lower - then tell him about PP. You'll have been on the Lipitor all along, yes. But if the Lipitor were going to work miracles for you I assume it would have done so already (depending on how long you've been on it). The only change you'll be making will be eating habits - so that should be pretty self-explanatory! Whatever you decide, good luck!!! BTW I didn't have my first blood test until 3 months after I started - and while everything looked great (HDL's were over 100, triglycerides were really low), my LDL's had gone up too. I expect the next blood draw (in 9 months or so) to be lower in the LDL's. As I understand it, sometimes it takes 6 months or more to get a more accurate reading on the cholesterol.

Shadow, that is fantastic, HDL over 100! And you've done all that yourself, you should be very proud of yourself. Thanks for the advice on handling my doctor. Before the Lipitor, my total cholesterol was over 300, and there is a terrible history of heart attack and stroke in my family. I was naive enough to think it didn't matter because I was still before menopause, and then finally menopause hit. So I'm taking all of this very seriously now. The Lipitor has worked, to pretty good degree, but of course I'd prefer to improve my cholesterol without it.

The PP is great--although I don't have the major energy boost that I had on Atkins induction. But I'm convinced, though I'd never say this to the Atkins crowd, that eating those many saturated fats for a long period is really not healthful. So I'm far more comfortable with PP, for the long term.

Thanks for all your help and encouragement. Perhaps when I get my private message privileges (don't you need 25 posts to do that?) I'll talk to you that way, too.

RoseTattoo: Hope all goes well with your doctor! I know, though, that it would be less stressful if you had his support behind you too. But I honestly don't see how he can disapprove when you are doing something like improving your eating habits in an effort to better your health. It's not like you're adding artificial, manufactured foods to your diet - you're eliminating them. Seems to me he should give you a big ! Hopefully after a couple months of PP, you will at least be able to cut back on the dosage if nothing else!

I, too, feel that PP is a much healthier way to live. Not that I would ever say anything against Dr. Atkins - it's just that PP appealed to me in a way Atkins didn't. I've never gotten the great energy boost that a lot of people talk about - but I do have more energy now than when I was eating carbage. Just not the tons others talk about

Feel free to PM me anytime! I'm not sure how many posts you have to have before PM'ing - but it looks like you're over 25 now .

Nope, it's not letting me send pm's yet. I've only been a member for a few days, maybe that's why. Anyway, I'll try again when I've been here awhile longer. Still digesting the PP book. I'm not a great one for measuring and preplanning what I'm going to eat, but this looks easy enough (unlike the Zone, which I can't imagine having the patience for). I guess after awhile one can visualize what 10 grams of protein looks like.

Shadow and I luv2cook, What kinds of things do you like to eat? Are you cooking for yourself or for a family, too? I have two children, each on a special diet for different health reasons, and a husband who's lost 40 pounds on Weight Watchers, now on Lifetime Maintenance. So it's almost impossible to coordinate our menus, LOL. Our kitchen looks like Grand Central Station.

I've been tending to eat a good deal of chicken, tuna, and way too much cheese--all I needed was the go-ahead, the signal that cheese was OK, and I let loose after a lifetime of cheese deprivation. But also good things like salads with olive oil, broccoli, snow peas, and string beans. Tomorrow I'm going to make Atkins' Indian Cauliflower recipe, which looks very good.

Also discovered that Alvarado Bread is permitted under the rules of PP, which is terrific news. Have either of you ever tried that? The California Style bread has no wheat--only grains and legumes--and has only 8 carb grams per slice! It's delicious! I don't know if you can get it in the Netherlands, though. It's available in the US in most health food markets.

Sorry for chattering on. It's nice to have WOE buddies.

Hi RoseTattoo . No, I haven't tried the bread. I live in WY where anything like that has to be ordered over the internet. Luckily for me, I've not been a bread fan for years so it's just as easy to go without. The only time I miss it is when I have eggs - but I now use a "waffle" for toast made from the recipe in the Eades Low Carb Comfort Food cookbook. My menu is very basic (I cook only for myself - my roommate makes her own meals). My usual breakfast now that it's summer is cottage cheese w/ flax meal, sunflower seeds and almonds - then depending on my mood, I add either raspberries or 1/2 a muffin from the cookbook mentioned above. Lunch is a spinach salad w/ whatever meat I have leftover (hbg, meatloaf, turkey, chix, etc) or tuna and raw cauliflower/broccoli dipped in a mix of yogurt and sour cream. Supper is a chef salad (spinach, looseleaf lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, sometimes asparagus or mushrooms) or something simple like pork chops and salad, etc. I do a lot more cooking the rest of the year - but in the summer, salads are my main course. I'm sure that wasn't much help ! I love cheese but find it very hard to limit it so I usually only have it on the weekends when I'm too busy with yard and housework to have time to eat too much . Nuts are my big thing now - it's nice to have crunchy foods. But I limit them to 2T almonds and 1T sunflower seeds in my breakfast with an occasional snack of 6 almonds or 3 brazil nuts. Peanut butter is my big downfall - heaven help us all when I get started on that because those carbs add up pretty darned fast in the quantities I eat !

I think PP is a very user-friendly plan and I'm sure you'll have no problems with it. I've not read the Zone but understand it has "blocks" and takes quite a bit of planning - more stress than I need . PP is very simple - I'm sure you're going to love it and have great results!

Have a wonderful, low-carb day

Just me and DH who is on Atkins. DS (4) is a chicken nuggets kid. Will have to do something about that.

The only thing we eat alot of is..variety. Fish, poultry (turkey ham, turkey sausage, turkey slices marinated in buttermilk and 'breaded' in pork rinds and parmesan cheese) you get the picture. My favorite is grilled chicken ceasar salad.

When I started I just replaced the starch in my usual recipes with vegetables. Now I try everything. Portobello pizza is good (look on Atkins site) my friend on the Zone said that would fit in her plan. I love blackened fish from the BBC site. I also use meat substitute sometimes. DH loves me to make chili/basil tofu.

I love the challenge of cooking low carb. Now I'm adding protein powder to yogurt bcs of BFL plan. Can't get myoplex bars in Holland so I plan to bake something with 'fake mix' (fake Atkins mix) and have that for a snack. And if I can get away with it I'll sneak in a peanut butter sandwich now and again.

Yummy, those are all great ideas for meals! I've managed to avoid cheese so far today, but it's only 1 pm.

Shadow, Alvarado Street Bakery has a website, and you can order online (www.Alvaradostreetbakery.com). It may be very expensive, I don't know, since I'm fortunate enough to be able to get the bread locally. My biggest challenge in lo carbing is that I'm an amateur bread baker, and have spent a lot of time perfecting my skills. Naturally, I had to eat at least part of every single bread that came out of my oven. It has been more than a casual hobby--it's been an obsession. And I haven't been able to bake a decent lo carb loaf, no matter what I try. So I'm going to have to find some other productive pastime, if I want to stick to this WOE (and I do--I feel great).

Iluv2cook, the chili basil tofu sounds intriguing! Do you have the link to a recipe?

RoseTattoo: I think you should perfect a bread recipe that 1) doesn't use a bread machine and 2) includes wheat bran or some such what to make it high fiber - and then pass it on . I used to love to bake bread - although it's not my forte - but nothing beats the aroma of baking bread. Then I'd even have some to eat with my eggs - but it would also have to 3) have a long freezer life as I'd probably at the most eat 2 slices a month . Right now I'm spending weekends reinventing summer salads...lots of taste testing involved !

Ilove2cook: I do a lot of experimenting w/ protein powder too. I had just started working on a pizza crust that needed another go-round to get it to where I wanted it - but hot weather settled in, so that's it on oven-baked stuff for a while I love to mix protein powder with cream cheese and a little yogurt and AS for a cool summertime "cheesecake" dessert - no muss, no fuss, but good eating !