Wow! No one has made any mistakes? No one has low-carbed and learned?

Karen

My big mistake was, after losing half the weight I wanted to, thinking I could go on Maintenance "for the summer" so I could eat a little more fruit. Well, the summer turned into 8 months!

Fortunately I only gained 7 or 8 pounds (most of that eating croissants and bread in France - you can't get anything else for breakfast there ), but it was very difficult to get back to OWL. For one thing, I couldn't remember what I was eating when I was losing 2 pounds a week last year.

Thanks to this group and Lifeform (like Fitday), I realized I was eating too few calories and not enough fat, and now I am back on track.

As to the legal sweets on the Atkins diet, I think that is YMMV. While I was losing that 2 pounds a week I was eating sf jello with homemade whipped cream, LC cheesecake, LC pumpkin un-pie (baked without the crust), LC key lime pie, etc., etc.

I have found that knowing I can make and eat really yummy things somehow keeps me from eating high carb sweets away from home. My DH and I went to a company dinner at which the dessert comprised an enormously long table jam packed with cakes, pies, etc., but I ate the strawberries and canteloupe. And my knickname used to be "Cookie!"

But I really didn't care, because knew I could make desserts just as delicious as those that wouldn't blow my diet.

And somehow it also keeps me from going overboard on the LC sweets; as long as I know I can have a guilt-free piece of that cheesecake for dessert after dinner, I can let it sit unmolested in the refrigerator for as many days as it takes us to eat it. I can't explain it, but there it is.

This thread was a great idea, Karen!

Karla

OMG, I just put out a LONG post on this in the Daily LC area (OWL & Reflections...)

"Since I've converted to Atkins on 1/14/2002, I've really learned a lot about how foods make me feel, whether healthy and alive or sickly and tired.

Well, after I finished Induction (a quick 2 weeks after a couple days of carb withdrawls ) I was soon on OWL and trying to find my CCL. I started to add more complex carbs into my WOE and quicky realized that the weight loss slowed down for me. I accepted that and moved on. I didn't expect everything to come off as quickly as in Induction.

Then, I started to measure myself monthly to help myself understand that scales DO lie. I've steadily been losing inches (all be it not as fast as in the begining) and I've been overall very happy with my transition to low carb living.

However, I find myself getting a bit ill (tummy aches, headaches & a general feeling of fogginess) when I have more than 50 carbs (after substracting fiber) on one day and then go down to 20-30. I've been all over the place with my carbs on a daily/weekly basis to keep my body thinking I've read my Atkins book twice (as well as another one on LC for life).

It's almost like the Induction withdrawls all over again only I'm much more in-tune with how carbs effect my body and how I feel.

So far I've been able to get out of ketosis and get back in within 24-48 hours. I don't do ketostix so to be honest I don't really know if I'm in or out of ketosis. I used to have the keto breath but I got used to it after a while and with all the water I drink (120 ounces/day), it's hard to notice unless I eat really fatty foods like cheeses.

I've tried to figure out if it's my body going back through carb withdrawl or if I've just become so sensitive to higher amounts of carbs. I've noticed that it's really bad if I come off of a higher carb (50-70 grams/day) which is usually from eating less-than-desirable ("bad") foods like breaded chicken or white rice. I'm able to eat small amounts of things like rice, without going overboard and I'm certain that if I just go to a whole, brown rice, that I'd feel better. However, I've even noticed this "phenaminon" when I consume a bit of popcorn (<2 cups, loaded with butter = 3 T). The next day, I had a splitting headache.

On the days that I have 50-70 carbs, I don't feel ill at all. I still notice all the normal LC things like I can pick up on the smallest amount of sugar in something (like when I ordered chicken salad at a restaurant). It isn't until the next day that I feel ill when I go back down to 20-30 final carbs.

My basic reasoning behind moving my carbs all around is when I was doing my research for my CCL, I noticed that I can go up to 50-70 and still lose. But I didn't want my body to get used to a specific amount of carb grams so I decided to try to do like every 3rd day as a 50 gram day, then go back to 20-30 for a few days. Now, I've basically got myself doing 20-30 during the week, and on the Sat & Sun I eat around 50 and very occasionally I jump up ot 70.

I've been added some fruits (I love fresh melons and berries) which has been raising my carbs for those higher carb days. I also eat 1 slice of "Health Max" bread with tons of butter and 1 T all-natural peanut butter (guess what's in it... PEANUTS, that's it, no trans fatty acids for me ). I've also added back some starchier veggies and more nuts.

After all this chatter, what I'm trying to find out (from long time LCer's) is "Is this a "Normal" thing?" Or do I just have a huge hang up on "How do I feel right now?" Do I pay too much attention to how I'm feeling? Am I overanalyzing?

Guess I should read my Atkins book AGAIN. I must have skimmed that section or something.

So what is the RIGHT way to handle the OOPS situations? It seems like he's saying if you keep making mistakes, you'll just have to give up this WOL because you can't keep jumping back into Induction and think everything is OK.

And then how does that work since he also says that you can STAY in Induction for a longer period of time if that's what one should choose. Guess it seems like he's saying you can't yo-yo your carbs around but you can stay at an Induction level. Now does that seem right since I though finding your CCL is basically going up and down with your carbs.

Also, don't some people get stalled when they stay at the same carb level for a period of time? I've read that some people have to go ahead and add carbs and then go back down in order to get past their stall.

What's up with this? Just a big YMMV?



Annie G.

My biggest mistake? Thinking I could "loosen up the restrictions" a bit during the holidays. Hey...a couple of high carb days can't do too much damage, right? It's the holidays...I deserve to have a little fun, right? WRONG! I gained 10 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Year and had a terrible time getting the scale moving in the downward direction again. I can't say I will NEVER do that again (cuz that's when it's gonna come and bite me in the butt), but I will certainly be a LOT closer to my goal weight before I even consider it again. Looking back, it really wasn't all that satisfying anyway and for sure wasn't worth all the frustration afterwards. I could just kick myself when I think how much closer to goal I'd be right now if I hadn't done that.

One of my bigger mistakes was thinking that I had enough will power to "plan" for a day off the low carb diet. It made perfect sense to me that if I was good all week I could go off the diet for a birthday, halloween, the superbowl, dinner out, whatever the excuse than get right back on the plan. WRONG!!! everytime I tried I would end up on a 3 or 4 day, sometime even a week long binge, before I could get back in control.
Now I've learned it's better for me to stay pretty strict and if I want to cheat I try and eat a legal treat, LC chocalate bar, or LC ice cream, LC muffins or something similiar. I find, for me, these cheats don't lead to binges.

Only about a month into this new WOL, it amazes me as well what you have to keep learning. I, as well thought, once I read the book, I go and do it - period! WRONG! I lost so very nicely on the first two weeks of induction (8.5llbs). Then the lbs crept BACK, after only ONE no no. Back to induction - nothing! I found hidden carbs BIG TIME! My biggest weakness is coffee - black, but lots of it! Reading just the labels on the foods is so very misleading. I started FitDay, and what an eye opener!! I was consuming an extra 12carbs with coffee alone! Really having a hard time keeping it down to just a few cups a day (withdrawal symptoms), but I guess I have no choice... Anyone else dicovered hidden carbs as their mistake?

I went on a road trip early on in my LCing WOL. Afraid to eat in any restaurants, I brought along lots of hard boiled eggs, lots of water and low carb bars. I also got some pork rinds at a gas stop. I tend not to eat them because I eat the entire bag anytime I open one but I knew I needed the fat.

Three days and I was just fine. On day four, I gained three pounds. I had not had one bite of food other than eggs, protein bar (1 or 2 daily) and the pork rinds. I know the pork rinds are salty but this wasn't water weight.

I couldn't get stabilized, feeling like I was in the LC flow again, for about a week.

That taught me a lesson about the low carb bars. I am not even going to keep one or two on hand for emergencies.

This is such a great thread.

This is my third time back at Atkins. This time, I am not trying to control the WOE, I am just going with the WOL. Meaning--after rereading Atkins book for the 6th time, I finally got that I must up my protein.

Coming from down under means we don't have access to those amazing 'low carb' products you guys do. We are about to have a company release FibreX cereal, low carb and gluten free, and the ingredients are all of what I would normally eat. Good news.

First 2 times, I ate cream, cream, cream, and cream. I also had way too much macadamias (before the price went sky high) then way too much almonds. Then because I wasn't having enough protein, I found I was looking for food, the addiction would take over and poof!

Before I was having 5 meals a day because I always looking for food, this time, 3 meals a day. Less food than before, but the choice is more protein, so I am not hungry, not looking for a snack and dealing with the emotions that keep coming up.

I will add that this week has been interesting because my 3 1/2 year old grandson is in hospital with meningitis and meningocochal (sp) so I find myself looking in the fridge. I picked it up very quickly and have been allowing myself to feel instead of swallowing the emotion with food.

He is slowly on the mend, and I am thrilled that I have been able to actually deal with the emotion of being helpless!

Once a month I make up a copy of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, once a month I make up chocolate chip cookies. I ensure I have treats, but one a week and if I find I am craving more, I will deal with it. It has been hard, on a day to day basis.

Third time is not for the weight. It is for the way of life. I don't have scales and only measure when I have to review a pattern for my job. So maybe once a month do I measure. I just notice my clothes and work hard to stop the obsession of weight/size.

In retrospect, I know i had to fail twice to 'get it'. Not a great way to learn the lesson, but there you go. Also, I learned that once I picked my plan, stick with it. 'There' is no different to 'here'.

I live on 20--25g carb a day (after two months) and about 90--100g protein a day.

Thanks for this thread. It has helped so much to see I am not alone

Dale

I'm still new at this, but I notice a few things that will trigger me to want to eat non-stop!!

CHEESE!!! This is a hard one for me. I tend to nibble and nibble and I wind up eating way too much!!!

Those Atkins and other low carb bars! Tasty, but they really do trugger sugar cravings in me. I need to really limit them.

Nuts! I sit and much away without realizing it, I can easily eat the whole bag!!!

I think I do the best and loose the fastest when I do the plan exactally like how it was meant to be done!!! (duh!)

i also had a problem with eating anything with fake sugar and cream. it totally halted my progress.... but live and learn.. im losing weight now......

MISTAKE #1=The first time I did Atkins I only counted carbs and lost a lot of weight at first and was elated. Suddenly I quit losing and couldn't figure out why. I started counting calories, thinking I was eating too many. To my surprise, I was only eating between 600-900 calories a day. No wonder, I was starving myself and I was also exercising like a maniac. I didn't feel like I was starving because suddenly I wasn't constantly hungry like I had been while on low-fat. Naturally I gained a lot of weight when I started eating the amount of calories I should be.

MISTAKE #2=After gaining 1/2 of the weight I lost back, I tried eating 5-6 smaller meals rather than 3. Well, then portion control became an issue. Each meal was the same size and not what most would consider "small".

MISTAKE #3=Comparing myself to others. I was reading about others who were the same weight as me and I started eating like they were. I'm still struggling with this somewhat. I'm working on finding what works for ME. It's tough when I read about others being able to eat something I can't have, but I'm learning to prioritize my cravings vs. my desire to lose weight.

Great thread Karen.

Lessons learned the hard way:

1. Meal replacements. Low-Carb bars, and even protein shakes, are not "meals". They may be better than starving or eating carbs (well, that is questionable in the case of the bars...), but that does not make them into a real-food meal.

1b: Mock Danish is not a meal.

1c: Four mock danish is not a 'big' meal. LOL.

2. Milk. I would buy a little milk for my daughter on the way to school, and she wouldn't drink it all. Then I would have the 'clean your plate' issue and the 'yeah but I spent money on it' issue and the 'it's just a little, technically I could arrange my carbs to have just a few tablespoons of milk' issue. What really happened is that it sent my carb and sugar cravings into the stratosphere (and messed up my eating for the rest of the day, as I then couldn't have the carbs I'd planned in various meals).

2b: She can drink milk at school with lunch. If I can't have it, then at home, she can drink what I drink -- water. It not only won't kill her, it will be good for her. I have stuff she can eat that I can't, esp. fruit, fruity yogurts, and occasional treats. But in general, low-carb foods are not some bizarre specialty item like medicine, that is only for me. Eating meat dishes and salads with green veggies as her dominant foods (beyond the stuff I mentioned I keep around), and the megadose of carbs she gets in school (sigh), is not unreasonable of me nor unhealthy for her.

2c: My first responsibility food-wise is to myself. It is not unfair to expect that I will not cook and distribute high-carb stuff to others. We do not make recovering alcoholics bartenders, and it would be ludicrous to assign one to 'pick up the beer' for the family barbecue. Obesity KILLS. While others act like it is some kind of social game, for me it could be life and death. My survival is more important to me than other peoples' hurt feelings. If they are not adult enough to understand the seriousness of this issue, they can get stuffed. The people most likely to make lowcarbing difficult are the same people who tend to have the most opinions about my being obese, ironically.

2d: If somebody living with me wants to have high-carb food, I understand perfectly. I also understand that we can have our own areas of the refrigerator, and they can learn to cook. If I had my cousin TJ, the body-builder's ability to stand around food and have zero interest in anything but Tuna and Water (around his competition times), then hey, no big deal, let me make you some mashed potatoes! But if I don't, then asking others around me to be responsible for _themselves_, instead of indirectly causing me grevious harm by expecting me to babysit their eating habits differently than my own, is ridiculous. (Note: also, eating MY reserved food is a crime. Period.) I realize that women, especially those over 35, often have trouble with this with their husbands. I divorced my husband and a small part of it was because he sabotaged my attempts to get healthier by doing LC. At first it's just health, but at some point you realize it is really life and death -- not just medically, but psychologically and socially. Pretty ironic that many people quite literally have to die for the one person they love enough to die for. 'Nuff said.

3. Cheese. If cheese were a god, it would be my religion. Too much melted invokes my 'texture-snob' nausea, but otherwise, I think I could go on a mostly-cheese diet and be happy. Alas, probably the thing in milk I respond to, affects me with cheese too, at least if I'm eating it in quantity. It sparked cravings (much more mild than milk, though).

3b. I was using cheese to 'drown' a variety of things for taste, instead of learning to really enjoy a piece of chicken or steak, without dumping a boatload of cheese and sour cream or whatever on top of it. Those things are nice, and it's fine to have them in a meal if you can, but again, they're playing into the same taste-game as high-carb stuff. The beauty of low carb is that it can teach your body to be sensitive to and appreciate the sugar in a ring of raw onion, in a thin slice of tomato, and the very thought of asparagus (which I hated till LC) can be downright orgasmic when you are craving something lighter than meat. By making everything with immense amounts of cheeses and creams and so forth, one almost misses the chance to really TASTE these foods.

4. Fake anything. I am tempted to rename my 'mock' everythings to something else. As long as I think of something as 'almost-like-pizza', I sort of miss real pizza, and notice what is not quite the same. If all LC recipes are stand-alone, they are just fine, even wonderful. I'm reminded of this health bar I used to visit where I would have carob 'Hercules Flips'. Now, if you were expecting it to taste like a chocolate shake, it would frankly be sickening. But once you accepted it as a 'carob hercules flip', you realized it had its own distinct taste like nothing else, and was wonderful. My point is that psychologically, I don't want to be The Pretender when it comes to food. I don't want to spend my life "almost" having pizza and "almost" having this or that. I am thrilled there are so many awesome LC-variants on dishes we're used to. But the "almost-somethings" make me feel deprived on some level. Either it's a low-carb food when made one way and it's "the same thing", or it's a different, UNIQUE food that low-carbers came up with, and it is its OWN thing. I know this sounds like stupid semantics, but my psychology is a big thing when it comes to sticking with LC, so I take such subtle things seriously.

PJ

This really is a great thread. My big newbie mistake was mustard. The brand I was using had 2 grams of carbs per teaspoon! I might just as well have rolled my hamburger around in granulated sugar. And, yes, I have switched my brand of mustard.
asugar

PJ,

I am utterly impressed by your words, as well as the choice thereof! Hats off to you!

My biggest mistakes are the cals, which, unfortunately I cannot have unlimited amounts of! Carbs can go as high as in the 40's so far, but the cals...oh my!
Don't be fooled! For most of us, the cals DO count just as much as the carbs!

Good luck all!!

Really! Tiggerlou, what are you eating that you are going too high in calories? Good heavens, I can almost never go high ENOUGH! -- at least, not without feasting on predominantly bacon and cheese all day. :-)

PJ

Years ago when I was in my 20's, I lost weight on the LC WOL successfully but did not stick with it. After "re-attempting" Atkins and gaining this February, here are my mistakes that I finally figured out.

NUMERO UNO!
**You cannot eat as much as you did 10 years ago and lose weight!
I was eating any amount of protein I wanted and was gaining. My 30 year old body cannot handle all the food that my 20-something body could. Limiting my daily calories to 800 has helped this. (After trial and error of 1200, 1000 then 800.)

Number 2:
**Get off the meds. (Talk to your doctor.)
I was on Prozec and a bp med that hindered my weight loss and even made me gain.

Number 3:
**Continue to drink water until you go to sleep.
I stopped drinking water after 4pm because I did not have a convenient water cooler at home. I increased my water intake after 6pm and found that it curbs munchie cravings at night.

After limiting my calories to 800, stopping my meds and increasing my water, I have lost about 5 pounds in a week (I recently had hit my highest weight of 229.).

Good luck!
Julie

P.S. I know some will debate the calorie issue, but I think it is whatever works for you and my doctor agrees with this amount of calories for me.

Eating lots of cheeses, meats, eggs...but I can put'em away!!! 2 eggs + butter, 1 serv. meat, 1 oz. cheese and the rest veggies is already almost 600!!! Add cream in the coffee( I know, I know...) There are my 2000+ cals!!! I do believe it is my workout regiments that cause this! Upped my carbs a lot (relatively seen) and that seems to do the trick. I don't seem to be as hungry all the time. But 800 cals are NOT ENOUGH!!! Think about it - a 'normal'(?) persons burns around 2000 cals a day, 1500 cals should be the guideline. I burn about 3000-3500 cals a day because of my workouts and activity level. Sticking with 2000-2500 cals a day. A daily 500 cal deficit will cause about 1 lb of fat loss per week, and it should NOT go faster than that! Speed does not measure succes in this 'game'! Be careful, guys....

I also eat about 2000 cals/day ... a 3 egg omlette with 1 oz cheese and some chopped ham for breakfast. a salad with ham or chicken and chopped bacon for lunch ... some pecans as a snack ... chicken or steak with broccoli or cauliflower and salad for dinner. Did I mention that I love to eat meat?

I workout at least 6 days a week for at least an hour a day ... according to fitday, I burn between 2600-3000 cals per day. I may not be losing as quickly as I'd like to (who is?), but I'm certainly not gaining!

Say if you were 5'4" and weighed 170 lbs., spent 12 hours a day sleeping and the other 12 sitting in meetings, your calorie requirements just for those to things would be this:

Basal:1526
Activities:381
Total: 1907

With those numbers in mind, I cannot help but reply that 800 calories is dangerous. 800 calories is near starvation. Your body knows it needs the calories and will definitely tell you. Any sustained length of time is damaging and a not sustained length of time keeps you on the diet yo-yo.

Karen

No coffee???? I switched over to decaf and it seems to be working out fine.