Good morning,

Glad to see everyone so chipper this early in am. Ok, I will try to anwers your questions now:

Schwarz: 1. I am doing the curves method on my own.
2. I don't really notice a whole lot of difference. I really want to lean toward the atkins method but didn't have much luck with the induction so I tried the curves method & found that I lost more my first week with that. I think that I read you could go longer than 2 wks with phase one. But I will probably add more cal now. I would like to stay 20 - 30 carbs aday till at least after thanksgiving. (I know I will be cheating on that day)
3. I really found that I could follow the plan well, no I wasn't crabby. I was tired alot by the end of the day. But other than that I feel fine.
4. I did not do the carbie things. I just picked things from each one of the days & did my own thing. I don't even think that I did 1200 cals the first few days. Tried keeping track on fitday. ( Do any of you use that?)
5. No I don't do shakes and I only take my one a day vitamins.
6. Yes, I have lost 7 lbs in all.

Amy: So far I have not been too hungry. I now have a bad cold so that is probably helping with the appetitie.

It is great to have this thread. I think having support from other people (most of the time you don't get it from family members.) is great. Actually my husband is very supportive because he is on the atkins plan. And of course he has lost a whole lot more than me, men always do. He has lost 16 lbs in 2 wks.

I did have a craving for chocolate so went & got some bars made with splenda, ate 1/2 a day. I found a recipe on this forum for chocolate that is easy. will let you know how it turns out. Going to make it today.

Well, everyone have a great day & will check back in later. TTFN

Sorry, guys!!! It's one of those uncontrolable urges that overtakes me at times. I've been called the Queen-of-Questions by my friends from time to time when I forget to control myself ...I'll try hard to hold back in the future.

Bonnie: Thanx for bearing with me & taking the time to answer my questions. Your answers will be a great guideline for me as I try to balance things out in my head.

Amy: I liked your questions (ha...I love questions) & plan to ask them at my gym this week. I would have asked tomorrow, but alas ...crisis has just hit my family today so I don't know what's in store for me this week re: when / how often I'll get out to Curves. But, when I get there, I'll ask those questions as well as the following:

4.How much does it cost to join the weight loss program? What’s involved? Am I allowed to go to one first before I decide I want to register? Could I get in touch with a couple of women doing this program just to see what they think of it & how they are doing?

5. Do you sell supplements as mentioned in the book? How much do they cost? I'll pass on answers to you as soon as I have some answers.

Anyway, I have to go for now. Talk later!

Hey, Schwarz, hope everything is ok. If you need anything let me know...(you have my e-mail, I think)

Well, I didn't get any answers to my questions this morning. The lady working said she thought that as long as you were on the lower carb plan, you didn't need to worry about the fat and protein amounts. I'm going to call back later today, after her shift to see if I can find someone who knows more about it. She also said that is the only book they have.

I couldn't ask any more questions because I had to get home to take my Thai exchange student to school. My daughter is still feeling lousy from her wisdom teeth episode Friday. I sure hope Curves decides to open at 6:00. They were asking for names of people who would come in if they did. I think they had quite a list.

I tried to really work it this morning. The book says the faster you go, the better the workout.

See ya later,

Amy

It's day 1 of my new approach to getting rid of the over-abundant me. It's just past 2 pm and I can't seem to feel filled up. I've downed approx 60 oz of water to help fill the 'gap'. I've eaten approx 831 cals - 12g carbs - 15g fat so far. Am I going to make it through today? sigh!

I got out to Curves this morning & tried to give myself a decent workout. I also asked a couple of questions on our list. I found out:
1) Curves cannot sell any of the supplements mentioned in the book in Canada. The Canadian gov't has not approved them as of yet, therefore, it's up to you to find whatever supplements you want to take.
2) It does not cost anything extra to do the dieting program (in our area anyway). We don't have once-a-month or once-a-anything meetings. If we have questions, need support, want to talk, etc ...we just do it while we visit the gym. Also, our Curves manager hadn't heard of the book The Sweet Joy of Sugar Free Living either.

Eventually I hope to get the rest of our questions out to her.

Amy - Yea everything will be OK ...eventually. I'm fine ...just somewhat heartbroken. It's just one of those 'refining' times that parents must endure while trying to parent teens who are intoxicated with hormones.

I've decided not to worry about the fat grams. Just the carbs, and then keeping calories around 1500, only because I'm reasonably sure that if I go higher I won't lose. I see your not eating very many fat grams. Maybe you need to up them a bit. Are you in ketosis? That will help kill the appetite a bit when you get there. It does seem counter-productive to limit fat when you are also limiting carbs. I didn't feel very good when I was trying to, either.

Isn't that amazing that the lady hadn't heard of Heavin's other book? Obviously she hasn't read the one she is selling! Same deal here. Guess we're going to have to forge our own way!

Say no more, about the teenager issues. I have 2 daughters, 20 & 17. Love them dearly, and mostly I haven't had too many problems which I count my blessings for, but I DO know what you are talking about! This too shall pass. Just take care of yourself and do something nice and extra special for YOU!

See ya,
Amy

I'm just tallying up my numbers using this handy carb counter that I printed off the internet (if you're interested in printing one out for yourself, see: http://www.locarbliving.com/ccounter.html ). I wasn't so sure how I'd fair since I was so hungry this afternoon. But it's around 9:30 & miraculously I've kept my fingers "out of the pot". I've eaten 14g Carbs, about 33g fats and 1160 calories. I've also taken in over 80 oz water. Hmm....I think I can sneak in a little snack before going to bed. This ham I bought only has 95 cals / .1g carb / 3 gr fat for 100 grams of meat. Not bad.

Am I in ketosis? Can anyone be in ketosis on the first day? I don't know if I am, but in a couple days I'll know for sure ...my breath always gives me away

How did all you other HF'ers fair with your eating today? Was it difficult for you? Since I had really slipped off the wagon with my eating, I'm just needing to get my body readjusted to sensible eating again. I'm hoping tomorrow will go a little easier for me.

No wonder you were hungry! Do you think you are eating enough? Don't get sick on us, now.

I was hungry late yesterday and last night. I'm going to up my calories to 1600 today and see what happens. I think being hungry is not good for the metabolism. I don't want to screw myself up. With the exercise, I may need more calories than I did.

Geez, did I have a bad night or what? Ketosis always disturbs my sleep. I was going to go to Curves this am, but with so little sleep I decided to wait until tomorrow as planned. I also had leg cramping which is very unusual for me. I got up & took 2 Potassium pills. It's ok now. I also have a dry mouth all night. I'll try to drink more water today, and make sure I get my potassium.

How are you silent ones doing??

Amy

So that's why my sleep is so odd lately...from ketosis....makes sense normally I sleep like a rock and am very tired when it's bedtime, now it's like I am not very tired and I am up before the alarm clock..I thought it was because I was anxious to weigh myself and check my results...LOL I had about 35g carbs yesterday and it's almost TOM and I tend to bloat so I have picked up like 3 lbs....I also read somewhere on these boards that for every carb you eat, it attracts 4g of water...very interesting. I am not giving up !!!!

Well, I did increase my calorie intake yesterday.

Cal 1648
Fat 144
Carb 23
Prot 67

Did a little more than I wanted to.

Schwarz: It does get easier. Have you tried celery with peanut butter or creamed cheese. That seems to help me when I get the munchies.

Does anyone else use Fitday.com to record their daily food intake?

I use Fitday !!!! I wish I knew how to post a link to my fitday journal...I have seen people do it but I havent a clue...

Mjsturg1,

Go to your fitday home page. Down at the bottom there is a button that says "Make my journal public" then there will be a link that you copy & paste to your messages. This will let other people see your journal.

Have a great day

I put the link as my signature so it comes up everytime I post...
Hope it works...

(I sure hate these little pop-ups that come on my screen every time I read this thread. Do you guys get them too ...little advertisements trying to sell diet pills, etc? They drive me crazy!!)

...I say survived because it was a tough day to get through. The problem was not so much diet related ...it was everything else that accompanied it.

I woke up this morning with a 'hang-over' ...not a real one, I just had one of my deadly migraine headaches. But the challenge added to the whole situation was that I had to refrain from eating until I got some blood work done, and since my migraine meds require that I take it with food, I had to wait until after I finished at the lab before I could take my meds. Boy!!! Did I ever feel rotten

Anyway, I made it through my day with 20g carbs, about 40g fats, & 1500 calories. Except for my headache still pestering me, I'm feeling OK (hunger-wise). I even got my 1 hour walk in this morning.

There's something I still don't get ...this whole thing re:low fat vs low carb. As I was about to eat my grilled chicken ceasar salad, I had to make a choice of low-fat or regular dressing. Atkins promotes regular dressing because it hardly has any carbs (less than 1 carb / Tbsp), yet, if I go low fat, we're looking at anywhere from 6 - 10 carbs / Tbsp. Since carbs are supposed to be the 'fuel of choice' for the body (according to Atkins & other LC promoters), isn't it better to make the body have to 'work harder' to get it's fuel by feeding it fats rather than the carbs? (Am I getting too philosophical here?)

Anyway, I still have to get a bit more water in for the day then I'm off to bed early. I gotta rid myself of this nuisance of a headache. Good night!

Don't stress on fat just the carbs....fat free=high carbs so you should just use the regular stuff and it taste better too!! There are some links on the other boards about low fat vs. low carb..you cant do both...fat is not the enemy....

I think that Heavin's book is too vague. I spoke with a lady this morning who has been to the eating plan meetings. She said 'low-fat' meant making 'wiser' choices where meat was concerned, like turkey over rib-eye. (I'm not convinced, as I sit here and read Eat Fat Get Thin!) Besides, one of the leaflets they offer is on how to reduce your cholesterol levels, and guess what. It says to lower dietary cholesterol and fat. Now, probably you and I and everyone who has a carb problem and has done any research knows that what they suggest is not the solution. Lower carb is. So, my point is, they are still in the old school. Maybe afraid to step into the new millenium for stigma reasons.

I always use full-fat products for taste! They put so much junk in the lower fat versions. The only one I can tolerate is Miracle Whip Lite. I really can't tell the difference there.

Hope you are feeling better today, Schwarz, we're rootin' for ya!

Amy