Hello,

In 1999, I did low-carb, and from June to October went from 280-220 lbs. So I know this WOE works for me. I was pretty happy with myself at 220, and from Oct to April of 2000 I didn't really stick with the diet, but I did try to eat sort of in-line with the lifestyle. With the exceptions of Christmas, and parties, etc...
In that 6 mo I only gained back about 5 lbs, which I thought was good, I could just re-do low-carb and maybe lose a few more. But at that time I left my nice stationary desk job, and got a job in the oil-field. I was on-call all of the time, highway drove anywhere from 4 to 8 hours a day, and living in various motel rooms from night to night, with a rare trip home to see my dogs.
In my nice desk job, I was drinking 3 litres of water a day, it was no problem to leave my desk 5-6 times a day and use the facilities. With the new job, it was impractical to take all of those stops, and when I am actually working rather than driving, it is >very< impractical. So water consumption was the first thing I waved goodbye to. For about 2 weeks, I was in a larger centre, living in a motel room, with a fridge and microwave, and although my menu was very limited, I was sort of able to stick with a low-carb lifestyle. But then with further travelling, no chance to stop anywhere and eat during the day, and staying in little towns at night with maybe one restaurant or none open late enough to feed me, my only choices were rushed meals, from gas stations, occasionally fast food, etc. In short (finally) I gave up trying to maintain any WOE.
Now it is over a year, I am back up to 265, (still lower than where I started though!) and I am tired of it all again. My situation hasn't changed all that much. Although I am spending considerably more time at home, and try to eat properly there, that lasts for a week or so, and then I can be called and have to drop everything and go for a few days.
Yesterday, I decided to stop with the excuses, and somehow try to make low-carb work again. I >like< low-carb. I enjoyed eating that way, and I know it works for me. So I tried to find a local support group, and an hour or so of Internet searches has not found me any, so maybe I'll try this online group. I would gladly welcome any advice anybody may have to contribute that would help me stick with this in my sort of unpredictable lifestyle.
I gave serious consideration yesterday to taking a couple weeks off and doing liposuction. Yech.
Anyway, this has turned into an endless ramble, and I apologize.

I'm Sean, 6', and 265 lbs. Please help.

Welcome aboard Sean,

You came to the right place, we're here with you, and I myself I'm in a similar situation

Wa'il

hi sean! welcome aboard! i'm glad that you found us! this is a wonderful site; very supportive and informative. it's very active too. sometimes i'm amazed at how fast i get a reply! seeing as you did so well lowcarbing before, i'm sure you'll bring lots of knowledge to our group! hope to hear more from you!

Thanks for your responses. I would be especially interested in talking with you further, tamarian, if you have a similar sort of on-the-road life, it might be really nice to pick your brain.

Hopefully some of my knowledge will be useful to people here. The main things I have that might help though, are to track not just weight loss but measurements..I just looked at that old spreadsheet for the first time in months...Seeing the 7" improvement on my waist, and the 5" improvement on my chest, I remember how those numbers took on way more significance to me than the poundage did at the time. Also, little memories, like being so much thinner that my gf at the time was looking for me in a store, and didn't even >recognize< me from behind...that stands out as one of the most positive memories of my life, when I knew I was making real progress. I can certainly assure people that the very few sacrifices required for a low-carb WOE are certainly worth it. My primary sacrifice was and will be again, milk. Pasta's hard, but I got over it. I never stopped missing milk though. I just need to learn to take the whole thing on the road.

I'm not really on the road as frequent as you are, I take long term contracts on location sometimes. The similarity is in size, and previous weight loss, and slow-regain and being back on track again.



This is another similarity, as I'm known here as the measurements preacher This may be a guy thing, it appears? Us care about dimensions, and the ladeis about the scale numbers?

There are plenty of ideas that might help on the road requiring little cooking. LC bread sandwitches, of cold cuts, or wrapped in lettuce. I'm sure others will provide better suggestions, but it's doable.

Wa'il

Welcome to the forum Sean! How sad to be away from your pup for long periods of time.

This is a tough one...

What I would do is get three coolers. One filled with ice packs and two for food. I would keep a stock of frozen, thaw and eat protein in my freezer at home - cooked sausages, beef patties, cooked chicken, steak etc. When I had to leave, I would pack the meat in a cooler with the frozen protein and a few ice packs.

In the other cooler I would keep vegetables - things like cucumbers, celery, radishes, some cleaned lettuce to eat initially, cauliflower etc. - and cheese, especially Parmesan which keeps quite well, and a bottle of salad dressing, in the second one with ice packs. These could be picked up while driving out of town.

Keep on replacing thawed ice packs with the frozen ones. I'm not sure, but I think most gas stations carry ice packs too, or at least ice. The protein would keep well because it's frozen.

This way, you could kind of supplement road food here and there with something a bit better.

I can't think of anything for the water, but if you're in certain parts of Alberta, there are very few bushes to pee behind!

So, think it would work?

Karen

The idea certainly has possibilities. Unfortunately I don't really care much for cold meats and vegetables, but it would at the least give me sustenance on the road, if not enjoyable variety.
And one thing I have found in the past is that, at least after induction, I can eat a reasonable amount of fruit without stalling out much (Don't try this at home kids). Plus I could also do hard-boiled eggs with the cooler scenario...the drawbacks I can see might be the possibility of finding ice at the times of day and the small towns I sometimes have to go through. If I'm unable to find a new supply of ice, I'd have a large quantity of spoiling food on my hands. Also, three coolers might be too space consuming for me, so I'd prolly have to use two...
Maybe I'll go to Wal-Mart later today and see what the cooler and ice-pack situation is like.

Thanks a lot for your input!

Sean

"Man's brain, enlarged fortuitously, invented words in an ambitious attempt to learn how to think, only to have them usurped by his emotions. But we still try."
--Rex Stout

Coleman makes a neat little one-burner cooker attached to a camping gas cylinder. It comes in quite a small box and could be used for roadside food prep at any time (I actually made an entire meal with one pot and a steamer - steamed the veggies and the fish in tinfoil, worked beautifully). One of those and a good skillet might help (for those juicy steaks in Alberta...).

As for the water (in/out), hope this is not too much, but men are soooo lucky, they can actually get by with a large cup if stuck in a car for long periods of time.

(Or is that too much for ya to wrap your mind around? I've seen my dh do it in a pinch, and I'm always so envious!) Good luck!

The stove is a good idea, for someone who can actually cook. Unfortunately I, being a very stereotypical bachelor-type, rarely even use my household stove. Most everything I make on low-carb is done in the microwave, except eggs. My truck is outfitted with an inverter, so I can use electrical appliances while I'm driving if I have to...I've considered getting a little microwave and fridge, but the space constraints and general awkwardness of it have held me back.

As it is, I just went and purchased a cooler etc...unfortunately, I'm greedy, and won't fill it with food until I am actually out of town...if I buy food at home, I pay for it, if I buy food elsewhere, the company does.

As for the cup scenario.......even were I willing to try it, I'd be worried about spillage if the truck was moving, and the constant stopping is what I am trying to avoid.

Of course, the coleman stove is still a really good idea. If anyone were willing to come and teach me to cook things on it, I would be ever-so-grateful.

Sean

Well, everyone's already given you some terrific ideas.

One thing you could try are the lowcarb protein shake mixes, like isolated whey protein. ProLab and Interactive are good ... you could just take a Rubbermaid type container with a lid ... add water and the powder, put the lid on, shake it up and there you go. The better quality whey shakes dissolve readily ... some of the cheaper ones, and soy especially tend to clump. Some brands actually come in single serving foil pouches, yes a little more expensive, but you could buy a variety of flavours so that you're not having the same every time.

Another member in Ontario posted that she found the following in Walmart ... maybe you might be able to get it also in Edmonton.
Hope this helps, and keep us posted of your lowcarbing success!

Doreen

Hey Sean; it should be easy for you to eat on the road. Your in beef country. I am from Calgary originally. I know it is very hard when you are on the road. My brother is a petroleum engineer and travels nonstop and he has really packed on the weight in the past couple of years. Sure miss that beef........:

Hiya,

doreen - The first time I started this WOE, I optimistically tried some of those little powered shake packets. I found them so unutterably repulsive, that I never wanted to repeat the experience. But I suspect it quite likely that that was just the brand (which I wish I could recall now, after 2 years...) so I'll be willing to try the others you recommended. I suspect if I want this to really work onna road, I am going to be needing shakes and bars occasionally.

shelley - Yes, I am in beef country, and there are few things I like more than some tasty cow to perk up my day. Sadly, although I pass many of these wonderful sources of sustenance on a daily basis, they get really skittish when they see me leave the truck with my fork.

Hey Sean! I know just the thing you need so you can keep on drinking that water. My brother in law is a truck driver and he keeps one in his truck all the time. He says it has saved him lots of time and trouble.

http://www.kcup.com/cgi-local/shop....ID=645710297072

Good luck

Erm...wow...that's quite a unit.....it certainly seems to be what I need. Now I just need a place to hide it when it's not in use.

This thread is getting SO interesting! Can we get this man some space food to go with the unit?

OK, your travelling kit should have the little burner, the cooler, a cast iron skillet, some poking/turning utensils, a small cookpot with a lid, a knife/fork/spoon and paper plates. You can also use plastic cutlery and cups to minimise washing up. A metal coffee pot or small kettle for tea and hot water. Extra propane canisters. Small plastic tablecloth if you'll be dining at rest stops, to cover the picnic table. PAPER TOWELS ARE VERY IMPORTANT ALSO.

Does anyone have step by step instructions for frying steak? I'll try, here goes:

1. light stove (carefully!)
2. place skillet on flame
3. put enough oil or butter in there to coat the bottom nicely
4. place steak in pan and jiggle around a bit
5. when it starts to sizzle, turn it over
6. repeat step 5 until done
7. remove skillet from flame
8. extinguish stove
9. place steak (hopefully cooked now) onto plate
10. enjoy steak!

If you want fried onions and/or mushrooms with that, cut up a fresh onion and/or mushrooms (you need a knife to do this) and sizzle it in the oil or butter before you put in the steak. Wait till the onion bits are brown and getting a bit crispy. Then throw the steak in with the onion bits and smoosh it all around and turn it repeatedly every couple of minutes until cooked. This will give the steak a nice oniony flavour.

Also try some finely chopped garlic if you like garlic. Take some tinned stringbeans or mushrooms along - they're good in a pinch if you can't find fresh produce to make salads with. Just dump them in the little pot and put them on the stove, keep an eye on them, they warm up fast. When they're hot, drain off the liquid and eat with the meat.

You can also cut up the steak into strips and do it like a stirfry. This will make the meat cook a lot more quickly and will absorb the flavours better.

(Goodness me, I gave up beef in 1983, but this is making me very hungry for some cow!)

Try it out before you leave home so you get the hang of it, do it outside so you don't burn down the house. On the road you can have tailgate dinners. Out on the prairie, with your coffee warming in a pot on your coleman flame. You'll be like a cowboy out on the open range.

After dinner, if you've been clever and used paper plates, there won't be anything to wash but the skillet. Cast iron can just be wiped down, as it likes to have a patina to keep it from rusting. When we used to go camping my mom would just rinse it in a creek and scrub it with a little sand. (Although this was long before the days of high coliform counts, so you might want to just use some warm water and a scrubber when you get to the motel or a rest stop).