BobGamacho
Tue, Aug-03-04, 16:21
Greetings all,
First post here in the forums, and to be honest, have not read much so far. My wife is somewhere out there and has posted before, but nothing for me. So, here goes with my story for those interested in reading farther...
Rob is the name, I'm from Arizona, 37 years old, and have been on the low carb diet for a month. Started the diet at 240 pounds, am down to 234. I went on the diet because I do the cooking at home, and with my wife on low carb for about a month at the time, I got tired of cooking two different meals a night. So, I threw my hat in the ring and went on it, too. I told her I'd give it a shot for a month because she seemed to drop pounds every time that she sneezed while on this diet.
To say that I'm disenheartened with the diet up to this point is putting my feelings mildly. I am so tired of meat that I'm getting sick of it. Having cooked for quite awhile, modifying what I had to eat and knowing portion sizes was no big deal to me. I did the induction diet without a hitch except for the first day when I popped a few mints in my mouth after smoking. Found some "no sugar carbs" mints, and have been fine since then. I know I did not go over the 20 carbs the first 2 weeks, anbd I don't think there has been a day within the last 2 weeks that I have gone over 25 grams of carbs.
With the background set, here are my thought on this diet so far. Consider this your warning that I'm going to be very sarcastic, cynical, and bitter from here on out, so if you'd prefer not to read any further or don't like reading that kind of vibe, it's probably best that you stop reading here.
I have pretty much lost all interest in cooking except BBQing outside. I am so incredibly limited with this diet in what can go in the pot and then into my body. I look around for recipes, and it seems that with the exception of a quiche that uses ground beef as the "crust", that I can't make any recipe out there without having to run to the store for something like soy flour or unsweetened catsup. This diet is not conducive to everyday pantries because of the no sugar thing.
There is very little variation in what you can eat with a low carb diet. Sure, I can have pork chops with a runny sauce one night and chicken the next night, and a bowlful of cheese the next night and then I can snack on pork rinds one afternoon and then splurge for "Hot and Spicy" pork rinds the next day, but the variation is small on a daily basis. I've had so many eggs over the last month that I'm growing feathers under my arms. To me, the cooking aspect of this diet is crummy because there are a few basic ingredients every night: meat, cheese, eggs, pork rinds. The bottom line is that from a cooking standpoint, I'm bored with eating the same things every night.
So far, I've lost 6 pounds in a month. I've resisted the sweets that torment me every day and stayed away from the breads and pastas that make me drool. I'm not sure where I read it, but whomever said that one would lose cravings for pastas and sweets after 2 weeks on this diet was out of their mind. My craving for ice cream is driving me nuts, and while I have tried some of the low carb ice cream, I don't dare deviate from what I have been eating because of the possibility of not losing or gaining weight. I have to face it: If I have pretty much stuck to the induction diet and have lost 1-2 pounds per week, what's going to happen if I up my carb count to 30 grams a day, or even 40! I speculate that I will no longer lose weight and will probably gain. At that point, why stay on the diet?
Now, reading back, I don't want to downplay losing 6 pounds. That's great, and I'm losing it at a healthy pace. I think it comes down to that I expected more, especially when going on a wacky meat and cheese diet that I've heard works like a miracle if you stay on the induction portion for more than 2 weeks. If I'm now measuring everything I'm eating down to the 4 black olives I allow myself as a luxury with my salad for lunch, can I not lose as much on pretty much any diet? Isn't dieting not only about what you eat but also portion control? I'm thinking that maybe the low carb diet isn't for me, but rather something like the dreaded Weight Watchers-type of diet would probably be more to my liking because I am allowed to eat what I used to, but in smaller portions. It's something for me to think about.
Next, I'm wondering where I read or heard that i would get full faster on the low carb diet. Might have been a dream of mine because it's just not happening to me. I'm still eating at the same times I used to, but I am by no means eating any less. And, after this past weekend when we stayed in a hotel and had to order from a restaurant, I found that I ordered two entrees because one isn't enough once you get rid of the starches. After licking the styrofoam container or every last bit of flavor, I realized that I'm probably eating more than I did before. What I thought would fill me up after a few bites ain't happening. And, I find myself getting mad at the diet because I can't have the stupid bun with my burger, or I can't have thousand island dressing on my salad, or etc...
And then there is the case of ordering out. Atkins' first book exclaimed how easy it was to eat out. I don't have the book in front of me to quote, but somewhere in there he said it was the easiest of all diets to have when eating out. In an effort to keep my language here clean, I can only say that it is not true, and believe me, it took a lot of self control to just type those words out and not a whole lot more. In what restaurant is this an easy diet to have? There are some that now have low carb menus, and with the exception of a few Red Lobster commercials I've seen on TV, it seems that the carb counts on the low carb menus are pretty darned high compared to what is allowed on this diet.
Now, before I harp on this idea anymore, my definition of "easy" in restaurant terms has to be defined. "Easy" to me is ordering something off of the menu as it stands with very minor modifications, such as a modification to a condiment. Easy is not ordering a burger, then asking for it with no bun, no fries, no catsup, and a side of mayo and mustard. Easy might be ordering a cobb salad and asking for the chicken to be broiled, not breaded and deep fried. To me, it's not easy to go into a restaurant, eliminate 3/4 of the menu that you can't have because of sugars, breads, etc, then choosing the lesser of two evils left on your menu, then placing your order so that all you end up with on your plate is meat, lettuce, and cheese, then having to ask the waiter if the creamy dressing includes sugars, then choosing Ranch (again!) because the yummy dressing that was designed to go with your entree has sugar added to it. To me, that's not easy, and is exactly what happened to me this past weekend.
This thought process now leads into drinks, and this is almost as complicated as ordering dinner at a restaurant. Starting off the most basic no-no, no caffeine. So, I'm not allowed a cup of coffee in the morning or afternoon because it not only has caffeine, but also has the side effect of each cup having 1 carb in it. So, next best thing are sodas. Eliminate 1/2 of the sodas made in this world because they have sugar in them. Next, get rid of (I'm guessing at this number) 3/4ths of the remaining sodas because they have caffeine. That leaves you with caffein free diet cola, root beer, lemon lime, Diet Rite, and other sodas out there that fit this category. My favorite, BTW, and I'm not being angry or sarcastic, is Diet Barqs root beer. It's the closest thing my tastes buds have found to a sugared soda.
Now, with the elimination of pep-me-up drinks, what does one drink in the morning, afternoon, or evening if they have a 5 hour drive ahead of them, or just ate lunch and are lethargic, or just can't get out of bed in the morning? I don't have an answer for this and , in my opinion, one of the largest drawbacks of this diet. Now, I do understand that no caffeine is allowed during induction and that some is allowed afterwards, but for someone who is not losing quickly and is still doing induction for fear of having one too many carbs and gaining weight, I don't see al alternative.
The last thing I'll type about is what I consider the biggest drawback of this diet: snacking. I have had so many pork rinds that the top part of me is turning into a chicken and the bottom part of me a boar. I'm sick of opening a bag and smelling dog food. I'm tired of pretending that they are croutons in my salad. And, if they can have hot and spicy pork rinds, why not other flavors? I tried this once in the oven, spraying a cookie sheet full of these beasts with Pam, sprinkling garlic powder on 1/2 of them, butter buds on the other half, and baked them for about 10 minutes; they tasted the same as they did before they went into the oven. So, after the first 4 days of the diet and having PRs for my snack, I had to have something else. We tried parmesan chips in the oven, and they were good, but saltier than my tears and rubburier than the BF Goodrich's I have on my car. String cheese? That's a pretty good alternative. Lettuce? Not a bad choice while making dinner, but inconvenient at about any other time of day as a snack. Celery? Pretty darned good when it comes to carb counts, and tasty with peanut butter, except that the peanut butter I have has a bunch of sugar in it. Natural peanut butter is a possibility, but I don't know what the carb count on that is. I'll venture a guess that if a 1/2 cup of shelled peanuts have 6 grams of carbs, a tablespoon of natural peanut butter would have about the same. Two tablespoons of beanut butter and a good handfull of celery then has as many carbs as my dinner does, and more than my lunch, and sudenly I'm over my counts for the day. Other vegetable to snack on? Get rid of the carrots, too many sugars. Brocolli? This one has me totally confused. I'm heard that this is one of the best vegetablkes for you, and one that you can have for induction and during the rest of the diet, but when I check carb counts, they are high, meaning about a 1/2 cup is 6 grams, and a 1/2 cup of broccoli isn't much unless it's been put through the grinder and produced as a liquid.
So, I'm at work, it's 11:00am, I'm a little hungry. The options are very few to get me to lunch unless I want snack on a Slim Jim, and even that has 3 grams of carbs for a 1/2 ounce piece. This, to me is the weakest point of this diet.
If you've gotten this far, you probably think I'm a totally bitter person who hates the world and is never satisfied. I'm the guy who, no matter the subject, would chime in as the Cliff Clavin of the lunch table, only more cynical. I'm the one who would use any excuse to bitch and moan about anything just for the attention.
Sure I'm that guy! Well, I'm not as smart as Cliff, I whine more than I complain, and I'm one to give compliments and tell the good side of a story as much as the bad side. With that said, here are the good points I have found so far:
I can dip sausages in caeser dressing and scarf them down like a sophisiticated savage.
Well, that's it for my rant and introduction. Thanks for listening and.... oh wait! I'm really not that bitter of a person. I'll continue with the positive parts now:
Energy level: As predicted in Atkins' first book, about the 3rd day, I got a boost of energy. I wasn't expecting it, and was ready to whine and complain but it hit me and was a nice experience. My lethargy went away, and instead of sitting on the couch watching TV at night, I suddenly found myself cleaning parts of the house, lighting the charcoal BBQ instead of the gas grill, doing little projects I had put off because I was too tired to do them before. It was actually quite amazing. Instead of saying pass this or hand me this, I was getting off my butt and getting them myself. One Saturday, I cleaned and rearranged our back smoking room because I realized we hadn't done a thorough cleaning in some time and it was looking kind of messy. I even (gasp!) washed the car one Saturday morning, something I never, ever do.
So, the first positive aspect of this diet was the gain of energy.
Second is kind of a side effect, or in this case, a lack of side effect. My gas level has gone way down. Yes, I fart less than I used to. Well, except for those weekend nights when I put garlic in the dinner. That still triggers me, but overall, I don't have nearly as bad of gas as I used to.
The third thing is the I've noticed that during the day, I don't sweat even close to what I used to. I still get the night sweats, but I no longer get the pit sweats at work like I used to. I don't know what to attribute that to, but it's something I have observed.
Next is that I can dunk my sausages in caeser dressing. I don't actually do that, but I could if I wanted to. In reality, I love sausages, and this is the only diet that allows that one particular food in more than moderations. That by itself doesn't make up for all that I can't eat, but it is at least a pond of positive in a sea of negatives.
Well, I think that's enough for my first post. I'm exhausted just from writing all of this. If I had to summarize this whole thing up, from day 1 to day 28, the best thing I can say is that every diet is not for every person. For my wife, it's perfect for her and I see her sticking with it for a long time. For me, I'll probably go another month and then re-evaluate everything. We have a trip coming up at the end of this month, and I'll have to see how I feel after we get back. But, I just don't see me lasting much longer on this diet. I see the weight loss on the scale, but with those numbers, I'm thinking any diet would work if I'm willing to follow the rules and measure what I eat.
I will finish my entry with this: I wrote this because my wife encouraged me to read this forum. The opening screen says it would be nice to introduce yourself, so I did. I'm not looking for any net fights nor any hate responses, thus the caveat at the beginning of my post. Certain things have been on my mind from day one, and I wanted to put them down in case others felt the same way but didn't know how or want to express them here, not that i would ever claim to speak for other people, though.
Comments on what I write are always welcome. Responses that attack me personally will be ignored.
Rob
First post here in the forums, and to be honest, have not read much so far. My wife is somewhere out there and has posted before, but nothing for me. So, here goes with my story for those interested in reading farther...
Rob is the name, I'm from Arizona, 37 years old, and have been on the low carb diet for a month. Started the diet at 240 pounds, am down to 234. I went on the diet because I do the cooking at home, and with my wife on low carb for about a month at the time, I got tired of cooking two different meals a night. So, I threw my hat in the ring and went on it, too. I told her I'd give it a shot for a month because she seemed to drop pounds every time that she sneezed while on this diet.
To say that I'm disenheartened with the diet up to this point is putting my feelings mildly. I am so tired of meat that I'm getting sick of it. Having cooked for quite awhile, modifying what I had to eat and knowing portion sizes was no big deal to me. I did the induction diet without a hitch except for the first day when I popped a few mints in my mouth after smoking. Found some "no sugar carbs" mints, and have been fine since then. I know I did not go over the 20 carbs the first 2 weeks, anbd I don't think there has been a day within the last 2 weeks that I have gone over 25 grams of carbs.
With the background set, here are my thought on this diet so far. Consider this your warning that I'm going to be very sarcastic, cynical, and bitter from here on out, so if you'd prefer not to read any further or don't like reading that kind of vibe, it's probably best that you stop reading here.
I have pretty much lost all interest in cooking except BBQing outside. I am so incredibly limited with this diet in what can go in the pot and then into my body. I look around for recipes, and it seems that with the exception of a quiche that uses ground beef as the "crust", that I can't make any recipe out there without having to run to the store for something like soy flour or unsweetened catsup. This diet is not conducive to everyday pantries because of the no sugar thing.
There is very little variation in what you can eat with a low carb diet. Sure, I can have pork chops with a runny sauce one night and chicken the next night, and a bowlful of cheese the next night and then I can snack on pork rinds one afternoon and then splurge for "Hot and Spicy" pork rinds the next day, but the variation is small on a daily basis. I've had so many eggs over the last month that I'm growing feathers under my arms. To me, the cooking aspect of this diet is crummy because there are a few basic ingredients every night: meat, cheese, eggs, pork rinds. The bottom line is that from a cooking standpoint, I'm bored with eating the same things every night.
So far, I've lost 6 pounds in a month. I've resisted the sweets that torment me every day and stayed away from the breads and pastas that make me drool. I'm not sure where I read it, but whomever said that one would lose cravings for pastas and sweets after 2 weeks on this diet was out of their mind. My craving for ice cream is driving me nuts, and while I have tried some of the low carb ice cream, I don't dare deviate from what I have been eating because of the possibility of not losing or gaining weight. I have to face it: If I have pretty much stuck to the induction diet and have lost 1-2 pounds per week, what's going to happen if I up my carb count to 30 grams a day, or even 40! I speculate that I will no longer lose weight and will probably gain. At that point, why stay on the diet?
Now, reading back, I don't want to downplay losing 6 pounds. That's great, and I'm losing it at a healthy pace. I think it comes down to that I expected more, especially when going on a wacky meat and cheese diet that I've heard works like a miracle if you stay on the induction portion for more than 2 weeks. If I'm now measuring everything I'm eating down to the 4 black olives I allow myself as a luxury with my salad for lunch, can I not lose as much on pretty much any diet? Isn't dieting not only about what you eat but also portion control? I'm thinking that maybe the low carb diet isn't for me, but rather something like the dreaded Weight Watchers-type of diet would probably be more to my liking because I am allowed to eat what I used to, but in smaller portions. It's something for me to think about.
Next, I'm wondering where I read or heard that i would get full faster on the low carb diet. Might have been a dream of mine because it's just not happening to me. I'm still eating at the same times I used to, but I am by no means eating any less. And, after this past weekend when we stayed in a hotel and had to order from a restaurant, I found that I ordered two entrees because one isn't enough once you get rid of the starches. After licking the styrofoam container or every last bit of flavor, I realized that I'm probably eating more than I did before. What I thought would fill me up after a few bites ain't happening. And, I find myself getting mad at the diet because I can't have the stupid bun with my burger, or I can't have thousand island dressing on my salad, or etc...
And then there is the case of ordering out. Atkins' first book exclaimed how easy it was to eat out. I don't have the book in front of me to quote, but somewhere in there he said it was the easiest of all diets to have when eating out. In an effort to keep my language here clean, I can only say that it is not true, and believe me, it took a lot of self control to just type those words out and not a whole lot more. In what restaurant is this an easy diet to have? There are some that now have low carb menus, and with the exception of a few Red Lobster commercials I've seen on TV, it seems that the carb counts on the low carb menus are pretty darned high compared to what is allowed on this diet.
Now, before I harp on this idea anymore, my definition of "easy" in restaurant terms has to be defined. "Easy" to me is ordering something off of the menu as it stands with very minor modifications, such as a modification to a condiment. Easy is not ordering a burger, then asking for it with no bun, no fries, no catsup, and a side of mayo and mustard. Easy might be ordering a cobb salad and asking for the chicken to be broiled, not breaded and deep fried. To me, it's not easy to go into a restaurant, eliminate 3/4 of the menu that you can't have because of sugars, breads, etc, then choosing the lesser of two evils left on your menu, then placing your order so that all you end up with on your plate is meat, lettuce, and cheese, then having to ask the waiter if the creamy dressing includes sugars, then choosing Ranch (again!) because the yummy dressing that was designed to go with your entree has sugar added to it. To me, that's not easy, and is exactly what happened to me this past weekend.
This thought process now leads into drinks, and this is almost as complicated as ordering dinner at a restaurant. Starting off the most basic no-no, no caffeine. So, I'm not allowed a cup of coffee in the morning or afternoon because it not only has caffeine, but also has the side effect of each cup having 1 carb in it. So, next best thing are sodas. Eliminate 1/2 of the sodas made in this world because they have sugar in them. Next, get rid of (I'm guessing at this number) 3/4ths of the remaining sodas because they have caffeine. That leaves you with caffein free diet cola, root beer, lemon lime, Diet Rite, and other sodas out there that fit this category. My favorite, BTW, and I'm not being angry or sarcastic, is Diet Barqs root beer. It's the closest thing my tastes buds have found to a sugared soda.
Now, with the elimination of pep-me-up drinks, what does one drink in the morning, afternoon, or evening if they have a 5 hour drive ahead of them, or just ate lunch and are lethargic, or just can't get out of bed in the morning? I don't have an answer for this and , in my opinion, one of the largest drawbacks of this diet. Now, I do understand that no caffeine is allowed during induction and that some is allowed afterwards, but for someone who is not losing quickly and is still doing induction for fear of having one too many carbs and gaining weight, I don't see al alternative.
The last thing I'll type about is what I consider the biggest drawback of this diet: snacking. I have had so many pork rinds that the top part of me is turning into a chicken and the bottom part of me a boar. I'm sick of opening a bag and smelling dog food. I'm tired of pretending that they are croutons in my salad. And, if they can have hot and spicy pork rinds, why not other flavors? I tried this once in the oven, spraying a cookie sheet full of these beasts with Pam, sprinkling garlic powder on 1/2 of them, butter buds on the other half, and baked them for about 10 minutes; they tasted the same as they did before they went into the oven. So, after the first 4 days of the diet and having PRs for my snack, I had to have something else. We tried parmesan chips in the oven, and they were good, but saltier than my tears and rubburier than the BF Goodrich's I have on my car. String cheese? That's a pretty good alternative. Lettuce? Not a bad choice while making dinner, but inconvenient at about any other time of day as a snack. Celery? Pretty darned good when it comes to carb counts, and tasty with peanut butter, except that the peanut butter I have has a bunch of sugar in it. Natural peanut butter is a possibility, but I don't know what the carb count on that is. I'll venture a guess that if a 1/2 cup of shelled peanuts have 6 grams of carbs, a tablespoon of natural peanut butter would have about the same. Two tablespoons of beanut butter and a good handfull of celery then has as many carbs as my dinner does, and more than my lunch, and sudenly I'm over my counts for the day. Other vegetable to snack on? Get rid of the carrots, too many sugars. Brocolli? This one has me totally confused. I'm heard that this is one of the best vegetablkes for you, and one that you can have for induction and during the rest of the diet, but when I check carb counts, they are high, meaning about a 1/2 cup is 6 grams, and a 1/2 cup of broccoli isn't much unless it's been put through the grinder and produced as a liquid.
So, I'm at work, it's 11:00am, I'm a little hungry. The options are very few to get me to lunch unless I want snack on a Slim Jim, and even that has 3 grams of carbs for a 1/2 ounce piece. This, to me is the weakest point of this diet.
If you've gotten this far, you probably think I'm a totally bitter person who hates the world and is never satisfied. I'm the guy who, no matter the subject, would chime in as the Cliff Clavin of the lunch table, only more cynical. I'm the one who would use any excuse to bitch and moan about anything just for the attention.
Sure I'm that guy! Well, I'm not as smart as Cliff, I whine more than I complain, and I'm one to give compliments and tell the good side of a story as much as the bad side. With that said, here are the good points I have found so far:
I can dip sausages in caeser dressing and scarf them down like a sophisiticated savage.
Well, that's it for my rant and introduction. Thanks for listening and.... oh wait! I'm really not that bitter of a person. I'll continue with the positive parts now:
Energy level: As predicted in Atkins' first book, about the 3rd day, I got a boost of energy. I wasn't expecting it, and was ready to whine and complain but it hit me and was a nice experience. My lethargy went away, and instead of sitting on the couch watching TV at night, I suddenly found myself cleaning parts of the house, lighting the charcoal BBQ instead of the gas grill, doing little projects I had put off because I was too tired to do them before. It was actually quite amazing. Instead of saying pass this or hand me this, I was getting off my butt and getting them myself. One Saturday, I cleaned and rearranged our back smoking room because I realized we hadn't done a thorough cleaning in some time and it was looking kind of messy. I even (gasp!) washed the car one Saturday morning, something I never, ever do.
So, the first positive aspect of this diet was the gain of energy.
Second is kind of a side effect, or in this case, a lack of side effect. My gas level has gone way down. Yes, I fart less than I used to. Well, except for those weekend nights when I put garlic in the dinner. That still triggers me, but overall, I don't have nearly as bad of gas as I used to.
The third thing is the I've noticed that during the day, I don't sweat even close to what I used to. I still get the night sweats, but I no longer get the pit sweats at work like I used to. I don't know what to attribute that to, but it's something I have observed.
Next is that I can dunk my sausages in caeser dressing. I don't actually do that, but I could if I wanted to. In reality, I love sausages, and this is the only diet that allows that one particular food in more than moderations. That by itself doesn't make up for all that I can't eat, but it is at least a pond of positive in a sea of negatives.
Well, I think that's enough for my first post. I'm exhausted just from writing all of this. If I had to summarize this whole thing up, from day 1 to day 28, the best thing I can say is that every diet is not for every person. For my wife, it's perfect for her and I see her sticking with it for a long time. For me, I'll probably go another month and then re-evaluate everything. We have a trip coming up at the end of this month, and I'll have to see how I feel after we get back. But, I just don't see me lasting much longer on this diet. I see the weight loss on the scale, but with those numbers, I'm thinking any diet would work if I'm willing to follow the rules and measure what I eat.
I will finish my entry with this: I wrote this because my wife encouraged me to read this forum. The opening screen says it would be nice to introduce yourself, so I did. I'm not looking for any net fights nor any hate responses, thus the caveat at the beginning of my post. Certain things have been on my mind from day one, and I wanted to put them down in case others felt the same way but didn't know how or want to express them here, not that i would ever claim to speak for other people, though.
Comments on what I write are always welcome. Responses that attack me personally will be ignored.
Rob