Trying to get it right

[Chrissy54]

Hello from the great state of Texas!

I'm sober from alcohol for 18 months. I've gained about 50 pounds and was already 30 pounds heavier than I preferred me to be. I have little willpower with food because honestly, it makes me feel good and bad, just like the booze. Please help me ! 😏 I'd prefer to eat once per day. Initially get hung on Lac with the cream. Make it simple for me. I have got to get it right this time. My heart isn't the best. Thanks yall!!

CT

[Glogetr]

Congratulations on your sobriety! What an amazing accomplishment. And now you want to tackle the weight problem..kudos on recognizing your problem. That is the first step..I denied mine for most of my adult life. It sounds like you have a good support system..if not remember you do not have to do this alone. I am very new here and still trying to find my way around but so far everyone has been great. I hope you continue on this plan and we can share our successes together.

[Novblue777]

Congratulations on 18 months, that is amazing and shows how much willpower you have! I'm new here as well, but everyone is helpful and there are a ton of resources. I'm not sure that you can get everything you need by only eating once per day, but I'm no expert. I have done Atkins before and the things I love about it is that after about a week the cravings tend to go away, and you don't feel hungry. I'm like you and struggle with willpower on other diets, so LC works best for me because of this. Good luck, you've got this!

[bkloots]

Hi Chrissie. Sobriety is a daily achievement, and I applaud your commitment. You've already discovered that it's a journey without a destination--and so is your weight management plan. Just one day at a time.

If you like the Atkins book you have, simply follow the Induction directions as written, and proceed from there. Atkins as one of the original popular low-carbohydrate plans is still good. Visit dietdoctor.com to get a whole lot of detailed information about what to eat.

Even if you only eat once a day, the idea is to reach a state of non-hunger. Being hungry is not a good reward for a lifelong journey.

Lac with the cream I don't know what this is. I like to have a little cream in my coffee. A little heavy whipping cream goes a long way.

Best wishes.

[thud123]

Welcome! Something to consider; How have you been practicing/training on the relationship of booze and willpower?

Some methods for getting and staying sober say that no amount of willpower will suffice in the long term. Weather this is true or not I do not know but perhaps you can model your relationship with foods that give you pure pleasure the same way as alcohol.

I wish you well in finding out a way that works for you. Staying away from Grains, Potatos and Sugar has helped me recover some measure of health over the last 18 months.

[JEY100]

Welcome Chrissy :wave:
As others have said, you have already accomplished a much harder change of habit than giving up a little sugar. Going low carb will be a "piece of cake" (so to speak :lol: ) for you. I have also heard that AA meetings are the worse for causing weight gain when sober. Always a plate of cookies and Coke. If that is your situation, think of ways to replace those temptations. Bring your own LC cookies you make yourself with safe sweeteners, a diet soda, etc.

Here is a thread on changing habits...and those listed are child's play compared to what you have already done: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=468195. A list from that thread to consider: http://www.gretchenrubin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/8.5x11Eating_onesheet.pdf. But no question, you are an Abstainer. :thup:

That thread also refers to the Gary Taubes book Why We Get Fat . The diet in that, based on Atkins, might work great for you. Can't control nuts? None allowed. Like bacon and eggs? Eat as much as want until no longer hungry. Want to eat them once a day, that's OK too. Simple bright line rules. Another doctor I follow recently suggested in a talk...want a super simple way to get into ketosis? Eat only bacon and eggs for two weeks, when ever you want. Not that you have to do that...but you asked for simple. :lol:

All the best.

[bkloots]

Eat only bacon and eggs for two weeks, when ever you want.Why didn't I ever think of that? :lol:

[Mama Sebo]

Hi Chrissy, I agree so much with everything the other commenters have said above. I also have challenges with food, alcohol, cigarettes. SOmetimes I feel so sorry for myself (hello pity party!!) But you have the alcohol under control and that is a greater problem than a little sugar as janet mentioned above. Still its depressing, I know. The best solution I have found is to really splurge to make the food I eat the best possible. Good meat if you are a meat eater, butter on the meat, good veggies, good salads. With lots of flavor and enough to be FILLING. ALl the best for finding the best way forward, you have already made the most difficult step forward!! Congratulations!!

[JEY100]

Why didn't I ever think of that? :lol:

I know.. So simple! Dr Ted Naiman simplified weight loss last year to Meat, Eggs, Added Oil to cook, and Leaves. MEAL. https://www.dietdoctor.com/10-post-2016-m-e-l-diet-worlds-best-diet-ultra-rapid-fat-loss
In a more recent talk I heard the Bacon and Eggs idea as a fast way to get into ketosis. His website is good but his FB and Twitter accounts a hoot. I follow only a handful of doctors and nutritionists on Twitter, and his is a favorite.

[YNot]

I'm so impressed with your accomplishment! I think 50 pounds weight gained is a small price for sobriety. I wonder if the Carbohydrate Addicts diet would work best with your idea of eating only once a day? I did it years ago with good results, but my memory is a little hazy. You can go on the specific board for that group here - but the general idea is that for one one-hour period a day you can eat a big salad, and then "sort of" whatever you want. As in, you aren't supposed to have a giant cheesecake or a bag of chips for dinner, but you can eat a normal meal, no quantity restrictions. The actual plan calls for very low carb breakfast and lunch, but one of the original authors (Rachel Heller) actually hit upon this accidentally by only eating once a day. I know that's a pretty general overview, but I lost 40 pounds years ago by LITERALLY fasting all day and then eating whatever the heck I felt like for an hour. I didn't even follow the salad rule, or try to limit junk food. Does that sound like a doable way to at least start?

[Eccentress]

Welcome Chrissy!

Congrats on sobriety! That IS huge. I'm going on my 16th clean year this coming July 31st. Yay for us!

I don't do the once a day eating unless I'm simply not hungry. If I feel deprived, I eat. I stick with proteins and low carb veggies and tons of eggs to be honest, cutting out all obvious carb foods. Just like giving up a drug of choice, there's a detox period but it passes. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it.

Welcome!

[teaser]

Lac? Lactose?

One meal a day can work fairly well, with Atkins food choices. My Dad has digestive issues, switching to one large meal a day gives him less acid reflux than a snacking pattern.

There's a sticky for Atkins Induction in the Atkins section of the forum, in case you need to familiarize yourself more with initiation of the diet, and take the "ish" off of Atkins. I'm not pushing for you to do this understand, since I don't really know how familiar you are with low carb plans to begin with.

[Chrissy54]

Y'all are awesome and so inspiring!! I don't normally eat a lot as I often during the day. However when I do eat, I tend to overeat. Not to the point of wanting to be sick but to the point of being pretty dang full, why? Because, like drugs and alcohol, it feelssss gooood. I don't feel that way so much with sugar. More with salt. I could eat country ham or pickles and be in a state of euphoria. Lol. I do eat too many chips with salsa. Not a lot of bread. I do love potatoes. So, am I a carb addict? Probably not. But I think low carbing along with one primary meal a day will be beneficial and maybe can help with quicker results. At first anyway. Diabetes runs in my family. I want to try and just be a healthier person.

The last time I LC I started to feel like I was hurting myself with all the red meat I was eating. Like the cholesterol. Is that a valid concern? Thanks y'all!!! CT

[thud123]

...The last time I LC I started to feel like I was hurting myself with all the red meat I was eating. Like the cholesterol. Is that a valid concern? Thanks y'all!!! CT

What do you mean by "hurting myself"?

[teaser]

I don't think the evidence against red meat is really all that good. On the one hand there's epidemiology--where red meat consumption is hopelessly confounded by the total dietary pattern, red/processed meat can correlate with trips to McDonalds, pizza, and in a society where people have been taught that red meat is unhealthy, it can negatively correlate with health-conscious people--benefits of exercise, not smoking, etc. hopelessly confound things. There are lots of threads in the research board on this forum looking at various arguments for and against red meat consumption.

Or you could skip all that. There's nothing wrong with a low carb diet that's based on poultry and seafood, until and unless you decide that red meat isn't dangerous, there's no use adding unnecessary stress to your life by eating food you're not comfortable with.

In the same vein, with "good" fats, I don't think nut fats or olive oil are any better (or worse) in most cases than beef fat or butter. But better to do what you're comfortable with, than to end up off-plan because you think you're eating an unhealthy diet.

[thud123]

... But better to do what you're comfortable with, than to end up off-plan because you think you're eating an unhealthy diet.
Wise advice there teaser.

original poster; I think your idea of what is harmful to eat changes over time and with your personal experience. I was very "fat-phobic" at first from all my training as a youngster. It was not that I didn't eat a lot of fat while I got fat, I just thought it was the "bad stuff" and I was "hurting myself" by eating it to use your phrase. I think I was "hurting myself" now by mixing it with grains, potatoes and sugar. BTW, all three of which might stand fine on their own, who really knows but there's not a good reason to use sugar other than for pleasure in my biased opinion - that's where trouble might begin.

Good luck finding your way!

[Chrissy54]

I'm just going to have to mix it up. How do y'all avoid bloat? Seems like so many items we can eat low carb are salty. Which I love!

[madeyna]

low carb is diretic so most of us find ourselves needing to add salt

[Chrissy54]

So what you are saying is that it's ok to eat pickles
Often?

[bkloots]

Dill pickles. Love 'em. Often? Well, that depends. Dill pickles do have carbs, so count them if you're counting. But the salt, vinegar, and crunchy yumminess are all just fine.

Enjoy.