Sno,

I'm so glad you mentioned what Joel said about looking at the measurements instead of the weight. This morning, after a high GI day, I was up .5 lb. At first I was disappointed but then I measured my waist and hips and they were both down a little from last Sat. I weigh myself every morning -- I am addicted to the scale. Knowing what Joel said really helps.

I can really appreciate a busy life. It has to be very hard to juggle a full-time job outside the home and trying to diet and exercise as well. Even with working at home and no kids to tend to, I have my bad days. Sleep is so important. Hopefully things will slow down for you. Even so, you're still doing better on the exercise than I am!!

About the grams of carbs and protein, Joel mentions using your hand to measure -- a fist equals one serving of carbs and the palm of your hand equals one serving of protein (I estimate about 3-4 oz.) He allows one protein per meal/snack, so that comes to 15-20 oz. for the day. If I'm measuring cottage cheese, I just use the fist measurement. This has helped me a lot with portion control. On Atkins, I used to eat twice as much protein (6-8 oz.) with each meal and I think this may have been hard for me to digest (just a guess).

Anyway, it really helps to be bouncing the diet info off one another -- thanks.

BTW, do you take supplements -- multi or others? I added Vit. D3 about two months ago to my supplements. It's supposed to help with weight loss -- not sure about that but I know it has improved my overall mood and possibly my energy.

Abby

Hi Abby:

actually I dont work full time but I still get wiped--I dont have a lot of energy in general. I will try the vit d--first I will check to see if it is in my multi. I do take other supplements and I really advocate for omega 3. When I was on nutrisystem I found that taking that made me lose faster--up to 1 lb a week.

so today was my second low gi day and I made some oatmeal for brekkie--I admit I had a tiny bit of brown sugar on it and a little ICBINB. I had one cup which is about a fist and I was so full I could not eat the hardboiled egg I had made. I am about to have it now. I am keeping track of everything on my fitday so I have a good idea of what works and what doesnt for upcoming weeks.

Yeah I was getting a little bummed cuz I was till up two lbs from my cheat and yesterday I was up another .5 lb. So that is why I read some more in the book and realized about the whole issue of fat loss vs water gain and gaining muscle etc that may bring the scale up or look like a stall but in fact we are getting smaller. I noticed that my clothes were looking a tad baggy so I was re-assured. Then this AM i had lost the 2.5 again. So I think the scale is not a good indicator for this diet. I use it to keep myself accountable in general but maybe for now I should try to stay away.

Ok this is a long post but I wanted to add that I noticed that we both have lost more than half of the weight we want to lose and I think that this diet is great for the last part of weight loss. I say this cuz I felt I lost too much muscle in the last part of the lo-cal diet I did--I was very flabby and even tho I started lifting weights I still couldnt get the muscle to kick in. So this is one of the major reasons I am interested in this plan--muscle gain with fat loss and keeping my metabolism up.

Take care and keep me posted!

Sno

PS--I think my goal for upcoming cheat day will be to eat anything I want but not stuff!!

Sno,

I have the same problem with muscle loss and decreased metabolism. Yo-yo dieting for so many years has taken its toll. I have flab especially under the arms. I'm sure it is partly age related but losing quickly on Atkins also played its part.

Sounds like your weight gain came off quicker than mine did -- should be a good sign. Today (Sat.) I was down .7 lb. from last Sat. and my measurements are about 1/4" down all around. I am not great at measuring -- not sure how accurate I am -- but like you I can feel a difference in my clothes, especially the bra (yeah) and pants. I plan to follow your goal for my cheat day today -- no overdoing and less sweets for me.

About the energy, I can really relate. On Atkins, I was always tired. That's when I started supplementing with vitamins and minerals. I take omega 3's too. I used to have arthritis (lupus) and the omega 3 cured the inflammation. I have only been taking Vit. D3 since April but I do think it has helped my energy a lot -- or else it's just that I am happier so I am more energetic (who knows). Either way I'm really glad I added it.

Have a great weekend.
Abby

Sounds like you two are doing great! Well done and keep it up

Hi Fuffs--thanks! we are trying to work it out. How is your plan going?

yesterday was not so great--was getting really full early on then got a bit hungry in the evening and ate more than I should. Weight okay this am tho--up .5 lb. Today and tomorrow are my high gi days--a bit scary!! I am getting tired of the protein servings tho--any hints there abby?

Have a great weekend--glad the omega worked for your arthritis/lupus.

Sno

Fuffs - so far so good!!! What's your plan?

Sno - I hear you on the protein especially on the high GI days -- low fat only. I'm not a big fan of chicken breast (I like the dark meat) but I buy a whole roasted chicken from the grocery and it's pretty good. The last two high GI days I had a lean hamburger patty cooked on the George Foreman grill and canned salmon made into four patties with one egg to hold it together. I know salmon is on his fats list and the egg has fat too but it's only 3 oz. so I just try to keep it as low fat as possible. I had a whey protein drink made with water for one snack and no-fat cottage cheese for the other snack. I get my whey from an online company called "All The Whey". I like the taste and the price seems pretty good. The LC and LGI days are easier. Tomorrow I'm making a cottage ham with green beans (LC).

I just finished my cheat day dinner -- a bean burrito, tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa . I'm going to have a little dessert later. I think I did okay -- did not stuff and only had a few sweets today -- I'll see tomorrow when I get on the scale.

Abby

Hi again,

I should have mentioned above that I am a lazy cook. I don't do much recipe cooking -- just the bare basics for me. I like to get in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. I should be asking you, Sno, for ideas!!!

So, after the cheat, I am up 2.5 lbs. This is better than last Sat. which was 3 lbs. It's 11 am and I actually already did a workout (yeah for me). My energy is good today so I know I didn't overdo it yesterday.

Abby

Hi abby:

good to hear from you. Yeah, I think I need to have more stuff on hand like some sliced turkey and roast beef. I did pretty well with hard-boiled eggs but I dont want to get sick of those cuz they are really handy and satisfying. That being said I think I need more structure on the non-low carb days. I ate too much I think and gained back two lbs.

I think what I will do this week is have 3 low carb days with just protein, veggies, butter and a little cream. Then have three medium GL days where I eat the same as the low carb days but add 3 fruits and two carbs--say 1/3 cup brown rice and 1 piece of low carb bread, and no cream for my coffee or butter Maybe one tablespoon ICBINB--I will aim for around 1500 calories. Then one cheat day. The higher Gl days just flummox me and I dont think they are going to work for me at least this last week I got kinda compulsive.

I am doing okay tho today--maybe it is a matter of getting used to it. We'll see.

Got a lot of exercise today--went for about 25 minutes walk with the dog and then ended up gardening for about 1.5 hours. Yesterday I did about 30 minutes walk with dog, one 18 minute alternating intensity workout on the bike like Joel has in the book, calisthenics for about 30 and about 20 weight lifting. So I have done what he said for exercise--ramp it up on the two high GL days.

Tomorrow is cheat day and he says no high intensity workouts until the next day but he did say you can do weights so I will try to do that since Tuesday is kinda busy.

Hey have a great sunday!

Sno

Hi Ladies

I am on the Dr Charles Clarke New High Protein Fast Food plan lol

I am loving it so far. Am very interested in the theory behind the plan you are following. Watching this thread with interest lol

Fuffs -- I'm not familiar with your plan -- is there a forum on it? If not, will you tell us a little about it?

Sno -- Congrats on the exercising -- I'm jealous!! I'm lucky if I can do just the 20 mins. but I am trying.

I sometimes get deli turkey and roast beef too. I love hard boiled eggs but I keep forgetting to make them. I have eggs and bacon every Sunday and that's it. Thanks for reminding me. Also I forgot to mention that I have a LC yogurt (Kroger's brand) every morning except Sunday for breakfast so that takes care of that protein (do you have Kroger's where you live?).

Well, I won't be having cottage ham again -- it has too much sodium so I didn't lose much water weight yesterday. Deli ham doesn't seem to be as bad but I should probably avoid ham altogether.

Your plan sounds good -- like all diets it seems we have to tweek them to suit ourselves. I have to admit that being on LC for so long has completely changed my desire for certain foods -- grains most of all. I don't even have any rice or pasta in the house and I rarely have bread. So the HGI days have been hard for me -- they have been more like the LGI days but with lower fat protein.

So, this is week three for me. My energy is good so I'm happy.

Hi Abby

I guess the easiest way to explain my plan is to say that it is similar to Atkins. Except, carbs can be 40-60g a day or less. Also, if a person feels a great need, they can use some carbs on one piece of wholemeal bread a day. I choose not to.

The specific Dr Charles Clark one I am working from at the moment is deisgned or people with busy lives. Fast food includes recipe suggestions of things to cook quickly at home. And, great ways to adapt things you eat when you are out. Like removing the bun off fast food quarter pounders, or having a balti, but with no naan bread or rice.

I have ordered his original plan book. I used to have it, but think I borrowed it out (story of my life lol)

So, a pretty easy, laid back plan to follow. I hope I get some decent results, because I enjoy it so much

Hi guys;

thanks for the info on your diet Fuffs--keep us posted it sounds interesting. plain atkins gets boring after a while.

So despite my general slackness the last few days I am only up a lb and today is my cheat day--I am getting full so easy it is funny.

I am going to defer measuring cuz I can get several different measurments and I wait until my clothes get really baggy. They are starting to bag so I feel I am going in the right direction.

Just a little walking today for exercise. Tomorrow is a busy work day. Maybe I should make tuesdays my cheat day cuz I work hard and it would be fun to go out to lunch on that day.

Have a good one!

Sno

I'm getting a little impatient!! I know it's only been 2-1/2 weeks on this diet but my weight is about the same -- maybe 1 lb. gone? Not sure cuz it's so hard to tell with the water weight fluctuations. I know I really gotta hang in there and go by my measurements on Sat.

I'm going to go back to the book today and see what he says about sugar and artificial sweeteners. I don't remember if he mentions it or not. Also, compared to Atkins, this is a pretty low fat diet and that is kinda hard for me since for years I've not worried about fats at all. Do you think we need to be extra careful with fats? I know not to stuff but what about sugar and fat intake on the cheat day? I wish the book was a bit clearer on exactly what to eat and what not to eat on all of the days.

Abby

On instinct, I think that when you are low carbing, you should have a higher fat intake and maybe a 'regular' intake on your 'cheat' days.

However, that sounds strange....as maybe cheat days should be full on.

I think it would confuse me lol

Hi abby:

I know what you mean--I havent made any progress on weight either and have been toying with going back to a calories counted diet or just back to plain old low carb and trying it with one cheat day.

I think if I havent moved by sunday that is what I will do. I know lotsa people make the carb cycling thing work and maybe a different angle is the way to go. But we'll see. I want to give it another shot.

I know he says that it is supposed to be low fat alla time but it doesnt make sense to me--plus as you say it is really hard to do low carb without fat--I feel way too hungry. So I have not been doing that--not been paying much attention to fat.

Today is day two on low carb and I will have one more tomorrow and then go to my moderate carb plan as mentioned above for the next three.

Oh--I was thinking about getting some of those protein bars he mentions. But then I found this brand called pure protein. It has the same amount of protein as the ones Joel likes, but it is 60 calories less (180 vs 240). I am letting myself have one a day.

Keep me posted Abby! I am about to hop on my bike and do my intervals.

Sno