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  #31   ^
Old Tue, Mar-12-19, 13:47
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 19,177
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meme#1
Exercise? I've read on here time after time that exercise is good for toning the body but it's not going to create the type of fat loss that we want without changing what is going in the mouth, but diet can do that alone without the excersise.


Not for fat loss, but to use up calories..... generally, those who exercise more can use more carbs. At least that is what I understood DANDR to say. Otherwise, just eat more fat to fuel the busy body. Or wagyu beef!
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  #32   ^
Old Tue, Mar-12-19, 13:59
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ms Arielle
Not for fat loss, but to use up calories..... generally, those who exercise more can use more carbs. At least that is what I understood DANDR to say. Otherwise, just eat more fat to fuel the busy body. Or wagyu beef!


I have a couple of copies of DANDR here, but I don't remember him saying if you exercise you can eat more carbs and still loose weight. IDK maybe it would burn off some carbs but I don't think it will erase eating a plate of spaghetti.
I'd rather just not eat the carbs and eat the Wagu Beef....

Last edited by Meme#1 : Tue, Mar-12-19 at 14:13.
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  #33   ^
Old Tue, Mar-12-19, 14:17
SheilaQ's Avatar
SheilaQ SheilaQ is offline
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Posts: 123
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 212.5/156.5/160 Female 5’6”
BF:
Progress: 107%
Location: New England
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People on MFP say that if you are fat adapted you can exercise off infrequent carb slips. I wouldn’t know about that being early in the process.

I am literally taking it one day at a time here, trying to believe this will be my WOE but having trouble motivating to eat enough. I’m sick of most meats already and I’m so not hungry. I did make the cauliflower pizza myself and it was dreadful. I am waiting 6 more days of induction to try the fathead bread recipes, I hope they are good!

My headaches are significant and I eat a lot of salt so that’s not it. I’m beginning to wonder if I am uncovering an intolerance, possibly to cheese or mayo.
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  #34   ^
Old Tue, Mar-12-19, 14:34
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is online now
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Posts: 19,177
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Sheila, becareful of the fat head p izza-- look at the carb counts carefully, too. Im just sharing MY experience. I made a big pizza for the family, and I ate most of myself... totally far more than my daily alotment of carbs. So think small and make an individual portion if you think that would work for you.

I love meats. There are MANY recipes that change up the meats. We even add fennel seed to grd beef and suddenly we think-- sausages!! ( Along with, salt , pepper, an egg to bind it.) Tumeric goes great with most meats--- a litle sauce of sauted co or evoo with scallions, salt, black pepper and a tsp of ground tumeric. It can be changed up with using cream, or onions, or dried garlic.

Do you eat sweet peppers? Sauted sweet peppers and onions ( or leeks/scallions) with salt and pepper is good too.

Or cream over sauted mushrooms in oo, co or butter.

A sauce makes it a whole new dish .
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  #35   ^
Old Tue, Mar-12-19, 14:55
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ms Arielle

We even add fennel seed to grd beef and suddenly we think-- sausages!! (


Yes Fennel!
Funny you should mention that because I just received my order for Rachael Ray, Buon Appettito! Italian seasoning.
One day last year I stood reading every single Italian spice mix in the store and finally saw this one low down on the shelves. When I saw fennel I instantly knew that was the spice I was craving. The stuff in real Italian sausages.
Now I'm having a hard time finding this brand so I ordered it and the scent is just heavenly to me.




Last edited by Meme#1 : Tue, Mar-12-19 at 15:04.
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  #36   ^
Old Wed, Apr-03-19, 06:36
Calianna's Avatar
Calianna Calianna is online now
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Posts: 1,851
 
Plan: Atkins-ish (hypoglycemia)
Stats: 000/000/000 Female 63
BF:
Progress: 50%
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Admittedly, the first weeks and months of LC are difficult - getting through induction flu (most likely the source of your headaches), getting used to NOT automatically reaching for carby stuff for a snack, and becoming acclimated to a lowered appetite (proteins and fats are far more filling and long lasting than carbs).


As you go along in your LC journey though, you will most likely find that your desire for bread, beer, and ice cream, etc will begin to diminish. In fact, the longer you can stay away from high carb foods, if you then eat something, it often doesn't taste as good as you remember. The longer you stay LC, the worse those things taste, to the point that starchy foods actually end up tasting more like cardboard, and sugary foods can taste sickeningly sweet in comparison to truly LC food.

This is the point where I am now. If I accidentally get ahold of a tiny sliver of pizza crust while I'm picking off the toppings to eat, or am eating at a restaurant and they've slathered some kind of starchy and/or sugary sauce on my meat or veggies, I absolutely HATE the way it tastes. Yuck. Makes me wonder how I ever used to eat that stuff.

Having said that, there are recipes for lots of alternatives to high carb foods - this site and the internet can provide a treasure trove of recipes to try. (one of my current favorites is chicken and asparagus with 3 cheeses. There's a video, but you can just scroll down to the recipe at the bottom)



As far as pizza is concerned, at first I just avoided it, period. Then I tried making LC crusts, starting out with a giant "oopsie" crust, then since making that is so time consuming, I switched to making an omelet/frittata type base. As mentioned above, if we order pizza, I will just pick the toppings off of it, and eat those. After a time, I finally realized that since I wasn't eating the crust anyway, I didn't really need any kind of crust or base at all, since what I was really wanting was only the satisfying flavors of the toppings - to me those are what really makes it pizza, the crust is just a carrier. It's so easy to spoon a thin coating of some no sugar no starch tomato sauce (I buy the little 4 oz cans since they seem less likely to have added sugars or starches - but check the ingredients to be sure) in the bottom of a shallow casserole dish, and layer all your favorite toppings and seasonings on that. Bake or nuke until heated through, and the cheese is melty. Granted, you can't pick this up and fold it in half to eat it with your hands, but as far as flavor is concerned, it's all the best parts of the pizza, very satisfying, and best of all, no carb cravings 2 hours later.
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  #37   ^
Old Wed, Apr-03-19, 17:33
Abd Abd is offline
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Posts: 216
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 195/178/150 Male 69 inches
BF:
Progress: 38%
Location: Northampton, Massachusett
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There are some themes I notice here. I watched a debate between recently, Taubes and Guyenet recently and they were more or less shouting at each other from opposite ends of the spectrum. We go astray when we buy into beliefs (and both of them have done that to some extent, but Guyenet much more than Taubes, whose long-term position is actually that we need more research.) From my point of view, both brain function (G) and endocrine activity (T) are involved in the processes that create obesity. What we think matters, and from my training, the words we use matter as well.

We are addicted to food, in various ways. Modern foods have been designed to be addictive, for obvious economic reasons. Now, that something "is addictive" does not mean it is "bad." That depends on context.

We can be -- and often are -- addicted to behaviors that are, in some contexts, useful and in others, harmful. Were we not addicted, we would stop the behaviors when they are harmful. How to address this?

Alcoholics, in general, drink to medicate themselves. It is entirely possible that an alcoholic saved his life by becoming an alcoholic. But, then, the "medicine", continued, will kill him or her!

One thing you will never hear in Alcoholics Anonymous, not from any alcoholic deep in recovery: "I will never drink again!" Those words will trigger memories, of how great it felt to drink, which will trigger longing and pressure to "come on, just one drink!." Instead, the saying in AA is "one day at a time." and "just for today...."

Right now, the OP is in induction. I urge her to focus on today, and on how to feel satisfied today, letting tomorrow take care of itself, as it will. "Never again" is a useless thought, and it obviously distresses her, so . . . why think it?

Ah, but can we control what we think? Yes, we can, but we first need to understand the context, and how to program this magnificent instrument, the human brain. Instead, mostly, we just careen from one reaction to another. This is absolutely normal!

We are all different, some more than others. Some people may be able to handle high carb diets and not gain weight, others not. Key to a long-term plan is actual testing and monitoring. Some find they like a keto diet so much that they lose the desire to do anything else. But core, for now: learn what it feels like and what happens when you stay in ketosis, regularly burning fat for fuel, instead of glucose. Many of us have never experienced this!

Once keto-adapted -- and there are ways to measure this if you care -- what is the body's response to a high-glycemic index meal?

(I.e., sugar and other processed carbs, but this also can include "good carbs," like whole grains)

To digest the carbs, pytalin is released into saliva, to convert starch to glucose, and also the body prepares to handle the entry of substantial glucose into the bloodstream. Insulin is released, which converts circulating glucose, storing it as fat. (High glucose levels are toxic.) In a normal person, running glucose metabolism, insulin clears the glucose from the blood, producing a "crash," or fatigue and hunger. To an extent, ketone (fat-burning) metabolism reduces or even shuts down, and it can take days to establish it.

How much this happens will vary with the person. However, in a sane diet, i.e., Atkins pre-maintenance or maintenance, one monitors two things: carb intake (much easier than counting calories and balancing them with exercise) and weight.

One increases the carb intake, watching the weight. If the weight goes up, then the carb intake is reduced a little. If the weight goes down or stays the same, one again increases the intake until the maintenance level is found.

One may be able to go above that level for a meal, if this is compensated by reduction in other meals. Maybe. What actually happens?

There is no substitute for this experimentation, no "one size fits all."

Most people, though, can tolerate a carb level that will allow them to eat almost anything, if they restrict how often and how much they eat it.

The only way to find out is to start from a weight-loss carb level, which one gets to through induction, and if 20 grams a day doesn't cut the mustard -- or the fat -- then go lower!

Carboyhdrates are not necessary for human nutrition, but that's a complicated subject. If you are paying attention and are in communication with a good doctor, you will not harm yourself by going even to zero carbs, but that is probably not necessary. Find out!

This is an adventure! Look at the people who post on this forum. Notice how much fun most of them seem to be having. That's a clue!

Instead of imagining a future where you are deprived of what you might think are your favorite foods, imagine a future where you thoroughly enjoy what you eat, and you easily handle whatever cravings come up, not by "toughing it out," by "will power," but naturally, by having so much fun that you don't really care about that piece of wedding cake.

(Ah, wedding cake: they used to say to me, "have some cake with your frosting!" Frosting is fat and sugar. Which part is more important? For me, in the end, it was and is the fat. Sugar can be replaced with, say, splenda or stevia, but fat? Olestra? No thanks!

Fat is an essential human nutrient. Low-fat diets were doomed to fail, with rare exceptions. People have lived -- entire cultures have lived -- with zero carbs. So learn what that is like! It is an adventure, and what you will learn is priceless.
From AA: "Keep coming back, it works!" That's about keeping up communication with others with similar issues. If you make some mistake, communicating with others will allow you to recognize it. Otherwise you can die with it, alone, not understanding why. If I'm wrong, here, I trust that I will find out, and so will you.
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  #38   ^
Old Wed, May-08-19, 04:08
atkinsmo atkinsmo is offline
New Member
Posts: 2
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 220/167/160 Female 67"
BF:
Progress: 88%
Location: Yorkshire, England
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In my opinion, and experience, the longer you follow LCHF as the norm, the less that these thoughts enter your mind. My husband likes an occasional beer, but he makes sure it is occasional and only one, then he goes back to his low carb choices.
For me, so many things that I used to eat (and think I couldn’t live without) hold no temptation for me, I wouldn’t thank you for bread, pasta, rice etc, and my taste has changed completely - sweetness I find really offensive! But I make sure my food is tasty, interesting and satisfying and mealtimes are an event, not just grabbing something ‘on the go’.

We don’t actually have high carb stuff in the house, so that makes things easier. And I’m always very precise when ordering something in a restaurant. ‘Please don’t bring the bread basket and can you substitute xxx for xxx’.

If I have a desperate urge for something (our son lives in France where the bread is to die for and his wife is a wonderful Patisserie cook) I might literally have the end half inch from a breadstick, or a teaspoonful of a tart, and I find that actually satisfies my ‘curiosity’ about it, then I have a big chunk of lovely cheese instead of a whole piece of the dessert It’s working out strategies that you find useful!

But no, in my experience, if you go back to a standard diet and try to keep portion sizes down, to maintain your weight loss, you’ll be back where you started (and worse) in no time.

Last edited by atkinsmo : Wed, May-08-19 at 04:13. Reason: Typo and clarification
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  #39   ^
Old Wed, May-08-19, 04:23
PilotGal PilotGal is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 36,355
 
Plan: KetoCarnivore
Stats: 206.6/178/160 Female 5'7
BF:awesome
Progress: 61%
Location: USA
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Yeah, for life...
Learning that most carbohydrates are not meant for the human body..
But only to make you sick and impotent.... not sure why “they” are growing this food that makes us sick and impotent, but they are, and they are pushing it with full vigor..
What you will learn from your own N-1 experiments on yourself is that you will feel better with less carbs and more animal food....

I don’t have the answers to why our food is poisoning us and making us sick, but it is..... you can’t believe everything Uncle Gov’t is telling you.
You will have to learn this on your own, and then figure out a way to deal with the anger.

It’s just the way it is, in our time.
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  #40   ^
Old Fri, Dec-06-19, 11:25
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is online now
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Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
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I'm bumping this thread from the spring because it has so many interesting views on establishing a pattern for longtime LC commitment.

And Meme, I'm totally going to look for that Rachael Ray fennel spice combo!!
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  #41   ^
Old Fri, Dec-06-19, 21:47
SheilaQ's Avatar
SheilaQ SheilaQ is offline
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Posts: 123
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 212.5/156.5/160 Female 5’6”
BF:
Progress: 107%
Location: New England
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Agreed, it was an interesting discussion, and as I am the OP I will give a quick update:

I have been living Atkins for 8 months now, am slightly below goal, and have been maintaining for about a month so far. I have no desire to go back to any of those carby favorites from the past. I would laugh at my original post self, only 6 days in and weeping for a bunch of crap that I don’t consider food anymore, except that was how I got here and what I needed to work through at the time. The advice on this board was a huge help for me, so thank you everyone, and I hope this thread helps someone new who needs it! This WOE is fantastic.
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  #42   ^
Old Sat, Dec-07-19, 07:34
teaser's Avatar
teaser teaser is offline
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Posts: 15,075
 
Plan: mostly milkfat
Stats: 190/152.4/154 Male 67inches
BF:
Progress: 104%
Location: Ontario
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SheilaQ
People on MFP say that if you are fat adapted you can exercise off infrequent carb slips. I wouldn’t know about that being early in the process.



i sort of suspect the opposite--you might be able to stay fat adapted with the odd carb up--but the fat adapted state is also one that's sparing of carbs--that might be it's defining characteristic, since even a carb adapted person still gets much of their energy at least in the fasted state from fat. This is sort of the whole point when marathoners go low carb, hoping to fuel on fat, conserve glycogen, and avoid bonking.
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  #43   ^
Old Sat, Dec-07-19, 08:50
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
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Posts: 14,605
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SheilaQ
Thanks for the replies everyone. I am on day 6 of Atkins and am feeling good, but struggling with the mental concept of never having bread, beer, ice cream again. I am hoping once a hit fat adaption I can have these treats very rarely and get back on track. This would be far in the future, but i need to believe that the plan would be workable for me long term.


What if you don't WANT them anymore? I can walk through my office break room, every surface covered in "treats," and easily ignore every single kind. I don't even feel sorry for myself.

If that mere thought bothers you, then you are likely using food in ways that aren't about food.

As someone who used to have an eating disorder which was only completely eliminated by low carbing, I am very familiar with using "food as a drug." No blame. It does work! But like all substance abuse, the downsides are enormous.

My best advice is to not worry about the future. It's not here yet. You are also not the person you will become, six months hence.

Let that person make the decision. Take some anxiety off you. Find better coping methods: we all have, and we are much happier for it.

Binges only made me feel better for minutes. Low carbing has helped me feel happier for years.
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  #44   ^
Old Sat, Dec-07-19, 09:04
WereBear's Avatar
WereBear WereBear is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 14,605
 
Plan: EpiPaleo/Primal/LowOx
Stats: 220/125/150 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 136%
Location: USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SheilaQ
Agreed, it was an interesting discussion, and as I am the OP I will give a quick update:

I have been living Atkins for 8 months now, am slightly below goal, and have been maintaining for about a month so far. I have no desire to go back to any of those carby favorites from the past. I would laugh at my original post self, only 6 days in and weeping for a bunch of crap that I don’t consider food anymore, except that was how I got here and what I needed to work through at the time. The advice on this board was a huge help for me, so thank you everyone, and I hope this thread helps someone new who needs it! This WOE is fantastic.


Aaaaand I see you figured it out for yourself but this whole thread is wonderful for newbies.
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  #45   ^
Old Sat, Dec-07-19, 11:34
Little Me's Avatar
Little Me Little Me is offline
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Posts: 1,177
 
Plan: LC/GF
Stats: 208/174/168 Female 5'3
BF:
Progress: 85%
Location: SoCal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SheilaQ
...I have been living Atkins for 8 months now, am slightly below goal, and have been maintaining for about a month so far. I have no desire to go back to any of those carby favorites from the past.

Well done, SheilaQ—Good work! Those carby favorites will do you in every time.
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