Hi all...

I'm having a very depressing week! Even though I'm following my plan fairly strictly, I'm not losing and in fact, I've gained. I'm hoping that someone can take a look at what I'm doing and give me some feedback.

I went back to work on Monday, and this is what my days have looked like:
Monday:
Breakfast: 2 egg mcmuffins without the mcmuffin
Lunch: green salad with ranch & about 3/4 cup of chicken salad
Dinner: 3 grilled chicken thighs/salad with ranch
I managed to drink about 48 ounces of water that day; maybe a little more.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: 2 sausage mcmuffins without the mcmuffin
Lunch: small chef salad with 2 slices of cheese and 2 slices of turkey and ranch
Dinner: About 1.5 cups of chicken salad
Today, I drank about 80 ounces of water.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: 1 sausage mcmuffin without the mcmuffin (bought two, but had a meeting and didn't get to the other one)
Lunch: same as Tuesday
Snack: On the way home, I ate the leftover turkey from my salad and a monterrey jack cheese stick.
Dinner: I'm not sure what we're going to have yet.
I've already drank 60 ounces as of 5 p.m. Will probably drink 3 -4 more glasses before bed.

I'm pleased with the amount of water I'm managing to drink, but I'm wondering if part of my problem is that I'm retaining water now. I'm also wondering if I'm eating enough food. I'm not usually hungry between meals, but sometimes am.

I'm still turning the little stick pink, and my pants are still comfortably loose. I guess I just want to know what's going on.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! I'm starting to get very discouraged.

Thanks...

TTFN!!

Hello TeachinNV

Its hard to tell from your menu description, but I would recommend a few things:

1. Start a journal and detail what you eat. People will read it an help you.

2. I don't think you are drinking enough water (especially if you think you are retaining). You need to drink more so your body doens't think its dehydrated and hold onto it. The general rule is 64oz PLUS 8 oz for every 25 pounds over goal weight. Are you taking potassium supplement?

3. What's in the ranch dressing? Perhaps make your own so you are sure there is no sugar or hidden carbs.

4. It is possible you are not getting enough calories. 10-12 times your body weight is recommended.

5. Eat more fat. To lose more, eat more fat.

If you are losing body mass, then that is GREAT. What is important is how do you feel? Do you feel better? If the answer is yes, then turn that frown upside down.

Take care
Kim

There's only one problem

You're not eating enough. Your Monday looks like this:

Calories: 893
Carbs ~ 3-10 (wasn't sure what was in your salad or about the dressing content)

You should be eating about 2200 calories MINIMUM. Your body will not lose on the calories you are taking in. And your carbs may be a bit low. Add a cup of steamed veggie in addition to that daily salad

Eat up! The menu below only contains about 2000 calories and about 20-25 g carbs - just to give you an idea:

Breakfast: 3 egg omlette w/ cheese and a few mushrooms
3 bacon
Snack: 1 ounce macadamia nuts
Lunch: 1 cup salad 1/2 tomato, 4 slices cuke, low carb dressing
Large grilled chicken breast, or 2 small (with the skin on) 2 tablespoons mayo
Snack: hard boiled egg, 2 tablespoons mayo
Dinner: 8 ounce T-Bone steak (or other fatty cut)
1 cup broccoli

You can throw in a 1/2 cup of sugar-free jello and some splenda sweetened whip cream and still have room

Dear Kim & LC,

Thanks for the input.

I'd like to add a few more details to help anyone else give me some feedback.

First of all, I'm a teacher (3rd grade). I'm usually out the door by 7:15 and at school by 7:45. I don't really have time to cook breakfast and stopping by mcdonald's is a perfect solution for me. I will see about adding something to my breakfast. I only get 1/2 hour for lunch and have a 50 minute prep period sometime during the morning. My prep period is at 10:00 a.m. on two days, 11:00 a.m. on two days, and at 9:10 on the other day. My lunch is at 11:50 a.m. I suppose that I should think about adding a snack during my prep period, but I'm not usually hungry and it's awfully close to lunch time most days.

I thought that I was doing pretty good the last two days as far as drinking my water. I drink a 20 oz. bottle during the morning, have another during the afternoon, and then drink one on the drive home. In the evening, I try to have 3 - 4 glasses; I guess I'll have to try and add at least 20 more ounces a day. The main problem is that I barely make it through the afternoon now without having to ask someone to watch my class while I go on a "potty break". But...I'll manage it somehow.

If I were to make my own dressing, where could I find a recipe (the easier, the better)??? Also, I'm not one for cooked vegies...so, can I just add more things to my salad (cucumbers, celery, carrots, tomatoes, etc.)??

I did start a journal several weeks ago and have many rambling posts there. Posting to these forums have saved my sanity lately. I know that I can post my doubts here and will receive valuable information and moral support.

I'm off to drink another glass of water...I'll be floating out of the house soon.

Thanks again for the quick responses!! Please keep them coming.

TTFN!!

Hi there.....

Looks to me like you've gotten some pretty good suggestions already, but I'd like to add something.

The breakfasts at McD's are likely very high in sodium content. And that will cause water retention. Breakfast can be portable and prepared the night before. How about boiled eggs? Bacon fried chrispy is still delicious cold. I've enjoyed cheese and cold roast beef. If you want a patty - what about a cold hamburger patty made at home?

Hope this helps.
Marlaine

Fat. The answer is fat.

You don't have to eat more, you just have to eat more calories. Fat is the most calorie dense choice.

Breakfast: 2 egg mcmuffins without the mcmuffin

In the readers recipe section under breakfast, there is a recipe for Mock-muffins that can be prepared in advance and eaten on the go. There is also a recipe for Meatza in Karen's recipes - pizza toppings on a meat crust that is great cold for breakfast. Add extra cheese to both to boost those calories. Take a moment to check out the breakfast section for other recipes. Most are good cold

Lunch: green salad with ranch & about 3/4 cup of chicken salad

Put extra mayo in the chicken salad, and an olive oil dressing will have more fat.

Dinner: 3 grilled chicken thighs/salad with ranch

Make a dipping sauce for the chicken out of mayonnaise, sour cream or a combination of both. Blue cheese dressing is great with chicken. And use an oil dressing on the salad, as above.

These to links will give you the lowdown on fat:

Fat and Keeping Calories Up

More on Fat and Keeping Calories Up

Karen

I know what you mean about getting up to cook. I leave by 0630 am to get to work on time. It does make it harder to actually cook, but the egg mock-muffin is easy and portable. Really good flavor also!

Sometimes I toss my scrambled eggs (with cheese on top) into a tupperware and eat during report. May bother some people, but I have to have breakfast - period.

Lately I've made bigger batches of scrambled eggs or more than one omlette on my days off and put them in single serving containers in the fridge. Last two or three days, just pop them in the microwave.

I have to agree with being careful with McDonalds - their meat is probably VERY processed to have a shelf life like it does. Eating there EVERY day is probably not a good idea. Besides, if your McDees is like mine, it takes > 5 minutes to go through the drive through, plus it is out of the way. It might actually take less time to make something at home!!

Good Luck!
mb

Marlaine posted this great recipe for Frittatas

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...hlight=Frittata

I think you could experiment by substituting the spinich for other things like mushrooms, salmon, spring onion, diced bacon.

Bake them when you have time and take them out of the fridge for brekkie.

Cheers
Kim