I've read the book, I thought I understood what I was doing, but every time I read people's journals and sample menus, I wonder if I'm doing this right. I really want to lose this weight, and I'm determined to do my best....but I always feel like I'm not doing it properly. Okay, so here's what I ate today....is it too much?? Let's see....

Breakfast: 3 eggs, scrambled
1 slice of sharp cheddar

Lunch: 3 eggs, scrambled
1 slice swiss cheese
4 oz. sliced lite pork/beef sausage
4 oz. low carb yogurt (2 g. carbs)

Snack: 2 handfuls salt & pepper pork rinds


Dinner: 4.5 oz. hamburger steak with 2 sliced mushrooms, sauteed
2 slices Swiss cheese melted on top
1 diet Coke w/ lime
8 brussel sprouts, with a little butter

....I'm drinking about 128 oz. water/day, sometimes sweetened with lemon juice and Splenda.
Wow...now that I look at it, that's a lot of protein and fat.
Suggestions, anyone???

Hey...

Try lowering the amount of cheese, and upping the amount of non starchy veggies, and lowering your consumption of artificial sweeteners (especially the diet coke, because it also contains some other things that sometimes stall people), lemon juice in excess also can stall some people.

What are the ingredients in that sausage? some sausage has a lot of fillers which actually have quite a bit of carbs.

High fat can be a good thing, and I personally would even make a point of it to possibly add a little more to your routine.

Sausage and cheese are both also high sodium and can make you retain water. I'd comment on the lack of veggies too except people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones I know I don't eat as many veggies as I should (not by a long shot).

Debbie

'4 oz. sliced lite pork/beef sausage'

I was also going to comment on this item. sausage often contains breadcrumbs! Also you could add a couple of green salads to help with vitamins and fibre.

The sausage was "approved" ....I checked the label before buying it. I usually have a salad somewhere in there, just not today. I'll defenitely look into the sodium content of my food...that could defenitely have an affect on my losing. Thanks so much for the input, guys!

Are you using Fitday.com?

I know it has helped me keep track of my % of fat and protein (like to keep fat btwn 60-70%) and, after a while, helped me keep a lid on my calories as well.

I don't think calorie-awareness is very important until some time after induction...when you are in ketosis, your appetite will drop anyway, but sometimes I have been surprised to see that my fat intake has dropped and I will adjust what I had planned to eat for dinner, for example, to get the fat % up.

I agree about the veg. A salad is a good way to get them in there if you are not a fan. And the salt--I used to eat a lot more bacon and things like liverwurst--I don't eat them anymore (I guess if I wanted them I would, but luckily I don't so I don't have to contend with their water-holding properties).

But on the whole, your menu looks fine. You have lost 12 lbs! How long have you been doing this? Are you still following Induction?

Lucy

I agree with all of the above posts and I'm going to suggest one other thing, since you asked

How about trying to have 2 eggs instead of 3, a little less pork, etc. to see if you can be satisfied with a bit less if the portions are worrying you. I know I'm guilty a LOT of the time of thinking I need more to eat than I really do. Eat it slowly and make sure you're actually hungry enough to finish the whole plate. If you're not, you can always put it away for a snack later

I've been LCing since the 17th of November...a little over two weeks now. I've lost closer to fifteen...I need to update my profile. So, yes, I'm doing okay....but I've been stuck now for a few days, and I just want to make sure I'm doing things right. I know that in time I will adjust to what works best for my body, but I'm just getting the just of this WOE right now. I defenitely will look into the sodium...in fact, today when I woke up my feet felt really tight and swolen and so did my ankles. I think I'm afraid to stray from the meat, cheese, and eggs because I'm always afraid of finding out there are hidden carbs in something I try, thinking it's acceptable. I do eat greens, but when I look in the book, there's more carbs than I thought. I don't want to be a carbo-phobic, but I want to eat the right ones.
I think I'm going to defenitely begin doing FitDay....everyone says it helps, and I'm always looking for better ways!
Thanks everyone for your input. Have a great day!!

This is soooo true. I used to be able to eat so much more, and I think I'm still getting adjusted to feeling satisfied after a meal and not stuffed. I really need to train myself to know the difference between eating to live and living to eat. I'm a very emotional eater, hence the horrendous weight gain these past few years. I'll just go a ahead and come on out and admit to something to all of you, only because it has so much to do with not onlt my weight, but my attachment to food and anything else that I can "escape" with. See, I'm a recovering drug addict....but drugs wasn't all I was addicted to. I was addicted to making my marriage work when it was sooooo not ever going to. (I'm very very co dependant...thinking I could change my husband and make him someone he was not...a responsible, sober, happy person.) I was addicted to my drug of choice because it helped me escape from ME, and I defenitely had a problem with food. "Why not overeat, too?? I'm a hopeless addict in a miserable marriage, and I can't do anything right anyway...)
Well, let's just say the domino effect began with me checking myself into rehab, addressing the REAL problem....not the food, or the drugs, or the husband....but me. I've stopped the drugs and work an honest program, I'm in the process of a divorce (yay), and now I'm learning how to be aware of what I eat. AHHHHH.....I got it out. I'm not ashamed of who I am and where I've been, because it's made me who I am. I'm learning how to make conscious decisions today...NOT to use, NOT to overeat, NOT to obsess about someone I can't change. I can be a wonderful mother, a resonsible eater, and a proud single beautiful woman. Ok, I'm finished with my freakin life story....didn;t mean to go off on a tangent while quoting your post...I just wanted to let you guys know that your suggestions helped me see things clearly, put some things in prospective for me. I don't need to eat the amounts I'm used to eating....I need to eat what my body really needss. Thanks you guys! Feels great to be honest.

Good for you! Honesty is key in this process, don't you think?

It's a pity that drug addiction tends to be considered more "shameful" in society than alcohol or food addiction--or exercise addiction or anything else. I think the diff is that drugs are illegal so people sometimes have to associate with yucky characters and do illegal things to get them. So we have this notion of "drug addicts" as being people "not like us." But that's so untrue.

An addictive personality is not at all uncommon. I think many food addicts could easily get addicted to one drug or another if they encountered the drugs and tried them.

So maybe the above two paragraphs are arguments (respectively) pro- and anti-legalisation of drugs.

You should be incredibly proud of yourself! You are making major changes in your life...just one of those changes is an accomplishment. You sound like you are being thoughtful about it, trying to understand yourself and what motivates (and what derails) you.

I for one have nothing but admiration for you. Just as I have admiration for the woman who is losing weight while she has small children--I have no children, no pregnancy aftereffects to deal with, and no one to look after except my (incredibly needy) cats! Your road has been rockier than some other people's...hurrah for you for finding the smoother path. Soon you will be walking in the sunshine and all will be behind you. And what's more, you won't be as blindly judgmental as some others in the world who are more naive. (But I bet you would trade that knowledge for naivete in an instant! Some things we really don't need to go through, even if in the end they do make us better people.)

Cheers

Lucy

Wow...Thanks, Lucy. And yes...it's more of a challenge with children and after pregnancy...but I think you've seen from my post that my child is the LEAST of my problems..lol...she's such a blessing. And yes, I take my recovery very seriously...I look into everything I do and ask "Did I do the best I can do?" My abilities as a mother (first and foremost), a daughter, a sister, and an addict, for that matter, depend on me staying clean and focused. Thanks for the encouragment....your words meant a lot to me. Have a great day.

This FitDay.com is awesome!!!!!!!!! I just entered everything, and it calculated it for me....no wonder you guys have been relentlessly suggesting it to me. I need to just listen to all of you more often. I'm defenitely taking advantage of the service. Thanks everybody!!

I think you are doing wonderful. I do agree that you need lots more veggies. Dont be afraid to add them, I think that the carbs in your day are supposed to come from the vegetables, not just eggs/meat/cheese. Cut up that chicken and throw it on a bed of cucumber and baby spinach leaves, some cheese and bacon bits turns it into a chef salad. Add some broccoli, asparagus, okra, etc.. to your dinners. Its not too too hard to increase the vegetables, and they are much more filling and satisfying to me than just having a meat patty or peice of chicken. Just makes little tweaks here and there, and keep up the fantastic progress!