10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

[gonnabskinny]

As I was climbing the rungs of the OWL ladder, I often posted that I was moving on up and still losing weight in search of my CCLL. However, now I am singing a slightly different tune.

I am now only 10 pounds away from goal, but the loss has just started to crawl at a snails pace as it is supposed to, but it is driving me crazy. In the past seven weeks, I have only lost 4 lbs. and I even gained a pound last week. However, I have also noticed that my calorie intake had gone up and things were getting a little sloppy as I got closer to my goal. Last week for example, my calories averaged 2414 calories per day and my ratios were all out of whack at 47% fat, 26% protein, and a whopping 27% from carbs.

So that being said, I think I know what I need to do. I am going to concentrate this week on bringing the carbs down to no more than 70 net, keep my calories more around the 1800 mark (since my BMR is now 1796), and keep the ratios in line at 50% fat, 30% protein, and 20% carbs.

Also, my exercise has fallen off some because we got new weight machines at the gym that I have not learned yet. Until I do, I am going to up my aerobic exercise, and then as I learn the new equipment, I will ease back into the weight workout.

If it goes according to plan, I will move slowly but confidently toward goal and be able to exclaim in the next 2-3 months, "Yea, I am a goalie!!!"

[scaleskl]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Wow, I am just amazed at your 184lb loss. Your weightloss is truly inspiring! Keep on, keeping on!

[mitzimarie]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Hi, Don

I have been following your journey with interest, and I hope that you will continue to update what is going on with you, in this thread. Ever since the Stepping Back thread fizzled out, I have been wondering how you have been doing.

One thing is for sure about OWL... things are never guaranteed to stay the same. Foods from upper rungs that started out being fine for me, ended up being not so fine. You'd think that once a food was tested and found to be tolerated, that would be it. But no... some of them turned on me, and it was back to the drawing board with eliminating certain foods, and adding them back again (or not).

Good luck with these last 10 pounds. Please keep coming back here, to keep us posted on your progress. Go get 'em!

[gonnabskinny]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Thanks Kass! If I lost another 13 lbs, I would be really would be 1/2 the man I used to be! LOL However, I will settle for 10!

Mitzi, I was going to pm you. I know that you went through similar struggles as you got to within the last few pounds before reaching goal, but then you made some adjustments and bam, it all came off. I hope that with me dropping down and making the other adjustments, that it will kick start things. I will definately post the results. Also, I love your newest picture. You have really done awesome. I am sure that all of your family and friends cannot believe the difference!

[Thumper1616]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! What helped you get through it?

[Thumper1616]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! What helped you get through it?

[mitzimarie]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Mitzi, I was going to pm you. I know that you went through similar struggles as you got to within the last few pounds before reaching goal, but then you made some adjustments and bam, it all came off. I hope that with me dropping down and making the other adjustments, that it will kick start things. I will definately post the results. Also, I love your newest picture. You have really done awesome. I am sure that all of your family and friends cannot believe the difference!

Aw, Don... thank you so much.

I am very sure that your dropping down and making adjustments will yield good results. Yes, please do post what you're doing, and how it affects you. It can be quite a process, to nail down the best way to proceed at any given time, since it change up on you. I'll be looking for updates!

I am still playing around with things... always fiddling with something. I haven't changed my ticker, but after struggling around the holidays with a nut addiction, I have kicked them to the curb and gotten down to 122, and have decided to go for 120. I haven't put any of that info in my siggie, because I am not hurrying to do it. Like I said, I'm experimenting with different strategies. Right now, I'm trying to see how many calories I can get away with, if I keep most of my carbs veggies (I eat up to 50 net carbs) and increase calories with foods other than carbs. A lot of the carbs from the other rungs give me trouble. I used to stay between 1300 and 1600 calories, but recently it's been between 1600 and 2000, usually in the 1800's, and I've still been losing even though I "should" technically be eating fewer calories since I weigh less. That's good, because I like to eat. So, I'll be playing around with that, and hopefully drop another pound here and there.

Good luck with your fiddlings.

[gonnabskinny]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Wow Mitzi! Good Job!

Well, I did something this morning that I very rarely do. I weighed mid-week. This morning I just felt lighter, so I hopped on the scale. OK, so I really eased onto it! LOL What I found was that I lost a little more than the pound that I gained last week. So, it looks like things are going in the right direction.

Here is my strategy so far. I log everything that I am going to eat the day before and stick to the plan. I even out my calories, protein, fat, and carbs throughout the day, as much as possible so that by the end of the day, I end up right around the 1800 calorie mark, 135 grams of protein, 100 grams of fat, and 70 net carbs. Here is an example of what I did yesterday.

Breakfast
2 slices of Hormel Microwavable Bacon
1/2 cup of 100% whole grain oats
2 extra large eggs
1/2 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup of small curd 4% cottage cheese
2 tbsp of cream
Total 628 calories, 35 grams of fat, 34 net carbs, and 40 grams of protein

Lunch
2 slices of Mrs Bairds Fiber Plus Whole Grain Bread
1 6 oz can of solid white albacore tuna
2 tbsp of Hellman's mayo
1 tbsp sweet relish with splenda
1 medium stalk of celery
2 cups of cauliflower with 1/2 oz of cream cheese
Total for lunch 585 calories, 30 grams of fat, 23 net carbs, and 50 grams of protein

Dinner
7 oz of porterhouse steak trimmed to 1/8" all grades, measured raw
2 cups of aspargus, cooked
1 Wasa sourdough crispbread
Total 604 calories, 38 grams of fat, 15 net carbs, and 47 grams of protein

Total for the day: 1817 calories, 103 grams of fat (50%), 72 net carbs (20%), and 137 grams of protein (30%)

Today I am having the following

Breakfast
2 extra large eggs
1 oz of candian bacon
1 cup of Fiber One Bran Cerail
1/2 cup of plain soy milk
4 oz of Greek Gods yogurt
1/2 cup of blackberries
1 tbsp of cream

Lunch
7 oz of Market Street spicy chipotle chicken salad
2 cups of cauliflower

Dinner
2 cups of romaine lettuce with cucumber and roma tomato
2 tbsp of jalapeno ranch dressing
6 oz of Sara Lee hardwood smoked turkey breast
2 slices of Sara Lee Baby Swiss Cheese (custom slices)
2 Mt Olive sandwich stuffer dill slices
1 tbsp dijon mustard

Snack
1 hardboiled egg

Total for the day: 1837 calories, 106 grams of fat (52%), 71 net carbs (19%), and 133 grams of protein (29%)

[ValidRouge]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Mitzi, I've found the same thing. Lowerish carb (I've been around 40), higher calories (via FAT 60-65% still) and protein between 25-30% (never over 30) and higher calorie (above 2000, never lower than 1800 or I get RAVENOUS). This works really well for me as long as those carbs are from eggs, veggies, (coffee right now--I'm going to kick that to the curb) maybe a salad dressing here or there, but mostly mayo as my "dressing".

I, too, like to EAT. I have a VERY healthy appetite, always have. So, it's nice to be able to EAT to my appetite as long as I do it with foods I can handle. Vegetables and fatty cuts of meat, and Real butter and mayo and olive oil. That's pretty much what I eat.

I didn't figure this all out until I got really close to my goal. As a matter of fact, in premaintenance and maintenance is where I've really gotten down to the nitty gritty of how my body responds. I *thought* I did during OWL, but it's only been since August that I've really gotten intimate with my body.

[mitzimarie]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Joy, you and I have really been on the same wavelength, lately. Although I don't talk about it a lot in this particular forum, I do best with a high fat percentage. I am aware of how protein should stay at 30%, while fat percentage goes down and carb percentage goes up, but my body likes more fat than that. My protein is is usually between 22 and 26%. I know that flies in the face of what is touted on the board, but since Dr. A didn't spend any time on percentages in the book, and my body thrives this way, I'm doing it.


Having said that... Don, I have always been amazed over how meticulous you are with your percentages, and it clearly works for you. I can't eat nearly the variety of food that you can, but I like to eat as many calories as you do. I get this by eating extra fat and tons of veggies (I am so paranoid of excess protein, and don't like those kinds of foods nearly as much as I like fat, anyway).

Dr. A always said that we need to tailor and individualize what we eat, to fit our lifestyles and tastes, and for me, I LOVE FAT!

[gonnabskinny]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Mitzi, you are so kind to say meticulous instead of the word a^a! LOL! I think I am just getting paranoid as I get closer to goal. I don't want to do anything that is going to sabotage what I have accomplished. I am always trying to learn, so that I will NEVER go back! Been there before (as a two timer) and scared that I might return. That is why I love learning from all the goalies like you and Joy! It gives me confidence that I can not only get to goal, but stay there as well.

Joy, is coffee something that stalls you? I know that Dr. A in DANDR did not endorse caffeinated drinks. Imagine my surprise when I found this article on the Atkins website. http://www.atkins.com/research-libra...e-good-for-you (though a little suspect, since they were trying to push their product) I actually added it back in to try it and it did seem to help me with my workouts as well as making me (ahem) a little more regular! Probably another one of those many, "your mileage may vary" things.

[ValidRouge]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Don, I've seen those studies too. And, I think that it would be okay in moderation. I'm just not a moderation kind of girl. I drink a 4 cup pot of caffeinated coffee every day. Or more. When they talk about the advantages of coffee, I'm sure they're talking a "cup" or two (6 ounce cups at that) a day as opposed to the 4-8 that I drink.

There are other studies that show that the caffeinated coffee (or even decaffeinated at the amount I drink) causes insulin spikes and resulting hypoglycemia. That increases cravings and hunger as we seek out food to increase blood glucose. And, if insulin causes us to store fat, by my giving my body this caffeine all day, might it be storing fat rather than burning it like I want it to?

[gonnabskinny]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Don, I've seen those studies too. And, I think that it would be okay in moderation. I'm just not a moderation kind of girl. I drink a 4 cup pot of caffeinated coffee every day. Or more. When they talk about the advantages of coffee, I'm sure they're talking a "cup" or two (6 ounce cups at that) a day as opposed to the 4-8 that I drink.

There are other studies that show that the caffeinated coffee (or even decaffeinated at the amount I drink) causes insulin spikes and resulting hypoglycemia. That increases cravings and hunger as we seek out food to increase blood glucose. And, if insulin causes us to store fat, by my giving my body this caffeine all day, might it be storing fat rather than burning it like I want it to?

Good point! Of course, I say that after having 3 mugs (not cups) of coffee today! Moderation??? What is that??? Yikes!!!

[gonnabskinny]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Well, I weighed again today and am down to 208!!! Yippee!!! I guess this is working!

Today I did great for breakfast and lunch, but then I got thrown off a little when we went to Jason's deli for dinner.

So here is what I had today.

Breakfast
1/2 cup of whole grain oats
2 xl eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup strawberries
2 slices bacon

Lunch
8 oz lump crabmeat
1.5 tbsp mayo
3 slices of colby jack cheese
2 roma tomatoes

Dinner
Salad Bar/
4 cups of lettuce
4 slices of cucumber
1/4 cup mushrooms
1 slice of onion
1/4 oz of cheese
3 medium eggs
3 tbsp blue cheese dressing

Total 1917 calories, 119 grams of fat (55%), 66 net carbs (18%), and 131 grams of protein (27%)

[gonnabskinny]

Re: 10 More Pounds To Go and Moving On Down

Things are still heading in the right direction and I think I will have a really good weigh in on Monday. Also, I just got the results of my physical this week. I posted this a couple of other places hoping for some answers, but I thought I would go ahead and post it here.

The Results:
Resting Heart Rate 66 (which is really low. It represents that I am getting pretty fit)
Blood Pressure 120/80 (pretty good)
Measured High Ketone levels in my urine (which meant that I was in ketosis, when they did the physical. The doctor thought it was because of fasting before the physical, but WE know that it is due to burning more fat with Atkins rather than storing glucose)

Here is the dilema and I am not sure, why this is an issue, but then I am not a doctor.

Triglycerides = 69 (in the optimal range)
LDL (bad cholesterol) = 124 (in the near optimal range)
HDL (good cholesterol) = 85 (in the optimal range)
Total cholesterol = 223 (in the borderline high range)

How do you go from being in the optimal to near optimal range in all categories, but when it is figured together, end up with borderline high cholesterol??? The doctor wants me to cut out red meat, eggs, and saturated fats and come back in three months to have it checked again. Not sure how I can do that on Atkins. I would think that all of the other numbers DO NOT support that. In fact, I would say that it is evident that my body is becoming a fat burning machine and actually operates better with fat in my system. Then again, I am not a doctor! I am just puzzled. Am I missing something???