Why are we here?????

[Bren]

huummm...........

Because we are all fighting a battle against weight!!


Some have won the war, some are still battling it.

Bottom line is we are here to help and encourage each other. We are here as people in all stages of weight loss.

IMHO....... and this is IMHO.
Yep, you know where I am headed here. The infamous calorie debate!

In the three years I have spent here at ADBB I have seen many many people come and go. Some have been a success, some have not. Some keep coming back........ NEVER GIVE UP!

DO I CARE IF YOU COUNT CALORIES? Nope! I only want each and everyone here to be a success. If your a success on the Atkins way of eating, then we are doing what we have set out to do!

Alot of people come here with very very odd ideas on what Atkins is. You ask for advise and it is given here, for free, in the hopes of helping everyone on this journey. The advise is based upon what has worked for many other people who have done this and succeed.

Granted there are a small percentage of people who have challenges. Bound to happen. What concerns me is when I read a post, I try to look at it from the point of view of where "I" was when I started here. I was looking for ANYTHING other then another low-calorie/low-fat plan. Had I seen some of the posts I am seeing here lately......this old broad would have been long gone!

Again, in the three years here I have come accross very very very few people whom have needed to count calories........IN THE BEGINNING.

Which brings me to a point I think may help this entire dilemna. How about posts such as these go to the OWL forums and any other forum besides INDUCTION/EXTENDED INDUCTION and the MAIN forum. These are the forums most new people read. A very few of the new people starting this journey will ever need to know any of this information and if they do it will not be until well into their Atkins Journey.

We are only scaring people away and that is the LAST thing I ever want to do here, as far from our mission as we can get.

So....... out of respect, compassion and the need to help those who are asking for it. Let's keep it BY the book for induction/extended induction and the main forum.
AND.......let's also remember and always try to keep in mind before you post here

RESPECT EACH OTHER AND AGREE TO DISAGREE.

[MotherOfGizmo]

Re: Why are we here?????

Great idea Bren! Lets move this so we can stop confusing the new folks!

[2big4mysize]

Re: Why are we here?????



gosh bren Why Am I here?

i'm just here waiting for you to post your lean body mass percent like you said you would back in 2004

[wannabethintoo]

Re: Why are we here?????

We are only scaring people away and that is the LAST thing I ever want to do here, as far from our mission as we can get.

How do you know that we are not helping some people? Why do you assume we are scaring them away? It is simply an additional tool to be used in certain circumstances until the "eating to satisfy hunger" thing kicks in. I personally don't see the problem.

[Richt]

Re: Why are we here?????

How do you know that we are not helping some people? Why do you assume we are scaring them away? It is simply an additional tool to be used in certain circumstances until the "eating to satisfy hunger" thing kicks in. I personally don't see the problem.

Wannabe, I am sure that Bren was referring to the constant bickering and fighting that is possibly going to scare off the newbies. Not the reason behind the fighting.

Rich

[Bren]

Re: Why are we here?????

I see a problem Wanna when I recieve a days worth of pm's from people whom are upset/hurt/angry/confused. I based my decision to post this in a public forum from the amount of pm's I received. The "confused" is the one that bothers me the most.

Just my usual "agree to disagree and respect each other".

I will say this is not directed at anyone in particular, I just do not see where it is at all helpful at this point.

[wannabethintoo]

Re: Why are we here?????

I have no problem agreeing to disagree.

Thanks Bren.

[ttdriver]

Re: Why are we here?????

Hurray Hurray its finally been said!!

We are all here to help each other become a healthy weight FOR LIFE. Not to argue, debate, and bicker.

Thank you, Bren, for posting this!! Yet another reason why I love !!!

Betty

[cleochatra]

Re: Why are we here?????

I have no problems with agreeing to disagree. I've also definitely stated that in the first 14 days calories should never be an issue for newbies.

I am sorry some have taken the issue so personally. To me, my intentions are to help people in the most sincere and honest way I know how.

I appreciate that the calorie discussion is not being shut down, but simply moved to the appropriate forums... as well, I do believe people asking about being stalled in the main forum are not necessarily in induction. That's something to keep in mind.

Ratios are not in the book, but calories aren't not in the book. I think we can have varying degrees of agreement (or disagreement) and let people decide what best works for them in the end.

As always, keeping to issues, while not attacking the people having the discussion is key.

I appreciate your willingness to look at both sides of the issue, Bren. Thank you.

[cypressgirl]

Re: Why are we here?????

As a personal way of doing things, I LOVE to see things from all sides so I can really get a feel for an issue before seeing how I can best use the info out there.

I very much appreciate some of the info that was put out there during the aforementioned discussion and I also really appreciate the "reminder" to play nice!

I love my ADBB family and couldn't have become so confident in the WOE/WOL without them. Even "family" members have to understand that we won't always agree with everything but we should always support & respect one another!

[Binsk]

Re: Why are we here?????

Thank you for your post Bren. I fear that my recent post may have fueled that fiery debate. Let me assure you, that I had not idea that the thread would become hostile. In my mind I was just posing a question. I wasn't even suggesting that people need to count calories, infact, I was thinking that we didn't need to because Dr. Atkins had cleverly built in a caloric control with the ratios. I made a mistake in thinking that the ratios were in the DANDR book. I had assumed they were because they have been posted so much on this board. In addition, I had not considered the fiber aspect. Someone in the thread correctly pointed out that there are many definitions of the word "count", and I can say that I meant it in the sense of do calories matter, and that they probably do, but because I thought the controls were built in, we didn't have to worry about counting them.

I'm sorry that my logic was faulty, but that's why I posted to see if others could find fault with it, not to start Weight War III.

I appreciate all of the help that has been given, and I hope you will all forgive me for not having posed my question in a clearer manner.

[not2late]

Re: Why are we here?????

Thank you for your post Bren. I fear that my recent post may have fueled that fiery debate. Let me assure you, that I had not idea that the thread would become hostile. In my mind I was just posing a question. I wasn't even suggesting that people need to count calories, infact, I was thinking that we didn't need to because Dr. Atkins had cleverly built in a caloric control with the ratios. I made a mistake in thinking that the ratios were in the DANDR book. I had assumed they were because they have been posted so much on this board. In addition, I had not considered the fiber aspect. Someone in the thread correctly pointed out that there are many definitions of the word "count", and I can say that I meant it in the sense of do calories matter, and that they probably do, but because I thought the controls were built in, we didn't have to worry about counting them.

I'm sorry that my logic was faulty, but that's why I posted to see if others could find fault with it, not to start Weight War III.

I appreciate all of the help that has been given, and I hope you will all forgive me for not having posed my question in a clearer manner.

I knew what you were getting at when you posted that thread. And I specificially I posted the quote from DANDR about not needing to count calories but they do matter in order to nip that "calorie counting" thing in the bud. Apparently it wasn't good enough. I didn't know that thread evolved into the 'need to count calories-don't need to count calories' debate because I usually don't log in at night. So, it was a big surprize to me the next morning to see what happened in that thread.

So I should be apologizing to you, Binsk, because as a mod I didn't do enough on my first post to avoid that mess. You had a valid question that should have lead to an interesting discussion about the science behind the diet.

[Rick]

Re: Why are we here?????

Bren!!!

Thank you! Perhaps this could be another forum? I agree, it doesn't belong in the main forum where newbies are seeing it from the beginning. I am a relative newbie myself, and this would not have been good for me to start with. In the beginning I just needed to learn which foods were ok, and how to eat to satisfy my hunger. I do believe that I've done that, and don't snack between meals, binge, etc.... it's working for me. The whole calorie thing is a separate topic, but a good one. I honestly believe that some people will hit a wall because they maybe haven't had a great relationship with the earlier stages of Atkins and have emotional issues with food. For them, calories definitely do matter. So, if they can look at them... not rely on them, it may help them reach the next stage. I say, whatever works... If you need a crutch, then here it is... Yep, eat from the acceptable foods list, but don't over indulge... does that make sense?

Again, I thank you Bren for posting this. I hope that we can all get through this without causing any more harm in the friendships that have already been made. I totally respect each and every one of you who have made a committment to making yourselves "better"., as I will hope that you respect me.

Rick

[ttdriver]

Re: Why are we here?????

Rick, EVERYTHING YOU SAY MAKES PERFECT SENSE!! I love your posts!

Betty