Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

[joyceee]

Hello,

I am on my 5th day and have lost 5 lbs. 4th time on atkins. Never have problem losing. I have seen a lot of people on the forums who have repeatedly returned to this diet.

Can I hear from some members who have maintained their weight loss for a long period of time and how they are able to do that.

Have a great day

Joyceeeeee

[liv]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Why do want to know this? Do you have any worries or something? I am reading between the lines or at least trying to

We do have many members that reach goal here but not all of them end up hanging around. They move on and live their lives away from ADBB. (I am not sure how they break the ADBB addiction - I am totally hooked)
There are some around here if you read different post that are maintainers and long time members. Just look around.

I hit goal last november and have only maintained for a couple of months so I do not qualify. I have been doing Atkins for over two years. I think a key to be successful is to do it right and to learn about your own body as you slowly move through OWL.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Follow the OWL carb ladder.

Don't think you know more than Dr. Atkins.

Don't tweak too soon.

Plan. Plan for today. Plan for tomorrow. Plan for an event. Plan for what you'll do "if".

Don't think a stall means "Atkins has stopped working".

Stop dieting.

Atkins isn't a "diet" ... there's no "off" ... it's a way of eating for the rest of your life. You need to say "good bye" to the foods that got you in to trouble in the first place. Don't try to recreate the food life you used to have ... create a new food life.

Don't get bored with what you're eating ... there's enough low carb cookbooks and recipes out there ...

Accept that Atkins is "simply how you eat". You don't need to explain to anyone why you're not eating <insert food here>. It's none of their business ... and they really don't care that much about what you're eating ... they have their own plate.

[liv]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

So J - you are obviously one of our long term successful members and have our admiration for how well you are keeping up. When did you hit goal and what have been some of your personal experiences throughout your journey.
Just wondering I too love to learn from what people have done.

[Desertthorn]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Hi Joycee, there are some great folks on this board who are at goal or close, 2big, Liv and lots others. They are really helpful and will help you with your specific questions. Just check out their signatures to see how well they are doing or did do.

[joyceee]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Liv,

It appears that you have something to hide when you become so defensive. I thought my question was a good one. It seems to me and I have noticed others being chastised in these forums, that they are ran by a few and any questioning of the principles of diet is not allowed.

I don't belong here.

Thanks anyway,

Joyce can take me off the roster,

Joyce

[not2late]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

This is a good topic. It's too bad the OP does not want to stick around.

Anyhow, I reached my weight goal and my clothing size goal. But I'm not ready to hang up the "Maintenance" sign yet. I'm still figuring out that "right" balance because I have a hairline fracture in my foot that isn't healing properly and so I can't to the exercise that I once did.

What I have found is that just because you reach your goal, the work does not end. You have to be vigilant if you want to remain at goal weight. Otherwise, you will be restarting the diet all over again. I think that is the downfall of many goalies: they reach goal and think "Wow! Now I can eat that piece of cake!" Sure you can have your cake, but you can't have it everyday or twice a day or three times a day if you want to remain at your goal.

That's why if you want to remain at goal, ATkins is a lifestyle. If you just want to lose a few pounds (that you will most likely regain, then lose, then regain, then lose) Atkins is a "diet". The same holds for other "diets" like the Mediterranean Diet, Ornish, Weight Watchers, the Zone, etc. It's a lifestyle.

[Desertthorn]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Joyce, I pm'd you but please don't leave. This board is a good one and worth fighting for. Stay to help make it better!
I've also noticed some snippy answers lately on other posts but I think we can work together to make it supportive and not confrontational. Don't leave.

[WetBanana]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Wow - I didn't think she was being defensive at all, I thought she answered some of your questions nicely and opened it up for the long-time maintainers to come in and offer some more to you.

It's very difficult to gauge the inflection of the written word, I hope you'll come back to get some more advice from others.

Your one statement that the board is run by a select few...well, those are the ones that post a lot. You can be one of them if you stick around and post.

You are encouraged to ask questions - how else will you learn? Just reading and following blindly seems pretty silly in my opinion.

Anyway - I'm not on maintenance, and won't be for awhile, but I'm sticking to my original goals and have been for the past five months. So from somebody who has a lot of weight to lose but is still going strong, my advice is to just be true to yourself, listen to your body, and unless somebody comes right out and harasses you - I wouldn't judge the members here so harshly - the ones who post often usually have the most advice and are a wealth of good information.

Welcome to ADBB! (unless you've left already)

[adreliluc]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Liv,

It appears that you have something to hide when you become so defensive. I thought my question was a good one. It seems to me and I have noticed others being chastised in these forums, that they are ran by a few and any questioning of the principles of diet is not allowed.

I don't belong here.

Thanks anyway,

Joyce can take me off the roster,

Joyce

Not sure how you see Liv's response as being defensive..


You asked a good question - and she made a good point.


Though some of us may not have maintained 100%, some of us have been on Atkins for a long time and know the ins and outs.

Those who have maintained and never regained *and honestly I find it hard to believe that they don't struggle at least a little from time to time* - they are great motivators and full of great information.


As are those who have had ups and downs.


You can learn from both!


Anyway, sorry that ADBB isn't for you...

You are more than welcome to question the principles but as I'm sure you've noticed - we go by the book. So what's to question?


Read it - you either get it and agree or you don't.

[PolarBearKing]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Joyce, I agree that some of the admin, mods & long time ADBB members can be a little harsh at times but don't go taking off yet. There is lots of good info here.

Seeing as this is my third time around, I don't really qualify to answer your question, although I did keep my weight off for a few years the first time around. You have to find what works for you & your body within the Atkins lifestyle. When I was maintaining, I gave up beer and switched to Jack Daniels and diet coke (in moderation of coarse). I also changed what I "normally" ate from burgers & fries to Cobb salads for example. I've never been a big "sweets" person, so that wasn't really an issue for me. Yet when I did have a dessert I just shrugged and moved on. Maybe reduce my carb intake for a week and increase my excercise so as not to fail completely.

Personally, FOR ME, I like to follow the old addage(sp?) that you're not a failure until you quit trying. Welcome back, good luck with your program.

[adreliluc]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

Hello,

I am on my 5th day and have lost 5 lbs. 4th time on atkins. Never have problem losing. I have seen a lot of people on the forums who have repeatedly returned to this diet.

Can I hear from some members who have maintained their weight loss for a long period of time and how they are able to do that.

Have a great day

Joyceeeeee

By the way, this is your '4th time on Atkins'...
Your best individual tool is yourself.
Figure out what happened the other times, where you slipped up, why you got off plan, why you keep coming back..

Those answers will set you free!

Someone else's story might not mean anything to you.. at least not like your own story will.

If you want to know how they maintained - they most likely follow the plan, exercise, drink their water - and over all 'made the change'..

You (and I) can make the change too.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

So J - you are obviously one of our long term successful members and have our admiration for how well you are keeping up. When did you hit goal and what have been some of your personal experiences throughout your journey.
Just wondering I too love to learn from what people have done.

>>When did you hit goal>>

September 2005, as it says in my Status. <smile>

>>what have been some of your personal experiences throughout your journey.>>

When I started Atkins, I wasn’t doing it for me … my husband was the one who wanted to “do” Atkins. I realized that if I was going to be in charge of the food, I had to know what Atkins really was. So I started reading the book. No surprise, but the book made sense! I had not done well with “low fat” … like many, I gained weight.

Switching my thinking to “fat good” was literally the hardest part of Atkins. However, once I saw how well Atkins “worked” … and how good it made both my husband and I feel, it was easy to commit.

Also, Atkins solved a problem I had had for years … what to make for dinner. Since I realized planning was key, I found that knowing what was for dinner for quite a few night out made doing Atkins that much easier.

Have I had “bumps”? Yes. There was a period of time when I only lose 0.2 pounds a month. Did I wonder why? Yes. Did I ever figure it out? No. Did I worry about it? No. Because by then, Atkins was (and is) simply how I eat.

Does it help that I don’t live around family … so I don’t have all those family gatherings to deal with? Probably. However, there’s holidays, church functions, weddings, baby/wedding showers, overseas travel, travel to see family, dinner with friends, date night with hubby … and all those life events that we all have … and they’re all opportunities to make good choices. Rather than see them as stumbling blocks, I see them as opportunities to succeed.

I am fortunate in that I’m not an addicted eater … the only food I had a relationship with was chocolate. When starting Atkins, it was hard to accept that chocolate wouldn’t be around any more … fortunately I realized that it wasn’t really my friend … and that I had had 50 years with it … and that was long enough.

I also realized that trying to duplicate what my food life had been before Atkins with the low carb version was a mistake … so I don’t try to find low carb chocolate “treats”, nor do I make Dreamfield’s pasta. I don’t see what’s to be gained by allowing old habits a handhold in my new life.

I also learned that it was perfectly OK to treat my body with respect. I didn’t really eat “junk” food before Atkins, so there was no reason to start eating it now … low carb junk food is still junk food. Atkins is about “whole, unprocessed” food … not products.

What are some of the tricks that got me to goal (with a 50+ pound loss) and keep the weight off?

While losing, I kept a pretty detailed food journal, I weigh twice a day (I like lists). For me, this is simply how I eat. Even now I journal my food ... maybe not with carb counts, but with what I ate.

I take doing Atkins seriously...

I recognize that it's not really about the losing... it's about keeping the weight off.

Some of the things I've learned over the years:

there is life without chocolate

just because <insert food> is on the table, doesn't mean I have to eat it

if I am going to intentionally have a non-Atkins food, it had better be the absolute best quality - and one is enough

it is possible to get a complete dinner on the table in 30 minutes

people in any kind of social situation are WAY more interested in what's on their plate than what's on mine

"No, thank you" is a perfectly acceptable phrase - even if it has to be repeated

I can eat "on plan" anywhere - even under the most trying circumstances. Food is fuel, it doesn't change the outcome of any life crisis.

And there's nothing wrong with not having low carb "junk" food -- low carb "treats" are not your friend -- it's still "junk".

[2big4mysize]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

been a gaolie since 2004.
I foolow Dr Atkins plan still and since I know I'm a carboholic I don't do the carb banking method he mentions some folk can do in the maintnenance phases.

I love my atkins veggies healthy fats and boy does that recipe section have many many great recipes tried by folk who were also doing the eating plan.

hang around. you can put anybody you think is being mean on your ignore list. of course you just might miss the info you need to know

[PolarBearKing]

Re: Can I Hear from Members with Longevity

atkinsgal08, nice post.