2007 Read The Book Challenge

[brandywine1241]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

Jimmie, I agree that using a food logging program takes time, but to me, the most important aspect of it is the accountability. It makes it harder to fool ones self. And the big side benefits of doing it on the computer are that the nutritional information is calculated automatically and if used in conjuction with the weight log, can provide valuable insights into how ones body reacts to various situations.

[hrgillespie]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

I have a super busy day today and a very busy weekend coming up so I just wanted to pop in and let you know I did the HW assignment this morning for this week ..........

I may be the odd man out but I hate all the time it takes to log everything into fitday or a similar program. I keep a notebook on my counter and each day gets a page and I guickly jot down information and do my calculations there ...... Much easier for me!


Heidi

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

I have a super busy day today and a very busy weekend coming up so I just wanted to pop in and let you know I did the HW assignment this morning for this week ..........

I may be the odd man out but I hate all the time it takes to log everything into fitday or a similar program. I keep a notebook on my counter and each day gets a page and I guickly jot down information and do my calculations there ...... Much easier for me!


Heidi

gotcha heidi!
oh hey, you're not the odd girl out at all. i hate fit day. but i love how it makes me look at what i'm doing and eating. when i get comfortable with what i am doing at certain points, i don't do it anymore until i run into trouble.
whatever works for you is a good thing ! same as for everyone. i would say it's a "must do" for anyone new to atkins, whether it be fitday or similar program or simply writing ie down, which is what i did at the beginning of this journey. EVERYTHING consumed, got recorded!

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

this seems to be the most appropriate time to tell the tale. i've had a great segway into it. this will be quite a lengthy post and for that i am sorry... or not. if it helps one person, then the length is worth it, but i wanted to show what has been going on with me and where i think many people get off track.

back on September 16, i stepped on the scale and it said "GET OFF ME!". actually it said 131 pounds. one pound over my original goal weight and 11 pounds over the final can-i-maintain-it goal. i'd been settled in quite nicely at 125 for many many months, continuing to exercise and gain muscle, thus the gain from 120 to 125.

well, needless to say, 131 will not do. i had watched the weight reappear almost at breakneck speed, which led to stress, which led to gain and the whole thing was sickening. it was time to buckle down and do what i needed
to do.

being the great rung mucker upper of all time, i decided to "do it right", get control and find my exact CCLL. i confered with 2 very close peepgirls and i was off.

induction: within 3 days i was in ketosis and at 127 pounds. and as quickly as one can say "more veggies" i moved on to owl, rung one.

owl: at owl, rung 1, i added 5 grams of more veggies per day. a day later, i was 126. by sept 21, i was at 125, but didn't feel that i was at the point of finding my CCLL , although that was the weight i had held tight at for so long.

owl, rung two: on sept 24, i added 5 grams per day of dairy. i was at 124 at this time.

now i could continue to tell dates but that would be pretty boring. i will say that i have keep pretty much true to plan. i'm off here and there but i've seen the mistake and corrected it the following day. the off part was not by cheats but by mistakingly adding 8 or 10 carbs instead of 5.

i don't do percentages any longer, although i am not recommending or disputing the use of them. i've found what works for me and it's by the book.

each morning this is what i record in my fitday journal. although it's not in blue.

weight today
more vegetables 20+ carbs =
including starchy veggies
this carb count should be no less than 1/2 of total net carbs.
dairy 5 carbs =
nuts and seeds 5 carbs =
berry rung 5 carbs =
* wine etc. = 0
legume rung 5 carbs =
fruit rung 5 carbs =
starchy veg (added above) ~

net carbs -

we know by reading our book that we can have 20 net carbs right off the bat, the majority if those being from veggies. just figure 10 +1 and that's a good starting point.
on rung 1, we add 5 and we continue up the ladder.
when i log my food these days, i can see automatically that if i eat a carb freedom yogurt, which has 5 net carbs, i've filled my allowable dairy for the day. i place a * symbol at the front designating that i can not have any more dairy for the day. my entry then looks like this: (i've skipped the wine rung so it always has the symbol)

weight today 124
more vegetables 20+ carbs =
including starchy veggies
this carb count should be no less than 1/2 of total net carbs.
* dairy 5 carbs = 5
nuts and seeds 5 carbs =
berry rung 5 carbs =
* wine etc. = 0
legume rung 5 carbs =
fruit rung 5 carbs =
starchy veg (added above) ~

net carbs - 5

(interject a public service announcement)
IF YOU HAD 5 NET CARBS OF SOME KIND OF DAIRY, YOU CAN NOT THEN GO ADD 5 CARBS OF SOME OTHER DAIRY ON THE SAME DAY. 5 grams per rung, not per food that fits in the catagory. this is where i think many people get off track.

(back to the program)
now lets say, i eat 2 ounces of almonds. i've checked my label and added that brand to my customized list. now my entry looks like this:

weight today 124
more vegetables 20+ carbs =
including starchy veggies
this carb count should be no less than 1/2 of total net carbs.
* dairy 5 carbs = 5
* nuts and seeds 5 carbs = 2
berry rung 5 carbs =
* wine etc. = 0
legume rung 5 carbs =
fruit rung 5 carbs =
starchy veg (added above) ~

net carb - 7

although the nut allowance is under 5, i may not eat any other food in that catagory. if i do, i try to keep it 5 or under. most times i don't care to add anything else. in the above example i could have 3 more net grams.

again, i could bore you but won't (or perhaps i already have, in which case you have quit reading anyway). i am now on the starchy vegetables rung holding steady at 124 for 4 or 5 days now. i was at 125 for 2 months. some might have thought, "oh you've found your CCLL" but i say," no i have not". i think i was losing at such a slow pace that is was barely noticeable. the fact that i am at 124 now proves to me that i have not yet found my CCLL. my numbers are recorded in my Stats journal if anybody would care to look as i am not repeating them here.

often, i do not eat from every rung every day. some days i'm able to eat 3 or 4 grams from each. rarely do i go over 8 per day on any rung. if and when i do, i quickly get that in check the next day.

if i am close to my 5 grams per rung per day and if i get at least half my net carb count from vegetables, then i've done what i was suppose to do.

i do not worry about fat or protein any longer. after logging this way for 2 months, i've had no problem with either of those numbers. they seem to naturally fall into place when i add the 5 grams properly.

please note that during this 2 months of experimenting and doing it right, i've rarely seen a gain. i am not bouncing around or fluctuating like i use to do. every through the stress that i've had (close peeps know i've had my share lately) i stll have remained steady.

so there you go. i'm proud of what i've learned about me and this woe over the last 2 months. i'm really glad this was so timely with the challenge.

special thanks to silly and floyd who saw me through this every step of the way.

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

i'm talking to myself here....
i've finished part two both the reading and the homework. becky held out to the very end with that last one, didn't she!

i think chapter 19 could have been called PLAN PLAN PLAN!
1. we were certainly urged many times to get back in control if bad habits replaced our good ones. he stresses it time and again to not wait weeks or months but after bad eating, in a matter of days we should get right back at our woe.

2. did you notice he used the word occasionally? falling off the wagon, binging, eating off plan was not meant to be a weekend event like watching football or a nascar race.

3. did you realize and did it hit you again that controlled carb alternatives typically contain a mere 10% of the carbs of the standard fare? awesome!

4. dr. atkins stresses several times to avoid aspartame. in the early days of my journey i experienced some problems with this product. other times i seemed okay. the best bet for me and the choice with less stress was to avoid it.

5. i'm glad he addressed serving size. a can of soda is MORE THAN ONE SERVING! all too often i see menus that include "1 can diet soda". if you're doing that 2 times a day, you're getting well over 4 servings, perhaps even as many as 5 servings per day!

funny side note: i'm glad we use the phrase "net carbs". poor dr. a keeps calling it "the carbs that count when doing atkins" lolol

i have other notes but i'm going to let someone else chat for awhile. right after i tell you this story.

my mom used to work in a cafeteria at a tire plant. her and the other ladies were allowed to take the day old doughnuts home. mom, being a single mom, widowed at the tender age of 44, took ever opportunity to feed her family without assistance through the gov't. channels. so we had doughnuts! lots and lots of doughnuts! my poor brother .... his room as a the end of the house where the big deep freeze was. everyone else was at the other end. so when everyone else was in bed, he'd have his fill of doughnuts. now i am not talking the normal doughnut. i'm talking jelly filled, cream filled, turnovers, the works. poor poor brother... he has a weight problem to this day.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

4. now on the 14 day induction menu that we see in chapter 18, which is telling us once again, how to do induction, i take exception to the Sunday breakfast listed on page 235.


all i can say is grrrrrrrr.
look at the menu and we see the Atkins baking mix and almonds. NOT INDUCTION FRIENDLY unless you're doing the induction from the atkins nutritional site, and that is not what adbb is about.
there are other menu mess ups but that one stuck out, to me, like a sore thumb. and "Two Bran-a Crisp crackers"? show me a person addicted to flour and sugar, or anyone else for that matter, that can eat just two crackers..... not gonna happen.

imho, i think the menus don't reflect the rules very well and it only serves to confuse the reader. all i can is adhere to the written words and be cautious as you look over the menus.

The other times I have read the book, I sorta skipped over the inconsistencies. For this challenge, I am reading every word, and I can really see how the newbies get so confused.

Right away under rules of induction, page 123, rule #4: ... Do not eat any nuts or seeds in the first two weeks. ... Go over to page 133 to the very first sample menu to dinner: Broiled salmon (9 oz.), Kale topped with garlic, lemon and sesame seeds.

On page 127, you are limited to two to three TABLESPOONS of cream per day. But, on page 129 you are allowed three OUNCES of heavy cream. Two tablespoons is one fluid ounce.

This is why I just use common sense and ignore the inconsistencies. Since I lose slowly, I usually go with the most restrictive rule.

I keep a food and beverage journal in which I write down every bite of food and every drop I drink and the time, but I cannot make myself do Fitday. I use a Steno Book, with each day getting a page. I'm on book 6 already. I also record my weigh-ins and have my to-do list at the bottom with boxes to check off. I can go back to the times I was losing well, and just duplicate my menus or can see what I was eating when I stalled. This works well for me.

Sunny!

[Sherri]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

Sunny, I too write down everything that goes in my mouth every day now for three and a half years. I have all my journals together and dated so it's easy for me to find a refference of a menu or an observation from throughout my 155 lb. weightloss. I was doing fitday when I first found this board but realized I do just as well by journaling. It's just something I've disciplined myself to do from the begining. I can see if I had fitday from day 1 of my weightloss journey that I would probably still be doin it. I also have a great carb count book that I refer to. JIMMY- All done with Part 2. Thanks. I found that I was able to do most of the homework before reading. Don't worry, I read. LOL

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

good conversation girls!

sunny, i would agree that sticking on the stricter side of the inconsistancies would be best even if you aren't metabolically challenge.

sherri, i have nearly all of my exercise logs on paper too. every thing from the 6 wec's i've been in. i thought about compiling everything into one journal but the task seemed to overwhelm me. lolol

oh... and i gotcha recorded!

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

On page 127, you are limited to two to three TABLESPOONS of cream per day. But, on page 129 you are allowed three OUNCES of heavy cream. Two tablespoons is one fluid ounce.

i wonder if that was a typo? maybe it was suppose to say tablespoon instead of ounces????

i think dr. a should have gotten a different proof reader.

[brandywine1241]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

3 ounces of heavy cream has only 2 carbs, so my guess is that is what was meant.

[LooseShoes]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

Thanks for sharing your story, Jimmie. I think some of us think those of you who have achieved goal never have any problems, and that gives us unrealistic expectations when we get there. I've thought often of why I let myself get 80 pounds overweight. Why did I let my upper limit of tolerance go that high? The 5 pound rule sounds so much better and I plan to really stick with that when I get to goal. I can't see working this hard for so long and letting it all go again, but I know it's very possible, and actually quite easy to do. I hope I never lose that fear of being a size 20 again. Still working on finishing reading, I'll finish it tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing how to find our CCLL. I was really confused with that and read a lot of stickies before it made any sense at all to me. Somehow the book didn't help me understand that part very well.

[brandywine1241]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

I want to take back what I said last night about the cream. On p.230, it states 2-3 TABLESPOONS of cream. So it's tablespoons to ounces 2 to 1. Somebody really ought to publish a new version with all the errors removed and nothing added.

Jimmie, I found your CCLL story very interesting and enlightening. However I have a question. Say you had not reached goal weight yet and you just added berries (no, not berries-I love them, how about legumes) and your weight and measurements stayed the same for a week. What would that mean? It could be: 1)a food intolerance 2)you have reached your CCLL or 3)a natural hesitation. How do you tell?

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

I want to take back what I said last night about the cream. On p.230, it states 2-3 TABLESPOONS of cream. So it's tablespoons to ounces 2 to 1. Somebody really ought to publish a new version with all the errors removed and nothing added.

Jimmie, I found your CCLL story very interesting and enlightening. However I have a question. Say you had not reached goal weight yet and you just added berries (no, not berries-I love them, how about legumes) and your weight and measurements stayed the same for a week. What would that mean? It could be: 1)a food intolerance 2)you have reached your CCLL or 3)a natural hesitation. How do you tell?

okay we'll say lugumes. does anybody else like saying "legumes"?
soy flour is on the legume rung and i've been enjoying pancakes. i'm happy!
okay....
you add legumes (at the 5 gram allowable limit), for one week, no loss in inches and pounds

1. if you are not gaining, if you didn't break out with cravings, i would discount the food intolerance. if you can't tolerate the particular food, i think you'll know it earlier than a week. probably within hours is more likely.

2. you have to give your body time to see if this number, whatever it is, is your CCLL. it's not a number you're going to know in a week or two.
here's why: when you get to the upper rungs, we all know weight loss is slow even for those who find it easy to lose weight. for someone who is metabolically challenge, it could be a snails pace and you might not see a loss for some time. becky (dreamof145) is a classic example of this. she has had times when she has gone months and months without losing. but then will lose.

3. you may have hit a plateau. how do you tell? you keep doing what you're doing and listen to your body. watch the scale and keep tabs on those carbs. if you add a rung and a weight gain occurs, drop back and lose whatever you put on. if you add the rung again and you see another gain, you may be seeing your CCLL.

silly has found her number. maybe she can speak to the specifics of how she finally realized what her golden number was.

i moved up some of the rungs very quickly, maybe only staying on them for a week. others, like the legumes, i spent more time on. i've been on starchy veggies now for a couple week. i'd have to check my fitday to make sure of the time frame. but again, i am not gaining.

when i eat from all the rungs and my net carbs are in the 50 to 55 range or even 60 per day, i have not gained. i'm keeping those numbers in mind because if get to 70 and i see a gain, i may have found my number. but i also have to keep in mind the daily fluctuations that i might have because of age, hormones and all the other things that we've read about.

[jimmie 48]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

since our last chapter of part two deals with planning, would any one care to discuss how to plan for any certain event?

tossing around ideas might be helpful especially with thanksgiving next week. with that in mind, be sure to keep watch on the portal page. there's an article coming in the very near future that might help all of us get through the holiday without loosing our belts.

[sillygirl]

Re: 2007 Read The Book Challenge

My number? Interesting. My story is that I stayed in induction far too long. Finally, I moved up the rungs part way, and really, after I ate more food in general I started losing my final pounds.

Then I was maintaining fine, and still not eating from every rung out of fear. Well, I gained 8 pounds. So I joined a challenge, started fit daying and staying very on track and in the process bumped myself up every rung. I'm still fearful of the grain and starchy rungs, but I do partake on occasion now.

My number didn't come in until I was eating from every food group. I can eat 60-70 carbs each day and stay within a few pounds of my weight. It still fluctuates daily, which is expected.

Here's what I know. Portion control is a must. If I know I will be having something starchy for dinner, I keep the rest of my day under control with veggies and proteins. I measure everything still and probably always will because my eyes are definitely bigger than a portion!

The main thing for me is that I know I am eating very healthily. My grains/legumes etc are 100% whole, my meats and veggies fresh. I also find that the longer I remain at a fairly constant weight, the more my body will be happy at that weight. For me, that has been the whole purpose of Atkins. To learn how to eat real foods and not gain back my weight.