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Stopped playing around, took the plunge
Hello all - new member here but occasional lurker on and off for some time. I have played with low-carb from time to time throughout my life, but never fully committed to it... usually would lose 10 to 20 pounds (when 50 or more was needed), then would start to add this and that back in until I was no longer anywhere near low carb and would return to my normal eating after a few months. Of course the weight would come back on rather quickly. Especially since I am truly a carb addict - I can fairly accurately predict from any list of foods which is highest in carbs based on how much I would desire to eat that item, LOL! (white potatoes, white rice, pastas, breading on anything, crust on a pot pie, etc).
Over the last several years, I made a number of dietary changes. First I started reducing (to a very, very small percent) my intake of nearly all forms of added sweeteners other than stevia and honey in small amounts. I also stopped eating almost any processed foods at all... which of course cut out a ton of sugar also, plus refined flour products, etc. I did most of the grocery shopping at the farmers markets and picked up whatever else was needed from the store (mostly the produce section plus a very, very few other items - butter, milk, brown rice, frozen berries, whole oats, etc). I was mostly vegetarian at this point, eating meat only two or three times most weeks (but eggs more often and fish here and there). I had few problems adjusting to this and actually did lose nearly 50 pounds over the course of most of a year. I felt quite a bit better, started doing some walking several times a week (albeit at a slow pace), but any slight variation from this diet for even one meal seemed to cause an immediate several pound weight gain that would take me at least a week or two to work back off. I found this very frustrating. I also was sometimes hungry, and often had some non-specific feeling that I just truly needed more protein than I was taking in. After spending the last year or more stuck in a 15 pound range (and often at the higher end of that range), I decided more changes were needed if I was ever going to reach a reasonable weight.
I have since moved to a new area where the farmers market selection is not nearly so extensive, so my shopping has backtracked quite a bit - not as much fresh produce or unprocessed meats, more standard type fare and frozen items from big producers and so forth. I have managed to mostly stay within that same 15 pound range, but I could see it slowly and steadily starting to creep back up.
I decided to make a more serious attempt (versus my previous half-hearted attempts) at carb reduction via Atkins. Maybe I just really CAN'T tolerate many carbs, even if they are unprocessed whole grain type items. I started in early July but slipped after a few weeks while I had extended company from out of town. I got back on it more strictly as of early August. I am trying to stay at induction level, and hope I will be able to manage there for some time as I have a considerable amount to lose and not so much patience.
I have lost about 18 pounds since starting/restarting in July and August. Once I got that off rather easily, I have been stuck in a two or three pound range for two weeks now. I decided I was doing something wrong, so went BACK to the book to re-read and see what was going on (I tend to skim through this book, get the main ideas, and miss some important details here and there). While I was keeping my carbs at 20 or less and taking some supplements, I was also partaking of any number of servings daily of items which were sweetened with ASPARTAME! Such a bummer - after several years of nearly no processed foods at all, I finally select a few processed things which I thought were okay on Atkins and were making it very easy to stay "on the plan" per my thinking were in fact, not allowed at all! I was also not drinking nearly enough water nor exercising with enough regularity - these things I knew without re-reading.
I have since cut out these aspartame items in the last several days (diet tea mix, a low carb yogurt snack, diet jello, an occasional canned diet drink), carry a water bottle all day, and have started walking more than a mile a day on a treadmill, working quickly up towards two miles a day. I hope these actions will help me bust through this unofficial stall and start back up with weight loss.
Regardless, I will do whatever it takes to get back towards a more normal and comfortable weight, however long that takes, and however many times I have to recommit myself or re-read the book. I've been fat long enough; I think I'm finally tired of it enough to make major changes. Eventually, I hope to be back to a more normal weight and mostly eating fresh local (non-starchy) vegetables and not quite as much meat as I am currently eating. But I think it may take a while to talk my body into that, LOL!
Over the last several years, I made a number of dietary changes. First I started reducing (to a very, very small percent) my intake of nearly all forms of added sweeteners other than stevia and honey in small amounts. I also stopped eating almost any processed foods at all... which of course cut out a ton of sugar also, plus refined flour products, etc. I did most of the grocery shopping at the farmers markets and picked up whatever else was needed from the store (mostly the produce section plus a very, very few other items - butter, milk, brown rice, frozen berries, whole oats, etc). I was mostly vegetarian at this point, eating meat only two or three times most weeks (but eggs more often and fish here and there). I had few problems adjusting to this and actually did lose nearly 50 pounds over the course of most of a year. I felt quite a bit better, started doing some walking several times a week (albeit at a slow pace), but any slight variation from this diet for even one meal seemed to cause an immediate several pound weight gain that would take me at least a week or two to work back off. I found this very frustrating. I also was sometimes hungry, and often had some non-specific feeling that I just truly needed more protein than I was taking in. After spending the last year or more stuck in a 15 pound range (and often at the higher end of that range), I decided more changes were needed if I was ever going to reach a reasonable weight.
I have since moved to a new area where the farmers market selection is not nearly so extensive, so my shopping has backtracked quite a bit - not as much fresh produce or unprocessed meats, more standard type fare and frozen items from big producers and so forth. I have managed to mostly stay within that same 15 pound range, but I could see it slowly and steadily starting to creep back up.
I decided to make a more serious attempt (versus my previous half-hearted attempts) at carb reduction via Atkins. Maybe I just really CAN'T tolerate many carbs, even if they are unprocessed whole grain type items. I started in early July but slipped after a few weeks while I had extended company from out of town. I got back on it more strictly as of early August. I am trying to stay at induction level, and hope I will be able to manage there for some time as I have a considerable amount to lose and not so much patience.
I have lost about 18 pounds since starting/restarting in July and August. Once I got that off rather easily, I have been stuck in a two or three pound range for two weeks now. I decided I was doing something wrong, so went BACK to the book to re-read and see what was going on (I tend to skim through this book, get the main ideas, and miss some important details here and there). While I was keeping my carbs at 20 or less and taking some supplements, I was also partaking of any number of servings daily of items which were sweetened with ASPARTAME! Such a bummer - after several years of nearly no processed foods at all, I finally select a few processed things which I thought were okay on Atkins and were making it very easy to stay "on the plan" per my thinking were in fact, not allowed at all! I was also not drinking nearly enough water nor exercising with enough regularity - these things I knew without re-reading.
I have since cut out these aspartame items in the last several days (diet tea mix, a low carb yogurt snack, diet jello, an occasional canned diet drink), carry a water bottle all day, and have started walking more than a mile a day on a treadmill, working quickly up towards two miles a day. I hope these actions will help me bust through this unofficial stall and start back up with weight loss.
Regardless, I will do whatever it takes to get back towards a more normal and comfortable weight, however long that takes, and however many times I have to recommit myself or re-read the book. I've been fat long enough; I think I'm finally tired of it enough to make major changes. Eventually, I hope to be back to a more normal weight and mostly eating fresh local (non-starchy) vegetables and not quite as much meat as I am currently eating. But I think it may take a while to talk my body into that, LOL!
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