This week I had my mind completely blown by Gary Taubes’ book Why We Get Fat. I recognized that my decades-long low fat perma-diet was not working for a reason, so I immediately began the No Sugar, No Starch diet in the Appendix. I looked around and found a video of Dr. Eric Westman at Duke explaining that approach. This led me to Reddit’s r/keto subreddit, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, and some low-carb forums.
I still remember the Drinking Man’s Diet (1964) when I was still a child, and original Atkins, but rejected all that once the nutritional recommendations went in the other direction (I’m looking at you, Jane Brody and AMA.)
So here I am, Day Six, in ketosis, and trying to stay under 20 mg. carbs. Honestly, for a former vegetarian of 20+ years, and as one who rarely ate fats, especially saturated fats or oh-my-god-bacon, this is a huge switch for me. I’m not dropping pounds yet, but I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Thanks for the invitation. I’m not really sure what kind of discussion I need to have. I just had lunch with another friend who is on a new age hippy diet and wants me to try it. (Oddly enough she brought “illegal” foods for us to eat.) I think what I really need is more blood testing then a meeting with a dietician. I certainly know enough of them.
That right there is why I am not on a particular diet. I have lost 32 pounds so far (in 4 months) and I still had my Thanksgiving dinner (we’re canadian, it was two weeks ago).
Cause, you know what, one day’s worth over overeating is going to come out in the wash. Keep exercising and go back to what you were doing the very next day.
All I am doing is:
Keeping my calorie count between 1200 and 1600
Eating at least 80 grams of protein a day
Making sure that my fats are good fats
Only eating real food (staying away from overly processed items where possible)
Exercising. Mostly by walking though I do weights, too.
Do you know why that has worked for me? Because I can fit it into my normal life with relative ease. If I couldn’t, I would have fallen off the wagon months ago. (Trust me, my other efforts were shorter than a month on average because they were just too much work.)
That’s how I used to do it too, but now I’m looking at some serious medical issues. Turkey might be the only thing I’m allowed to have. But I won’t be able to talk to a dietician until after Thanksgiving anyway.
You may not be able to have stuffing, gravy, potatoes or pie but there is tons of other delicious stuff you can have along with your turkey. Salad with cream dressings, green veggies cooked every which way, home-made whipped cream (with Splenda) and berries, home-made cheesecake with Splenda, cheese and meat tray, veggies and dip…here’s a fancy recipe for creamed spinach.
If you’re being forced to go low carb because low fat doesn’t do it for you (because it tends to be very high carb) then take Thanksgiving as an opportunity to be thankful for all the awesome stuff you can have!
Don’t live to eat, eat to live. That’s actually really really helpful as a mantra in a restrictive diet. What can I eat now that will fill me up in the shortest time and keep me full for the longest time so that I don’t have to eat as much of this dreck that often? That’s what we’ll eat.
I made this coconut cake the other day and it was awful (unsweetened coconut and unsweetened coconut parts have nothing in common with coconut or Almond Joy). But I ate a piece of it every day (with a big frowny face) until it was gone because it was super high calorie and filled me the hell up so I could get on with my business.
You can resign yourself to eating to get it over with (like I do) or spend some time learning to cook awesome stuff that fits your diet. Life’s not over
What Zipper said. There are a million different ways you can lighten up a Thanksgiving meal. This year, I am going to have turkey, a little bit of my dad’s stuffing (and by “little bit”, I mean “little bit”), a plain baked sweet potato, and some steamed green veggies and salad. This will make me very full for a while, but not gorged.
I know we’ve all got different philosophies WRT diet, but the key is to find something that works for you given your habits, preferences, and needs. I shudder at the thought of low carb, but it’s worked for other people here. I’m sure those people shudder at the thought of what I eat, but it works for me.
Haven’t checked in for a long time. Had gained some back last winter, as I usually do, but alas, did not lose it over the spring/summer months. Was laid off in August and the last few weeks had farewell lunches and goodbye donuts and I was totally bad.
And so last week when I put on a pair of pants that were far too tight I decided it was time to quit ignoring myself and I’m back to losing. I start a new gig tomorrow and need to be able to wear my dressier pants again!
This morning I am aggravated at clothing manufacturers. I’m down a couple pants sizes and for some unknown reason I have at least 6 pairs of jeans in my current size. Today was my weigh-in and I’ve lost 2.4 pounds this week. So, I grab a pair of jeans, get dressed and come sit on the couch and I’ll be damned if these things aren’t too tight. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that not only are they the same size, they are all also the same brand. :smack:
I cannot deal with variance in sizing. Right now I’m wearing size 8 Ann Taylor pants and they fit fine (most of the pants in my closet are from Ann Taylor because their Curvy style fit me like they were tailored for me, if I’m wearing the right size). I have a pair of size 10 Gap jeans that I can squeeze into but are tight. The other night, I tried a pair of size 12 H&M pants at the mall and could not get them up over my thighs. Banana Republic pants won’t fit no matter what size they or I are – they’re just cut too strangely for my frame.
I’ve begun looking into skirts…it’s like a whole new world for me…
Re: Thanksgiving – I think my philosophy will be to have anything I want, but to have just a small amount of the stuff I know is not good for me. Portion control is something I’ve been working on for the past few months, and I’ve realized that I don’t need huge portions of anything in order to enjoy it. Often just a taste will suffice.
Even men’s clothing is starting to use vanity sizing. There’s a pretty big difference between different manufacturers, and sometimes between styles even from the same manufacturer.
My waist is 29", measured directly with a tape measure. Theoretically, that should mean that I can squeeze into a 28" or easily wear a 30" with a bit of looseness. A “30-inch” waist size is not 30 bloody inches when it’s so loose that it slides down to my hips and threatens to fall off.
The only way to know what your body measurements are is to actually measure them. Clothing sizes are so variable as to be completely useless for gauging your body.
Something that used to fit loosely before and now is snug might indicate that you’ve gained weight, but it might also just indicate that your body proportions have changed. I have big legs and a big butt now. “Slim” styles don’t fit me at all, even if the nominal waist size says that it should fit. I can’t squeeze my legs into them even when the waist is loose. If your favorite jeans were a tight style and you started working out, it is possible that you lost fat around your waist while gaining leg muscle.
I’ve been back on my very restrictive diet for a few weeks now. I should be happy that I’ve lost 10 pounds, but I’m mostly annoyed it’s not working as fast as it did last time. Now I have a choice: Stop now and feel like a failure (and restart in January), or Stay with the plan and still feel like a failure because I’m probably not going to make my goal weight and will still have to restart in January?
Every pound you lose now is one you don’t have to lose come January. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
I have slowed down my losses to half a pound a week. It’s frustrating at times because I know I could be losing 2 pounds a week if I were 100% focussed. But right now I can’t be. I have other crap going on. But you know what? Instead of giving up and going back to my old ways, I am down 4 pounds over 8 weeks. That is way better than being up in that time (which is what would have happened if I had fallen off the wagon).
Is there a happy medium you can keep going until January?
I’ve lost 45 pounds in past year by alternating a very low calorie/low fat diet with a very low carb diet. I maintain very well in the low carb phase, but I don’t really lose much. I’m just worried I’ll blow it over Christmas. I’ve always had a really hard time with the mid-winter carb fest.
Just remember if you do have a carb fest that you can get back on the horse right after. You can do this!
I think it’s maintain time for me. I accomplished my goal (being able to walk into any regular size store and be able to find something that fits me). I might keep up my half pound a week but with my birthday/vacation/Christmas coming up, it’s a bit much to expect me to manage to lose a lot of weight over that time.
Even if I just maintain until the new year, it will be the first time.
As if Halloween wasn’t hard enough, all my evil coworkers have brought their kids’ candy to work today.
If it’s too bad for your kids to eat, JUST THROW IT OUT!
