Diet

"Aaron Baugher" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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Loco~Motion said:

Thank you I already have those books. I can't drink the oil
suggested by Atkins because it made me gag. What do you folks do
when you can't walk long distances anymore?

Well, I've never been unable to walk, but I'm lazy and (usually) have
a sedentary job, so the result is the same, especially in hot or cold
weather. What I do is keep my carbs down and my protein reasonable,
which keeps my insulin down, which prevents my cells from storing fat
and promotes glucagon, which encourages my cells to give up fat.
Exercise may enhance some of those steps in a roundabout way, but it's
not required.

(I'm very interested in what Gary Taubes has to say on this topic in
his new book, by the way. Others have already challenged the fat and
cholesterol status quo, but I haven't seen anyone take on the
exercise-for-weight-loss dogma.)

Well in my case the exercise was working wonders! One month I lost almost
11 lbs. So there was definitely a connection between the walking and the
weight loss. But these injuries have got to heal before I can start walking
that much each day again. Older people like myself take longer to heal.

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Anyway, in your case, since you can't walk, exercise is a moot point;
you're going to have to focus on diet. Maybe you could post your
meals from a couple days and get people's opinions on them. If you
track your meals with something like fitday.com, you could point us to
them. Possibly you've been getting more carbs than you thought all
along, but when you were walking several miles a day, you were able to
keep them worked off.

This may be possible. Since I can't get to the PC all the time, logging on a
website wouldn't work too well. I do have several books that give me the
carb values of all the common foods I consume.

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I'm not sure what the "oil suggested by Atkins" is, so I don't know
about that. I'm taking a fish oil supplement, but I started doing
that to improve my omega-3/omega-6 ratio, for other reasons than
weight loss. It's not the tastiest stuff in the world, but it's not
bad -- flavored with lemon, but still a bit fishy.

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed to get
you started again. But I'm starting to think it was as much or more the
treadmill walking than the diet that took off the 50 lbs. I now weight 168
[was down to 154] and my NP told me I need to get down to at least 140, even
less of possible. I'm about 5'6".

Quoted message said:

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

"Jeri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Loco~Motion said:

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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How many calories do you eat? If you overeat enough, you'll gain
weight even on a low-carb diet.

I don't know. I read you don't count calories on a low-carb diet. I
honestly couldn't even guess.

It doesn't matter what type of weight loss diet you're on, losing weight
requires that you eat fewer calories than you burn.

Yes. I'm starting to think that is also true of low-carb diets. I was going
by what I had read in the Atkins book that calorie counting wasn't
necessary. I'm going to have to cut back even more on the meat and eggs.
I've already given up the cheese.

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If you can't exercise at the level that you used to and you find you're
gaining weight then the answer is to lower your calorie intake until
you're able to increase your exercise level again.

Quoted message said:

--
Jeri
"Change is inevitable, except from vending machines."

"Aaron Baugher" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

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Loco~Motion said:

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

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How many carbs do you eat?

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About 20 to 50 a day. Less than that and constipation becomes a real
issue. I eat a lot of greens and low-carb veggies.

Does "about 20 to 50" a day mean sometimes it goes over 50? That's
getting high enough to put some people back in fat storage mode,
especially if you're insulin resistant.

It may. I don't know for sure since a lot of the veggies are home grown and
carbs vary.

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For constipation, there seem to be two options: increase fat or eat
lots of fiber.

Fat doesn't work. I add more fiber in the way of a 1/2 cup high fiber
cereal. After a few weeks those drinks like Metamucil didn't work anymore.
I had to drink too much so I switched to the cereal suggested by my Dr. I'm
using Fiber One which is 14% fiber and 25g carbs.

I think there are no-net-carb fiber supplements, but I

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haven't tried them. I just try to get at least 60% of my calories
from fat, and it's never a problem. I've gone for weeks eating
virtually no fiber at all, and been fine in that regard. Constipation
seems to creep in when a diet goes very heavy on protein and/or
non-fiber carbs, which makes intuitive sense since those foods tend to
be very dense.

We're all different. You'd think with all the greens and other low-carb
veggies I eat it wouldn't be problem. Also as we age we seem to need more
fiber to keep things moving.

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Are you on a ketogenic diet or just
generally skipping the white stuff? Are you low enough that
appetite suppression kicks in?

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I'm just low-carbing. I gave up the white stuff as you said above. I
was walking up to 3 miles a day, 5 times a week on my thradmill and
losing up to 2 lbs a week. As soon as I was unable to get the
exercise the weight loss reversed and I started to slowly gain. I'm
sitting steady at 165 lbs now for several months.

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How many is several?

Since early July. I weighted myself this morning to find I now weigh 168.

You were losing weight at a pretty fast clip

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before (great job, by the way!), so it wouldn't be surprising if your
body stopped for a while to regroup, especially if you were healing
from an accident. If you seem stuck now, sometimes people try to
break a plateau with a drastic change in diet for a set time before
going back on low-carb; either going high-carb for a bit or doing a
meat-fast or fat-fast. I think the Atkins book talks about breaking
plateaus.

Yes, I read about it in the Atkins book. Meat-fast caused such constipation
I had to give it up in less than a week. The fat or oil-fast was impossible.
I couldn't get down more than a few sips and gagged. If I use the meat-fast
I would have to have the 1/2 cup of Fiber One or the cramping is just too
much.

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If you post a typical day's menu, you might get some insights about
what you're eating. Not saying you're stupid or can't comprehend the
books, but sometimes a fresh look helps.

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How many calories do you eat? If you overeat enough, you'll gain
weight even on a low-carb diet.

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I don't know. I read you don't count calories on a low-carb diet.
I honestly couldn't even guess.

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You *don't* count calories on a low-carb diet -- unless you're
following the diet properly for an extended period of time and still
not losing weight. Then you may have to look at other things besides
your daily carb intake, although I wouldn't put calories at the top of
that list. First, I'd look for hidden carbs in the foods you're
eating; things like sugar alcohols that don't seem to be as no-carb
for some people as they're supposed to be; food intolerances, etc.
Counting calories is sort of a last resort for when you've checked
everything else.

How many calories a day am I supposed to eat to lose weight? I've read from
1200 to 1500 a day?!?!?!?!? With the fat in the meat and the butter on the
veggies, plus 2 or 3 eggs a day, I'm sure I'm getting at least that amount.

Quoted message said:

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Loco~Motion said:

Quoted message said:

How many calories do you eat? If you overeat enough, you'll gain weight
even on a low-carb diet.

I don't know. I read you don't count calories on a low-carb diet. I
honestly couldn't even guess.

That might make a big difference.

I had gotten kind of sloppy with the low-carb diet, sticking to low-carb
because I'm diabetic, but not necessarily eating well and sometimes
overeating.

When I began on insulin, I wrote down the grams of carb, protein and
calories in every meal as part of learning how to optimally dose the
insulin. Just writing it down made a pretty big difference for me.
Realizing a particular meal had over 1000 calories made me realize I could
get away just fine with eating half of it.

That may be what I'll have to do. I have several books listing calories of
most foods. I don't know how many calories I should be eating each day
though. I just read a few books, lurked a bit on these diet NGs and started
low-carbing and walking. The weight started to come off. I'm also going to
do as someone else suggested and start reading the labels a closer to see
exactly what is in some of the things I'm eating.

Quoted message said:

I really wasn't trying to restrict myself in any way, just record things
to learn. I was recovering from surgery and figured I needed lots of
protein and nutrients to speed my recovery, so I was not dieting. But...
just writing it down led me to lose 10 lbs the first month - with NO
exercise as I couldn't even get in or out of bed by myself at the time!

How did that work? Did you just cut calories across the board?

Quoted message said:

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

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I read several low-carb books.

Now, you need to follow the directions in the book. We all have had our
"stalls", but nobody has ever gained 10 pounds by exactly following the
Atkins diet plan.

I'm low-carbing, not following the Atkins plan which from what I read is
rather extreme.

Bingo! No, it isn't. And it isn't even "low carb"---it's "controlled carb."
Dr. Atkins mentions those words over and over. The mantra "low carb" is not
the scheme or the plan behind the diet.

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Treadmill is not the only exercise out there. How about swimming? How
about water aerobics? How about bicycle riding? There's exercise sitting
on the Swiss ball. There's exercise using those long rubber bands.
There's weight lifting with dumbbells....and on and on.

No swimming where I live. I'm not sure about aerobics. The accident
precludes things like riding bikes. The exercises you suggest don't burn
many calories unless done for hours at a time. They're more fitness
oriented, not weight loss. Walking uphill at full speed on a treadmill
really burns the calories.

Now, you're saying "I won't do any exercise unless it really burns the
calories." That's called looking for a short cut. Excerise's effect upon
your body is cumulative. It's a way of living, not something you attach a
calculator to looking for the shortest time with the most calories burned.
Exercise builds muscle, which uses more calories in lighter exercise. It
builds your heart and it builds your lungs. I have read that even Yoga
helps people lose weight. Even just stretching can have an effect upon your
weight.

I was losing 1 to 2 lbs a week before the

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accident.

What I think is that you were/are using the accident as an excuse to
slack off. You were (of course) felling sorry for yourself, so you said
you'd just "take a break" for awhile.

Are you saying you think someone in a full leg brace should get on a
treadmill and do 3 miles a day? You've got to be kidding me.

Nope. I'm not the one saying that it's get on a treadmill or do nothing at
all. That's you.

Quoted message said:

And that is why you gained the weight. Don't

Quoted message said:

blame it on Atkins. Go over your daily intake and find out just where you
went off course.

" Since my accident I've stuck to low carbing and already GAINED
back 10 lbs. Now what? "

Your words, not mine.

Look, I understand feeling sorry for oneself after an accident or surgery.
I've been there and done that. Now, what you have to do is figure another
way to meet your goals. And, it's not "treadmill or nothing at all." You've
already seen that strategy doesn't work. Get the Atkins book and find out
what his system is. It is NOT "low carb or nothing." It's a plan, not a
mantra.

Pat in TX

Loco~Motion said:

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed to
get you started again. But I'm starting to think it was as much or more
the treadmill walking than the diet that took off the 50 lbs. I now
weight 168 [was down to 154] and my NP told me I need to get down to at
least 140, even less of possible. I'm about 5'6".

I've never seen that in Atkins, but I only read 3 versions of his books
so could be mistaken.

I'm not too fond of Atkins myself. I'd think if you want a specific
plan, Protein Power is a better one.

I use my own version of low-carb anyways. A big serving of nonstarchy
veggies and a moderate serving of protein are absolute requirements for
every meal. I do small servings of low-sugar fruits (berries, melon,
kiwi) at 1 or 2 meals a day also. I pretty much only snack on "bark" -
a concoction of coconut oil, cocoa and Davinci syrup (almost no carbs or
protein, so I can eat it without insulin). I drink lemonade, limeade
and diluted cranberry juice (real juice, not the HFCS-laden cocktail
stuff) sweetened with stevia, decaf coffee with cream and filtered well
water.

That's pretty much it. I think the huge amount of fresh produce I'm
going through has a lot to do with my success - the stuff is low carb,
has almost no calories, and is full of necessary micronutrients.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

Loco~Motion said:

Quoted message said:

I really wasn't trying to restrict myself in any way, just record
things to learn. I was recovering from surgery and figured I needed
lots of protein and nutrients to speed my recovery, so I was not
dieting. But... just writing it down led me to lose 10 lbs the first
month - with NO exercise as I couldn't even get in or out of bed by
myself at the time!

How did that work? Did you just cut calories across the board?

No. I don't limit myself much. I eat as much as I want and have both
very low-calorie days and very high-calorie days. I don't do stuff like
skip the avocado cause it's high calories... I figure avocados are good
for me.

Just... I discovered that 2 low-carb pizzas made on low-carb tortillas
were over 1200 calories and decided I could really live with having only
one most of the time.

And I got really freaked when I realized how many calories were in a
quarter jar of almond butter or a half block of cheese. I don't need to
eat that much of that stuff.

I hadn't been aware of how much I ate beforehand. Writing it all down
made a rather large difference in me making some better choices.

Also, quite frankly... there were a number of times I decided I wasn't
hungry enough to bother. I *have* to write it all down and figure it
out to dose the insulin properly - sometimes, I can't be bothered doing
that, so if I'm not really hungry, it's easier to skip the meal.

I also decided I wasn't eating enough fruits and vegetables and needed
gobs of nutrients to heal well. If you eat 10-15 lbs of fresh produce
every week, there just isn't a lot of room left for high calorie foods.

EVERYONE says you gain gobs of weight when you go on insulin, but I've
been losing steadily since I started on it and I think it's mostly the
business of writing all this stuff down and eating lots more fresh produce.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

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>
> I read several low-carb books.

Now, you need to follow the directions in the book. We all have had our
"stalls", but nobody has ever gained 10 pounds by exactly following the
Atkins diet plan.

I'm low-carbing, not following the Atkins plan which from what I read is
rather extreme.

Bingo! No, it isn't. And it isn't even "low carb"---it's "controlled
carb." Dr. Atkins mentions those words over and over. The mantra "low
carb" is not the scheme or the plan behind the diet.

I guess I was so successful low-carbing and walking I didn't keep up with
all the changes in terminology.

Quoted message said:

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Treadmill is not the only exercise out there. How about swimming? How
about water aerobics? How about bicycle riding? There's exercise
sitting on the Swiss ball. There's exercise using those long rubber
bands. There's weight lifting with dumbbells....and on and on.

No swimming where I live. I'm not sure about aerobics. The accident
precludes things like riding bikes. The exercises you suggest don't burn
many calories unless done for hours at a time. They're more fitness
oriented, not weight loss. Walking uphill at full speed on a treadmill
really burns the calories.

Quoted message said:

Now, you're saying "I won't do any exercise unless it really burns the
calories." That's called looking for a short cut.

No, it's called lack of time to lift weights 4 hours a day to burn a 100
calories. I have too much on my plate already.

Excerise's effect upon

Quoted message said:

your body is cumulative. It's a way of living, not something you attach a
calculator to looking for the shortest time with the most calories burned.

I have a household to run and a lot to take care of. I don't unlimited time
on my hands.

Quoted message said:

Exercise builds muscle, which uses more calories in lighter exercise. It
builds your heart and it builds your lungs. I have read that even Yoga
helps people lose weight. Even just stretching can have an effect upon
your weight.

By 1 to 2 lbs a week?

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I was losing 1 to 2 lbs a week before the

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> accident.

What I think is that you were/are using the accident as an excuse to
slack off. You were (of course) felling sorry for yourself, so you said
you'd just "take a break" for awhile.

Are you saying you think someone in a full leg brace should get on a
treadmill and do 3 miles a day? You've got to be kidding me.

Quoted message said:

Nope. I'm not the one saying that it's get on a treadmill or do nothing at
all. That's you.

Quoted message said:

And that is why you gained the weight. Don't

Quoted message said:

blame it on Atkins. Go over your daily intake and find out just where
you went off course.

" Since my accident I've stuck to low carbing and already GAINED
back 10 lbs. Now what? "

Your words, not mine.

Right... the point being just low-carbing isn't working for me without the
exercise.

Quoted message said:

Look, I understand feeling sorry for oneself after an accident or surgery.

I don't feel sorry for myself. Don't diagnose people through a NG.
Everyone has accidents.

Quoted message said:

I've been there and done that. Now, what you have to do is figure another
way to meet your goals. And, it's not "treadmill or nothing at all."
You've already seen that strategy doesn't work. Get the Atkins book and
find out what his system is. It is NOT "low carb or nothing." It's a plan,
not a mantra.

I already told you I read his book, plus two others.

Quoted message said:

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

I guess I was so successful low-carbing and walking I didn't keep up with
all the changes in terminology.

It's not a change in terminology; it's right there in the first, oldest
Atkins book. What I get from your responses is that you have gotten together
a hodge-podge of ideas from several books, but you aren't following any of
their plans. You are trying to pick and choose from their ideas as if it
were a menu. Atkins has a plan, and it's not just "low carb eating."

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Now, you're saying "I won't do any exercise unless it really burns the
calories." That's called looking for a short cut.

No, it's called lack of time to lift weights 4 hours a day to burn a 100
calories. I have too much on my plate already.

You don't seem to understand that exercise will change your body a little at
a time. For example, if you lift dumbbells, say, while watching TV in the
evening, it will increase your muscle mass. More muscle mass means the
calories you eat are used more efficiently and burned father. You can sit on
one of those Swiss balls and do exercises while watching TV. Your core
muscles will get stronger and you will burn more calories with less effort.
Nobody said anything about exercising 4 hours a day. Let me ask you this:
is what you are presently doing working or have you gained 10 pounds?

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I have a household to run and a lot to take care of. I don't unlimited
time on my hands.

Nobody has an unlimited time on their hands, but it's you who wrote in and
asked how to get rid of the 10 pounds you gained since your accident. You
are not using the time you do have in an efficient way, that's all. You seem
to want weight loss fast or not at all---or even weight gain is preferable
to taking smaller steps in losing weight.

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Exercise builds muscle, which uses more calories in lighter exercise. It
builds your heart and it builds your lungs. I have read that even Yoga
helps people lose weight. Even just stretching can have an effect upon
your weight.

By 1 to 2 lbs a week?

So, it's all or nothing? You would turn down 1/2 pound a week. You'd rather
gain weight if you can't lose 1 to 2 pounds a week?

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" Since my accident I've stuck to low carbing and already GAINED
back 10 lbs. Now what? "

Your words, not mine.

Right... the point being just low-carbing isn't working for me without the
exercise.

No, it will work, and the exercise doesn't have to be long-time treadmill
use. It can be other exercises, even those you turn down because the weight
loss is a bit slower.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've been there and done that. Now, what you have to do is figure another
way to meet your goals. And, it's not "treadmill or nothing at all."
You've already seen that strategy doesn't work. Get the Atkins book and
find out what his system is. It is NOT "low carb or nothing." It's a
plan, not a mantra.

Quoted message said:

I already told you I read his book, plus two others.

You may have "read" the book, but you missed several key ingredients. You
have been looking at those books as menus to pick and choose from. That is
where you are going off on a tangent. You aren't following any plan at all.
You are making it up as you go along.

Pat in TX

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Loco~Motion said:

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed to
get you started again. But I'm starting to think it was as much or more
the treadmill walking than the diet that took off the 50 lbs. I now
weight 168 [was down to 154] and my NP told me I need to get down to at
least 140, even less of possible. I'm about 5'6".

I've never seen that in Atkins, but I only read 3 versions of his books so
could be mistaken.

Never seen what?

Quoted message said:

I'm not too fond of Atkins myself. I'd think if you want a specific plan,
Protein Power is a better one.

I have to read that book again. It's been a few years. No one can deny the
weight loss I enjoyed was exercise related. I got on the scale this morning
to see I gained yet another pound. All I ate yesterday was eggplant
parmesan, 2 oz of nuts plus one 8 oz. glass of milk. How in God's name
can I gain a lb on that? Today I'm going to start to count calories.

Quoted message said:

I use my own version of low-carb anyways. A big serving of nonstarchy
veggies and a moderate serving of protein are absolute requirements for
every meal. I do small servings of low-sugar fruits (berries, melon,
kiwi) at 1 or 2 meals a day also. I pretty much only snack on "bark" - a
concoction of coconut oil, cocoa and Davinci syrup (almost no carbs or
protein, so I can eat it without insulin). I drink lemonade, limeade and
diluted cranberry juice (real juice, not the HFCS-laden cocktail stuff)
sweetened with stevia, decaf coffee with cream and filtered well water.

How much are you losing each week?

Quoted message said:

That's pretty much it. I think the huge amount of fresh produce I'm going
through has a lot to do with my success - the stuff is low carb, has
almost no calories, and is full of necessary micronutrients.

We have a garden so I also eat a lot of low carb veggies daily. Mostly
greens which I love. I add a little olive oil or bacon grease to them, salt
and pepper. But I also eat a lot of string beans, broccoli, cauliflower and
wax beans. All very low carb. I just looked for my carb-counter book and
cannot find it. 🙁

Quoted message said:

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Brevity snips:

Quoted message said:

I have come to think that a "normal" meal is around 500 calories. If I'm
particularly hungry, I might go to 600-800 range. If not very hungry, I
might go to 200-300 range. I have to eat cause I take meds that have to
be taken with food, but some days, I decide 2 meals is enough cause that's
how often I have to take meds. Other days, I might eat 4 meals. So my
calories are all over the place.

All my life I was thin until I developed hypothyroidism at menopause.....
then the weight piled on in only a few years. I always had only 2 meals a
day plus a late evening snack of nuts or fruit. I was never a junk food
eater and I believe that's why I am in excellent health at 63 while some of
my friends have already passed away.

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If you eat mostly veggies by volume, you won't be able to eat piles of
calories. A whole head of butterhead has around 20 calories - that's a
heck of a lot of salad. A whole napa cabbage has 160 calories - and
that's two *huge* servings of stirfry. You are never gonna gain weight
eating mostly nonstarchy veggies.

That's what they say yet I gained another lb and had eggplant parmesan and
nuts yesterday. Did I gain on the cheese? The glass of milk? It's the
first cheese I've had in weeks.

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I start my meals based on what most needs to be eaten veggie-wise,
whatever is likely to go bad next (currently, that's an artichoke, so that
will be with dinner tonight). Then I add a reasonable sized amount of
protein: a couple eggs, a cup of cottage cheese, a cup of Greek yogurt, a
burger, a chicken breast, a couple thighs, a can of tuna with some mayo,
some shredded cheese and nuts sprinkled on a salad, whatever I feel like.
Sometimes, I add a cup of berries or melon (but never at breakfast as
that's when my blood glucose is most difficult to control). Basically...
all my meals are a big bunch of veggies and a moderate serving of protein
with whatever fat comes with it in cooking (I use mostly butter and olive
oil, some lard also) and a small serving of low-sugar fruit at about half
my meals.

OK gotcha. I seem to eat more meat than you are at dinner. I love veggies
but find they are not filling. I'm hungry in an hour or two. So I eat a lot
of meat and fish with my meals.

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Stuff that is "good" in terms of being low-carb, but "bad" in terms of
weight loss for me includes nuts, nut butters, and cheese. These are
foods I can easily eat a thousand calories of at a sitting. I *can't* sit
with a jar of nut butter and a spoon, nor with a block of cheese and a
knife, and stop at a reasonable portion - so they have to be measured out
and put away before I sit to eat. You'll find your own foods that are
preferable to limit - anything really caloric or carby needs to be
measured.

I hate to give up the nuts because that leaves me with nothing but meat and
low-carb veggies. I never dreamed I'd be up another pound because of the
cheese on the eggplant but that has to be it. :*( I just didn't feel
like meat again yesterday and we had the eggplant. I'm starting to crave
something filling other than meat.

Quoted message said:

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Brevity snips

Quoted message said:

EVERYONE says you gain gobs of weight when you go on insulin, but I've
been losing steadily since I started on it and I think it's mostly the
business of writing all this stuff down and eating lots more fresh
produce.

What are you flavoring the produce with? You're not adding butter or oils
are you? As much as I love veggies I do find the low-carb ones aren't
filling and I'm soon hungry again.

Loco~Motion said:

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've never cut back on carbs to lose weight and I know that every
person is different. Has anyone lost any weight off just cutting carbs
alone?

Quoted message said:

Get to the library, used book store, or new book store and get a copy of
Dr. Atkins' book. Once you've read it, you will understand the concept.
It's not just cutting back on carbs. It's an entire system.

What about those of us who can't get out there and walk several miles a day
anymore. Since my accident I've stuck to low carbing and already GAINED
back 10 lbs. Now what?

Please take this in the vein it is offered, as help not criticism.

You were walking several miles a day, uphill on the treadmill, and
losing
weight doing it, while eating low carb in the Atkins/Protein Power
manner.

You then stopped walking (regardless of cause) and have not replaced
it
with any physical activity.

I would guess that you have not scaled back your eating to your new
lower
level of activity. In a protein power world, you would cut your
protein requirement
from maybe .7 times your lean body mass to .5 times your lean body
mass.

That would result in a decrease in protein calories of nearly 30%,
moving your
total calories anywhere from 10-30%. That might be something useful.

You might also have lost your way a little and had some carb creep.
Take a few
days to restart, with the proper amount of food, and you should see a
return to
results.

Lastly, you mentioned an accident. Are you on any meds? They might be
causing
the weight gain or inhibiting the diet. I wouldn't suggest dumping,
but rather,
refinement of your expectations.

Good luck.

Loco~Motion said:

I'm low-carbing, not following the Atkins plan which from what I read
is rather extreme.

Many of us have designed our own low-carb eating plans by combining
concepts from Atkins, Protein Power, and others; and there's not
necessarily anything wrong with that. But if you gain ten pounds, you
might have to take a break from the Loco~Motion Low Carb Plan, whatever
that involves, and stick to one of the tried-and-true ones for a while.

Quoted message said:

No swimming where I live. I'm not sure about aerobics. The accident
precludes things like riding bikes. The exercises you suggest don't
burn many calories unless done for hours at a time. They're more
fitness oriented, not weight loss. Walking uphill at full speed on a
treadmill really burns the calories.

If you want a hard workout, check out the exercises at Body by Fish:
<http://www.trainforstrength.com/exercises.shtml> He sells tapes, but
has full descriptions and pictures of the exercises for free on the web
site. Most of them take no equipment, and they *will* kick your ass.
Some of them look like they'd be doable with a leg brace.

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

Loco~Motion said:

Well in my case the exercise was working wonders! One month I lost
almost 11 lbs. So there was definitely a connection between the
walking and the weight loss.

A connection, perhaps, but probably not the causation you're assuming.
As Gary Taubes recently discovered when he tried to find the research
behind that belief <http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/>, no one's ever
been able to show that exercise causes weight loss, and it hasn't been
for lack of trying. (I thought it was fascinating that no one believed
that before about 1970, yet today it's a truism. I'd also never thought
about the implications of the phrase "work up an appetite" before.
Hmm.)

It's at least as likely that your low-carb diet caused you to burn fat,
which gave you more energy, which caused you to want to get out and walk
it off. Now that you can't find ways to expend the energy (and it
sounds like you still want to), it's getting stored again. It's a very
different way of looking at it, that takes some getting used to.

Quoted message said:

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed
to get you started again.

He doesn't say why or how much or what other changes to make? I haven't
read any Atkins books all the way through, but that seems odd. You seem
to be picking up little bits of Atkins here and there without all the
context.

If he recommends that, I'd assume it's as part of a fat fast, not just
in the sense of adding fat calories to what you're already eating. But
again, I haven't read it; I think I'd want to read it and understand the
point before I started sipping oil.

--
Aaron -- 285/254/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed
to get you started again.

He doesn't say why or how much or what other changes to make? I haven't
read any Atkins books all the way through, but that seems odd. You seem
to be picking up little bits of Atkins here and there without all the
context.

If he recommends that, I'd assume it's as part of a fat fast, not just
in the sense of adding fat calories to what you're already eating. But
again, I haven't read it; I think I'd want to read it and understand the
point before I started sipping oil.
--
Aaron

I haven't seen anything in the Atkins books about drinking oil. I think she
got that from somewhere else. In fact, I went to the Atkins website and
tried every search phrase or word I could think of and didn't get any
response to ingesting oil separately from a meal.

Pat in TX

Pat said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed
to get you started again.

He doesn't say why or how much or what other changes to make? I haven't
read any Atkins books all the way through, but that seems odd. You seem
to be picking up little bits of Atkins here and there without all the
context.

If he recommends that, I'd assume it's as part of a fat fast, not just
in the sense of adding fat calories to what you're already eating. But
again, I haven't read it; I think I'd want to read it and understand the
point before I started sipping oil.
--
Aaron

I haven't seen anything in the Atkins books about drinking oil. I think she
got that from somewhere else. In fact, I went to the Atkins website and
tried every search phrase or word I could think of and didn't get any
response to ingesting oil separately from a meal.

Pat in TX

Not everything that people claim someone has said (eg Dr. Atkins) is
actually something that that person actually said (eg same Dr. Atkins).

There are a number of BOGUS Einstein quotes that endlessly circulate.

Like bogus human body related claims that endlessly circulate such as:

. . . . "You only use 10$ of your brain".

Loco~Motion said:

No, it's called lack of time to lift weights 4 hours a day to burn a 100
calories. I have too much on my plate already.

You're looking at exercise wrong. Building muscle means you have more
lean body mass... which raises your basal metabolism and you're burning
more calories all the time, even when you're asleep.

Very small changes DO make a difference. My husband gained 5 lbs a year
for ten years and recently decided it was too much. 5 lbs a year is a
VERY slow gain, he was just slightly overeating to gain that. Just he
did it for too long and eventually got fat. All he changed to start
losing was quit the outright junk food like cakes and chips. He's
losing a lb or so a week from that minor change. He still eats bread
and pasta and puts sugar in his coffee, he's not near low-carbing - all
he did was drastically cut the outright junk food. It was a pretty
minor change he made.

The exact point where you neither gain nor lose is a tricky balance.
Small changes in one direction or the other is what makes the difference
between gaining and losing. You don't have to overeat a LOT to gain
weight, nor undereat a LOT to lose weight.

Not being able to exercise doesn't just mean you aren't currently
burning a few hundred calories when you actively exercise. It means you
aren't burning a few hundred extra calories around the clock, day after
day, week after week. So unless you cut back your eating a few hundred
calories to compensate, you're not gonna lose.

Quoted message said:

I have a household to run and a lot to take care of. I don't unlimited
time on my hands.

I completly understand that. And it's up to you to set priorities for
your life.

If weight loss is important, you need to increase exercise or reduce
calories. Your choice.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

Loco~Motion said:

"Jackie Patti" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Loco~Motion said:

Atkins recommends drinking oil when you hit a plateau. It's supposed
to get you started again. But I'm starting to think it was as much
or more the treadmill walking than the diet that took off the 50
lbs. I now weight 168 [was down to 154] and my NP told me I need to
get down to at least 140, even less of possible. I'm about 5'6".

I've never seen that in Atkins, but I only read 3 versions of his
books so could be mistaken.

Never seen what?

The drinking oil thing.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I use my own version of low-carb anyways. A big serving of nonstarchy
veggies and a moderate serving of protein are absolute requirements
for every meal. I do small servings of low-sugar fruits (berries,
melon, kiwi) at 1 or 2 meals a day also. I pretty much only snack on
"bark" - a concoction of coconut oil, cocoa and Davinci syrup (almost
no carbs or protein, so I can eat it without insulin). I drink
lemonade, limeade and diluted cranberry juice (real juice, not the
HFCS-laden cocktail stuff) sweetened with stevia, decaf coffee with
cream and filtered well water.

How much are you losing each week?

I don't know cause I really only weigh at my doctor's office. He's
pleased I've lost about 6 lbs/month since May.

My focus really isn't on weight loss right now - it's on getting good
nutrition to help heal from my surgeries and controlling my bg. The
weight loss is just happenning of it's own accord.

I really did not move hardly at all until September, and all I did then
was walk a mile 2 or 3 times a week. For October, I'm going back to the
Y for a lame aquacize and an "easy" yoga classes - a far cry from
swimming laps and lifting wieghts, but one has to do what one can do.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

That's pretty much it. I think the huge amount of fresh produce I'm
going through has a lot to do with my success - the stuff is low carb,
has almost no calories, and is full of necessary micronutrients.

We have a garden so I also eat a lot of low carb veggies daily. Mostly
greens which I love. I add a little olive oil or bacon grease to them,
salt and pepper. But I also eat a lot of string beans, broccoli,
cauliflower and wax beans. All very low carb. I just looked for my
carb-counter book and cannot find it. 🙁

I envy you. I had HUNDREDS of seedlings cuase I was going to have my
kewlest garden ever... and they all died while I was in the hospital.
So I have the saddest garden in the world this year - there is an actual
TREE growing in the middle of my strawberry patch!

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/

Loco~Motion said:

All my life I was thin until I developed hypothyroidism at
menopause..... then the weight piled on in only a few years. I always
had only 2 meals a day plus a late evening snack of nuts or fruit. I was
never a junk food eater and I believe that's why I am in excellent
health at 63 while some of my friends have already passed away.

Well, this is new info. Do your thyroid meds need to be adjusted?
Seems to me like a question worth asking.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you eat mostly veggies by volume, you won't be able to eat piles of
calories. A whole head of butterhead has around 20 calories - that's
a heck of a lot of salad. A whole napa cabbage has 160 calories - and
that's two *huge* servings of stirfry. You are never gonna gain
weight eating mostly nonstarchy veggies.

That's what they say yet I gained another lb and had eggplant parmesan
and nuts yesterday. Did I gain on the cheese? The glass of milk? It's
the first cheese I've had in weeks.

You have no idea what you gained on yesterday. You can't know what you
gain or lose in a day. You can be holding water one day vs. another,
you can simply have more food in your GI tract one day vs. another.
Best you can know is week-to-week because digestion just isn't that fast.

BTW, you know milk is pretty carby, right?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I start my meals based on what most needs to be eaten veggie-wise,
whatever is likely to go bad next (currently, that's an artichoke, so
that will be with dinner tonight). Then I add a reasonable sized
amount of protein: a couple eggs, a cup of cottage cheese, a cup of
Greek yogurt, a burger, a chicken breast, a couple thighs, a can of
tuna with some mayo, some shredded cheese and nuts sprinkled on a
salad, whatever I feel like. Sometimes, I add a cup of berries or
melon (but never at breakfast as that's when my blood glucose is most
difficult to control). Basically... all my meals are a big bunch of
veggies and a moderate serving of protein with whatever fat comes with
it in cooking (I use mostly butter and olive oil, some lard also) and
a small serving of low-sugar fruit at about half my meals.

OK gotcha. I seem to eat more meat than you are at dinner. I love
veggies but find they are not filling. I'm hungry in an hour or two. So
I eat a lot of meat and fish with my meals.

No, they're not filling by themselves. I'm not a vegetarian though, I
eat protein, usually animal protein, at every meal. And plenty of fat
as well. While I push for the largest mass of my food to be from
veggies, the largest percentage of my calories is from fat, which is
very satiating.

I had a chicken breast for dinner last night (and it was not one of
those "diet" skinless breasts), the artichoke was dipped in butter and
then I had a kiwi for dessert.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Stuff that is "good" in terms of being low-carb, but "bad" in terms of
weight loss for me includes nuts, nut butters, and cheese. These are
foods I can easily eat a thousand calories of at a sitting. I *can't*
sit with a jar of nut butter and a spoon, nor with a block of cheese
and a knife, and stop at a reasonable portion - so they have to be
measured out and put away before I sit to eat. You'll find your own
foods that are preferable to limit - anything really caloric or carby
needs to be measured.

I hate to give up the nuts because that leaves me with nothing but meat
and low-carb veggies. I never dreamed I'd be up another pound because
of the cheese on the eggplant but that has to be it. :*( I just
didn't feel like meat again yesterday and we had the eggplant. I'm
starting to crave something filling other than meat.

Don't give them up - just figure out how much is a reasonable portion.
Nuts are a very good, healthy food.

I'm very likely to sprinkle a few TB of chopped pecans on a salad. I
just can't sit down with a jar of pecan butter and a spoon cause there'd
be no stopping at a few TB.

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/