I began eating low-carb last Friday so I am really a newbie at this. I have been watching Jerri as she has been eating this way and kind of jealous of the results, but I was just not ready to give up my chocolate and sweets. I do not have as hard a time with breads although I am noticing that without any of the breads, my sweet tooth is much less. I began on Friday at 200.1 pounds and I am 5'8" tall. I hide my weight quite well although anyone can see that I am overweight. I am mainly doing this for weight loss although my father has adult onset diabetes so if I can do something now that will prevent me from the difficulties he has had, it will be good.
Yesterday was my first real testing day. We have our Bible study at our house on Sunday afternoons and I had asked someone else to bring goodies. We had very big cinnamon sticky buns with and without frosting. They looked so good and I ended up with the chair right next to the table where they sat. So, since it was at my house, I got out my own snack. I had some provolone cheese and some pecans. I was very satisfied and although I could smell the goodies behind me, I was just fine. Later, after the meeting, I brought my kids to McDonald's. I ordered the classic grilled chicken sandwich without the bun and asked for a fork and knife. I spread a small amount of mayo on it and ate it. When you order it this way, they put it on top of a couple of pieces of good lettuce not the shredded lettuce. I was quite satisfied with it also.
My husband is not into a carb-free or low-carb diet at all and he has been out of the country in Mexico since last Wednesday. He does not even know that I started this so we will see how things go when he comes home tonight.
One of the things that made me decide to try this is it seemed like every time I was eating breads or sweet, I felt so bloated and yucky feeling that I was only enjoying them at the time I ate them. Once I was done, I wished I had not eaten them. Since starting to eat low-carb, I have felt satisfied but I have never had that bloated feeling.
I am definitely going low-carb and not no-carb. But just thinking about what I am eating has made a difference already. I look forward to seeing how it goes as time goes on. I enjoy reading the posts here about the successes and struggles. Thanks for letting me share.
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16 comments:
Welcome on board Gail!! Congrats to your decision and best wishes to a healthy, longer, and skinnier life!!
Welcome Gail! So thrilled to hear your first few days have gone so well! Don't worry about converting your hubby. Let this way of eating speak for itself. Just be aware that you will be cooking different things for him and the kids and don't let that get to you. Your positive attitude will speak volumes!
My hubby has not been the most supportive of this new way of eating. However today he came home saying he had to get down to 318 lbs in order to be covered by our new insurance that starts March 1st. So he says he is motivated now, and is even going to work out tonight!! Wow!! He weighed in at the chiropractor's office tonight at 223, so he only has 5 pounds to lose (piece of cake right? no pun intended).
Did your husband have to get down to 318 or 218? I know that if I can do this, my husband may follow along. I know he wants to eat better and lose some weight. His mother is also diabetic and he has high cholesterol so it would definitely do both of us well. He has only heard of people doing Atkins or the low card diets where they say they can sit down and eat a pound of bacon every morning and three hamburgers at lunch and a 20 ounce steak at dinner and eat no vegetables or anything else and lose weight. I am finding that I am really enjoying my plate filled 3/4 full with a big salad (veggies,cheese, sunflower seeds, a little crumbled bacon,my favorite salad dressing and a little olive oil) and 1/4 of my plate filled with some meat for dinner. I am so satisfied with that at dinner that I have had a snack only one time in the evening since I started and that was just to try a flaxseed muffin I had just made. So, no matter what, I will keep doing what I am doing and hope that my family will follow along in time.
That isn't actually how Atkins is done. The hardest thing for me when on Atkins is eating all the stupid veggies.
There is a web site called saving dinner where you can order menus. There is a low carb option which gives extra side dishes for the non-low carbers.
Dana
Sorry about the typo in my last comment- He is 323 lbs right now, needs to get down to 318 lbs. Oops!
I also have heard of people doing "Adkins" who do not eat veggies, they only eat meat. No wonder they get stopped up!! I agree that I am loving my plate half full of brocoli! Sure the veggies have some carbs in them, but who can argue that they aren't healthy for you to eat? We are not doing no-carbs, just low-carb.
I made low-carb muffins from a mix this morning for breakfast. The kids love them. John didn't comment. I only ate half of one. I couldn't stomach the consistancy or the taste. I had added cinamon, but I don't think I put enough in.
Dana,
That site looks really good! Do you subscribe? Or know of any discounted ways to get a subscription? I really like the way they have other sides listed for the non low carbers in the family, if you have any of those (ahem!).
http://www.savingdinner.com/menu_mailer/low_carb_menu_mailer.html
Ju,
What kind of low carb muffin mix did you make? I know of one brand that is pretty darn tasty, though on the expensive side. One of these days I'll post my muffin recipes.
I find the muffins are much better if you spread butter or cream cheese on them. I can almost fool my brain to focus mainly on that texture in those instead of the muffin texture. I can eat the blueberry flavor plain but I put some blueberries in them which helps.
Dana, sorry about any confusion. I didn't mean that is the way Atkins is done. I have just heard of some people doing a low carb diet and that's the way the individual thinks. Therefore, my husband is very skeptical.
Jer- I used the brand Bob's Red Mill Low-Carb Mix ($5+ for a small package). It is actually the mix to make bread with, but Mom said that the bread mix was the same as the mix for other things, just omit the yeast. So that's what I did. My little guy loves the muffins, however he can't stop with just one- he eats at least two. My oldest likes them also, just the middle child wasn't too impressed. John finally told me he disliked them. We did put lots of butter on them, but I still wouldn't eat them again. If I put cream cheese on them, I might get middle child to finally eat them- she loves cream cheese. I might make them again for the kids, but not for the grown ups. I would be interested in other muffin receipes, but my thought is that they will all have that strange texture. Who knows though?!
Ju,
Looking at the ingrediants:
Vital Wheat Gluten, Whole Grain Oat Flour, Oat Bran, Oat Fiber, Flaxseed Meal, Whole Grain Rye Flour, Wheat Bran, Whole Grain Soy Flour, Sea Salt, Turbinado Sugar, Crystalline Fructose.
I wonder if it is the flaxseed that makes the flavor not nice, because flax seed, once it is ground into meal, goes rancid very quickly if not refrigerated. I grind my own flax seeds to bake with and store any leftovers in the frig/freezer.
Textures can really vary, not all are the same. The flaxseed muffin that I make has a really nice texture. Not sure why, but it is the flavor my taste buds/brain is not able to eat anymore. I was eating 1-2 everyday for 2 months and loved them, so I don't know what happened. It isn't just the muffins though, other foods don't taste the same either. I wonder if it has to do with medications or other things? Or, I just ate them every day for too long and my taste buds burned out? I don't know. I am also pretty stuck with not being about to use wheat or wheat products (allergic and when I do eat it I am noticing my stomach hurts a couple hours later). Mostly I have been making muffins made with ground almonds and/or hazelnuts. While these taste better to my weird taste buds, the texture isn't as good as the flax seeds make. **sigh**
I don't know about the muffins, Jer. I bought a rotissere oven today though! I am roasting a chicken right now and it smells fantastic! It took about 3 tries to get the thing on the right way but now it is sizzling away! I got sick of paying for a rotissere chicken at the store. Now I can make my own at home. One of my favorite foods- very low carb!!
Ju,
Oh yummy! That is one we really like too and Costco makes the best! You'll have to tell us how you like using it, what brand, pricing, or how many chickens do you have to cook to pay for it?
I subscribed for awhile, I have some on file somewhere. I think. Maybe, if the puter didn't crash after. Hmmmmm. I will have to look for you.
It is weird how people get such a skewed picture of what low carb really is. My mom, who is the one who tried it first keeps telling me my kidneys are going to explode if I don't stop, then complains because her BS is so high, she just can't figure it out.
Dana
Jer,
I got the only one that Sam's carries in the store. It is a DeLonghi Convection Oven (with Rotissere $99). The bad part is that it only holds one chicken (so it wouldn't work for large families), but that works fine for ours. I asked Sam's what seasoning they use on their chicken, and they said Lawry's, so I picked up a thing of seasoning ($5?) at Sams, and a package of two chickens ($7). I also bought the extended 3 year warranty ($14), mainly because I am not sure about the quality of it and want to make sure it lasts at least 3 years (I might use it every day!). So I am guessing that we save about $1 per chicken (that's not much and I didn't count seasoning and extended warranty), but we have the convienience of being able to cook it anytime (no running to the store that is 20 minutes away) and it only takes 2 hours for a 4-5 pound chicken. I can store frozen chickens in the freezer and just get them out a day ahead of time to defrost in the fridge. An added bonus is that it makes your whole house smell terrific! I have to go and buy some poultry sting to tie the birds up with to keep them from flopping around. I just used regular rough twine yesterday that I found in the garage. I was a little scared to use it because it is really rough and I was afraid all those little threads could catch on fire, but it worked just fine.
All in all it produced a fantastic looking and tasting chicken after 2 hours. One down side was that there was not enough skin for everyone! lol! I think I could eat rot. chicken skin as a substitute for potato chips anyday!! It is so good! The kids just gobbled up skin, chicken and all! They loved it!
Mistake: I said it only holds one chicken- I was wrong! You can put two small chickens in also, sorry!
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