For those of us whose families are not on board...

What do you do when you go out to eat and your husband chose the restaurant? My hubby I have gone out twice in the last two days. Monday night I chose the restaurant. We went out with friends to Saylor's, a steak place, with some friends. This one was easy since I am not a big bread person, just sugar! This place serves a relish tray with a seasoned sour cream dip (basically sour cream and chives). I ate some celery sticks, two small carrot sticks (I am going moderate low carb and not strict low carb)and some olives. I skipped the bread and took the beets and croutons off my salad. For dinner I had Filet Mignon and asked for veggies instead of the potato options. When the meal came, I took the carrots out of the veggies and just ate the broccoli and cauliflower and added some butter to them. Then I skipped the ice cream dessert that came with the meal.

Then next day we went out with the kids and Jim wanted to go to Unique Buffet. This is a Chinese all you can eat buffet. He asked me if this was okay and I told him I would make it work. This one was harder because I really like pot stickers and the cream cheese puffs. I didn't have either. I ended up eating some crab and shrimp from one dish and some veggies from another. I know the crab dish had sugar in it because it was pretty sweet. I just limited my portion to quite small. I got salad, (which was basically lettuce)with cucumber, and sunflower seeds with ranch dressing. I also got a hard boiled egg and a piece of chicken on a stick but it tasted really sweet so I only had a bite or two. After eating this I still felt a little hungry so I got some more sunflower seeds and another half of a hard boiled egg.

The biggest thing I am doing for myself is reminding myself of what I can have, not what I can't have. I have been on Weight Watchers before and always felt like I was "bad" because I would splurge and eat the things I shouldn't since I could count them as points. Well, I have found it much easier with this change of lifestyle to say, "Hey, now I can eat bacon or sunflower seeds." I guess I am choosing the see the glass as half full instead of half empty and I like it. I also really like the results. I've lost 6.4 pounds in the last 1-1/2 weeks.

Hi, I'm Gail and I am just starting out on this journey.

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.