Vayda, congratulations on reaching your goal weight!!! That's a wonderful achievement; and it's always awesome good news to hear about someone reaching goal.

I think you'll do fine with maintenance. If you experiment with high carb foods, just try to be on the lookout and mentally prepared in case food cravings occur. For me, they (food cravings) can be subtle or raving! Either way, drinking lots of water and eating lots of lower carb veggies on the following days seems to help bring things back around. I'm often skirting the edge myself; which I don't think is a particularly good thing.

I think it's good to participate in the forums - I find it helps me get in focus or stay in focus. If I start drifting, I usually don't get as far out of bounds as long as I'm in touch with people here.

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

the amount of xylitol or whatever in the gum is unlikely to be the culprit - though it's certainly possible. In some people, the gum makes you hungry by stimulating your stomach juices...I've heard of people chewing gum to satisfy cravings, but that never worked for me. It just usually makes me hungrier!

On the other hand, your cravings might having nothing to do with the gum, in fact, my guess is that they do not.

More likely, you're being less careful about eating carbs without any protein or fat to mitigate the blood sugar spike, which makes you crave more in a few hours.

You might try keeping a food log for a few days, and noting WHEN the cravings occur. If you find them happening an hour or two after a meal or snack, that may be the answer.

If eating a whole apple brings cravings, eat a half an apple with a TBS of peanut or almond butter, 10 almonds, or one ounce of cheese. see if that helps. it doesn't take much protein or fat to do the trick, so don't over do - but it works!

Andrea, thank you so much. I am honored to be the Question of the Day!

As for his reply, I, too, wish he would have gone into the psychological aspects, but, what he says makes perfect sense. NOT high carb foods (well, we KNEW that!) but more calories, especially with ONE food at a time. And monitor yourself.

This whole low carb journey has been, and still is, a journey of discovery. For so many years, food was a mindless issue. Cake? Sure! But with low carb eating, I have learned to stop, think, and make choices. Will I ever eat a real piece of cake? Maybe. But if I do, I now have the tools to not let that choice derail me. Low Carb is for life. That fact is comfort in and of itself. I now possess and can use these low carb tools to NEVER BE FAT AGAIN!

Vayda -- CONGRATULATIONS! Both of us have to address the mental issues involved here . . . but we can do it! And yes, ditch the gum!

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Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135

You guys give great advice. Andrea, I like the idea of keeping a log and tracking the cravings.

Thanks, all of you, for making me feel welcome.

Alida and Vayda, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You've completed ONE journey and are ready to embark on another one.

I'm with Jonny on the attitude of "having fun" with it. There are SOME things that I have given up that would be wonderful to add back into my WOE. For instance, now that I DON'T eat candy, cookies, cake and all that jazz, I have a newfound respect and liking for fruit. I have pretty much stuck with berries and cantaloupe as my fruit choices. But I feel now, since I am so close to goal, that I can allow myself to have other fruit choices............my candy alternative. I have an occasional half an apple, usually with almond butter, as Andrea mentioned earlier. I find it difficult to stop at half an apple, especially if it's a REALLY GOOD apple. I look forward to the day when I can have a WHOLE apple and not worry if it's going to mess me up. But I like Jonny's thinking on adding ONE new food at a time.........noting what it does to your weight and perhaps digestion, and more importantly what it does to you psychologically. Since this WOL is soooooooo ingrained in your mind, if a new food sends you on a craving cycle, you will know EXACTLY what did it and can now control it. Even tho I haven't reached my goal weight yet, I do occasionally allow myself some healthier deviations from the norm. I have an occasional apple OR a limited amount of popcorn WITH butter, LC bread (although I have recently discoverd that ANYthing with wheat in it gives me a headache, which I've been plagued by almost all my life). But I feel like my choices now are healthy ones as opposed to what I used to eat..........JUNK. Fruit is always a healthy, high carb albeit, alternative. And what Andrea says about eating it with protein and fat just makes it more FUN!!! The possibilites are endless............make a sweet, sour cream or cream cheese dip for your fruits, have that butter with popcorn, have cheddar cheese WITH that apple. I find that eating fruit ALL BY ITSELF, stimulates my appetite immensely, so adding protein or fat with it DOES keep that in check. Besides, it broadens the taste experience and is FUN and satisfying!!!!

But I think the key here is to add things back ONE AT A TIME and note how your body AND mind handles it. It may be a matter of being hyper-vigilant while trying new stuff.

Alida, I might add here that you have been such an important contributor to this board. Your experience and knowledge is invaluable to the other members here!!!!!

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I just find it's a little fuzzier than that. If I eat something once or twice, I may be okay - and so come to think of it as an okay food. But if I eat it regularly for a few weeks, it may trigger cravings and weight gain. Then I'm mystified, because I'm only eating "okay" foods, right? For me, that time lag makes it quite complicated to identify culprit foods, especially if I've gone on and added another new food or two in the interim.

LC tortillas were like that for me. The first time or two that I had one, I listened to my body and didn't hear any bad consequences. So, I concluded they were okay. But, later, when I was eating them as a regular part of my diet, they seemed to bring on cravings and weight gain. But, I thought it must be something else as I'd mentally labled tortillas as "okay". But, finally, eliminating tortillas seemed to get me back on track.

__________________
~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

Yep, it IS a jigsaw puzzle and could be a conundrum.

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Or quite the quandary even! LOL

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Started Atkins-1/2/04
174 lbs at heaviest



5'0 154/136.5/130