Thanks, Ilse. I've copied out the page, and next time I visit with my DIL, I'll get her to calculate a couple of my daily menus to find out how I'm doing WW-wise. According to this chart, I'm well within the upper limit, so I'd qualify for "free" meetings. Of course, everything is vastly different than it was when I was an active WWer.

According to Fitday, my fat % is usually 55-65%. I don't eat a lot of red meat, processed meat, or butter. I DO eat mayonnaise, salad dressing, and half-n-half. Lately, I've been using Light Done Right--checking the carbs for the different flavors. This is a good calorie-cutter without losing flavor.

I'm convinced that my "secret weapon" is my version of flaxseed/wheat bran cereal. I eat it every day. Those 15 gms of fiber--plus 10 or more gms from veggies and fruits--seem to keep my system humming along. The other "secret weapon" is regular exercise. At least 30 minutes every day, either cardio or weights, sometimes both.

I can't be fussing any more than I do with timing/weighing/counting. I enter everything in Fitday--forcing honesty every single day--and keep my eye on the ball. My indulgences: sugar-free chocolates and wine.

Hope you find what you can live with enjoyably. That's the only way to sustain a program.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Barb, for what it's worth, I've lost 9 to 10 lbs from my post-maintenance high of 144 (late winter/early spring of 05), since I switched to eating hot flaxseed meal cereal for breakfast. In fact, I switched to cereal after reading one of your posts, I think. Plus, as my mornings got busier, it was so much faster to nuke a cup of cereal than make eggs&veggies. In my case, I make my cereal from 50/50 flaxseed meal and Designer Whey Protein, plus (sometimes) a little bit of psyllium husks.

Now, that is not the only thing that's changed in the last few months by any means - I've been more active physically, I went through a couple of no-sweets challenges and a couple of rounds of induction. Then, too, there's the stress of selling the house and buying a new home.

Still, the switch from eggs-and-veggies cooked in butter to flaxseed/whey protein cereal may be significant to my weight loss. Perhaps it's the additional Omega 3 oils, maybe it's the addtional fiber, or, maybe it's the combination of all other changes. Whatever, I love having the cereal for breakfast now!

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

Teel, that's a great testimonial! I don't have much evidence other than myself, but your report seems to bear out the benefits of the cereal routine. It does several things: reduces fat calories (and overall calories); adds fiber; adds the nutritional value of flaxseed; fills up the tummy and keeps hungry away for a long time; tastes good and allows for a variety of flavor options.

Whenever I consider cooking an egg instead, I think, "What for?" I love my gruel!

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

I am very upset. I lost my Pocket PC (PDA)(Like a Palm Pilot). It's worth a lot of money and has a lot of information about me in it. If it got lost here at the high school, I will never see it again. Even though I have all my credit cards, I think I will need to block all of them. Bummer!

__________________
Ilse

380/286(current)/154
5'6"
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
Walt Disney

Oh, Ilse, how horrible! I do hold hope that it may be found and returned!

Barb, I love the hot cereal, but I usually have it with 1/2 cup Hood LC milk. I am wondering if I am lactose-intolerant after all these years. Do you, um, have any gas problems with this cereal? Perhaps I should try it w/o the milk. I also bought some Lactase tablets today. I will try them tomorrow with my first cup of coffee w/ half and half. BTW, what is Light Done Right? A coffee creamer?

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

If I start with the flax meal cereal, I get a lot of flatulence. Don't know how to solve it, short of not eating any. I have some flax meal sitting on my counter, unopened due to that reason. The flatulence remains, even after eating the cereal daily for quite a while.

__________________
Ilse

380/286(current)/154
5'6"
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
Walt Disney

Hot cereal in the morning sounds good, but I sure don't have the time. I usually have a half dozen hard cooked eggs in the fridge at all times so I just peel 2 and cut them up and nuke them for 30 sec. I cook bacon a pound at a time and just nuke that too. I'm definitely not a morning person so I don't want to have to fuss. Sundays I usually make a couple of mock danish and then I can have a change for breakfast during the week. If my weight has stayed down, I have a piece of lc toast once a week. But after all the coleslaw the last couple of days my weight is up so no toast for me. I checked the dressing bottle and found it had sugar in it. I should have known better!!

Brenda: I have no idea what it would cost to rent a motorhome here either. We started out with a truck and camper and found it was just too small for the two of us and two dogs. It might seem expensive when you buy the fuel etc., but last year we went for two weeks down through Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. For the two week period we kept a record and it cost us $998.52 for fuel, camping spots etc. We figure if we had needed to pay for rooms and meals it would have cost a heck of a lot more than that. It means I don't get a break from cooking, but when I feel the need I just tell hubby that we are going out that night. Especially for the meals in the casinos...they are so cheap.

We finally got some rain today. Not much, but enough to keep the dust down for a little bit. The system is supposed to blow over by the weekend. It had better...sitting at a baseball tournament is not fun.

__________________
Donna
238.5/166.4/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Donna, one of the things I liked, after switching to cereal, is that it is so fast to make. I keep a 1/3 cup plastic measuring cup in the tupperware with the cereal mix. In the morning all I do is put a scoop in a teacup and add hot water from the tap (or add cold water and nuke it for a minute). If I'm in a hurry and want to eat on the run, I use more water so I can drink it as I go. If I'm feeling more leisurely, I use less water and eat it with a spoon.

As for bacon, a few times I tried to plan ahead and cooked a pound all at once for use throughout the week. The problems is, I always run out of bacon on the second day!

Ilse, maybe your PDA will still turn up somewhere - under a magazine, in a pocket, under the car seat. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find it soon.

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

I agree that fiber is a good thing. I have never made any of the cereals from flax meal, and I confess to eating a breakfast that is only marginally acceptable. I eat Blue Bunny 85 yougurt and All-Bran cereal. The BB yogurt reads 14 carbs on the container, but some people believe that you can divide yogurt carbs in half --- insert lots of chemistry here---. The all-bran is the highest fiber/lowest carb cereal that I can find. I dump a couple of tablespoons into the container, stir and eat. There are some things that I don't get bored with, and that's one of them. I have eaten that breakfast just about every day for the last two years.

But, back to the flaxmeal and fiber. My new favorite flax recipe is the flaxmeal hamburger buns. How much more perfect can you get --- protien and fiber and only one net carb. I have adjusted the recipe so that I make more of a sweet bread --- 1/4 cup flaxmeal, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a couple of big shakes of cinnamon, dump in some some sweetner, and one egg. Nuke for one minute. I then top with cream cheese and eat away. This is generally an afternoon snack. It is great to stop me from eating through the kitchen between the time I get home and the time we have dinner (around 8:30). Lots of time it's enough that I don't even want much when we do eat.

Oh, I have more to say, but this is already long. I'll be back in a while.

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!

Ok, I'm back. In answer to the question about what kind of movies can possibly be related to economics, how about:

*Norma Rae--Labor Unions
*Tucker, The Man and His Machine -- entrepreneurship and barriers to entry in an oligopoly market
*Daddy Day Care (the one I just ordered)-- supply/demand, entrepreneurship, start up costs, marginal costs, opportunity costs
*Hudsucker Proxy (the other one I bought) -- stock market, corporate structure
* Wall Street -- if you seriously edit it
* Trading Places --- Not the whole movie!! just the clip of the exchange market and descriptions of commodities trading.

But my all time favorite and the one my AP kids are watching right now is Bug's Life -- yeah, the animated movie. They complaining to high heaven about how hard the questions are. There is an amazing amount of correlation between the movie and things that we studied in class. The movie makes them analyze the information in regard to something other than just plain entertainment.

The bottom line is that if you find a suitable theme, and something that is not objectionable for sex, drugs, alcohol, and language, you can tie it to the topic studied. I do not take credit for coming up with all the lesson plans and ideas. That's the beauty of collaboration.

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!

Judy, I get it! Hmm. I may rent some of these movies and watch them in view of business/economics.

Your breakfast does sound good. And a few Tablespoons of All Bran should not break the LC bank. I've read that info about yogurt, too. Sounds like it works for you.

I am trying the lactase this AM. I'll wait till I have another day home to try the flax cereal again. Ilse, maybe our bodies can't handle so much fiber? Is that even possible?

TB, interesting that your cereal is flax and whey (no wheat bran . . . oh! aren't you wheat intolerant?) Maybe it's the bran I can't process? Whatever. The quest continues because I love this cereal.

And Donna, TB's right. This is very quick. I pre-mix the cereal (flax, bran & whey) and keep it in the freezer. Put 1/2 cup in a bowl, add 1 cup water and nuke for 2 minutes.

Judy, I forgot about the flax hamburger buns! I did make some a while back. Have to make some of those for a quick snack. I copied the sweet version, but have not tried it yet.

Happy Thursday!

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

Judy, thanks for the bun recipe. I'm going to try that! Sounds like an excellent breakfast alternative.

Ilse, tragic about the PDA! Yikes! Hope it turns up.

As for the other topic, I wonder if an anti-gas pill would help? I do poot a bit, but nobody has complained.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Oh, yeah! That flax hamburger bun is great! DH loves it, too. I make it in small, square corningware dishes, so it looks more like sandwich bread. The carbquick/almond meal bun was good, too, but I think I like the flaxmeal version better.

I tried incorporating yogurt during OWL; but the carb reduction theory just didn't seem to work in my body. So now I use the full carb count when I eat yogurt, which is rarely.

I haven't had it recently, but I really liked Trader Joe's Hi-Lo cold cereal (6 g net), which is a flake-type cereal and not expensive. Atkins Morning Start cereal was even better, but hideously expensive.

Ilse,you said you ate flax for quite a while and still had flatulance. If the flaxseed meal is sitting on your counter, it might have turned bad. Flaxseed meal turns rancid quickly at room temperature, so it keeps much better in the refrigerator. If you think your flaxseed is still okay, you might try introducing it in small amounts (say, a TBS at a time) and drink lots of water.

Alida, as far as I know, I'm not wheat intolerant, except that I feel so much better since I began LC and mostly avoid wheat products. I think I just didn't have any bran when I made the first batch of flaxseed cereal, so I subbed a little bit of psyllium husks. But, the cereal has a better texture without the psyllium husks, frankly.

I weighed 133 this morning! Actually, I weighed that for the last day or two, but I figured it was just an aberation of the scales. But, now that I've seen it 3 times, I'm starting to think it might stick -- if I'm careful.

The due dilligence report on the Homeowners Association docs for the townhouse we are trying to buy turned up a few flies in the oinment. So, I need learn more about that today, and ask my realtor to gather some further documentation for the data company that did the investigation.

Sigh... nothing is ever easy, is it?
.

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

With all the rave reviews, I've printed out the flaxmeal hamburger bun recipe and can't wait to try it. Also, thanks for the hint teel, that flaxmeal should be kept in the fridge. I didn't know that and mine is in the cupboard. I'll fix that when I get home. Next I will try the cereal recipe. Thanks guys. I can't believe all the different ingredients I have on hand now that I've never had in the house before. Sure wish low carb yogurt was sold in Canada. I love yogurt, but just can't justify 32 carbs for one little bit for breakfast. Just about time we took a weekend and headed to Washington so I can load up on yogurt again.

We had one heck of a storm hit us last night. The rain was needed but not when you are trying to play baseball. So, we just left and went shopping instead. (awww). I have one wall on the patio that I want to put an ivy stencil on so it's not so white and I found the perfect stencil for it. (also found the perfect pair of red capri's too, but we won't go there). I can never leave WalMart without dropping at least $100. I'm sure I own shares in that place by now.

Tonight will be one heck of a busy night for me. After work, I have all the grass to cut plus laundry and clean the house. Then I have the motorhome to pack and get the beds made in it etc. If I'm lucky, I should be done by 10 p.m. in time to watch the final episode of ER. We're hoping to head out of town by noon tomorrow. (I haven't told my boss I need to leave early...I'll have to get the courage to do that today).

__________________
Donna
238.5/166.4/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Donna, I know what you mean about those "different" ingredients! Flax, bran, TVP, WPI, Poly-D, Erythritol, etc. You may want to check the cooking forum and search for that hamburger bun thread. Some people thought it was a little "oily" and cut back on the butter. I thought it was a little eggy so cut back on the eggs, although that made it a flatter bun. Always tweaks! I have to try that sweet version.

You do have a busy night ahead! Remember to get some sleep, too!

Barb, Poot. LOL! I had the cereal for lunch today. Took a lactose tab and so far so good.

Oh TB, I hope all goes smoothly with the townhome. What was the glitch, if you don't mind my asking?

Ilse, any word on your PDA?

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