This article could be a sticky for this forum. It was from Tuesday's Dallas Morning News. To read the entire story, go here.

The most important lines for us to remember were at the end of the article.
and

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 138-140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more Fooling myself!

Judy, this is an EXCELLENT article. I'm glad I went to the trouble of registering for the Dallas newspaper website. From now on, I can keep my eyes upon Texas!

In a recent post on this Forum, I used the very words this writer says: losing weight is the easy part.

I've been a member for several years of the National Weight Control Registry, a project run by Dr. James Hill and others. Because my original 50 lb. loss (1996) was the result of a low-fat diet, my initial statistics put me in the low-fat "loser" group. However, I'm hoping to show, with future nutritional questionnaires, that low-CARB has become the real "secret" to successful maintenance for me. At least, so far. I never, ever take this maintenance thing for granted.

And can we all say EXERCISE? Thankfully, I don't believe that I have to exercise strenuously for a whole hour every day. However, I do maintain a regular routine of at least 30 minutes, including cardio, weight training, stretching, and skating--at least six, usually seven, days a week. No excuses. At my current weight, I can run more--which has always been the best fat-burner for my body. I try to take it pretty easy though, 'cause of the old(er) joints.

The other "secret" the writer mentions is SUPPORT GROUP. That explains why I'm HERE a gazillion times a day. When I preach to others, believe me, I'm preaching to me.

On the way to my office this morning, I noticed the preparations for tomorrow's Hospital Hill race, and my heart got pumping. Regular goals are important to me for maintaining a sense of progress and achievement. For a goal, nothing compares to an official Finish Line.

We all know that weight management is never finished. The writer's example, "How would you like to work as hard as you can for the next five years for the same salary?" certainly illustrates the concept.

I'm trying to memorize the feeling I have today, right now--in these jeans--so that next time I want to put something in my mouth, I can say, "Which do you want more? This blob of sticky frosting--or those jeans?"

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


My Fitday Journal

Stuck!~

Newbie here...and trying to maintain. I've always said the easy part is losing the weight. Another story to maintain that loss! I have tried every diet made, gotten to goal, gained it right back..not a lot of weight mind you but the same 20 #s over and over again. I finally got on Low Carb seriously in Feb, 2003, made goal of 120, maintained wonderfully until about a year ago. 19 months I maintained, then this little demon in my head kept saying, I need fruit, grains, higher carb, esp. orange vegi's. So I started adding them back into my diet. I started to gain and sugar snuck in there too. I'm now sticking pretty much around 123. I really would like to stay at 120 and eat everything I desire but I know I can't do that. Have had lots of acid reflux these past 6 months which I had absolutely NONE while LCarbing. So the week before Christmas I gave up all those good, yummy carbs. Everyone kept saying, wait til the first of the year and then start over. This GERD leaves me so nauseated all day and night. I am taking 4 pills a day for it. I needed to start right now so I did. Had a couple pieces of sweet breads on Christmas and suffered for 2 days. Now am back to being good and most of all, FEELING GOOD.

Sorry I got a little winded here. Hope to continue to learn here. Thanks for listening.

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Grams

HI, Grams. Your experience is not uncommon. The real journey of weight management is only beginning at "maintenance." At that point, with any luck, we've taken the time to learn the strategy and made up our minds to embrace an entire new way of eating.

I've tried many diets, and all of them worked. Atkins is the first "diet" which has given me the tools--and the hope--of permanent change.

Next week, I'll be starting a couple weeks of induction. I didn't stray much during the holidays, but I'm not where I want to be. And so, approaching my third Atkinsversary, I actually look forward to getting back to basics.

Best wishes to you!

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


My Fitday Journal

Hi Gramms and anyone else out there with this acid reflux. I'm a newbie and have been reading these to kinda get my feet wet so to speak.

Grams, my wife had the reflux, for years, did all the stuff to fix it, then my best buddy, a holistic healer, we were talking and she says, "oh Bill, I can fix that today" My responce was, you guessed it, "Yeah Right".
Well Guess what, she fixed it that day. That was 6 months ago and my wife has 'NO' more acid reflux.
Here is what we did---Go to your local health store, buy 'Essentia' water, it's hard to find. I buy it at health food stores. I keep it on her desk, in her car, on her night table. She also has me use organic coconut oil in any form I can that my wife will eat. She's very finicky.
This water is PH balanced and Grams--When she drank it it was immediate. The cough went away literally, as she was drinking the first bottle of the water.
Try it.