I've been low carbing off and on for years. I lost 50 pounds doing Atkins, but then I got complacent. I've gained 15 - 20lbs back. I usually go off plan when out of town, which I know is terrible. I've been out of town a lot lately. I wonder if it's truly necessary to start with induction, as I have no problem cutting out sugars and starches. Would it be ok to just go back to owl without going through induction again?

I think my real problem is that I don't count carbs per se. I eat low carb, but I think I should be keeping track of exactly what I'm putting in my body. I don't think I would use fitday every day, and being consistent is important.

I guess I'm gonna have to start carrying around a little notebook and record everything I eat or drink. Maybe I would enter it into fitday at the end of the day. I've read that it gets easier after the first week or so of starting from scratch. I've never been good at keeping a journal, I'd quit after a week or two. I know I've got to do something to get back on track and stay motivated.

Any tips for me would be appreciated

Oh, yeah, I probably should include my usual weekday menu.

I grab a Krystal 4 carb bowl with a large diet coke for breakfast.
Hardee's low carb burger minus onions and a large diet coke for lunch.
(I need to get back to having breakfast and lunch from home. I've been lazy lately.) I don't do snacks very often.
Some kind of meat for dinner, sometimes with veggies or salad. Diet soda, water or wine to drink.

I do drink wine pretty regularly with dinner, as well as after. Not every day, but more often than not. I'm considering drinking rum and diet cola instead of wine. I also drink some water while I'm at work.

So, that's it. Tell me what you think, LCE gurus!

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Well, I can't admonish you for falling off the wagon as I have struggled with that myself, NUMEROUS times! So I applaud you taking the steps to catch this before the regain gets much worse.
However, I must say that I feel doing induction is VERY important for several reasons.
You say you have no problem getting back on track; if that were true, you would not have regained, would you? Obviously, the cravings or impulses to eat those foods ARE there or you never would have fallen off the wagon to begin with, right? So, for sheer psychological value, induction is priceless. It breaks those addictions and takes care of those cravings PRONTO.

Additionally, induction helps your body get into fat-burning mode more quickly. If you simply start limiting carbs and sugar, without limiting other things that slow down loss, it could take you twice as long to achieve the same results!

One final thought: I think you are drinking too much diet soda and wine is a definite no-no if you are going to do induction. Try to drink more pure water each day and I think you will find that your hunger & cravings will diminish more quickly... and so will the pounds!
Good luck & KEEP POSTING!

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Summer

downsizin-i feel your pain, woman. we lose a lot of weight, and we've made low-carb our lifestyle overall. but we get sloppy. carb creep takes over. a little of this and a little of that adds a little weight here and a little weight there. it begins to accumulate. in fact, that pretty nicely sums up where i am with my own efforts at the moment.

as far as induction or not, that's up to you. and i understand your aversion to tracking, too. i hate tracking, myself. but i also know when i write things down, i pay more attention to what i'm eating.

bah. i hate giving other people advice i should be taking myself!

i would say that there's a good possiblity you'll need to forgo the wine during any time you're looking to actively lose weight, though. alcohol is too easy for your body to process, and it is burned off before anything else. so if you're drinking every day or three, you'll keep knocking yourself out of ketosis every time you get close, man. and we all know that ketosis buzz can't be beat for losing the weight.

if it were me, whether i went through a full induction or not, i'd drop the wine and replace 95% of the diet sodas with water. and get busy on the veggies. veggies are a staple of low carb life, they fill you up and give you the nutrients and fiber you need....depending on your overall eating habits, that in and of itself could get things moving again. summer's certainly got a point, however, that induction could very well get you back on track.

but you probably have some good idea how to do this already, right? i know i do.

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Fat Baggage- Is Yours Packed?

Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that! I have gotten to a place where I'm reluctant go give up the things that I really enjoy. I know that is what is dragging me down - or up, IFKWIM!

I need to recommit myself to this way of eating and just get on with it.

Thank you, Lawbooks and Goddess for giving me the kick in the butt that I need!

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Hey Downsizin, I am there too... been doing this woe too long and got laxed and feeling heavy and decided today that enough was enough....

Onward thru the fog.... I had to pull my head out of the fog to see what was going on with my food... oh I would do great for breakfast and lunch then dinner hit, or snack time hit, and it was all over...
no more...I really want to rid myself of this weight for once and for all....

I am using fit day to keep track of my foods, you should look into it. it is very easy to use....

come by my journal, let me know how you are doing and we can cheer each other on....

one comment you might want to watch the amount of alchol you are drinking and diet sodas tend to have a lot of salt in them....

definately get into bringing or eating breakfast and lunch at home
I spend time on sunday getting my weekly lunch and breakfasts together... hard boiled eggs for breakfast or scrambled with cheese and sausage
Lunches are usually salads with some kind of meat - today I had a great salad with lettuce, tomato, cukes, artichoke heart, olive, cheese, chicken (left over rotiserrie) and some asian sesame/ginger salad dressing - desert was sf cherry jello....

I feel so much better eating this way, especially when I bring my food to work and I don't have to think about going to a fast food place, or the machines.....
take care
carolyn

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http://www.youravon.com/cnorulak
carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03 327/268/177
5/20/08/ - 348
onward thru the fog

Carolyn, thanks for the reply.

I used to do the same thing....making breakfast and lunch ahead...I've just gotten so lazy! I've decided to make a brand new start on Monday.

I'm gonna say goodbye to wine. I can hear the Carpenters singing, "I'm gonna say goodbye to love" only I'm subbing wine. So sad. Boo hoo!

Oh well. I'm gonna help DH clean out the garage tomorrow, so my eliptical stepper can get off the dolly it's been sitting on for the couple of months since we bought it. It's not doing me much good up on a dolly! I did have the house to myself today, so I put on '80s rock and danced around like I'm a young, sexy thing. I got tired and my legs hurt, so at least I moved some today. It's a start.

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how's it going downsizin'
hope you are doing with your choices... hopefully you are doing well...
I have been really concentrating this week on my food choices, being hungry or not, and not eating any white sugar....
keep me posted...
c

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http://www.youravon.com/cnorulak
carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03 327/268/177
5/20/08/ - 348
onward thru the fog

Thanks for checking up on my Carolyn.

Well, it's the end of day 5 of induction. I think I did pretty well. I had food from home for breakfast and lunch most days.

Monday

Breakfast 3 eggs microwave scrambled with 2 slices of cheese
Lunch chicken
Dinner more chicken with 1/2 cup turnip greens

daily total of 3 cans of diet soda 64 oz water

Tuesday

Breakfast 1 minute muffin
Lunch chicken
Dinner 2 hamburger patties with sf mayo, sf katsup, mustard

daily total of 3 cans of diet soda 128 oz water

Wednesday

Breakfast 1 minute muffin
Lunch chicken
Dinner 2 hamburger patties with sf mayo, sf katsup, mustard
Desert 1/2 cup whipped cream(splenda) 2 sf jello cups

daily total of 3 cans of diet soda 196 oz water

Thursday

Breakfast 1 minute muffin
Lunch huge salad with smoked turkey, beef and pork with ranch
dressing and red wine vinegar (ate out)
Dinner tuna salad on a small romaine salad with ceasar dressing
Desert 1/2 cup whipped cream(splenda) 2 sf jello cups
Snack 1/4 cup macadamia nuts (jones'n for munchies)

daily total of entirely too much diet coke, at least 64 oz water

Friday off work

Brunch krystal's 4 carb breakfast bowl --eggs, cheese and sausage
Lupper large salad with mushrooms, black olives, blue cheese crumbles
and pine nuts with blue cheese dressing and red wine vinegar

daily total of quite a bit of diet coke, 60 water so far

no, lupper isn't a typo, but my name for a late lunch/early supper meal which is the last meal of the day.

I feel quite determined to stick with induction for the full 2 weeks. I know that the nuts weren't strict induction, but if I didn't get something I was gonna either break into the carby muchies of DD and DH or the beer. I just needed something, and water wasn't gonna cut it.

No exercise so far, as DH got "too busy" to tackle the garage. Oh, well.I can at least pretend it's not my fault that I didn't exercise.

The scale hasn't moved much, if any, but I took measurements last Friday, in preparation of starting induction. The numbers were down a bit and my capri pants weren't quite so tight today. I'm looking forward to measuring again next Friday!

So, that's my report for today. Happy weekend.


ps I forgot to add that the keto stix are changing color, not a deep color, but changing nonetheless, and I have the horrible ketosis breath

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Hi DownSizin': Just noticed your post and can I ever relate to you. I did so wonderful losing all my weight and then went on maintenance and the weight creep hit. 14 lbs to lose now. I've been toying with the idea of going back on induction too. I see you also have the same problem as I do....I LOVE my Diet Coke. I am doing better...only 3 a day now. I used to go through at least 12 before I started this woe.

I do have one question though....where are your veggies? I don't see any cauliflower, broccoli, etc. on your menus. I love veggies and my problem is that I'm not a meat eater really...I have a bad habit of sharing way too much with my puppies. lol

Good luck on your journey...we're all here for you.

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Donna
238.5/166/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Hiya Donna!

I'm still on induction, so veggies are low on the totem pole right now. I do really like veggies, so getting them in usually isn't a problem for me. I've been eating a lot more in the way of salads since I originally posted, as well as small servings of greens and broccoli. Induction will be done after tomorrow, so I'll up my veggies a little more as of Monday!

I did much better with water drinking until this work week. A coworker is out and I'm having to cover her responsibilities as well as my own, so the caffeine kick is welcome. I'm trying to drink more water today!

ps...I've begun taking breakfast and lunch from home this week, which has helped enormously.

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You sure are doing good. Now that the heat has hit here, we've stopped going to the restaurant for lunch...instead we go to the park. I bring my dogs to work with me, so it's way too hot to leave them in the car while we eat inside. They love it at the park! So, I've been packing dh and I a lunch also...I think it makes a big difference...portion control, plus you can decide the night before what you want.

I sure don't have any problems drinking water right now....it's so darned hot! Supposed to be up to 112 by the end of the week. That should sweat some pounds off.

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Donna
238.5/166/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Donna I sure know what you mean about the heat and water consumption! I'm craving liquid now that summer's here in force.

I've been cooking dinner with a mind to left overs, which makes packing a lunch much easier. Sometimes I just nuke a piece of meat for breakfast if I'm running late, which I put in a heavy duty zip lock bag and eat it in the car. I've gotten into heating some precooked sausage and then nuking a couple of eggs. When the eggs come out of the microwave, I sprinkle them with grated cheese, add the sausage and close the gladware lid. The heat of the eggs melts the cheese and I have my own low carb breakfast bowl, for pennies on the dollar that I used to get at Krystal or Hardee's.

I just added someto kick things up a bit. We bought an elliptical stepper some three months ago and it sat on a dolly in the garage until a spot could be found for it. Just this past Saturday, DH was finally moved to clean out and organize the garage and made a home for my machine! I'm up to 15 minutes on it, and am looking forward to hitting 30 minutes soon. I just know that all the fat that's been refusing to budge is gonna start melting off now.

Anyhow, I'm glad that I've reinducted and am back to following the plan again. Dr. Atkins was a saint.

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sounds like you're getting back in the groove again. great to hear it!

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Fat Baggage- Is Yours Packed?

I don't want to sound stupid here Lisa, but can you tell me the difference between an eliptical stepper and a treadmill? I'm thinking of buying an electric treadmill for winter walking but a lot of people seem to have the steppers. Maybe you can help me? Thanks. Keep up the good work.

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Donna
238.5/166/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Donna On a treadmill you are walking. On a stepper, the motion is IMO a combo of stair climbing and the circular motion of a bike, but you are upright. It's supposed to be easier on the knees than a stair climber. You can work out your upper body by pushing/pulling the hand thingies. (Sorry, I don't know what to call them) Here is a link that shows some elliptical steppers. I would like a Bowflex treadclimber, but for me the price is prohibitive.

I used to go to the gym, and the elliptical was by far my fave cardio workout. I've been on it less than a week and I'm up to 20 minutes today! Yay me! I was sweating like a pig. It was great. I just wish my right hip would get with the program and quite aching. I'm only 42, I'm not an old lady or anything. I just started supplementing with glucosamine, chondroitine and msm, but I just realized today that I should be taking it three times a day, not just in the am when I take my vitamins. Arrrghhh!

There are newer steppers that are supposed to fold for storage, but they are usually pricier, too. I would definitely recommend an elliptical stepper for indoor fitness.

Lisa

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