My breakfast worked just fine. Kept me good for several hours.

Lunch was not even remotely LC, but I didn't fix it. We went on a picnic to the lake with some friends. I ate and was thankful.

My evening snack didn't work at all! I need to read back through here and remind myself of what I was eating for my evening snack that worked. I thought what I ate would have...

Maybe it is the difference in the cheese I'm eating. I'm trying some havarti. I found a piece for a reasonable price the other day. Only thing is, just a teensy piece satisfies me. I'll bet that is it. Just not enough protein.

Thanks for listening

I suspect you're right about the cheese. Love havarti, though--so creamy! Sometimes it's trial and error....but overall it sounds like you handled yesterday well.

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

Thanks

I did pretty well yesterday too, even though we went to the family reunion. I think I managed it ok because the only "carby" thing I had was a ww hb bun. Everything else was meat, low gi veggies and fruit.

I had a funny snack last night, but it worked: hot dog, ak mak and cr chz!

LOL!!! And I was afraid to tell YOU some of the weird combos I come up with!

Glad you did well.

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

I'm glad you got a kick out of my snack!

Ok, your turn....

Well, I had one that didn't work again yesterday: cheese chip, 4 grapes and kefir smoothie.

Woke up hungry in the middle of the night. I'm trying to avoid grains, but maybe I really do need that rye crisp before bed? That seems to be my best bed time snack...

Maybe not so much that it's grain you need per se, but that the rye crisp happens to have just the right c/f/p and fiber that matches with the rest of your snack to keep you in the Zone? Anyway, if it works and there are no other contraindications......<shrugs> I don't know, Sharron. Hard to argue with success, isn't it LOL!


Occasionally I wake up hungry in the middle of the night, too. I know that personally I won't be able to sleep if I don't go ahead and have a little something, unfortunately. But then again, I think probably low blood sugar has awakened me, so it's likely a good thing to have something even though it feels unvirtuous to do so. Of course, that wakes up the two DC's (dear canines) who follow me everywhere. And then one of them will decide that since she's up, Mom might as well let her outside to potty So I do have to pay for that snack!

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

Boy, sure sounds like you do!

I just did what was safe and I know works: 1 rye crisp, 1 string cheese and 6 raw almonds. Slept fine, even with all that is going on...

I've been out of my rye crisps for a while and have tried a variety of snacks. None of them worked. Not a single one!!!

I got them again and had 2 rye crisp with peanut butter and 2 hb eggs last night for my snack. It worked

Doesn't matter which plan I follow during the day, but I need my Zone snack before bed

A few more meals that have worked for me:

bfast - a small (very small!) apple, peanut butter, a cheese chip and a piece of bacon

bfast - small apple, peanut butter and 2 eggs scrambled

snack - 1 or 2 hb eggs, a few nuts (almonds or macs) and 4 or 5 grapes or cherries

snack - chicken (about 2 or 3 ounces?), a few nuts (almonds or macs) and 5 grapes

I tried doing pork rinds plus cream cheese for my fat and rye crisp and it failed miserably. Seems like lately when I've tried the rye crisp at night, it hasn't worked for some reason. I don't get it Bren, do you have sometimes that a snack will work great and others when it completely fails???

I'm doing kind of a wedge between Atkins and the Zone. I'm trying to keep my carbs low enough to maintain ketosis, yet high enough for my zonish balance. It really seems to help my adrenal issues as much as they can be helped at the moment. I feel it when I don't get my veggies in, and I seem to be able to still maintain ketosis with a bit of fruit -- notably apples, grapes and cherries. I'm being very respectful of the portions -- you helped me understand that much better when I was working things out in July. Even though I'd tried to do it 3 different times, I still had that 40-30-30 mentality. I know you had said "not" but it was still there.

You know, I find sometimes I do a 50-20-30 and it works and others it is a 30-40-40. I think it must have to do with the glycemic load of the meal?? Have you found that? Or is it just so old hat to you that you don't even really think about it anymore? I do find it is becoming 2nd nature to be sure and get my veggies at each meal -- well, maybe not a veggie, but at least a low GI fruit at bfast. If I have leftovers or salad cut up, I get my veggies

Yes, I do think the glycemic index is a really big key. That's one reason Sears divided foods, especially carbs, into categories. There's a huge difference for me if I eat, say, 40% grain carbs vs 40% veggie carbs in a meal. And over time, if I stay at the same percentage of carbs but shift toward grains, fruits, etc., I will actually gain weight. Finding the right ratio is a big key, but the composition of the foods in that ratio (and how the composition can change the ratio) is the fine tuning you learn (as you certainly are!) by trial and error, until really it does sort of come naturally.

As far as the same snack working or not working--I don't experience that too much as long as everything is on an even keel in my life. However, I do think that can happen when our hormones are whacky (including stress hormones), or if it's been overlong since I've eaten before I get to a snack. But mainly I notice that if I'm really stressed it's harder to predict how a meal or snack will last. So I really don't try to predict--it's just something I might note afterward.

I also think our bodies aren't static. I've heard from many people who Zone that as they become healthier, for example, their bodies actually become less tolerant of certain foods, or deviations from their personal best ratios, that would formerly not have bothered them. Sort of like your body getting used to a certain octane gas, and sputtering when you use a lower octane.

So yeah, it's frustrating sometimes, and yet really interesting trying to figure out what the old bod is up to. It may not be that you are making "wrong" choices but that your body is trying to tell you something--what, I don't know, though! (lotta help here, eh?)

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

I really think it is less about ratios and more about glycemic load, like you said. I think that is why my ratios are changable. I really do better with like a HUGE salad and maybe some fruit or just a few (5 or 6 when a serving is 30!) "bunny" crackers (like goldfish only organic ) than with the salad alone. Or, like last night, I just had salmon, gr. beans and a small glass of raw milk. I was RAVENOUS by the time my meeting was over and had to stop for a burger on the way home. No way I would have slept through the night with my normal small snack. Weird, though, the burger didn't kick me out of ketosis. I know ketosis is a non-issue for you, but I feel better when I'm there. It is a fine line though -- staying in my zonish balance, yet maintaining ketosis!

My body is definitely not static fer shur at the moment... I'm sure you are right about my hormones being the culprit. This I have learned: I can "get away with" eating bread, but it is by far not my best choice. I do ok with corn tortillas, but not everyday, or I will gain weight as you mentioned. I do best if I have 2 veggies (or even 3) or a veggie or 2 and a small serving of fruit. And, yes, I do mean small.... I definitely feel best with a veggie at every meal!

Thanks for helping me through this

Interesting journey, isnt it?

__________________
BC
LC Since 1998
Highest Weight 172
Current 104-108

I did better food-wise yesterday. I was "in the Zone" most of the time I think! Until I get this adrenal/thyroid/whatever thing figured out, I don't think I'm going to try to do induction again. I just feel better with the extra carbs from the Zone. Brain function is at a premium right now!

food:
snack - eggs and 1/2 small apple
bfast - quesodilla, bacon and about 4 or 5 grapes
lunch - mexican restaurant: carnitas, good sized salad with salsa and guac, some refried beans and a small corn tortilla. They use the small ones I used to be able to buy all the time and can't find locally any more. They have about 1/3 the carbs as the others! That meal worked really well!
snack - last homemade LC brownie (had protein, fat and carbs )
dinner - steak, shrooms, "red greens", and a glass of raw milk. The perfect dinner
snack - LC yogurt, vienna sausages (blech!) and about 4 or 5 grapes.

I can't say I made the best choices in the world this weekend, but I can report I think I have a better handle on keeping my insulin levels in check. We had a yard sale which involved a tremendous amount of work! It was 4 families stuff, but only 2 of us running the whole thing.

I lived on WW sandwhiches. I made sure I had a small amount of a good fruit or a veggie or both at each meal, and as soon as I began to feel hungry, I got a balanced snack into my body. One that worked was Ak-Mak with salami. Not something I would normally choose, but it was what was available. Like I said, I kept my blood sugar stable and managed to acquire absolutely no bloat!

Beginning tomorrow, I should be able to have free choice of foods, and I'm hopeful to do even more than just "not bloat."