Good Morning. I have been having some problem with losing weight on Low carb, and I was wondering if you would be able to look at the types of food I have been eating, and Please tell me what I am doing wrong.
Thank you So much,
Scott

Breakfast

20 Ounce Coffee with 2 splendas and half and half
3 Eggs with Cheese and well Done Bacon

Lunch
Big Salad with Lettuce, Cucumbers, and Cheese w/ Balsamic vinegar and oil

or

3 Bacon Cheese burgers from wendys. Throw out the bun, tomato, and onion.

or

Hot Dogs and sauerkraut ( No Buns)

Snack
Sugar free Jello with reddi whip

Dinner

Meat with veggies.
Steak, Chicken, Pork.....(Meat)
carrots, green beans (Veggies)
Salad with blue cheese, balsamic vinegar and oil

or last night we had low carb (non breaded) eggplant parm with home made tomato sauce, Ricotta, and Mozzerella.

Snack:
I was having low carb ice cream or ice cream pops, but I stopped eating them. I now have a cup of Green tea or vanilla decaf tea with 1 splenda.

or Strawberries with reddi whip

During the day I drink Bottled Water at work and then at home I drink bottled water with fresh squeezed lemon juice in it.

I started losing inches at the beginning of the diet and then I stopped and my weight has been fluctuating around 185 and 182. I want to weigh between 165 and 161.
Thanks,
Scott

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Current Weight 196.8
Goal Weight 161.0
Goal Date July 2007

Hi, Scott. I'm far from an expert on this, so hang around for additional posts. However, I do have this question.

Do you eat Reddi-wip every day? How much? And have you checked the ingredients for sugar?

Twenty pounds is relatively close to goal, and it looks like you might be exceeding your calorie level. I know, I know. We're not supposed to "have to" count calories. But...reality kicks in.

I'd suggest using a tracker, such as fitday.com, to check your balance of nutrients. Looks like a lot of red meat, and fatty meats, on that menu.

Salty stuff, like fast food burgers and hot dogs, also affect some people.

Then again, some of us (alas!) tend to go into holding patterns for a while. That's when we finally figure out that low-carb is a lifestyle, not a diet. The only thing to do is keep on keeping on.

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


My Fitday Journal

The menu you posted seems okay but without amounts it's difficult to make suggestions. BUT check out the amount of cheese you're eating, Atkins says no more than 4 ounces a day. I found that If I ate even 4 ounces of cheese or even heavy cream I stalled or lost less. I do best with 2 ounces a day or less. Then look at carbs. Remember that lemon juice, heavy cream, half and half, eggs etc, all have carbs that should be counted, especially on induction.

Have you been using a food tracker like www.fitday.com ? Many people find that it's helpful, especially at the beginning. I track my food religiously and have done so for the past 2 years. The result has been that I can now, usually, just look at a food and understand the calories, carbs and the impact that food will have on my weight loss. You don't have to do it forever but try it for a week at least.

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my blog

No I havent tried out fitday.com. I will check it out now. Any other suggestions as to what I should eat and what I shouldnt be eating from what I listed above.

I dont have the reddi whip every day, but I thought on Atkins/ low carb you got have it. My friend use to eat it like crazy on low carb and he always lost weight.

I have to change my way of eating because my clothes are just getting tighter and I am feeling lazier....This is not working for me
Thanks

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Current Weight 196.8
Goal Weight 161.0
Goal Date July 2007

Whipped cream is okay, as long as it isn't sweetened with sugar. However, for many of us, cream and cheese and bacon tend to add too many calories for the level of satisfaction they provide. So that's where I cut down.

As with all programs, YMMV. You have to tailor the plan to suit your own taste, with the goal of achieving sustainability. That's where fitday.com is a big help to me.

Depending on what level of carbs you are at currently, here are some suggestions for healthy carbs for more variety:

--mixed berries, blueberries (I buy the frozen ones in a big bag at Costco)
--low-carb yogurt (Hood/Atkins Smoothies, Blue Bunny Carb Freedom)
--breakfast cereal made with flaxseed meal, wheat bran, and optional whey protein (see Recipes on this site)--great source of "free fiber"
--at lunch, keep the tomato and onion, and skip one of the burgers
--nuts, especially macadamias, pistachios

At present, I'm doing well at 30 carbs/day. The tracker at Fitday shows me how much fiber is included in the foods I'm eating, so my total carb count can go as high as 50 or more, if I'm eating lots of veggies, or including wheat bran/flaxseed. That means more food, more satisfaction, fewer calories.

P. S. Presumably you are drinking plenty of water. The recommendation is half your body weight in ounces.

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


My Fitday Journal

Scott:

Sounds like you are doing great, remenber the last 20 lbs are the hardest.

You have gotten great advice--remember carrots are a high carb veggie, and I'm not sure about balsamic vinegar...i believe it has sugar in it. How about a ful fat salad dresing instead?

Good luck, and don't give up!

__________________
Renee
1/19/04
261/220/160
41 lbs off
60 lbs to goal



Race to 199 Challenge
Labor Day Challenge: Focusing on the Journey
Personal Goal: 199 by 12/31/05

Yes, Balsamic vinegar can have up to 2 carbs per tablespoon...darn it...cause I like balsamic also! So I only treat myself once a week or so to a balsamic and oil dressing.
Also the redi whip has hfcs(high fructose corn syrup) I believe, so I would drop that as well. Carrots are a higher glycemic veggie when cooked, but a few little raw carrot shreds in a salad are ok. Lemon juice also has carbs...drats again...1 tablespoon has a little over 1 carb. It's the little things that can add up and cause *carb creep*. See if you can *tidy* things up a bit, keep up the water intake and exercise, stay away from the scales for a couple of weeks, and see if you get some results.
Post often and let us know, ok?
HTH
Shelley

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Shelley
~~~~

Visit Kassie's Korner



Life deserves a treat now and again, but life also deserves being healthy[with required disipline] to make it worth living!

Wow I had no idea about the reddi whip. I really thought you could have it. I could of sworn that my friend who was on Atkins said that you could have it. He was always eating it when he wanted something sweet.

What do you think about soda? Are any of the sodas good to drink? Drinking water gets boring sometimes.
Thanks

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Current Weight 196.8
Goal Weight 161.0
Goal Date July 2007

Splenda sweeten sodas such as Diet Rite Cola are okay. I think some of the Hansen's diet sodas are splenda sweetened.

HTH

Shelley

__________________
~~~~
Shelley
~~~~

Visit Kassie's Korner



Life deserves a treat now and again, but life also deserves being healthy[with required disipline] to make it worth living!

how about the flavored waters or flavored seltzers?

__________________







Current Weight 196.8
Goal Weight 161.0
Goal Date July 2007

Bud:
Have you had a chance to read the Atkins "New Diet Revolution" book? If not, you really should. It'll help be your guide. I think you can balsamic vinegar on South Beach, but Atkins doesn't recommend it.

Here is a link to the Atkins site to get you started. But when you get a chance, pick up the book, read and read it through. It'll give you a good understanding of what you can and can't have.

(Induction) http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/15-325810.html
(increasing carbs after induction) http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/15-61563.html

Then stick around here. These folks will be able to help you further define what you can and can't eat. For example, some people can't drink sodas with aspertame. I had no problem. Others can't lose weight using Atkins bars on a regular basis (like me). And still others have nasty tummy reaction to sweeteners such as malitol. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother me in small quantities.

The important thing to remember is that each person is different as is their metabolism. And, as others have said, the less weight you have to lose, the harder it is to lose it.

__________________
Melissa

Scott, I have a couple of questions for you:

How tall are you and how old?
How active are you?

Judging from your menu, I think your worst offender *might* be portion control.
As pointed out above, on LC you're not supposed to need to count calories, but the reality is that you CAN'T eat as much as you want of ANY kind of food. There comes a point in time when you have to say, Am I really eating a *normal* amount of food here?
Even though you are not eating the buns, 3 hamburgers seems a bit much to me. Try taking that down to 2.
The reason why Reddi Whip is a no-no is not the amount of sugar it contains (which is minimal), but just the fact that it CONTAINS sugar.
The sugar content can cause your blood sugar to spike and keep you out of ketosis. Not to mention that eating enough of that stuff will induce cravings from hades!

As for drinking other things, I would strongly suggest that you NOT start drinking something else at this point. If you weren't struggling with trying to get the scale moving, I'd say "yeah, go ahead," but since you are, the LAST thing you want to do is slow down your progress further. Drinking water (albeit BORING) is the best thing you can do. Make sure you are drinking ENOUGH, too, cause if you aren't, that will slow down or stop your loss. A good guide is half your weight in ounces per day, minimum.
I try to drink NO LESS than a gallon/day (128 oz.).
If you start drinking artificially flavored/sweetened drinks, you risk driving up your insulin and slowing down your weight loss even further.
HTH,

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Summer

Thanks so much for that advice. I will stick with plain water, and green tea....Do you think the 20 ounce of coffee has any effect on me? I really cannot give that up..I have tried. As for the reddi whip I will stay away from that too.

I will also try to cut down on the foods that I have been eating. I registered for fitday.com and so far it looks to be a very useful tool.

I have the Atkins book but I havent read it. I have seen atkins website and have many printouts from that site. I appreciate all of the tips and advice everyone is giving me on this site. You are all so nice......
Thanks so much,
Scott

Any other tips will be greatly appreciated.

__________________







Current Weight 196.8
Goal Weight 161.0
Goal Date July 2007

Scott, this is just my humble opinion, but I don't think the coffee is a problem. Of course, there are many who would disagree with me! Some SWEAR that coffee causes them to stall out (caffeine) and I must admit that Ann Louise Gittleman (The Fat Flush Plan) makes a compelling argument against coffee in her book (her angle is to totally detox the liver and get it in healthy, working order to achieve effective weight loss).
But, when I *first* attempted LC several years back, I went off of coffee cold-turkey and did NOT lose any faster than I do now. Now, I drink 2 cups of half-decaf coffee a day.
And there are an equal number of studies touting the HEALTH benefits of moderate coffee intake (prevention of Alzheimer's, coffee's thermogenic properties, etc.).
I guess, what it all boils down to is how it affects YOU.
If you feel it is interfering with your loss, then, maybe cut back (or out).
I *would* suggest that you switch to HEAVY CREAM as opposed to half-n-half as it is lower in carbs and MUCH more satisfying!
Best of luck!
Summer

I drink the flavored bubbly waters; I just check to see that they are sweetened with splenda and no carbs. Also love Diet Rite sodas in all the flavors. But I usually make sure there drinks are over and above my water intake, which is about 110 oz a day.

__________________
Renee
1/19/04
261/220/160
41 lbs off
60 lbs to goal



Race to 199 Challenge
Labor Day Challenge: Focusing on the Journey
Personal Goal: 199 by 12/31/05