Today was day three of high carb eating. I'm afraid to go over 2,000 carbs for more than three days because I'm sure I'll gain a ton...or at least a pound or two.

Breakfast: Atkins Strawberry shake
Lunch: leftover l/c meatloaf and collard greens
Dinner: prime rib, cauliflower, tomatoes and green salad w/bleu cheese dressing
Dessert: raspberries with cream cheese
Liquids: 3c green tea; 3C iced tea;
Supplements: I forgot and it's too late to take them now. (I get a sick tummy when I take them before bedtime.)
Calories: 1,964
Net carbs: 41 (68 - 27 fiber)

Maxi, like you, I need to lose five pounds a month in order to meet my goal. I've only lost 3.5 pounds in last month. And NONE in the past 15 days. (Oh, I've been up and down 1/2 - 1 pound every day...but this morning I weighed in at 202.5...exactly what I weighed 15 days ago. I have a lot of catching up to do!

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Melissa

Huh????? do you mean calories????

Yesterday I had
An Enhanced chocolate shake (quick and easy, able to get out the door fast.)
On the road all morning running errands, so brought another shake with me.
Bought the new Atkins Orange Creme shakes while out...............had one...YUMMY.
For dinner I made chicken "fajitas" and had one on an LC tortilla.
NO Snacks!!!!

I've held at 139.8 for 5 days now. WOOOHOOO

WB, Maxi!!!!

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ROTFL.... yes, Barb. Calories NOT 2,000 carbs! Although I think I used to eat that many before low carb eating.

So far, no weight gain with the extra carbs and calories the past three days. But I'm not going to push my luck. I'm going to slowly ease back down to about 1,450 calories. And keep my fingers crossed that I start losing weight again.

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Melissa

I can't stress enough how much I am liking Barley (hulled NOT pearled) and it seems to be helping me stay in the 130's. I get mine in bulk at Whole Foods, it's cheap. It takes some time to prepare, but is well worth it. I also am using whole, old fashioned, long cooking rolled oats. They ARE high in carbs, BUT they are so full of fiber and don't impact blood sugar levels. It sticks with me a long time too, which means it's not digesting quickly and spawning a blood sugar spike. I have been soaking mine overnight in water and then only have to cook it the next day for about a half hour. I use 2 TBS of each and then add a TBS. of buckwheat groats too. It's hearty and satisfying. I add cinnamon, splenda, and half and half.......YUMMY!!!! It's GREAT in homemade soups too.........comfort food. The really GOOD thing about this is that it REALLY helps reduce bad cholesterol!!!! I REALLY need to call my doctor and find out what a blood lipid test would cost.

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Barb, my Mom used to make a form of chili using barley....the kind in the white box at the grocery store. She used either ground beef or turkey, chopped onion, chili powder, black pepper, and some garlic powder. Then, for the tomato base, she used plain old V-8 juice. The barley went in after the V-8, and lastly, a can of Ranch Style Beans. I love it, but hadn't thought about it in years.

Between the barley and the beans, I wonder if this would be another good meal option? I love my chili with Rotel tomatoes in it, and shredded cheddar melted on top.

Maybe lots of carbs, but LOTS of fiber there, too.

Back to business: My menu for today:
(lots better than yesterday)
Breakfast: eggs and bacon
Morning snackiet Arizona White Cranberry/Apple No Carb Green Tea....whew!
Lunch:turkey and cream cheese (chive and onion) roll-ups and l/c yogurt (picture me, running out to my van, frantically searching for a lactase supplement!)
Afternoon snack: a EAS l/c shake French Vanilla, very good
Dinner: leftover pork steak and green bean casserole. And salad.
Dessert: 12 oz. Protein/fiber shake
Working on the water, need 2 more cups of tea, took supplements already, gonna exercise at 9:00 p.m., and gonna try to get to bed a little earlier tonight!
BTW-not sure what my weight is today. I didn't exercise last night, so no weighing today!

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Max, I don't know what beans are on the glycemic index, I can look it up. But I've made chili with black soy beans, which are LOW in carbs. It tastes like the real thing. The Glycemic Index is a good tool to determine if a food will spike blood glucose levels dramatically.

High GI foods have a GI rating of 70 or higher(foods that DO spike an insulin response)
Intermediate foods..................56-69
LOW GI foods.........................0-55 (foods that don't spike an insulin response, and take a long time to digest)

I use this index to guage some foods. Barley for instance, has a GI of 25. I'm not sure what "Ranch Style" beans means, but here are some kinds of beans with their glycemic value: Based on 150 grams
Butter Beans:.........31
Chickpeas:.............35
Navy Beans............38
Kidney Beans..........28
Green Lentils..........30
Red Lentils.............26
Pinto Beans............42
Soy Beans..............18

Given that ALL of these beans are considered low on the GI, I would think that having some in chili wouldn't be a horrible thing. PLUS, if you added barley, that would be even more filler and you wouldn't need much. I have proven to myself that barley does not cause weight GAIN, but in fact, has helped me LOSE weight. SO, I would, in my unprofessional opinion, say, go ahead..............make that chili and ENJOY!!!!! I would eat it on exercise days, guilt free!!!!

Speaking of which.....................I weighed in at 138 this morning!!!!!!! WOOHOOO :jumpgreen I'm below my sig weight!!! :jump:

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Max, I made a pot of chili with black soy beans a few days ago. My son was not happy that I was replacing his favorite pintos. When I asked him how it tasted, he said, "It's all right." Not a great comment...but then, he ate THREE bowls! So I would say it was better than all right. The Black Soy Beans have 8 grams of carb per serving, minus 7 grams of fiber for a grand total of 1 net carb per serving. I'm going to find a way to incorporate these into my diet more often.

Beans are something I really miss and plan to add back into my diet on occassiona when I reach maintenance. Butter beans, garbanzo (chick peas), pintos, kidney...I could eat them hot or cold right out of the can.

Barb...I've had barley before but I don't recall if I ate pearled or hulled. What's the difference? (BTW...You not only moved into the 130s but are consistently moving downward! YAAAAHOOO!!! You go, girl!!)

Yesterday's menu:
Breakfast: Atkins Shake and piece of l/c meatloaf
Lunch: Subway Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad w/ranch
Dinner: left over meatloaf, left over piece of prime rib, fried cabbage w/bacon and sour cream
Liquids: 4c green tea; 1.5c diet root beer; 1C water
Calories: 1,958
Net carbs: 17 (25 - 8 fiber)

Funny thing...the past three days I had to force myself to eat more to reach my 2,000 to 2,200 temporary calorie goal. Today I planned to start cutting back and I was almost 2,000 calories without even trying. Looking at my menu, the biggest part of the calories came from meat--which I ate way too much of yesterday.

The good news is that I didn't gain during the past four days of increased calories. I'm still at 201.5 right within that same 1-pound range I've been fighting the past 2, almost 3 weeks. (201.5 to 202.5 for days and days and days and days....)

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Melissa

Melissa, the difference between pearled and hulled is that the pearled has some of the outer "meat" removed, leaving the less of the fiberous, less beneficial stuff behind. I suppose pearled is a bit higher on the glycemic index with the fiber removed. It's more palatable to humans, but less valuable. The hulled simply has the 2 outer husks removed, leaving the entire rest of the "seed" intact. since it has more fiber, it's much more beneficial and doesn't impact blood sugar as much. I just love it soaked overnight, then cooked the next morning (about 1/4 cup dry to 1/2 - 1 cup water) with cinnamon. I add butter, half and half, splenda, stevia and frozen strawberries. SO GOOD!!!!!!!! (Remember, I'm adding some old fashioned rolled oats and buckwheat to it too.) The ratios are: 2 TBS barley, 2 TBS oats and 1 TBS buckwheat groats. The total dry measure of this is 1/4 cup plus 1 TBS. I mixed all my stuff together in those ratios, stuck them in a tupperware container, and now I can just measure out the 1/4 cup +.

I'm going to have to make some chili real soon and throw some barley in. DH probably won't mind and that way I'll get more fiber into HIS body. (He's going to get healthy by default. He doesn't need to lose weight, but still needs to eat healthy. I want him around for a long time. )

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I was never much for hot cereal ... or even cold cereal for that matter. But I do miss crushed crackers mixed into my chile. A bit of cooked hulled barley thrown into the bowl might help to fill that void. But I'll probably wait until I lose a few more pounds before adding in too many high-carb foods, even those with a low glycemic index.

I have to add new things to my bowl, instead of the pot, because I have a PICKY teenage son who doesn't care for change...especially in his food. But he, too, needs to be healthy. He's been eating more veggies, especially salad, and taking vitamins since I started Atkins in October. For him, it's a really good start. I'll have to expose him to more variety a little at a time and in small quantities.

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Melissa

I was NEVER that big on cereal either. But somehow, this is so satisfying. It's almost like my body is telling me to eat it because it's so good for you. And as a cereal with fruit, it's soooooooo satisfying. It's interesting how my tastes have change throughout this journey.

Yep, picky eaters can be difficult to deal with. My granddaughter (stepson's kid) is the pickiest creature on earth. But then again, so is her mommy. She will eat sugary stuff over anything else. It sickens me.........but she's not MY kid, so I have to have a hands off policy..........I wish I could wave a magic wand and get her to eat healthier. Luckily my other grandkids (stepdaughter's kids) eat copious amounts of veggies!!!! They like their candy, but at least I've been able to educate their mother on the dangers of too much sugar. She tries.

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A better day today....I was down a pound! To 225. I don't know if I lost it yesterday, and this is the second day, or if I lost it as of this morning, but I'm still not claiming it until I see it (or a lower number) again.

My menu:a breakfast Jack sans the bun. (it was 99 cents and I was low on funds!)
Morning snack: and EAS l/c shake
Lunch:4 chicken nuggets, 1/2 cup cole slaw, 7 bites of mixed fruits
Afternoon snack: a s/f pudding and an EAS l/c shake (I was hungry!)
Dinner:salad w/taco meat from Taco Bell. I pack of sauce and Ranch dressing
Dessert: of sorts....I transferred the other half of my protein/fiber shake (from the blender) to a bowl, since it became pudding. I ate what I could scrape out of the blender.

I'm not real clear on the quantities, but if you put CarbCountdown chocolate "milk", some heavy cream, some protein powder, fiber powder, and a couple of ice cubes in a blender (at high speed) one at a time....when it chills, it's pudding! I drank half of it as a shake last night and put the blender in the fridge. When I went to blend it tonight, it wouldn't budge. Thinking just the top layer was thickened, I grabbed a spoon....and much to my suprise, I had pudding.....NOT a shake! Funny! If anyone is interested, I'll give ya the approximate quantities. It's lowcarb, high in protein and fiber and GOOD!

Hang in there everyone, this week is just about over!

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Jack-in-the-Box salads may be a better alternative than some of their other choices, but it's NOT the best meal when counting carbs or calories.

Breakfast: Atkins shake, 1 1/2 slices bacon (leftover from yesterday)
Lunch: J-in-the-B Chicken Club salad w/almonds & bacon ranch dressing, no croutons (would you believe 725 calories/18 carbs!!!)
Dinner: Wendy's BLT Salad w/ranch
Liquids: 4.5C diet soda; 1C water (yes, that was it. I'm drinking the water now.)
Calories: 1,622
Net carbs: 36 (50 - 14 fiber)
Supplements: Only a multivitamin that I stuck in my pocket as I left the house

It was one of THOSE days at work. I didn't eat right...but I could have eaten worse, I suppose. I didn't drink enough and I didn't get in all of my vitamins. Oh, how glad I'll be when the week is over.

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Melissa

I've had decent days this week, sounds like everyone is hanging in there. I did check my weight today, no change, sitting at 216.5, so maybe once TOM is gone I'll see more weight loss. It's fun to dream!

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Angie



at least for now...

I'm up 6 tenths of a pound this morning, but I made a decadent dessert last night and had a small piece of DH's French country bread. So that prolly explains that. I had my "porridge" this morning and am drinking LOTS of water. I am going to do my Walkaerobics today too, so hopefully I'll work it off!!!! (Feeling a little TOM bloaty too......think I'm ovulating)

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I wouldn't worry about 6/10 of a pound, Barb. I can gain and lose that in a matter of hours just by drinking a cup of tea and getting rid of it. LOL

You are doing great. You've lost a good deal of weight and are keeping it off while eating grains and other "non-meat" type stuff. You are proof that once we can eat a variety while maintaining...or even losing.

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Melissa