Can I go off my diet???

I was thinking "what if" I just went off this diet for a week and ate my "normal" high carb & high sugar foods...
What would happen??
I'll tell you what happens! You start to feel like crap and get tired by 10:00 AM. You spiral out of control and then gain 10 pounds. The next thing you know, it's been a month and you're covered in powdered sugar donuts and frosting. Finally, when you're on the couch watching Seinfeld reruns you decide to get back on the wagon again...tomorrow...after you polish off the ice cream and pizza. And then it's been another month and you've gained another 10 pounds. Don't let that happen to you. Learn from my experience! Ugh.

Never get off the boat!
Never get off the boat!!

low carb is Healthy

Yesterday morning on Fox news,the Fox & Friends show, they had an Atkins representative on and they showed Atkins food and talked about what a heart healthy diet it is now. A big study was done, 2000 people over 2 years, and how great their... health is now, all their blood work was wonderful. So it is getting out there to the public, that it is a healthy diet!!!! I've lost 36 pounds and feel awesome, have a long way to go, but my doctor is so happy with my diabetic blood work and I'm using 1/2 the insulin I was on. One day I will NOT be diabetic any longer thanks to Atkins and the Belly Fat Cure diet. Any time you restrict your carbs and sugar, that's a good day!!!! Just keep it up.
Great diet for a lifetime!
2 year studies show this now!!

what are U doing about your weight??

I just walked 10 minutes on my treadmill, went up a notch in the speed too, so I'm sweating down. That's good for someone who walks with a cane, I think, my doctor is pleased too. I go see her next Thursday, hope to get some new blood work done, I want to see what this diet is doing to me. Last time I went I had just been on it about 4 weeks, so this time should give us some truer readings, like my A1c test (measures average blood sugar count for the past 6 weeks, how does it do that??). I wish everyone had a doctor like mine, I just love her! She's so skinny and tall, a vegetarian to0. But she is so smart!! She's amazed at us doing this diet and excersize, not many of her patients are "good" ones. She tries, but why is it so hard for us to listen to our doctors, relatives and friends about us being over weight? My daddy, bless his heart, always wanted me to loose weight. He was very health conscious, God rest his soul. He loved me and would bring up my weight a lot and I hated that. Now I just wish I had listened to him. I also had a good friend/doctor years ago, I worked with her in the dept of corrections, womens prison, that asked me once,"What are you doing about your weight?" It startled me, we were friends, I was not her patient!! But all these people , I realize now, loved me and wanted me healthy. But why do we take comments like that as an insult instead of a loving comment as it is given? Maybe now, that I'm old, I can see things differently, but I wish I had been a wiser younger person, I'd probably not be diabetic now. Just rambling now, sorry.
I'm eating LOW carbs, maybe 2-3 servings a day that are whole grain and less than 15 grams of sugar a day. I learned this from the Belly Fat Cure diet book and Atkins diet. Both are great. If you are over weight, do something healthy now, before it's too late. I want everyone to stop eating sugar, read labels on your food. I cook 99% of our food at home, that way, we know what's in it!! Thank you Beth Murphy, my wonderful niece, who got me started on this journey. I love you so much and always have, even tho you are skinny. Tell me what you think, do you know someone who needs to lose weight? Help them with a gentle nudge, they will love you for it. Maybe......

a diet you can live with

4 months in and down 36 pounds!!

I'm loving dieting, weather it's the Belly Fat Cure, Atkins or South Beach..... I don't even miss bread AT ALL!

Isn't it amazing how much your tastes change over time?? I never thought I could live without bread, pasta or potatoes!! Now, eh, don't need 'em..
Amen! look at all the high sugar & high carbs others pack into their buggies at the grocery store, it's amazing! I use to do it too, but now I just want to stop folks and say, "Look at what you are eating!" The food makers / companies have sold everyone a rotten bill of goods in the American diet, and that's a "low fat"diet. It will not work..BUT if you cut carbs and sugars, you will get healthy. If you eat a low fat diet, you are hungry all the time and get off your diet in a day or 2,
I think that's why so many people get discouraged dieting.

That's just my opinion, what's yours???

welcome a newbie in the UK

Hi Helen! so glad to have you as a diet buddy! I'm in the USA, so I don't know much about how you weigh a stone, we weigh in pounds. I started my diet April 3,2010, when I got a book called"The belly Fat Cure" by Jorge Cruise. It's a lot like Atkins very low carb and 15grams of sugar a day or less, so you really have to watch labels on foods, count all sugars and carb grams! Then I found the Atkins facebook page with so many of my belly fat cure dieters on board, we all just kind of switched over to Atkins. I keep a strict food diary and firmly believe in it!!! I do the livestrong.com, then "myplate" on it's page. You have to sign it for it to work, but it is FREE. If you type in a brand of bread for example, , maybe for toast for breakfast, it breaks it down into carbs,sugars, sodium etc...etc... I have lost 36 pounds and hubby has lost 30, we are obsessed with dieting now. So chat all you want to with us about it.
Atkins has a pizza bread recipe where you use cauliflower for the crust, it sounds bad, but looks good. We may have to try it together!! keep in touch. If you look at my pictures, I posted lots of foods I have cooked. Can't wait for you to get started on this journey!! It's FUN!!! Oh, I write a blog too.....about my diet....

my own thing now

Doing my own thing now. After losing 35 pounds on the Belly Fat Cure ,then switching over to Atkins, I'm doing my own healthier diet now....
Look up livestrong.com, then go to "my plate", sign up and try keeping a food log for a few days.
The site breaks down everything you type in into the nutritional value information for you.
It will amaze you, or it did me! I just ate the normal Atkins food, and according to this site, in one day I had 2301 calories ( too many to lose weight), 2 times the normal cholesterol, more than twice the recommended sodium,,,, but my carbs and sugars were LOW!!!
Now I'm kinda doing BFC/Atkins but keeping this log too and watching everything I put in my mouth. My carbs are still low and low sugar too but I'm keeping everything else low now. I think this is more healthy. I go to the doctor in 2 weeks and I'll take her a copy of the "my plate" page.
I am just ready for the weight to come off now, but I want it to be a healthy diet too.
My hubby is on this journey with me, and neither of us need the sodium, as we both have high blood pressure.
Hugs to all my dieting buddies, don't give up and do it healthy!!

HUGE Awakening

OK.. I had a huge and shocking awakening about my diet.
I called myself sticking to my diet BUT not losing weight. But in reality, I have pushed my food intake to the edge of the envelope and then some! I have been reading all I can about diets and problems different groups of people have with their particular diet. I have been reading one site that is a forum for folks who have had weight loss surgery.
http://www.livingafterwls.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/
It's a great site, even tho I have not had this type surgery. (I used to think that I needed it, until I found the "belly fat cure diet book". I have lost about 34 pounds using it.) Now after reading for days and days on their "WLS" site, I realize that I am SO Happy that I did NOT have any surgery for weight loss!! They have major problems eating and for the rest of their lives!! OK, back to the point here.. while reading on there, a nutritionist wrote a great but long article about how important it is to keep a food journal, and how important it is to be truthful, brutally truthful.
http://www.livingafterwls.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t12780.html
I thought about that a while.....damn, that's hard to do. I was sorta keeping a running list in my head, I thought....hummmmm....OK, so yesterday I found another site to record ALL my food intake and it breaks it all down for me into calories, sodium, carbs, sugars...etc..etc....this is cool I thought.... well I was amazed!! To begin with take your weight and multiply that times 7 and that gives you the number of calories for a resting metobolic count. So if you just rest all day, you will burn that amount of calories, no matter what, so you need to eat less than that to lose weight. OK, I got my number, it's 1638 calories at my weight today. But after listing everything I ate yesterday, I ate 2301 calories!!!!!!!! OMG how did that happen??? and could that be the reason I'm not loosing...??? but of course it is the reason... but when reading further into the numbers..OMG again..I'm gonna die!! my fat was way over the top, cholesterol was more than double normal limits, my sodium was out the roof, twice and then some over the normal limit and my protein was about 3 times what it should be.
Only my carbs were low and my sugars were low and my fiber was ZERO (wonder why I have problems going to the bathroom??)
So today, I'm starting over again. I had a great protein shake for breakfast. 100 calories.and very good for you too, and 2 glasses of crystal light orange juice drink (0 cal.), counts as water.
Here is the website to list your food intake, it makes this so easy:
www.livestrong.com/my plate/
try it out....... a new start............thank you Lord for giving me the chance to start again.

cauliflower casserole recipe

Great sounding recipe:
http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/smoked-gouda-cauliflower-casserole/

The protein shake mix got me back on track to loosing weight I think!!
I'm walking 10 minutes on my treadmill too,
that's great for someone who walks with a cane!!
Gotta go to the store to get ingredients for this recipe (above).
Kisses to all my diet buddies.
Don't cheat!~!

cholesterol on Atkins diet

Here's a great NEW article on cholesterol and the Atkins diet or any low carb/high protein diet.
worth the read:



http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/06/a-lowcarb-guru-weighs-in-on-the-dietary-guidelines.html

brand of Protein Shakes

We bought 2, each one is a 2 pound jug, one is vanilla and one is double chocolate.

The brand is Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Protein.

Has 6 grams carb, 3 gram sugar, 52 grams of protein pre serving.

Thursday I did this:

2 scoops vanilla, 1 cup water, 1 cup half & half,

1 package sugar free cheese cake pudding mix.

I blended that together in my blender and divided it in half and froze it.

It gets hard like an ice cube, but if you leave it out a while it gets easy to eat.

Taste like very rich ice cream. Rick said it's too rich.

Next time, I'll just add water, no half & half.

I put some recipes on my blog from Thursday,,,

one you put diet rite Tangerine or orange

soda in it and vanilla shake mix, and ice cubes....

we will make one of those tonight.

one you use the chocolate

and add a tablespoon of peanut butter!!

The article I read and posted said you will lose weight better if you eat more protein

and it recomended protein shakes.

Said you need 130-150 grams of protein a day.

If you want to see how many proteins you are eating a day,

here's a website I found to look them up:

http://www.highproteinfoods.net/

The stupid woman at Wal-mart said these are just for body builders... dumb ass....!!

This morning I just mixed 1 scoop with 1/2 cup cold water, it's very good just like that.

I was amazed.

Brian and Ashley are using one called Iron Tech, said it was good but expensive...?

I want to see how I do with it for a while before I spend a LOT of $ on it.

Plus this is good to me and Rick.

Protein Shakes

Increasing fluid and protein intake seems to help a lot of people jump start their weight loss when they have stalled. Me included. I've never read an explanation of why that is, but it seems to work, so I'm not fighting it.
We bought 2 kinds and flavors of protein shakes to help us get this weight off.
I've been reading a lot on the web about weight and stalls. Most say it's normal, that your body is just catching up, that inches are changing. But to eat more protein and shake mixes are a good source of that. I will try just about anything now!~
I just walked 10 minutes on my tread mill, that's 5 minutes more than I have been walking!
Have a happy and safe July 4th weekend everyone, be safe and try not to cheat on whatever diet you are doing.
It's not worth having to lose those same pounds over and over again.

Valuable Info about calories

In the Biggest Loser book there is some VALUABLE information.
I want to share with all of you.

To lose weight:

Take your current weight and multiply it by 7. This number is the amount of calories you need to consume in a day to lose weight. As you lose weight...recalculate this!

The book goes on to say...take this magic number and divide to by 4...this tells you how many calories per meal you can consume....example: 1800 calories divided by 4 is 450...so each meal you can eat 450 calories......then they said to take one of those numbers...450 and divide by 2...in this example it is 225....this is the amount of calories in 2 snacks per day.....so the breakdown is 3 meals at 450 and 2 snacks at 225 equals 1800 calories...not bad..this helps people reliant on numbers!...like myself..

How much fat do I need a day:

Take your weight loss number...from above...and multiply by 0.25..this number is what you need to keep your fat grams under a day

The book does not define the amount of protein we need but we all know that we eat protein first and it does specify the importance of eating protein.

The book does not define the amount of carbs BUT it does talk about the the good carbs versus the bad carbs and how important good carbs are for your body!


Hope this helps...and I recommend the book..its really good and has some good recipes in it as well..

Start Losing Again

Lots of people , me included have weight loss problems...
stalls, plateaus and even weight regain.
Here's something I read yesterday:
Often the problem is insufficient protein. How do we know? Because when the patient returns to getting higher levels of protein, weight loss resumes.


Here's how to start losing again:

1. Know how much protein you are getting. Each day. Don't just estimate. It is very hard to know how consistent you are if you don't keep a little chart. Any page of lined paper on the fridge will work fine. Just number it for the days of the month, and make a note every time you get some high quality protein.

2. Get enough protein. The ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) recommends getting at least 60 to 80 grams of high quality protein per day. That is a good start, but if you are stalled, or are gaining weight, or are losing hair, try this:

In this plan, you increase protein, but you don't increase calories.

That's because calories from protein increase to 25% to 30% of your total calories. You use protein to "crowd out" some of the calories from fat and carbohydrates.

Example:

Calories Before -1500, 60 grams of protein, 16% of calories from protein
Calories After - 1500, 112 grams of protein, 30% of calories from protein

You are increasing the percentage of calories from protein. You are not adding total calories. In fact, often this plan will reduce calories. That happens because you are using a very satisfying protein to "crowd out" problem foods and snacks.

- "The highest quality protein products are made of whey protein" -- ASMBS, June 2008

- Whey is a particularly satisfying protein.

Why the Protein Percentage Plan Works So Well

The first reason you need protein is that your body is constantly replacing and rebuilding cells. For those kinds of uses, the ASMBS recommendation of 60 to 80 grams is often sufficient. But for weight loss, there is more to consider. Here's what the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences concluded in 2005:

"A number of short-term studies indicate that protein intake exerts a more powerful effect on satiety (not being hungry) than either carbohydrate or fat."

We interpret that to say, protein is more satisfying, calorie for calorie.

Below is an informal summary of a study representative of the research showing that higher protein - as a percent of calories - supports weight loss. It is for non-surgical weight loss, but we believe it can help WLS patients too:

STUDY SUMMARY

Stage 1: The volunteers were given 2000 calories per day. 15% of the calories were from protein. That would be 75 grams of protein a day. On average, they didn't lose weight, and they felt hungry.

Stage 2: The volunteers were given the same 2000 calories per day. This time, 30% of the calories were from protein. That would be 150 grams of protein a day. On average, they lost weight, and they weren't hungry.

Stage 3: This time same 30% of the calories were from protein, but the volunteers were told to eat as much or as little as they wanted. They averaged 2000 calories. Again, on average, they lost weight, and they weren't hungry.


The key, we believe, is to get your protein to 25% or 30% of calories. One way to do this is to try the Protein Percentage Plan.

The reason it works is because you are replacing high-calorie fat, and carbohydrate, with protein, and, we expect, getting fewer overall calories.

Here is how much protein to get:
1200 calories per day, 75 - 90 grams of high-quality protein
1500 calories per day, 94-113 grams of high-quality protein
2000 calories per day, 125-150 grams of high-quality protein

Please note that I did remove any references herein that I felt construed advertising. As a result, I had to paraphrase in a couple of cases, but I kept the meaning of what was written intact.

protein shake recipes

Tangerine Cream Protein Shake

The soda gives it that “float” taste
12 oz. Tangerine Diet Rite
4 ice cubes
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 to 3 scoops vanilla protein powder

blend in blender till smooth.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake Recipe

A very tasty recipe… like a peanut butter cup

12 oz. water
4 ice cubes
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
2 scoops chocolate protein powder

Berries & Cream Protein Shake

1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 scoop of ice
1 small can of pineapple juice
1 handful of mixed berries

Thick Raspberry Chocolate Shake

1 to 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder
6 to 8 ounces of whole (or 2%) milk
6 ice cubes
8 raspberries
Mix in a blender on medium for 1 minute.

Pour into a tall glass. Drink or eat with a spoon!

grocery list-KEEP IT SIMPLE

Bought some groceries today:

Sliced cheese & grated cheese
worstershire sauce
3 dozen eggs
lettuce
cucumbers & onions
eggplant
pork rinds X 4
sour cream
2 pounds bacon
ground chuck (4 big packs)
5 rib-eye steak
lemon juice
sugar free jello pudding cups
salad dressing
dill pickles
Sugar free drink mixes: tea, orange & apple

This should do us for a while.
Last night while watching a movie, I had a sweet tooth attack!
Got 3 little scoops of Sugar Free Cool Whip in a bowl and poured
a couple of spoons of sugar free apple juice mix drink over it.
It was so good!! It did the trick.
If this diet is too hard for you to follow, you just really don't want to lose weight.
It's easy and so good!
Tonight's dinner:
big burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato and vidalia onioin!
Bun, mayo, mustard .
Or a steak and salad... whatever Rick wants most.

Weekends......don't blow it!!

Grill some good meat on the BBQ grill this weekend, do some extra for later. Everything is better cooked on your grill, or even smoked in a smoker!! But if you don't have time to do that, my George Foreman is always ready, great for the weekends!

Watch what you eat and drink over the weekend. It's not worth gaining 2-5... pounds over the weekend and having to lose them all over again! Meat and a salad is always a great meal!! What could be easier??

Make your own sugar free syrup. 1 cup water, sugar free sweetener to equal 2 cups, boil about 1 minute, take off heat, add 2 teaspoons Maple flavoring, stir it up..... keeps in fridge for weeks. Very easy and cheap and good!!!
Now you can have French toast or a flaxseed pancake!! so good for you too!

Here's the MIM recipe again:
http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase/AllAboutMIMs.aspx

Help someone do Low Carb Diet

Just walked on my tread mill. So happy that I'm able to do that!
Constipation, with the diet, it can be really bad!!
Here's what I'm using now:
Benefiber, great stuff!! even taste very good.... the citrus punch flavor.
Plus I take 2 of these a day: Probiotic formula Acidophilus.

Jorge Cruise recommends taking 2 a day, in the Belly Fat Cure diet book.
I found it at Wal-Mart in with the vitamins and health food stuff, $5.00 for 30 tablets.
Hope this will help.
I'm still at a stand still with the weight loss (31 pounds is nothing to sneeze at!),
but that's OK,
cause I know the weight is going to come off one day,
and I'm NOT gaining!!
I'm so much healthier, and feel so much better on this diet.
My diabetes meds are cut in half too!!
So just hang in there, stay focused on your food intake!!
Try to exercise if you are able to.
Try to help someone else who needs our support.
It doesn't take much, just show someone what you are doing, tell them how good you feel, look beyond me me me.....Thanks for listening to me today.
I love you all. I need you on this trip!!!
If you get bored, clean out a kitchen drawer, or a closet. That's a great way to feel better, you'd be amazed. I'm giving away food.
I keep going into my pantry and freezer seeing things I can't eat, like blueberry pancake mix and frozen pizza...give it away. I have the sweetest neighbor across the street, has 2 small kids, she loves to get free food!!!

Think Small low carb diet

I have got to start "thinking small", smaller servings means a smaller me!!!! And Smaller amounts to cook, means smaller grocery bills!! Why do I cook enough for an army every night?? So I can eat it... I've got to learn to think smaller!!!
I hate to waste food too, so I tend to eat more so I don't throw it away.
Do you do that too? I think it's just what we get used to doing. These old habits are hard to break. But we need to just keep on plugging away, learning new recipes and finding new friends who want to get smaller with us. Most of my friends wear the plus sizes like me... we all need to get on this diet and stay on it, it's healthy and I feel so much better.
BUT I'm still over eating, but it's the "right foods" now. If I eat the right foods and the
smaller amounts too, I'd be little now!! Portion control, that's the ticket!!
Need to use smaller plates at the table, smaller pots to cook in...all this will mean a much smaller me one day. And a smaller you too!! now think about that a while.
I love all of my dieting buddies!! Keep in touch with me, It keeps me motivated for sure. Rick is walking on our treadmill now, he's lost 25 pounds !!! Yea Ricky!!

Low Carb Apricot Cloud Dessert recipe

Apricot Cloud

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons granular sugar substitute
• 1 cup no-sugar-added apricot baby food
• 1 cup no-sugar-added mixed-fruit baby food)

Directions:

With an electric mixer on medium, beat cream and sugar substitute until medium-firm peaks form. Fold in baby food. Divide among dessert glasses. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Cream Cheese Clouds diet food...OMG!!!

Clouds:

8 oz. cream cheese (room temp)
1/2 c. butter (room temp)
1/4-1/2 c. splenda (I use 1/4)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix all together, and drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet, and freeze. Store frozen clouds in a ziploc bag.

Variations:
Chocolate clouds, add some cocoa powder (about 1- 2 TBSP).
Strawberry clouds, add some S.F. Strawberry Torani syrup (or S.F. Strawberry Jello mix, 1-2 TBSP)

Thank you Sandy for this recipe, still waiting to see how you count this cookie/dessert/ice cream...how many carbs??

Chocolate MIM

Chocolate MIM

Beat these 4 ingredients together; Mix well... See More
1 Lg egg
1 TBS heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla... See More
1 pkg Splenda… then add

2TBS flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp Hershey’s Extra Dark Cocoa
I put in a MUG or small soup bowl
Microwave 1 min. Top with butter
I find that using the 2 TBs of flax instead of 4 makes it much lighter.

She's right. and it was wonderful! Like I said, I switched the vanilla out and used Orange Extract and it was wonderful!

great ideas off Atkins post

Very happy finally lost a pound after a frustrating week and this is what I ate yesterday and I lost: For breakfast I had two eggs with white cheddar cheese and four slices of bacon (no carbs at all), for lunch I had tuna fish with mayo and laughing cow cheese mixed together and aspargus with a few black olives and then I had an Atkins bar for a snack in the afternoon and for dinner I had Talapia and Spinach with parmesan cheese and butter and some gourmet camembert cheese for a snack before dinner. Great day of yummy food and still lost weight and very happy, except had bad headache from lack of soda but that will change.

The headache is from losing too much sodium through water loss. You should have some chicken broth ready, a magnesium tablet, (D-3 Magnesium, calcium, zinc) and be sure to drink lots of water.

I just cooked myself a cup of finely chopped cabbage + 1 green capsicum + 1 yellow bell pepper + a few small spring onions sauted in 1.5 tbsp canola oil and twp pureed tomatoes with 1 egg... and sprinkled some salt and oregano on it...I could barely manage to finish half of it...amazing how my appetite has come down ...its own...what I need to know is, how many net carbs would there be in something like this?
The easiest way to track your foods and the carbs with them is to go get a free account at fatsecret.com. In your account settings, be sure to check that you want to track NET carbs. Then, every time you eat, list each item you use and it will track the carbs for you. Its a great tool! :)

I learned the benefit of planning my meals through a program that helped me keep my house clean and un-cluttered! It's called FLYing, at flylady.net and has really, REALLY helped me in so many ways! Now, my house is always no more than 5 minutes away from being company ready! She teaches about meal planning as well, so that when you go to the store... See More, you know exactly what you plan to eat that week, and only buy those items when you shop! :) I have taken those principles and applied them to my Atkins shopping and meal planning and it has worked like a dream!
http://www.flylady.net/

Spread the Word! Help someone else....

My best friend in the world has now joined me on my quest to get this weight off. It's been hard to get her...I tried not to push her too much.. she has decided to get her head right with this belly fat cure diet. She's been on 3 days and has lost 3 pounds!!
She has made me so happy. We have been friends for almost 40 years and "eating buddies" most of that time!! It's so good to do this with my hubby and my friend, but the best is with many friends on here and Face Book. Thank you, Niece Beth for getting me into this. Thank you, Jorge Cruise BFC diet, Atkins diet, and Rosalie for your blog!! And thank you for my beautiful cousin, Nancy, who told me to do this blog, and all my diet buds!! It's so much easier to do this together. We CAN do this!!! Don't cheat if you can help it, but if you do, get right back on the diet!! Love to you all. Tell everyone you know what you are doing to get healthy, they may want to join you too!!

rant bla bla bla.....

This is not easy.
you have got to do the work, the planning and the cooking or else you will be right back to your old habits as soon as you reach your goal. We all have to learn new habits.
I know that and you know this!! Or we will regain all this weight and I'm not going to do that this time!!!

Also, I want to warn all of us about something, when we do
good by not eating the cookies and cup cakes. Watch out,
don't celebrate because you did good.
I'm speaking from 16 years of sobriety with AA. I'm still a "recovering alcoholic" cause I could easily go back JUST TO CELEBRATE SOMETHING.
If you did so good today, great, get up and do it again tomorrow
we all need to be that good every day!!!
I'll probably wish I had not shared all this...
but we really need to watch everything we do and not get comfortable
or we will slip back to the old habits!!
We have to be vigilant, we have a sickness... I believe.
I'm speaking from my own experiences, but I know I'm obsessive compulsive.
I have lost weight before and gained it back plus more so many times..it's just stupid!!
Why am I so hard headed???Why is it so hard to really wrap your head around a good diet and live with it????
Well this is it this time. I have a great partner in Rick, he is so much fun to diet with.
He counts out his 27 cheese-its at night...He's such a good sport and has lost 22 pounds now.
He has this old pair of jeans he keep dragging out of his closet.
At first, they would not go over his hips/butt. then he could get them all the way up but not together.
well now he can close them, and button the button, but he can't breathe!!!

Mondays are great!!

Yea Mondays! We all need to Get Back on track NOW!!
Don't let this chance get away from you.
Another great starting point for us all.
I have been at a stand still for about 2 weeks.
Fluctuating 2-3 pounds... 2 pounds up then 2 down then up again. poor me...
Really frustrating because I have not cheated at all.
I may have pushed it to the edge a few times but never once
ate something that I shouldn't have eaten.
I drink too many diet sodas, and I'm trying to change that.
But I have had some really bad constipation issues that may play a role
in this up and down see-saw party my body is having.
I take Lortab for the back pain I have, 1-2 half pills a day,
and that will really bring a halt to your bathroom trips fast!!
Yall may not have this problem, and may not want to hear about it.
But I've been trying to drink more water ( I don't do this enough).
I've eaten 3 MIMs over the weekend, which is almost all fiber.
Been walking on my treadmill.
I take stool softeners every other day.
Nothing has helped for 3 days.... I was really blocked and miserable.
Felt bloated and very full all the time.
So last night, after talking it over with my sweet hubby, Rick, about this.
(We talk about everything....and he's on the diet with me.)
We decided I needed to take an Exlax pill, nothing else would work.
It worked!!! yes yes yes..
So now I have now passed another miles stone, down 2 more pounds.
Total loss now is 30 pounds, started April 3, 2010.
I don't advise this step just to lose weight,
but sometimes we all need some help!
Yall comment below and let me hear from you about this.
Hello....Is any body out there?????
Hello....?

Irritable ? may be diabetes!!

I read this question today on the Atkins Face book page:

Does anyone else feel frustrated/irritated all the time? I am so short tempered with my kids and I get seriously angry over little things. I wasn't like this before starting. Anyone else? What can I do?

Here's my answer:
It may be low blood sugar!! I have diabetes and one of the signs of my blood sugar dropping is irritability, fast heart beat and sweating.
You may need to eat more often to correct that, but get your blood sugar checked out!!
You are not mean because you can't eat what you love any more, don't even go there!!!

If you are on a low carb & low sugar diet, that's the best thing you can do for diabetes!!
Get healthy. Get your blood sugar checked.
Mine has been dropping a lot recently because I'm not eating lots of carbs and hidden sugars
any more.
So I don't need nearly the amount of meds I have been taking for years!!

MIM recipe....& hidden sugar/sneeky carbs

We all need help with loosing weight!
The food companies do not do anything right,
they have us convinced that it's the fat in our diets
that is making everyone so over weight.
IT"S NOT, it's the hidden sugar and CARBS!!!!!!
OMG, we are all hooked on sugar and carbs!!!!!
Can we sue somebody!!! LOL!!!
I love the belly fat cure diet,
BUT.....I looked at Atkins pages on facebook.
There they actually answer questions you may have and have some great 0/low carb recipes.
Here's one I tried last night, it's great!!
I added 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and a teaspoon of sour cream, it was so good! I was amazed!!!

A MIM (Muffin in a Minute) is a low-carb, high -fiber, Induction-friendly delight that you can microwave in a coffee cup.

Note: All of these recipes use flaxmeal, which is ground flaxseed. If you can't find flaxmeal, buy flax seeds and grind them in a coffee grinder. Milled flaxseed is the same as flaxmeal. In the UK and elsewhere, flaxseed is often known as linseed. Golden flaxmeal is sweeter and lighter than dark-brown flaxmeal, which has a nuttier taste.

Basic MIM recipe

Serving Size: 1

.... I eat this right out of the mug,

it's like a warm brownie if you add

1 tablespoon cocoa and 2-3 splendas

1/4 cup flax meal (8.09 total carbs, 7.6 fiber)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder (0.64 net carbs)

1 packet Splenda® packet (0.9 net carbs)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (1.84 total carbs, 1.2 fiber)

1 large egg (0.6 net carbs)

1 teaspoon butter

(total carbs is 12.07, fiber is 8.8; net carbs is 3.27)

Put the dry ingredients in a coffee mug.

Stir.

Add the egg and the butter. Mix.

Microwave 1 minute (or more). Take out. slice, butter, eat.

Notes:

• Your MIM can be toasted once it's cooked and topped with cream cheese if you like.
• Be sure to use baking powder, not baking soda. Aluminum-free baking powder tastes better. Be sure the baking powder is fresh.
• Feel free to replace the cinnamon with other spices or add sugar-free syrup.
• Add a tablespoon of sour cream for a moister MIM.
• Change the shape of your MIM by making it in a bowl.
• Try replacing the cinnamon with 1/2 tsp of unsweetened cocoa (net carb count will be higher).
• Make a sandwich MIM by by adding parmesan cheese, garlic powder and some salt and omitting the cinnamon and Splenda®. Use a square-bottomed bowl, then slice and put in the toaster to use as bread for sandwiches and burgers.
• Here's the URL for this recipe, and more tweaks to it fro Atkins:
• http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase/AllAboutMIMs.aspx

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!
Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!!!!

write that 2000 times....now, believe it!!!!

recipe... Tacos Dinner Kit at home

using a dinner kit "ortega" or "taco bell"

(I like the Old El Paso brand the best.)

2 taco shells is 1 carb,

seasoning has 0 sugar or carbs

cook 1-2 pounds good ground chuck, drain it well,

add 2/3 c. water & the packet of seasonings from the dinner kit, cover and simmer a few minutes. then put that ( about 1/4-1/2 cup per shell) in a taco shell that has been heated in the oven 7 minutes at 325 degrees,

add cheese, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, pickled hot peppers, olives, sour cream and taco sauce of your choice.

2 of these is a meal and only 1 carb.

you need to count the sugars in the veggies, but it is minimal.

enjoy... without any guilt!!!

back to basics of the BFC diet!

My weight loss has slowed down, maybe too much salt or just portions or servings too big, I don't do too well measuring my portions. Got to do better!
Anyway, I thought I'd go back to the first menu plans I got off the Belly Fat Cure website about April 1, 2010. That's when we first started thinking about doing this diet/life-style.
It works IF we do it right.

Breakfast- 2-3 eggs any style with 1 slice of whole grain toast with a pat of butter or cream cheese. You may also have a cup of coffee with cream or half and half, but not milk.

Snack- 1/4 cup of walnuts

Lunch- Tuna or turkey with cheese and lettuce wrapped in a medium whole grain tortilla.
Drink either a large glass of water or unsweetened iced tea with lemon.

Snack- 1 serving of string cheese.

Dinner-Salad with baby spinach, grilled chicken, pepper, olive oil dressing with a side of either broccoli or zucchini, sauteed in butter and topped with melted mozzarella.
Drink a large glass of water.

Dessert- 2 squares of 85% dark chocolate

I have lost between 25-29 pounds (depends on who's scales I use, mine or my doctors), but at a stand still because I push the limits of what a serving is!! That's one of my biggest problems in dieting and always has been and always will be unless I change my wicked ways.
Someone asked me one time, just out of the blue....:
"What are you doing about your weight?"
I thought...how can you ask me that?
none of your business...kiss my butt..
but that has stuck in my head for 20 years, and here I am , still big, even bigger now than I was then when my friend ask me that question!!
WOW.. denial is a long long river.....

Stopped up!! grocery store/wally world

I ended up walking on the tread mill 2 times yesterday, yea me!! Just 5 minutes each time....
It's getting easier, thank goodness. I have a stationary bike too ( has low miles on it), bought 2 years ago, but because of my back problems, it just kills me, so the treadmill is much better for my body right now.
I'm wondering if everyone on this BFC diet is having bathroom/irregularity problems like me.
I have tried to cut back more on my carbs (whole grain breads mostly).
By just eating 3-4 carbs a day, I thought it may help me lose weight faster/better.
But I believe that carbs are the only fiber we get. So we need to eat good ones, don't waste your carbs on anything that's not gonna help with a bathroom trip! We need fiber bad and water. I tried the flax seed meal, mixed 2 tablespoons in juice 2-3 times a day. It did not help either, stool softeners don't help. But some of my problem is Lortab, I take for pain 2 times a day. That is known to stop you up severely!
later...

I just got home from wally world,

got about 2 weeks worth of goodies!

Big salad tonight with feta cheese and leaf lettuce, tomato, vidalia onions!

and maybe some "chicken fries", 7 is 1 carb, I bake them, it's Tyson brand,
don't know if I told you bout those.

Sure wish someone would at least look at our house,
I'm beginning to get worried...... really want to sell it!
And it looks so good now, grass looks great from all the rain!
Everything is slow right now....
we sell on eBay and not much is moving there either.
Pray for better days ahead.....and the folks on the coast and those beautiful wetlands, Lord save them.

diabetes and me YUCK!!!

I walked again on my treadmill, getting easier. Yea!!!!!

I'm diabetic and am taking pills and more pills and a shot of insulin every day.
I could NOT get my blood sugar under control because I was in the "mind set" that if I was taking shots and pills, that I could eat anything I wanted..... so stupid..... denial really.
I was taking 50 units of insulin a day, but it was not helping me so my doctor told me to go up till my blood sugar was 100 in the mornings. Well,
I was up to 100 units of insulin...still high blood sugar readings.....
but was still eating the wrong foods!!!!!!
so I was just ignoring it, quit taking my blood sugar readings for months at a time....
Bought a bread machine, OMG what was I thinking? I made bread and ate bread for about a month and sent my sweet niece, Beth, an email about it. She emailed me back that they were not eating a lot of white flour, but the bread looked good. I asked her about what they were eating and she told me all about the Belly Fat Cure diet! That was about April 1,2010.
Well, by April 3rd we had started the diet, without the Belly Fat Cure book, but it was ordered and coming from Amazon!! I got the diet off Jorge's Website.
Now I'm still taking pills and shots, but I'm so much better. My A1C test 3 months ago was 8.6, I believe, and 4 weeks ago it was 7.5, plus I had lost about 15 pounds when I saw her last.
My doctor was so happy.
She (Dr. Hall) said she was going to buy several of the books and place in her waiting room for patients! Now that is a great endorsement!!!
My blood sugar is better now, my weight is down 25 pounds, I feel better, got a treadmill and am trying to walk.
Yall may not know this but I walk with a cane. I have spinal stinosis, slipped disc and ruptured disc. So it's been quite a big step literally to get on the treadmill and walk!!
I love the diet and I KNOW we can all do this together, so thank you for joining me.
hugs from me to you,
Joan

my foods/grocery list....Keep It Simple!!!.

I'm living the Belly Fat Cure Diet, taken from the book (by that name) by Jorge Cruise.
I'm going to list snacks and foods that Rick and I eat.
I don't use any special sweetener, just a no calorie one, any one you like.
I know some are not safe, but I don't eat much of it, not like the researchers feed to mice...
I really don't recommend any special brands at all, I'm just listing stuff we use daily.
You can live with this diet longer, I believe, if you can just work it into your normal lifestyle.
So try to keep it simple!

Things to snack on or build a meal around:

cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, feta cheese, blue cheese
real butter
Ezekiel bread, or any whole grain bread
Pepperidge Farms very thin sliced bread (3 pieces is 1 carb)
toast with butter, cream cheese and sugar free jam, cinnamon and sweetener
nuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, Brazil nuts
pickles, celery,
sauerkraut
boiled eggs, deviled eggs, tuna, salmon
smoked turkey (Oscar Mayer)
Cheese-its (27 is a serving)
Vienna Sausage
Pork rinds or pork skins
olives, pickled peppers
hot dogs (I prefer all beef)
cool whip (sugar free) eat like ice cream
1/2 & 1/2 or Coffee Mate
coffee, water
sugar free drinks (Sam's cola)
sugar free juice drinks (Wal-Mart brand)
tomatoes

mustard
mayonnaise

soy sauce
Jicamas (Mexican fruit/veggie)
Dales marinate, McCormics brown gravy mix
Taco Dinner kits "Old El Paso"
Taco sauce
chili powder, love chili powder!!!
cinnamon (great for diabetics)
your favorite sweeteners, any brand you like is OK
Tyson chicken fries
Frozen meat balls (just heat and serve)
Ground chuck
chicken breast tenders
turnips, cauliflower,radish, raspberries, radish, cabbage
zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, lettuce
flax seed meal
salad dressings, vinegar, onions, garlic, olive oil

Tread mill Trade

I walked on my treadmill 5 minutes again today.
I hope I can build up to 10 or more minutes soon.
But right now 5 kicks my butt.
Did I tell yall how I got this tread mill?
I traded for it on Craigs list!
My mama needed a new bedroom set, so I was trying to sell hers on Craigs list,
no takers tho.
So I looked on the list where folks "Want" something,
there it was.... a trade... a treadmill for a bedroom set!!
They came and got it Sunday morning.
We were all happy campers.
Now Mom gets a new set too!

I'm hooked on a TV show called "One Big Happy Family".
It's on tonight on the TLC channel at 9:00PM. It is so cute, I love it.
One Big Happy Family - Amber and Tameka's Dance Class New

The kids' weight-loss efforts have hit a plateau, so Norris and Tameka try to motivate them to exercise more.

It's a man, wife and 2 teenagers, all weighing over 350 each.
They are trying to loose weight on this reality show, OMG!!!
I just love them, the boy cheats and eats ice cream Sundays!!!
If you're gonna cheat, do it right, I say!

It's time to cook, past time really!!
I may have hamburger patties on the George Foreman grill and some squash,
maybe a salad too with feta cheese yummy...
I wasn't hungry, but now, that sounds good.
I have been munching on my pickled celery all day.
Hugs to all,
me

Breakfast is important!

Hi yall.
I've been asked lots of times, what's for breakfast?
Here's what we had this morning;
it counted as 1 serving of carb, the toast, everything else was "free".
0/1 breakfast

1 piece of Ezekiel bread toast with butter and preserves.
(any whole grain bread is good)
The jam is Wal-Marts brand sugar free blackberry preserves 0/5 grams of carb
(remember, that's not a whole serving of carb, but 5 grams, so I don't have to count it),
it's very good. also the serving size is 1 tablespoon, and I only ate 1/2 that.
2 scrambled eggs with seasoning salt and a little grated cheese.
3 pieces of low salt Kroger brand bacon.
Cup of coffee with cream and a TALL glass of orange juice.
The orange juice is like Crystal Light, but wally worlds brand sugar free drink mix,
found where the kool aid is found.0/0 they have this in apple, grape, orange, tea, lemonade, you name it, they got it and it's all good (except the raspberry, didn't like it at all).
1 package of this has 6 tubs inside, each tub makes 2 quarts of juice.
So one package will make you 12 quarts of juice!! for about $1.98 I believe,
now that's a deal, and it's fast, cheap and sugar free.
Well, reading this label more closely, it does have 5 calories per serving, but we don't care bout that.
I drink this stuff all day long, I have 3 flavors mixed in my fridge at all times.
I'm so exciting...aren't I????!!!!

Explain the Belly Fat Cure diet

Good morning !
My weight is the same today as yesterday and the day before.
I think I ate way too much yesterday. I made the celery/vinegar and ate 1/2 ton of that and I got into a couple of bags of pork rinds too, both the celery and pork rinds are 0/0 , no sugars and no carbs...but if you eat 1/2 ton of each, you will not loose weight, right?? My head is still into "over eating"....
I'm a compulsive eater.....
what to do about that?
I guess I think as long as I eat the right stuff (0/0) that I can eat as much as I can shove in my mouth! not so....I still have a lot to learn!!!

I think I need to explain what the diet is all about.
You have got to learn how to read the "Nutrition Facts" on the labels of food.
Look on the side of the bottle or package and read it....
the only thing you have to pay attention to on this diet is the sugar and
the carbohydrates (I call carbs).
Here's how the S/C value system works:
Sugar:
the S is for sugars
When counting the sugar, anything under .5 is not counted.
You can have up to 15 grams of sugar a day.
I try to allow myself 5 or less at each meal.
Next is the C for your carbohydrates .
It's a little more confusing counting them....you can have 6 servings of carbs a day.
Each serving is up to 20 grams of a carb.
5 to 20 grams is 1 serving
21 to 40 grams is 2 servings
41-60 grams is 3 servings
Anything under 5 grams is not counted.
It's very important to count your carbs and be exact!!
For example, if you eat something that has 21 carbohydrate grams, you can NOT count it as 1 carb serving.. it's "2" carbs servings.
That's the way it is, do not argue this point, you can not play with the numbers.
I tried, it does not work.
I'm taking this straight from the book and injecting my own findings from experience.
so the S/C is your sugars/carbs counts for the day.
15 grams of sugar/6 servings of carbs a day (each carbs being up to 20 grams).
So what you will see is 15/6 for your days worth of sugars and carbs.........to do this diet the correct way, that's how you count it.....
Ok,
I think that's enough to digest at the moment.
Read and reread this so you will get it right.
At first you may get the grams and carb counts mixed up,
so learn this.
It's what this diet is all about.

Low carb Home Made Cheetos recipe

This recipe is from "Secret Weight Loss Recipes" by Maria Emmerich.

Recipe from this book:
Homemade cheetos ...
1 gram of carb, which is nothing!
3 egg whites
1/8 teas. cream of tartar
a pinch salt
beat this till you have stiff peaks,
add 1/2 cup grated cheese.
whip the eggs whites with wire wisk attached to your electric beater
(if you have those).
Also it helps to have your eggs at room temperature.
This makes them whip up fast and you get lots more volume too.
Spoon them on baking sheet (I used parchment paper).
bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn the oven off and let them cool in the oven, I sprinkled some seasoning salt on top,
next time, will add: garlic and red pepper or some lemon pepper!!

I'm re-posting this blog from last year, great recipe, easy too.

I'm wondering what this would be like if instead of cheese, we added some cocoa, & your favorite sweetener ....cookies!!!!!
oh man, I'm gonna try this soon!

I've made the Cheetos 3 times, everyone loves them. I tried piping them the first time, but the egg whites went limp, so I just drop by small spoonfuls now.
Let me know how your turn out and what you do to tweak the recipe.
hang in there. We are all in this together. Try not to cheat too bad..
I love you all,
Joan
This is an older post, but worth repeating!!!

Low Carb Celery recipe & Pork Rinds 0/0

I hope all yall can find pork rinds/skins at your local grocery stores.
They have no sugar and no carbs. very tasty crunchy tid-bits!!
If you are following the belly fat cure diet that means you can open a bag
and just eat till your heart's content!

I made one of my favorite snacks today,
celery in vinegar. I wash the celery and cut the ends off, cut it into 1-2 inch pieces.
Put it into a quart jar and add 3 parts vinegar and 1 part water, add about 1- 2 teaspoons of salt or to taste. I always add dried red pepper flakes also for a kick.
Let these sit in fridge over night, if you can stand waiting. then dig in.
I really love these and will pig out. Rick doesn't care for vinegary stuff so I can eat um all, if I want!!
Sometimes I will add sliced radishes, bell peppers, turnips, carrots ...anything like that is good.
The celery is 0/0, but you need to check out what other veggies you may add to this, they may have some carbs or sugars. If this is too tart for you, add a pack of Splenda to it to cut the vinegar taste. Enjoy and let me know if you like it. Stay on your diet even if you are not loosing now, it will work, I'm at a stand still now too......

8th week low carb dieting love it

Well, Hubby , Rick, and I have been on this belly fat cure diet since April 3rd now, so about 8 weeks. I've lost about 25 pounds and Rick 22 pounds. He is now under 200!! But NOT me!!
I have a lot more to go just to reach under 200. so I'm gonna be blogging a while.
we had bacon, eggs, Ezekiel bread toast with butter and sugar free blackberry jam this morning
for breakfast. oh and coffee and I drink orange juice( like crystal light) but it's Wal-Marts brand. Taste just like orange juice to me, now, but I may have just gotten used to it.
Folks have asked me to do a blog, so here I am...