jsfantome's Journal, 09 Aug 11

My life has been an open book around here – I’ve tried to make my journals full of inspiration, motivation, information, tips, how to’s, why to’s, and more… And for the first time in a very long time – I am seriously asking myself ‘what’s in it for me?’ (will answer that question later.)

I have had my struggles from the very start. It’s never been ‘really easy’… ever! I started with absolutely no idea how to make this work for me. Completely inexperienced, and the harder I tried the worse it got!!! I felt doomed to remain fat. I was exercising like crazy, counting calories… and crying in my soup. Just not willing to give up, I accepted an invitation by a loved one to ‘try’ Atkins.

I was not so smart back then… I breezed thru Induction – lost 10-12 lbs in 3 weeks… then went on an extended vacation (3 weeks) w/ my sick mother to visit her family – and gained it all back. Didn’t know that adding back carbs in small, seemingly unobtrusive ways, would lead to cravings, and more carbs, and an eventual “I’m on vacation” mentality that basically shot me in the foot!

Had to RE-start Induction upon my return. BIG PROBLEM… nothing happened. I think I lost maybe – maybe 1 pound in the next 3 weeks. Still crying in my soup!

I have literally had to fight for every single solitary pound loss since then!

What gives? I knew that this WOE worked – I lost big initially. But I felt like I screwed myself out of ignorance – and now I was destined to pay the price indefinitely. Weeks went by – no loss. All the while I was becoming more and more frustrated, committed, determined – call it what you will – I was desperate.

I just kept thinking – my body is human like everyone else’s… something has to be wrong with what I am doing… why is this not working for me? This is about the point at which I ended up here on FatSecret. I was searching for help and a way to track my .net carbs.

When I first joined this site – there used to be a lot of active Groups. People would come to this site – go to their Groups and ‘check in’ – read posts, reply to posts, and develop relationships with others w/in their groups. One day, while reading thru some of the descriptions of these Groups, I found one that was a ‘No Nonsense-Tough Love Kind of Group’ called Boot Camp. You had to ‘apply’ to be accepted into this group. So I fired off an email to the Administrator of this group, telling her my tale of woe, and she offered to help me.

This woman had aprox 30 years experience on Atkins, having been on it since sometime in the late 70’s. I had less than 30 days .. I had a lot to learn.

Speaking primarily to the beginner – and the Induction Phase – this is some of what turned my world around and got me back on a path of losing. Now I should say – I went from 0 lbs loss per week – to 1 pound loss per week – to 2 lbs loss per week – back to 1 pound per week – back to 0. (at or near my goal weight.)

Induction Tips:
Try to Eat w/in One Hour of Waking – or if you exercise in the AM – w/in one hour after exercise. (this does not have to be a full fledged bkfst – but a cheese stick – a hard boiled egg – something!)

Try to eat every 3-5 hours throughout the day. EITHER eat the most carbs in the morning, moderate amount lunch and least amount at dinner – or – spread them out evenly.

Until I got the hang of Induction – I counted TOTAL Carbs. Once I started subtracting for .Net Carbs… I only subtracted Fiber from whole, natural foods. Do not subtract for Sugar Alcohols as more and more products use artificial ingredients that DO affect your blood glucose, and Induction is not the place to mess around w/ this process. You may be able to begin using some of those items later in OWL, or in Phases 3 & 4, but should not be using in Induction.

20 g’s of Carbs (total) goes pretty quickly. Track EVERYTHING you eat. Learn to measure. Get a scale. Learn this website’s tracking tool. Learn how to accurately input your serving sizes so you can honestly track what is going on. Learn about Ingredients. Learn about Hidden Carbs. Fillers. And Artificial Sweetners.

Typical Carb distribution for me looked like: Bkfst, Lunch, Dinner: 4-6 Carbs
1 or 2 Snacks: 1-3 Carbs.

I used the Induction’s Food List from the free Atkins website.

*** Even w/ all of the above (and I have told this story before) – I was stalled w/ zero movement on the scale for a month. I was eating a very CLEAN, strict Induction Menu, with literally only one thing daily that seemed to have artificial stuff in it… Sugar Free Jello. The Admin Lady from Boot Camp asked me to eliminate it for two weeks, keep doing what I was doing…and we would re-evaluate after two weeks. At the end of one week…down a pound. End of week two, down another pound. Haven’t had SF Jello since.***

Drinking Water was a Non-Negotiable. (minimum 64 oz / day) – Depending on your starting weight – (maximum roughly 128 oz / day). General rule of thumb – about ½ your body weight in water ounces. 200 lbs = 100 oz. of water per DAY.

While not necessary in the beginning to even count calories (for me) – the general guidelines offered by this experienced Admin Lady were:

1350-1750 for Women 1550-2250 for Men

Carb Ratio’s: 4-7% of your daily intake in Induction. Look at the pie chart at the bottom of a Full Day’s Entries.

Now I know everyone is different. And I know from this early experience for me, that my body is VERY carb intolerant. Some people may never need to be this strict, or follow this plan so closely to the ‘Letter’ as I did… but some of you might! And that is why I am taking the time to write this all out. Take what you will – discard the rest.

At this point – this is where I lived for the next 5-6 months. Finally starting to make progress one pound at a time… I just put my head down, nose to the grindstone, and made this work for me.

I used that time to read, learn, ask questions, and plan for OWL, and Phases 3 & 4. I learned about Hidden Carbs. I tracked my food daily. I weighed in once a week. I went daily to the Group and participated in the Forums within the group. I offered support to others, and they offered support to me. This was working. WOW – this was actually working!

I was pre-planning weekly menu’s, sometimes PRE-tracking foods I was considering eating to see how they fit into my day BEFORE I actually ingested them. I was learning how to handle my new lifestyle in relationship to holidays, special occasions, vacations, etc… I was working on ‘me’ on the inside – I was reaching for my initial goal. To be a healthier, happier person…physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And I was winning!!!

I watched a lot of people come and go from that Group – and from this site in general. That group is long gone now… but there are still lots of supportive, knowledgeable folks here on FatSecret to help you in your journey!

Which brings me back to my original question at the top of this entry – What’s in it for me? The opportunity to continue to learn. To share my experiences. To be supportive and to be supported. To be encouraging and to be encouraged. To be motivating and to be motivated. Whatever it is… to help others and to be helped myself. I am not done yet. And neither are you…or you wouldn’t be here reading this.

I have fought with the same 5 lbs and getting back to 140 for the last 9 months. Not to mention that what I would really like is to be at 135, but at the rate I am going, would be very satisfied with just getting back to 140 and staying there.

Back to the drawing board – back to a clean Induction period for the next two weeks for me… I am seriously not willing to stay here forever. (pound wise) Food no longer drives me – food is just the fuel I use to Drive My Life!

More tomorrow – Much Love.