because I’m going to hurk!
It’s been about a week and OhMyGoobergrapes! I have some stuff to tell you about. It’s nothing huge, like the splitting of the atom or anything (and, no. I didn’t shave. Let’s not get all extreme on me, people).
1. Home schooling.
Have you ever home schooled? Let me tell you something (now I sound like my grandma minus the crocheting of the Pabst hats): if you have never home schooled someone who spends much of his waking time wanting to watch Red Dwarf or play Nintendo instead of learning about the Civil War, you’ve never lived.
He’s only one kid, but he rides like thousands in the classroom.
I home schooled three kids once. At one time. All three had their own remote controls which all worked their televisions. The remote controls not only worked their televisions, but they worked each other’s televisions as well. They spent an inordinate amount of time changing each other’s channels (when they weren’t turning off one another’s televisions) and then erupting into pillow fights or armpit noise wars in the hall way.
I sent one kiddo back to school within the month. The other two made it through. It’s miraculous I made it through– forget the kids (though how could I forget the kids. Oy!).
So, this last year, I brought home my son so that I could get him the aid he needed minus the haranguing of the school for not doing enough on the ‘forcing an autistic kid to take ADD meds’ front. We just completed CSAPS testing, and are now on the home stretch for the year– but what a stretch! we’re not talking 7th inning stretch. We’re talking 7th, 8th, 9th and some overtime stretch.
On top of the homeschooling, there is the therapy. Occupational therapy and working in groups have been two recently-added tools to help my son to be able to cope in a social environment and to be able to function in a peer group. These take a commute and a bit of time to get to.
Then there is the usual stuff you do as a parent who have kids involved in not-for-profit groups.
Then there is the usual stuff you do when you’re involved in a not-for-profit and have responsibility to that group too.
Then there is the RV we’re trying to sell, coupled with the yard sale I’m in charge of, ohhh..and, and, and,…
I am saying Goodbye to Atkins.
That’s right. Maybe this is a shocking revelation, and maybe it isn’t. Not like the time I shaved off my eyebrows so that I could make a really cool Charlie Chaplin mustache from real hair.
Since January 1st, I’d been following Atkins, particularly the induction phase of the plan, from his 2002 version of the Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution (also affectionately known as “DANDR”–pronounced ‘dander’). I lost 61 pounds from January to April, when I hit an unforeseen stand-still. The stall caused me to amazingly obsess about weight loss, become aggravated, and then finally resulted in my pitching the ‘screw it’ sheet to the wind and sail off towards UpYoursAtkins! Island.
I’ve followed the good doctor for over 2 decades, since I was a youth of but 14. It is an excellent weight loss plan for many, but let’s face it. It’s a DIET. Rhymes with “Try It” and contains the word “DIE”. I am so beyond it. Past it. It’s so last year and shimmery lip gloss for me.
I followed Atkins in 2004 and lost an amazing 115 pounds in 7 months. Maybe you’re wondering why I never bragged about this before. It could be because I gained all of it back when I realized I really hated eating what I was every day.
After a week of low-carb apathy, a member at lowcarbfriends.com was asking people what food or meal they porked out on before starting Atkins. Note the word, “starting”.
Schwing! Atkins is a Diet. It is something many start…and for many, something many STOP.
You can fall in and out of a diet. A diet intimates something you begin and something you end. Something you do or something you don’t.
A lifestyle? That’s what you LIVE. For life.
And then I started remembering: Does weight loss have to be fast, or can weight loss be slow and measured so long as there is always progress?
Why else do we hate stalls, but when it appears the ‘diet’ stops working? The ‘dieter’ hates stalls. The lifestyler looks at a stall as mini-maintenance. We don’t panic when a pound isn’t lost every 6 hours. We’re in this for the long haul.
I lost sight of that in my rush to drop as much weight as I could by restricting myself to induction on Atkins.
It is totally weird to say this, because folks who know me know I’ve always been an obsessed perfectionist. One day it finally hit me that this isn’t about running to the end of a race so that I could hork a Hostess product. This isn’t me, Cleo Whiteshoes Jackson, getting the proverbial low-carb ball into the goal end zone and then spiking it to declare victory, on my way to the buffet table.
This is about taking a journey through life, enjoying the trek along the way, seeing the beauty in the world around us and not freaking out about the possibility of the air coming out of the tires.
I ‘done’ had the air out of my tires too many times. I’ve been wanting something too quickly, rather than focusing on having REAL fun without worry about whether or not I could have something on induction–or not. So, for me, I’m going away from the good Dr Atkins for awhile.
Hello, Dr Thompson!
This space is dedicated to people who shave off their eyebrows to make Charlie Chaplin mustaches.
The Experiment: Lifestyle over Diet
I have discussed Dr Thompson’s weight loss plan before, and am moving back towards an experiment.
After being stalled and, nay, gaining some weight in the last two weeks, I am going to begin Dr Thompson’s Low Glycemic Plan tomorrow (I buck the system by actually doing things right away rather than waiting for Mondays), coupled with the tweak I use when I am following his plan.
Some folks will ask me what plan I’m following. This was previously posted to this blog last year, but I am restating what my plans are so as to avoid any confusion.
Here is the answer, albeit not tremendously simple, but simple enough for me.
I’m following Dr Thompson’s Low Glycemic Load Plan, but I’m using modified OWL numbers from the Atkins plan.
Now, before you scrunch up your eyebrows and make cuckoo noises, let me explain how this works. Dr Thompson wrote an excellent book about Low Glycemic Loads. Glycemic load is more important than index, because no one can eat enough carrots to spike blood sugar as index shows. Glycemic load is based on the average amount a person generally eats versus what it would take to raise the blood sugar considerably for any given food item.
Glycemic load is so easy, I’m able to follow it. There are no phases, nothing complicated about this plan. In fact, I’ve laid out some of the groundwork below:
To begin following the plan (while waiting for your book to arrive)
This list is extremely important
. Note, however, this isn’t where you are going to cry out in remorse for having listened to me at this point. No reason to say, “Cleochatra! You said this was going to be easy!”
Well, this is easy. The lsit tells you, as a long-time low-carber, what you already know. In a sense, it vindicates the knowledge you have had to this point.
Ignore low glycemic indexes. Those don’t take into account the amount of food NORMAL folks eat (no one eats cups and cups of carrots in a sitting). Glycemic load takes into account the amount of food a normal person eats )ex: a bagel).
Job One: Purge starch from your diet.
Easy enough, right? After all, you’re probably already following a low-carb plan. Push aside, most simply, bread, potatoes and rice. It doesn’t get any easier than that. Do you have to give them up for life? No. Keep reading.
What Dr Thompson states is that when you have a plate of food in front of you, you put all starchy foods to the side in a ‘starch pile’. Psychologically speaking, little looks less appetizing than a pile of goo sitting on your plate!
And what is starch, if not goo and glue?
At the end of the meal, if you simply must have some starch (and are still hungry–remember, eating to satisfy hunger trumps pigging out), eat up to 1/4 of the starch on your plate. Nothing more.
You will have made starch the afterthought and not the be-all. Really roll it around in your mouth. It’s just not really that good. Still, you can have some. You’re just going to fill up on the healthy, wholesome foods first.
As an aside, did you know that starches never make it past the first 2 feet of your intestine before it veers right back off into your bloodstream? It’s not good stuff…
High fiber foods have greater merit. Don’t be mistaken into believing bran flakes, however, are necessarily healthy. So many foods are so ghighly processed! The healthiest grains are the ones which retain their fiber because they’ve retained their husks. Flax seed meal is some good stuff. Flax cereal CAN be, if you can control yourself and eat only the recommended amount.
Me, I can’t, so I stay away from flax cereals (and all cereals). There is more information about acceptable fiber sources in the book.
Job 2: Eliminate sugar-filled beverages.
Again, probably a no-brainer! We’re doing that as low-carbers.
Milk? OK for us. In moderation. Milk still contains milk sugars. Go for a higher fat for greater satiety.
Watch:
alcohol: An appetite stimulant and depressant
coffee and tea– good in moderation, coffee and tea offer positive attributes. towards stimulation of metabolism and providing protection for some type 2 diabetes patients. Still, it can also stimulate appetite, so be aware!
Water– great, but drink to satisfaction. Dr T thinks we overdink water as a society. Make water your thirst quenching drink of choice, but you don;t have to drink obscene amounts to get the needed physiological benefits. He discusses this more in the book.
Job 3: Make friends with your sweet tooth
This is where I initially thought Dr T lost his ball in the short weeds–and where, conversely, I realized this could be a way of life for me!
In the bloodstream, a gram of sugar doesn’t raise blood sugar levels anymore than a gram of starch. The difference? We have a sweet taste bud on our tongue. Do we have a starch bud? The human has not evolved to eat starches. Sugar? In moderatiuon, yes, and huimans have been eating honey (100% sugar) for millenia!
The glycemic loaf of one peppermint lifesaver is only 20. Compared to 100 for a slice of bread, that’s nothing. A tablespoon of sugar? Only 28. And, for this, your tongue (and your brain’s) pleasure sensors are exonerated.
How can sugar save you? If you are addicted to starches, it’s silly. Starches are tasteless. What has to be added? Flavoring? sugar?
Why not cut to the chase? Eat what your body wants. What your tongue wants. Have a bit of sugar and skip the processed chemicals. You can assuage starch cravings by actually having a bit of sugar!
Wait until the end of a meal (again, to help off-set sugar in the bloodstream) have a pinch of sugar. A small, high-octane chocolate, maybe some pudding. A small handful of jellybeans. Better for you than starches, and without the resulting cravings.
Avoid starchy sweets! No cookies, pies, cakes. The point is to assuage the sugar center on your tongue, not feed your body starch-poisons.
OK treats: M&Ms, jellybeans, high octane chocolate (just a bit), peanut brittle, hard candy, such as a peppermint. Limit quantities! Remember, this should feel like you’re spoiling yourself, but not your hips.
Use sweets to happify your taste buds–never to fill your belly!
Go sugar-free when enjoying dairy treats, but watch out for sugar alcohols. Sugar-laced yogurts should be substituted with artificial sweetner.
Find high-fiber and protein snacks… no issue, right? We’re used to that. Nuts, cheeses, meats, celery…
Job number 3: Slow Twitch Muscles to the rescue!
These muscles have more to do with metabolism than what we previously believed. Walk every 48 hours to keep burn at a maximum. Walking also keeps your muscles resistant to insulin! You don’t have to knock yourself out to knock out insulin naughties!
There is much more about this in the book, but long story short: Walk every 48 hours! It’s not painful, you feel better, work slow-twitch muscles and build up metabolism. Slow-twitch are your friends.
Of course, I walk daily, but once every 2 days is a start, right?
Choose good fats over bad
No brainer. We already know this. He does recommend omega-3. It’s good stuff.
So really, that’s it. Oh, there’s more in the book, which is why I highly recommend anyone interested in this plan buy it! The plan is really that straightforward.
No phases. No starting over. No guilt. Just better choices.
I don’t mind phases, but people don’t tend to live naturally in phases, save for those our bodies impose on themselves. Some days we are hungrier than others. Some seasons we don’t want to eat as much as others. The decided lack of man-made phases makes this a way of living rather than a diet. It’s much more user-friendly and less likely to fail in that.
And for those of us who tend towards self-sabotage and perfection, this plan requires neither perfection nor absolute adherence. It removes every stumbling block I suffered from while following Atkins.
Speaking of Atkins….
Now, take that plan, and instead of eating higher carbs, stick to induction level numbers for the 2002 Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution (you’re treating it as modified OWL, because you’re rotating foods through to some degree to see how they affect you… but you don’t have to). Because you’re staying to between 20-25 net carbs, your hunger levels are dissipated for the most part as you’re enjoying eating luxurious foods.
I was a skeptic regarding the LGL plan by Dr Thompson, but never having to follow induction again and having a world o0f delicious foods at my fingertips makes it so easy to stay on this plan!
It’s worth looking into. The losses can be as fast or as slow as you like, but Dr Thompson advocated slower losses since long-term changes take place through slower losses and cementing of lifestyle.
Progress will be kept, and you’ll know how I’m progressing as I go. Who knows? Maybe I’ll hate it, and maybe I’ll love it. I’ll keep you posted. It will be slightly more easy to feed an entire family a low GL plan than to plan around Atkins meals as well. Cooking for Six installments won’t change. They’re still forthcoming!
The only change will be in the plan itself. If you want me to, I might even keep track of my menu!
I’m boring and lazy, so you might be like, “She eats that EVERY day for breakfast?” Don’t even start with me. I’m a creature of habit– especially when I like it.
More Recipes!
No, I don’t think I’m Chef Cleochatra all of a sudden, but now that I’m doing the low glycemic load thang, I am going to be having more fun with a wider variety of recipes. Stay tuned… and the rest of the Cinco de Mayo recipes are coming up soon!
More Low GL Bento!
I’ll be updating Bento as well, since my daughter has implored me to start sending her to school with low GL Bento again(I’d taken some time off due to other circumstances). She’s tired of the school lunches. For $2.00 a day I found out she’s eating peanut butter crustable sammiches, a banana and a potato roll– and a milk. I’m thinking that’s an expensive tray filled with junk.
Finally… guess who won the TOPS Inches Off Award
Three guesses, and the first two get you thumped upside your head. I won the tops award for the most inches lost since January of this year. Not that anyone had a chance competing against me. I lost nearly a foot from my hips, waist, and (sob sob) bosom. I have a trophy of a naked lady looking down at her feet.
She’s probably wondering what happened to her bosom, too! (Bottom Picture) Doesn’t she look shocked? She’s probably thinking, “Oh dear! Rock, the Foosball trophy, is so going to want me to get a forge enlargement of my bosomages.”
Hang in there, smaller mammarian appendage trophy. We will endure.
BTW, the top picture is my latest TOPS charms which were added for all of the 5-pound losses (these guys are hard-core, awards for every 5 pounds! Holy hell. I still have over 100 pounds to lose) and for best loser of the month for March.
You have lifted a weight off of my shoulders.(No pun intended.) I’m going to check Dr. Thompson’s book asap. I’ve read other low glycemic index books before, but I didn’t quite understand the index vs. load thing. Thank you.
Hey hey hey!
Definitely look for his book used at amazon.com if they have them. He’s a neat guy. I bought my book new, but I’m always a fan of finding something on sale in this economy!
He’s even answered emails I had when I asked him dumb questions.
Dr. Thompson is a nice, knowledgeable man.
Thank you, Dr. T! (I pity the fool who messes with your knowledge of bready items!)
Glycemic Load is very cool stuff because it deals in actual serving sizes. I like the realism in that!
{{{CLEO}}} For some reason, this made me choke up a little bit. I’m a cryer, what can I say?
I know you’re a comedien, but sweetheart, I felt some pain in that post.
I hope you aren’t hurting and I want you to know that after you lost 61 pounds, a stall is inevitable, for your body to stabalize.
I just don’t want you to be too hard on yourself, perfectionist that you are, my darling.
I think low glycemic is good, but I also think sugar is the devil. I’m scared as hell of that and anything white. Be careful with sugar, sweetheart. (I’m sounding like a protective mom, aren’t I?}
Off to look into Dr. Thompson to see if this is good for the darling girl I know as “Cleo”.
(you don’t have to post this if you don’t want to, I’m just sending you some love and support.)
xxoo
Nancy
Jamie,
Good for you for changing direction and speed so you can keep shrinking. I too have stalled with “all induction-all the time”, but I otherwise feel so good and I’m not gaining a little bit every day like I used to, that I’ll keep shooting for very low carb for now. I’ll keep reading your interesting blog for ideas and encouragement. I 100% agree that it has to be a lifestyle and not a diet and that is how I look at VLC for me. You have inspired me to try LC cooking, thinking outside the box. I made chicken enchiladas tonight using mustard greens for the tortillas and they were plate licking great. Thanks for all you do to help us out here in internet land.
Melinda
Cleo:
Just one question: are you going to keep posting recipes with the Nutrition Facts? I will try to finish my first 3 months and then switch to Dr. T-Cleo’s diet. I’m going cookoo with today’s post. BUT, will keep with you and your new ideas. Follow the leader…
Nilda
Ok, I am so excited I may spit!!
SERIOUSLY. I just never did well with Atkins. I found it extremely hard to feed my family and go out to eat and well, the list goes on. I LOVE Dr. Atkins, don’t get me wrong, but I seriously only lost when eating less than 5 carbs a day. I just couldn’t MAINTAIN that, live with that!! You really hit the nail on the head, when you said I was waiting to ‘get to goal so I could carbo-load’. Ok, not exactly as you said it, but still that thought was there. Adding back in carbs.
Ok, that being said. I am SOOOO extremely insulin resistant, on 5 Glucophage a day, take every known herbal insulin sensitizer with little to no results and then I found Dr. Thompson’s Book. Well, I found someone talking about it and would you BELIEVE, I got it in the MAIL TODAY!!! So OMG, when I read you post, I just about spit. Literally!
I can’t WAIT for you to write lovely low GL recipes that my whole family can ENJOY and live with the REST OF OUR LIVES!!!
Hey did you know Dana Carpenter is writing a book for/with Dr. Thompson that will be all low GL recipes!! WOO HOO!!!
My 16yo daughter is insulin resistant as well, BUT she’s lost almost 60lbs in about a year, just eating a moderate carb diet.
We are going to Disney World in October and we are setting a goal to each lose about 30lbs. That would put her at goal or maybe a bit below (she’s in a size 14 right now – but started in a size 22) and that MIGHT get to me to under 200lbs (I’m 5’4″ so I certainly won’t be tiny). But I’ll be closer to my 180lbs goal weight and then let the fun begin with PLASTICS!!
Anyways, I just wanted to write how excited I am that you wrote this and can’t wait to read more about your journey!
Hey, Nancygirl!
I love you and appreciate your concern!
I am TOTALLY all ok with the low glycemic load plan. If anyone has woobly blood sugar affected by carbs, she is me. Strangely, I have NEVER experienced any problems with Thompson’s low glycemic load plan! In fact, just like Atkins, I hit a state of ketosis and lose weight quickly.
The key is not to abuse the plan. Really, when most find out that no foods are actually verboten, the thrill of eating most of them disappears.
So, no worries here!
You guys will see that this new plan is as effective as Atkins, but without the ‘levels’.
I call it “Atkins without borders.”
(lol)
Dr Thompson takes good care of me. You’ll see. This is going to be the new wave of low-carbing!
melinda– Your dinner sounds so great!
I hope, if nothing else, to show folks how effective some of the different plans are through actually following the plans myself.
Personal knowledge of plans through a person following them and keeping track helps educate others–and it’s fun for me! I’m ready to do something else for awhile!
Hey, Nilda!
The recipes with nutritional information will definitely keep coming!
The only difference is that some of them may be using a low-carb tortilla wrap for something instead of making wholly from scratch. Or maybe I’ll use fruit. Or yogurt.
Moving from induction to a low glycemic load opens an invariable amount of opportunities for foods and choices, and without hunger.
If you are happy with Atkins, stick with Atkins! I haven’t lost 24 years’ worth of knowledge because of changing things over. I am happy to still answer questions, and when I put together a recipe, if it is induction friendly (or the possibility) I will provide those for you!
low carb bant-it!
I am so glad you are excited about this change up. I know I can’t wait!
I am going to give this plan at least 4 months to see how it works, as opposed to Atkins. I have followed this plan in the past and abandoned it because losses weren’t fast enough (hear that ‘diet’ mentality creeping in again?).
It is an excellent plan, and the writer is both knowledgeable and very wise. As well, he gives due credit to Dr Atkins, and allows for high-fat, which–let’s face it– is the boon to Atkins as well!
You won’t find me eating a low-fat diet! No thank ye!
I am so excited you received your book today, and I very much look forward to your journey on this plan as well!
Yes, I had read that Dana Carpenter will be working with Dr Thompson, and I think this will lend even more credence to his plan.
In fact, all of the recipes on this blog are in every way compatible with Dr Thompson’s plan as well.
In fact, they are uber-good recipes, because the glycemic loads are absolutely minimal comparatively!
I look forward to discussing this plan more with you. I applaud the steps your family is making, am so excited about your lovely daughter’s progress, and I sincerely hope you’ll keep me posted of your progress as well!
I am extremely happy to take this journey and so glad I have such good friends to accompany me,if not in this particular journey, then in spirit and companionship!
(((((CLEO)))))
I’m watching you and I’m your biggest unknown cheerleader!
I reflected a bit, and, I think what I do, (minus any white sugar) is pretty close to this Dr. T plan. I understand about the fruits & veggies, and add carrots, more fruits etc. frequently.
I’m just scared of that hellacious white sugar.
I LOVE & ADORE YOU, MISSY! You have such a gift, and I appreciate you sharing your “way with words” with all of US!
xxxooo
nancy
Good for you! You need to do what works for you!!!
I am not following any diet, I decided to eat lower carb, I have grain or ice cream or whatever once in a while and not to the extent I used to so that I ENJOY what I eat. That’s what’s gone out the window here, we have forgotten to ENJOY what we eat. I still lost 16 lbs and though I am doing it slow I am not freaking out. THAT is what a WOE is supposed to be.
Please do continue to put the nutritional data in your recipes as I plug them into TheDailyPlate.com. And guess what? When I started using that, someone had already put in Oopsie Roll as a database item LOL!You are a lengend!!!
nancy– Thompson makes some good points about sugar in the book.
He’s saying that with a small handful of jellybeans one can avert a major blowout from the ‘verboten’ ness of not eating off-plan. Then it could be worth it for the person with the sweet tooth.
However, there are limits. He caps the number of lcl points a person can have for a day, so the small handful of jellybeans, also being tempered with fat and protein, have to be figured in.
Frankly, I wouldn’t spend my carbs on sugar 99% of the time– not when there are strawberries and organic yogurt in the world.
I am still a whole foods person. The change? Folks are saying I’m too fast and loose with Atkins, so I’m choosing to be more strict with a looser plan.
It sounds like what you’re doing is similar to Thompson!
Thank you for being so very sweet! I appreciate your support and concern!
LOL!!!
Someone already input the oopsie?
I still marvel at how popular that recipe is. Seriously. I am so not a cook. I just really enjoy food.
I will definitely keep posting recipes. I have some new ideas!
Cleo, do you know when/if Thompson will come out with a more detailed LGL list than what’s in his book or on his website? Maybe in the book w/Dana, you think?
It just seemed that the list was pretty limited–didn’t even include heavy cream & other staples of a LC lifestyle.
If I missed it, just smack me.
And best of luck with the new plan! You are VERY smart to think all this through and not just throw in the towel! Many folks would have done that and then blamed Atkins for not working…
You are totally right. His list is fairly limited.
Sometimes I wonder why he didn’t provide a companion book with GL numbers (akin to Atkins and his carb counts).
To calculate glycemic load, follow this formula (when all else fails):
GL = GI/100 x Net Carbs
It’s a two-step process, but if you wanted to know what an apple was, you would note that a medium apple apple has a glycemic index of 38. Divide 38 by 100, and multiply by the net carbs (16) and you get a value of 6 for the glycemic load.
This site is really helpful:
https://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/glycemic-index#values
Granted, it questions low-carb plans and claims people should eat apples over peanuts, but as an educated consumer, you can determine what is best for you!
Thanks for the formula, Cleo! That’ll come in handy!
I’m poor and can’t buy the book (yet) but I’m interested to know: What range do you eat in Load wise? What does the book recommend? I’m looking at the list of foods and their GL and they’re just so high I can’t imagine what the range is.
Actually I have another questions – sorry for two posts.
With your GL limit (whatever that is) what does it translate to carb count?
I guess I don’t understand what the difference is between these two other then what you’re “counting”. I know many Atkiners that eat around 60 carbs a day and are still losing 1-2 pounds a week. I know we aren’t suppose to be stuck on the induction for ever and should gradually add back in carbs until we’ve stalled and then backtrack to where we’re losing 1-2 healthily. So those foods listed in the GL index are things you can have on atkins (obviously in moderation).
So again what does your GL limit equal in carb count? I’m curious to see if it’s around the 60 carb mark. GL just seems confusing!
Delurking to say that I love this phrase: “getting the proverbial low-carb ball into the goal end zone and then spiking it to declare victory, on my way to the buffet table”
I found you via google reader discover, and added you to my subscriptions.
I’ve decided to adjust my own lifestyle to accommodate GL as well, however, I’m currently knocked up, so will be indulging in reasonable levels of carbs for the next several months. I’m so looking forward to actual weight loss once it’s safe to try.
I find you very inspirational, so THANK YOU and congratulations on your great progress and many successes!!
p.s. bosamage is WAY overrated. IMH-overly-bebosomed-O
Hey, Jen!
Loadwise, I don’t even count. I still admittedly count carbs, and try to stay within the 20 net carb range, whether I’m eating yogurt and berries, or Caesar salads.
Dr Thompson said that not activate sugar wooblies, you want to stay to under 500 per day– which, to me, seems really high! That’s like 5 slices of white bread.
Ooh! I answered the carb question without reading your second comment!
*pumps fist in the air*
(I stick to about 20 still since I have so much flab to jab)
I am nowhere near the 60-carb mark. That would be like sticking Snickers bars right into my bellybutton.
LOL ifeelpretty!
Congratulations on your little low-carb bun in the oven!
Low GL is a very healthy way to eat, for you and baby! Obviously, you don’t want to be in ketosis, but by golly, eating fresh fruit, yogurt, and other healthy foods is never a bad thing!
I appreciate your kind words, and join you in bazoombalessness, o mother to be!
I am buying the book tody! Thanks for the inspiration! I started low-carbing this week and could not finish out the week. When I knew there had to be something else, I happen to stumble upon your post and thought, “Wow, finally, something different and doable”! I will keep you posted on my progress with the glycemic load diet!
Hi!
I love the book. It is a quick and easy read (a bunch of the book is recipes I’ll never follow–lol), and it is very straightforward and easy to use.
Definitely keep me posted!
I am still staying very low-carb, but when I was able to sample something I made without guilt (fruit is so not anywhere I was on Atkins at the time), I knew I was doing something that wasn’t going to either give me guilt or turn me into someone who tweaks a plan (which confuses people who think your tweak is the plan).
Cleo – Induction and me do not agree! See, my blog. It made me feel worse than I’ve ever felt before (except for KK, of course)! But I definitely need the benefits of a low carb lifestyle. Do you think that 20-25g of carbs low GI style will make me feel anywhere near the way that Atkins Induction strict and true makes me feel?
Girl, Low Glycemic Load is definitely doable, and with your unpredictable lifestyle, it might just be easier.
I know I stick to within 20 net carbs (wow– just like induction!) and do really well.
No cravings, still in ketosis, and I can eat low carb wraps, berries, yogurt, you name it!
There is even low-carb bread out there–perfect for sammiches on the run.
You can do this plan for life. No phases, and no falling off–because this is a lifestyle and there’s no failing, only choices you make from meal to meal.
And knowing you can still have white bread in emergencies without guilt and the resulting XYZ carby starchy bingeguiltfest makes all of the difference.
My prayers go with you at this difficult time.
Let me know if you have questions. I love this plan!
VERY interesting stuff, Cleo! I’ve never low-carbed any way but Atkins’ way; I have 117 pounds to lose just to reach my mini goal, but when I get to a more manageable weight (or perhaps to purge a stall even, hmmm..) I’m going to check out Dr. Thompson. It makes perfect sense to hear you talk about it and perhaps after I lose a lot of this weight I may have to make the switch… I can’t wait to read your progress over the coming months!
(I should add too, we’re a household of 6, with four kids ages 12, 9, 2 and 1… and I’ve homeschooled before as well (and may be next year for my 12 year old ADHD’er!). You’re SO right about how much easier it would be to cook for them all with more varieties of foods!)
Keep up the great blogging!
~ Lara
I’m happy you made this decision. Don’t worry if
a few pounds jump on you after swerving from
Atkins, it’s not “fat”, so relax.
I tried to wrapped my mind around doing
Atkins again, with all your wonderful recipes I
really thought I could give it a go… but I also
knew it’s not right to give up fruit, apples are
great, chopped them up toss in some toasted
pinenuts and mix in some feta cheese.
And you already know I love that flaxseed, I
sure talked about it enough.
I’m doing well, with just staying away from
starches and “Intermittent Fasting” such as
JUDDD
Alternate Day Diet
QOD
Or another term is Calorie Cycling.
The health benefits are phenomenal. This is an
easy thing to do when you want to drop more
weight, cause you eat same as always, just
reduce your calories every other day, by what
ever you choose 20% 30% 40% 50% all the
way to a total fast if you like.
Today was my low cal day, I:
(liquid) egg and a non fat slice cheese omelet
120 Cal
protein bar at lunch 170 Cal
apple 100 calores
broth 20 Calories
sugar free Jello 10 Calories
I stayed under my 500 Calorie Down Day Limit
Tomorrow I can eat anything I want.
You can tailor this to your own liking and
lifestyle.
I’m having a love affair with Pecans as of late, I
never realized how good they are, all by
themselves, must be careful with the nuts,
healthy yeas but very high in calories.
I’ve been doing a LG for about two years.
Adding intermittent fasting was for health
benefits, and completely unrelated to weight
loss, but that is another benefit. If a person
doesn’t need to lose weight, you just do it in yet
another modification.
See:
https://tinyurl.com/2pqelv
https://tinyurl.com/2ymgol
Blue