My company has finally left the the building. They decided to stay longer than originally planned. While my inlaws ran around a lot and did their thing, they left my sister in law's kids (which they brought with them) with us. These kids needed much more supervision and were so hard to feed (very picky eaters).

On the day of the NY Times article (EM posted) about meat I checked out Atkin's book from the library and started the plan. After about 3 days I lost my carb appetite and am feeling better than I have in a long time. I'm more motivated. And I'm NOT hungry all the time. Thanks EM! I've also lost 9 lbs. in 17 days! The lowfat thing just wasn't working for me anymore. I'm already halfway to my goal. I know it may slow down some but I haven't had this kind of success in a long time without starving myself.

Oh and EM, my daughter we talked about decided to give this a try also. Some claim a low carb diet can help with ADD and some of the type of problems she has. It could be as simple as unstable blood sugar to food sensitivities to white flour and sugar. We'll see! I don't think it's a cure all by any means but if it helps even a little I'll be thankful.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2002

Answers

Congratulations Denise . . . take that, you mean weight scale you. :^) I'm convinced gravity is getting stronger and stronger; surely, I couldn't weigh that much!

On one of homesteading today's BBs, there was a post about taking vitamin B sublingual (below the tongue) vitamins and their effects. Most of them reported elevated matabolism, less craving for sweets, and generally felt much better. These pills are available over the counter - price more or less .10 each (Wal-Mart Spring Valley). 60 pills for six bucks, not bad. I'm going to give them a shot.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2002

Terri mentioned the sublingual B vitamins on this forum too. I bought some of the stuff she recommended today. It's nasty tasting! You're supposed to hold it under your tongue for 30 seconds before swallowing it, but I could only do 10 seconds. I think that it keeps you from eating sweets because your mouth is so puckered up that you can't open it! :P I'm going to stick with it a little longer though.

Congrats on the nutritional success Denise! Were you able to maintain the eating plan while your visitors were there? Which Atkins book did you get? I checked our library and they have several titles listed, but they're all checked out at the moment.

Did you still get to go to Gatlinburg?

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2002

Hey, that's really great, Denise!! It's been sooo long since I've been able to get on the scale and say...oh look! I've lost a few pounds. I always seem to find them again :-)!! I don't think I'd have much of a problem staying on the Atkins diet 'cause most of the meals we have are all meat and veggies...no potatoes. BUT I'm not sure if I could give up bread (homemade!) and cereal. I love Cheerios and all the Chexes! Do they qualify as carbohydrates!!??

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2002

Congratulations on your loss. Not often we get to say that, is it? Usually, it's we're sorry to hear of your loss. I don't have a scale but I've learned to trick myself into thinking I'm losing weight! To me, loose clothing is a sign that I'm losing weight. I've found that if I buy pants that are too big for me, then I have to keep pulling them up and that gives me the illusion of having lost weight and makes me feel good. The other trick I've come across is to take the pants that are too tight and cut a slit where the back belt loop is. That loosens the pants, I can zip and button them and again, gives me the feeling of losing weight. Now, that works find during the day but night time is a different matter. Like most people, my weight seems to go to the abdomen area and not to the chest. I imagine that most women would rather have their weight gain go to the chest too. Hey, I wouldn't mind being barreled chested! The additional weight in the middle causes me problems when I go to bed because I like to sleep on my stomach. That makes me look like a teeter totter. The cat comes along and steps on my legs as he crosses the bed and up goes my upper body. When he passes, down comes my upper body! Not a restful night.

Wildman, (licking the weight problem)

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2002

Yes Sherri, I followed the plan as normal. We were feeding the kids mostly. My inlaws were all around visiting other relatives and eating with them most evenings. We are still going to Gatlinburg just a little later than planned. We leave Wednesday! Yahoooooo!!!!!!My Mom is going to stay with the kids. This is our first time away from the kids in 10 years. Our 10th anniversary is just a few weeks away.

I'm still doing Atkins and have lost another lb. That makes 10 in 20 days! My husband is doing it too and is doing very well with it. I'm using the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution as my guide. I only have 9 to go!! After the first week I stopped missing the bread and stuff.

Thanks for your support guys!

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002

Denise, I have been doing atkins for 16 days and only lost 6 pounds so far but I think its because I'm not active enough. Good for you!!!

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002

Wow, Denise, that's awfully fast to be losing weight! I neva heard of sucha thing! Are you sure you didnt have your stomach stapled or something? :)

I think its great that your daughter is going to give it a try......is she sticking to it? A person has to be really motivated to do this at first if they are badly addicted to carbs. Now just a couple of weeks ago, Bren decided she'd try it. (hasnt done so in a few years.) She lasted a day and a half. Bread is not a problem anymore cuz she has celiac disease (gluten intolerance) so she hasnt had bread in a couple of years (something she definitely overindulged in her whole life). For a while she was on this program which included NO grains whatsoever, no sugars, no chocolate, no carob,...which ends up being an incredibly restricted diet. She got very depressed on it (the deal is to do this for a year, and supposedly it helps heal the gut), so we went back to adding small amounts of these forbidden foods. I can see that she has replaced her addiction for bread with one for their substitutes. Loves rice, (including those little rice crackers), anything made with corn, (including chips) potatoes, (including chips), and even now sugar, which she never had a problem with. (That was MY problem!) And she keeps gettin bigger. Oh well.

Anyway, best of luck to ya.......I'm very happy you are finding such success, all of you who are discovering the joys of low-carbs! Course the best thing of all is feeling better! Those mood swings are a killer, and lead us back to wanting to comfort ourselves with the things that bring em on in the first place, just like any other drug.

Denise, I can relate to not leaving the kids; we were like that too, even though we often got razzed about it. I cannot imagine personally droppin off my babies with a day care situation like most people apparently do every day. When they were older we left them a few times with my parents, but they never had much fun over there; its hard to enjoy yourself when you're always worried you might spill something on the WHITE carpet!

You two have a wonderful time!!

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002

That's great, Alison! Are you feeling better too? I am feeling much better. I have more energy. So hubby and I have upped our activity level. We've been doing fast hikes through the woods up and downhill for 45 mins/5 x per week. We ride our bikes some. I started bellydancing! Now that's a hoot!!!!!! That takes much more energy than I ever imagined. And daughters and I do a real short Pilates tape together a few times a week.

Em, your funny! No, I didn't get stapled. I'm just so happy that I can eat good food and not be hungry. My daughter is sticking with it so far. It's been a week for her. Her best friend is Splenda. I have been making litle low carb concoctions with this to keep her on the wagon. She may not have the physical craving for sugar at this point but it helps her psychologically to have a little treat each day. She has lost about 3-4 lbs. I think she can continue to do this if she doesn't feel like she's being deprived.

My husband is doing this also and he has lost 10 lbs. in 17 days. He started a few days after I did. He's always been a nice guy but he is also much more energetic and so fun now. I guess I'll be bellydancing a lot in the Smokies!

My younger daughter (9) was getting overweight also. I didn't restrict her carbs like us but I did throw out the cookies and junk. She has been walking/hiking with us also. She has droppped 6 lbs. and seems a lot happier. The younger kids (9, 6, 4) still have fruit and bread during the day and eat as much as they like but our evening meal is different now. They've also started eating almonds or pecans or cheese in between meals like the rest of us if they get hungry between meals.

We're all on the bandwagon to one degree or another. My 6 yr old went through the cabinets and inventoried (made a list too) everything for carbs. I thought that was hilarious!

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002

OK Denise, I went to Half Price Books on my lunch break and got a copy of the book. I also found out that there's a store on the south side of Indy that carries the Dr Atkins low-carb products and they also have a low-carb support group.

I used to take bellydancing lessons many years ago and it's not as easy as it looks! :)

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2002