OT: Atkins and Lo Carbs

Actually, the results of a study comparing low carb and low cal diets was released last week. The results showed that those on a low carb diet ate more calories and exercised less, and lost more weight than those on the low cal eating plan. Scientists are looking into why/how that happens.

Well

I can say this. Doing ATKINS made me realize how BAD I was about eating empty calories -

-because that is what most carb junk you eat really is -- empty calories. nobody HAS to have rice, potatoes, pasta, cookies, candy, ice cream every day of their life... which is, unfortunately - the way I ate.

I now am eating meat and vegetables - and limited carbs. Low carb high grain bread (it even has flax and sunflower seeds in it!) and a few daily "treat" carbs - some days this or that... but keeping it in control.

I can tell you all - I have now lost 21 and 1/4 lbs... and I'm proud of it. I no longer look 9 months pregnant - which in a 47 year old woman - looks weird! LOL I found a beautiful olive green linen suit in my closet - that I had worn once

- (bought too tight - and then gained enough it didn't fit....) I wore it to work and law class tonight. Looked great (except wearing a linen suit all day - you look pretty rumpled by

9 pm at night... LOL)

I'm just melting away.... muhh haaa haaaa haa go away bad carbs!!!!

Cheryl of DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.combeads (Cheryl) :

]nobody HAS to have rice, potatoes, pasta, cookies, candy, ice cream ]every day of their life

PLEASE to convince my DH?????

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.combeads (Cheryl) :

]I'm just melting away....

good for you! i've lost two sizes - but no weight yet.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Good for you, Cheryl. Getting rid of refined sugar and flour is always a good idea!

Becki "In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows

All I'm saying (not very clearly the first time around) is that there are good carbs and bad carbs. Refined sugar and grains are definitely hellspawn. But dairy (no, not ice cream, darnit), fruits and veggies, and legumes are very good things to have in a balanced meal, also brown or wild rice. There are lots of carbs out there whose benefits outweigh their essential "carb-ness". Beans are loaded with protein, fruits and veggies full of much easier-processed vitamins and minerals than some oral supplement, dairy soars in calcium and vitamin D.

And the other side is disregarding fat content just because it's NOT carbs. That's the most alarming thing, to me, about the Atkins approach. Well, that and pushing too much protein. It's a setup for some serious metabolic disorders if not done properly, something that Atkins glosses over.

And of course I'm still incredibly grumpy over my discovery that low fat tends to equal higher sodium. Geez, gimme a break!

We've basically gotten rid of anything that comes in a box around here, except dry pasta and plain instant potatoes. The prepared stuff is terrible. My only concession is macaroni & cheese for the kids (which perversely smells godawful good when it's done). I'm having fits because I want a big freezer again! Finding low sodium/low fat soup stock is in the order of minor miracles. And we just found a wonderful butcher who offers freezer specials. Oh, and my latest thrill was finding a low fat/low salt mayonnaise-type spread. With that and low sodium bacon Mike can at least have his beloved BLT's again.

Some days I really miss just opening a box for dinner, though. I could never do this if I was working outside home. Sheesh!

-- KarenK Desert Dreamer Designs

Store:

I have to but in here and add a couple things too.

I had gastric by-pass surgery on September 8th. And even with a 2 ounce stomach, I was told to get PROTIEN first and formost. Now, with that said; my doctor suggested a low carb/low fat food program, but basically said to eat whatever I wanted.

The thing to take into consideration - your body NEEDS protien to survive. It must have it to take care of our muscles and bones. We don't NEED carbs in high excess, which is unfortunately what this world has come to - and was the majority of my diet pre surgery.

Now that I can only eat 3 - 4 ounces 3 times a day - I look at protien count before I look at anything else. I don't worry about the fat so much, but the protien is what really matters to me. And while I'm in an extreme situation due to my surgery, it's still something everyone should look at :)

Hugs, Lynda (who is now 54.5 pounds lighter in 7.5 weeks!)

ebay store:

It's never easy reaching for your dreams, but those who reach, walk instardust.

Lynda -- I wish I was overweight enough to have the surgery. I would do it in a minute. Becki "In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows

In article , snipped-for-privacy@aol.combeads (Cheryl) wrote:

I think that replacing "bad" carbs and examining your eating habits is a great idea! I'm also not a fan of low-calorie diets. I think they make your body confused and hungry. However, carbs aren't bad and don't make you fat if you eat the right ones, and I think that's part of what changing your dietary lifestyle is all about. Atkins isn't a sustainable lifestyle diet, and after you lose weight on Atkins, (or on the All-Carbs diet, which brought my friend Mike down to about 150 (6'2) you still have to learn how to eat right. I've said it before and I still believe strongly that eating a whole foods diet, or a primarily whole foods diet, is about the most straightforward way to maintain a lifestyle diet, because there are just no "junk" whole foods. OK, whole wheat apricot bars maybe! :) (I LOVE those things!) but having to cook everything from scratch changes your whole outlook on what food is. And your body is never starved or confused, because it's getting nutrients in the full complement it expects. it took my best friend two years to acheive her ideal weight eating whole foods, but she's fabulously healthy, has no trouble *staying* at her ideal weight, AND her cardiologist (she has a life-threatening heart condition) says she's healthier than she's ever been and gave her the go-ahead to have another baby... which she was told before that she could never do. She won't have to change her diet when she's pregnant, just eat more of what she already eats, and she's no longer afraid of the baby weight because she knows it'll come off. I gained 35-40 lbs with each baby, and still ate like a horse afterward, and people think I did something extreme to get my figure back, but I didn't. My metabolism isn't what it used to be, I can't eat junk food and ice cream and french bread all the time, and even before I had my first baby I had gained some weight, but I really got onto whole foods during my pregnancy in order to get all the protein I needed... whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat bread) have a fair amount of protein, processed grains (white rice & flour) don't. I lost all my baby weight in less than a year, and then got pregnant again... same story. I swear by it!

Of course, the drawback is that white bread, white rice, amd white pasta become occasional treats instead of staples. The good news is that whole-grain bread, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta are pretty tasty, especially once you get used to them. Also, I sure like whole milk better than skim!

Do you have a Trader Joe's in your area? They have a vegan "mayonnaise" that's pretty low in fat/salt, and tastes better (imho) than the supermarket stuff.

You need a big freezer! It will save you! If you have room, Home Depot has a good deal.

Soup stock is cheap and easy if you can stomach boiling bones for a few hours. Get some bones off your butcher and simmer them with an onion and some parsley for 4-5 hours, then cool the broth, skim the fat off, and put the rest in freezer containers.

You can totally do this! I did it when I was a single working mom, somehow. I did joke that the only memories my kids would have of me were going to be in the kitchen, but then I decided that's not such an awful thing. I just came home every day and started cooking immediately, but that would have been the same even if I'd been cooking from boxes.

Eventually, you'll get so hooked on scratch-cooked healthy foods that dinner from boxes will taste awful, fake, and WAY too salty!

Kalera -- now I want to come where you are, and eat with you. LOL Becki "In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows

Malpractice insurance for surgeons doing these procedures has skyrocketed, literally.<

When I did the Embellishments show with Gerry Thompson 4 years ago, she was just a few months post-op for a bypass. We were roommates and shared almost every meal together for 4 days. What struck me most was how limited she was (just a few bites of anything, and no liquids to drink along with them) and that she was still having a lot of physical problems as a result. I know she had ongoing health problems after that as well. I know this procedure helps some people in the short term, but the long term effects still seem to be alarming. Gerry seemed to be....ambivalent at best.

-- KarenK Desert Dreamer Designs

Store:

Karen -- I never knew that Gerry had that surgery. Is that where all her complications came from? Becki "In between the moon and you, the angels have a better view of the crumbling difference between wrong and right." -- Counting Crows

I have to but in here and add a couple things too.

I had gastric by-pass surgery on September 8th.?>

gads - you are brave -- I would have qualified as I was well over 100 lbs overweight - and I know two women who have done it - and look great. But -- that much surgery scares the hell out of me -- I'd rather diet.....

Hope that you will be skinny and healthy! Cheryl of DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

How do dried beans and legumes figure into a low carb diet? Every time anyone talks about Atkins I hear about meat, and how bad that much fat can be but no one talks about beans. Can someone shed some light on this for me please? Diana

LOL well if you ever come to Portland, please drop by for dinner! That applies to everyone on the group, too. (Maybe not this week... we're a little disorganized!)

My ex was on it and therre are apparently way too many carbs in legumes. He couldn't even eat tofu. The diet is not for vegetarians!

While the first two weeks of the diet aren't for vegetarians, once you get beyond induction, continuing weight loss and into maintenance, you can eat legumes. Much noise is made about the emphasis on meat and salad in this diet, but if you read about the whole diet plan, you'll find that protein and fat is emphasized in the first two weeks with other foods gradually added back in as you go through the different phases. The website has lots of info (and recipes!) for those who don't want to spend bucks on the books.

Mj

The recommended beans are black soy beans, you can find them at Wild Oats or such by Eden brand. HIgh fiber content cancels out the carbs. THey never get soft like black beans or kidneys but I like the texture unless you are really into mushy beans.

I do great on the Adkins diet but it is much harder when attending all kinds of prefixed meals at luncheons. I love sweets and that is the habit I need to break.

If you really look at the diet it is a much healthier diet than most. The problem is that people think that since it is low carb that means no carb and high protein means all protein. You can make it as healthy as you want by how you select your food. You can have fruit just watch which fruits and how much. You can really have anything you want except highly processed carb loaded food. The quanity may be much less or the daily intake not allowed but it is all a matter of choice.

Susan