the good, the bad....

[Tired of Chub]

Today is Day 8. this morning I am 6 pounds down from when I started last Monday. wooohoooo. I feel very good. I dont have the midafternoon SLUMP. Ive either walked or done some yoga for most of the past week.

The bad- yesterday I wasnt paying attention and somehow had a brain fart and didnt realize that cream cheese.... is indeed cheese. Apparently just because it has CHEESE in its name isnt enough of a hint for me. Ill confess here that I ended up eating 6 ounces of cheese for the day. Felt like an idiot. Still feel pretty stupid about it. Oh well. I cant change the past, but Ill be more aware in the future.

On a good note, I havent had a diet rite in 6 days. I survived the movie theater (oh god the popcorn I thought Id die) AND going to a buffet for dinner with my BF. My first week and I tempted myself horribly with the popcorn (my favorite food hands down) and with non-Atkins food at the buffet and I didnt cave at either. (the movie was TOUGH but I snuck in my huge bottle of water and a bag of sharp cheddar cheese to snack on. The buffet was easier because I kept looking at the grossly overweight and their plates with fried choices and telling myself I didnt want to turn into that person.)

Im still having problems at night with food. During the day I do great and oftentimes have to force myself to eat every six hours. After dinner though, is tough. Last night was the worst in a week. It was like I couldnt get satisfied. Not from hunger but just from that *want*.

[fluffyman]

Way to go, tired. You faced your carb monster and won!!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work.

[Kate113]

Good for you for resisting temptation! I love what you have listed as your goal weight. It sure is something to aspire to.

[Connie]

Good girl ToC. You're doing great. I started reinduction a couple of days later than you. I see we are the same height too, our challenge is similar.

I had the grandbabies over the weekend and we made popcorn. I have to say it was extremely hard for me to fight off the craving, but I stayed true to the rules.

I'm on my 7th cheat free day and somehow managed to lose 12 pounds.

I limit my cheese intake during induction. I found the last time I did Atkins (2 years total), cheese was my worst enemy. Not only did it lead to constipation but its very easy to go over the recommended 4 oz a day if you're not careful.

Good luck to you. It won't be long before cravings for bad foods go away.

Hang tight!

[Moochiecat]

There's probably a scientific reason why the cheese is limited, but to my mind it's just so easy to eat that it's probably best we shouldn't have more than 3 or 4 ounces a day!

Here's an idea for a nice 'popcorn' type snack for you...it helped me a LOT during Induction when I had the evening snack attacks.
Cube up some cheese, celery(and/or radish) and pepperoni into small pieces, mix them all together and snack away. Mixing them means you eat less of the cheese and the salty pepperoni and you sneak a veggie in there as well. I found it to be a really nice crunchy creamy snack with a bit of zing from the pepperoni. Or ditch the pepperoni and add in leftover meat from dinner.

What is EXCELLENT is that you understand that your evening cravings are a habit that you formed a long time ago and that its not necessarily hunger-related. That's half the battle right there.
What can be helpful is to plan your snack in advance so that you aren't foraging blindly, and have something legal and tasty. I was just like you...almost frantic in the evenings and if I had something legal lined up to look forward to, it made me calmer.

In time the 'need' for an evening snack faded away and I rarely have one now.

[Tired of Chub]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and support! It makes such a difference to hear the positive and kind words!

Connie you are a strong woman to make popcorn and then not eat it! I warned my BF when we got our tickets "hun you may have to hold my ankles cause Im fixing to dive into the popcorn popper"

Moochie, I took your snack advice more then once this week. And you are so right, it helped a GREAT deal to have the creamy, the spice, the crunch. I try to save a cups worth of veggies so I can have a bowl of radishes at night with salt. It fills that salt and crunch Need that grips me so badly. I know exactly where that after dinner snacking comes from (childhood!). I was able to have just the cheese/pepperoni/veggie combo most days this past week but last night... whew. it was scarey. Wonderful snack advice Moochie, a huge help!

[Tiggerdagibit]

Congrats on staying strong! It's hard to do sometimes, but when you don't give in it feels gooooooooood!!

Here is a recipe for cauliflower popcorn. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds yummy.

This recipe was in the paper last week - The "popcorn" part is really in the mind not the taste, but nevertheless not a bad snack.

FLorets from 1 head cauliflower
3 tbsp olive oil
1-1.5 tbsp Mrs Dash table blend, to taste
Salt (optional)

Prep: Preheat oven to 450. Cut florets into 1 bite pieces. Place in lg bowl. Drizzle on oil. Toss. Sprinkle on spice blend. Toss.
Spread on non-stick baking sheet in single layer. Roast 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soft and golden, turning 3 or 4 times and removing smaller florets if they are becoming too brown. Add salt, if desired. Serve immediately.

They say the trick is to roast the cauliflower past the time you think it shoudl be roasted so it is richly caramelized.

[New_Me_In_2005]

Popcorn is my favoriate as well and I was asked to go to the movies and just couldn't do it. I'm glad you made it.

[Moochiecat]

Roasted cauliflower!! You've got to try it!
I make it once in a while and we love love love it!! Roast it till it's almost black looking...looks awful, has a really interesting flavour, trust me. We prefer to eat it as a side dish with a salad, because since it's a one cup veggie, to eat one cup like popcorn just won't cut it for me...and it's a little oily to eat by hand.

I also like it the next day mixed up with some sour cream and curry powder as a cold salad...omg..so good.

I'm glad you like my snack idea, ToC!
I was sitting there one day munching away and said to bf "I completely forgot how refreshing eating celery is!" and then thought to myself, wow...did I just get really excited about celery?? lol

And going to the show and facing the popcorn smell...yes...torture...but what you do is eat before you go. Have a good meal so you are full, and bring a snack of your own in as well (the celery/cheese/pepperoni would be perfect!) and it's much easier to face that demon popcorn. Darned if I'm letting a popped kernel of corn stop me from getting out and going to a movie!