Vanilla Extract Question

[TwitterBean]

Hi

I just saw that my vanilla extract has corn syrup in it. I use it for my cheesecake that I eat every night. I must've bought it a month ago, maybe 6 weeks, can't remember now. Anyway I have been stalled (over 4 weeks without loss)..... is this enough to cause the stall?? I realize it could be the cheesecake.. (grin) but maybe I don't have to cut back on that if I get the right extract? ha hah..

So I don't really measure it when I use it, just a capful per 4 servings... I have one a night..

[chinadoll]

It's possible but I doubt that's the problem. Are you still in Induction as your status indicates? If so, I would try moving up to Rung One. A lot of folks start losing again once they do that. Also, how much water do you drink? Wouldn't hurt to post a menu either.

[TwitterBean]

That might be the problem actually. I have moved into OWL recently, I added in more vegetables, usually tomatoes, onions, guacamole, broccoli (my staple) jalapenos and recently I added in more dairy. None of the food I eat has any preservatives or fillers or hidden carbs. I am vigilant about that. (except for the extract!) I recently added in ricotta cheese. I made a turkey meat loaf type thing, with stewd tomatoes, onions, green peppers, olives. I used a small container for the whole thing, 14 carbs I think, but divided up, I don't think I had that many a day from the cheese.

I haven't been measuring exactly how many carbs, but estimating. I have a 7 month old so I get the water in when I can... I drink club soda other then water, but I had one week where I bought reg diet soda, this last week I bought Diet Rite, still though these are a one day thing. I had one week where I drank too much soda def. But I've been really discouraged. I have had a glass of wine, and a half glass of wine two seperate days, weeks apart. Until this last month I've been losing 10lbs a month approximately. I have lost 40lbs since January 16th with my diet being pretty much the same as what I've just written with excpetion to the OWL part. I moved in April (4/11) I was 202lbs, and within 2 months I was down to 182. Then this month of June I had a week where I gained 5lbs.. I had eaten Ken's Caesar dressing over the weekend, and that monday I weighed 5lbs more. So that had corn syrup in it. I threw it away. Lost the 5lbs, then it was TOM and my weight went back up but stayed around 185-186lbs. Now TOM is over and I am 183.3 today. Yesterday it was 182.8 or something. Not sure, because it's so frustrating that I am hanging around these numbers for sooooooo long.

I have been drinking too much coffee, but I have been drinking too much coffee since my son was born and have lost 40lbs regardless. I can't see that changing. haha.

Typical day is 3 eggs for breakfast, with a dash of diced tomato, maybe onion. Chicken and tomatoes (canned--no funny business) with guacamole for lunch, Dinner is usually chicken, broccoli, and then cheesecake for dessert. I try to put butter and cheese on everything so that I'll get my calories up. I know some days I don't eat enough. Every Friday we have streak with grilled onions. I've been trying to eat higher carb veggies so that I can get my carbs from veggies, but be able to actually have the time to eat it all. I can't do broccoli twice a day like I used to. I'm just too tired right now. I've been under a lot of stress with family issues.

Thanks for replying!

Liz

[chinadoll]

OK you have listed a million little things, when taken alone wouldn't trip you up but the bottom line is you have gotten really sloppy and that's why you aren't losing. I mean, read your post! There's a glass of this a little too much of that, a cheat here, a cheat there. I know. I have been there. This WOE doesn't work when you get sloppy. You need to cut out the stuff above your rung, drink real pure water, and give up or severely limit your sweeteners because they are known to stall. Then clean out the salad dressings and things with corn syrup in them and shop carefully.

Sounds to me like your stall is no mystery at all. You have simply been suffering from carbs sneaking into your daily food intake in small amount but the cumulative effect has derailed you. Get back to basics and I bet you will see a scale shift in no time.

[msanjelpie]

Since you don't know exactly how many carbs/fat/calories etc... you are getting everyday, set up a fitday.com account and start tracking your foods. You will probably only have to do it for a couple of weeks to realize how much you are really having and what you can have as far as portions etc...

Start fresh today - enter your foods - and see what is happening with you. See what your percentages are and once all of your numbers are where they should be then you can officially kick the scale for not budging... (it has a mind of its own)

[TwitterBean]

Let me first say that I truly do appreciate the feedback and I know you don't have to take out time from your day to help me. But I am feeling the need to defend myself a litte. Don't take this personally, instead please see it as what's going on in my head when I'm doing the things you are calling cheats. heh.

I know, I know! it's a million little things.

Club soda doesn't have anything in it though! I only had that salad dressing that one weekend, and I was so out of it I really thought I was allowed (read the label closer on sunday--this was WEEKS ago!). As for cheating, it's the regular diet soda that makes me feel like I'm cheating... but even those are no more then 3 a day...... if that. Only that one week did I have reg diet soda all week, still it was only 3 a day.....and still it's DIET soda... not cheating... not perfect but not cheating. Years ago when I first started I'd drink caffeine free diet coke instead of water.......... silly but true. It's a hard habit to break for me but I am not even remotely close to substituting soda for water. It's just now, I have to run around after my 7 month old and work from home.

I have been doing the same thing everyday for 6 months practically. I think you're right that I've gotten sloppy with the counting of carbs.. but a tbsp of tomatoes .. how many carbs can that through me over? on fitday it's less then .5 carbs. Having half a glass of wine, 2.3 carbs .........yes your body burns alcohol first... but a half glass? even if it had been a whole glass that's 4.6 carbs..and it's never been everyday or anything, it was 2 different days weeks apart. In my mind my body was only using the wine to use as energy for an hour. It shouldn't through me off a whole month. Even if it was on different occasions.

I guess I just don't see how I'm messing up here. Most days it's bacon and coffee in the morning, then 3 eggs, then chicken with guacamole, (that's 2.2 carbs) so far. Then I have dinner, which is usually chicken with broccoli (7.2 carbs)

The reason why my post is so scrambled is because I feel guilty about the cheesecake. I think it may have too many carbs.. but mostly it's that I am getting half my carbs from cheesecake. Still MOST of the time I am under 20 carbs. I feel that it's not healthy, but I am doing what I can to get through each day. it's still only 4oz of cheese, 1/8 cup of cream, half an egg... 1/8 cup of splenda 1/4 piece of unsweetened chocolate and if I had these things seperately it wouldn't sound so bad, but I say that I have a 10 carb cheesecake slice everyday and it sounds bad.

On fitday even 8 cups of coffee isn't even a carb yet. Not that I have 8 cups of coffee, but you see my point here. These things could slow my weight loss perhaps but why stalled completely??? I only added in extra veggies for a week, and the ricotta cheese was another week and a few days.. and that was the last 2 weeks.

I'm going to get liquid sweetner for the cake... maybe that'll cut some of the carbs out. I've been using granulated splenda and sweet n low packets for the chocolate. I won't eat above 20 carbs anymore. I have half a diet dr.pepper in the fridge and a diet rite. If I can't have diet soda though, I need the club soda, and frankly don't see what's wrong with that. My husband forgot to buy water last week, which is why I haven't been drinking it recently. I don't get close to 64oz or the 90 oz I should be drinking usually, but I try try try. It's hard to run to the bathroom when you're trying to take care of a baby.

Ok well that's my story! haha. I will go back to basics. I have been so far, since I i first posted this, the evil soda keeps popping back into my life. (ok ok I asked my husband to get it for me!)

Can stress alone cause a stall? Because I had some pretty bad things happen over the last 2 months. I understand the sloppy carbing could be it too. I will check more carefully from now on, so far on fitday it's as I expected it would be though.

Thanks again. Ultimately it's about getting to my goal weight. Whatever I have to do I will do. I didn't think I was doing that bad though. Not enough to cause a stall.

[chinadoll]

Hi Twitter. Glad you posted back again. It's hard in a short post to get all the info out there so your follow up helps give a clearer picture. I totally understand what you are saying. I was there as recently as April of this year. I was eating low carb foods, keeping them under the required total for the day and not cheating in my total carb count--but I wasn't losing either. My downfall was wine and cheeses (too much).

Sad to say it isn't just about the total carbs for the day. It is also about the foods the carbs come from. I don't know why, but I have found that for my body it is true. When I finally gave in and started doing things "by the book" the weight started coming off again. For me that meant less cheese (under 3.5 oz a day) many more veggies, and lots of plain water, and no more wine. I wish I could say that 20 carbs is the magic and the rest didn't matter but it really does for me and that may be the case for you too.

I know you are struggling with the water. I suggest starting small. Each week add one glass of water daily to your totals. Just one glass a day this week. Shoot for two a day next week, etc.

Also the fact that you really do need more veggies and more carbs from veggies is still the most likely place to be creating a stall. Many folks find that when they move to Rung one and eat more veggies they break a stall. It might even allow you to continue with your cheesecake.

Cream cheese is a stall food for me. If that is in your cheesecake recipe then you might be the same. Doesn't mean you can never have it, but maybe every couple of nights and not every night. Or have half the portion you are now having. You may want to try it with no extract one time. Add a little extra lemon for flavor instead that time.

We all want you to succeed. Some folks can do Atkins loosely and succeed. Some of us just can't. The moderators on this board who have been the most successful all pretty much did it completely by the book. They are the folks that made it to goal. Some of them are on Rung 9 now. Some, like Mitziemarie, still have to remain at a very low rung to maintain their losses. We are all different. Many of the rest of us haven't done it by the book before and that's why we are still in OWL or are here as STACers. (that's me for one).

All the little things that shouldn't make a difference really do make a difference Sometimes it is the difference between losing of not even though it seems like a tiny detail.

I hope for you it is just one or two of the details but you have to cut things out that you should or add the things (veggies, water) that you should to find out what needs to change. If you are juggling all of these things you will never find out the cause. Sooo, change one thing for the better and give it a week. If nothing happens then fix something else, until you find what it is. Conversely, you could try doing everything by the book for one week and then start adding the other things back in one at a time.
Something is stopping you and there are so many possibilities you need to find a way to isolate the culprit(s). I know this is a depressing thought because those little things make the WOE tolerable to you, but if they are halting your progress you need to find out if you want the scale to shift. I am sending a sympathetic hug your way because I so get what you are saying having just dealt with this myself a couple months ago.

[TwitterBean]

Yes, I'm slowly accepting it. The thing is, in my past I've been such a strict-aholic with everything concerning food. I have new eyes since then, and have seen that a lot of my "rules" were unnecessary. I think once I reestablish my good habits I'll be ok. The thing is, I've looked at my weightloss for this month and I have lost weight, 4lbs. Four little pounds, but so now I am thinking, that yes... I have done this to myself with sloppy eating. It's not exactly a stall if you are still losing.

I drank a bunch of water last night. I will cut out my cheesecake, that'll feel bad at first I know. And not eating enough veggies, well the broccoli I buy that's easiest for me to make is 3 for 5$ and eating that twice a day is a 15$ a week habit for just veggies... I'm resistant to spending that. But if I don't get the easy package I just don't eat them. SO I eat what I buy, then avoid the bigger cheaper packs I get too. I will figure this out though. I already have an idea of what to do.

Do you think if I eat sugar snap pease, half the package is 8 carbs that it would be ok? I always think that I need to eat more lower carb veggies and that having the ss peas would be sort of like cheating. Cheating on my health anyway. But I can do that at night with my dinner, then broccoli for one of my meals at lunch time. That would be 13 carbs veggies. Is that enough? I hate salad. I really truly have never liked salad. I can add in veggies to the eggs I make for breakfast. I'll make sure to count them. The wine is not an issue, the two times I had some it was a peer pressure thing. I am just fine without it. Thanks for the support.................. I reallllllly neeed it!

[chinadoll]

Yes 13 carbs is fine with the broccoli. Sugar snap peas are not OK but snow pea pods would be OK. Way too much sugar in sugar snap peas. I eat them raw and stir fried.

Here are some ideas. How about pepper and cucumber sticks dipped in blue cheese dressing rather than a salad? kind of a veggie chip and dip. I also use a carrot peeler to strip zucchini "noodles" into a pan with a little butter or olive oil and saute. Then I toss some pesto over it. The pesto has a tiny bit of pine nuts but since you have been on Induction so long, that concession might be fine for flavor for you. Or just sprinkle with parmesan cheese instead. These are two quick easy alternatives that you can do in 5 minutes or less.

Glad you are working on the water. I know it sounds silly, but it makes a hige difference for many people.

Keep at it. I will try to keep checking back. I know how hard you are trying and how frustrating it can be.

[TwitterBean]

Ok so I think they have modified the list of accpetable foods or something, is this list wrong? please let me know which ones aren't really good for induction. I thought peas were not allowed, but sugar snap peas were. On this list it has peas, in the pod.... but I coulda sworn somewhere I was told I could have sugar snap pease. I don't care either way. I LOVE your ideas, and I will be getting myself set up for them this weekend when we go shopping.

Artichoke ¼ of medium 4.0
Asparagus 6 spears 2.4
Artichoke hearts 1 canned 1.0
Avocadoes 1 whole (raw) 3.5
Bamboo shoots 1 cup canned 1.1
Broccoli ½ cup 1.6
Broccoli raw ½ cup 1.0
Broccoli rabe ½ cup 1.3
Broccoflower ½ cup 1.4
Brussels sprouts ¼ cup 2.4
Cabbage ½ cup (raw) 2.0
Cauliflower ½ cup (raw) 1.0
Swiss chard ½ cup 1.8
Collard greens ½ cup 4.2
Eggplant ½ cup 1.8
Hearts of palm 1 heart 0.7
Kale ½ cup 2.4
Kohlrabi ½ cup 4.6
Leeks ¼ cup 1.7
Okra ½ cup 2.4
Olives green 5 2.5
Olives black 5 0.7
Onion ¼ cup (raw) 2.8
Pumpkin ¼ cup 2.4
Rhubarb ½ cup (unsweetened) 1.7
Sauerkraut ½ cup (drained) 1.2
Peas ½ cup with pods 3.4
Spaghetti squash ½ cup 2.0
Spinach ½ cup (raw) 0.2
Summer squash ½ cup 2.0
Tomato 1 (raw) 4.3
Turnips ½ cup 2.2
Water chestnuts ½ cup (canned) 6.9
Zucchini ½ cup 2.0