2 month review

[redfoxglove]

Greetings fellow STACrs. I've been following this plan for two solid months and here's my review. The first month I'd say was a transition month, it took me a couple weeks to get in the groove as I was on a steep learning curve via re-reading more carefully the DANDR and this forum. I learn by doing, so I made some mistakes ie had some learning experiences. I felt good with my 2 week induction results, in fact, ecstatic about them. My second month I've been in school and am proud of getting myself on track with preparing a box of food to take with me in my pack every day except 2 days, when I was able to get adequate substitutes in the cafeteria.

A surprising development has been that I have noticed a craving for wine and vodka, and I have indulged in it this second month. I've not had this feeling of "craving" for alcohol that I can recall, in the past. My theory is that with all forms of sugar taken out of my diet, my body is sending a signal for something it "knows as sugar" even though my rational mind does not equate "alcohol is sugar." That is, my body is controlling my mind over this issue.

I know that I have lost inches because my shoes are too big, my watch slides off my wrist, my face looks lean (and people notice), and my largest-cut jeans are way too big while my smallest-cut jeans are almost too big. But the scale has not changed. I have maintained the weight loss per the scale, but it is not changing ie going down.

As far as my eating goes, I'd give myself a B+ or A- on how I've eaten, (I've moved up the rungs and am doing about 30-32 g average per day) but it's the drinking, I believe, that has stalled my progress. This situation is not entirely satisfactory, and of course I'm concerned about the feeling of craving for alcohol. So for my third month I'm going to make a point of cutting out the alcohol, even for celebrations. (My second month included my birthday, husband's birthday, and anniversary)

I think that cutting out the alcohol and continuing with what I'm eating will give me some more feedback to work with. If the scale continues to go down, then I know I'm okay with what I'm eating. If the scale does not move, then I'll have to analyze what I'm eating and make some adjustments. Also I need to do better about getting my water in during the day. Water seems to be a key success factor.

Thanks for being a great support community, and if anyone reads this and has some suggestions, feel free...

Having fun with it...I just love how I'm learning so much about how my individual body responds to the things I try...

[Elizellen]

Great insightful post, Redfoxglove

It is good to see someone analysing how they did and working out what their body needs in order to move on down the scale.

Congratulations on realising that losing inches and not weight is a normal part of following Atkins and not freaking out about it

[Jocarb]

Can I ask a question.....I seem to be losing inches also....but the scale hasn't moved. That's Ok, I'm not upset, but I just don't get it.

[ahregal]

Cudos to everyone's progress! I too am reviewing my progress after 7 weeks (49 days and tallying) I'm new to the boards here too.

RedFoxGlove: I cut out all alcohol so I know how challenging it can be to have family celebrations and friends who don't understand and think one Coors light won't matter to me. My sister follows a "low carb" diet but has a nightly cocktail(S) with her bf usually wine or vodka tonics (diet tonic). She says it kicks your body out of ketosis, although the strips may still turn pink. In other words alcohol stops the weight losing properties of Atkins fat flushing capacity. So she is barely loosing any weight but in her mind at least she is not gaining.

Alcohol tends to make me more likely to eat things not on atkins. So I figure it is safer just to "go on the wagon."

I had to get myself in a mindframe that a cocktail equals having a doughnut or something I've denied myself on Atkins. To circumvent the cocktail hour with friends and family, I have either NOT GONE to parties OR made sure I have a fun alternative in the form of yummy coffee with real cream, exotic teas and diet sodas. You have to be careful with the diet sodas because of all the chemicals (phosphate acid weakens our bones).

So after 49 days I am now seeing the beginnings of a waistline without the handle bars.

Jocarb: They say muscle weighs more than fat, are you working out? I do not use a scale because it is so depressing. I can totally tell by my clothes (getting looser) My fattest bluejeans NO longer fit (and are in a box to go to go away forever) and my fat bluejeans are loose.

What I LOVE is the lack of appetite I have for carbs! AND the more inches I loose the more motivated I am to exercise ( mostly isometrics and longs walks). I am determined this time to keep atkins my lifestyle change.

[redfoxglove]

Thanks, Elizellen, you were the one who coached me through my fear of going on to OWL. I really feel it's the drinking I've been doing, not the eating, that has put me into this stall.

Jocarb, you might take the time to record your measurements with a tape measure. You can look on the 6wk Challenge forum to see where to measure. You will be so surprised and rewarded after just a couple of weeks, when you measure and have some actual numbers to compare! Fun, fun, fun...

My theory about the inches lost is just a theory, I have no research to back it up. But I think that wheat foods makes swelling happen. I think it's an allergic reaction that causes a histamine reaction in the cells, and that results in cells and the area around the cells swelling up. As soon as I stop wheat, even if I'm not on Atkins, I lose the big spare tire that is always right under my rib cage when I'm eating pasta and bread. Anyway just a thought. I don't think exercising has so much to do with it in the early stages of changing over, say for the first 6 months or so, maybe after you've been at it a while...building muscle does take time. But I'll take it, no matter what the reason behind it is!

Ahregal, I so appreciate your idea to convince myself that a drink equals a donut. I've also experienced the thing about alcohol makes it easier to eat something that's off plan. So today is my first day of deciding, let's see how I do this evening when the temptation is always strongest! WIsh me luck...

[Outback Jess]

This is amazing stuff here Red, such insight. I suspect you are in some for of "science" or evaluation work, you write like an analyst....
It is all very interesting to NOTE how our bodies respond to atkins and in such untraditional ways. It is good you are seeing such great results with fat loss and inches lost and the stopping of almost all cravings.
I love feeling NOT HUNGRY every 5 mins.....Food is very quiet in my life, and I am so grateful!
You are only going to feel better and better in this 3rd month as you again take a step out there and remove something. I like your approach, test, work it out, evaluate it, and then make another step. Watching, and allowing your body to show you. That brings alot of success. It's just a diet. It won't make you over in a short period of time!

[redfoxglove]

thanks, Jess, for the positive feedback. I am involved in science, right now I'm studying to be an RN. I feel at this time in life I'm blessed with the maturity I need to do this in a reasoned out, careful way. Because I want to get to where you are, I want food to be a quiet part of my life. I want to get so good at the food thing that I don't have to think about it.

Thanks for the optimistic heads up for my third month. In my review above, I forgot to say that there are so many positive effects from being on this plan, just like you said, I'm not hungry all the time. there is a confidence in myself that comes from knowing I am taking care of my health. I feel a lot of positive self regard as a result of taking care...it just seems like a positive spiral that goes up and up.

If looking better were enough to motivate me, I would have stopped being fat a long time ago. I'm all about building better health during this season of my life.

Thanks for your support.

[ahregal]

Elizellen: fan-freaking-tastic! Wowee you are a goddess!

Outback Jess: wow amazing work! I too like how your phrase "food is very quiet" in my life... :}

Redfoxglove: our frame of mind is half the battle, I have read how our (life time of) thought patterns create the kind of person we are in this moment.

I can be my own worst enemy, when I get down and dumpy on myself I try to remember things like, "would you talk to a child this way?" Encourage the baby steps, walking away from the tray of goodies, smiling at our selves in the mirror!

I adore Louise Hay's books of inspiration, "You can Heal Your Life." Bringing positive affirmations into our minute by minute thought patterns.

I'll be looking for tips on the OWL...Thank you all for being here, love ahregal 55th day and counting...

[Tomorrow_I'll_Be_Perfect]

Hi redfoxglove! I also experience this craving for alcohol when my body is desperate for carbs of any variety, and since I am not a drinker I figure it's REALLY desperate to try to convince me to go that route! I can only asume it is happening because our temptation to food item carbs is low, which in itself is a good sign.

Once we recognize the tricks our mind is playing on us, it's easier to wag our finger at it and say, "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"!

I find it interesting that somone else in this thread has a donut yardstick. Well, we're same-zeez, cause I have to compare things to donuts too. When I first started low carbing back in 2002, the first thing I had to actually "kick" was donuts. Pop was easy cause I could switch to diet, but donuts don't really have replacements. So now, I need to tell myself that danishes=donuts, or milkshakes=donuts, otherwise I'll convince myself of the "okayness" of eating them. Seriously, what low carber would think that a milkshake is okay?! Well, I can convince myself of anything if I want it bad enough...that's the power of the mind. Sometimes it's power is used for good, but more often than not, it's used to convince us that it's okay to put that in our mouths.

So, whatever the hardest thing was for you to "kick", use that as your yardstick and compare it to alcohol. A glass of wine=donuts, a vodka=donuts (of course it may not be donuts for you). But it has to be something powerful in your mind that you have instilled very strongly.

You're doing great....the best of luck on your journey to health and working toward being an RN. But then again, luck really has nothing to do with it, does it?