Thread: CNS Followers
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Old Tue, Jul-05-16, 12:57
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honeypie honeypie is offline
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Posts: 8,047
 
Plan: M-F vlc, looser LC wkends
Stats: 353.6/260.8/165 Female 5'11
BF:
Progress: 49%
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Those of us who have lived without them for so long seem to develop a phobia against them. I am one of those. And I must admit that since I started CNS, I have learned that carbs are Not my enemy like I thought they were.
Hi Paulette, this comment is totally where I'm at, too.

I have been low carb for so many years of my life. It's the only way I've ever lost weight, OR kept it off, and eating any carbs IS terrible for me. Both from a spiking up on the scale perspective, also from the perspective of arteriosclerosis, blood glucose and insulin control, and ALL of my metabolic function.

However - I am eating SO strictly right now, that obviously this isn't going to be forever. I am doing something in between Stillman's and Atkin's '72 right now, so entirely 0 carb, protein only, and only moderate fat. No dairy whatsoever, and lower-ish calories too, on the days that I can manage it. But that is HARD. Because it's basically chicken and boiled eggs.

And it will get me to goal for sure, but I don't want to get to goal, immediately spike up like 12 lbs in 2 days, and then for it to take me a MONTH to lose again, - because of the sheer STRESS and my GUILT, at having bounced up like that again.

I am LC for life.
I want to manage my weight for LIFE.
I want to be healthy for the rest of my life.

But I am also trying to give myself the tools to be able to go forward after I reach my goal weight... without so much STRESS, when something doesn't go to plan or I don't like what the scale says, after a choice *I* decided to make.

Like today, reading this thread, I loved what you said too, ringamajig. Because these are things we ALL deal with, all of the time in our journeys.

But seeing that someone else gains 5 lbs with a higher carb meal, and THEN that you added 3 more lbs to it too,... but that you're cool as a cucumber and that you know that you need to just get back on track... is so helpful for me to see right now.

Because the truth is, NONE of us get a free pass with the eating choices we make, ever. And that's whether we're losing, and then when we're at goal too. There is a free pass NEVER, not for anything we ever put into our mouths. Which is why it's so important to learn how to manage this, for LIFE.

And that means it's important to figure out what kinds of carbs have less ill effect on us, when we choose to make those higher carb choices.

I had four completely free-for-all days back to back about two weeks ago, after being strictly zero carb for about 3 weeks. But it was free-for-all fruit, only. No processed sugar, no grains. And I think I gained something like 9 pounds. But it was also GONE again, in 3 or 4 more days. And that has NEVER happened to me before. Normally if I had eaten ANYTHING else higher carb, made from sugar or flour, even in not-huge quantities... a 4 day gain for me, would have been with NO exaggeration, honestly a full 4 WEEKS to re-lose again. And not to mention that a "free for all" of eating anything else, the gain would have been WAY higher than 9 lbs in 4 days too.

So it's interested to see too, what our bodies like better, and have an easier time processing, and so on.

I told this anecdote because it actually IS related to your thread, and not just me gabbing with no "stop" button - because I was thinking to myself of this idea, of demonizing carbs and being SO paranoid and psychotic about the idea that ANY carbs will make me gain.

Well, yes. Yes, they will. Sure they will. And it's good to understand that, and to know that it's a fact that will NEVER change.

But on the other hand, if I allowed myself a bit of what I wanted SOMEtimes, and for the record - I am *not* one of those people that thinks the fructose in fruit is the same to the body as the HFCS in twinkies or whatever... if I allowed myself a bit of fruit sometimes, I probably could have avoided the 4 day free-for-all PANIC that no doubt was happening, with the "I better eat all these cherries and peaches NOW, because after that, I WILL NEVER BE ALLOWED THEM AGAIN... GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!"

Right? I mean, I know we've all been there.

So yes. This is what I meant that your thread is great, and that it gives a lot of food for thought.

If I ever get to goal, and if I EVER intend to maintain it like a somewhat normal person, and somewhat emotionally stable on the subject of food and scale weight - then I need to have a plan. And I can NOT freak out if I ever make the decision to eat cherries or something.

Just because I choose to eat higher carb once a week, if or when I do, doesn't actually mean that anyone will be shoving pints of ice cream into my mouth. I can eat more nuts, or whatever I choose. But if I do, at SOME point in my life, have an ice cream... I can not, CANNOT let that derail me, or make me think that "I might as well eat what I want now for another meal because I'll be up 4 lbs on the scale now anyway".

Because that it what I've always had REAL problems with in the past, and if that "one" more meal is also hard for me to nip in the bud, and it ends up being 3 (or god forbid) 4 days, of NOT EVEN crazy bad choices, but just too high carb for me, then that is suddenly a disaster that is easily 20 lbs in 4 days for me, that I then have to deal with for WEEKS. Even with no binging, and not crazy bad choices by any standards.

It's just not worth it.

So thanks again for this thread. Like I said, for me, seeing how you guys manage your carb nites and your choices is REALLY helpful.

I just want to get the heck AWAY from that "all or nothing" mentality. Because it's not healthy. And in the long run, can only lead to ruin.

I want to manage my food choices after I get to goal like an adult, WITHOUT all of the phobic panic and anxiety and stress, that comes that comes from those fluctuations on the scale.

Yes, knowing we have to get back on track after ONE meal is crucial to that. Knowing it's not the end of the world, or the last time we can ever eat something we want, is also critical to learn.

I wouldn't go to the bar and binge-drink 7 days a week just because I like it, and because once I start dieting I also "can't have another drink again". Although that thought may have surreptitiously crossed my mind when I was 20 .

I now have a couple of drinks, either once a week, or sometimes even only once a month - and I don't care. And a couple does literally mean two, not six. And for me, that coming a long way. "I don't care" in that I don't care whether it IS once a week or once a month - because either way: I enjoy my night out, and know how to deal with the scale consequences the next day. And I also know that I can go back next week again, and have a few drinks then too, if I want to. And that it'll be FUN! And that I don't need to drink the bar dry for it to BE fun, and that it will always be there.

This actually only just occurred to me now, so I was typing as I was thinking.

But yes - that is EXACTLY how I need to be treating the food choices I make. Or the higher carb choices I make, should they ever happen. NO emotional roller coaster... just calm and knowing if the scale has gone up, that right back on track, will bring it right back down again.

Also, for me, remembering that what choices I make, will have a HUGE impact on how many pounds I go up, and also on how quickly my body is going to be willing to let go of them again, is something I will try to pay more attention to, and be more aware of, because it will subconsciously help me want to make better choices.

It's still a learning process, even after all of these years. Isn't that so funny? I just want to get it right, for me.

Hope you ladies are all having a great day!
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