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Old Sun, Oct-07-18, 16:32
Blue Ruby Blue Ruby is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 648
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 200/170/160 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 75%
Location: BC
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Great conversation!
Jaz — I want to contribute to two of your comments.
Age and number of times low-carbing
I’m now 53. I’ve never found low carb to just “drop” the pounds like some do. My early attempts in my late 30s and mid 40s basically did two things: let me lose 10 - 20 pounds and then be lazy, eat more carbs than I should, but be able to stop gaining past my personal “high” when I would jump back into low-carbing. This time (almost two years ago) I’ve made a commitment to a total life change. I started tracking all fats, protein and carbs. I didn’t expect it to work for much weight loss....but it has. The thing that is harder is the work I’m doing. I’ve stuck to my plan when it was “working” and when it wasn’t. I’ve focused on the benefits that have nothing to do with weight loss, and kept tracking. Over 21 months I have lost 25 lbs. That’s more than I ever have lost since illness and stress led me to gain 50 pounds in my mid 30s. There are ppl here who have lost 3 times that in 1/2 the time but that’s not me, so I don’t worry about it. The foods good and I feel so much healthier so I will just keep workin’ It and see where I am by the time I’m 55.
If it’s worked for you in the past, I believe it will work again, but being very honest about portion sizes and carb counts was made a difference to me. Maybe for you too?

Being single and low carbing (ok actually being married with kids and low carbing)
It’s challenging to serve pasta, keep bread, allow rice chips, to serve roast potatoes, fluffy steamed rice etc to growing hungry teens who have no weight issues, and to stay stay low-carb. It seems unfair to insist they not have those foods. I’m not talking about cookies and candy and ice cream — just normal grains and potatoes that for me would make me binge, but for them are just another food in proportion to the rest of the foods on their plate.

Further, it took my DW a full year to stop worrying about me not eating legumes, sweet potatoes, beets, corn...out loud. Verbally. Not undermining me but worried (she’s athletic, a foodie, and very interested in nutrition and health.) It took her a full year to not feel depressed that we don’t eat the same foods (meat isn’t great for her, she’s not vegatarian but doesn’t eat much meat) and there’s this tiny ven-diagram of shared foods we have between us. We’ve had to respectfully communicate what food means in a family and a relationship, what mealtimes mean, and to work out how to manage family meals. Mostly big fancy veggie dishes, I cook a slab o’ meat on the side for me, with whole grain/legume/tofu dishes for her and the kids on the other side. I have gone up the carb ladder with veg and some fruit and save those carbs for our shared meals. But all along, I’ve have to be strong and self-aware, and stay consistently low carb so that my cravings are low otherwise the temptation it hard.

When she travels I go super low carb for a few days and it feels like a treat!

I’ve been a single mom of small kids and that’s hard. But I was more in control of the food in the house. With teens, it’s different, and hard in its own way. Being alone is also hard. I can imagine falling into a plate of noodles and there being no one to pull me out. But I also know that in my house, there are many kinds of noodles in the cupboard all the time, and so I have to just choose to not see those as options for me. No one undermines me but they wouldn’t
see it as a problem if I ate bowl full.

Eating out tip that works for me: eat a good solid snack before you go. At least for me, then I have self control to order wisely and in smaller portions, because I’m not weak-willed through starvation.

I seem to have rambled on and one, I hope of some it is helpful. We all have challenges and this is at place to get support no matter what they are.
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