Ah, I love Germans. They speak the truth.

Kimberly, I'm in complete agreement with you. You said it first. You said it best.

It's important because of the accountability factor. If that has to be questioned, then why would anyone need this board?

This forum would not exist if we acted like automations instead of humans. Heck even computers that are programmed don't always follow "the program". The fact that this forum exists so that people can "rant," "whine," "cry," "laugh," etc. is good enough for me. That's what makes life interesting. Can you imagine if we were all "Captain Robot," perfect in every way. Scary! Besides, some of us can only learn from our mistakes.

I think this is an annual cycle the MB goes through, at least that I've detected in the 2+ years I've been here. Lots and lots of people start a low carb diet around new years. A couple weeks into it they're in deep mourning for their old favorite foods and looking for a way to be able to eat them without getting off plan.

I vaguely remember that period for myself, but I knew I could never eat them again without risking everything. Eventually I got over it.

It's a phase. Late summer and the number of refeed/free day threads went down a whole, whole lot. Late autumn people start dropping out of their diets like mad because of the holidays... winter it becomes ghost town. New Years and we start all over again! Or rather they do, I'm a perannual low-carber now.

I also noticed other trends like the nervous new low-carbers asking about bad side effects or good and bad fats. And the raft of constipation questions. If people last until summer-time they've usually figured out what happens to them if they refeed, and the ones that don't... they're the ones that climb back onboard the band wagon the next year. Some exceptions apply!

IMO fat people are likely to have tremendous will-power, developed from years of trying to lose weight while hyperinsulemic. Their lack of success has more to do with the overwhelming odds against them than any character flaw. I think the number one cause of obesity is ignorance. Most people seem to be unaware that carbs can be addictive. An uninformed choice isn't really a choice, and once you have developed hyperinsulemia, all the will power in the world isn't any help, unless you know how to apply it (carb control).

On the other hand, ignorance IS a choice, and to people who think they can have all the benefits without doing any research, I say RTFM!

Wyv

It would be a very dull world indeed if we were all perfect! However...wisdom comes when we learn from experience. Experience is what we get when we make mistakes. The wisest people of all learn from the mistakes of others. Or, as Sam Levenson once said, "You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself."

Great thread!!!!
Be accountable and leave it at that!!

Definitely some good points raised, Kimberly.

I think most people stuck on the cheating/restarting hamster wheel would really like to know the answer to the question, "why are other people doing it and I am not? What's the difference between me and you/him/her?" They don't say it in so many words, but... the answer is complex.

The simple answer is similar to what someone has in their sig, and I wish I could remember the source: it's something like, "If you want to lose the weight and keep it off, quit playing around with it. Get serious and commit." If you don't feel that commitment, be happy with yourself as you are and move onto maintenance. There's nothing wrong with that. I bet a lot of people simply feel vaguely pressured to lose weight, anyway.

I personally think there's a stage most people go through, where they're basically mourning the loss of their old way of eating, heading off into the unknown. Seeing some members extolling the virtues of a cheat day, new supplement that lets them eat what they want and lose, etc.. is sort of like the psychics on tv who claim to be able to talk to the dead. The concept of never having things like they were before (even if the change is for the better, in the case of giving up sugary treats) gets to be a little overwhelming, so it's kind of natural, IMO, to wish for the best of both worlds. To still be able to visit what they know really needs to be gone forever.

I, personally, lost weight on CAD, eating more carbs than I can on Atkins. The thing is, I couldn't lose until I gave up the sugary dessert the book SAYS you can have. Other people can, but I can't. Life isn't fair. It just is what it is.

We're all human. Even members who swear they NEVER slip up should remember that "never" is a very long time.

I admire Kimberly for labeling her rant, instead of letting loose in someone else's message...

I believe I posted recently in someone's "Why do I fall off the wagon after 5 days" post by explaining that they are still trying to have it both ways: eat whatever they want and still lose weight.

And no one, in the history of the world, has ever had it both ways.

Yet, we keep trying.

Hi there Kristine and group:

To put it simply I think this is *one* of the reasons why people get on that rollercoaster:

What we low-carbers do and eat is *societally* different.

Therefore, everywhere we go, everyone we share a meal with, every time we are at the family's house we are expected to act and eat one way, and then when we don't instead choosing to stick to our plan, whatever that is, it *stands out* and then we hear comments and concerns of everyone looking to throw their spare change (all those 2 cents worth add up, ya know) into our lives.

They mean well, and they think they know, but they don't.

Also, society has a weird way of looking at food. That combined with the average person preferring to avoid confrontation, especially regarding private things like dietary choices, can lead to a real bugger of a situation.

Here are some examples:
1.) Eat everything on your plate.
2.) (Worse!) Eat everything on your plate or you cannot have dessert.
3.) You are not leaving the table until you finish your potatoes. (How many times have you heard THAT one?)
4.) It is rude to ask what's for dinner if you are invited. So, you have the choice of being offensive by saying no, offensive by asking, offensive by showing up and then not eating it if you can't/should not. So the choice that is not rude? Go and eath that big bowl of whatever they served you.
5.) It is considered rude to *not* have some of each dish when invited to dinner. Like, if I pass on the potatoes, I have had people look at me funny.
6.) It is rude to ask "What's in this?" at the table.
7.) It is often considered rude to ask the waitstaff to make substitutions at a restaurant - so you don't get the your food of choice on your plate and have to either LOOK at it while you eat the rest, tempting you to eat it (people at a restaurant will pick at their plates until someone takes them AWAY! You ever notice that? I know I have done it - so I toss my napkin over the rest of the food), just go ahead and eat it (because no wasting food). No good choices.
8.) Wheat products are HEALTHY!
9.) So much meat/fat must be bad for you.
10.) There's nothing wrong with sugar, it's natural.
11.) Eggs are way too fattening and high in cholesterol
12.) Low-Fat = Good.
13.) Wasting food is bad!

All these things are the things that we have grown up PROGRAMMED with. It's what we have heard all our lives, what we continue to hear every time someone sees us eat an egg, ask what's for dinner, ask if that contains sugar, etc.

I don't *really* believe that as many people are Carb Addicted, as I believe they are Carb BRAINWASHED.

Then, we as a people, turn around and do the same things to our kids - getting them carb brainwashed too, while Mommy has only Chicken and green beans but NO mashed potatoes or bread while insisting that the children finish their supper, but then finishes off the "last little bit" of Mashed Potatoes while cleaning the kitchen NOT because she is carb ADDICTED and cannot help herself, but because "Wasting food is bad!" and because "It's just a little bit!" (Oh come on, we've all done this one, maybe a different scenario, but the same kind of thing and same result.)

Then, I as the Mom in the above scenario, am hungry soon after because my blood sugar spiked and I eat more and more, telling myself I will catch up tomorrow, or the next day, then catch myself in the mirror and then here comes the guilt trip because not only does society say all that stuff up there about "Food Manners" but it also says a BIG HUGE TON OF STUFF I am not going to rewrite here as we've all heard it, about how WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SKINNY!

There's your vicious circle, in a nutshell.

One reason for it I think, anyway...

What do you think?

NOTE: Nowadays, I DO ask what's in it? What are we having? Please NO rice, No thanks on the bread. I have decided it's my life and my body and I will decide what goes into it, and I will say so ih the most polite way possible - but that's as "polite" as I get when it comes to MY food. I am the one who either has to pay for it or eat it or both. Not anyone else.


~Kimberly

Well yeah, I mean everywhere you look, that's what you're being told. Skinny = Good. Skinny = Successful. Skinny = Insert Desire Here.

Also, let me not even get into the ugliness of plus-sized clothing! Unless you break the bank at Lane Bryant or similar, you can forget it.

That's why I am set on being HEALTHY. I don't care if I am considered SKINNY or not anymore.

I know at what size I feel good and look pretty and that's my goal, even if I am not "skinny" at that goal - and at that goal, size 10 or sometimes 12, depending on the clothes (or levis, 34w 36l) just FYI, since I don't have a scale, is right about in the middle of the "recommended" weight for my height. When I am in those sizes, it is right for me.


~Kimberly

Great post Kim.

That's my big bitch with frankenfoods....why keep eating stuff similar to what made you fat in the first place, brownie mixes, or pancakes and syrup, fake chips, etc. etc. ad nauseum. Even if it says "Atkins" or low carb on the package, it will still leave you pining for the real crappola, you'll never get rid of those cravings if you keep feeding them with imitations.

So totally EXACTLY! Agreed 110%

"I don't wanna eat this bad bad stuff anymore...anyone know where I can find a low carb version of this bad bad stuff?"

It's like substituting Heroin with a bottle of liquor a day. Frying pan > Fire?

Crazydangerous thought process.


~Kimberly

That's exactly what I started to write about, then deleted because I thought I was getting way off topic.

I think one of the biggest problems newbies will encounter - low carb or otherwise - is assuming that all one has to do is avoid flour, sugar, and "stick to the diet". That translates into white-knuckling and willpower, which almost ALWAYS fails. You have to step back and really make some changes, and the changes can be life-altering. You might have to stop going with your friends to Dunkin Donuts every Friday. You might lose those friends, if they don't support your decision. You might have to ask your family to help you out, and they might resent that. You might have to stop going out to lunch with your co-workers. You might have to stop spending money on convenience foods so you can afford a proper LC grocery trip. You might have to spend more time in the kitchen. If you're not willing to make THESE changes, you can be in serious trouble. They were simple for me to make: I do all the cooking and shopping, I have no kids, and I only work part time, so it was no biggie. But I can see how there are some big hurdles for people, and if you're not willing to get over them, you're going to be swimming upstream.

That may sound overly-dramatic, but I've seen several threads lately to the effect of, "my friends are jealous and don't support me."