My daughter just started Atkins and we were going to support each other even though we live on opposite East and West coasts. Well I didn't even start Atkins yet and now she's on her own with Atkins. The more I looked into it, the more I knew I couldn't follow that plan for very long. I was in Border's Books tonight looking for recipe books for low carbing and I picked up the SB book and right there I knew this was the plan for me.

This is something I can live with very easily and I see there are multiple choices I can make that I can fit into my lifestyle very easily. This weekend I plan on cleaning out my cupboards and stocking them with better choices.

I put my goal as wanting to lose 25 lbs. but even if I only do 15 lbs., that is fine with me too. The biggest thing I need to correct is overcoming fatigue. Since I live alone (well, I do have three cats), I have not been taking care of myself for many years and eating fast food/junk food. I've been running on empty for too long now and this is the perfect opportunity for me to get back on track. Actually I'm even looking forward to doing a little cooking again.

Nice to meet you all. I see this group is very helpful and I'll be doing a lot of reading about what's allowed and what's not.

Carole

Hi Carole!
Glad to meet you!! I was on Atkins for awhile myself too. I really like the SB WOE. Alot more choices and you can have fruit and whole grains (limited tho!). This is a (do-able) plan with having more to choose from. If you have any questions, there are people here to help you!
Again, welcome!!!
Tangy

Thanks for the welcome Tangy. I agree that this plan is do-able.

One of the first things I will have to learn though is to start limiting my portions. I tend to eat A LOT and I've already seen some yummy things to make but since there's only me here, I've got to know when to stop. That will be the hardest thing for me to get over--to not go back and keep taking another little bite. Or maybe I can learn to cut some of the recipes in half so it won't be there to tempt me.

I've read most of the book already, will have to go over it again though to make sure I'm not missing important points.

I happen to like vegetables very much and since SB doesn't seem to be quite a low carb plan, can I eat lots of spinach for instance or a really big salad and still remain inside the proper limits?

I'm still not clear on how much food is right to consume. I'm thinking that eventually I'll be needing less food since I'll be eating better food. I'm not comfortable with feeling hungry, especially that I've been used to eating so much.

Thanks again for the warm welcome

Carole

Hi Carole!!
I can relate to the overindulgence end of things. You might say that was a favorite pastime of mine! LOL!! It still feels wierd to only fill your plate up once and no more. But I am finding it is true that your body does start telling you that you are full and that one plateful is enough. It's just a matter of breaking old habits. Hard, I know!!! My habit was a carry over of when I was 110 lbs. soaking wet and could eat everything in sight and not gain a lb. My mother called me the "garbage disposal" because after everyone had finished eating, I would no doubt finish whatever was left of the meal. But I could get away with it because I never gained weight when I was living at home. But now that I'm older, the lifelong pattern of eating that I've allowed myself to do over the years has caught up with me. The SB book talks about that too. If fact, I was just reading about it last night in the insulin chapter.
As far as how much spinach can you consume, like the book says, you really don't measure stuff per se. And I think spinach is a lower glycemic food anyway. Just keep reading and re-reading the book and it will help alot.
Holler if you have any more questions!!
Tangy

When I first started SB someone gave me some great advice. She said don't worry about portion control the first couple of weeks... just concentrate on eating the right kinds of food.

That worked for me. After 2 weeks of fueling my body with healthy food my appetite just naturally decreased.

Good luck!

molly

Hi Molly and Tangy,

It's not even been a whole week yet and I am really getting into this SB WOE. I'm really interested in this WOE and I'm having a bit of fun too. Even the reduced fat requirements seem like a treat to me because for so many years I've been eating no/low fat and now I can have some of my old favorites again. And how stupid was it that I was eating so much pasta (which I love) but I was never satisfied and ended up with cake/cookies/you-name-it. And I was always tired.

I am already feeling better about myself. Tonight I tried one of my old favorites (anchovy/garlic/olive oil) and I was so looking forward to that but it just didn't work with the WW pasta. Another of my favs is chick peas and pasta so I'm going to try that in a few days.

One thing that really helped me understand--tonight I sat down with paper and pencil and took out my book of food counts and listed exactly what I ate today, using the 40-30-30 principle. I know I could have plugged it into one of the food counters but it was better that I actually did it myself and analyzed what I was doing. Now I know why I have to limit the starchy carbs like the WW pasta because it almost brought me up to the limit and I also saw how many calories were consumed. Even though we don't count calories, etc., I still like to have an idea of about what I can and cannot allow myself to have. As the WW pasta cost too many carbs to be consumed, I'll look for better choices now.

Thanks for the nice welcome

Carole