Tips I have learned After 10 Months
 

Here are some pointers that I have put together that have helped me in my quest to losing weight.

1) Mentally prepare yourself by saying that this is not a diet, but rather a way of life, and a way of eating.

2) Don’t compare your results with other people’s results. Everyone loses at different rates, and men seem to lose quicker than women do.

3) Don’t worry about how long it will take to lose the weight. The time will pass anyhow, so you might as well be low carbing and enjoying the benefits of it.

4) Stay away from high carb foods in the beginning of your plan. Allow your insulin and sugar levels to stabalize, and let your body become more sensitive to insulin. In my case, I pretty well avoided any sweets and high carb foods for the first 3 months. After that, an
occasional sweet or other high carb food was never a problem for me. Just make sure you don’t start making it a daily occurance. However, chances are by this time, the sweet or other high carb food just doesn’t taste as good as it used to.

5) Try and incorporate an exercise program into your plan. Start off slowly, and build from there.

6) I always try (but not always successfully) to make supper the smallest meal of the day, and to have very few carbs at supper, and no fruits in the evenings. Any fruit consumed (usually only strawberries or raspberries) is eaten at breakfast or lunch.

7) Nuts, Cheese, and Low Carb Bars – These always seem to be sticky issues for people. I for one, eat a lot of nuts, especially peanuts, and always indulge in the Low Carb Bars – especially the Atkins Bars. These seem to cause some people to stall, and the Low Carb Bars have “hidden carbs” in them, and there is an ongoing debate as to if ingredients in these bars, like Glycerine, affect blood sugar levels or not. Use the Hidden Carb Calculator to determine what the extra carbs are, and include these in your daily carb count. The difference is not that much (about 7 grams for the Atkins Bars), but this can cause problems for some people.

8) Drink as much water as you possibly can. I found this very hard to do at first, but I kept at it, and kept forcing myself to keep drinking, and eventually, I started enjoying drinking the water, and now feel lost without a water bottle or two with me. Since I drive about 40 km to work everyday (1 way), I always try and drink 1 liter of water on my way to work, and another on my way home, and with the recent heat wave we had, I was sure glad to have the water with me.

9) Make this Way Of Eating a Way Of Life. Always be aware of what you are eating, and try to avoid putting yourself into situations where it would lead you off your plan, especially in the beginning.

10) Read as much as you can about low carbing, insulin, blood sugar, diabetes, etc. I always try and look at both sides of the issue (pro and con of low carbing). Never blindly follow, without doing some research and asking questions first. The more you know, the better equipped you will be to achieve your goals of losing weight and better health.

11) The Low Carb plan is pretty simple to follow, but it is not too rigid in that you cannot modify it to best suit yourself. I am always experimenting and changing things up on my plan, while adhering to the basic guidelines.

12) I have adopted a new response when people question what I am eating, especially when eating out. When I order and tell the server to hold the bread/pasta/rice, etc, I always tell them that I am diabetic, and I have to watch what I eat, and that I cannot eat any sugar. This usually silences most people, because, lets face it, most people are ignorant towards the complex relationship between food, blood sugar, insulin, diabetes.

13) Keep coming back to this site. In my opinion, it is the best low carb site around. What I like about it is that the main posters are very helpful, but at the same time they don’t babysit people. If you screw up, they will let you know, and they will tell you to go and reread the books.

Let me end by saying that by no means am I an expert on Low Carbing, but after 10 months and 72 pounds lost, I feel that I have come a long way, but I also have a long ways to go before I reach the goal that I have etched in my mind. My next stage is to really start building more muscle mass, and ridding myself of the last remnants of my excess fat, and this could be the hardest part yet.

Hopefully these pointers may help someone who is stalled or just feeling down


Genesis (Bill)

Great post Bill!

You've said all in one place what is said in bit's and pieces all over the board. I'll add it to my cut 'n' paste collection! ;)

Thanks!

Karen

Thanks Karen.
I look to you, Doreen, Wa'il (still not sure if that is his name) and some others for encouragement, and new info.

Bill:)

Thanks for the TIPS!!!

I really enjoy your tips. Somethimes it gets very difficult to keep explaining the reason you are ordering. I always hate it when others said 'Oh, you are on that FAD diet...blah, blah, blah'

Great Post Bill!...you have covered all the bases simplistically and objectively which is what I like to see ;)



Bonnie

Fantastic Tips
 

Very well thought out. Clear. Concise. Well Done Bill.

Must admit I eat a lot of nuts too. Worry a little 'cos they are supposed to be bad for asthmatics. But I have stopped taking my asthma medicine for about 2 weeks with no ill-effects and still eating lots of nuts.

No. 13 is especially good. You couldn't keep me away from this site if you tried. It's my new addiction and its a much better one than carb-addiction. ;)
Take care.

hi Bill
 

In a few days, 2001 will come to an end, and 2002 will be upon us all. I thought it would be a good idea to resurrect these tips ... I really think they'll be helpful and meaningful for new members who join us in the New Year, and for old members too, who perhaps have lost sight of their original goals.

Thankyou again for this excellent and always-relevant contribution. :thup:

Doreen

This new member appreciates the tips! Half my office eats tons of bad stuff, the other half is on diet pills or weight watchers. I'm the only one going no-carb. By the time another six months are up, I'm planning to be THE top loser! I'll reread these tips often. Thanks!

Thanks for the tips Bill and keep up the great work!

Happy New Year!

tips for low carbing
 

genesis.....bill
your tips on low carb dieting was excellent. alot of the ideas you have i have already been applying to my new life style. but i did learn some new ones from you. i like what you said about telling the waiter to hold the pasta and breads, just tell them that you are diabetic and they most of the time will understand, but if you say you are on a low carb diet plan they just look at you like you are crazy or something. if found out long ago this works for me to.
another helpful hint you may want to add to your list is that when you feel down and may have eaten wrongly, just pick yourself up by doing something postive for yourself, like get out of the house and go shopping, go walk around in the mall for exercise, read, clean house, just do something in motion, don't sit still and mope around about it. you will find if you take your mind off eating and onto other postive things you will just go back to your diet plan without even thinking about it much. i have been on thie plan for over a year now and thats what i do when i feel or eat something i shouldn't have. "they say if you fall down, just get right back up and go on"............................
see ya! thanks for the hints.
i plan to print them up for a friend of mind who i am helping to lose weight.

Thanks for the tips...I feel encouraged...

Excellent summary of advice, especially for those just starting out, maybe it should be required reading on this site!

Don't like having say you are diabetic tho', it's not the untruthfulness of it, it's the difference in conditions and requirements between Low carbing and being a diabetic.

Some of those waiters may be diabetics themselves and know about what and what not to eat.

Why should we have to explain ourselves any way or our WOE? Just say what you can't/don't/won't eat or drink.

Low carbing is not so esoteric and faddish as it was once considered

Wonderful tips, wonderful encouragement!
I copied your letter as a reminder!

Thanks, Bill
 

Thank you for the wonderful, provocative post and the list of things to remember. I really appreciate it and as a newcomer, it's exactly the kind of thing I needed to read.

Natalie

Bill

Great post. Thanks a mill. I too usually say I have blood sugar problems ( which is true since I am insulin resistant) or if people say "what?" I say "kinda like diabetes" and they leave me alone.