My biggest mistake was emotional rather than physical. I have thought of myself as fat for so long that I make myself eat as though I am. What I mean is, instead of eating low carb until I'm satisfied, I keep eating because that is what a fat person is supposed to do. Learning to think of myself as a healthy person rather than a fat person has been hard. I'm having to forge a new identity. And what am I supposed to think about if I don't think about food all day? Hmmmmm. It's hard to change the mindset and go forward.

My second mistake was not putting myself first, but always putting my family's needs ahead of mine.

My third mistake was flirting with Weight Watchers. I know I can lose weight with them, but I never keep it off because first I don't know what moderation means, and second, I am always hungry on their plan.

:there:

First of all, I don't blame myself for my weight. It's the fault of those who have been passing on such false information about nutrition. Now that I have found the right road, I know I can lick this thing. Understanding how our bodies work clears the air considerably. :yay:

Not counting
 

My biggest mistake was not counting the carbs. I started to in the beginning, then I just guesstimated after that. I never looked anything up. When I went off induction and was suppose to add on 5 carbs, in increments. I just ate bigger portions. I still do it from time to time, only because I don't have the time to look it up. I can't really figure fitday out, because if you prepare it differently than they have it there, then how do you count it?
I am a mess about the counts but don't eat anything I am not suppose to. I'll eat another piece of meat instead of adding more veggies. Old habits die hard.

Amber

My biggest mistake the first time was diet soft drinks. The second time was carbo drifting at my reward meal and this time it was too much protein and the Atkins bars and shakes.

Any kind of fake sugar triggers a stall at best and craving at worst. The Atkins Bars with their fake sugars and their hidden carbs are also a big stall. I wasted most of this summer when I have my biggest weight losses in a stall because of the Atkins bars and shakes. Now I'm going into SAD for the winter and CAD. Thank God I found this site in September. I've had a good loss since I got off those bars. The bad thing is I had just bought 2 boxes of the things! I won't touch them now!

Here's the "mistakes" I have made and have found out and corrected for:

1) Do the math on the labels - especially for "low carb" products. I have a glycemic reaction to malitol and glycerine. If it creates calories... it needs to be counted. I therefore compute the calories from fat (grams of fat times 9), then add the calories from protein (grams of protein times 4) and then subtract this total from the total calories per serving... leaving the remaining calories that must be coming from CARBS. Divide this total by 4 and you have the REAL carb count per serving for this product. So...doing this.... an Atkins Advantage Bar (chocolate peanut butter bar) has 14 CARBS! not a net of 2 grams as indicated on the label. Until I am on maintenance... I can't afford to waste 14 grams of carbs on just one small item. I know that I have a reaction to them - not only because when I am using them do I stall - but also I recently went on a long cross country airplane trip... and used an Atkins Advantage bar to substitute for the HORRIBLE options I had in the airports and on the plane... as soon as I returned to my normal way of eating (true low carb)... I had a horrible carb withdrawal headache experience.

2) Occassional sugar free treats are okay - so long as they are not daily and I include ALL the carbs contained there in (see 1. above). I do better if I stay away from them... but I can still lose with an occassional legal treat... and heck... I want to enjoy eating so I do permit this - but only about twice per week - usually on the weekend.

3) HIDDEN carbs. I now use Fitday religiously. It serves two purposes... awareness of what I am eating and forces me to plan... and ... I truly see what my calories, fat, and CARBS are for each day. I tell the truth there... good or bad... and I know what the results are. I used to think eggs were 0 carbs, cream was 0 carbs, cheese was 0 carbs,... had no idea my 10 or 12 cups of coffee had carbs... you see the picture here. I have since cut my coffe down to 1 very large mug in the morning... and I account for all the "other" carbs. Huge difference... and was probably the most effective adjustment I have made to my WOE that got me back to losing.

4) Supplements Invest in really good quality supplements and take them religiously. I take Atkins Basic #3, Atkins Essential Oils... and if I were to go simple with supplements... this would be my minimum. However, I also take L-Carnitine, Chromium Picolinate, C0Q10, Tyrosine, and a calcium supplement. It's alot of pills - but I spread them out throughout the day - and I noticed another leap in loss since I began that regimen.

5) Don't fall prey to our old low fat thinking. I upped my fat intake as a total percentage of what I was eating - and I again lost more weight. I also feel more satisfied when eating more fat and thus actually eat less of the other items.

6) Be mindful of calories I can lose weight on much more calories with this WOE than I ever could on a low fat - calorie restricted diet - but it is not without some limit. I find I lose BEST if I keep my calories around 1,300 (2 lbs a week average). I can lose well on a 1,500 a day (1 lb a week average). I lose VERY SLOWLY on 1,600 a day (1/2 lb or less per week average). I maintain at 2,000 (no weight loss - but no gain either).

7) Keep learning. This is a personal journey for each of us. Our "machines" are all wired differently... and we have to find what works for us. I have come to view this as an experiment... try something... evaluate the results... and then act according to that new information.

Good post... sorry my response was so long... but I have learned alot so far... and expect to learn lots more.

No apologies necessary DoubleD! You have posted excellent information, especially point #7!

Karen

Easter!
 

My big mistake was thinking I could cook a huge family Easter Dinner with ten kinds of dessert, plus host an easter egg hunt with LOTS of candy and still stay low carb with my own eating. But my BIGGEST mistake was not getting back on track after Easter!

I was doing so well...I had lost 25 pounds and I was feeling good. But after Easter I started right back with my old habits and gained it all back. I started low carb again October 1 - the Farmer's Almanac said it was a good time to start. I'm doing okay - but it makes me so mad at myself to have to start all over again!

Carolyn

OMG!!! This scares me!!! I eat at least 2,000 calories a day on Atkins!!!! :eek: I am new and I thought calories were not a concern on Atkins. :(

:confused: Keep in mind, everbody's body chemistry is different. Remember the person who seems to eat everything in sight and never gains an ounce? You'll find the balance that works best for you.

What a great thread I have stumbled upon - just reading it is a great inspiration.

I think my problem is not staying committed for long enough - too many re-starts - but I think this is caused through slow losses in turn caused by..... drum roll please....

artificial sweetners and processed foods and not enough water

I am going to experiment and cut 'em all out and ap the water ...let's see what happens....fingers crossed. ;)

I think my biggest mistake is not taking in enough fat. I'll drift back into the mode of thinking that too much fat is bad from all the years that I was on low-fat/high-carb diets. I've been LCing for a little over a month now and it seems to be getting somewhat better. To help alleviate this, I ripped down the food pyramid that my former dietitian had me hang on my fridge. I truly relished that moment! Old habits are truly hard to break, but I try to keep this all in a 'work-in-progress' perspective.

I also found that I stayed at my daily carb count much easier when I started using the dry erase board in my kitchen to record a tick-mark for each carb consumed. Before that, I often lost track of my count and ended up hardly eating any at all!

All my best-
Nikki :daizy:

Stuck for three weeks because of my own stupidity
 

My biggest mistake was not checking the sugars in frozen veggies. Just found out that there was sugar in all the frozen veggies I have been using and in my mayo. I went through eveything again for the third time. I was wondering why I have been stalled for 3 weeks. Then I went away for two days and didn't eat at home and noticed I lost 2 pounds. Thats when I knew it was something at my house that was wrong. READ THE LABELS OVER AND OVER. The first mayo I bought was sugar free, but the second one had sugar in it, and I was piling it on everything. just call me stuck for three weeks because of my own stupidity.

Amber!! Please - don't call youself stupid! We have all been there in some way or another. I have been LCing for 7 months and am just NOW beginning to feel that I am getting a grip on things! This whole thing is a learning process, which I think will never really end. Good for you that you DID find the problem - try to look at it that way! The next one is sure to come, and once again, you will master that as well!
I wish continuous good luck!

Re: Stuck for three weeks because of my own stupidity
 

Be careful when reading those labels. "Sugar" can be disguised in various ways. Dextrose is a biggy. Are you using a salad dressing-type mayo - like Miracle Whip. I had to give up using that because of the sugar content. :daze:

Brooky and tigerlou
 

Salad dressing, No I make my own. I love oil and vinegar and mix it up several different ways. I put feta cheese in and garlic. I do a bunch of different things. I do know to check for all the ose's. I have done that in all my vitamins etc. I posted it in the vitamin section. I feel like I am going to be 60 and still sitting here the same weight. It only took 3 months of eating anything and not working out to gain this weight. I didn't think after reading through everyones journals the first week that it would take this long. I am being patient. I didn't think I would lose the 30ish in a week, but nothing after 3 weeks. YUK, but you know I did lose 7 1/4 inches with no poundage loss. I also work out with weights and as we know muscle weighs more than fat, but most of all I feel a heck of alot better than I use to and that is pretty much worth it. I still want to fit into my gorgous clothes, but I do feel alot better.
Thanks for being so supportive and for your help.