Well, here I am. Pre-maintenence. This is the best move I could have possibly made for myself! I started low carbing it on Sept. 6, 2003 and have remained between 25-35 carbs most of this time, with a few trips back into Induction and then back to OWL. Well, despite all that my weight has held in the lower/mid 140's for a loooong time now - almost a year! Well, I finally asked myself why the hell I'm still in Induction and OWL when my body is just not willing to let go of much more??? I promised myself I'd add fruit and whole grains back "eventually" all throughout my journey and I was finally ready to take that plunge about 2 weeks ago. I did it and so far my weight has stayed within' the same 2 pounds - so no going up! I've been eating anywhere from 60-100 net carbs every day and getting between 20-35 grams of fiber. I've also stuck around 1400 calories. I feel great, my diet is much more varied now and I can't stress how great it feels to have my fruit back! Oh, how I've missed thee!! I eat pretty much any fruit I want, although I'm not really an apple, orange or banana fan - so I just don't eat those cause I don't want to... Lots of tropical fruit though, I'm a huge mango and pineapple fan!! I also LOVE dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cranberries, cherries, whatever!). Grain wise I usually eat about 1 and once and awhile 2 grains daily - I use low carb bread and tortillas instead of whole wheat because they have more fiber, but I use other whole wheat bread type products like pitas and the such. I also use bulgar, couscous, polenta and whole oats. Like I said, I have not experienced any negative side effects. Exercise wise I workout 4 times per week, a combination of running, weight lifting, pilates, crunches and kickboxing (I use a lot of workout DVD's in addition to my treadmill).
Some personal info about me - my name is Lauren and I'm 23 (almost 24
). I work at a university as a clerk for the time being while my DH finishes his masters degree. I do have a degree in journalism, but don't work in an area where my career can exactly take off the ground......
Well, hope to meet some others in my phase - feel free to stop by my journal to see what's going on!