Day 11 of 90 day challenge--- 33 total days cheat free!

Not much to report, staying on plan. I am having a hard time eating. Just have no desire to eat... ever.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

It was another good day. I stuck to my tried and true plan foods and I had no issues. No fat bomb and no snacks today. Just 3 normal LC meals.

Day 13, yesterday's food pork steaks, olives, 2 protein bars.

TOM started (sorry to the guys talking about girls stuff) and normally the hormonal few days before I would always end up binge eating sugar - no sugar and no binges this month for the first time in a long time

Day 10
I did good yesterday and that was great! I was at a friends and had only had breakfast. We finally left later and got dinner!
We were finishing up stuff on our Booklet and she had no food I could eat! She kept eating stuff and apologized she had no food I could eat. Oh well, I should have brought some I will next time.
I am very glad we are doing this challenge to keep me focused on weight loss and not on the junk foods that are popping up all around me!!

Good job everyone!!! I'm so glad everyone is doing well!

If we string together all these good days...we'll see results!

I'm so excited for us. Yay!!!!

I'm doing good too - nothing much to report. Same old, same old. Chicken & veg soup - I'm a broken record.

I make low carb "treats" every now and again and never have an issue with them. I make everything myself with mostly primal ingredients (never any flours or carb quick or anything like that). All the ingredients I used were stuff I eat all the time. Almonds, butter,eggs, 85% choc, etc. I am sure that it was the fact it was chocolate chip cookies, which were always my favorite! On top of that, I had cravings this morning which I haven't had in almost a year. Very unsettling!

Anyway, I am home now and will be back into a routine again. I still managed to log (yay) and although over cals, my carbs are good, which is my focus when away. Next couple days I will be restricting calories to make up for the last two days. (I work on a weekly calorie count).

Well done everyone for staying on track!!

Sorry for being MIA folks, I haven't been feeling up to par….but if anything I ate way less than I should have but I just wasn't feeling it.

Dr's this morning so hopefully in a day or two be back to my old self….watch out!!!!!

Yesterdays foods
Breakfast
Same as usual (pork belly) Coffee hc splenda

Lunch
nothing felt like crapola!

Dinner
cauli/leek soup x 2
water

Breakfast
-skipped other than 2 coffee HC splenda
(getting ready to go to Dr's)

Brunch
Picked up a large Turkey Cobb salad from Publix so good.
Turkey, eggs, bacon, tomato, green onion, guacamole, blue cheese crumbles……and blue cheese dressing!!!! OMG I am stuffed~!

Dinner
TBD depends on when or if Hubs is coming home.


Thats it for me folks keep up the great work!!!!!!

Great job everyone!

Lewmack: Awesome job staying on track during TOM, its the hardest time for me too.

AnnieS: So sorry you aren't feeling well... that's no fun.

Gloquilts: I hate it when that happens. I keep string cheese in every fridge in places I frequent and I have learned to keep some jerky in my purse for just such occurances! Great job staying on track!

khrussva: I have NEVER had 3 low carb meals in a day. Its usualy one or two and some extra coconut oil here and there. I hope someday I will be on a more normal eating schedule lol

As for me: Day 12 of 90 day challange, 34 days cheat free...

Breakfast: loaded coffee (2)
Snack: cheese stick and 1/4 avacado
Dinner: I think pork roast with cauliflower... we will see

I will start walking soon... I almost started after work but my feet were already hurting and I was wearing $9, 4 year old walmart shoes and thought better of it. I think I will start sometime in the next week. I will start with half mile just to get in a routine and work my way up.

As one who has done the sweet treat thing since the beginning, here are some of my thoughts about me and sweet treats...

In the first few months, I tried several different SF LC sweetened goodies. Some were good, some not so good. Why was I so interested in trying all these things? I think I was really trying to fill the void left from all those carby goodies that I was still missing. The LC substitutes all lacked that certain something that I was missing (namely sugar and wheat flour) so I just kept trying different recipies in search of the right one. The LC goodies did not cause me the same intense cravings that sugary treats caused, but I did find that I could still over eat them if I did not put the breaks on. Eventually with enough time sticking to LC food, the attachment to those carby favorites started to fade away, and at the same time so did my interest in trying to recreate those items in a LC way. When I started to break the bond with carby junk -- I no longer had a void to try and fill. I really started liking the real food that I was eating. LC sweet treats lost a lot of their appeal and I don't go out of my way to make them anymore. I made a really good LCHF icecream several times in the first few months. Now I can't remember the last time I made it. I may make some LC treats for holidays or birthday celebrations. But for every day eating, I don't feel the need for sweet treats to be a part of it.

This forum is a mixed bag of people who approach LC in different ways. Some live for the perfect LC sweet thing and others strongly oppose the idea of indugling in such things. Right now, I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't feel it is necessary for me to give them up completely; sweet didn't make me fat - sugar and wheat flour did. Is being sweet in and of itself a bad thing? I'm still pondering that one. I do find a fat bomb can serve a purpose for me as a quick go-to to knock out real hunger and I don't get cravings for them or from them. But still - more and more, I'm wondering why I need them in my diet at all.

I can see where sweet treats can be a problem for people. Many are a bit carby and I know they can be easy to overdo. I've done that a time or two. But I think they are more a problem for people who regularly go on and off plan. If you never do shake the bonds with carby junk, you will always have a void to fill as you try to get back to your LC plan. Jumping on and off plan, you will just never get past all this drama and struggle. So many people go off one time too many and don't manage to make it back. I'm not sure that LC sweet treats are the culpret here or if they just get some undue blame. I tend to think it is the constant void that will never go away if you don't commit to this way of eating.

That is why this 90 day challenge is so important. The emotional attachment and fond memories for that junky food you no longer eat just has to be broken for you to really start enjoying this way of eating. Sticking to your plan is the only way to make this happen. When these bonds are a thing of the past -- LC sweet things will lose a lot of their luster. Sticking to the low carb way of life becomes so much easier and you will find yourself enjoying what you are doing. If you enjoy what you are doing, you can sustain it and make the change perminant.

Sorry for the long ramble. The LC sweet treat thing is a hot topic and often gets very heated. But the fact is that some - perhaps most of us TDCers do use LC sweeteners and I think it is helpful to discuss it respectfully.

Day 14, yesterday's food: cream cheese and cocoa powder concoction (did not taste good), eggs, bacon, roasted veg.

sweet LC treats: interesting topic Ken. For me, though I'm trying to make some 'treats', I'm attempting not to sweeten them with any LC sweetener - if they need a sweetener to taste good then the 'treat' gets ditched. For me, I think it is important to try to get away from sweetened food to help quash my sugar addiction. I have no issue with what works for others, as I feel that LC sweetened has to be healthier than sugar sweetened.

Also I feel that for some of us, we need to make the changes to aid our health one step at a time, so eating LC sweetened treats may be the first stage in the transition, and later down the road this crutch may not be needed, or not needed so often, being relegated to true 'treat' status rather than 'need' status.

In the end, whatever works. We're all different and approach things in different ways.

Day 11 and 101 cheat free!!!

Wow never have I gone this long without cheating on any plan! It is sad I have only 23 pounds gone and am losing so slowlyyyyyy! I am sure I am insulin resistant. Very hard but I am totally trying to stay focused!!

I am convinced that the challenges have saved me and kept me on track! I am very grateful we started this one to go through Thanksgiving and Christmas!! I think this will make me focus on the Holiday not the food as it should be!!

Ken great post! Some good information. I sure love my SF Worthers. It does it for me and I still enjoy them some but not like I did!l

Thank you, Ken!
Your insight is very valuable! You write very well.
Yes, we can evolve over time, it rarely happens overnight. That's why the way I see this 90 day challenge is not only about staying on plan but also about not overeating within that plan. Practicing portion control with your on plan foods is a must. Its about the behaviors associated with changing our lifestyle. The longer we practice our new behaviors, the more likely we'll be able to make them part of our new life.
Not overeating is a big part of this. Committing to staying on plan is the other part.
I don't have a problem with a sweet treat for anyone. But if you can't stop eating that sweet treat, that is a problem.

I really appreciate all the hard work you guys are doing. You all are very inspiring to me. Thank you!!

Isn't there research that shows that artifical sweetener (AS) is more sweet than sugar and therefore can cause even more cravings?

I know I can't portion control on LC treats, so I don't make them. I've made a muffin in a mug a time or two, but I don't make them a staple. I can eat the whole container of Breyer's LC ice cream though. That's an old behavior and I don't want to be that girl anymore. So, I'm not buying LC ice cream or bought treats. But that's me. I will eat LC dessert on Thanksgiving, but it'll be homemade and it'll be just for the day. It's a treat for a reason...it's not an everday thing.

Well said Ken. I find the longer I'm on plan the less I want sweet too.

Yesterday was back to normal now that I am home again. All logged and accounted for and within normal parameters.

B: Flaxseed muffin with hard boiled egg
L: Burger and salad with mayo
D: Beef and veg stuffed squash
s: Macadamia nuts

Went swimming today for the first time in two weeks after battling a nasty cold, grandchildren visiting and trip away. It felt so good even if it was hard work after 2 weeks away. I even got to the gym, realized I had forgotten my bag so went home and got it in the midst of a traffic jam due to road works. I was determined to go swimming today!

Have a lovely, on plan day today,

Pam