katies71's Journal, 05 January 2019

Hi @Katies71. WOW, you've lost almost 20 pounds, down from 323 in LESS than two months! That's a GREAT accomplishment!!! Are you getting enough FIBER in your diet to keep your bowels running regularly? If not, try eating something today that will ensure that you have a good "elimination," Also, for the future, you might want to consider eating MORE calories with lower Carbs and higher Fats. God designed our bodies so that we store fat for times of famine. If your body isn't getting ENOUGH calories, it will go into "starvation mode," and will hold tightly onto the fat you HAVE because it is afraid there won't be enough more food coming in to sustain you in the future. This is just ONE perspective from ONE person - of course, every person has to do what they think is best for THEMSELVES. What you've BEEN doing obviously is working for you! Keep up the great work! 

Thanks @Debbie Cousins! I set my limit down to 1560 cals just because at 1800 I wasn't really losing. But normally I cheat so much that I end up with high averages anyway so I started pushing myself to hit the 1560 goal and then ended up a little lower than goal for my monthly average (see Dec 2018 lol). Yesterday I tried something that someone had told me...I aimed for a 500 day just to break the rut I was in...I only was able to do a 600 day but hopefully now going back to my 1560 days I will go back to losing weight. Lower carbs IS something I aim for but I'll tell you what...I am ADDICTED! I can barely hit my goal of under 90 carbs most days. I will try looking at fiber though...maybe that will help. I haven't really been paying attention to that. Thanks again for the good advice! 

If you don't mind me asking, @Katies71, where are your carbs coming from? (I couldn't access your Food Diary to check it out for myself.) Chances are good that there are some EXCELLENT substitutions that could be made, where you would feel just as satisfied as if you had eaten the higher-carb food. 

Apples, nuts, Peanut Butter and Jam are big ones but...my cheats are almost always high carb/high sugar treats...potato chips, ice cream, etc... I also like the high carb veggies the best potatoes and sweet potatoes have always been my jam lol 

sodium always makes me puff up. good luck to you! 

Thanks @sandyeg! I will take a look at my sodium too. I've not really had to watch it so I haven't but it may be an issue. 

Ok, running with that @katies71, here are some things you might want to try: (1) go to the FatSecret Food Diary and put in one of [B]each kind[/b] of apple (you'll be able to click the X to remove them after your experiment). Once you have them all there, you can compare the carbs and fiber in each one. Remember that Carbs MINUS Fiber = [b]NET CARBS[/b]. That's the number you need to be watching. To get an even more precise evaluation, change all of the Servings to 100 grams. Then you'll know exactly which are higher and lower. (2) Nuts can be researched in the same way. I LOVE cashews and pecans, but I have the pecans more frequently because they are much lower in carbs. (3) If you're eating that peanut butter and jelly on a sandwich, try toasting the bread (the crunchiness will help you eliminate the chips). (4) There are LOTS of Keto ice cream recipes which have VERY low carbs. I will be posting some over the next couple weeks, so keep watching! Hopefully, those few tips will make your journey a little easier. 

Oh thank you! I will be watching. I don't use bread for my PB&J...it's just the PB&J lol if I eat one piece of bread I will eat them all so I rarely have it. I think in the whole month of December I had the equivalent of 4 sandwiches. That and rice just make me go crazy so they are very limited for my own protection. But I will definitely try the comparison thing just to see where I can do better. 

Thanks @draglist me too, but I'm clearly not as good at it as you!!