Frustration

Saffire wrote:

No more diarrhea?
BINGO! Before starting low-carb almost a year ago, I would have
intense, PAINFUL, GUT-WRENCHING diarrhea at least once a week,
sometimes more.

Wow, that sounds really awful What a miserable way to live. I never had
anything that awful, but I did have a really bad diarrhea attack just about
every day, usually earlyish in the morning. Not painful as you describe, but
it limited me as I was terribly afraid to go out anywhere before I had my
attack, and always feared it would hit me while commuting to work.

But like you I am free of that symptom while on LC.
--
Debbie

Jackie Patti wrote:

My low-carb diet is pretty much homemade, not falling into any of the
"official" plans. I eat meat, veggies, eggs... and way the hell too
much dairy. I don't give a flying **** whether Bernstein approves of
packet sweeteners or whether Atkins considers caffeine a staller or
whether the Eades classify tomatoes as low or high-carb veggies.
My diet is low-carb in a way that suits *me*. I count carbs minus
fiber, and ignore sugar alcohols entirely as I don't eat 'em. I eat a
lot of salad and use DaVinci syrups in my yogurt and protein powder
shakes. I make Lynne's chocolate occasionally. I do what works for
*me*. I don't suggest you eat what I eat. I suggest you find what
works for *you*.
But how low-carb works for any individual can vary. I seem to need a
lot of dairy to keep me content with my diet.

LOL, you and I must be twins separated at birth Jackie. I could almost have
written this exact post myself. You diet sounds almost exactly like the one
I'm on myself. I see that you would be an easy dinner guest to have over.
Just make something that would suit me and I bet it would suit you too! :-)

It may not be utterly perfect, but it is a diet I can live with now, and
probably for a very long time. And I have also lost 17 pounds since I began
officially weighing myself after the diabetes diagnosis, and probably at
least 35 since the beginning of the year.

--
Debbie

"Debbie Cusick" wrote

I see that you would be an easy dinner guest to have over.
Just make something that would suit me and I bet it would suit you too!
:-)

It may not be utterly perfect, but it is a diet I can live with now, and
probably for a very long time. And I have also lost 17 pounds since I
began
officially weighing myself after the diabetes diagnosis, and probably at
least 35 since the beginning of the year.

Heehee, take Debbie up on the offer, Jackie. She's a *really* good cook...
lol!

Such great weight loss, Debbie. Way to go!

HG
who remembers when Debbie was posting all those really super recipes

Hannah Gruen wrote:

Heehee, take Debbie up on the offer, Jackie. She's a *really* good cook...
lol!

I believe it; I've tried many of her recipes.

HG
who remembers when Debbie was posting all those really super recipes

Me too! And they're all still Googlable.

--
As you accelerate your food, it takes exponentially more and more energy
to increase its velocity, until you hit a limit at C. This energy has
to come from somewhere; in this case, from the food's nutritional value.
Thus, the faster the food is, the worse it gets.
-- Mark Hughes, comprehending the taste of fast food

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:

Basically, I want to move into OWL, something I haven't done in the past.

Then do exactly that. It's time. My worry is what you wrote in
your original post:

Atkins Induction, which I have trouble leaving behind.

Think about why you have trouble leaving Induction behind.
Induction is EASY and that makes it hard to leave. It is SO
tempting to believe that less carbs must automatically mean
more loss, no matter that it's false and no matter that you
have been doing exactly that and proved to yourself that it
is false the hard way by stalling and getting frustrated.

Moving on to OWL is frightening. It's okay. Almost anyone
who follows the real 4 phases is terrified every time they
try a new food, every time they increase another 5. Step
out in faith! Courage isn't lack of fear; courage is
being afraid and acting anyways.

I found that the Bernstein diet was way too restrictive for
me, although it brought my blood sugars down. The daily
average under Bernstein was in the 130s, which is still too
high for me.

This means you're stuck with doing shots. No wonder you are
frustrated. It is so nice to believe that reducing carbs
farther and farther will take your blood sugar lower and lower.
It was sure worth trying! But it didn't work so you need the
shots.

On Thursday, out of frustration, I decided to take a break for four days,
up until I saw my doctor. It's only four days. And I've discovered the
higher carb foods that I cannot add to the Atkins plan, once I start
increasing my carbs.

Yeah well, you ate soe high carb foods ahead of schedule.
Shrug. Now ya know. It's a victory not a defeat in my book.
Applied knowledge is power. Avoid the experiement, never get
the knowledge.

I will occasionally have a small serving of fried rice, and will sometimes
have an oatmeal pancake (2 tablespoons of oatmeal), or some berries..
Those are the only carby foods I plan on adding. No bread, no potatoes, no
real milk, no pasta. Just a small portion of rice, oatmeal, or fruit.

Where's the veggies? Atkins OWL is about the veggies. They are
better carb grams anyways.

I'm sorry that my earlier post wasn't more clear. I've been thoroughly
exhausted, doing physical work in the basement with an already injured
back, and worrying about whether or not I'll be able to keep my home
because of threatened foreclosure. I'm under a great deal of stress, and
these yo-yo weights are making matters even worse.

You don't have to move on to OWL now if you don't have time. As
long as the stress is certain to let up in a while, go ahead and
wait. You do have the rest of your life. But if it looks like
the stress will last forever, what's the hurt in facing it with a
bunch of asparagus or a cup of mashed turnip?

On 25 May 2004 14:12:23 -0700, (Doug Freyburger) wrote:

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:

Basically, I want to move into OWL, something I haven't done in the past.

Then do exactly that. It's time. My worry is what you wrote in
your original post:

Atkins Induction, which I have trouble leaving behind.

Think about why you have trouble leaving Induction behind.
Induction is EASY and that makes it hard to leave. It is SO
tempting to believe that less carbs must automatically mean
more loss, no matter that it's false and no matter that you
have been doing exactly that and proved to yourself that it
is false the hard way by stalling and getting frustrated.

I did go into OWL in the respect that I added new veggies, flax meal, and
nuts. Probably some other stuff that I don't remember right off hand.
What I didn't do was exceed 20 carbs 95% of the time.

Moving on to OWL is frightening. It's okay. Almost anyone
who follows the real 4 phases is terrified every time they
try a new food, every time they increase another 5. Step
out in faith! Courage isn't lack of fear; courage is
being afraid and acting anyways.

Like getting on a down escalator. I used to force myself to take one every
day when I was working, but I was terrified each and every time.

I found that the Bernstein diet was way too restrictive for
me, although it brought my blood sugars down. The daily
average under Bernstein was in the 130s, which is still too
high for me.

This means you're stuck with doing shots. No wonder you are
frustrated. It is so nice to believe that reducing carbs
farther and farther will take your blood sugar lower and lower.
It was sure worth trying! But it didn't work so you need the
shots.

By now, you've probably read that my doctor was ecstatic over over those
numbers, and not even willing to increase my Metformin. sigh Therefore,
I've got to follow Bernstein instead of Atkins, and follow it closely.
Bernstein did lower my carbs significantly in comparison to Atkins. I'm
hopeful that following it for a longer period may lower them even more.

On Thursday, out of frustration, I decided to take a break for four days,
up until I saw my doctor. It's only four days. And I've discovered the
higher carb foods that I cannot add to the Atkins plan, once I start
increasing my carbs.

Yeah well, you ate soe high carb foods ahead of schedule.
Shrug. Now ya know. It's a victory not a defeat in my book.
Applied knowledge is power. Avoid the experiement, never get
the knowledge.

*smile* Thanks for taking a positive approach to what I did. I appreciate
the encouragement very, very much.

I will occasionally have a small serving of fried rice, and will sometimes
have an oatmeal pancake (2 tablespoons of oatmeal), or some berries..
Those are the only carby foods I plan on adding. No bread, no potatoes, no
real milk, no pasta. Just a small portion of rice, oatmeal, or fruit.

Where's the veggies? Atkins OWL is about the veggies. They are
better carb grams anyways.

Oh, I meant as part of my overall eating. And I'm no longer going to add
those things, anyway. I just had stir-fried multi-colored peppers and
onions with my dinner. Beats having nothing buy broccoli, green beans, and
salad. I'm thinking of planting asparagus in my yard. It's just too
darned expensive in the stores. I'm also investigating other Bernstein
friendly veggies.

I'm sorry that my earlier post wasn't more clear. I've been thoroughly
exhausted, doing physical work in the basement with an already injured
back, and worrying about whether or not I'll be able to keep my home
because of threatened foreclosure. I'm under a great deal of stress, and
these yo-yo weights are making matters even worse.

You don't have to move on to OWL now if you don't have time. As
long as the stress is certain to let up in a while, go ahead and
wait. You do have the rest of your life. But if it looks like
the stress will last forever, what's the hurt in facing it with a
bunch of asparagus or a cup of mashed turnip?

I like asparagus and I like rutabaga. I'm scared of turnips. I'm
envisioning them being on the bitter side. Is that incorrect?

Thanks for your response, Doug. There are a lot of people whose opinions I
value very much, and you're at or near the top of that list.

Carol
--
Fasting BG 145
227/227/150 (official weigh-day: Thursday)
Bernstein 5/25/2004
Diabetes Dx 5/15/2001
Diet, Exercise, Oral Medication

Damsel in dis Dress wrote:
Doug Freyburger wrote:

Thanks for your response, Doug. There are a lot of people whose opinions I
value very much, and you're at or near the top of that list.

I'm a hard-core pain in the butt so at least I'm predictable. Tough
love with the tough part being more apparent. Pro-low-carb in general
and pro-Atkins in specific. Pro what Atkins actually is not any media
view. And having read all of the editions and thought through the
confusing writing style my idea of what the 4 phase process is does
not match the view of many who read one edition of the book and it
clashes with the view many have of the book. This makes me easy to
dislike at first but I tend to grow on folks over a period of time.
I'm in no hurry.

Moving on to OWL is frightening. It's okay. Almost anyone
who follows the real 4 phases is terrified every time they
try a new food, every time they increase another 5. Step
out in faith! Courage isn't lack of fear; courage is
being afraid and acting anyways.

Like getting on a down escalator. I used to force myself to take one every
day when I was working, but I was terrified each and every time.

That's the difference between courage and rashness.

By now, you've probably read that my doctor was ecstatic over over those
numbers, and not even willing to increase my Metformin. sigh Therefore,
I've got to follow Bernstein instead of Atkins, and follow it closely.
Bernstein did lower my carbs significantly in comparison to Atkins. I'm
hopeful that following it for a longer period may lower them even more.

I read those posts after I posted that response.

There are priorities in life. Blood sugar control beats loss for
many people. You gotta deal with the top priority first and if
other priority clash that's the way those secondary priorities go.

Yeah well, you ate some high carb foods ahead of schedule.
Shrug. Now ya know. It's a victory not a defeat in my book.
Applied knowledge is power. Avoid the experiement, never get
the knowledge.

*smile* Thanks for taking a positive approach to what I did.
I appreciate the encouragement very, very much.

Atkins is a process not a menu. It is a sequence of experiments
to see what your own body can and can't handle. Trying stuff IS
following the process. It's another aspect of acting in the face
of your fear.

I'm thinking of planting asparagus in my yard. It's just too
darned expensive in the stores.

I think it takes a couple of years before it makes those stalks.

You don't have to move on to OWL now if you don't have time. As
long as the stress is certain to let up in a while, go ahead and
wait. You do have the rest of your life. But if it looks like
the stress will last forever, what's the hurt in facing it with a
bunch of asparagus or a cup of mashed turnip?

I like asparagus and I like rutabaga. I'm scared of turnips. I'm
envisioning them being on the bitter side. Is that incorrect?

Rutabagas are more intense than turnips. If you like rutabaga, you
will like turnip because turnips are rather like extra mild ruties.
So if you liked turnips it would still make sense to fear ruties,
but not the other way around. Enjoy!

Hey Damsel Girl. I wish I had something to add in for support on what you are
going through. I havn't got any problems with diabetes or blood sugar..etc. But
I am rooting for you. I feel the same as you do about Dougs advice. He has
helped me pull through rough times with his tough love.

I think you are courageous. You are keeping on keeping on despite the downfalls
and problems you are going through. I know you will make it girl!

On 26 May 2004 15:39:25 GMT, (Sunshyne) wrote:

Hey Damsel Girl. I wish I had something to add in for support on what you are
going through. I havn't got any problems with diabetes or blood sugar..etc. But
I am rooting for you. I feel the same as you do about Dougs advice. He has
helped me pull through rough times with his tough love.

I think you are courageous. You are keeping on keeping on despite the downfalls
and problems you are going through. I know you will make it girl!



Thanks, Sunshyne. You've chosen a very appropriate name for yourself. :-)

I've been feeling pretty weak in recent weeks/months. But I know, inside,
that to have survived all this stuff, I must be stronger than I sometimes
acknowledge.

Today, I actually FEEL strong. I got my doctor's answers regarding
medication and diet, and now have something solid that I have to work with.
Guessing is no way to control diabetes or lose weight.

Thanks for your continuing support.
Carol
--
Fasting BG 144
227/227/150 (official weigh-day: Thursday)
Bernstein 5/25/2004
Diabetes Dx 5/15/2001
Diet, Exercise, Oral Medication