Low Carb Year 2000

Low Carb Year 2000
:)
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2 January 2000: The beginning of a new year is always a good time for reflection, and for looking ahead. I have reread all my entries from the past year, and see that I have made progress in many areas of my life. My relationship with God has improved, and I feel closer to Him than I did for a couple of years. My relationship with my husband has improved in every way. We grow closer with each passing day, spending most of our time together. We have purchased a Grayhound bus, and are in the process of converting it to a recreational vehicle, as part of our long-term plan for retirement. We spend a great deal of time with our family, and our relationship with our children has grown and deepened also. He has supported me in my efforts to make low carb eating a permanent change in lifestyle, not just a temporary attempt to lose weight. I end this year with a body fat percentage 13% lower than last year, having lost fat and gained lean muscle. My goal weight has been readjusted several times, as my lean mass has increased. I have discovered many of the foods that act as triggers for cravings, and I have also discovered what substitutes I am willing to accept, and what things I will simply learn to live without.
I also see that there are still many things I want to change, or improve. I am still collecting low carb recipes, and want to restructure the way my recipe section is set up, as well as resolving to use more of the recipes, on a daily basis, instead of waiting for special events. I am coming to see the value in frequent evaluations, but I am also trying to wean myself from too much dependence on the number on the scale every morning. I know, intellectually, that it does not show me how much fat I have lost, or how much muscle I have gained. It is one tool, but a very faulty one, since it may reflect water retained, a reaction to a food allergy, a temporary gain because of medication--many things may affect its accuracy. The tape measure, and how my clothes fit, and my body fat percentage are all much more accurate measures of my progress.
My mother and my daughter have become very supportive of my way of eating. My daughter told me she had never seen me so faithful to any way of eating, nor make so much progress over a year's time. My mother still cooks much the way she has always cooked, but she does try to have a main course and at least one vegetable that I can eat. I make other side dishes, and low carb desserts. My youngest sister has lost another size over the course of the year. She has now been on low carb (Protein Power) for almost two years, about 18 months of maintenance in which her body has continued to reshape itself.
There are still habits I want to break, dependencies I want to eliminate, and this way of eating will become even more reinforced over the coming months as I begin to rotate menus and experiment with new recipes and different products. I continue to receive mail from people who find my journal entries interesting or helpful, and I love how I have made new friends through this site, as well as continuted to communicate with old friends. My prayers and best wishes to all of them, near and far, as this new year begins.

16 January 2000: I have been ill for several weeks now, culminating in pneumonia. One interesting thing the dr. told me: when the body is fighting a respiratory infection, it needs about twenty-five per cent *more* calories than usual, just to keep breathing. And yet, when ill, most people tend to eat much less than normal. No wonder we get weak, lose muscle tone, and have a hard time getting back to normal. I have had little appetitite, and all the meds have torn my stomach up, but I have tried to have at least 3 protein shakes every day, with extra oil for the extra calories my body needs. I am still about 9 pounds up from my former low weight, but recommitted to doing induction phase again as soon as I am off all meds, and getting back into "weight loss mode" again.
One thing I have discovered in this year on low carb is the importance for me of belonging to support groups. Lee Rodgers, who runs the Atkins-New list at St. John's, is a wealth of knowledge and encouragement. The Lowcarb-list at St. John's is more generally about all kinds of low carb plans. [email protected] is another wonderful group, chatty and friendly and very suppportive of one another. At Onelist, there are many groups; I subscribe to the Atkins_Support_List, and it too is a friendly, chatty group. I would recommend that people new to low carb subscribe to several lists, and see which they prefer. Lee's list is restricted to Atkins discussion only, and he insists that posts be on-topic. Some of the other lists are more loose; some people would say more comfortable, others would say too much chit-chat. It all depends on what a person wants and needs. I enjoy the variety. but most important, I need the encouragement of hearing the experiences of others on this way of life, and the ways they resolve the problems we all encounter. I don't post every day, but read all the posts from others, and post when I have something specific to say in response. some people just "lurk", never saying anything, only reading. Either way, it's good to feel connected to others on this journey to renewed health.

I have also been doing some introspection, praying and meditating, and pondering on the nature of justice, mercy, grace and forgiveness. I conclude that justice means getting exactly what I deserve. Mercy means that justice is tempered with love, so that I get less than I deserve. Grace means that I am forgiven, as utterly and completely as if the transgression had never happened. I am coming to find a certain peace with my past that has eluded me for a long time. And through this way of eating, I am finding control and self-confidence that I never thought possible. Praise God.

2 Feb. 2000: I have been experimenting with the fat fast, as described in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. The Fat Fast is an Atkins concept, for those of you who are not familiar with it. Doing the Fat Fast consists of eating 5 200-calories meals a day, and the fat content of the "meals" should be as close to 90% as possible. It is only for people who are very resistant to losing weight, and should only be done for a few days at a time, in cycles with the induction plan. I did it for three days last week, and lost 2 pounds. For the next few weeks I plan to do the fat fast for 2 or 3 days each week. It is amazing that I do not feel hungry while doing this, and actually more satisfied and feel less temptation to stray off plan. I am hoping that by doing this cycle for a few weeks, I will get back into weight loss mode, and escape the plateau I have been on for the past few months. Several people on the Food Log List did it together last week, and it was helpful, sharing our experiences and our food choices.
I have a couple of good snapshots from Christmas, and want to post a "before" and a couple of "now" pictures, as soon as I figure out how to put them on a page here. In one, I am wearing the red velvet dress, size 16 :). I get so used to looking at myself every day in the mirror, it is hard to see the progress I have made, but when I look at the pictures, I can see it. I think I see how to upload picture files, but geocities seems to want jpg or gif files, and my scanner only saves pictures as bmp files. I tried to save as jpg, but don't have that as an option.

7 March 2000: My dr. is still running tests, still trying to find out why I keep getting sick, even though I have been on antibiotics since December. I hope we figure this out soon, because I am tired of being sick. Taking all kinds of medicines can cause stalls or weight gains, so I have basically been maintaining since I got sick. I feel ready to start losing again, and hope soon to be off all but my maintenance meds and dropping weight again. I have been looking at the new spring clothes, and would like to be a size smaller by summer, when we go on our cruise. We will be traveling a lot again this summer. I have called the cruise line and ordered my low carb meal plan. The lady I spoke with was very pleasant and cooperative. It will be fun to see what the chef on the ship does with a low carb way of eating.

17 March Our trip to Las Vegas was great. We saw several shows, got all dressed up one night and went out, did a little gambling--I won $1.55 playing video poker on the nickle slots--and had a wonderful time. I managed to stay low carb the whole time. There are some great buffets at the different hotels, with a wide assortment of meats and salad stuff, although most of their vegetables are the starchy type. A couple of places even had "no sugar added" desserts, so for people doing Sugar Busters, there are even desserts available. I did not find any sugar-free jello, though. :)
I finally managed to figure out how to convert a btmp file to a jpg file, so I uploaded some pictures. I have posted them. I haven't found a picture of me at my highest weight--I wasn't asking people to take pictures of me at that time, and so there are not many floating around. One of my sisters says she has one, but she hasn't given it to me yet. The pictures I uploaded are me with DH (I'm wearing that red velvet dress), me by the Christmas tree, and my mother with all the babies (actually, one of them was asleep and missed the picture).
It woud be easy to give in to discouragement right now, since my weight is going the wrong direction. RX meds have a strong effect on the body and on weight loss, and of course being sick plays a major role. The body is constantly working toward homeostasis--maintaining the status quo. It doesn't want to give up any of itself. And when a person is sick, the calorie requirements go up, while the appetite goes down. I came back from Las Vegas with another sinus infection, and bronchitis. A low carb friend, Rani Merens, has been talking to me about doing the Texas elimination diet (for the link, go to Low Carb Retreat), and try to find out if I have some kind of food sensitivity which might be triggering the repeated infections. My dr. is still running tests (I have another round this week, Tues. and Thurs.), with no clear results yet. I am determined to keep on with low carb, since low cal/low fat only resulted in my gaining weight every passing year. And on low carb, I feel better overall--before, if I got bronchitis, it always turned into pneumonia, and always meant a trip to the hospital, so I am better off in that respect, since none of this on-going illness has resulted in hospitalization this year. I am not quite ready to do the elimination diet yet--it takes a long time, and is very restrictive--but if nothing else works, I guess I will have to.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my fellow Irish women and men. :)
An Irish Blessing:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warmly on your shoulders, and the rain fall softly on your fields.And may the good Lord hold you in the palm of His hand until we meet again.

26 March:

We spent the weekend camping out at Fort Fisher in Waco, for a soccer tournament. Sydney's team did very well. I was pleased that I was able to stay low carb all weekend. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, ham and cheese for lunch, steak for supper Saturday. Same breakfast Sunday, and hamburgers (no buns) for lunch. I am feeling better than I was for a while. Will weigh tomorrow, and hope that my body is finally ready to get back to weight loss mode.
28 March: Our thirtieth wedding anniversary.There have been times I didn't know if we would make it this long :), but here we are, and so happy together. We will be taking a cruise this summer to celebrate.

2 April: I am planning to do some revisions on my web site, including indexing the recipes. I plan to insert a list of recipes under each division heading on the recipe page, and creat links that will take the browser directly to each recipe as the recipe name is clicked on. I don't know how long this will take. it may involve creating a separate file for each individual recipe. So if you are trying to access the recipe files, please be patient if a link does not work correctly. this site continues to be a "work in progress" like the owner. :)
My dr. is still in progress with the tests, but the ones that have come back so far are reassuring. right now we are doing a study of my environment to see if something there is triggering my problems. I hope soon to have the health issues more under control, so that I can refocus on my on-going weight loss efforts. Summer travel plans are moving along, and I will be gone a good deal through the summer, but will update the journal entries when I can. Thanks to all of you who sign my guestbook, or e-mail me directly to tell me how you respond to these entries.:))
24 April:I know after more than a year on Atkins that I am addicted to carbohydrates. They are a drug for me. I get a carb high from eating sugar and starchy foods. In order to be a healthier person, I need to keep the carb level in my food intake very low. This is the only way I can stay in control of my addiction, instead of being overwhelmed by it. When I am eating carbs, my whole body yammers and screams for more, more, more. Even when my stomach is distended, so full of food that I am miserable, my body is still demanding another "fix." For me, there is no satiation in carbs. I can eat until I literally make myself sick, and still want more. On the high protein, high fat eating plan set forth in DANDR, I am almost always satiated after a meal. The fat satisfies me, the protein nourishes my muscles, and because I am not eating carb-rich foods, I don't have that constant craving. Nor do I ever feel the "sugar high" I used to feel. Maybe that is the root of boredom with what we eat on low carb--we miss the "thrill" of eating sugar, chocolate, etc. I have moments when I wish I could just wake up thin tomorrow. But I know that the problem would not be solved--the problem that made me fat in the first place. I will never be "cured"--the best I can hope for is control. Maybe that is why my body is so resistant to losing weight right now--I still have issues to think through, problems to work out concerning my relationship with food. If I ever reach the point where I can look at food simply as fuel--not reward or punishment, just as a factor of daily life like brushing my teeth or getting dressed--then I will really be ready to stay thin for the rest of my life.
4 September:We had a busy summer, traveling. Spent some time in San Antonio, New Orleans, Cozumel (Mexico), Grand Cayman (swimming with the stingrays), and Jamaica. Our cruise was fun and relaxing. Great food, wonderful selection of low carb dishes. Getting back to school has been hectic, since we got all new textbooks for all four levels of high school English. It will take me a while to get everything sorted out, and write new study guides, new review sheets, new tests, etc. I want to do more with my recipes, but just haven't had time. I had been sort of discouraged, since for eight months I had been stalled, and even gained back a few pounds, due to illness and changes in medication. However, in the past two weeks I have lost seven pounds! My uncle brought us some fresh produce, and I went a little crazy, eating fresh tomatoes, cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon, and snacking on sliced cucumbers. My calories increased about 10%, and my carbs up to 40-50 a day some days, and lo and behold, I lost weight! I don't understand it, but attribute the loss to getting carbs from healthy sources. Low carb is definitely not a "one size fits all" plan, and requires each person to find what works for that individual body.
Wick added a woodshop class this year, in addition to his electrical trades classes. Son graduated from college in May and is coaching and teaching. Daughter is expecting again in April, so we are looking forward to that. We spent quite a bit of time with the little ones this summer. Swim lessons in July. Went to the water park a couple of times. Sydney is playing both indoor and outdoor soccer, and as a guest player in tournaments. Josh is playing fall t-ball, at shortstop. Merideth and Aidan are doing instructional soccer. Katie is enrolled in kindermusic. Libby is beginning to talk quite a bit. Progress in all directions :).
5 Nov. 2000: I developed a major case of hives a couple of months ago, and the allergist can't seem to figure out what is causing it. After several rounds of RX, including a triple dose of prednisone, I have gained back most of the weight I had lost. So today I will be shopping for induction-safe foods, and restarting induction Monday morning. Since much of this gain (I think) is from the meds, and swelling from the hives, I am hoping to get back on track again and lose it fairly quickly.
Last summer we had a wonderful time going to several musicals. One favorite is Riverdance, with its intricate footwork. Another is Phantom of the Opera, because of the beautiful music--songs such as "Remember Me," and "That's All I Ask of You," and "Music of the Night." We have almost worn out the CD, playing those songs over and over. Next summer we are going to Maui for a week, just the two of us, and then plan to spend the rest of the summer traveling in the western U.S. and Mexico with our son and his family. The kids are very excited, and since son and DH both enjoy grilling outside, I should have an easy time with cooking, and being able to stay low carb. We are going to revisit Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns, and see some places we have never visited before. I think the greatest temptation (food-wise) will be traveling through New Mexico and resisting the wonderful Mexican food--but I know I can have fajitas without the tortillas, or fajita salad, or taco salad without the beans and tacos. There is almost always a low carb choice, if I am determined enough to find it, or if the chef is cooperative about adaptations.
I hope to post pictures of the little ones soon, once I get a basic page to showcase them. There are six now, and another expected in April, so we are anticipating that blessed event with great joy.
Speaking of editing this site, I need to get rid of the graphics on the recipes pages which came from Low Carb Luxury, since the owner of that site has asked that I not use her graphics.Ive tried to take some off but i will have to find out exactly which one low carb luxury is talking about since its been such a long time since posting them.