Hi, Everyone...

So I've been absent a while - again.  Not because I've been doing bad - in fact quite the opposite. My eating has been impeccable lately. But my weight has not BUDGED and I'm SO aggravated and feel just trapped...

At this point, I've lost 80 lbs. total but am still a BMI of 43 (over 100 lbs. overweight still) and my orthopedic surgeon refuses to do knee replacements until I'm under a BMI of 40. I've been stuck at this weight (right around 250) since Christmas! I'm getting SO frustrated. I will drop to around 245 and then sometimes literally overnight it will jump up to 258. About 4 weeks ago now I started doing more of a ketogenic form of low carb - really watching every carb and keeping it usually under 10 grams a day (can you do TOO low?) - and increasing the coconut oils, etc., to usually 85% fat for the day. Also keeping my protein lower at around 70 grams a day. Right when I started doing this, the weight started dropping again - down to 250 - then shot right back up. I'm at 254 today and just about to give up in frustration but I don't know what else I would do... My blood sugar has dropped a LOT since I started the ketogenic style - I'm almost totally off my fast acting insulin and only taking Lantus now and staying in normal range! I'm also in ketosis per my blood ketone meter - averaging around 1.8 - so why on earth would the weight not BUDGE?! I also cut out ALL the sugar alcohols and "fake foods" when I started this 4 weeks ago...

I do have thyroid issues but am taking WP thyroid (a natural dessicated thyroid like Armour) but maybe it's not working...??!!  Is there anything else I'm missing? I wondered about intermittent fasting or a fat fast to see if this plateau would break. I'm just SO desperate to get down to that weight of under 230 so I can get my surgery on my knees - I feel I'm making NO progress at all. Like there's just no hope and I'm trapped in this body and at this weight and there's nothing I can do about it. The fatigue and knee problems make it hard to exercise - I can't do anything that requires getting up and down off the floor and most of the videos I find require this. Or squats or something else I can't do. I'm also allergic to chlorine so going to the public pools is out. I guess I just don't understand how on earth I could be in this good of ketosis and this low carb but still no [url=http://www.fattoskinny.com/]weight loss[/url] after almost 7 months... <sigh> I could understand if I were closer to my normal weight - but I'm nowhere near it.

This past weekend (family reunion). It was VERY HARD - but I for real did not eat even ONE BITE that I wasn't "supposed to" - not ONE. I watched everyone else eat all the goodies, but I found foods for ME.  There were some awesome garlic-marinated cheese slices, burgers (I had no bun), sausages, etc., that made it work. Friday night, though, they were having spaghetti so Gorden and I picked up cobb salads and ate our own food that night. Now mind you - spaghetti is one of my absolute favorites - so this was NOT easy.
But all weekend I kept thinking that maybe I'd get a breakthrough in this weight plateau I'd been on. I don't know what is going on but it HAS to be something medical because it is NOT my eating this time.
Anyway - I was feeling SO happy and FREE that I'd made it the weekend with such a victory - my husband even said he was PROUD of me (and I do NOT hear that very often from anyone -  But the scale showed a 3 LB GAIN. Then another 2-lb GAIN today.  I can't stop tearing up. I feel SO very frustrated. Like there is just NO WAY OUT of this. There is NOTHING I can do that I'm not doing already. But NOTHING is changing for me.
And what's making it even harder is that I was hobbling around on my knees up there and Saturday I missed most of the gathering because I could barely WALK after the little bit I'd walked on Friday and Saturday morning. I was in SO MUCH PAIN and just in tears from it. And I kept thinking well this weekend should be a good start to me getting into the 240's and closer to the 230's so I can get my surgery. But no... Not even that happened for me. I get one health issue under control and 3 more flare up. And all along - the dang WEIGHT is there taunting me. I know I'm only reaping what *I* sowed all those years of overeating. But if there's nothing I can do to CHANGE it any more - what's the point? I just feel like I'm trapped and there's no way out...

Any help greatly appreciated...

- Jacki

I know I saw a recipe for deviled eggs with avocado in one of Doug's books but now I can't find it! I've done searches, too... Maybe it was in the forums or Facebook page, but I remember seeing a photo as well. And now I have the avocado and can't find the recipe!

Can anyone help?!

Thanks!

Jacki

Just wondering if some people taste the Zero (or Splenda in general) as a bitter taste instead of sweet?  To me it tastes very good - sweet, no aftertaste... love it!  But Gorden keeps saying he tastes an aftertaste and that it tastes bitter

We made some homemade whipped cream with it (heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and Zero) and OMG it's amazing to me!  But he keeps wanting to put LESS of the sweetener because he thinks that's what's making it taste bitter!  But to me it tastes bitter if we don't put ENOUGH!  So which is it?!

Now to ME, Stevia has never tasted sweet - it tastes totally bitter - and I read somewhere that to some people this is the case with Stevia...  Are there other sweetener options - what about xylitol or erythrotol?  But dang, it would be hard to give up my Zero!! 

Okay, I've tried and tried to get used to Ranch instead of Thousand Island - but it's just not the same! It ruins my whole "salad experience" because I just don't like it nearly as well!

So I tried the homemade low-carb Thousand Island recipe I found in the forums that was something like:

1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar-free ketchup
3 tablespoons sugar-free sweet relish
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

This is VERY close to "the real thing" - except it seems way too sweet to me and my husband!  What's causing this?  The ketchup or relish?  And any tips on how I might adjust this recipe to make it less sweet but still have it taste, smell, and look like the real thing?!!

Thanks a bunch!

- Jacki

Hi, Everyone!

Seems every time I post I have to say I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted 

Anyway!  Since last time, some good things and some bad.  First, I can't remember if I shared my terribly excruciating back/sciatica pain that had started up last May (in addition to my double knee bone on bone pain I'd dealt with for a year at that point)...  But anyway, I went through the gamut with this pain last summer, fall, and now finally had to have back surgery (something I swore I'd never do!) - I had a herniated disc pressing right on that sciatic nerve root in my spine so 3 weeks ago I had a microdiscectomy to take off the herniated part of the disc.  I'm thrilled to say I'm pain free for the first time in so long that it almost feels WEIRD!!  But I'll take it!!

On the good front...  I'd lost down to 243 lbs. right before Christmas, which made for a total of 87 lbs. since the year before!!  Notice I'm using past tense.  Since then, I went nuts a few times (WHY do I keep DOING that??) and did gain back 12 lbs. so I'm currently at 255.  But that's still a heck of a lot better than 330, and I just don't have the heart to change it in my ticker - because I have full intentions of getting back down there SOON!

Next great news!  Remember when I first started this, I was the only one in my household eating this way and had to watch those around me eating all the stuff I wanted so badly?  Well, around June of last year my husband, Gorden, was having some weird symptoms and I suggested he check his blood sugar with my meter - and he was starting to run a tad on the high side (I would say he is at the "impaired glucose tolerance" level which isn't surprising considering the diet he'd been eating which was about 90% carbs!!).

So...  He has also started eating low carb right along with me and boy has that helped me!!  We keep each other in check and have made it a "project" to find good recipes, restaurant options, etc., to help keep our sugar down.  He very rapidly lost about 30 lbs. (which he really didn't need to, but it just happened!) - and is delighted that his sugars are normal now.  Last time I saw my diabetes doctor she was so shocked at how well my labs were she literally asked me when I wanted to come back!!  She said I obviously know what I'm doing

So...  that's about it for now!  Just want to say hi and fill y'all in.  Hopefully I won't be away for any other catastrophes now!

- Jacki

Is there a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is good but doesn't have that grainy/sandy texture that it seems everything I try to bake with almond flour has?!  My husband and I are looking for a good one and this is one of our favorite desserts we miss but every one we've tried tastes ok but has something totally different from a cookie texture and the dough itself is really dry and crumbly before baking...

Hi, Everyone!

Wow, I can hardly believe it's been a year ago this month that I'd been in the hospital with dangerously high blood sugar because of my out of control eating and when I got out I started FTS...  My blood sugar came down immediately, the swelling in my legs went away immediately, and the weight started dropping off immediately!  My A1C dropped from 9.8 to 5.6 in just 3 months. My cholesterol went from 246 to 157.  All my inflammatory markers are in the normal range for the first time ever!

Those first few months the weight came off quickly (50 lbs.) but then I hit a plateau that just wouldn't break for some time.  I ended up with tons of stress going on in my life which is probably the culprit - some eating slip ups happened but even when I was "doing well" the weight wouldn't budge.  My mother-in-law lived with us (94 years old) and her dementia had gotten really bad and I was the one here with her all day and losing sleep because she would talk all night to "the people in the room" who weren't really there.  She passed away at the end of May and about that time I developed severe back/leg pain (sciatica) for no apparent reason and was in excruciating pain 24/7 - found out I have 2 herniated discs.  Got some relief from a steroid shot but it came back and now I'm undergoing spinal decompression through my chiropractor so that's quite a bit better now too.

Anyway!  All that to say my plateau FINALLY broke - of all things - while I was on VACATION at DISNEY!!  I just got determined I was NOT going to "mess up" even though I was on vacation (which is usually the time I just do what I want) - but my choice was to keep going because the weight had slowly started coming off again.  So now - a year after beginning - I'm down 73 lbs.!!  I just had a closet cleaning the other day and had a pile SOOOO high of clothes that are now hanging on me that I was told I need to get rid of lol!  So I've gone from 5x down to 2x now!!  Finally got under the 260 mark into the 250's - can hardly wait for the next goal of being in the 240's

I also need knee replacements in both knees but my doctor won't do it until I'm out of the morbidly obese category which for me will be when I get down to 232 - which is not so far away any more!

Just wanted to let y'all know how I'm doing and to you new folks - please believe THIS WORKS!!!! You just have to stick with it no matter what and even if you hit a loooonnnnngggg plateau - it WILL eventually break if you just don't give up!

- Jacki

Can't seem to stop eating lately - and ALL the wrong things... Terrified to get on the scale. How do we emotional eaters stop eating for comfort, love, anger, etc.? I'm very tired of eating low carb with everyone around me eating everything they want, though I know without a doubt it's the best. So why do I keep blowing it?! I'll resolve to DO it each day and then just start eating and then can't stop till the "next" day. This is how I got to 330 lbs to begin with <sigh> and I was down to 265 and don't want to regain it all...

Please help!

Jacki