So then next logical question would be, "gee waterlilly, what IS your problem?" We'll, I'll tell you.

I'VE BEEN EATING TOO FREAKIN' MUCH!!!   

Now don't get me wrong. This WOE is REALLY good!  I feel GREAT and I'm NOT HUNGRY for HOURS. My blood sugar is nice and stable and I can walk right past dessert. Last night I had a dream about chocolate cupcakes with that nasty thick, grainy icing and they grossed me out. Someone was bugging me to take one and I'm like, "Ewww, gross!". So even in my dreams, my cravings have subsided. Once upon a time, they used to have a HUGE hold on me. Like to the point that avoiding a doughnut was an internal battle of the soul and I would buy sugar off of a stranger like it was crack, regardless of where it had been  . (The cravings were THAT bad).

However, back in the day when I was eating wheat  and "watching the weight" and counting "points" I would eat my little tuna 1/4 cup serving (with fat free mayo, of course) my 5 little poisonous high carb wheat crackers and MAYBE  a "low fat" cheese stick and a piece of fruit. High carb for sure. You can bet that 2 hours later, I was hungry and the only thing that kept me from eating the table was the non fat tuna. Still, the calories were limited which was good. The issue was that I always had to watch my blood sugar which could tank at ANY TIME  because I was eating high carby garbage.

Fast forward to today. That lunch is transformed.  I still have that tuna but I might have the "in oil" version. Or, the mayo is full fat. The crackers are flax crackers (10 carbs but 9 g fiber so = 1 net carb!) and a FULL FAT  cheese stick and LOW CARB Kroger yogurt. Yay!!  Fat is my good friend! I love you fat!!! 

Other snacks might include a glob of butter dumped into a pan to fry the veggies (perhaps 4 tbsp of olive oil for 2 stir fried servings of veggies and chicken), a big 'ol bowl of pork rinds with a little cup FULL of blue cheese dressing, or perhaps my favorites: 4 tbsps of heavy cream mixed with cocoa and stevia to be like runny chocolate ice cream, or late night cheese crisps (take a giant handful of shredded cheese and nuke until crispy...then break apart and chomp like chips).

I can only imagine that the same little wheaty nasty lunch, as been turned into a wonderful low carb but SUPER HIGH calorie fiesta!  No wonder my weight stays the same. If I really go bonanza and eat like a hedonist, the weight "can " go up but if I carry on as usual, it stays the same. A testament to the power of this WOE but still, not a way to LOSE it . (I can go gonzo when I'm maintaining but not right now).

The verdict? I'm eating too much. I think my brain has been programmed to associate watching portions with counting numbers and other unpleasant math like activities.

I like Doug's idea of "eating only when you're hungry". However, from my past dieting adventures and living in the land of deprivation, limiting a high cal but low carb portion makes me think I"m going to starve to death (when in reality, I' might eat that and not be hungry for hours! Still, tell my emotional brain that....)

So, how can I limit my calories a little more? Remember that I'm probably consuming at LEAST 2500-3000 calories. As a shorter female, I can't quite get away with that many calories, especially now that I"m into my 30's. I plan to get more active and am gradually. Still, I'm eating WAAAAYYY too much and I don't know if my appetite and I are friends yet. I think it needs some more coaching. I have about 50 pounds to lose before I can firmly qualify for the "hot chick dance" so I'ts not like I have hundreds of pounds to lose (that would make any reduction work like magic...I have to be a bit more careful as would anyone with less to lose). Any suggestions?

Since I'm on my short break, I slept in today pretty late.  I woke up around 10:30 (WAAAYYY too late for me because I'm a morning person but needed the sleep) and ate my usual low carb breakfast of an almond/flax muffin with some natural pb and 2 pieces of sausage, plus coffee.  Even with the PB at 3 carbs, the whole thing is about 6 carbs max.  So breakfast was at about 10:40. Then a friend called and I had to take her to the doctor and I spent the rest of the day out of the house, with no access to anything but some breath mints (sugar free) and some water.

When I got home, I was a little hungry, but my blood sugar was NICE and STABLE  !!  I realized that it was 5pm and I would need to eat when I got home, but even when we went to Walgreens for medication, NOTHING tempted me! I have lost the cravings because the carbs are in check and the wheat is nowhere to be found. THIS is the gift of the FTS lifestyle. I am steady and in control and food is something I consume for nourishment, not because some drug like phisiological response is controlling me and driving me to do something that I have to fight. It's just so lovely..... It's so awesome to be in control and to walk by the nasty addictive foods. I'm really liking the power here. 

Before I share my idea, I credit this new creativity to the fact that I NO LONGER have to take grad classes! (Still celebrating getting my life back here). OK, so here's my idea...

I really LIKE having things around that remind me of FTS. Sort of like a way to brand this way of eating that I can own. It would be REALLY COOL  to have an FTS keychain. But not like those big goofy plastic things. I'm thinking something much smaller that could attach to my current keys. Maybe something smaller that just says "FTS" on a little bar. Something smallish that would easily fit into a pocket.

So here's the other part... You could take some or all  (after production costs) of the profit for this keychain for your books for schools program!  So buying the keychain would be like a donation to the program.

I have no idea what it costs to develop something like this, so please pardon my ignorance on business/production costs. I just thought I would share my idea. 

I'm thinking they could look like this except without the religious symbol (I think it's an "evil eye" or something) but this general size: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22514370@N05/4091014457/#sizes/l/  and the charm would be something with FTS on it.

Just thought I would toss it out there!

About three months ago, I was really active on these boards. Then one day after about 3 weeks on FTS and some whining on how I can't "be like everybody else and eat garbage and look great (not that there are many people who can do this)" , I thought "eh, I"m not really seeing great progress ON THE SCALE (damn those numbers) and I NEED carbs, right? I'll just go back to carbs because it raises my serotonin". This, of course, DESPITE the fact that I was actually feeling fine on >20 carbs per day and had a system going. Shortly after I started FTS, I had THREE people tell me "you look thinner". Instead of TRUSTING the system and letting appetite control take over (very scary with my years of dieting/ways of thinking) I freaked out and decided it would be much better to just be able to buy my Lean Cuisines and just "watch my calories".

So, I tried counting calories and that didn't work (and counting numbers like that drives me freaking INSANE! It kind of made me feel like eating was a full time job with reports to file). Then, I tried another program which said "eat only up to 120 total carbs per day but keep all sugars (even fruit sugars) to no more than 15 grams per day, and divide that by no more than 40c and 5s per meal". Wow. MORE MATH.  Didn't work either.

Then I started reading "Wheat Belly" (a must read for every LC advocate) and I knew I had heard some of this before. Doug has often compared two slices of "whole grain" bread to many teaspoons of sugar!! While the book goes into some of the medical aspects, I see that FTS puts them into specific practice. It makes sense why so many people would be successful on FTS.

So, I'm going to try again but with a new attitude. NO "healthy whole grains" even if the package says it's low carb. I'm also going to stop fighting the appetite control and NOT EAT if I'm NOT HUNGRY (revolutionary, I know). I think I just need to let the magic of a LC, FTS, wheat free diet unfold. People were telling me "you look thinner" even though I hadn't seen much of a scale drop, so I think I was on to something. This time, I'm going to give it TIME to work instead of giving up after 3 weeks. It's a whole new way of thinking!!

And for the record,I am majorly TICKED  at the propaganda I see that says things like "whole grains are healthy" , "you must have balance", "calories in, calories out", "buy this super intense work out system for the body of your dreams!" or "buy these drugs and make your symptoms go away!".  It sometimes makes me second guess myself. But NOT ANY MORE  .  Thanks for this wonderful resource! I am recommitted.

I just want to say "thanks" for the great advice on how to understand my own hunger signals which have been buried under  years of bad diets and worse blood sugar.  I've been asking myself lately, "Am I hungry?" and haven't been strapping on the feedbag like before. I really don't need to eat as much or as often and I feel BETTER. I don't see food so much any more as entertainment or the band-aid that keeps blood sugar stable, but rather norishment at just the right time. Ahhhh...

Secondly, I'm always noticing high carb stuff. I saw something today that reminded me of a few concepts I've learned here.

There was a woman at this cafe near me who looked like she HAD to be a very comfortable size 4. Really lean, like I would like to be. She sat down with a friend and she had  a large, mocha sugar laden latte drink something or other topped with whipped cream AND a blueberry bagel! And I thought "What the?!" I could never eat that and I'm certainly not THAT size (yet). I just shook my head at first. But, as Doug said, I thought to myself, "Well, I"m just one of the "special people"" and I feel good about just drinking coffee while I play on my laptop. Even better than that, I didn't *WANT* the bagel or sugar laden coffee drink. It just didn't look good to me.

So this is good. Very, very, very, very good.

Something very weird is happening...

I have lost the physiological cravings for sweets. That's GOOD. I can walk past any carby junk and I just see garbage. Cool.

However, I still have this emotional attachment to them. The emotional attachment came from the physiological one. Plus, when I was working as a high school teacher ( a job I was NOT suited for) I was always stressed out. Mornings included a trip to 7-11 for coffee and Snickers, or a donut, or peanut M&M's (they're low glycemic you know) <shudders>

I used to have "paths" or "places" that I would go (sometimes out of my way) to get this carby, sugary junk. I was like a hunter and sugar and carbs were my prey. Plus, for me, they were a substitute for REAL things. Now that I don't have the physical need to get this garbage, I've lost some of the things I used to "do" if you could call it that. The big thing for me is that I need to change up my life in a few ways anyway. FTS just gets the stuff that was holding me back, out of the way.

Still, there's part of my brain that goes "don't you want to stop at 7-11?" and my body says, "I'm stuffed. Why would we do that?" because it's all full of beef jerky or salmon or cheese or almonds.

Any ideas on how to break the emotional ties to carbs and sugars? I'm starting to see room for REAL LIFE now. I just need to figure out how.

(Didn't know you were psychoanalyzing me! HA! )

This has to be detox. I ate dinner, WAS going to go to Zumba, but skipped it becuase I just go SO TIRED. I need to drink some broth too. It was a crappy day today, with the clouds and the work I have to grade before the semester ends. My head doesn't hurt (yet) but my stomach is still a bit icky. I found a great doctor who is a low carb advocate in his practice who explained why we get these symptoms. Based on his explanation, it IS true that low carb HEALS our bodies!  I just need to stick out the detox. I'm bound and determined to do this.

What weird symptoms!

Help!  I don't like to cook. Not only that I don't like to cook, I live in a 1 bedroom apartment and my space for freezing and storing pots and pans is VERY limited.  I need some meal ideas for someone like me who doesn't like to cook. I pretty much microwave everything and I'm pretty busy with work  and my work on a second masters degree along with a job search, so time is also a factor.  One cool part of FTS is where Doug outlines what you can eat and how to throw together some easy meal ideas. That part is helpful.

Does anyone have any fast/easy meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, or dinner? I'd be more than happy to pay extra for pre-cut pre-packaged anything. Lean Cuisines and Subway used to be my staples but I want to live the "low carb life" so I simply need to find another way to get what I need. The easier, the better for me!  Thanks.