Struggling but so impressed with this book!!

[buckster13]

Hi, I have supported the low carb movement for years off and on. Once I read Doug's book it literally changed my life. Looking at carbs this way is so simple. I have read Atkins and SB but Doug makes it so easy to understand. I can't look at an informercial on some exercise routine to lose weight the same way since reading FTS. Eliminate the sugar and sit back and get skinny, (a little exercise helps, but is not the be all, end all). I need some help. I started this on Jan. 1 and to date have dropped 11 lbs. ( 193 to 182). Nice but I seemed to have stalled a bit. No loss in the last two weeks. My problem areas are coffee with cream, which I have switched to black with a sweet n low and dinner. When I get home from work I am starved and though I eat low carb I think I eat too much. (two plates). Am I not eating enough at lunch? Should I try a snack bar or something? I am in sales so every day is different. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. B13

[downeast]

Welcome buckster, and congrats on the weight loss. I suggest that you carry a snack with you for midafternoon. Maybe measure 1/3 cup sunflower seeds into a ziploc bag, or have a cheese string, or a bar if you can find the kind that are only 2 or 3 carbs. Just a little something to lighten the strong hunger you are having at dinner time.
Way to go!

[ShihTzuMom1]

Welcome to the Fat to Skinny forum family Buckster13.  Mid afternoon snack is a good idea to keep you feeling content.  As Downeast suggested eat some sunflower seeds, or I like unsalted pecans in the afternoon.  You could also eat a string cheese on your drive home so you aren't starving when you walk in the door.  I cut down to an 8" dinner plate which helps me and I also keep a daily food journal to keep track of what I am eating.  If I get stalled I look back on the last couple of weeks to see what I had been eating and change things up a bit or eliminate something that seems to hinder my weight loss.  Also you should switch from Sweet & Low to Stevia in your coffee.  Good luck with your journey.

[umpa]

Welcome buckster13! i am umpa,dougs wife.I have a  column on the homepage called ask umpa where I can convert your favorite recipes to fat  to skinny friendly.I drink coffee everyday(nectar of the gods ).I like mine with stevia and heavy cream.Heavy cream is 0 carbs.You should never be hungery if you are eating correctly. You need to incorporate a 3 oclock snack to tie you over like fruit and cheese or deli meat and cheese.If I can help you please ask.

[Rena]

Sounds like you're doing great!

Coffee creamer was my weakness, too. I switched to sugar-free Coffeemate and that's only 1 carb per serving. However, that's only a tablespoon and I've gotten so accustomed to using more. I started using 1T plus a packet of sweetener and that helped. Now I'm drinking it mostly black with a teaspoon of sugar-free syrup instead (like they use in coffeehouses) and that's helping. I saw on the Netrition website that there is an unsweetened coffee creamer, but I have yet to try it. I'd like to sometime. PureSilk Almond milk comes in unsweetened too, so you might want to try that if you don't do the heavy cream.

Congrats on your progress.

[mouseissue]

Welcome to our family, buckster13!  

You are getting some good advice here from some of our other members.
Please head it!... We are here for you!

By the way, allowing yourself to "starve" followed by overeating is exactly how traditional diets fail.
We deprive ourselves to the point that we can't help but eat too much.

Overeating (or eating when your not hungry) will cause your weight loss to stall (and sometime even go up a bit).

Be good to your body and it will be good to you... Feed it when it's hungry.

[SherriPie]

Welcome buckster13!!

Portion control is so important. Try drinking more water and be sure to eat lunch and a snack if you like. You have 20 carbs a day to play with, use it so you don't get so hungry at night. I keep pumpkin seeds in my purse for those needed snack times.  

[ausgirl]

I hear ya sherripie, re portion control, I ate too much bbq chicken tonight....

[buckster13]

Thanks so much for all your support. I will try the bag of nuts snack trick and I have begun keeping a food journal and that seems to make me think before I go back for seconds. So far so good, I dropped another 3 pounds. I still am amazed at how relatively easy this has been. Now, if I can only stay away from the beer. Any suggestion? B13

[Doug Varrieur]

Beer will certainly pack on the pounds and sabotage your progress. I would choose the lowest carb beer available and treat it like a dessert only having 1 a day.

[SherriPie]

Thanks so much for all your support. I will try the bag of nuts snack trick and I have begun keeping a food journal and that seems to make me think before I go back for seconds. So far so good, I dropped another 3 pounds. I still am amazed at how relatively easy this has been. Now, if I can only stay away from the beer. Any suggestion? B13

I drink Michelob Ultra from time to time. Only 2.5 carbs per beer but like Doug said I treat it like a dessert. It's nice though to be able to have a drink out when everyone else is.

Also, you posted how easy the lifestyle is. Sometimes doesn't it feel like cheating it's so easy?! 

[mouseissue]

Thanks so much for all your support. I will try the bag of nuts snack trick and I have begun keeping a food journal and that seems to make me think before I go back for seconds. So far so good, I dropped another 3 pounds. I still am amazed at how relatively easy this has been. Now, if I can only stay away from the beer. Any suggestion? B13

Hi buckster13! 

I too like beer! 
Beer was one of my weaknesses too!
There was a time not long ago (before FTS), that I would drink it once a week or more.

I discovered that if I limit myself to drinking it once a month (or less), it would slow my weight loss down for about a week, then it would start moving down again.

If I only drank one light beer per month, it would not have an impact.
But to me beer is like potato chips (which I no longer eat), I can't eat just one!