Sandy701's Journal, 30 Apr 11

OK, punch my admission ticket to the 160's Club! Love changing 2 digits on the weigh-in! I'm 4 pounds away from my Memorial Day or June 15th goal and I'm 5 pounds away from the weight I was at in August/July of 1989....that's right, 1989!

I tried a few different things in this WOE in April (unfortunately nothing got logged during the nearly-2-weeks my computer was in the shop) and pretty much found out they might be OK in Maintenance, but not OK for weight-loss mode. Some may have worked together to slow or stop weight loss but might be OK alone. But, for now, this is what I've learned - for me.

FOR ME: I can't eat 1500-1600 calories and still lose. Need to be in the 1200-1400 range. The middle, 1300-ish, seems to keep me relatively happy and relatively hunger-free. I wouldn't advise anyone to start off in this range, but this seems to work for me at this stage...13+ months on the WOE, female, older, non-athlete, and post-menopausal.

FOR ME: Nix the peanuts and peanut butter. Even if I can keep the peanuts portion moderate and in line with carbs, they are VERY hard for me to manage.

FOR ME: Nix even one small Dove sugar-free chocolate piece. The cravings I felt may have been due to the SAs in them or a combination with the peanuts (see above). Again, the net carbs may come out in range, but the "food" is not as Atkins-friendly as one would think, given the wrapper.

FOR ME: Same thing with the Hershey's sugar-free chocolate syrup. A very small amount triggers some cravings.

I've pretty much known this all along, I guess I just had to prove it to myself that a good number of the no sugar and/or low carb foods do not help my weight loss, even though it I'm keeping the net carbs in line. Maybe too many sugar alcohols, maybe the wrong type, whatever.

I've been lucky in that I'm not super sensitive to the SAs, just sensitive to higher amounts. I can use the 1 Atkins bar per day without a problem. But I also found that 2 WILL pose a problem....not bar + shake, but 2 bars. I can also use the sugar-free pancake syrup 1x/week without noticeable effect.

Ultimately, this past week, I went back to a stricter regimen of fewer SAs, dropped my net carbs a wee bit (which reduces calories as well), and got back to dropping weight. My daily variation is small, so I feel this is an honest pound dropped - in fact I was just a smidge away from the 168's.

76.7 kg Lost so far: 29.9 kg.    Still to go: 10.9 kg.    Diet followed: Reasonably Well.

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1329 kcal

Fat: 90.54g | Prot: 91.61g | Carbs: 48.74g.   Breakfast: Truvia packets, butter, Mrs. Butterworth's Sugar Free Syrup, Johnsonville Maple & Brown Sugar sausages, canola oil, Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Pancake & Waffle Mix, egg. Dinner: butter, shredded cheese, turkey bacon, cauliflower, pork chop. Snacks/Other: String Cheese Mozzarella Cheese Snacks. more...

2077 kcal

Exercise: Sleeping - 8 hours, Walking (exercise) - 3.5/mph - 36 minutes, Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 24 minutes, Resting - 15 hours. more...