<p>Salad dressing options:</p>
<p>We have used two different tall skinny bottles of Litehouse dressing, in the refrigerated section, Pear Gorgonzola and Tnagy Citrus, both are quite flavourful and only 50 cal per serving, no HFCS or other chemicals. Check them out.</p>
<p>Okay this was on my home page today. It validates what we are thinking about the carbs and the soda.</p>
<p>[Chips</a>, Fries, Soda Most to Blame for Long-Term Weight Gain - Weight LossCenter - Everyday Health](<a href=“All Weight Articles”>All Weight Articles)</p>
<p>How low carb? </p>
<p>My husband has eaten a very low carb diet during the week for at least five years, and mine isn’t much higher. (It includes a whole wheat half Eng muffin most mornings.) We have wine and waffles on the weekend, and eat what we like at parties, so we aren’t super strict. His weight has been plus/minus five pounds the whole time. </p>
<p>I’ve been on current eating plan for about 1.5 years. I’ve figured out the amount of carbs I can eat and not gain weight, but I would like to lose a little bit more.</p>
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<p>It’s not just low carb diets, it’s pretty much all diets. Studies have shown that 95% of people gain back all their weight within 1-5 years. And many gain back more than they originally lost. This is true with virtually every diet including WW. Of course, every plan tries to convince us that doesn’t apply to their plan. I don’t know if the 95% stat is true (it’s thrown out a lot) but virtually everyone I know who had has a weight problem at some point in their lives ends up gaining and losing repeatedly over a long period of time.</p>
<p>My current strategy is to find a level of activity and eating that doesn’t require me to record every morsel but allows me to lose weight at a very slow pace. Honestly, I didn’t gain it in 5 months so how realistic is it to lose it in 5 months and keep it off for good. It took me probably 5 years to gain an excess 30 pounds. I’m okay if it takes me a few years to get it off because it means I’m making small enough changes in my eating habits that I should be able to sustain them over the long haul.</p>
<p>I do know for me, lower carb works better. I immediately lose my craving for sugar and refined carbs, my appetite goes down and I lose my ‘bloat’. Seems to me that fruits, veggies and some form of natural protein is the way to go. I saw a YouTube video of Jack Lalanne recently that was recorded in the 50s and even back then he was suggesting you stay away from refined carbs and stick to whole foods. Experts have known for decades that refined carbs are really bad for us.</p>
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<p>I think that depends on what you mean by “low carb”. Even Atkins doesn’t recommend staying on really low carb diets indefinitely. The Atkins diet involves progressively re-introducing carbs (as much as a 100g per day for many people) and then maintaining that indefinitely. I’ve been in that range for over a year now and actually eat (and have less desire to eat) fewer carbs now than I did six months ago. There are many people on permanent diets of 100g or less per day of carbohydrate consumption. It’s not unusual at all.</p>
<p>I HATE to exercise; I have only done so under duress in the last 20 years. I use to enjoy going to exercise classes with my friend when the kids were little; it gave me a chance to get out of the house 
After my breast cancer about 18 years ago, I figured I needed to go back to exercise, so I worked with a personal trainer for about 6 months. I did great while working with the trainer, but as soon as she left the gym while I was doing my cardio, it wasn’t unusual for me to walk out behind her; I hated it that much.</p>
<p>After this thread, I am thinking it is time to try again. Money is tight, so working with a trainer is not a possibility, but I can join a gym. I am thinking if I start off taking the classes-Zumba, Step, Body Fit, etc… maybe that will give me the jump start I need. My husband and kids love spinning classes, but I don’t think that is me; maybe after I get back in shape a bit I will try it.</p>
<p>What classes do the women here enjoy and which seem to work the best? I am out of shape, and could stand to lose 10-15 pounds and love carbs!! My husband and I each gained weight this past year; me about 5 lbs., my husband about 10, due to a very stressful time. My husband could afford the weight as he is very thin; unfortunately his weight went to his belly. He works out almost everyday as it is his stress release; I can not imagine enjoying exercise, but I will try once again.</p>
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<p>How low carb? If you pass on the fries with your burger to reduce carbs, that’s not very low carb. If you also throw out the bun and scrape off the ketchup and the pickle because they also contain some carbs, THAT’s low carb. </p>
<p>I’ve never seen anybody stick with a truly low carb diet, one where your body is walking around basically starved for carbs, for any extended period. Carb starvation is like any other form of starvation. Your body is not going to let you forget about it. It will keep nagging you. Eventually you’ll dump the diet and start eating carbs again, at which point every cell in your body will stand up and applaud.</p>
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<p>Good point. Which is why I advocate never “going on a diet.” But instead make a lot of little permanent lifestyle changes you can live with that add up to reduced calorie consumption and increased exercise. No extremes. No severe restrictions or carbs or fats or anything. No ultra-marathoning either. Just be aware of what you are eating and apply good common sense that you can live with.</p>
<p>snowball- the absolute KEY is to find something you can stand to do. Ideally, you will enjoy it, but at the very least you need to be able to stand it enough to enjoy the benefit, even if it isn’t your idea of a good time. Spin class is difficult- I would recommend getting a little fitness under your belt before you try that. Lots of women love Zumba or some of the more rigorous yoga classes. Can you stand the elliptical machine if you watch TV or listen to music? Try to make it part of your daily (or almost daily) routine just like eating or brushing your teeth.</p>
<p>Almost home from 2 days of travel. I did pretty well yesterday - stuck to my calorie allowance, but few fruits and vegetables. I haven’t been able to enter what I ate today, because the internet connection on this train is awful. But I think I did reasonably well - egg white/cheese/skinnybagel for breakfast, Au Bon Pain 12-vegetable soup and a breadstick for lunch, Chipotle carnitas burrito with no rice for dinner. </p>
<p>I’ve been catching up. A few pages ago someone - abasket? - suggested focusing on how much better you feel when eating well, rather than on weight loss. This is key for me. I’ve learned that long-term goals are not at all motivating for me. I find it hard to tie not eating this bad food now with perhaps being 20 lbs lighter in 3 months. But I am able to connect not overeating now to feeling better in half an hour, and that is quite motivating to me.</p>
<p>jym - great numbers! Good for you.</p>
<p>Snowball - do you have any friends with whom you could partner? I am pretty disciplined, but it sure helps knowing that if I don’t get my butt out of bed my walking partner will be a little annoyed. Actually, the joke is that I am afraid of her and if I have to call off a day I beg DH to “call in sick” for me.</p>
<p>Neighbors across the street have stayed on a very low carb diet for 4 years now. Did South Beach. Their carbs are all fruits and condiment things. . They discovered if they allowed more than that the cravings would come back.</p>
<p>I find for my body, I must really eat low numbers, 500-1200 calories, I try to get in that obsession mode for a few weeks and lose 5-7#, then I relax a bit to maintain for a couple of months. It feels like I am creating a new set point. I did this, by accident of stress, 5-6 years ago and have kept off all the weight I lost then.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with losing some, then maintaining for a while. Some people do better making steady progress, others do better with bursts of weight loss. Just give yourself a reasonable range for your weight so you can have some highs and lows without recriminations. When you are on the higher end of your range, don’t get down on yourself and feel you should give up. Instead maintain until you can focus again on weight loss.</p>
<p>somemom - I do best in your mode. Maintain, go along, then when I see creep, severely restrict for 2-3 days.</p>
<p>Snowball…I am actually a Zumba instructor. There are SO many women who come into my classes who are either new to exercise, or coming back after a long hiatus. Typically they are very hesitant about joining in…at first. But afterwards, what I hear most often is that “It doesn’t feel like exercise”. That’s the premise of the program - to make it FUN. It makes me happy when many of these same women, after a few weeks, are flabbergasted that they have lost some weight (even if it’s just a little). Give it a try! If you can find a good instructor with a style you like, I bet you’d love (well maybe LIKE) it…despite the fact that it’s exercise ;)</p>
<p>I was at the YMCA last week going for weights and I passed by one of the class rooms (it’s glass on three sides and a mirror on the fourth. The room was packed with women doing a dance-style exercise class - maybe that’s Zumba? Most of them looked like they were learning the moves (it’s a brand-new YMCA).</p>
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<p>I have not had bread since May 23rd – almost a month. It’s been longer since I’ve had potatoes or pizza or rice or cereal. The only grains I eat are a little pasta in canned soup, croutons in my salad, saltines in chili, and a little bit of flour when I made fried chicken or fried pork cutlet.</p>
<p>The only sugar I’ve used was in my homemade bar-b-q sauce. Virtually all my carbs come from fruits, veggies, beans, corn on the cob, lima beans, etc.</p>
<p>The only sweets I’ve had were one mini-eclair. Fruit now tastes incredibly sweet to me. A granny smith apple or a bowl of strawberries is a super sweet dessert.</p>
<p>How about just thinking about it as “low carb” for YOU?! In other words, one persons low-carb is different from anothers. Every little bit can help.</p>
<p>Snowball, is there something other than classes you enjoy. Walking? (it doesn’t have to be power walking). Biking (it doesn’t have to be serious and intense). I LOVE to walk. Sometimes I will even drive to another neighborhood to walk (I love to look at house architecture, gardening ideas, etc. - so, I choose different beautiful neighborhoods to walk in!). Or, I just ride my bike around the neighborhood. Leisurely. The point is, especially at first, to just get active. Find something you like, do it moderately and regularly and it WILL help over time!</p>
<p>When I started, I used 33%. Now I use below 30%. I shoot for about 20% but seldom make it there. Getting enough fiber without the use of bread is a problem but I’ve found a few veggies which may help me to get there without using bread. I think that normal carbs is around 55% to 60% so starting out with something lower than that, is lower carb.</p>
<p>BTW, someone at work showed me a no-carb muffin today. She buys almond flour in 25 pound bags and makes baked goods with it.</p>
<p>She SHOWED you it?! Didn’t she let you eat it!!! :)</p>
<p>If you had a no-carb muffin, would you share it?</p>
<p>I’ve never found zero-carb baked goods at my supermarket.</p>