What the heck?!?!?

Hi Hunnybuns.  My Atkin's adventure went great for 4 months then went down the ****ter.  No clue why.  I guess it just happens.  Give yourself a deadline of "bad weeks" and try something else.  I gave myself 6 ****ty weeks and gave up.  I doubt you'll last that long with bad weeks, though.  This diet seems to be your thang.  Just hang in there sweetie.  It's always going to rain sometimes, yanno?

Well my my my...ain't they some drama goin' on up in here?  And sweet li'l ol me featured as the AntiChrist.  Girl, you don't have to tell me that you haven't read the book, I've known that for a while by looking at what you eat.  And if that wasn't enough, it was confirmed by that rather 'strange' explanation you gave Trisha the other day of why Biggest Loser Whey Protein was allowed on Atkins.  Came up with that formula all on your own didga?    By the way, it's not allowed.  IsoMalt is a form of sugar.  Atkins is sugar free. 

Now about all of the other things you have been eating off plan.  Atkins has a natural diuretic affect to it.  When you start adding all of those processed things loaded with salt and sugar, you lose that affect and you retain fluid.  It's especially bad in someone like you who has a tendency to retain fluid in the first place.  And by the way, alcohol is so processed, that when your body is processing it, it can't tell the difference between that and sugar and will cause an insulin fluctuation, which is what you are trying to avoid on Atkins.  I've said this before, Atkins is the hardest diet out there, and it makes no apologies for what you must eat and what you cannot eat.  It's strictly a deprivation diet.  It must be done by the book.  If you have a lot of weight to lose, any version of Atkins will work in the beginning, but then your weight loss will come to a drop dead halt, and you have to start practicing the real deal. 

Atkins is also about eating the good carbs that your body needs to function.  Anything less than 20 carbs is unhealthy and will slow your weight loss.  On Induction, 15 of those carbs MUST come from approved vegetables!!!  It bothers me that you say that you don't like vegetables.  On Induction, and the first rung of OWL, vegetables are the main source of nutrition and fiber from carbs.  You have got to work your way up to eating at least, the minimum of 25 carbs from vegetables.  And no more than three servings of sweetener a day, Splenda being the only approved artificial sweetener.  That tea has tons of aspertame in it, not allowed.   

Now I'd like to make an observation that has nothing to do with your diet.  PROGESTERONE!  When your female hormones go out of whack and they start to treat them, it's possible to have wild fluctuations in your weight that have nothing to do with your diet.  I know it's frustrating, believe me I know, but it's possible to do everything right on your diet and still gain weight.  It might also be prudent to ask your doc to check you for insulin resistance. 

Hang in there Toots, it will all work out in the end,  

Mary            

I didn't call you the AntiChrist!!  !!  I just knew you'd have something to say about me not having read the book yet...I want to, but I honestly had time. My 'strange' explanation?? This is what I told Jan: 

"according to the nutrition info above, it only has 3 net carbs, so I don't see why it wouldn't be ok with Atkins. Its a natrual product, isn't it? The sugar is not added, and there's not much. How does it taste? How do you prepare/eat it? Thanks!"

I looked at the ingredients that someone had listed, there was no mention of anything that looked like sugar, artificial sugar, or natural suger (sucralose, fructose, ect). I looked at the info given, and the total carbs-dietary fiber was 3 carbs, thats what we count, right?? *acknowledging that I havn't read the book all the way yet* I havn't seen anything saying that IsoMalt is sugar.  Now that I know, I won't even consider trying it. I took a pause in writting this response to look up IsoMalt on Atkins, and found that on Atkins.com it encourages eating whey as a source of protien, but says nothing about IsoMalt. I looked on another sight and found this about  IsoMalt that explained it better to me:

"What Are Sugar Alcohols?
The sugar alcohols commonly found in foods are sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol,
isomalt and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates. Sugar alcohols come from plant
products such as fruits and berries. The carbohydrate in these plant
products is altered through a chemical process. These sugar substitutes
provide somewhat fewer calories than table sugar (sucrose), mainly because
they are not well absorbed and may even have a small laxative effect.

Many so-called "dietetic" foods that are labeled "sugar free" or "no sugar
added" in fact contain sugar alcohols. People with diabetes MISTAKENLY think
that foods labeled as "sugar free" or "no sugar added" will have no effect
on their blood sugars. Foods containing these sugar alcohols need to have
their calorie and carbohydrate contents accounted for in your overall meal
plan, as it is carbohydrate that raises blood sugar levels. Since many
people typically overeat "sugar free" or "no sugar added" foods, their blood
sugar may be significantly elevated.

So the next time you pick up a dietetic food labeled "sugar free" be sure to
check the label to see if these sugar alcohols are listed. Most importantly,
be sure to check what the total carbohydrate content is per serving of any
food, and incorporate that carbohydrate in your overall meal plan. If the
product contains any total carb grams, it may likely come from sugar
alcohols."

I understand better now (and would, no doubt understand completely if I read the darn book!!). When it lists sugar (like on the Biggest Loser Whey Protien, it has 2g sugar/serving) are the sugar alcohols counted as part of the sugar? So with the BL whey protien, are there sugar alcohols in addition to the 2g of sugar listed, or is it included??

I understand where the extra salt is bad, completly get that. I guess the part I just don't get is, sugar is carbs, right? So if I'm eating low net carb food (even if it is a processed high salt thing like a hotdog) how is that high sugar? 

I knew Alcohol was a big no-no. The ONE I drank was 'low carb' and I thought that drinking that one drink at the party instead of what I wanted to do which was to drink SEVERAL drinks along with eating the bowl of chips and salsa, along with a huge bowl of cake and icecream was the lesser of the two evils. I know it wasn't a good thing, But I think I did good at the party, despite the drink.  

I've never liked alot of veggies, and I know that most of my carbs are supposed to come from veggies on Atkins. I'm trying to do better. I think I am. If I could get rid of the hotdogs and the diet iced tea's I would say I'm not doing too bad. What do you think?? And do you know of any Atkins approved drinks (other than jus****er)? What about the crystal light drinks you add to water??

I didn't think that the increase could be due to my female problems. I asked the doctor and looked it up myself when I started on the progesterone, I was told that it wouldn't impact my weightloss. I didnt' find anything about weight gain or bloating when I looked up the side effects either. I'll ask my doctor about insulin resistance next time I see her, but wouldn't insulin resistance show up when I was tested for diabetes before Thanksgiving? 

Thanks for your help and support Mary, I really appreciate it!! 

Heather
I think you survived the party ok given how hard parties are to get through on any program, much less Atkins (or low carb, which may be what closer to what you are doing)
Crystal Light uses aspertane - not Splenda, so it is not on the Atkins program. They don't allow anything except Splenda.  I think the only way you are going to have a drink similar to your deit iced tea is to make iced tea from scratch and use some of your limit of 3 Splenda/day to sweeten it. I drink my iced tea straight, no sweeteners, but I know lots of people don't like it like that. Remeber the tea does not count towards the 64 oz of water a day.
The diabetes test would show insulin resistence, but they may not have told you - they were looking for a full fledged crash (spike in blood sugar levels - 300 I think) but if you have a little spike, not enough to indicate diabetes, you would be pre-diabetic and have insulin resistence. I always feel it when my blood sugar gets messed up so I know I have issues and have to finish reading the book and get with the program SOON.

Mary
I was wondering where you've been for the last few days. Got a life out there or something?

Jan

I asked my doctor about what the tests found, and she was clear that there were no signs of me havning even pre-diabetes. It was actually kind of a bummer (I know, who would WANT to be diabetic, right?!) because if I was diabetic or maybe even had prediabeties I would be eligable under the Oregon Health Plan to have WLS. They won't consider it unless you are diabetic, even if you have a bunch of other serious comorbidities like I do. But I plan on asking her again to make sure. Thanks! 

Yo Toots, insulin resistance is a precursor to pre diabetes.

http://www.womentowomen.com/understandyourbody/tests/bloodgl ucose.aspx

Check this out. 

Mary

I'll check it out, but insulin resistance is pre pre-diabeties?

VERY simply put, yes...but insulin resistance can be controlled with diet and exercise, before your glucose levels start getting high.

Mary

Great explanation for your point but it has nothing to do with Atkins formula for what's allowed.     In the book, it lists all of the hidden sugars, Maltose being one of the bad guys.  IsoMALT is made from MALTose...it's just those sneeky *******s try to pull a fast one and call it something else besides maltose.  If you ate BL whey, you'd be eating three carbs of sugar.  FYI until you read the book...dextrose is a bad guy, too, and when combined with maltose, the sneeky *******s call it maltodextrin.  Don't eat it no matter what the carb count!  That and corn syrup solids or modified starch.  Remember, if the ingredients are forbidden, the carb count is useless.

Crystal Light is flavored chemicals...don't even get me started!  And like Jan said, Splenda is the only Atkins approved artificial sweetener, and CL has aspertame.  Save yourself the headache, and I mean that literally, that garbage causes headaches! 

What have you got agains****er?  But for flavoring, you could make lemonade or limeade with Splenda.  Naturally brewed tea is good, too.  Jus****ch your Slenda count.

Mary

just wanted to say good luck and stick with it!