Thread: Low carb Stabilisation and Maintenance

10g CD pack
2 size 1 egg
2 sausages
Pate 25g
Small baguette
Cheese 50g
Pot roast silverside
150gswede
200g boiled okra
10ggreen beans
100ghazlenuts

Total of 1500 cals 68 carb, bit too high on the carb. Did menu in morning, but then decided to have whole bagutte but forgot to take out the hazlenuts out. Was still in ketosis the next day.

low carb sero bar
CD pack
1 sausages
Pot roast silverside 100g
2 LC wraps
philadelphia 20g

Pot roast silverside 150g
swede 100g
boiledgreen beans
50gcheese 40g
Crackers 30g
60g Genoa cake !!
hazlenuts

Total 1770 cals and 74g carb

Always get craving for carb before TOTM, this is pretty good compared with what used to happen!

Atkins Shake
175g chicken
3tbsp veg955
2 crisps
Total 480 cals 5 carb

HAd a busy day shopping with no time to stop for lunch, had dinner at PILs where MIL got me chicken specially. Bit too low and not near 500 cals. But clothes size 12 even on my chest !!! Still in ketosis and have lost weight before TOTM which never happened when I was SS!

Thanks for keeping me up to date on what you're doing Soraya. I always find your comments useful and am filing your experiences away for the time when I will be introducing food into my diet again.

Hi AmandaJayne - Just looking at your ticker and you're doing fab - won't be long to go.

Have my next challenge coming up - am off on my cruise on Friday! Hope not to gain the 1lb per day -eek!

Gosh yes, Soraya!

I remember now, we swapped posts about our respective cruises a few weeks ago!

I was thinking about mine today. My kids bought me vouchers for TKMaxx for Christmas, and I've said that I'll spend them nearer the holiday on a new wardrobe for the cruise. Particularly a new evening dress or two! The prices are SO cheap and the frocks are SO gorgeous!

How are you feeling about this holiday? Do you feel confident that you won't go and eat everything in sight like a hoover? What strategies will you use to stay 'in control'.

I think you mentioned last time we posted about our cruises, that you had a balcony room? If so you could use the room service and have a healthy breakfast delivered to your room every morning (ust imagine eating it, relaxing on the balcony, looking a the deep blue sea or a tropical beach). That would keep you away from the buffet or the dining room!

My problem would be the evening meal. There are so many courses to chose from. RC and P&O have 'healthy options' though, and will do salads, and veg without butter on request.

Have a fantastic time Soraya, and do tell us all about it when you get back. Better still, go on-line while you're there!

and I've put on weight - what a surprise! I out on 7lbs on the cruise which was fine. But then I had appendicitis and ended up in hospital comfort eating. The end result is I'm back home as of yesterday and weigh 158lbs. Oddly enough I'm pretty calm about it. I've gone to a modified 780 today and feel OK. I know that I can bring the weight down with some effort.

It seems that maintenance for me is not about my weight being the same all the time, but not hiding in a pack of crisps if it goes up (that was my old coping strategy that got me to 200lbs!). It's about just calmly facing it and saying that's not the number I want, let's go get the number I want.

That's the theory, let's hope it works. Am catching up on the posts. Can't believe how much has happened in a month!

Welcome Back Soraya!

I was just thinking that you would be due back any time now.

It sounds like you are behaving like a slim person. I hope I do that when I return from my cruise (minus the appendicitis, that is).

It's not the weight gain, it's how you deal with it! Good luck. Keep us posted!

Thanks AmandaJayne. DAy 1 went fine and am now in day 2 with what feels like a ketosis headache. Strangely enough that makes me happy!

BTW The cruise was great! Had read mixed reports about the Arcadia but it was fantastic. The cabin was spotless and we had this giant balcony (E135) if your a deck plan addict like me. I did a load of things I wouldn't have done before I lost weight - I went ziplining, kayaking, snorkelling - which I always did do, but this time it was so much easier getting in and out of the boat. There was a woman on one trip who was the size I was before I started losing and she was worried about geting back up the boat ladder and it really brought home to me how much my quality of life had changes. I did Tai Chi , pilates and yoga and did loads of walking around the ports. Also, it is much easier dressing up when your slimmer.

Seems to me that when I build memories like that, it helps a lot. Plus my DH has put on 10lbs and just isn't bothered. He says it'll soon come off and he's back in the gym so I'm imitating his behaviour a bit as he's very fit.

Well done you.

You've proved that it can be done.

What did you do for dinner? Did you ask for half portions or just eat a bit of everything and leave the rest? What about breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea? Chocoholics buffet? Alcohol?

Or did you think and behave like a slim person and not agonise over everything!

Hi Soraya, this is the first time I've read this thread, and it is very interesting for me, as we are much the same, weight wise. I put on weight over Christmas, and went up to 165 lbs, I am now down to 153lbs, but am off to Prague for my birthday tomorrow, for 4 days. My goal weight is 151 lbs but ideally, I would like to be 144 - 147 lbs. I shall watch your thread with interest, as I too feel better, and cope better, with a low carb approach.
thanks, Ann x

Hi Westhills, I follow your posts as I think we went through similar phases at the same time! Well done on dealing with the weight. It does seem to be a continous battle. For me the main difference is that this time I know I have weapons to win with thanks to CD.

AmandaJayne - you sound just like me before I left for the cruise. I ate what I wanted. I decided not to have crisps and didn't as they are my addiction trigger. I ate pretty low carb and had eggs for breakfast, for lunch had salads -easy to do in the heat. In the evenings I ate what I wanted off the menu but skipped courses so had starter and main course but no soup, salad and often no dessert.No sweet tooth, but if they had something I really wanted I had it. I sometimes had cheese as I like it and it's low carb. I didn't have potatoes with my meals and stayed away from the petit four and pillow chocs. I had some wine but mainly water. After the first two days though it was a routine and the waiters stopped offering me potatoes and assumed ~i wasn't having soup etc. I did go for afternoon tea twice, and had some snacky stuff like samosas. Not being a chocaholic I went to Tai Chi not the buffet. But I wasn't a saint and had taken nuts for me to snack on and I did have burgers and fries twice. Mainly because I kept coming back to the ship between lunch and dinner.

Food is tricky, but I was very active and just enjoyed the things to do rather than the food - so different to before!

Which ports are you going to and what excursions have you organised?

Thanks for your reply Soraya,

It's too early to get the information about excursions yet (and I have to pay the balance of the holiday in March, gulp). I can't remember all the places we are going to but they include Gibralta and Cadiz!

The waiters really do catch on quick to their guests needs. Last year I asked for a green salad to accompany my main meal and after a couple of days they brought me one every time. They also quickly caught on that I drank a lot of water, and kept me filled up!

I think you had the balance right Soraya, it sounds like you made choices that were healthy for at the time. I mean, there is nothing wrong with a healthy balance - I want to be able to eat what I want, within normal limits, and not feel guilty if I eat ice cream or chocolate or chips occasionally - because that is what normal people do.

It was all going so well, I'd lost 3.5lbs and then was doing some work with a client (I'm a life coach) and suddenly had a blinding realisation about something and that was the end of that! Been eating like there's no tomorrow. Have to say that I thought that I had done the work that I needed to when I was training as a counsellor. But this was a biggie related to my weight as well!

Am going to try and get back up again there today

Right, have gone back to SS to dtop the binging. Strangely enough, have lost some weight, but suspect that it was because my body couldn't deal with the food and my stomach has been upset for three days now.

Feel a lot better about being in the safe refuge of SS until I'm in ketosis again.

Also find that when I'm off track I don't come here so am coming on every morning and using it to shape my day. Am also using ketostix and all putting all my powders in ramekins and setting alarms to make sure I drink the water. It's like setting the stage for the show!

Fingers crossed this works.