Zugg Software :: View topic - Zugg's Low-carb thread

Wizard Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 1551 Location: Australia

Good to hear you're still doing well :) I have a friend who has lost a lot of weight in the last six months from doing the low carb thing, and my sister went starch-free a couple of years ago and lost heaps too, so I'm mostly won over from a conceptual standpoint, I just wonder about my ability to commit :)

I think eating out is going to be the hardest thing for me - something I do much more than I should.. like 2-3 times a day (the danger of working at a shopping mall and the staff discount at the food places).

I'll see if I can find the book, I have a DVD to watch too... homework for the weekend before making a decision!

Thinking about my possible difficulty adjusting, I asked about slipping - drinking a can of soda, or having some chips - she said it could take as much as a week before you got back into fat burning 'keytosis?' mode, so I imagine it does mean you have to be very strict. I'm missing the cola already!

Know what you mean about real food - so many additives in everything these days... I discovered I was getting eczema from dairy, so I've been reading the back of packets the last few months. I couldn't believe how many things had dairy, even potato chips, I mean really? Salt, potato, oil... that's all you need - no reason to have milk solids and a half dozen other funny sounding additives!

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Committing takes practice. One of the major things is to set a rule about no 'contraband' in the house. That helps a lot.

There ought to be places at the mall that you can make work for a decent lunch without giong overboard. Salads? Chinese without the rice? Burgers with the veggies and bacon, but no bun? It's doable without being unpleasant.

One of the things that Zugg does eat that do NOT fall within the 'real food' guidelines are Atkins bars. They are low carb, artificially sweetened, and usually made out of soy, which I believe is evil. BUT they make the lifestyle much easier for Zugg to maintain on a long term basis, so learn to pick your battles. They taste sweet and he keeps some at home and some at his desk at work so it's easy to choose one of them rather than, say, a chocolate bar at work. At home we keep a drawer in the fridge full of pepperoni and beef sticks that he likes, and cheese sticks. There is always a quick snack available.

Planning is critically important. Nothing is going to drive you off track faster than being hungry with no easy choices.

Low carb without dairy is much more challenging. I've been dairy free for a number of years. It almost completely fixed my asthma, so it was completely worth it, but giving up cheese was a challenge at first. Avocado and Coconut are your friends. Nuts are excellent options.

If crunchy chips are your downfall, then I kid you not, try pork rinds. They are actually tasty and very filling. It might be worth revising your stance on diet sodas if that is another downfall. Here they are making sodas now with stevia as the sweetener, can you get that?

For serious weight loss most people do need to be pretty strict. I would think this would be a good time. Not too close to the holidays (an idiotic time to start a diet IMO) and it should be coming on spring, so you'll have all those fresh greens and veggies to be excited about.

Did I mention planning? Because it's all about planning.

If you think you'd like some support for your transition (besides me and your family) there is a support forum at lowcarb.ca that I was a regular member of for years. It can be very helpful if, like anything else on the web, you take it with a grain of salt. There are a lot of very nice, very knowledgeable people there.

If you're watching movies, watch Fat Head by Tom Noughton. He's a comedian, so it's very funny, but his research is excellent.

Let me know if I can help!