Would it be completely narcissistic to start my own support thread? Need help staying on the wagon!

[dr3aming]

Hi everyone. First time posting, long time lurker.

I literally only have 10 pounds to lose which is destroying all willpower to stick to a low carb diet (which I know works for me). If I had more to lose I think I'd be more motivated.

I'm starting tomorrow and would love to be able to use this thread as some sort of accountability each day. I've barely managed past ONE day in recent months as the Sugar Monster always gets me! I'm so desperate to kick the sugar addiction; it's aged my skin and affects my mood :(

Any tips for the next few days to keep me on track?

[stardusty5]

Hello, i am pretty new to low carbing and have found these boards really helpful. Managed to lose a bit of weight recently but social events over the weekend have made me dread the scales!

Can relate to your sugar cravings! I'm compensating with greek yoghurt- probably too much!

[dr3aming]

Social events are a toughie. I'm already stressing out about that as I really don't want anything to distract me. I have a wedding coming up in Sept and would like to look my best for that. Greek Yog sounds like a good idea :)

[stardusty5]

My wedding is next year! Nothing like skinny people in wesding dresses to make me despair my sumo wrestler arms!

I guess i just don't like feeling like a fusspot around other people, so i feel bad eating different stuff to other people. I just plan to be strict most of the time.

How many daily grams of carbs are you aiming for ?

[dr3aming]

I have way too much going on in my life at the mo to actually count carbs but I'm aiming for carbs from veg only. So omelettes, meat, fish, veg etc. I'll allow myself greek yog though and occasional lowest carb fruit.

I just need to get through the first few days. I find it so hard mentally!

[stardusty5]

So true! I was quite scared of the carb flu that people experience on here but so far i have felt great. It's just when the little food demon starts up that i want crap food. I have felt quite energised though

[CocoM]

I will join you if that's ok and start tomorrow. I need to do this as I suffer from IBS and it helps to eliminate it plus I want to lose weight and just havnt been able to shift any yet.

[dr3aming]

I would love to feel energised. Feel so tired ALL the time.

CocoM - yes please do join me! We can cheer each other on :) I hope I can stick with it tomorrow and not give in straightaway.

[CocoM]

dr3 well if we keep talking we should be able to get through day 1 . Talk more tomorrow ( well today now I guess)

[Madamnit]

Hello ladies,

Can I join in? Started this WOE 4 weeks before holiday and lost 8lb - then holiday happened. Back a week and have been eating easy crap food.

Shop arriving this morning with everything I need to LC. If I can get the 2 year old and 6 month old to nap together at some point in going to make LC 'bread'

So far - 1 coffee

[dr3aming]

Morning ladies, yes please join in! The more the merrier. So far 1 coffee for me too and a big glass of water. Trying to drink 2-3 litres a day and am only allowing myself one coffee as 1 quickly turns into 6 (albeit decaf) and I find it saps energy.

Omelette for brekkie. Then I'm off to the shop with DD to get supplies :)

[CocoM]

Morning,

One spoon of Full fat greek yoghurt
cup of tea (no sugar)

then back to bed with laptop (to do work of course)

Would it help if we all listed our eating for the day? That way we could compare notes and recipies. Im not doing strict strict low carb but aim to keep it lowish. I don't do well with excess fat and protein.

[Madamnit]

Good plan with the food list, may give me some new ideas too!

So far resisting the flapjacks baked by my daughter!

[dr3aming]

You're doing well to resist flapjacks. They're my weakness!

Have made it this far. Chicken salad for lunch. Fish & green veg planned for dinner. Craving another coffee. Would it be so bad to have one?

[CocoM]

Is there any reason why you shouldn't have coffee?

[CocoM]

There are many levels of low carb I think. Anything under 100g is considered low carb, right down to 20g. So you have to find your own best sweet spot. If you want rapid weight loss then bootcamp type thing I guess but if like me you want to avoid "flu" then I am taking it a bit higher. Also I don't want to deprive myself too much in the first week and then give up and binge out. So slowly does it for me in the first week. Once I start to feel good and get a few pounds off (which will happen) I will then feel better and have adjusted to low carbing and could go lower if I wanted. Not sure where I am starting out on the 20/100 scale. I will take it day by day.

I had grilled bacon, proper meat sausage, egg and musrooms and a couple of cherry toms fried in lovely salty butter.
That's probably it till dinner.

[dr3aming]

That sounds delish.
I was wondering about the milk carbs in coffee but to be honest I never intended to go down the strictest lowest carb route anyhow so I'll let myself have a 2nd coffee if needed. Agree that being super strict could lead to a binge.

[amigababy]

Hi all, can I join in too. I started low carbing yesterday in desperation at the 2 stone extra that I can't shift, and feeling tired all the time. I'm vegetarian but don't think it's too complicated. So I've had 2 days of not feeling hungry which is a miracle in itself, I'm a real snacker usually.

Just planning a cheese and spinach omelette for tea, and am logging it all on mfp aiming for 1500 cals a day, though I couldn't get near it yesterday. Big shop tomorrow to get some new tasty things.

[stardusty5]

Hi everyone! Well today i have not managed to get any exercise in, apart from a short walk. Car is out of order but thats a rubbish excuse really isn't it?

I've had:
B: Greek yoghurt
L: Leek and cauliflower soup
T: roast chicken with brocolli.

Just catching up on my water intake now as I realised i've hardly had any today. Feeling ok and just having a think about tomorrow while i'm full so that i don't leave myself any choices!

[Madamnit]

Good work everyone. It was all going so well until I've realised the chicken I had for dinner hasn't defrosted...waah.

Breakfast - scrambled eggs with tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms

Lunch - a bit of a random thrown together chorizo and cheese salad

Dinner was going to be chicken with greek salad... Will go and investigate fridge once baby is down

[stardusty5]

Hi amigababy. I've found MFP really useful for low carbing. I never used to use it for anything other than calorie counting but i've been taking much more notice of my different nutrition levels since LC.

I would add people, but i've used my full name in my MFP username and can't work out how to change it

[amigababy]

Re coffee - I'm drinking it, I love my Nespresso to bits. I make it then add 200ml of unsweetened soya milk, (very low carb, decent protein and fat levels), it's my go-to latte and makes life worth living.

I had to throw away some of my omelette - I was just too full to eat more. This never happens to me.

I'm missing fruit a bit - I'm going to buy some strawbs and cream for tomorrow.

Stardusty, what sort of carb level are you heading for? I've set it at 10% which is 38g. Amazing when I was having 150-200g a day most days (or even more some times)

[Hodgepig]

Hello - may I join in please? I struggle most with staying off the booze - I like a small glass of wine in the evening!

Yesterday I had babybels, chicken thighs, smoked salmon, cucumber, avocado, halloumi and a lot of water and a glass of red.

On Monday morning I weighed 177.2lbs, today I weigh 176.

I'm 5 '8 and want to lose 35lbs by the end of November.

[stardusty5]

I'm trying to keep it under 50g per day rather than work out a percentage. For me that has been a bit easier. It usually averages at around 15% though- i hope i'm doing it right!

Today so far i missed breakfast but have had

L- salad with 1 sausage
D- will have meatballs in tomato sauce. No pasta!

[stardusty5]

Hi Hodgepig, that sounds like a good loss already- i love feeling excited to check the scales rather than scared of them!

How are you finding low carb so far?

[amigababy]

How is everyone feeling? I was knackered yesterday but it was totm and I'm always exhausted then, so not blaming the diet. And today the tiredness is vanishing by the minute, I've cleaned out a kitchen cupboard this afternoon because I was bored and fidgety. This is totally out of character!

Tea was creamy mushroom curry cooked in butter, followed by strawberries in Greek yoghurt mixed with chocolate protein powder. I feel so full.