A new member from the UK

[Needlewoman]

Hi,

I am waiting for my copy of Protein Power to arrive, but have already started to eat Low carb and the scales showed that I have lost 4lbs this last week, added to a couple that I lost over the previous 2 weeks. Only another 90 odd to go :D

I started following the suggested plan on Dr Dahlqvist's blog. She is a Swedish doctor who advocates a low carb diet for Type 2 Diabetics (I am not Diabetic, but could well be if I don't do something before long, I expect). However there are no suggested quantities, and I think I went a bit mad with the double cream :o also some sweet Kentish cherries called my name before I discovered that fructose is a bit of a best not. So, I decided that I needed a proper guide and have decided on Protein Power as being less restrictive than Atkins, and the support that is available here - you seem a great bunch.

So far I have become far more acquainted with my bathroom than I ever expected to be - some days I seem to have to visit every 30 minutes or so, and 2 or 3 times during the night. Please tell me that this will come to an end before long!

[jilly27]

So far I have become far more acquainted with my bathroom than I ever expected to be - some days I seem to have to visit every 30 minutes or so, and 2 or 3 times during the night. Please tell me that this will come to an end before long!


Welcome Needlewoman!

I'm definitely not the most experienced person here with LC but just wanted to reassure you that the bathroom thing will ease up. :) You rid yourself of alot of excess fluid, ie: water retention, in the first few days. This is generally what your first big loss on the scale is too. I don't know if the Swedish Dr. mentions anything about supplements but the Eades certainly do. An important one at the beginning while your losing all that fluid is potassium. You may find yourself feeling a bit weak until you get your potassium balanced out again. So I would suggest that even before you get the book you get a potassium supplement and start taking it. The Drs Eades recommend at least 90mg.

I'm sure others here will be of great help with questions, I am amazed at the wealth of knowledge, and genuine caring, in this group!

Jilly

[Needlewoman]

Thank you. Greatly relieved to hear that the trips to the bathroom will ease off as we are going on holiday by car in a month and the family will not be impressed if I keep squealing that I need to go!

No, Dr Dahlqvist doesn't mention supplements. I do have Dana Carpender's basic book and was reading about supplements yesterday evening (dull night on the TV) and wondered about potassium. However I couldn't find any potassium on its own in the UK by Googling, but I did find a warning from our Food Standards Agency that taking potassium is risky. Mind you, our FSA would say that low carb eating is risky too ...

Perhaps someone else from over here will drop by later and may be tell me where I could get the supplement. If I have to send to the US I probably won't need it by the time it arrives.

[Mitra]

Welcome, Needlewoman. It is possible to get potassium supplements in the UK - a health food shop would probably have them, or Nutricentre, if you're near them.

The Food Standards Agency has the same statement with every vitamin/mineral - that they don't recommend supplementing, and you should get it from your diet, but they say that if you do supplement with potassium, you shouldn't exceed 3700mg. The tablets are no more than 99mg so you'd have to take 37 of them!

[Frank Hagan]

I found a potassium supplement that provides 99 mg here in the states, but then we have them in nearly every corner store that is pushing supplements!

One of the things that can happen as potassium is lost with the water weight is that you can start getting cramps in your legs (if that's what they are called in the UK ... I know what we call "clamps" for woodworking are called "cramps" over there, so I'm not sure that "leg cramps" mean the same thing!)

It does settle down after a while and you find yourself not running to the loo as often. What I find now is that if I drink a lot I have to go within an hour or so. It seems like water just makes it way through my body very quickly now. But at least with that, you can always wait to drink that liter of water until the car trip is over!

[S Bear]

The FDA doesn't allow more than 100 mg of potassium in a dose. Too many people were curing their blood pressure problems by just upping their potassium intake by 500-1,000 mg/day, so the pharmaceutical companies convinced the FDA that potassium was dangerous and needed to be doled out in tiny doses.

There are plenty of other ways to up your potassium intake. Many veggies low in carbs are high in potassium (cauliflower, anyone?). And although bananas (high-carb) are famous for their potassium content, bananas are no big deal compared to avocados (that's alligator pears to some)--a medium avocado has 600-870 mg per fruit.

Some sports drinks have loads of potassium, too, but you have to find drinks without sugars. Over here there is a company called Alacer that sells packets of mix ("Electro-Mix") that contain 400 mg of potassium per packet (they get away with this by maintaining that a packet is four "servings," thereby complying with the FDA guideline of no more than 100 mg per servings).

Be aware that dumping fluid the way a low-carb diet causes you to at first may deplete more than potassium. It can also lower vitamin levels, and can really lower magnesium, which most people are deficient in already.

It can also lower your sodium. Most people would see this as a big plus, but be careful, especially if you are exercising and sweating a lot. My sodium got so low at one point that I passed out during exercise becasue my blood pressure fell so low. In addition, most cramps for endurance exercisers are actually a symptom of a sodium shortage, not a potassium shortage, and taking more potassium when you are low on sodium actually makes things worse! So take a look at your sodium intake, too, and add more salt if you need to.

[Needlewoman]

Thanks again to everyone who has responded.

Frank, we use the expression "leg cramps" as well. (My Dad always called the woodworking thingies clamps, but he didn't have any American connections as far as I know.)

I should have been more patient regarding the loo issue - I did not have to get up at all last night, and things are definitely slower this morning. Hopefully come the holiday car trip I will wonder why I even worried. For various reasons we haven't been away for 4 years, and I am really looking forward to a change of scenery and the opportunity to walk along the beach rather than around suburbia.

I feel great, better than I have done for several years in fact. I have been sleeping better, despite the frequent gettings up. I have only woken with what I call a "fuzzy head" once since I started eating low carb, whereas it was 2 or 3 times a week before. I have always been a fairly good fruit and vegetable eater, I grow a little myself during the summer ( courgettes, tomatoes and aubergines currently) and have an organic vegetable box delivered most weeks. I have eaten even more salad vegetables the last 3 weeks but have now cut the fruit right down except when I happen to find the odd strawberry on my few plants. Funnily enough I had my first avocado for about 40 years a couple of weeks ago. I think my vitamin and mineral intake is probably way above the average as I have always cooked our meals from fresh ingredients. I am not exercising hard enough to sweat a lot as I have a condition called Foot drop, which means that I can only walk slowly, and have poor balance. This is probably one of the reasons for the weight creeping up over the years since the condition manifested itself, as I cannot drive unless we get a car with hand controls (all that money for driving lessons and I only got to drive for about 10 years :mad:) and I don't find public transport particularly easy, so I have just settled for not going out a great deal apart from walking to the very local shops. I am looking forward to getting out and about more when my husband retires in about 4 years time. He likes walking so I would like to be able to walk with him a bit, which I find difficult now due to the weight.

[Frank Hagan]

I had foot drop temporarily, due to damage to a nerve at the knee area. I guess its a pretty common thing for ball players who have a ball hit the side of their knee, or women who cross their legs in a lady-like fashion (the moral, of course, is for ladies to be less lady-like!) It was very difficult to get around because you always are in danger of tripping. I was amazed at how much it really limited my activities. So I understand it perfectly.

But on the more positive note, it sounds like you are adapting very well to the diet! I feel so much better I can't imagine "backsliding" into my old carboholic ways. As much as I used to love pastries and ice cream, I'm feeling so much better that I now associate those foods with feeling poorly. I think that helps me avoid cravings for them.

[Needlewoman]

I am amazed actually. I just said "Right. I'm not eating bread, potatoes or rice and especially anything with sugar in it", and apart from a piece of my son's birthday cake on Sunday and a couple of servings of rice at the beginning because of the meals I had already shopped for, I haven't. I love cheese and found some tiny water biscuits that have 2g of carb each, and I restrict myself to 2 of them a couple of times a week as a cheese and biscuits "dessert". I haven't had any cravings at all. I have even made bread rolls because my family like them and I wasn't tempted to eat one. Most odd. Not that I am knocking it!!

I do miss bread, not for the taste, but for the sheer convenience of a sandwich as a quick lunch, but later on I plan to make some of the low carb type and see how those are. I reckon the book is going to say keep away from things like that at the beginning.

My foot drop is believed to have been caused by nerve damage somewhere near my knee which I was probably born with. However the problem didn't make itself known until I was nearly 40 and had 2 young children leaving bricks and cars all over the floor :(. I do try to walk for half an hour a day during the cooler months as it keeps my blood pressure at a normal level, but you are right, there is the constant danger of tripping. I did pitch forward in February and, apart from shaking me up badly and making my knees very sore, I had to endure the embarrassment of needing 2 men to help me up :o:o:o:o That knocked my confidence because now I look down all the time and it amazing how many cracks etc. there are ready and waiting to trip me. Looking down so much spoils the pleasure of walking outside.

[Mitra]

Finn Crisp do some thin rye crackers that are about 3g carb each, that are useful for putting cheese, pate or whatever on - though you can also just roll things up in a lettuce leaf, or spread them on celery or cucumber. You'll soon find a pattern that works for you.

One thing to watch out for is that the books assume US style labelling, so they tell you to subtract fibre to work out net carbs. Most of the rest of the world doesn't include fibre in the carbs on labels, so you should just take the number as given, and not subtract anything from it.

[Tyrone Bill]

Hi Needlewoman, looks like you're in pretty hands right now and getting a lot of good advice. I'm just dropping in to same hi and welcome.

One piece of advice I will pass on to you. When you get your book...read...read...read. Learn the program thoroughly. It makes following the program so much easier. I've been at this a long time. And I still go to the book occasionally. Good luck and I'll see you around the forums.

[Needlewoman]

Thanks Tyrone Bill.

Second night in a row without having to get up at all! Although I was reading Gary Taubes book which my husband picked up from the library for me, and I didn't go to bed until gone midnight. Cannot believe I am discussing my bathroom habits on an Internet forum :D:D

[maxlharris]

I guess its a pretty common thing for ball players who have a ball hit the side of their knee, or women who cross their legs in a lady-like fashion (the moral, of course, is for ladies to be less lady-like!)
I can see it now. Public Service Ads warning of the dangers of leg crossing.

The celebrity spokeswoman could be Courtney Love in the US and Amy Winehouse in the UK. :)

[Needlewoman]

Mmmm.

At 58 years young I might just do anything BUT what Amy Winehouse said ;););)

Tried on some trousers this morning that I didn't dare wear out of the house 6-7 weeks ago. They were fairly easy to get on and I would now walk to the local shops in them, but don't think I would want to sit in them for long. These signs of progress are very encouraging.

[Needlewoman]

I decided to measure myself this morning, as I was tempted to weigh myself and I want to restrict that to once a week. Despite my username I haven't actually sewn anything to wear for about 4 years because it is so hard to fit anything nicely to the extra pounds :angry: so I hadn't bothered to measure either. Good grief. Those numbers on the tape were scary :eek:

Still no book (I wanted the original PP and by far the cheapest option was a used copy from the US via Amazon.co.uk), but I am content to wait because I am already making progress eating low carb.

I tried out some of those body fat calculators linked to elsewhere on the forum. What a load of garbage! I got results ranging between 39% and 80 something %.

[gitfiddle]

I decided to measure myself this morning,...Good grief. Those numbers on the tape were scary :eek: Needlewoman, think of it as a starting point. I found some numbers from the past and was equally startled, even discouraged. Now I am getting close! :)

I'm in this for the long term and I can't be looking for a magic bullet.

[Needlewoman]

There is no magic bullet is there? I am just glad that I have never seriously dieted by restricting calories, so have not yo-yo'd (how on earth does one spell that!) and hopefully have not damaged my metabolism that way. I have just increased in size gradually over many years.

This is turning into a journal so, as I have now discovered the personal area of the board I am going to start a proper one, and copy some of this to there before it gets out of hand. I hope those of you who have offered me support will join me there?

[gitfiddle]

There is no magic bullet is there? It would be nice, wouldn't it? ;) I am just glad that I have never seriously dieted by restricting calories, so have not yo-yo'd (how on earth does one spell that!) I think I would just change it to present tense. :)
This is turning into a journal so, as I have now discovered the personal area of the board I am going to start a proper one, and copy some of this to there before it gets out of hand. I hope those of you who have offered me support will join me there?Absolutely! You'll have lots of company.