I'm back and heavier!

[back2me2007]

I'm back and I can't say heavier than ever but darn close! 191 with a high of 207 in 2000 so I am very close.

I was last posting on here in 2007 I believe. I have tried many variations of LC and keep falling off regularly and eating garbage. I restart constantly! I realized I am way to close in weight to my foot taller hubby. None of my clothes fit. This getting ridiculous!

I'm going to be 100% honest and admit to eating almost half of a pumpkin pie yesterday. I started out with great intentions as usual.

I took the rest of the pie last night and threw it away because I knew I'd eat it for breakfast today. Just typing that made me want it! I have to get started and stay started more than a week. I look terrible, I feel terrible physically, I'm embarrassed to have gotten so far from my once hard earned goal weight. I'm embarrassed to see people I haven't seen in a few years~ stupid but true! Not to mention the pcos and blood sugar issues.

This is just crazyness. I have to stop harming my self and get with the program. As embarrassing as it is I'm going to vow right here to be 100% honest. I'd rather slink off and just not post than admit I'm failing. One my journal is unlocked I'll add the good, bad and whatever. I have to do this for myself!

We are going to a family dinner today. We are always sent home with a whole coconut banana pie. I'm ok there as I hate banana. However we always get sent home with pumpkin pie too. No one in my house likes it but me. I will not let anyone talk us into taking that pumpkin pie home!!!!!!

I'll be bringing a green salad and a few deviled eggs along with the dessert(for everyone but me!) so I can eat more than just turkey.

I need all the support I can get. I'm at the point that if I can't do it this time I'm about to just throw in the towel

[kelsey]

I hear the desperation in your "voice", I know where you are coming from. Realize that it is the carbs and sugar that have overtaken your good sense. It causes bingeing and overeating. You eat some, you want more, you think about it, your body demands you give in, you feel terrible. It is SO HARD, I know. I've eaten a whole pie, whole cake, and many other things that you wouldn't want to admit to anybody.
Breaking that cycle is the hardest thing, but you CAN do it. Start with induction or better yet start with Dr. Eades 6 Week Cure for the Middle-aged Middle. That first two weeks of 3 protein shakes and 1 meal, strictly, is a real head slapper but it works to get rid of the cravings, hunger, and breaks that cycle. You feel better at the end of that two weeks than you have in awhile and that will give you the incentive to keep going. Good luck, you can do it!!!

[back2me2007]

Thanks for replying Kelsey. I have ordered a copy of that book from the library. I honestly don't know if I can hack the protein shakes. I like the Atkins shakes. However every whey or protein powder I have tried has just about made me gag. Maybe there are better powders?????

You are 100% right about everything you said. I once low carbed for over 3 years straight. I could bake up a storm and never eat it. I just need to bust past this. This has to be it!

I'm very curious to see what the 6 week cure is all about. Hope it doesn't take long to come into the library.

[kelsey]

I don't know why you would gag on the protein powders unless they were unflavored? I use the Iso-Pure powder in Vanilla, Cookies N Cream, Chocolate, and Strawberry. I use a whole array of the DaVinci sugar free syrups to flavor them up. You like pumpkin pie so I would use Vanilla powder with pumpkin pie syrup and caramel syrup and some pumpkin pie spice. Yum. I always use a drop or two of Spenda liquid to mask any "weird protein" flavors.
When you get the book there are quite a few flavor combinations to try for the shakes. I like 1 scoop Cookies N Cream powder, 1 scoop chocolate powder, cookie dough syrup and white chocolate syrup, tastes like a chocolate chip cookie in a cup.

[back2me2007]

I just think so far all I have tried taste awful. I have vanilla and cookies and cream (body fortress and Jay Robb) in the house. I'll try experimenting. The worse that can happen is I throw it down the sink. Can I just add a little real pumpkin?

The Atkins shake that was ok was the dark choc. It wasn't great. I just didn't think it was beyond awful.

[kelsey]

Ha, I thought the same thing when I tried the powders! I liked Atkins in the dark fudge awhile back. I think if you keep at it, your tastes change. Coming off high carb, sugar foods, anything will taste awful at first. Find one you can at least tolerate and figure you can do anything for two weeks. You can add a little canned pumpkin to the shakes. It does taste good. You can always do induction and forget the shakes until you read the book and decide if it is something you want to try. I read the book, didn't know if I could stick to the shake weeks, took me 3 weeks to actually begin. I lost 14 pounds in the first two weeks, most in the second week. I feel it is worth trying. I feel wonderful and have stayed on the plan.

[Roadstr]

There is a brand Nectra by Syntrax. The vanilla Bean Torte tastes as good as a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich. I don't know if if you think ice cream sandwiches taste good or not. If you do, then you won't be pouring Nectra down the sink. This is the brand that hospitals stock for their patients.

I just think so far all I have tried taste awful. I have vanilla and cookies and cream (body fortress and Jay Robb) in the house. I'll try experimenting. The worse that can happen is I throw it down the sink. Can I just add a little real pumpkin?

The Atkins shake that was ok was the dark choc. It wasn't great. I just didn't think it was beyond awful.

[back2me2007]

There is a brand Nectra by Syntrax. The vanilla Bean Torte tastes as good as a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich. I don't know if if you think ice cream sandwiches taste good or not. If you do, then you won't be pouring Nectra down the sink. This is the brand that hospitals stock for their patients.

I'm not much for icecream but sure love the sides of an ice cream sandwich!!! I'll have to google that brand.



I do have a ? thought. I haven't read the newest book yet. However from a thread I read on here and the info from Kelsey I gather the PP Dr.'s are recommending shakes. Isn't it ok just to use real food on PP like the old books say?

[micki]

mikki, I have the same trouble. I am a carbohydrate addict, plain and simple. If I start, I have a terrible time stopping. I lost almost 100# back in 2001 with PP, and by not sticking with the plan like I knew I should, had returned to within 10# of my heaviest by June 2008. I have trouble staying "on the wagon" and had again lost 52# only to get sick and gain back 27. (I've since lost 14# by careful attention to my lifestyle and choices.)

I will be starting the 6WC the second week of December in hopes of becomeing healthier. I hope you are able to find a plan you can stick to, and regain your health.

-Micki

[maxlharris]

There is a brand Nectra by Syntrax. The vanilla Bean Torte tastes as good as a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich. I don't know if if you think ice cream sandwiches taste good or not. If you do, then you won't be pouring Nectra down the sink. This is the brand that hospitals stock for their patients.
The Sugar Free Skinny Cow checks in at 28g of carbs per serve, 7 of which are sugar alcohols. About the same total carb load as a krispy creme original glazed donut.

Nectra seems like a decent product. Vanilla Whey, for me, was an acquired taste. Now, it's like a non-taste. I don't really taste my shake, I just drink it. Which is, in it's way, better than having something that reminds me of carby food. If pie is your problem, then well, getting pie substitutes is one strategy and just getting off the pie is another. Ersatz substitutes don't work for me. But your mileage may vary.

[maxlharris]

I do have a ? thought. I haven't read the newest book yet. However from a thread I read on here and the info from Kelsey I gather the PP Dr.'s are recommending shakes. Isn't it ok just to use real food on PP like the old books say?

PP is not 6W. 6W is not PP.

Different programs with different goals over different time frames.

6W requires a couple weeks of shakes (with 1 real food meal) before going into a more limited version of PP for a couple weeks, and so on.

PP includes real foods all the time. Shakes are included as real food, but not any more required than broccoli or sweetbreads.

[Frank Hagan]

I do have a ? thought. I haven't read the newest book yet. However from a thread I read on here and the info from Kelsey I gather the PP Dr.'s are recommending shakes. Isn't it ok just to use real food on PP like the old books say?

The "6 Week Cure" book is a fast-weight loss, fad diet book IMHO, albeit based on pretty sound science. It uses shakes instead of food for two meals of the day in the first two weeks as a way to "jump start" weight loss, remove visceral fat and clense the liver. Treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is very similar, so the doctors are on pretty solid ground. But it's not for me.

Protein Power is a long term, healthier way of eating that should not be viewed as a short term "diet" that you go on until you reach a goal. To follow PP, you do not need to drink a single frankenfood shake (I'm not a fan of shakes, as you can see).

The Drs. Eades do recommend shakes in both PP and PPLP, but there is no requirement to use them. You can use actual food, just like people did 100 years ago.

[kelsey]

The shakes recommended in the 6 week cure are 3 shakes per day plus 1 meal. They give you the menu but basically it is a PP meal. That is for the first 2 weeks. You can eat the meals for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and mix it up depending on your schedule. I have tried the Nectra in the Peach/Orange flavor. To me, it tasted like a creamsicle gone bad. I still have it, I may have to try it again now that I've been doing this awhile. Perhaps other flavors taste better? Everyone's taste is different.

[maxlharris]

Okay.

One last time.

Protein Power is not 6W.

For the nuanced among you:
What you do in 6W is PP compliant.
But everything that is PP is not 6W compliant.
6W is a specific protocol of meal arrangement and limitation that could be viewed as a subset of PP. But it is not the next step in PP, the way that PPLP was. It's a specific protocol with a specific goal in mind (fast preferential weight loss, fast liver detox).

I should also note that the poster who asked about the necessity of shakes seemed to express concern that they didn't want to do shakes and that shakes were a mandatory portion of PP. That is not the case. Shakes are mandatory on 6W. Shakes are acceptable on PP, but it is acceptable to get your protein from whole protein sources. And no, 100% whey isolate is not a whole food. The milk it is derived from was the whole food. The whey isolate is a processed food. duh.

[back2me2007]

mikki, I have the same trouble. I am a carbohydrate addict, plain and simple. If I start, I have a terrible time stopping. I lost almost 100# back in 2001 with PP, and by not sticking with the plan like I knew I should, had returned to within 10# of my heaviest by June 2008. I have trouble staying "on the wagon" and had again lost 52# only to get sick and gain back 27. (I've since lost 14# by careful attention to my lifestyle and choices.)

I will be starting the 6WC the second week of December in hopes of becomeing healthier. I hope you are able to find a plan you can stick to, and regain your health.

-Micki

Micki thank you for sharing your story! We can do this! I'd love to follow and see how you do on the 6WC. I guess I won't know if I want to try it until the book comes into the library.

Hang in there!

[back2me2007]

PP is not 6W. 6W is not PP.

Different programs with different goals over different time frames.

6W requires a couple weeks of shakes (with 1 real food meal) before going into a more limited version of PP for a couple weeks, and so on.

PP includes real foods all the time. Shakes are included as real food, but not any more required than broccoli or sweetbreads.

Yes I understand this I have the old PP books(3 of them actually) and did once lose 82 lbs and keep it off for many years. I just wondered ~ not having read 6wc if the Dr's were heading more this way (shakes) versus real live food and why. Having not read 6wc I have no way of knowing what may be new.

I personally want real food. I have a big appetite and like to eat. Hitting ketosos never ever has killed my appetite like most say. However if there is something brand new and a good reason to drink a shake I certainly would try it.


I hope that all came out right:D BTW Max love your quote! Love that song. That is on my list of treadmill songs.

[maxlharris]

I don't know that the Docs are headed to shakes in place of real food for ongoing eating. It would not be a good time to advocate that, and be selling a $400 home cooking appliance (which they are doing... the sous-vide supreme... vacuum packer not included).

From reading Dr. Mike's blog and comments, it seems like they could not get a new PP book sold, so they put together a book about a short term protocol (6W) that they could get published. If you have a weightloss goal that is a long term thing, 6W might enter the mix at some point, but stick with PP or PPLP for the long haul.

[back2me2007]

I don't know that the Docs are headed to shakes in place of real food for ongoing eating. It would not be a good time to advocate that, and be selling a $400 home cooking appliance (which they are doing... the sous-vide supreme... vacuum packer not included).

From reading Dr. Mike's blog and comments, it seems like they could not get a new PP book sold, so they put together a book about a short term protocol (6W) that they could get published. If you have a weightloss goal that is a long term thing, 6W might enter the mix at some point, but stick with PP or PPLP for the long haul.

Ah now that is very interesting Max! Oh yes my goal needs to be long term. I fully intend to get there and hold it MORE than four years this time around. I have to learn from this on~ off that has gotten me so far from that hard won goal. Having not read the 6wc I could be way way off but maybe it could be a good stall buster for me to try at some point if needed.

[maxlharris]

Ah now that is very interesting Max! Oh yes my goal needs to be long term. I fully intend to get there and hold it MORE than four years this time around. I have to learn from this on~ off that has gotten me so far from that hard won goal. Having not read the 6wc I could be way way off but maybe it could be a good stall buster for me to try at some point if needed.

Exactly.

Or a start up regimen.

Or a "closer" regimen.

[razgarcia]

I'm not sure how to classify the 6WC except that it's a highly regimented form (or subset) of low carbing focusing on reducing visceral fat by way of cleansing the liver, increasing protein intake, adding "fat busting" ingredients (e.g., D-Ribose and DAG oil), and lowering calories overall (although the latter is not specifically stated, following the recipes will lead to a caloric intake of about 1,600 - 1,700 Kcals a day for the first two weeks, at least).

I started the 6WC on 11/27 and dropped from 189 lbs to 171 lbs in about seven weeks and lost about 4" around my waist. I never quite did the last two weeks but alternated between so-called "shake" and "meat" weeks for a while. I am now eating a diet which is roughly a hybrid of the two. I'm currently eating about 1,800 Kcals/day, 25 g ECC, 150 g protein and 100 g fat (half saturated, mostly coconut).

So, was the 6WC effective for me? Sure, dropping 18 lbs of fat and loosing 4" in seven weeks is a success by any measure. But the question I keep asking myself is this: would I have lost the same amount had I been "good" about sticking to PP? I believe so. Perhaps not as much, but a significant amount all the same.

This is not to say that the 6WC is not effective at targeting visceral fat. I am confident that the science behind it is sound (I wish the 6WC book addressed more of that). Even so, I am convinced that the most effective thing that the 6WC did for me is to help me get my act together and stop eating too much.

[micki]

Micki thank you for sharing your story! We can do this! I'd love to follow and see how you do on the 6WC. I guess I won't know if I want to try it until the book comes into the library.

Hang in there!

THANK YOU Mikki

I will try to get started journalling when I start the 6WC. Right now, I am waiting for my supplements to arrive tomorrow, then I need to do a little shopping. After that I will get all my ducks in a row to be ready to start in
10 days or so....

How is it going with you right this minute?

[kelsey]

I agree with razgarcia, the 6 week is no magic plan. It is however a strict plan to follow to reset your metabolism, glucose, and blood pressure. Some of us needed that, as we may have strayed a little off the PP path. Perhaps with too much dairy, nuts, and cheese. I did the first 4 weeks, and then repeated the 1 week and 3 week back and forth. I now do the same with a hybrid of the two, as it seems to keep me on track by doing a shake meal here and there or even a day of them. I LOVE to eat, so shakes are not something to live by forever. They do have a place in my low carb, PP life plan and now I have the science behind why it works so well. 14 pounds gone and they haven't come back since I began eating the PP way again.
I think the Eades did a great service in promoting 6-week plan for what it is:a quick way to lose a little from the middle.
Nothing more.