Maintenance Weekly 27th March 2006 - Keeping on Track

[Mitra]

During the Transition from the corrective phase of PP to the maintenance phase, Staying Power suggests a number of checks to carry out to decide whether it's appropriate to continue increasing your carb intake, or if you've reached your limit. I thought they could be useful as an occasional check to make sure that you haven't been suffering from carb creep, or a change in your metabolism/health/exercise that has changed your carb tolerance.

Has your weight increased?This isn't necessarily a problem, since it could be an increase in LBM, but it could be a prompt to recheck your body fat levels.

Has your waist size increased?I'm not sure what the position is for menopausal women - is a certain amount of change inevitable? Anyway, if your waist is increasing, it's another thing to look into.

Has your blood pressure gone up?
Are your rings or shoes tighter?Visible sock line is what I look for. My ring is always looser in cold weather and tighter in hot, regardless of carb levels.

Are you experiencing heartburn?The next two are something to check periodically, and particularly if the earlier ones indicate a problem.

Has your blood sugar risen?
Have your triglycerides increased?Do you think it's useful to keep an eye on these things? Do you have your own points to watch for?

If you have any maintenance/health issues that you're working on, please feel free to use these weekly threads to tell us how it's going.

I've been trying to stop my weight going down any further :rolleyes:. It's still hovering around 110-point-something (I'm 5' 2"), so at least I haven't gone down further. I've been checking my body fat % once a month, so that will be due again next weekend. I was about 21% last month. I'm pleased that I've been able to keep steady without counting anything since the end of January. I suspect one of the reasons I started to lose weight again was that my husband decided to get serious again, so I was cooking more intervention style meals. Now I've made a deliberate effort to add a bit extra to mine, we seem to have found a way that he can lose weight and I can maintain. He's 6' 3" and I'm eating more than he is at the moment :eek:. But he's losing 2 lb a week. The trick will be not to increase my portions to match his once he reaches his goal ;).

[Relief]

water weight is my first sign--I can feel the puffiness in my feet when I've over carbed.

congrats on holding steady Janet--and on hubby getting serious--I know his weight/health was a worry for you.

everything same same here holding steady after a 4 pound loss--no gain which is very good. still tweaking the thyroid stuff. I'm doing a cycle where I increase T3 every day til body temp in normal and then decrease everyday until it drops and then increase it again. the idea is eventually body temp will hold on a small dose--or even none at all. The theory is that this will reset your body to make active T3 instead of Reverse T3 on it's own. I'm in the middle of the first down cycle. I am so focused on this--taking the dosages at exactly the right times which is critically important. and taking my temp etc. that I'm not concentrating so much on my food. I still eat PP of course, but I think that it is going to take calorie reducing to lose the pounds I gained and that takes focus too.--one thing at a time.

I did have an indulgence yesterday--wine AND one cheese biscuit from Red Lobster. the rest of the meal was on target and there was no gain this morning so.....
I've tried various recipe purporting to be LC versions of those puppies but none of them really come close. I may have to give it a go and see what I can come up with. they are so yummy.

[Shadow]

Well, I tend to bloat and get puffy ankles depending on the barometric pressure or something else since I can eat the exact same amount of carbs every day and still have days where I just puff up :rolleyes:. I swear I'm just not normal :p.

As for the waist, Janet - I think menopause does affect it. Other than my initial loss when I went low carb, I have not seen one iota of change in the waist. In fact, my hip/ab ratio is worse now than when I began low carb :eek:. My fingers, feet, calves, etc get smaller - but not the old ab region. But other than blaming it on perimenopause and now menopause, I have nothing to blame it on other than just genetics.

Deborah - If anyone can perfect a lc version of that recipe, I know you can :D! I've never had them but people seem to think they're the bomb.

[Mitra]

Deborah, what a performance to find the right treatment for you! I hope this is the one.

I'm also hoping that at some point the Drs E will write a bit about some of these hormonal issues.

[Shadow]

I want to go stay with Deborah a while so I can work with the person she's using :D!

Janet - I really had my hopes up that they would address it in Staying Power. Sigh...

[Mitra]

Well, I tend to bloat and get puffy ankles depending on the barometric pressure or something else since I can eat the exact same amount of carbs every day and still have days where I just puff up :rolleyes:. I swear I'm just not normal :p.

I certainly find that things other than carbs are involved. It only happens at the end of the day, no matter what I eat. If I eat too many carbs at breakfast I don't notice any problems; at lunch I feel stuffed, bloated and tired all afternoon and don't want any dinner - although eating dinner helps me feel better, and snacks don't seem to for some reason. Just eating too much can wreck me, even if it's not carby.

As for the waist, Janet - I think menopause does affect it. Other than my initial loss when I went low carb, I have not seen one iota of change in the waist. In fact, my hip/ab ratio is worse now than when I began low carb :eek:. My fingers, feet, calves, etc get smaller - but not the old ab region. But other than blaming it on perimenopause and now menopause, I have nothing to blame it on other than just genetics.

I'd love to have some more idea of what's going on with all these hormonal influences - changing levels of sex hormones, insulin, thyroid hormones. Anyway, I'm sure you're in a better shape than you would be if you didn't eat well! (Just so I know when to start panicking :( when did you start to see the shape-shifting?)

I want to go stay with Deborah a while so I can work with the person she's using :D!

I want to wave a magic wand and have it all go away :rolleyes:.

[banshee]

Relief, I'm not sure if you'll agree with me, but I think this recipe is pretty darn close to the Red Lobster biscuits. If you're willing to use Carbquick, I think you'll like them. They have the added advantage of taking very little time to make. I've made them three times in the past 2 weeks, and I'm not much for cooking!

http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2006/03/red-lobster-like-low-carb-cheddar.html

I've been adding a bit more butter to the recipe so they're less dry, but that's a personal preference. Instead of 2 oz (1/2 stick) I use 3 oz of butter... I also sometimes brush on some melted butter (mixed with garlic) when I pull them out of the oven. ;)

[Shadow]

I certainly find that things other than carbs are involved. It only happens at the end of the day, no matter what I eat.
For me, too. Although it's much less than it used to be! But somedays I just wake up puffy and bloated and get worse from there :rolleyes:.

If I eat too many carbs at breakfast I don't notice any problems; at lunch I feel stuffed, bloated and tired all afternoon and don't want any dinner - although eating dinner helps me feel better, and snacks don't seem to for some reason. Just eating too much can wreck me, even if it's not carby.
Lunch is definitely problematic if I don't keep the carbs light. Eating too much doesn't normally affect me unless I way overdo it on the low carb sweets. By that I mean staying within my carb limits, but having more than I should in general ;).

I'd love to have some more idea of what's going on with all these hormonal influences - changing levels of sex hormones, insulin, thyroid hormones.
Me too - so I wish someone would figure it all out and share :p.

Anyway, I'm sure you're in a better shape than you would be if you didn't eat well!
Oh yes! I used to go up as much as 2 clothes sizes in just a day from eating carbs :eek:!

(Just so I know when to start panicking :( when did you start to see the shape-shifting?)
Mmm - must've been about 3 to 3 1/2 years ago, since I'll have been low carbing 4 years in August. Other than during the initial couple months, the waste hasn't changed - other than to get slightly larger :rolleyes:.

I want to wave a magic wand and have it all go away :rolleyes:.
Oh yes - if you ever find "the" wand, please do share :D!

[realruth]

I too went up a size in the waist and thighs when the maintenance started to be affected by menopause.
I am not too far away from my goal weight that I WAS at but still am that size bigger!

I bloat in the stomach and legs first....never overdo carbs....so never really sure why some days I feel as if I'm bursting.
My food diary doesn't really give me too many clues as reactions to foods can be anywhere from immediate to apporx 48 hrs later.

[Shadow]

Ruth - Not that I would want anyone else to go through the waist increase, but I will confess I'm so glad it's not just me :o!

[Relief]

here are two resources for all you menopausal type ladies:"What's your Menopause Type" by Joseph Collins N.D. incredibly helpful information with some self diagnostic tests and symptom lists; THEN some natural herbal and/or homeopathic remedies for each type, and some wisdom as to when and what type of hormone replacement could be of benefit. this Book has the most helpful information of any I have read because there isn't any one size fits all program--there are 12 distinct menopuase types depending on what hormones are out of whack--so you can at least take an educated guess as to whether you might need estrogen or progesterone or something else --so, for example, whether something like black cohosh is likely to help your particular symptoms or not--plus some help finding the medical practitioners who can help further. GREAT book!

It does not however cover the thyroid part of it at all. for that go to Dr wilson's web site here: http://www.wilsonsthyroidsyndrome.com/ read the free e-book and the free e-manual ( if you like the technical details!) losts of information. See if some of the symptoms describe what is going on with you and start taking your temperature! you may be very surprised--before treatment my daytime temp was averaging around 96.5!!!!!! I've been normal--98.6 now for 3 days! He also has the service of helping locate physicians in your area who use his protocol.

I'm thinking about going to school to becaome a natuopathic/nutrician consultant--I'm really fascinated by all this. Would love to help as I really see people struggling so much with this stuff!

[Relief]

And thanks for the recipe link--I had seen that one before but I have never used carbquick. Have you had good luck with it? Like dreamfields pasta it makes me a bit nervous--it seem too good to be true--and they never really come out and tell you exactly what it IS? some magical thing they've done with wheat? I probably should try it, though huh?

[banshee]

Relief, I don't know what they do to the flour to make it low carb. But I do know that just because something has "wheat" on the label doesn't mean it's high carb. Some products use just the wheat protein, etc. I do know that I've been eating these biscuits almost every day for the last couple weeks (sometimes 2-3 biscuits a day!) and haven't seen ANY weight issues or bloat issues arise from eating that much carbquik. I've also seen posts on other forums from people, some of them type I diabetics, who say that they haven't seen any increase in their glucose levels when using this product, which seems to indicate that the carb count they give is accurate.

They do say on their site that the carb count is derived from independent lab testing rather than just their own say so.

That being said, I am in maintenance now, so I'm not quite as concerned with carb counts. If I was still in weight loss mode, I might be more careful. As it is, I'm just really enjoying a new daily treat that doesn't seem to be derailing me.

[Relief]

As it is, I'm just really enjoying a new daily treat that doesn't seem to be derailing me. Amen to that. thanks for the feedback--I think i'm gonna try it.


And I do agree about the wheat on the label. I use small amounts of wheat products--some flour or vital wheat gluten or wheat protein isolate depending on the recipe. sometimes the inclusion of a little real flour can make a huge difference in the success of a recipe without adding much carb hit per serving--especially on maintenance. if the carb quick could perform like real flour in some of my recipes-- I could lower the carbs even further without losing performance--which would be awesome!

[Shadow]

Deborah - Thanks for the info :D! I'm gonna go surf and look at the book you mentioned. I already visited the website and will read it more thoroughly when I have time. I think it would be awesome if you were to go to school for this - I think you would be great at at it! And what an awesome feeling to be able to help others :)!

[Mitra]

That would be a fascinating thing to do, Deborah. And, in the event that my current strategy of denial doesn't work, it would be great to be able to pick your brains!

[Shadow]

LOL, Janet :D! I was thinking the same thing :p! I do, though, think it would be fascinating.

Deborah - Okay, I ordered the book. I figured since you have all the other books I do, that your recommendation would be right on. I'll let ya know when I get it :D!