I'm doing my best for our Biggest Loser team!

Biggest Loser Team

Had my morning shake, feeling better, down 2 pounds from last week so the flu seems to have given me a jump start . How are you doing?

I lost 2 lbs normally and another 6 from being sick since Sunday, but I won't include that until next week to see if it's sustained...LOL...

Dianne -

Right I actually had lost 3 pounds but one pound seemed to be flu-related so I didn't count that one. So my new weight is 128 and hopefully I can work my way down from there!

Of course my boyfriend brought me home Pinwheels (one of my addictions) plus wants to take me to Indian Food on Wednesday, which I also tend to eat in a less-than-healthy way. I think he's trying to sabotage me so he wins the next weigh-in

Congratulations Lisa! Everything should be ok in moderation, including pinwheels.

My weightloss continues since I haven't eaten anything but a bowl of soup and 5 crackers since Sunday afternoon. I am trying to drink water, at least, because dehydration is a possibility.

Anyway, hopefully I will keep a few of these pounds off.

I am totally happy with the 2 inches off my waist at my last weigh in on 2/1. The only place I didn't lose inches is in my calves. I'm actually ok with that. :-)

Hi Lisa. I have a question and decided to plunk it in this thread. My husband and I are doing Atkins. I have lost 8 pounds in three weeks which is good but I thought I would lose more.

My question is: Atkins is the only diet that deals with sugar alcohol. Other low carb diets just count carbs. What is best way to do it, what is the standard? I'm sure you no longer have to actually count carbs but how did you do it in the beginning?

I'm looking at your low-carb course but was hoping to get a quick fix for now.

Terri -

I apologize for not seeing this post!

Different bodies handle sugar alcohols in different ways. So it is an individual decision, to count them or not count them. Some people count them. Some don't. I don't count them. For my body, they don't affect me.

All low carb diets count net carbs, I do want to clarify that. You should never count fiber. In Europe fiber is always removed from all reported carb counts because it goes through you. It's not a carb your body burns. It's only in our strange US that fiber is shown as a carb on labels.

This Biggest Loser challenge is helping motivate me - I'm down to 126.8! Back in 1994, when I was 25, I was 124lb. So that's my goal . How are you all doing with your healthy weight goals?

Thanks Lisa, I hit a plateau and am counting carbs as well as calories. What a chore. I can't go too low on the carbs because it affects me mentally. Any advice on the plateau. Also, what about Primal Blueprint, any advice?

Thanks, I appreciate your one on one attention.

Terri -

What really helps is to sign up with a free nutrition database. Then you don't have to manually count anything. You just enter what you eat and it gives you all sorts of details. That way you can make sure you get ample fiber, you avoid trans fats, you get your nutrients, and so on.

Your body synthesizes glucose out of a variety of energy sources, and that's what your brain uses, so your mind should never be out of energy unless you're simply not drawing in enough calories. Could it be that it's the blood sugar jolt that you are looking for? Do you have caffeine as a normal part of your daily diet?

On your plateau, is it a full plateau where your fat levels aren't changing? Or is your weight stationary while your body is converting fat to muscle?

Lisa, you could be right about the blood sugar, my doctor told me to keep checking it. However, it seems to be stable. I drink one cup of coffee in the morning.

I'm not sure about my fat levels except that some of my clothes are baggy but that hasn't changed in awhile, otherwise my weight is stuck.

Dear Terri -

OK let's start with the fat percentage. It's really important to know that because you could easily be gaining muscle - which is good. Knowing your fat is in general more important than knowing your weight.

There are a wealth of inexpensive fat measuring devices on Amazon. If you can afford a fat-measuring scale - they're about $30 at most stores - I definitely recommend having one. They are immensely useful. If that's too much, you can get a fat caliper for about $5. That way you track your fat levels.

So I wouldn't worry about a plateau until you get one or the other and see if you really are stuck. You could be in a conversion stage which is very good for you.

On blood sugars and caffeine, if the body gets used to high - low cycles it can affect a wealth of things involving metabolism. There's definitely a "weaning" process when one moves from that type of a diet to a more even diet. You definitely do feel a crash for a few days to a week depending on how addicted you were. Then you feel much better. I both weaned myself off of caffeine and then weaned myself off of high sugar / high starch foods. So I know it's not easy. It's worth it though.

I'd try the starch / sugar move first, as that is the clearer health benefit. I'm not sure any nutritionist would recommend eating high sugar or high starch foods at this point. Even those who recommend eating bread always push for true whole grain breads (not just "wheat" which are often white bread dusted with brown bits ). So I'd take a look at your menu for a week and chop out anything involving high sugar or starch. Start that on a weekend so you can get through the first few days in relative isolation . If you want to share what a typical diet is for you I'm happy to help!

Okay, thanks. I'll look for something today.

I have cut out starch and sugar. My husband and I have been following Atkins. I'd like to know your menu. One of my main problems is what to eat. Unfortunately I don't like fish so I eat chicken.

I kept meaning to respond to this but I wanted to gather a giant list. And maybe that's not the best approach .

In essence my entire low carb site is full of all the recipes we cook. To me it seems like there's billions of recipes and they're all delicious and easy. I imagine that it's because we always eat this way. I imagine if someone came to low carb who was used to eating pasta, corn, and potatoes all the time, that it would be a "mental hurdle" more than anything else to start thinking about all the delicious options out there to eat instead.

There are for example probably thousands of delicious ways to cook chicken, just to start there. And SO many delicious veggies to have with them. I love brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli - and all can be made in a variety of ways.

Now I'm hungry!

It's well worth it to train yourself to like fish. Fish is SO good for you. And your mouth gets used to any flavor if you eat it enough. I've trained myself to like many food types over the years.

Maybe start with nice Japanese tuna at a Japanese restaurant, with a good marinade?