Happy 14th of July

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Bastille Day, huh? I'm not a big fan of the French revolution, what with all that chopping off heads and such...

And it's Distracted's wedding anniversary! Happy anniversary, Dis!

And here in Sweden July 14th happens to be celebrated as the birthday (31 this year) of our Crown Princess Victoria. The irony is that she's a descendant of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who was one of Napoleon's Marshals before he became King Karl XIV Johan of Sweden.

[Asso]

[Elessar]

Know what he gave me? He said he's going back on his low carb diet, that's what. So he'll be cranky but eventually skinnier and hopefully healthier. So we're having 8 oz steaks and broccoli tonight.

Steaks & broccoli is a diet? Sign me the F up.

[Alelou]

Yeah, YOU try life without bread or potatoes or rice or chocolate ... all the things that keep one's mood regulated...

My husband has great success with Atkins but when it's done he'll eat entire loaves of bread at a sitting and gain more back than he lost. I just don't think the yo-yo'ing is healthy.

[Distracted]

That's because it's never supposed to be "done". After you get out of induction (less than 20 carbs per day...it's the brutal part) you're supposed to stay on a relatively high fiber low carb eating pattern forever, even after you're allowing yourself some whole grain carbs and berries and carrots and such. Most people forget that part. Atkins maintenance is sort of like South Beach. White bread and processed sugars are supposed to be off limits indefinitely, though...at least in large portions. And I'd personally also eliminate bacon and other really high fat meats, since Dr. Atkins died of coronary artery disease. Of course, we all have to die of something, and we don't know whether he might have died earlier or of something else had he NOT been following his own diet plan. All of us have an expiration date, no matter what we eat.

[Alelou]

Never done with Atkins ... that would just be too depressing. I try not to suck down carbs in front of Jaime when he's doing it, but there's no way I'm going there.

I was an obsessive compulsive eater in my late adolescence/early 20s and after trying various diets then (including Pritikin for a year), it only got worse. Finally I consciously quit thinking about food or diet. I decided I would eat dessert first if that was what I really wanted, stop when I was hungry, and leave the rest up to God. I never had any trouble with my weight after that.

Until this year. Grrr. Maybe it's age but mostly it's being back at work sitting at a computer all day. So I am trying to eat healthy and exercise more, but I still refuse to diet. That way lies madness, at least for me.

[Elessar]

Yeah, YOU try life without bread or potatoes or rice or chocolate ... all the things that keep one's mood regulated...

My husband has great success with Atkins but when it's done he'll eat entire loaves of bread at a sitting and gain more back than he lost. I just don't think the yo-yo'ing is healthy.

I've actually never tried to follow any particular diet. I just have 'rules', but I don't call it a diet. Since I've started training I've minimized eating fast food or anything microwaved as much as possible. I don't drink soda anymore, just juice, water, gatorade, tea and protein mix. I eat 5 or 6 times a day now instead of 1 or 2. I eat lots of little things. I basically snack all day - but when I snack, I snack on meat, cheese, cereal, fruit, vegetables, etc. Like I invented a snack.... a pepperjack turkey roll. You take a slice of pepper jack, sandwhich it between two pieces of turkey, and eat it - no bread!

We still have great big family dinners with steaks, potatos, corn, beans, peas, etc though.

[Alelou]

Well, according to the New England Journal of Medicine as of today, Atkins is the most effective diet two years later -- not just at taking the most pounds off but also lowering cholesterol (which is SO counter-intuitive to most of us).

The "Mediterannean Diet" with nuts and oil and more carbs was in second place.

And worst of all was the low-fat, high-fiber diet favored by the American Heart Association.

I think my feelings about Atkins were formed in England when I shared a dorm kitchen with a young British-Kenyan who went on Atkins and proceeded to have a hysterical breakdown practically everyday. And to cook fish for breakfast. Bad combination.

[Distracted]

Fish for breakfast? Ewww. Whatever happened to eggs for breakfast? Eggs are allowed. You can even put cheese, bacon bits and mushrooms in them...and make them with real butter. Ummy.

[Elessar]

Fish for breakfast? Ewww. Whatever happened to eggs for breakfast? Eggs are allowed. You can even put cheese, bacon bits and mushrooms in them...and make them with real butter. Ummy.

I like eggs with ham and jalapenos!

[Alelou]

Ugh. I can't face eggs or meat or anything like that until I've been up for a couple of hours.

[panyasan]

I force myself to eat something in the morning, because I don't want to leave the house on a empty stomach, but not more then a sandwich and my tea (green tea). At 8 I start working and my collegeau already put a cappucino on my desk. First tea, then cappuccino.

[Linda]

Coffee at 5 am. when I fall out of bed. Then poached eggs at 7 am when I get off the bus near where I work. The only food I can face at 5 am is the occassional cup of yogart, after which I skip the eggs at 7 am, but get hungry mid morning and eat my lunch early - microwaved cup of soup usually. Dinner varies. If I have a mid afternoon snack, I usually just have some fruit and toast. If I am hungry, I have a weight watchers microwavable dinner. So why am I still carrying twenty pounds more than I want to around? Must be the great meals I make on weekends to share with Jim. Also, it takes massive workouts at the Y to keep that off. And sometimes I am just to tired when I get home after work to do that.

[Asso]

Ah... the goodness of a cappuccino and of a croissant at café!