The one thing that was sabotaging my Lo Carb diet

Low carb dieting has been my go-to method for losing weight.

But what was sabotaging my low carb efforts in recent years??

A few pounds gained here and there.... and after a few years they added up to

where I just wasn't feeling that great about how I looked in my clothing.

And so, the untucked shirt look. Yup. 

 Another untucked shirt photo....

And then this....I never felt so big.

 When my middle son Brandon married last October I tried to shed some pounds 

following my go to Atkins or Low-Carb diet but it didn't seem to be coming off 

as quickly as it had in the past.  I barely had lost 5 pounds and I wanted to lose 15!

It was a lot of restrictions for not great results.  I chalked it up to menopause

and the lower metabolism rate of being a woman of a certain age. Ugh.

My method of Low Carb dieting is basically the Atkins, 

which is counting carbs, and staying under 20 net grams of carbohydrates per day. 

 It was effective for me in the past, but I was doing something differently

 that was short changing the results.

So what was I doing differently?

White wine. 

In years past if I had a cocktail when I was following

the Atkins it would be a 0 carb drink, which means something 

like a Rum and Diet Coke.

Clear alcohol is zero carbs, and so are diet drinks.  

But over time I had switched to white wine.

And that was killing my efforts.  White wine has about 4 grams in 5 ounces.

How do I know this is what was sabotaging my diet?

Well,  after Thanksgiving I started a strict low carb diet and went

back to my old ways. Counting carbs carefully, not guessing, and weighing myself daily.

That part is not fun, but make a commitment and just do it.

I also decided to switch back to a rum and Diet Coke or a Tequila with Fresca.

The results were pretty amazing!

I dropped weight quickly!

I have lost 9 pounds in 5 weeks by making this change, and this includes a few

times I went off diet for a sweet during Christmas.

15  years ago I was relatively thin and happy with my weight.

I had been following Atkins diet for two years at this point and it was 

easy to maintain my weight and know what I could and shouldn't eat.

 And things went along nicely in the weight department.

 I started my business with my shops and I was too busy to eat, so that

didn't interfere with weight either.

 But as age crept up, so did the weight. Notice the white wine. 

 I remember thinking I was heavy in this picture. 

 Do you ever look back at photos and think you

were foolish to not have admired your own looks?  

We can be so critical of ourselves.

I just know I enjoy life a lot more when my weight is in a certain range.

And when it creeps over that, it makes me uncomfortable.  

My method has been to do the carb counting when needed to drop weight.

But for the first time, when Brandon got married, it didn't drop hardly at all.

 Life is too short to let those nagging pounds get to you.  

I remember this picture I took

of me and hubs after I had successfully dropped a few pounds. 

 I will always be chasing away those extra few pounds I guess.  

I don't want to give in, and give up. 

Champagne is lower in carbs than white wine, so there is always that...

but for now I am sticking to ZERO carbs if I want a cocktail at the end of the day.

And if you are interested in what I do for meals, I would be happy to write a post

on that if you like.  So its 9 pounds down and I'd like to drop another 6 or 8 more,

and when I do, I will get a photo taken to show you all.

Wishing all of you on the "I wish I could lose weight" journey

some fortitude and success in your efforts.  Remember, this diet worked

for me, and I am not a doctor! So do what seems right for you, and if 

 you too have good success with counting carbs to control your weight, I 

would love to hear all about it!!