No low carb diet. EVER. No way, no how. I love bread too much. And potatoes. And pasta. And Dr Pepper. Take away carbs, you take away all the pleasure of eating, AFAIC.

Susan, insent.

And Stephanie! Congratulations!

I know diabetics that go atkins and it works well. I can't do it. Because than I seriously need to eat every 3 hours. that's a pain. For me it is a matter of balance. the right amount of carbs to the right amount of protien and fat and try and keep things high fiber. the higher the fiber the slower and more controled the realese of carbohydrates into the blood stream. so - no bread with less than 3 grams of fiber per slice. steel cut oats instead of rolled oats for breakfas.t cearls with over 5 grams of fiber per serving.

I've found I'm at the mercy of my blood sugar as well, and that no sugars and no simple carbs keep me on a much more even keel.

This is me. AND, when I get off keel, I crave the crunchy/salty, sweet/fatty stuff like it's crack coated crack. THAT's when I know it is time to fast for a while and cut the carbs.

Recently, I discovered that Costco is carrying Stacy's Soy Crisps [link] . Not exactly lo-carb, but no wheat or corn, which is important to me and they are yum-ummy.

I'm one of those people who adores rice cakes. Lots of fiber, lots of crunch, pretty low in carb. Except I love them so much I'll eat the whole package without thinking. Stupid animal brain.

I think the trick with carbs, for people who do not want to go the low carb route, is to be smart about them, and balance them out by eating them along with protein. If you want to regulate your blood sugar, the simple carbs (white foods, and sweets, which I love, too) need to be limited whether you like it or not, but they do not need to be cast out like a demon. The more fibrous carbs give you more bang for your nutritional buck, keep your sugar stable, and are also tasty. Things like soda are better treated as a treat than a staple.

I seem to recall that when I was doing WW, I could have 2 slices of Pepperidge Farm's German dark bread (whole grain) for the same point value as one slice of white bread. Since nobody else in the family would eat it, I kept it in the freezer so it didn't go moldy. Bread defrosts quickly, and I like sandwiches on toast as well as I do on untoasted bread, so even if I forgot to defrost, there wasn't an issue for me.

congradulations Stephanie!

Once i gave myself permission to eat often, but eat well; I found a number of things happened. I could eat two cookies and stop - because I could have more later. I could have half a sandwich and some carrots - because hey, If I wanted more I could eat more later. I want to eat well, because I feel better when I eat well. but I also really like to eat. Once I stoped playing mind game s with the snacking- I really ate much better.

of course, I was really sick - I fell off the good eating AND the exercise bandwagon. But that is the way it is going to be for the rest of my life. I will be doing really well, and then I'll fall off . and I have to get back on . Unfortuately, when I fall off the band wagon, my body has a party and I have to struggle to get back into the better habits. I was meeting a friend for a walk today - but it was only a sorta plan. but I forced my self to go. neither one of us really wanted to go, but both of us felt way better after walking.

I fell off the wagon this winter...after getting into the best shape with the least struggle of my life. Sigh. Getting up before dawn and making breakfast featuring fabulous baked goods...plus the stress...did me in.

The good news is, now that I'm mostly on track again (still battling the mood swing/sugar blues a bit), I'm confident that I'll be back to my fighting weight in no time. (Okay, two months, but still not forever.) Having done it before, I'm able to give myself a break.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into my cuter clothes.

I fell off the wagon at Halloween, and still haven't gotten back on it. I am off the candy (mostly) but Scott's been doing the shopping, and although he'll stick largely to my list, I get healthy inspiration from walking around the supermarket.

I'm learning to make my sandwiches with one slice of bread, cut in half. But I don't know what to do with the pan of shells & cheese that are left over from lunch besides eat them.

Cindy's exactly right. It isn't necessarily how much bread you have, it's more what type. You can have two bread slices for your sandwich, just use dense whole grain bread. It will fill you up better, take longer to digest, which leaves you feeling "fed" for longer, it won't trigger the fast burn that refined starches=sugars do, so you don't get hungry again as fast.

I've found that while I slip every once in a while and have a piece of cake, or a bite of chocolate, that sugar triggers sugar cravings, just as salt triggers salt cravings. Once I'm eating in a way that satisfies my hunger and keeps my blood sugar level, the cravings taper off. It takes a while to get there, but it's amazing to be able to stand at the grocery checkout, look at the ranked candy bars and go, "...um. No." Like, that *ever* happened before. The word "binge" was invented for my unsatisfiable chocolate jones. Now, if I want cake, I'll have dense carrot cake instead of yellow cake with chocolate icing. It's still cake, but it has nuts and carrot and pineapple instead of *only* flour and sugar. It's satisfying, and in moderation, it doesn't trigger a sugar binge. If I have a chocolate craving, I buy two or three pieces of fabulous dark bittersweet chocolate and luxuriate in every bite, between sips of some red and yummy wine. It's a whole different thing from inhaling a half-pound bag of peanut M&Ms or a Baby Ruth, a Snickers and a large York patty all at the same time. After which I go around vibrating and glowering and snapping.

But, mileage does vary. This is just mine.

No low carb diet. EVER. No way, no how. I love bread too much. And potatoes. And pasta. And Dr Pepper. Take away carbs, you take away all the pleasure of eating, AFAIC.

Substitue Diet Coke for the Dr. Pepper and Susan is me. I HAVE to have carbs/sugar otherwise, like some others, I get snippity.