Rationing out those carbs!

  Entering Week 3, we are now in the exciting new "On-Going Weight Loss Phase". This phase will last until each of us is within 5-10 pounds of our goal weight. So some of us will move into the third phase sooner than others, and that may get confusing. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!
  For now, we have the exciting process of, "the minor liberalization of your intake of carbohydrate". Sounds sexy, doesn't it? During the first two weeks we have been restricted to 20 grams or less of carbs per day. This week we get to add 5 grams of carbs to that, or 25 grams per day. Each week we add 5 grams of carbohydrates per day until we stop losing weight, then we back off to the previous week's carb limit and stay at that limit through the "On-Going Weight Loss Phase". Sounds easy enough, right?

juicy, sweet carbohydrate-filled fruits and veggies. YUM!

  We will be facing a few challenges during this phase. First of all-where to spend those precious carbohydrates in our diets???? 5 grams extra doesn't go far. A half cup serving of egg noodles is 20 grams of carbs, about the same for a half cup of brown rice, ice cream can have anywhere from 14 to 30 grams per half cup, a cup of strawberries has about 12 and a peach has 9. Green beans have about 10 grams in a cup, asparagus 7. Hummus has 3 grams in a tablespoon. Most candy bars have 20-25 grams per serving and Katie's beloved Nutella has 21 grams in 2 tablespoons. 
  Obviously, our plan is to continue with healthy choices, avoiding processed foods and adding whole grains, fruits and vegetables. I do miss my starchy pastas and potatoes, but a cup of spaghetti squash has 10 grams of carbs. Add a little tomato sauce (with a half cup of spaghetti sauce containing about 7 grams) and some mozzerella cheese and sausage and maybe I can trick myself into thinking it's the real deal. 

  Yeesh! I had no idea this lifestyle change was going to require so much math! Did I mention I hate math? It was always my least favorite subject in school. 

I know some of my nerdier friends are working this out right now.

  We get to diversify our diets, but carefully and thoughtfully. It's like when I was a kid and I got my allowance (50 cents every two weeks when I was 6. No, I'm not joking. It was the 70's!!!) and I would walk to the corner store with my siblings. Having to decide if I would get candy or gum or a comic book. How much of what items were going to satisfy me the most on that particular day. Tough choices. 
  Another challenge we will face in the coming weeks will be the fact that our individual bodies are so different and with different metabolic rates, we will eventually end up with different carbohydrate limits. I imagine it will be difficult to watch Katie (who is young) and Jeff (who is a man-remember the sexual inequality for diabetics?) chow down larger quantities of those sweet, sweet carbs, while I and my aging, short, female, metabolically challenged body suffer along with a few precious bites of carbohydrates to maintain weight loss. 
  In addition, we will reach the end of this phase at different times. I have the least weight to lose, so it stands to reason I will reach my goal first (although, who knows? I could be dead last!). Which means I move into a new phase and leave the other two behind in Phase 2.

Who will reach the finish line first?

  Will it still feel like we are doing this together when we are moving at different paces into different phases? I think it will. There may arise some competition, some jealousy (yeah, that will be me). But we are in it to win it as a team!