First Day on Atikins...

[septbride2002]

I think I did pretty good today. I made the egg and sausage muffins that were in our recipie thread and they are pretty good. Had 2 of those this morning for breakfast. Drank about 4 glasses of water. Lunch was a salad with cheese and salmai, and then 2 pieces of turkey and 2 pieces of pepper jack cheese. And for dinner I made DH tacos and I had fajitas without the tortilla. Pretty good actually. I had 2 diet sodas today and a cup of coffee this morning. Here is a question for ya though - what do you snack on? All this meat and cheese has made me want something sweet and there is nothing available - or at least it feels that way.

Plan for tomorrow:
B: More Eggs, Sausage and Cheese
L: Taco Salad
D: Grilled chicken breast, salad, and greenbeans

~Amanda

 

[mum4jenn]

Sugar Free jello saved my life in the beginning. Popscicle also has sugar free popscicles that are very good too!!

 

[Auggietina]

I also started atkins yesterday. I am truly addicted to carbs. I kept craving them (I still am!)
I am a little sluggish this morning - I didn't know if that has to do with not eating carbs as well.

Please assure me this will pass!

 

[DoeWDW]

In the beginning, especially the first week, the carb cravings can be tough. They will pass though - I promise!!

The key is, if you give into them too much, they NEVER pass. So try your best to live without sweets for the first 5 days.

Sugar free Jello, especially with REAL whipped cream, can be a lifesaver! I also can be very happy with a glass of decaf iced tea sweetened with one packet of Splenda.

If you haven't discovered Splenda yet, then run out and get some!! It has a much better taste than any other artificial sweetener I've found. It's actually made of sugar but the molecules are too big to be absorbed into your body. You can also bake with it.

I make an egg custard recipe using eggs and heavy cream and sweetened with Splenda that also helps my sweet cravings. I posted it on the low-carb recipes thread but haven't moved it to the new indexed recipe thread - will try to do that today.

Good luck and hang in there!!

 

[Rhonda]

Hang in there! You're doing great! As mentioned, if you can just wait it out for a few days, the cravings will pass and you won't even think about sweets anymore!! The sluggishness will pass in a few days too, and you'll start getting energy you've never had before!

I like making chocolate-cream cheese mousse for a dessert! Just whip up some heavy whipping cream, add a little cream cheese and whip some more, then stir in a tsp. of cocoa and a little Splenda! Yummy!!!

 

[RUDisney]

That truck that you think hit you is the carbs trying to take control again. You'll feel like this until they are out of your system and your body doesn't crave them anymore. For me, it was 4 days of torture. I kept saying that it has to be easier to get off of heroine than sugar.

Once the cravings pass, you'll feel like you have more energy than you've had in years. That is the motivation to keep going. I am a 37 yo who feels like she's 16 again. I also don't get tired during the afternoons anymore like I did when I was eating more carbs.

Keep up the good work. Keep telling yourself that you can make it through the first 2 weeks without sweet stuff. It was killing me, but I did it. For snacks, I'd have a few macadamia nuts, some pepperoni with mozz. cheese melted on it, or a couple of green olives. Once I was through induction, I started to allow myself some sweets. Carbolite makes really good chocolate bars. I got a box of 24 at Sam's Club for under $20... Target has them for $.99 a piece. Atkins products are very good and the ice cream, although not inexpensive at $4.99 per box (4-1/2 cup servings in a box) satisfies my cravings for ice cream. Really, ice cream is the only thing that I have really craved.

You can do it! Plus, remember the Eating Healthy thread for meal ideas.

Oh, another thing... go to www.atkins.com and print the carb chart so you can reference it when you're questioning what you should or shouldn't be eating.

 

[Auggietina]

I needed them! Last night I felt like a Mac truck had hit me and found myself going to bed at 7! This morning I started to question if this was the right plan for me.
Thinking about it - Carbs control my eating. All my "comfort" foods are carbs. I need to be in control of them.

Thank you for re-confirming my commitment to this!

 

[RUDisney]

Wait til you see how you won't be hungry all the time, too. The changes that will take place in your body will be amazing.

 

[baccarat0809]

Try this to get over the cravings - it worked very well for me.

Take a small carton of cream that you would use to make home made whip cream, and pound it down. The calories in one of those things are sky high - BUT NO CARBS. The high level of fat will fill you up and almost give you the feeling of eating carbs. Or, if you don't want to do that, eat the cream with 4 strawberrys.

 

[snoopy]

I keep seeing references to "real" whipped cream - what is this? Something you buy in the store? Certainly not that which is puchased in aerosol cans, right? I think that stuff is loaded with sugar.

(I started Atkins 5 days ago, and so far am doing o.k. but I miss having something sweet. I hope someone can give me a recipe for the real whipped cream, or tell me where to buy it)

Also, where do you buy Atkins products?

 

[LisaTx]

Snoopy, it is Whipping Cream. It comes in a carton like milk and should be found next to the milk in the dairy section. I buy it in half pint cartons. You can pour out just a tablespoon or two and add enough Splenda to make it taste sweet. Then I whip it for a few minutes with the electric hand mixer until it forms peaks like cool whip. After it's whipped it keeps for several days in the fridge.

I think you can do the same thing with Heavy Cream, but I'm not positive on that one.

Many grocery chains are now carrying Atkins and other low carb products. You have to hunt for them sometimes. Also health food stores usually have a good low carb selection. Be careful not to overdo it with low carb products, especially ones with sugar alcohols. Many of them cause gastric distress and weightloss stalls.

 

[snoopy]

Many of them cause gastric distress and weightloss stalls.

Oh geez, I certainly don't need more gastric distress!

I hate to be graphic, but man, my tummy has been in PAIN the last 5 days. Its used to a low fat diet of fruit and veggies, and very little protein. I'm hoping in a few days that will resolve itself after my system gets used to a new way of eating?

Thanks for the tips, Lisa, I'll keep a look out for the whipping cream (as well as the Atkins products, just to know that they are there if nothing else).

 

[RUDisney]

Snoopy, the bigger grocery stores have Atkins products and Sam's Club sells some by the box-full/case. Target has a section of low carb items, too. Read the labels, though, because all are not created equal.

I thought of something to satisfy a sweet-tooth! Pour some half and half into a drinking glass and then fill it with diet orange soda for a creamsicle or with diet root beer for a float. It will froth up just like an ice cream soda will.

Heavy cream is what I've been using to make whipped cream with splenda. Add a little cocoa powder to make it a mousse, but watch how much cocoa you use since it has about 3 g carbs per Tbsp.

 

[snoopy]

RUDisney - is half and half allowed during the induction period? I was under the impression only light or heavy cream, isn't half and half half milk, half cream?

Your idea sounds splendid though! I wish I had some diet orange soda right now!

 

[septbride2002]

Thanks to everyone that has responded to this thread. I will admitt that I have cheated a little the last 2 days. The first day I had coffee with flavored cream in it for about 13 carbs. And in the evening I had a Peanut Butter candy. Sorta like taffy - ya know people give them out at Halloween in the orange and black wrappers.

Today I did pretty good until the afternoon and I had to have something. A friend had some of those cream savers by Lifesavers. And I had 2 of them for 9 carbs and then this evening had 3 small "chips" these are basically fries but round. This is doing really good for me so I am not beating myself up over it. Otherwise my menu was pretty good today.

B: Eggs, Sausage and Cheese
I wasn't even hungry for lunch after eating this.
L: Taco Salad - no shell and no dressing
S: Cubes of cheese
D: 8 chicken wings with medium hot sauce (very little carbs)

I don't feel tired but I am chalking that up to allowing myself at least one diet soda during the afternoon and also because I have been taking a multi vitamin. For those feeling lathargic try One A Day Weight Control Daily Vitamin. I picked them up at my local grocery store for about $7 a bottle.

Not craving sweets tonight, but then I had some potatoes so that might be why. Tomorrow I will try to go snack free but I have to admitt I miss my coffee in the morning.

~Amanda

 

[RUDisney]

Half and half has, if my memory serves me correctly, 1 g carbs per 2 tsp. I read induction to mean that half and half was allowed. I dropped 10 lbs very quickly during induction, so I don't think having cream in my coffee or in my diet soda mattered too much.

 

[snoopy]

Thanks RUDisney! I much prefer Half and Half to cream.

I'm going to stop at the store tonight and get some diet orange soda! That sounds so yum. Thanks for the idea, gives me something to look forward to.

 

[RUDisney]

My memory was bugging me about the half and half carbs, so I checked the label last night. I was wrong. It has 1 g carbs per 2 TBSP... not 2 tsp., as I had previously written.

That's even more reason for you to buy that diet soda, Snoops!