The NEW 'Lets Help Each Other Whilst On The Atkins Plan' Thread

[DixieDreamer]

Hi Everyone! I have been doing Atkins for almost three weeks now. The first few days I was feeling AWFUL from the carb addiction withdrawal! I never imagined I would have that much of a reaction. Felt MUCH better at about day four. I lost 6 lbs in the first week and a half. I am not feeling hungry and as long as I think ahead - the meal planning has been easy.

Here's my question for all of you (especially those who have done this for a while).... I seem to be stalled out on weight loss at the moment. I even gained a pound yesterday??

I have been trying to be very careful about hidden carbs. I suspicion that is likely the problem though. Here is a sample day's menu:

Breakfast
3 slices of bacon
2 eggs

or

3 eggs scrambled with 1 ounce of cheese and 1/4 cup of diced peppers and onions


Lunch

1 cup of lettuce
1 ounce of shredded cheese
ham slices or chicken or beef slices
creamy ranch dressing

Dinner
Steak
1 cup of lettuce
creamy ranch dressing

or

2 all beef hamburger patties
slice of sharp cheddar cheese
mayo

and if I am hungry in the evening I will eat a Carb Solutions bar which has a net carb count of 2.


Okay... so what am I doing wrong? Is it my metabolism? Are there too many carbs hidden in this typical day? HELP?!!!

 

[wovenwonder]

The low carb message board which I frequent often mentions that cheese can be a staller. They say that you should never have more than 3 oz of cheese in a day and even that amount sometimes stalls people. Do you visit the lowcarbfriends message board? I almost always find answers to my questions over there PLUS lots of hints. Some people go on a fat fast to jump start weight loss again. I don't know exactly how this works but it is in the Atkins book and also mentioned often on the message board.

 

[DixieDreamer]

Jody - could you provide me the link to the low carb friends message board? I have not heard of that before. Sounds like a good resource.

 

[Debbie in Townsville]

The Lowcarb friends bulletin board is on:
http://www.atkinsfriends.com/

Also watch out for the low-carb bars. They stall me even when I stay under my carb count. I can eat more carbs if I stick with real food and still lose weight.

 

[DixieDreamer]

Debbie... I was coming to that conclusion on my own. I did a little experiment to test my idea. I have the metostix to check for ketosis. I checked myself early in the day (before any carb bars) and it was a nice deep pink. Later in the evening, after having a carb bar for a snack... I checked again... and guess what?! I was showing "No Ketones Detected" or just barely pink. So... I think that is the problem. I need to lay off of them and just stick to the traditional foods. I really liked having them as a "sweet" occassionally. Guess I better try some of the delicious sounding recipes shared here instead.


Thank you everyone for your help. I plan to keep checking in here to get ideas and help.

 

[Debbie in Townsville]

I know Atkins warns about aspartame, but I have sugar-free jello with whipped cream every night. It hasn't stalled me, and it gives me something sweet to eat. It's also satisfied my cravings for fruit.

I'm looking for sugar-free cranberry jello, so I can have it with my turkey instead of cranberry sauce.

The Atkins muffins are very good, and they haven't stalled me either. For a sweet dessert or breakfast, I cut a muffin in thirds so you end up with three rounds. Dip in an egg mixture of a whisked egg and heavy cream. Fry in LOTS of butter. It makes a good french toast! I've made it with the lemon poppyseed, blueberry, and banana muffins. They all came out very good. I got some sugar-free syrup and they are heaven! You can also use the muffin mix and make a loaf, but the muffins are easier for me to control my portions.

I've also made the corn muffins and they are good too. I had them with a bowl of homemade no-bean chili while everyone else had their cornbread. They said mine were better than the regular cornbread!

On my to-do list is to find a recipe for cornbread stuffing and use the Atkins muffins. That, plus the sf cranberry jello, and I'm hoping to make it through the holidays and still loose weight!

 

[AnnaS]

Hello everyone. I lost 20 lbs. 4-5 years ago on the Fit America diet. Have put on about 11 lbs back this past year. Don't know if I have the same will power as before. I am really not eating that much more, I guess metabolisim slows dows as we get a "little" older. Now I did not buy the Atkins book, can someone explain to me induction, first two weeks what is allowed and not allowed. I do dring a lot of coffee, do you recommend reddi whip, 1% milk, cream or what. I have read, nut, sugar free-jello, black olives, chef salads with creamy dressing. Are these all allowed first two weeks, a small tomato, romaine lettuce. I will look at some of the other sites mentioned on this thread. Any quick help and tips on how to start this is appreciated. I have not had any bread/pasta/cereals/fruits for the last three days. The only vegetable that I had was one tomato w/tiny amount of chopped red onion yesterday. Thanks again. Anna

 

[AnnaS]

I forgot the most important thing, no cake, cookies or ice-cream last three days either. This is the hardest. Thanks.

 

[TinkerPixie]

Hi Anna,

During Induction, stay far away from Reddi whip, it has sugar. You really should not have coffee, but if you must, have decaf, with a touch of heavy cream. For sweetening use Splenda, not Equal, as Equal can stall some people. Also, be sure to count each packet of Splenda as 1 carb. The label may say no carbs, but there are some. Try to stick with meats, fish and fowl mostly, along with a cup of salad greens at mealtimes. You can be fairly liberal with the salad dressing, but use common sense. Drink at least 64 ounces of water per day, and try not to drink to many diet sodas. If you must have sweet, DIET JELLO with Splenda sweetened whipped cream is the only thing allowed on Induction. After that you may be able to move on the other things.

Hang around here, and check out the Atkins web site, there's lots of great info for ya!

Good Luck!

 

[AnnaS]

Thank you Susan. I do not take sugar with coffee so no Splenda. What is Splenda? So even during first two weeks I am allowed a tomato or some romaine salad, yes? I tried to go to the atkincenter webiste and could not get in to get more details. How many eggs per week can one eat though? Thanks again. Will be checking this thread.

 

[TinkerPixie]

Atkins says salad vegetables, so I think you would be safe with the romaine. I'm not too sure about the tomato, tomato has a lot of natural sugar I think. I didn't eat them on my Induction, simply cause I'm not crazy about tomatoes.

I dont believe that there is a limit to the amount of any Induction food, except maybe cheese, cheese is limited to 3 or 4 ounces per day.

While on Induction, dont worry too much about the calories you consume, just the carbs. You can start counting calories after your two weeks are up, right now, your body needs the fats you will be consuming to burn as fuel instead of the carbs.

If you want to eat eggs every day, do it... I went thru a lot of them on my Induction! Just remember, you NEED the salad greens every day!

 

[TinkerPixie]

Forgot to tell you about Splenda, It's a sugar substitute that is actually made from sugar. The body doesn't recognize it as a sugar, so you can use it to sweeten with. You can buy it at most grocery stores in packets similar to Equal. Look for a yellow box in the sweeteners aisle!

 

[DixieDreamer]

My understanding is that even past induction you do not count calories - just carbs. Calories are naturally kept to an appropriate level if you are eating the foods according to the plan - and you achieve a metabolic advantage in that it takes MORE calories to digest and utilize protein and fat for energy than it does glucose... so you can eat more calories than you would on a high carb diet - and still lose weight.

That is one of the appeals of this diet for me... not counting calories - but focusing on carbs instead. The other benefit I have been enjoying - is not feeling ravenously hungry ten minutes after I have just eaten a big meal! What a difference that is!

 

[TinkerPixie]

You're right DD, there isn't a real need to count calories at all after Induction. I count them, because I know how many basal calories I burn per day, and by counting, I can "theoretically" control how many pounds I can lose per week. I'm trying to stay below 1800 calories per day, to speed up the loss rate. We'll see if it works! LOL!

 

[dizneegirl]

In regards to the question about calcium supplements the other day...

I found a generic version of Tums that listed the carb count... 2 grams per 2 tablets... which would mean 4 grams of carbs per day (as you're supposed to chew 2 tablets twice daily for calcium supplements).

Now, 4 grams in a day isn't terrible, but I also found Sugar Free Tums at WalMart for just under $5 for 96 tablets... No carbs there, and the same calcium supplement. Would be a good alternative - think I'll go that route once this bottle is gone.

Remember, you need Vitamin D to help your body absorb the calcium, so make sure if you're taking a multi-vitamin, it has D in it.

 

[dizneegirl]

You probably all already know this, but I've just discovered it, and I'm in HEAVEN...

Sugar alcohols (such as malitol and isomalt) don't have much, if any, effect on raising your blood sugar levels, so they are NOT counted in the net carbs on the Atkins plan...

After some investigation this weekend, I found Russell Stover Sugar Free candies...

Peanut Butter cups have .25 carbs per piece

Pecan Turtles have 1 carb per piece

And, let me tell you, after having NO sugar for a few weeks, they taste WONDERFUL!

Now... I certainly wouldn't overindulge... but to go from "never" having chocolate, to a piece now and then - WONDERFUL NEWS!

Also found Sugar Free Lifesavers Butter Rum and Sugar Free Baskin Robbins mint-chocolate hard candies. Didn't buy them, but if I recall, net carbs are 0. Did get some Sugar Free Cinnamon disks... yummy! (And great for that "dragon breath"! LOL)

Just thought I'd share.

PS - Don't ever switch scales after you've started a diet... I'm afraid our new one is probably more accurate... phooey!

 

[wovenwonder]

CHOCOLATE!!!! The Atkins Endulge bars are simply to die for --- you must try them if you haven't already!!!!

I left this thread for a couple days --- and OH MY! It was so nice to come back and see so much support here.

GOOD NEWS --- it's going slow but I am down 15 pounds -- I've been low carbing since 6/17/02!! YIPEE!!
247/232/139
5'2"

I LOVE this support -- you guys are TERRIFIC!

 

[TinkerPixie]

How's it going, guys! Everybody still doing alright on the plan.....?

 

[dizneegirl]

Still here!

UGHHHHHH! There's a Corn Fest here in town this weekend (I can see it from my window!) I had planned on getting ONE ear of corn as a treat - until I looked up the carb count. 17 IN ONE MEDIUM EAR!!! No corn for me! No fresh kettle corn, either. But that's OK... they have the BEST sausage & brat place that always comes! Yummy!!!!

DH went out of town for the weekend... used to be if he was gone for a couple of days, I'd go rent a movie, get a pint of Ben & Jerry's, and pick whatever food he never wanted to get, then pig out. This is the first time I wasn't even TEMPTED to do the ice cream, pig out thing. Simply AMAZING!

I did go look for the movie though! And I did pick up a few groceries to play around with some new recipes while he wasn't here to go "ick".

And, as if the no temptation wasn't good enough, the scale went down another 1/2 a pound this morning! (Weighing every day is definitely my downfall!) So how are YOU doing?

 

[DixieDreamer]

Hi Everyone! I am doing really well on this. I stalled out on the second week - because I found those low carb bars... watch out everyone they are a definite stall creater for some of us! I also found a great Newbie site that provided a list of "hidden" carbs that really helped me to identify alot of hidden carbs I was eating. Lastly, I started using Fitday.com to enter my daily menus and do a check on the calories, % of fat, protein and carbs, and to make sure my carb count really was what I thought it would be with my daily menu. I now include my daily mugs of coffee in that input - which adds five carbs to my daily menu. It's okay and I don't want to cut the coffee out - just needed to know that it was adding some carbs.

So, with all those tweaks to my eating ... I am BACK ON A LOSING STREAK! In fact, I have lost 3lbs this week. I am NOT hungry between meals, and I feel good. What more could you ask for?! Well, there is more! I put on a pair of slacks Friday for work - ones that have been fitting really snugly lately... and guess what... they were fitting much looser through the thighs and I could zip them up without having to "suck it in"! HURRAH!

Keep up the good work everyone! I want to encourage others to make use of the lowcarbfriends website, the fitday.com website, and the newbie website (here's the link Low Carb Newbie Site ) as they really have helped me to get this right.

Wishing you all success.