BradH
08-04-2003, 01:29 AM
The Men's forum is pretty dead, and this is low-carb related anyway, so I'll start out here with the chicks!
I'll post a the simple intro in the 100Lb forum when I get a chance, but here is the longer story.
I'm 24, always been overweight, just slowly growing over the years.
I lost a bit in college since I was walking 8miles plus a day (2 miles at a time straight), and I controlled *exactly* what I had in the house. It's easy to avoid cookies if you don't have any in the house!
I've been kicking around the Atkins diet idea for a while, and mostly avoided it since I didn't like the idea of forcing your body into something as agressive as ketosis. However, about 3 weeks ago, my mother found out that she was diabetic. Given that I know people from work who are diabetic and controlling it using Atkins, this rekindled my interest in it. I basically decided I would do it. My mother wants to, but I've told her to wait a while since they diagnosed her initially saying that the diabetes had already 'affected her kidneys', but they gave absolutely no details. She'll go back later on to find out more info and get their OK to do Atkins.
I didn't really intend to start Atkins when I did (this last Tuesday, 7/29/03). I ate sensibly (as I've been trying to do for a while), and by that afternoon I realized what I had eaten that day was within induction rules. I managed to pick & choose from what we had for dinner that night, and stuck with induction. I had done it one day, so figured....why not?
I've stuck to it since. I have NOT stuck strictly to the list of items in the book, but just to less than 20g of carbs a day. I hit the store and picked up some odds and ends. First, at Wal-Mart, I managed to find some of the various 2-carb shakes and bars, as well as the Atkins Basic 3 vitamins (I plan on doing research before they run out for a cheaper alternative). At the grocery store I picked up some stuff for making tuna/chicken/crab salads and some other odds-and-ends. I grabbed some string cheeses, and despite the nitrate/nitrite issue, I did get some beef sticks (Slim Jim type things), jerky bits, and the like. I have also gotten some aspartame based products (instant tea, diet Dr. Pepper, etc), but have since gotten other replacements for the future.
Needless to say, I did worry a bit about the use of the aspartame and nitrates, but I figured if they didn't work, I can cut them out.
My worries are, so far, unfounded. When I started, I weighed around 335. Friday night, I weighed in at 332. Saturday morning, I woke up and tried a ketosis test stick, and showed dark purple! Just for grins, I weight again -- 328.8. Granted, I'm at the upper limit of my scale (digital Oregon Scientifics), and readings are usually off a bit. But between the definite loss of weight and the keto test, I'm hooked. My scale is a good brand, so I'm trying to keep myself thinking about that...6 lbs in 5 days!
My staple foods so far:
Breakfast: Tuna salad or bacon and eggs. Once in a while I'll try out a 2-carb shake with it (yeah, with, not in replacement...better than coffee for me!) I live in San Antonio, which is packed full of Mexican food joints, so I can stop by one and order a couple bacon and egg tacos worth of filling in a cup.
Lunch: Weekdays, I go out to lunch with others at work who have been on Atkins for a while, and are still doing induction. They know plenty of places to go and what to order. Example: At one mexican food restaurant, a fajita plate, hold the rice, beans, and tortillas, sub with extra salad and guacamole.
Dinner: My parents usually take care of supper, but I didn't want to disrupt things any. They generally try to cook up a meat in a way that I can eat (i.e. no sauces, etc). If they have a vegetables I can eat, great. If not, I just have extra salad. I buy some pre-made bagged salads, and just have a cup of them with some a bottled lower-carb dressing, sometimes with a cheese (usually feta) and bacon bits (100% real deal, no additives).
Snacks: I've always had a huge appetite, which, true to word, is slowly deminishing. I have to keep a lot of snack-type things around, though, or I'm afraid I'll pick up the wrong thing. As I said, I have some jerky, beef sticks, and the like, but I do try to limit them. I have cheese sticks, and if I have a sweet tooth, I have some different 2-carb bars.
The weekend was more of a killer for me, but I made it. I usually don't do much of anything, so I often ended up eating out of boredom. I did that again this weekend, but I tried to manage it...smaller amounts more often. I stayed under 20g, so I'm set.
That was far more than I intended to write, but I've been lurking here for a year or two, so decided I'd finally chime in, now that I'm actually doing something other than reading!
I'll post a the simple intro in the 100Lb forum when I get a chance, but here is the longer story.
I'm 24, always been overweight, just slowly growing over the years.
I lost a bit in college since I was walking 8miles plus a day (2 miles at a time straight), and I controlled *exactly* what I had in the house. It's easy to avoid cookies if you don't have any in the house!
I've been kicking around the Atkins diet idea for a while, and mostly avoided it since I didn't like the idea of forcing your body into something as agressive as ketosis. However, about 3 weeks ago, my mother found out that she was diabetic. Given that I know people from work who are diabetic and controlling it using Atkins, this rekindled my interest in it. I basically decided I would do it. My mother wants to, but I've told her to wait a while since they diagnosed her initially saying that the diabetes had already 'affected her kidneys', but they gave absolutely no details. She'll go back later on to find out more info and get their OK to do Atkins.
I didn't really intend to start Atkins when I did (this last Tuesday, 7/29/03). I ate sensibly (as I've been trying to do for a while), and by that afternoon I realized what I had eaten that day was within induction rules. I managed to pick & choose from what we had for dinner that night, and stuck with induction. I had done it one day, so figured....why not?
I've stuck to it since. I have NOT stuck strictly to the list of items in the book, but just to less than 20g of carbs a day. I hit the store and picked up some odds and ends. First, at Wal-Mart, I managed to find some of the various 2-carb shakes and bars, as well as the Atkins Basic 3 vitamins (I plan on doing research before they run out for a cheaper alternative). At the grocery store I picked up some stuff for making tuna/chicken/crab salads and some other odds-and-ends. I grabbed some string cheeses, and despite the nitrate/nitrite issue, I did get some beef sticks (Slim Jim type things), jerky bits, and the like. I have also gotten some aspartame based products (instant tea, diet Dr. Pepper, etc), but have since gotten other replacements for the future.
Needless to say, I did worry a bit about the use of the aspartame and nitrates, but I figured if they didn't work, I can cut them out.
My worries are, so far, unfounded. When I started, I weighed around 335. Friday night, I weighed in at 332. Saturday morning, I woke up and tried a ketosis test stick, and showed dark purple! Just for grins, I weight again -- 328.8. Granted, I'm at the upper limit of my scale (digital Oregon Scientifics), and readings are usually off a bit. But between the definite loss of weight and the keto test, I'm hooked. My scale is a good brand, so I'm trying to keep myself thinking about that...6 lbs in 5 days!
My staple foods so far:
Breakfast: Tuna salad or bacon and eggs. Once in a while I'll try out a 2-carb shake with it (yeah, with, not in replacement...better than coffee for me!) I live in San Antonio, which is packed full of Mexican food joints, so I can stop by one and order a couple bacon and egg tacos worth of filling in a cup.
Lunch: Weekdays, I go out to lunch with others at work who have been on Atkins for a while, and are still doing induction. They know plenty of places to go and what to order. Example: At one mexican food restaurant, a fajita plate, hold the rice, beans, and tortillas, sub with extra salad and guacamole.
Dinner: My parents usually take care of supper, but I didn't want to disrupt things any. They generally try to cook up a meat in a way that I can eat (i.e. no sauces, etc). If they have a vegetables I can eat, great. If not, I just have extra salad. I buy some pre-made bagged salads, and just have a cup of them with some a bottled lower-carb dressing, sometimes with a cheese (usually feta) and bacon bits (100% real deal, no additives).
Snacks: I've always had a huge appetite, which, true to word, is slowly deminishing. I have to keep a lot of snack-type things around, though, or I'm afraid I'll pick up the wrong thing. As I said, I have some jerky, beef sticks, and the like, but I do try to limit them. I have cheese sticks, and if I have a sweet tooth, I have some different 2-carb bars.
The weekend was more of a killer for me, but I made it. I usually don't do much of anything, so I often ended up eating out of boredom. I did that again this weekend, but I tried to manage it...smaller amounts more often. I stayed under 20g, so I'm set.
That was far more than I intended to write, but I've been lurking here for a year or two, so decided I'd finally chime in, now that I'm actually doing something other than reading!