My boyfriend and I started Atkins over the weekend. I've never been "thin," but living in the South this year put me above the recommended range for my height. We decided to do Atkins because it is basically our normal diet (we are heavy meat and cheese people), minus bad carbs. The only change in our diet right now is: no rice, pasta, oatmeal, almonds, or fruit, but I know the latter three will be re-integrated later. So far, we are really happy, and this weekend we're going to say good-bye to our carb life by taking our crackers, rice, and pasta to a food bank (this is a big step because we buy in bulk, so have 15 lbs of rice and 6 boxes of barilla pasta). My boyfriend is a marvelous cook, so he plans all our meals, and I just sit back and enjoy. For example, for dinner on Wednesday, he braised a pork shoulder in chicken broth, then flavored it with some salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary, made a side of pureed cauliflower and a side of kale with bacon. It was all delicious and well within our carb range for the day.
Anyway, everything was going along swimmingly, then yesterday, a friend convinced us to go out with her to dinner and a movie. We went to cheesecake factory, and it was depressing to look at this menu of pages and pages of delicious things we couldn't order! Luckily, our friend got foods that I would never get so I didn't feel bad once we got our food. But, it was the first time this week that I thought making this permanent, healthy change in our lifestyle would not be sustainable. You can't always be hermits and refuse to eat out! How does everyone else do it?!