[passionatepup]

Hello I just joined 3FC's
I am not sure what type of diet you would call what I am on.
I have been on it since Thursday --- I don't feel like I have lost anything.
I do not eat bread, pasta or rice or potatoes. I watch my carbs and devote them mostly to veggies and fruit.
I felt really "punky" yesterday and I had a headache. Why is that?
I eat every 3-4 hours and I eat lean meats, chicken fish etc. and limit myself to once a week lean ground beef.
Do you have any tips for me?
I love reading in this fourm and hearing all of your success stories.
Do you think I should go "Atkins" or some other way of life?
If so, why?
And isn't it funny when our husbands diet with us and they lose more than we do eating the same darned thing!!

[JerseyGyrl]

Originally Posted by passionatepup

I felt really "punky" yesterday and I had a headache. Why is that?

Your body is detoxing from carbs & sugar. The "punky" feeling is normal during this process. It does get better

[passionatepup]

Thanks, thats good to know. I have the worst headache in the world for the past two days
BTW, I saw your B&A pics... BRAVO!!! U are a true inspiration. Would my diet be similar to Atkins? As I posted below?

[JerseyGyrl]

Not sure how familiar you are with Atkins. Basically, Atkins is an adequate protein, high fat plan. In the initial stage, known as Induction, fruit is not permitted at all. When it is re-introduced, berries & melon are added first in 5 carb increments and other fruit isn't added until later.
If you are interested in Atkins, I would suggest getting a copy of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (2002 or prior edition) and reading & re-reading it to understand the concept of the plan...how & why it works. You can also get some very good info. at Veronica Atkins (Dr. Atkins wife) website...http://www.veronicaatkinsfoundation.org/
A word of advice...stay FAR away from atkins.com!

[kaplods]

If the headaches and yucky feeling doesn't get better, especially if you feel weak, dizzy, or lightheaded, you could have blood sugar issues (and you might consider seeing your doctor and asking if a glucose-tolerance test could be run).

One of the reasons I was once terribly biased against low carb diets, is that whenever I tried them in the past, I got quite ill during induction, and it didn't improve over time. Also, with successive low carb attempts, the symptoms got worse (for example, they were much worse when I tried a low carb diet in college, than I had when I tried a low carb diet in high school, and they'd been pretty bad in high school - I nearly passed out while doing my paper route).

When my current doctor recommended low-carb eating for my insulin resistance, I thought he was nuts. He did warn me not to go "too low," but when I asked what was too low, he admitted he didn't know. Goody, more trial and error.

I did learn that if I ate too little, went too long without eating, exercised strenuously or tried to cut my carbs too low I'd get very ill. Even now, I cannot eat fewer than 20g of carbs without getting sick, unless I am completely sedentary. If I exercise or even move around much, I get very ill. The symptoms are so much worse than I ever remembered low-carb dieting in the past, that I started testing my blood sugar at home, and learned that low blood sugar was definitely causing the sick feeling. I probably had a tendency towards blood sugar control problems all of my life (or at least since before my first attempt at low-carb dieting).

I'm not saying any of this applies to you, but it's just something to keep in mind, if you keep feeling worse, rather than better as you move through induction.

[TwynnB]

What you're doing sounds a lot like south beach. Might wanna peek in our forum to see the highlights of how the diet goes. Fruits however, are not allowed in "phase I", but lots of "good carbs" (beans, veggies) are.

Good luck!

(we call that the south beach flu, BTW...goes away in a few days!)

[Spiritofsuccessnyc]

OMG your my hero. You have been on Atkins since 04 and now weigh 102?

Did I read that correctly? Wow your a bad *** with serious will power......

I am 172 and just started the Metabolic Research Centers diet for the second time but I did Atkins when I was 18 and lost a lot of weight quickly but put it all back on. NOW I am 27 and starting again on the path to loving myself more than food.

[JerseyGyrl]

Originally Posted by Spiritofsuccessnyc

OMG your my hero. You have been on Atkins since 04 and now weigh 102?
Did I read that correctly?

I'm afraid you did not read that correctly. Yes, I've been on Atkins since 2004....but, no, I do not weigh nor have I ever weighed 102. I lost 102 lbs. on Atkins

[sarahinparis]

Still, Kim, you're a hero - you've had great success!

I agree with the others that the icky feeling is likely to go away shortly if you are following a low carb diet.

Going below 20 g of carbs a day is 1) difficult to do if you are eating anything other than just meat and 2) not the recommended approach of any low carb diet I know.

It is true that most low carb plans don't allow fruits initially, and once they are allowed they are a controlled substance and generally certain ones first. I did eat strawberries from the beginning but never in large quantities, and I cut them out when I stalled. Today I keep fruit very limited, and pretty much only berries. I try to eat seasonally fresh fruits and veggies so right now my extra carbs are going to tomatoes more than anything (in fact I probably need to cut them back - I didn't lose as planned this week).

Exercise and the early part of a low carb diet can also be tricky (was for me) -- your body doesnt have the easily-availalbe reserves (glucose) and it takes a while for your body to learn to burn other stuff during exercise, so don't plan to do marathon boot camp sessions or anything as strenuous as you were doing before low carb for a while. With time you'll get back there, but it's a new metabolism you are building.

[TamiL]

I didn't see any mention of giving up sugar? That is something that is really important.

Men do seem to lose weight much faster from the starting gate. Eventually we do catch up, there is hope! My husband is down 45 lbs and I am down 68 lbs since February.

In my opinion Atkins is too restrictive. It works but for me it was not something that I could sustain even in the beginning. We modified the whole diet by bypassing induction and allowing ourselves nuts and fruits in moderation from day 1. The key factor that allowed this to work for us seemed to be the total banishment of bread (white flour), sugar (not natural sugars like fruits), and starches (potatoes, rice) and of course pasta!

We do not feel deprived and have learned to substitute vegetables for pasta (fresh green beans make a great crunchy pasta). We use low carb tortillas or healthy grain flat out bread as our substitute for pizza crust, sandwiches, wraps, etc.

You have to find what works for you. It takes time and effort but its worth it! The difference a few months makes is awesome