[Michelle98272]

I started Atkins induction phase Monday and am down 4.5 pounds. Is that typical, possible even? I'm finding it hard to eat 5 small meals or 3 regular meals and snacks...I'm not that hungry.

Monday and Tuesday I felt weird, lightheaded and spacey...I'm guessing that is the carb flu? Today I feel fine just not really hungry at all. What happens if you don't eat enough?

Edited to add: Forgive me! I just saw the Atkins Induction Basics sticky. I'm sure I'll find my answers there.

[readyfreddy]

Yes! Normal! Your body needs more water retained to process carbs. As you switch to burning fat, your body releases a lot of the excess water and you lose weight very quickly. Then you start losing/burning fat and losing a bit more slowly but the real stuff.

Try having some broth. That really helps with induction flu for me.

What are you eating? You definitely also want to get some fat in there for energy (cheese, eggs, olive oil, mayo, butter, etc)

[Michelle98272]

Let's see, what am I eating???
Breakfast: coffee with real cream and Splenda (I know coffee is a no no...but one thing at a time!) two hard boiled eggs, pork rinds and sour cream.

And Water, water, water...I am so thirsty lately!!

Lunch: Turkey burger patty fried and topped with Monterey Jack Cheese, salad (bagged salad, I picked out the carrot shreds) blue cheese dressing, 4 mushrooms whole.

Dinner: Chicken Breast cooked with a drizzle of bacon fat so it wouldn't stick to the cast iron skillet on fairly high heat so it would sear the chicken and leave some drippings stuck to the pan, mashed potatoes (cauliflower) and gravy (sour cream added to the skillet after the chicken was removed, reduced and heated-delish bacony and chickeny goodness), "dessert" was stir fried cabbage with a drizzle of bacon grease and balsamic vinegar. Oh My! That cabbage was good.

Also to note I'm not slopping the bacon grease on by the cupful just a teaspoon or two. I do have an old Atkins book that doesn't mention counting calories but I do understand this isn't a free for all. As a former calorie counter (30 lbs lost in 2009 from counting calories) it's a bit hard to relax and just "be" but I'm trying hard to do so. I want to track my calories or feel like I should be, instead I'm tracking what I eat, quantitiy and carbs.

[readyfreddy]

I think that sounds great! I do coffee too. I limit it to 1 cup a day. Atkins website actually says this is ok so long as it doesn't trigger cravings for you (some people's insulin levels spike).

How are you feeling today? I think you are just experiencing the carb flu but if it sticks around try adding some salt (losing all the water can throw off your electrolytes).

I've also heard that you can exercise through the carb flu (essentially the time when you aren't burning fat yet but don't have enough carbs for energy) to jumpstart your body burning its fat reserves (and feeling better)