Absolutely agreed! I do the same thing with that chocolate mousse I make. I need to know that I can have some sort of yummy treat on this restrictive way of eating. Since I know sugar is my trigger, it helps to keep that part of myself calm, cool, and collective!

Sherry, to be honest, the whole time I was losing my weight on Atkins, I never cut out Nutrasweet. I know it says to, but I was not about to give up my diet Coke and at the time, they didn't have it with Splenda. Every afternoon about 3:00 I ate one of the containers of sugar-free Jello with TONS of spray whipped cream on it. I had that again at night.

I also ate the Atkins bars and candy when I was craving chocolate. I used to buy the Atkins Cruncher plain chips and top them with cheese and melt in the microwave to make nachos when I had a craving for salty and crunchy.

But I ate tons and tons of protein. My normal breakfast would be an egg and cheese omelet with 4 or 5 strips of bacon or sausage patties. I also would take sausage links and cover them with cheese and melt. Lunch would be a couple of grilled chicken breasts or hamburger patties or beef stew meat pieces or pork chops. For dinner I would eat a pound of shrimp or a very large steak.

If you are hungry, eat. I can't emphasize that enough. It works.

The first day back on plan? For some reason my tummy feels like my belly button is being squeezed back toward my backbone. It is like a really hungry feeling. like there is a vacuum in there.

But then when I got off work feeling like I was just starving, I head home and realize that the feeling is relieved by burping. Why I wonder would that make you feel hungry?

I'm wondering if there is something about the process of switching over fuel sources that causes bloat. The pictures they have of starving children always show them with bellies that look like they are blown up like balloons. I wonder why that is.

I am on my 11th day.

Wow! This is interesting.. I have had the same feelings today (first day) and hope I don't feel it tomorrow. I had eggs & bacon for breakfast, a butt load of chicken wings for lunch and chicken patties for dinner. I was hungry after the 4 patties, and had to get a chunk of cheese. Now i'm off to bed, but thought it was strange to feel so hungry. Part of the detox I suppose.
Teach us to go off program! LOL

Tomorrow will be a better day Sherry!

Nite nite..

Wow - lots of inductee's. Best to all.

Does anyone remember how long the "bad" part of induction lasts? I just finished my 3rd day and I am still constantly starving. I have gained since I started I think you are right, Falon, that a lot of it is water. But I am also wondering if it is the horking slabs of meat I have been slamming down.

Also, my stomach is soooo bloated, it hurts to sit. very anoying. Very interesting that others are going through it too. But my belly button does not feel like it is being sucked into my back - it feels like it is about to fly off and slam into the wall.

The first time I did Atkins, I remember having to remind my self to eat after the "I'm starving" phase - but I can't remember how long that took - any ideas?

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Bailey are you eating enough? Wow that is pretty weird cause yesterday I felt so hungry even though I was eating enough. Maybe it has something to do with the gravity or the tides, lol. I dont know I thought I would just say something weird like that. HA HA. Well hopefully we all get past our starving phase, just eat and make sure it is atkins friendly

Bailey - Hope your stomach feels better. Mine was kind of upset last night when I went to bed. My worst time on induction is the first 3 days. The thing about Atkin's is yo-yoing back and forth on it isn't good. I just read a great article called "The Golden Shot" and it talked about people who had great success the first time they went on Atkin's, but who went off and tried for that same success years later. It didn't work for them the same. That's me, and surely many more of us here. The first time on it was our real Golden shot, since this is my 3rd time back.. I have really screwed it up for myself. I have made it that much harder this go around.

Sherry - I hope you don't feel as hungry today. I feel better this morning,and think i'll be fine today. I have even dropped quite a bit of water since yesterday. That probably really helped some.

Hope everyone makes it. We can do this.. especially if we stick together!

Thanks for your help.

Sherry - I am eating 4 oz a cheese, 3 cups of spinach, blue cheese dressing on the spinnach, plus TONS of protein. I am not sure what else I can have? I had 30 oz of diet soda day one, 10 day 2 and about 2 yesterday. Today - I try for none. I was hungary but not starving when I woke up, so maybe the tides have turned! Hope you are out of the starvings as well.

Falon - I know it is bad to go off and on. Last time I did atkins, I did my own version of phases 2-3, then went to a style of eating that had me roughly maintaining (I gained some back fairly fast, but then stayed right there for years). I know it will be harder this time. Thing is - WE CAN BOTH STILL DO THIS! Hope you are feeling better too.

Happy news! After watching the scale go UP at the start, today it was DOWN! I went from 155.5 to 157 to 154.5! The fact that my stomach is still bloated out about 2 feet from "normal" makes me have some hope for a loss this week. We shall see....

After lots of research, I've decided to give Atkins a shot-today was my first day. I've never done Atkins before, and just this one day was pretty hard. EVERYTHING I love to eat is just loaded with carbs. I'm determined to see it through, because I've yo-yo'd for the last decade a range of about 80 lbs, and I've tried everything I could get my hands on. I looked at the grocery store today, and there are lots of low carb options for sweets, but the killer for me is going to be bread. Is there such a thing as low-carb bread? Is there ANY form of bread that is acceptable to eat on this diet? Also, the book says to do induction for 14 days, but alot of people posting here are going way longer. Is it just because it produces more weight loss in this phase, or is it difficult to make the transition without putting weight back on?

I have to admit I usually stay around Induction just because I'm lazy. It's easier than having to start reading labels for a carb count.

Day 4 for me and so far, so good. I'm definitely not having the hungry problem -- but then I eat often -- about every 2-3 hours.

been on strict induction for five days (cheated once by drinking beer) have gained 2 pounds and am thinking that it was the beer. UGH

I'll be starting induction tomorrow.

rebeleagle: I've stayed (close to) on induction mainly because for me the transition was hard. I gained weight and got frustrated--and ended up eating junk. I've learned that I've got to be patient. And yes, they've got low carb bread. Just check the label. Forgot the brand I buy--but it's like 5 G carbs per slice. So I use it sparingly.

Whit

SF pudding got me today. TOM symptoms attacked and I think that's why the chocolate did me in. Otherwise I was doing GREAT. Well, tomorrow's another day and it could have been worse!!

I tend to eat "wraps" when I need bread Low carb tortillas. There is also a "Sara Lee" low carb bread, but not great for induction. I normally don't miss bread too much. Chocolate is where I get really messed up.

We were in Safeway today and they just added a Starbucks to it. They have a chocolate "drinking chocolate" they call it that is WONDERFUL. I asked the lady if they had that. She said she was sure she could make it and then she realized she couldn't. I was actually glad she didn't have it. I was going to buy it for my daughter, but I knew if she had some I wouldn't have been able to resist a taste.

Anyway we had a marvelous dinner tonight. Steak, salad, brocolli, sauteed mushrooms, some strawberries and I had a glass of wine. Not induction fare (the wine or strawberries anyway), but very good. Family had sourdough bread, but I avoided that.