Hello all. I've been lurking around recently -- I just love this site. It's a nice feeling to see all of the encouragment -- especially from those who are doing the same diet.

I've started Atkins 2 weeks ago. Had 2 slip ups so far. I've lost 5 lbs. I'm exercising more and more. I'm up to about 3-4 times a week which is huge for me!

The Atkins has taken a bit of time for me to get used to. When I've slipped, it's been things like eating a piece of corn once and having a light beer at a party. It's slipping but I'm trying to train myself so there are no more slip-ups. I've finally gotten the time over the next 2 weeks to have for this diet -- meaning I have no where to go, no parties...basically no temptations while I get used to Atkins Induction.

I would love to buddy up with someone to share ideas, thoughts...people who have lots of experience on the diet. So far I've gotten tons of ideas and I really appreciate it!

Let's do this together!

Buffy join us on the weekly that way you can have everyones input those doing great those doing good and know what pitfals to avoid from those of us not doing so good. we are right there for you. (Great job on the 5 lbs by the way!!)

Hi Sue is right. I'm going to start joining in on the weekly's too.
we have very similar stats it will be funto follow you along too!
If there is anything in particular that I can help you with just yell! THe best thing you did so far was to allot ourself some down time for the induction. you really need to be away from temptations and you know what? probably by the time you 're done with induction (2 weeks) you won't have those tempations anymore!
good luck

Welcome to the forum and good luck with Atkins. It has been working great for me. Congrat's on getting started.

buffy-I'm no expert, I've only been doing this for 7 weeks, but anything you need, feel free to pm or email me!

Hello everyone and thanks for the support.

Well it is day 8 of the Atkins diet and I've lost 6 pounds! I'm really excited and feel so good. I think I finally got the hang of it but still have lots of questions that I'm trying to figure out.

What about a ceasar salad? I heard that they are ok -- ceasar dressing is fine? Any one have any thoughts on it? I've gone out to lunch a few times and usually get a plain small salad to be on the safe side but love ceasars...any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

How is everyone else doing?

Congratulations Buffy- You are on your way!!!
Any kind of salad is a great choice, just no croutons, and be very careful of any restaurant dressing-they are usually full of sugar, and dressing alone can blow your carb count. You can find a ceasar or any other kind of dressing without too many carbs, just read labels. Either bring your own dressing (I know it's wierd, but worth it), go without dressing, or order something else. What's great about Atkins is that you can feel like you are indulging on stuff you weren't supposed to have before, like having a burger or a steak at the restaurant, and still be perfectly on plan. We have always been bombarded by the low-cal low-fat diets, it's hard to change to the new way of thinking and eating without feeling guilty. But when you are counting carbs, the salad with dressing can actually be worse for your weight loss. The dressing I used to use had 9 carbs per Tbs-the dressing I use now has 1, and it's not a diet dressing. You just have to shop around.

That's a good idea. I was actually thinking to keep some salad dressing handy here at work with me. We have a great cafeteria downstairs and it has a huge variety of dressings, including just plain oil and vinegar.

By the way, which vinegar is best? Obviously there are a ton to choose from!

Looks like you and I have a similar weight loss goal! Although you are much father along than I am. Can I ask how long it's taken you to loose that weight?

Thanks for the kudos by the way -- feels good to have some much needed support and encouragment here.

Buffy - Way to go! Congratualtions you are more than half way through your first mini goal!
When you look at it that way it seems real doable doesn't it?
I don't know much about vinegar but I do know to saty away from balsamic for sure ( a favorite of mine)
there is a website some here have recommende called fitday.com I am pretty sure there you can enter your food and it will add up evrything for you. also it;s a great place to graph your weight and inches lost.
keep up the good work.
maggie

Oh no! I've been eating Balsamic thinking it was the better one! Well, I'll have to look into that one more. I know that the obvious ones to stay away from are the fruit vinegars right? What about the basic wine vinegar? I see the big jugs of basic vinegar they sell and it's wine vinegar. Now I'm confused! Someone help!

Yes, the smaller goals are super great. I just learned of them recently and decided it was a great way to do it too. I'm on day 10 of the Atkins and have lost 6 lbs. It took about 5 days to get used to the diet (i cheated slightly) and am finally getting into the full ketosis state. I hear it can take up to 2 weeks to get into that state? I am doing it with a friend and she had a much fast time getting into the state then I did.

http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips009.html

I hope this works I'm not to experienced with copying and pasting and stuff but this page gives you a little info on carbs. turns out regular vinegar, rice, and cider are 0 carb balsamic is 2.
hope it helps
maggie

Buffy-
I've been on Atkins since March 24, about 7 weeks. I should have lost more than that, but after some difficulties I got off Atkins for about 10 days after 5 weeks of it, gained back 3 lbs, and had to re-lose that. If I'd stuck with it I probably would have already lost 30. (kicking myself in the butt)

Fitday.com is a great place to check carb counts on stuff you're unsure of. I use it for that, but it has many more features to keep a food and exercise journal, weight tracker, metabolic calculator,etc, and it's free. I find the other stuff kind of time consuming, so I just have a little notebook to write down what I eat and carb count every day, as well as my daily weight. If I don't write down my food, I'll forget what I ate and go over count! Plus if you stall or gain later, you'll be able to flip back through and find the culprit, or see what you were eating while losing the most rapidly.
Oh yeah-and if Atkin's is followed strictly, the book says you should be in deep ketosis by day 5. I'm sure for some people it's maybe longer, or maybe the darn ketostix just don't work (which happens alot). If the scale goes down, though, it doesn't matter.

Thanks rebeleagle1965 & needtolose4me2 for the great information.

You'll all be happy to know I actually hit my short-term goal of 10 lbs!!! I couldn't believe it! I decided to weigh myself each Friday -- I had to check it a few times to be sure it was saying the right thing!

Today is day 11 of the diet for me and I absolutely love it! Of course it helps that I am actually losing the weight. It would be actually day 18 of the diet but I had to restart because I slipped up on that first weekend. BUT, I think it was a good thing because it got me used to the diet slowly...then I went in full steam ahead.

I have been keeping a journal, both using Fitday.com and a notebook I keep in my purse. I've been exercising 4-5 days a week. Two days of the week I've been working out with a trainer. I think all combined have definitely paid off! Today I'm meeting with my trainer and will be doing my measurements as well.

It's a GREAT day so far!!! I hope you area all having a wonderful day!

Yipee! Way to go! That is great news!
I, unfortunately didn't lose lbs this week but I did lose 3 inches. So I'm happy about that!
Keep up the great work! we can do this, we can do this!

Congratulations Buffy!!!!