New here - Induction Day 2
 

Hello all. I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. This is my 3rd time doing Atkins but my first time post baby and serious. I am 5'7" and weigh 200 lbs. I'm not sure of a goal weight, maybe 150 or so but I would like to be a size 8/10. My biggest problem area are large "girls" 40DDD and the tummy area. Currently my stomach is larger than my waist and that sucks. My measurements are 42-35-43 (Chest-waist-hips). I haven't been a size 8/10 since maybe junior high. I was a size 12 with a D cup in high school. Anyway, I just spent 6 hours reading a lot of old posts so hopefully I won't re-ask the same questions. This is my 2nd day and my head hurts and I feel a little sick to my stomach. My menu is:
B - 2 turkey sausage links/boiled egg
S- celery w/cream cheese
L - chicken breast/green beans
S - 1 oz almonds
D - fish/spinach

I am eating every 3 hours or so to keep my metabolism going. I also have tracked my menu on fitday and without the nuts I was only taking in 930 calories which for me was way too low. I find that if I don't at least take in over my BMR, my body goes into starvation mode and I don't lose anything.

Any tips or suggestions from some of the regulars? Anyone else find that they need to eat more to lose weight? I've been reading up on the nuts and I guess the biggest problem was that they were not being eaten in moderation. I hope I don't need to cut them out. If so, any way to keep my cals up so my body doesn't go into starvation mode? I've rambled enough.

SIO

Hi SIO -

You are experiencing detox and it may continue for a couple more days. Your body is getting rid of the bad carbs and getting used to not receiving them. Once you get past this, you'll feel great! Hang in there and keep going.

Welcome back to Atkins and Good Luck. I am also 5'7 and was 234 to start with. I am down to 150 now and it looks pretty healthy on me. I am trying to lose 5 more lbs. I wear a size 4-6 now. I am a 36DD on top and I still have to wear large shirts and always will, but much better than the 2X's I was wearing. I have tracked my calories and 1200-1400 daily works best for me while doing Atkins. It takes me this many calories to lose weight and not feel hungry. My exercise is walking either outside or on treadmill. I am hoping to find a gym with a pool and take some water aerobics classes for me and my daughter. Also plan to get a bike and go bike riding with her. Wishing you the best.

Welcome!
 

Hello SIO -

It does sound like you aren't eating enough. The great part about Atkins is you can eat more normal portions of low/no-carb foods...as opposed to the old way of dieting which is starving yourself. No fun!

Today is day 14 of the Atkins diet and like you; this is my second time trying and my first time post-baby to do a diet. I am 5"6 and have a 9 month old. Coming to this site was probably the best thing I could have done for myself while doing this diet. I urge you to check in here everyday -- or if you feel like you need a pick-me-up, come more! I come a few times a day now and love reading everyone's posts. I've actually learned a ton of things from everyone here.

Listen to JerseyGyrl -- she definitely knows what she is talking about. Look at all of the weight she lost! She's totally inspirational and was one of the first people I chatted with here.

I haven't been on the diet that long so I'm not the best person to dole out advice on it yet...but from my experience on the diet, I started out with good portions of the diet meaning I was sure to eat good sized portions the first few days so I wouldn't feel hungry. I drank a TON of water -- I was peeing all day long! ha ha!! I took my vitamins as the diet suggests and slowly came off my coffee each day (I was drinking a few cups a day). Now I still have my one cup of coffee each morning, but it’s half decaf and if I want another cup during the day, I’m fine with simply decaf.

I read up all I could on the diet. For me, it helped to keep my mind busy on the benefits of losing this excess weight so I wouldn't think of snacks and all the foods "I thought" I was missing out on. Before, that was the downfall for me. I would dream of snacks and bad foods and end up falling off the wagon. This time, I went about it differently and as you can see, I've lost 10 pounds in 11 days (I weigh myself every Friday – so hopefully that will be more).

Good luck to you --- hang in there --- come back here often and well give you encouragement!

Thank You!
 

Welcome SIO! Where in Ohio? My family lives in Mt. Sterling and Washington Court House. I lived 12 years in Westerville.

I have only one thing to say -- eat more! You do not have to limit calories at all.

So far today, I had 3 slices of bacon, 3 sausage links, 1 1/2 eggs scrambled in butter with cheese for breakfast.

My morning snack was a hot dog (1 gram of carbs) with cheese and a little chopped onion.

My lunch was a salad with ranch dressing, grilled fish and shrimp with some grilled veggies.

For dinner, my husband is grilling elk and we will have asparagus with it.

Oh and my afternoon snack was a hamburger patty with cheese and sliced tomatoes.

When I first started Atkins, I'll bet I ate every couple of hours. I never allowed myself to feel a hunger pain. When I wanted to eat, I ate -- and as long as I stuck to the list, I didn't worry about it.

I've lost 145 lbs so far doing it this way. You can do this!

Welcome Sio-this is a great place for motivation! I come here every day for inspiration, and it has really helped. Good luck to you!

hi i'm new here - sort of - i've been trying to do atkins since january and lurking since then with not alot of success (10 lbs) and my husband has been doing it with me and has had simular lack of success. 1st thing we eliminated to try to make adkins work was the atkins products (bars & shakes) next think we elinated was nuts and (most cheese) and i started keying things into fitday to make sure that we were'nt missing anything we both walk 30 min a day at lunch and i small amount of coffee or diet soda - most days i get 60-80 oz water Yesterday i had less than 1200 calories and 20 net carbs and i GAINED a 1/2 lb!!!
the only good that has come of this is that i'm not hungry all the time but I'm really ready to throw in the towel!!!
and it's not that time of montha and i'm not retaining water from muscle strain ...

any ideas what the heck we are doing wrong?

Thank you all for the tips.

JerseyGryl - how much weight have you lost? What phase are you in? Wow, 3 scrambled eggs and 6 slices of bacon... that's alot. If I did that for a week that would be 21 eggs and 42 slices of bacon:hungry: I'm not sure I would want to do that much. I'm all for eating but almost 2 dozen eggs and 2 packs of bacon... umm... I see that I need to add a cup of salad to each meal and maybe snack on some pepperoni w/cheese instead of almonds.

Buffy0 - It seems like just yesterday my youngest was 9 months old. Now she is 21 months. Don't they keep you busy? Are you bf or bottle feeding? If you are bf I found that Atkins and bfing just don't mix plus my body just held on to weight until I weaned her.

Hockeyfan7 - I am in Cincinnati. I love going to Jeffersonville outlet mall in Wash CH. I also lived in Columbus for about 5 years too. Did you feel sick after eating 6 pieces of meat and then a hot dog and then grilled shrimp and fish and then more grilled elk? That just seems like so much meat. Do you have a problem with constipation after that... (sorry if too much tmi). I just worry that all that meat would back me up.

Lilybelle - wow you can wear a 4-6 at 150 lbs and a 36DD chest? I must shop where you shop. When I was 150 lbs I wore a 12/10 on top and a 10 on bottom. I too kept the DD chest but wish I could lose some more of the girls. How long did it take you to get to 150 from 234? What size were you when you were 234? You seem like my body twin so I know there is hope for me. Do you mind posting your measurements? If not that's cool. Do you think the last 5 lbs you lose will affect your chest size? I was really hoping that by losing this weight my chest would significantly decrease. What was your chest size at 234? O.k. enough of the 3rd degree.

Thanks ladies for all of your responses. Today is day 3 and I'm feeling a little better. I had another killer headache last night so I couldn't even play with the kiddies. I tried to eat another sausage patty with breakfast and I will try to get more food with my meals but not sure if I will be able to eat so much meat.

SIO

Read The Book!
 

Hello slimminginohio -

They do grow up fast! He definitely keeps me on my toes that's for sure!

I breastfed for 5 months and stopped when I returned back to work. Yes, I agree with you, Atkins is not that great when breastfeeding. You need other nutrients when feeding like that. If you are still breastfeeding, I would hold off and do the phase 3 or 4 of Atkins.

Hi JeanB -

I think you and hubby should start over. Do you have the book? Try doing the diet and stick to the strict induction rules. I don't think you can have nuts in the induction phase...and make sure to limit cheese to 3 oz in one day. Also, those veggie carbs can sneak up on you so be sure to measure your intake. You need to get into deep ketosis so it works. I know a lot of people don't really like them but I bought those urine strips and test my ketosis levels every morning and every night. I love them! Some nights it's lighter and shows I probably ate too many carbs that day so I can go back in my journal and see what I did wrong right away.

Are you exercising?

yes we are both walking 30 min a day monday thru friday and we just started rollerblading on the weekend because it's nice out but we haven't gone far - we do have a couple versions of the book (didn't know which to buy) we do have the ketosticks but we haven't used them yet - we had been taking multivitimin and calcium but just added:
Acetyl L-Carnitine
CoQ10
Chromium Picolinate

Hi JeanB -

I have Diet Revolution. It's an older book I think but it's totally fine for me to refer to when I have questions so if you have a couple of versions, you are probably ok.

Sounds like you have the exercise part down which is great! Keep it up!

Are you sure to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner along with snacks? It says not to go more than 6 waking hours without eating. If you are not consuming enough calories, that will stall your weight loss. Also, it's really important to be sure you are in the ketosis state. I suggest starting the diet again and doing the urine test each morning and night. I think you'll find no traces to start and as the diet progresses, it should slowly move your body into ketosis.

I also suggest doing a food journal -- I use fitday.com. It's free and super useful! Especially at first. I used it in the beginning and it was really useful. I too found myself kind of floundering in the first few days. So I bought the urine strips and started keeping a journal. It's all about finding that right balance for yourself.

Be sure to eat enough - the Atkins diet is lovely for that! And for the first 2 weeks, cut out the nuts.

jean b-just be careful about those "net carbs". Manufacturers aren't listing these things with just Atkins in mind. Figure out the net carbs on premade items for yourself-you should really just take total carbs and subtract the ones from protein, because ALOT of people don't do well and stall with the sugar alcohols that the manufacturers automatically subtract so that the product looks good to dieters (like the low-carb ice-creams, and even the Atkins bars, etc).
Buffy's right-try the ketostix-that way you know for sure whether or not your diet has put you into ketosis. There aren't many people out there that don't lose if Atkin's is done properly, and if you are one of those people-read the book. There is a whole chapter devoted to solutions for those who can't.

JerseyGryl - I've definetly read the book, it's just that I've never been a big eater, I just ate the wrong things. I mainly liked muffins for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. All the carbs is what killed me. I never wished for more meat, I always wished for more bread. I guess even if I could I just would not want to eat six pieces of bacon for breakfast. I still want to eat a normal amount. What about portions? I know it's o.k. to eat 8 pieces of bacon, 3 hamburgers, 2 steaks and 3 eggs in one day, but is that good for you in the long run? I think I would want to go with leaner meats like skinless chicken breast, turkey and fish. I'm just not sure I like the fact of eating so much red meat and pork. I definetly like the eliminating the simple sugars and carbs though it's just all the fat and meat eating I'm not sure about... Are you still eating 6 pieces of bacon and such a day or did you just do that to lose the initial weight? Do you think the fatty meat helps people feel like they are not missing out on other foods?

SIO

Sio -

I understand your question... totally! I eat normal portions because I don't want to over eat. I know that others here have eated large amounts in the beginning of their loss, but they have also tappered off to fairly regular portions. I think I ate quite a bit in the beginning as well, but tappered off almost immediately. I eat lean meats, veggies, organic, and clean. I don't use artificial sweetners (though I used to) and I eat on a 9 inch plate instead of an average 13 incher, and my portions are pretty small, or what is considered AVERAGE. It is doable, and on Atkin's you shouldn't feel like you have to gorge in order to loose. I think what Kim is saying, is maybe add in a few more snacks during the day. If your body feels like it's going into starvation mode, you will stop loosing. It's your bodies way of hanging on to what you have in order to survive. Here is what I usually eat in a day, and am loosing just fine:

B - high protien shake with psylium husk and flax meal added
L - tuna in half of an avacado, tomato, and a slice of cheese
D - (last night) 4 oz steak with a side of asperagus, 1 cup of salad
Snacks - cucumber and yogurt cheese, or unsweetened coconut (yummy)

There are plenty of times that I only eat a vegetarian meal for dinner, so it is something you can work on if you don't want as much meat. You have to figure out the portion sizes and carbs of what you are eating so you don't exceed. If you are still in the induction phase, it won't be easy, but with time you can adjust to your liking.
Oh, and you can eat other forms of healthy fat like avacado's if you don't want to rely on the fat from meats. Also olive oil is another good substitute if you don't want to use butter. I use it more than anything else... :)
Good luck on your journey. Utilize this forum, and venture out into the weekly chat. You'll really like it there... :hug:

Oh o.k. Falon, that sounds great. I like your approach. I will try some of those healthy fats you mentioned and I love having vegetatrian meals sometimes. In fact, before I tried Atkins, I considered giving up meat (go figure). I will use the things you mentioned. I too am striving for a clean, lean diet and i just couldn't wrap my mind around so much meat and fat.

SIO

The Atkins Way Of Eating
 

Thanks JerseyGryl, your menu sounds way closer to what I would eat. I just thought you had suggested I needed to eat more and suggested like 6 pieces of bacon and 3 eggs and I just knew that wasn't for me... Since you have been doing this so long, have you added back fruit and other complex carbs like brown rice yet?

SIO

Hello slimminginohio -

I have a different story on Atkins. I actually LOVE red meats and enjoyed the thought of being able to eat all of my favorite things. Before, I definitely overate everything in site. When I started Atkins, I was prepared with lots of things ready to eat so I didn't run for a bowl of sugar cereal or some other carb-loaded treasure.

My first week consisted of lots of red meats and veggies. After a few days though, my body was satified with less and for some reason, I learned how to eat differently. I now enjoy leaner meats like you. My menu kind of consists of the following:
B: 4 slices of bacon, 1 egg, 1 cup of decaf coffee, 1 tbsp half-n-half
S: 2 slices of bacon (told you I love meat)
L: Salad with either tuna or skinless grilled chicken breast
S: Celery w/ cream cheese or just cheese
D: Fish or chicken

But now, I don't eat the snacks as often. I'm happy with my meals only and drinks tons and tons of water. If I feel hungry (and I know I'm not -- that's just the old me wanting food), I drink decaf hot tea. Wonderful! And I have since cut out the night eating -- I used to be terrible about eating at night.

So basically what I am trying to say, is Atkins reteaches you how to eat and look at food. It's not about just eating fatty foods without the bread...it's about portion control and eating foods that will truly keep you satisfied longer.

I hope my little tid-bit helps you. And good luck to you! If I can do it, anyone can! :)

Sorry Kim, I do not agree with you. I lost 145 lbs so far eating whatever I felt like which included 6 pieces of bacon, sausage, and 3 eggs for breakfast if I wanted. A large steak, 3 or 4 hamburgers at a time, lots of cheese, etc. for lunch and dinner. I stick to the required amount of veggies.

All my stats are perfectly normal -- blood glucose, cholesterol, HCL, LDL, triglycerides, etc.

As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather not be hungry and tempted to eat carbs rather than worry about if I'm only eating chicken and fish and stuff like that. It's working for me and when I don't follow what I did to lose the weight so far, I start gaining.

No offense taken Kim. Every one of us loses weight differently and it's a trial and error to find what works best for each person. Some people lose better eating less and some lose better eating more. The trick is to get it to work!

I'm like Susan and Buffy-I don't try to limit how many pieces of bacon or burger I eat....if I'm hungry, and if I tried to worry about all of that instead of getting satisfied on the allowed foods, I wouldn't last long on this diet. Hey-I eat all I want of the free/clean foods, and I've lost almost 30 lbs in 2 months! Besides, all of the carbs we used to eat were turning into fat before anyway-probably more fat came from that on a daily basis than the natural fats we are consuming now, even if you do choose to eat 6 slices of bacon. Fat still clogs arteries, no matter how what kind of food it originated from. This is still a healthier way to eat than what got us here in the first place! On this diet, we are using the fat we eat for energy, not only burning off what we've eaten, but going past that and getting down to the stuff we have stored! I think that's why you can eat those things and have your cholesterol and triglyceride levels improve-fat we eat doesn't hang around in the body long enough to do any damage like before.