Do those of you who follow a low carb diet feel satisfied? I am a carb ADDICT, and I have tried the Atkins on a couple of different occasions, the trouble is, I fizzle out, because I am not that big into eating alot of meat. I am use to eating pototoes every day. What problems have you found while eating low carbs, or does it get easier with time? I really want to do this, but in the past I had a very hard time with it. Any advice? Thanks

I tried the Low-Carb Diet. I can't go the rest of my life eating only meat, cheese, and things like that. I MUST have my veggies, breads, fruits, soups, and candies!
I was on low-carb for about a week or two. It was SO hard to do!! The whole time I was on that diet I only thought about what I couldn't eat.. instead of what I could. I didn't lose any weight either. I hope you have more willpower than I did!!
Well, that's my experience with it. Good luck!!!

Hi Hillary20 ... I have been doing Atkins (still on induction - 20 carbs/day max) since 4/15........ my experience is different from happy housewife...... I dont have cravings for carbs (for the most part!!) usually, and I eat a large salad just about every day - with either some egg salad or tuna fish or cheese or chicken or turkey or some protein in it.....that is my normal lunch. I have to admit to you that I am (or rather,, used to be!) a carb fiend: when I would make a 1lb box of pasta, it would be gone in one meal between me and my dh!!! Fresh loaf of bread would be gone almost before I got home from the bakery -- get the picture? And, as I said, I usually don't miss it! Really really and truly! I hardly even miss my baked or mashed potatoes...... but I am loving cheese omelets cooked in butter just about every single day! I never really ate much in the way of eggs or meat, but now I eat eggs almost every day, and meat once or twice each week ... and my cholesterol levels have gone waaaayy down!!!

Make sure you drink your water and also take a fiber supplement (like fibre-con or psyllium husk seed) every day!

Other than that.... come here often..... the chicks here are very very knowledgeable about lc, much more than I am!

Good luck!

I will add that one of the reasons that I STAY on a reduced carb diet is that it really does cut your cravings, and you can manage with much less food!

I was a vegetarian low fat WW who was gaining a pound a month for years. I ate cereal and bagels, pasta and pasta, and bread and pasta( with some cheese and beans).

Boy, do I feel better, even if I never lost another pound, I wouldn't go back to that way of eating if you paid me!

I eat eggs, veggies, meat, chicken, fish, salad, and being able to have mayo, butter, salad dressing actually helps me to INCREASE my veggie intake! And fruit and occaisional small amounts of carbs, or planned carbs, will let you do this for life.

good luck!

dottie

I have to ditto what dottie has said

I eat more vegies now that I have ever eaten my life time even with liking them i would just fix poratoes and meat for dh or just meat nad breat or pasta. now when i am op doing great i do not even miss the starchie stuff I now love my tuna melst in a bowl I eat my hamburgers in lettuce and miss that when i can not eat it that way. yes i do miss the cake and icecream well not really as this is a woe for life and no matter what you do you do need to allow your self the occasional cheat like the treat of cheese cake on a low fat diet or the occasional frenchfries that so many like to do and even the occasional icecream on the low fat diet,. you have to allow your self these or it will seem like a chore and not a pleasre . I will say that it does take time to get used to eating that way after so many years of having the food ingrained in your mind it is easy to slip back to the ols way of eating no matter what diet you follow but the longer you do it the better and easier it is. and believe it the better you feel. I have never felt so good doing this life style!! so I will stop now or i will not get to my dinner hamburgers onlettuce and broccoli salad. YUMMMM

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I appriciate all of you responding to my post I got up this morning, and made an egg, cheese, and bacon omelette, it was very good, but by noon I was craving something sweet, so I caved in & ate a bowl of Froot Loops, not the best thing for me, I know. I am going to try harder tomorrow, as long as it can get easier, I think I will do alright!

Thanks!
Hillary

Hillary, I have read your post and the answers with great interest. I'm also a carb addict and I thought I'd never be able to give up my starches and sweets.
In my experience the first two or three days on low carb are the hardest because you haven't yet gotten into ketosis where your body is burning its own fat and your blood sugars haven't yet stabilized. When that happens it is the most amazing feeling. After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs and cheese (don't skimp on the butter), I dont even think about food for HOURS. Yes, sometimes I get a taste in my mouth that makes me think I'd like something sweet but that's when I make myself eat some more protein or I will take a tablespoon and fill it with half full fat cream cheese and half non-sugar peanut butter. Sprinkle in a few grains of light strawberry jello powder and perhaps some liquid artificial sweetener and stir it together in a custard cup. Now nibble away at it with a little spoon. There is nothing more satisfying than FAT for killing carb cravings and by adding the little taste of strawberry Jello, you are fooling your body into thinking it's getting a fruit fix too.
Sometimes I find myself eating simply because it's TIME to eat and not because I'm especially hungry. It's hard to break those old habits. It's also hard to learn to ignore those little voices telling you "Thats FAT! It CAN'T be good for me!". It most definitely IS good for you. Eating fat is the quickest way to lose carb cravings AND lower bad cholesterol. Ask any of the Chicks here who have lost a lot of weight and discovered the many side benefits of better health at the same time. How bad can that be?

Yes, you will miss having bread with your cold cuts, but you will soon get used to eating a different way. After all, the cavemen didn't have bread and they managed. They certainly didn't have pasta and the only cereal they had was probably wild stuff that they ate raw. Think of yourself as a cave person for a while and only eat what they might have eaten. (Well, do allow yourself a nice salad with rich salad dressing. It makes it so much more palatable.)
Want an easy, luscious dessert that will kill carb cravings and make you think you're living in the lap of luxury? Whip some heavy cream and sweeten it with Splenda or other artificial sweetener. Meanwhile, soften some real cream cheese and mix it in equal parts with unsugared peanut butter (I get the kind that still has some salt in it) and a teaspoon of flavored diet jello powder and some liquid sweetener. It doesn't have to be a perfect mix. Then, in custard cups, put 1/3 cup of whipped cream and swirl in the p.b. cream cheese mixture. Cover with saran wrap and pop in the freezer for a while. When you take it out it is like eating frozen strawberry cheesecake and it's so rich you just need a tiny bit to feel full and satisfied.
When I make my low carb veggies, I make them as luxurious as I possibly can. No more WW style green beans with lemon juice. Boooorrrrrring! I mince up some garlic and saute until golden in a good chunk of melted butter. Do not brown. Then pour it over tender-crisp cooked fresh green beans. Season with salt and pepper and you've got a feast. When you have brocolli or cauliflower, don't be skimpy with the butter or the melted real cheese. No more fat free crap.
This is not a diet of deprivation unless you convince yourself that it is. This is a truly gourmet way to eat. This is the way the wealthy Edwardians ate in the 1900s. Did you ever read their menus? Of course it helped that they had scads of servants. Anyhow, they ate a LOT of meat, cream, cheese, fish, butter, etc. Course after course of them. Veggies seemed to be merely decorative. I'm not saying we should or could eat like that now. (who could afford it?) but even without the tight corsets, I bet there weren't too many fat women. All the fat they ate kept them sated so they didn't crave sweets and sweets became a treat instead of something that was expected with every meal.
I'm a carb addict and it was nothing for me to sit down and eat a whole pound of chocolate at one sitting. I'm not proud of that fact but it's true. I would feel sick as a dog after but once I started it was very hard to quit. Now, could you imagine sitting down and eating a whole pound of butter? No way. That's why just a few extra teaspoons of fat throughout your day can help keep you from wanting those forbidden (for now) carbs.
Fat is good!

WOW, linda, what a great post!!! but i have one teeny tiny question... with the SF jello powder, is it ever a bit grainy? i've tried mixing that stuff in with my protein shakes, and it's gross, because it's not dissolved. and then i started dissolving it in a little hot water, and it still tasted gross..

or does it work better mixed in with the peanut butter and cream cheese and stuff [it sounds divine!!!]

I agree with Jiff, Linda WOW!!

Linda, you're on fire! Great post!

I just have to say,


Linda, it's so great to have you back!

Linda, you are the only person I know who loves Atkins as much as or more than I do! What a well thought-out, well-written post. Very informative!! You go girl, congrats on your losses!!!

Ok, I have to agree with everybody else. Linda, you have a great way with words! I have been fighting off ice cream monsters for days now, and this really inspired me. Thanks for writing it!