I've lurked on this website and forum but rarely post. However, I do enjoy all of the information that I can receive from reading. There is so much helpful stuff on this site. It has been a life saver!!!
Anyway, since I had my daughter 7 years ago I keep losing and re-gaining the same 15 pounds! Ugh! And it's as if I never learn! Every time I begin again with Atkins or general low carb I lose the weight without much effort and always feel better. Then I start to feel resentful because I can't have the potato salad on July 4th or the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving or some ice cream with friends at the pool, etc. etc. And then I fall off the wagon, eat some carbs and then I decide, hey I can just do Weight Watchers and eat "whatever I want" and still loose or maintain. Well...then on the 7th or 8th day of that program I find that I'm starving and going out of my mind thinking of food all day long! I begin planning what to eat the entire day beginning at 7 a.m. That is not any fun way to live, imo.
What I've found with low-carb eating is that I have more energy, have better moods, am more motivated to exercise, never feel bloated, sleep better and my hair is even shinier. Friends and family even comment to me that I have a "glow" about me when I'm on this eating plan. So what's my problem? Why do I still have cravings? They are not physical cravings, but more of a mental thing really. And it doesn't help that friends,family and co workers are constantly bad mouthing Atkins ( they don't understand it fully ) and offering me carbs! And I have little will power, sad to say. With Atkins, I'm not actually hungry, I KNOW it's mental. Even though my belly isn't hungry, the ice cream still looks good! LOL Any advice? By the way, I am back to Atkins. I've been back on plan since Memorial Day and have lost my weight, but so many times I've considered cheating. I think I might possibly just be bored with my food options. I'm not a very good cook and what I'm good at preparing usually involves pasta ( bad). I've browsed threads on this site and other sites and gotten some good inspiring low carb recipes, but once again I'm not that talented in the kitchen. I also have a child and I work and my family doesn't eat low carb, so I don't have a lot of time to prepare two meals each night. Any comments and advice is more than welcome. Thank you!!

I'm so glad you are back on Atkins. You sound just like me. I posted yesterday that I'm just a carb addict, that doesn't mean you are but I KNOW I am. I'm also a mom but I'm a single parent. At first my biggest challenge was food choices with my children. I didn't want them to feel deprived and wanted them to have choices that I didn't have. My issue was more than just about weight though I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes so I really didn't have a choice when it came to food. I could keep on eating high-carb and go through all the complications of diabetes or I could try Atkins and change. I chose the latter. So when it came to meal planning at first I had to cook 2 meals and I still do some days but I had to realize that I'm important enough to cook for too. Some mealtimes they just eat what I eat. Because of the economy here in California I haven't bought milk or bread in a month and no one misses it, I know because of the carbs milk and bread come with they just go through it too fast and if I don't have sugared cereal they really won't drink milk anyway, go figure. Another thing I'd like to say is that because of my bad habits over the years I have 2 overweight kids. All the Atkins literature I read says that this WOE is good for them too. I don't force it on them but they end up eating what I eat most times. I don't measure anything for them and they can have as many veggies as they want and they actually eat more veggies because of this WOE. On my last doctors visit my diabetes doctor asked me about my kids he asked if they were their ideal weight and told him no. He said I should try gradually to get them to eat this way. My kids eat whatever I buy and whatever I cook. I know it's not that easy for some families and I know that some families don't have my same issues but I hope this helps. I decided that when it comes to other people I would just stick with the evidence of what is happening with my body and my mind now that I'm doing Atkins. I think being armed with information is the best policy so I read as much as I can about Atkins, Caveman diets, Paleolithic eating they are all pretty much the same and this is the diet our bodies where engineered for. Just look at the results when we eat this way. Best of luck to you.

back to Atkins & to the Atkins message boards!!

What do you mean no potato salad on July 4th? No pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving? No ice cream with friends? You can have all those things!! The important thing is to be prepared by making the low carb version of these & your other favorites
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/german_potato_salad.html
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/crustless_pumpkin_pie.html
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/easy_ice_cream.html

And as far as your family not eating low carb...don't tell them its low carb and believe me, they will NEVER know the difference! My DBF used to roll his eyes when he watched me eat certain things but...guess what..he isn't fully doing Atkins persay but, he's lost 35 lbs. (in a little over 2½ months) cutting back on things like bread & potatoes

You can find lots of delicious recipes on this site: http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html that I can guarantee your hubby & your kids will love!

You CAN do this!!!

All the best to you!!

Well, thank you so much for your helpful responses! That is why I simply love this site and forum so much. I am going to definately try that potato salad recipe soon ( perhaps tomorrow night) because potato salad is one thing I just simply adore and have struggled with giving up this summer. I have a cook out to attend in a few weeks. Perhaps I will bring that dish ( if I can make it turn out right. LOL ) and not mention to anyone it is low carb. : )
Oh, and btw, JerseyGirl, my husband also lost weight without trying ( and he needs to lose weight, though ) last month because he was eating what I was...even though he doesn't agree with Atkins in any way. But I had to point out the physical evidence to him. He couldn't hardly argue with that. He still likes his Dairy Queen, though. Men!
However, my daughter ( age 7) is actually small for her age and quite petite. She in no way needs to lose any weight. I feel I need to feed her bread, milk and pastas in order to keep her weight up...she is very very active and I feel like she needs her carbs to survive. : ) I don't know if that's really true, though.