Hi Everybody - I'm kinda new. Have been checking many threads on 3FC and even butted in on a few conversations. But low-carb is where I want to be - and I need convincing that it is the way to go.
I've checked out the Atkins site and feel that this really is the eating pattern that will suit my lifestyle and tastes. But does it really work? And is it healthy?
I consistently read about the need for carbohydrates for energy and many dieticians seem to sneer at high-fat, low-carb.
I'm just about ready to start on induction, but wonder how I'll survive without coffee, real, strong coffee, in the mornings. And then I will also need something to curb my craving for sweet, sugary foods - have become a complete chocoholic.
Please reassure me, I really want to get started, but keep on postponing.
I live in south Africa and have not yet read Dr. Atkins' book. Can I manage only with his website?


Hoping to hear from someone - and great talking to you.

Hi there Fatgran -- nice to meet you.

I'm no expert, altho there are a bunch of ladies on this board who are...... but for now, my input is: I have been on Atkins induction for 6 weeks now...... I did NOT give up my morning coffee, but I DID cut back on the amount I drink.

About the chocolate: I bought the Atkins Advantage bars -- I, too, am a complete chocoholic, and the Chocolate Decadence flavor is sooo sweet and sooooo chocolatey that I absolutely cannot finish it in one sitting!!! Nobody who knows me can believe it!

As far as going by the "book" -- I suppose you could manage with just the website, but I find that sometimes reading the book is the ONLY thing that does it for me, I want to quick check something or look something up, and I just can't get to the computer..... also, the book has a handy tear-out carb counter page, it fits right in your purse: excellent for when you're in the grocery store or a restaurant!

Good luck and come here often - these ladies really know their stuff!

Hi Samsgrandma - Gee, I'm almost hooked. Thanx for the advice. I'm going to Cape Town next week to try and find the book - and I'm really going to try to stick to the diet. However, I'm sure we don't get the bars here. I'll just have to overcome my addiction. Mind over matter.

I'll keep in touch. It's Saturday evening now - I'll slide into things tomorrow (there's a party on tonight!) and really get stuck into it on Monday. Don't we ALWAYS start our diets on a Monday!

I'll also strap on my pedometer and get walking - I need far more exercise.

Stay well and good luck with your own program.

Fatgran

Hi Fatgran,

I don't know that I can sell you on Atkins, but here's my take on it. I started the program on 042002. I have lost 24 lbs. since then. I don't have mad cravings unless I slip up (which I've done a couple of times), but I am able to get right back OP. I could not exercise for the first 4 weeks. My legs and feet hurt so bad from the 292 lbs I was carrying.. I had to rely on the diet alone. I lost the majority of the 24 lbs. in that first 4 weeks. I can now walk, I am up to 30 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week at a pace of about a 25 minute mile. My weight loss slowed to about 2 lbs. a week, but I still feel really good about the program. I can eat out without much discomfort (except Italian and Mexican food restaurants, so I just avoid them). It's easy to shop. I really only go to the meat, produce and dairy departments. I have not had my blood work checked yet, but am hoping for a drop in cholesterol as is indicated in the Atkins book. (My cholesterol is 'dangerously' high according to my doctor).
I know you said you didn't think you could get the bars in South Africa. Can you order them off the internet and have them shipped to you? It may be an expensive order, but if you cut the bars up into 10-12 pieces and refrigerate them, eating only a piece or two a day when the craving for chocolate is high, the cost would not seem so prohibitive. Or, do you have friends or family in the US or Canada that could freeze and ship them to you? Just a thought.
I really recommend getting the book. There is a great deal of info on the net, but if you haven't read the book, you won't know what or where to look things up. The Atkins site is informative, but it is chopped up into articles, sections and of course, product promotion...so it makes it hard to just sit, read and learn about the entire program and it is really something you need to learn all about. It is a healthy food plan if done correctly. If not done correctly, there can be health risks...you can also gain back all the wait you lose plus some...that alone is reason enough to own the book. Perhaps you can order it online if you cannot find it at a bookstore.
I wish you all the best in starting your weightloss program!
Sincerely,
(another fat gram)
MB

Hi Fatgran I am just finishing day 14. I can't really call it induction because like samsgram I didn't completely give up my coffee. I have cut it down, and I didn't do without dairy products the whole 14 days, and I did eat some of the Bars the first couple of days.

I have always been a strong opponent of the lowcarb/high protein WOE, because I felt it MUST me unhealthy. My husband had weight loss surgery on 4/19 and his doctor told him he will have to be on a lc diet for the rest of his life. After taking to the doctor, I started reading books. I've got Atkins, Hellers, Eads, and one other author that I can't remember. All their plans have little differences, but the main focus is the sames.

In this 14 days, I've lost 9.5 pounds, feel great, have been able to pass up foods that I thought I'd die for, without even feeling the least deprived. The only problem I've had in these 14 days is I haven't been able to sleep well, but I'm not sure that has anything to do with the diet

Besides, I decided I had to try the lc plan so I could hang out with these neat guys.

Thanks to all for the encouragement. Today, my weaning day, I've been feeling the water. But must admit that it feels strange eating things that I was always told is taboe on any diet - like the lamb chop WITH its layer of fat which I had from the bbq at lunch (it's 5 pm here now).

For tonight I'm preparing fish soup - good veggies cooked in fish stock, pureed and now ready for fresh fish to be added. healthy and not high in calories. But thinking of the Atkins diet, I realised I could/should add cream, which will be delicious, but still frightens me a bit!

I'll get used to all this. Tomorrow I'm off with a bang on induction and will keep you posted. Oh, dear, the chockies!!

Love to all.

Fatgran, soon no longer to be!

fatgran...

that soup sounds FABULOUS... would you mind sharing the recipe???

as for the cream, a wee little bit won't hurt anyone, honest!!!!

it's great that you're starting a new direction. and if you need to tweak it to fit your own body and lifestyle, go right ahead. many of the ladies around here find the carbohydrate addicts diet and the carbohydrate addicts lifestyle plan to be helpful as well. and many start on atkins and transfer to another one...

so, full steam ahead, and you're doing great

Hi Fatgran,

You are so lucky! I usually write these long lectures that probably put people to sleep before they get it half read. I wrote one of those this afternoon for you but lost it (clumbsy fingers). So now I am going to be more concise. Can't promise much, but I will try.

First, I want to let you know how healthy this way of eating (WOE) is. Some of us will eat this way for the rest of our lives because it is healhy and makes us feel so good. The high carb diets that are dictated to us: did you know that they are not tested to see if they work? And did you know that when they first said take lots of that fat out of your diet, they also said replace it with lots and lots of high fiber fruits and vegetables? And what did the food industry do? They could not make billions ($$$) from us eating more vegetables, so they put out low fat sweets and tons of low fat products. But when they took out fat, they had food that was dry and tastless. So they added something to make it taste better. Know what they added? Yes, they added carbs. Look at two products of the same manufacturer, one regular and one low fat. The low fat has more sugar.

When you first do low carb, in about one to two weeks you should feel quite different. You tell me what you feel.

And about the cravings. Cravings come when we eat a high carb meal which makes our pancreas put out a flood of insulin, and the insulin does its job of getting that high sugar content out of the blood and into the cells to be used for energy, and getting our blood sugar level down to a good amount. But that high dose of insulin, done daily and for years, finally makes our cells resistant to insulin. So the pancreas puts out even more insulin, and the cells get even more resistant. Finally, the pancreas can't go on, and you develop Type 2 diabetes. Or high blood pressure. Or hypoglycemia. PCOS, obesity,high cholesterol, and lots of other nasty things can result from all this insulin which comes from all the carbs you have been eating.

So, yes, this is a healthy diet.

Also, about the book. There are lots of popular low carb diet books, but the most well known is Atkins'. However, you might want to see if there are others in the bookstore or library when you go to Cape Town.

The reason I would recommend you not really start the low carb diet until you get a book (or two or three) about low carb diets and read them to see how they sould be done, is you might be setting yourself up for failure. If you don't know that, for instance, drinking sodas with artificial sugar might make you crave carbs (makes your pancreas put out insulin, which is the kermudgen which makes you crave carbs - notice we never have a problem at 1 am of craving a salad or a pork chop?), you might not be able to get to the point where you see the chocolate cake and don't care about it. And that can happen when you get into this way of life! So, you should be at least a bit knowledgable about this way of eating before getting into it very fully. There are sites on the internet that can teach you lots about it. Search around and read all you can before you try too hard to do a low carb plan.

Oh, and if you don't have ketosticks to check for ketosis, your mouth might tell you. Ketosis leaves a bad, kinda metalic, taste in your mouth which apparently smells not so good.

Okay, so I lied about not writing too much.

The protein bars you buy in the stores (or online) all seem to have glycerol. It is not counted as a carb, but many Atkids (people on Atkins) go out of ketosis as soon as they eat one. Watch out for that.

Now I am finished. Well, only temporarily.

Hope you have some wonderful success with this, fatgran. Please come here often and ask all the questions you can think of, and let us know how you are doing.

[COLOR=darkred] Good Heavens, Giggles, you can write your own book on the subject. Now I HAVE to start reading. Thanx for all the advice and info, I'll get all further info I need and then really get stuck into it.

This is the only diet I will be able to follow and stick to - I can't live without protein like eggs, cheese, fish and meat, although we mainly eat white meat at home - apart from our BBQ's at weekends.

Will keep in touch.

FG

HI fatgran

I can not add much more to giggles as she is great with her posts!!

the only thing i would like to add is concern over your not sleeping. If it is because youare feeing more energised then great but if it is becasue your legs feel like they want to go with out you then i am a bit concerned. amny peopl when starting this woe (way of eating) do not read the book (like i know you have not had the chance) but they miss the important part of taking potassium. most do need to take is as they lose lots of ewater. most also do not have to take it for a few weeks into eating like this then their body regulates itself and they do not need to continlue to need it. but if your legs are jumpy now then you may have started with a low level and that may be a problem. like giggles said tell us how you feel. there may be simple asnwers to your questions. and very simple answers too.

welocme to the board by the way!!!

Oh just wanted to add my choloesterol numbers I am 42 years old and was well on the way to high cholesterol
now i am total 176 Perfect ...LDL (bad cholesterol) 89 Great.......Triglycerieds 98 wonderful (bad cholesterol) and HDL (the good stuff is 68 which is terrific!!! the ratio shold be under 3 triglycerides to 1 HDL I am 1.4!!!!

I really can't add a whole lot to what everyone else has said -- they've said it all! But I thought I'd chime in with an assurance that the cravings disappeared for me, too! This became very obvious for me one day when I cheated -- the next day I was very antsy and madly craving carb-ridden snacks. I, too, was going to suggest you try ordering some of those Atkins bars on-line if you can't find them in Cape Town.

And one more reason for having the book -- there's a lot more information in there that I find motivational. If you can't find it in S Africa, you can certainly get it online.

Good luck to you!