Hi everyone.

This is my first post. This is my second time low-carbing. I started with Atkins for the first time about 18 months ago. It went well for the two months I was on it. I had to stop though because I was allowing it to take over my life.

I was obsessed with counting carbs. If I went 2 or 3 over, I had a bad day. One night I even had a nightmare that I forgot that I was on Atkins and ate 2 or 3 Lifesavers. My husband, who was concerned about me, finally suggested that I try something else when I was worried that didn't cut my avocado exactly in half. It was really bad...

I restarted Atkins on July 10. Well, it's more Atkinsesque. I'm not counting my carbs, but I'm avoiding refined sugars and starches, fruit (until I lose at least 50 pounds) and juice. I'm also being mindful having too much saturated fat and count back on fat when I can. For instance, I'm using Pam instead of oil when I can. I'm also taking the skin off my chicken and cutting fat off of steak. Instead of really dieting, I'm eating the way I want to eat for the rest of my life. Except I won't be eating fruit or eating pita bread too often right now.

So it's been 11 days and I've lost 5 or 6 pounds. If I'd followed the Atkins plant to a t, I'd have lost more. But I'm happier this way. And not stressed. At any rate, I am happy I found this forum. I've been browsing on and off for a couple of months and I've read some great information here. I hope to continue ot benefit as well as share helpful information with the rest of you.

to you, Amany! Congratulations on your loss so far.

I'm also a firm believer that one of the secrets to long-term success is to find a healthy way that's sustainable for the rest of one's life. For me, that's meant the weight loss is slower than when I slavishly counted kcals, but I'm still headed in the right direction, and actually enjoying myself to boot!

Hope you stick around and share your journey with us.

Congratulations on your new approach to a healthy lifestyle!

I too have done the Atkins and lost 45 pounds in 3 months......and then quit and gained it all back in a few months. I can't live like that, I need fruit everyday.
This time I am eating sensibly and watching my calories. I don't eat bread or buns, I have cut most of the sugar out of my life, and I now eat vegetables daily (not my favorite but with some cajun seasoning they are not bad). I still guzzle diet coke, sometimes a 12 pack a day but it doesn't seem to affect my ability to lose weight. I'm down 34 pounds in a little less than 3 months and well on my way to my November 2nd goal of 150. The hardest part is not buying the bags of spearmint leaves and maple nut goodies at the store and eating the whole bag........I am a candy aholic!!

Thanks Dishy and Tamil. And congrats on your weight loss. I guess it just takes finding something you can live with happily.

PS Sorry about all the typos in my first post......

Sounds like you've developed a good option for yourself.

Welcome to 3FC's 100 club

Hello and Welcome!!

Good Luck with your weight loss you can do it!

WELCOME! Sounds like you're on the road to figuring out what works FOR YOU! And I think that's so important! Good to see you here!

You sound like you are approaching this with a healthy attitude. Keep up the good work.

Trish

You all are just so, so nice. Thanks everyone!

Welcome! Yep, I agree finding something that works best for you is key to being able to stick to it. It's all about permanent healthy lifestyle changes, so it needs to be something that works with you. Sounds like you have that going for you now, and that's great! Congrats on your progress thus far! Sounds like you are off to a very good start.

Welcome! It's so important to work out what works for you, even if it's not 100% sticking to a commercial plan. I could never do low carb because I do too much cardio (and need to carb up to be able to do it properly). but playing around with plans and working out what you can stick to long term is definitely the way to go. It's not about how fast you lose, it's about how well you learn the habits that will let you keep the weight off

Welcome to the board!! I look forward to getting to know you!! WTG on your loss so far!!

So glad to have you! Feel free to jump right in on any of the threads!! Look forwar to getting to know you!!

to the board! Post often so we can get to know you!