[Fat2PhatMAMA]

Hello everyone today is my 1st day on Atkins...I have tried it before but with little success, probably b/c of the little effort on my part...I have lost 8lbs on my own, but now need help...after seeing my mother and Grandmother having a lot of success with Atkins I thought I would give it another shot! I was hoping to get a few good ideas from you all for snacks and meals...this morning I had 2 sausage patties, for lunch I had ground beef, cheese, lettuce and sour cream...Are we allowed taco sauce? Anyways I'm hoping that some of you will share snack ideas as well as easy meals that you used to get through phase 1...things that aren't EGGS...I hate eggs!!! Thanks!!!

[JerseyGyrl]

to Atkins!
You might want to check out this recipe site for some of the best Atkins friendly low carb recipes on the net! Lots of snack ideas too. And best of all, Induction friendly recipes are marked with an *
All the best to you!!

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html

[Shen]

Welcome~

The first 2 weeks are the hardest because you're still figuring out what you can and can't eat. You'll get the hang of it, I promise.

My favorite things to eat are sandwiches with lettuce leaves instead of bread (you can go nuts on the meat, mayo, and mustard!) Broccoli dipped in ranch dressing is good (Broccoli has 4g of carbs per cup, so be careful to eat more salads than broccoli (Lettuce only has 1g of carbs per cup). Someone told me about breading chicken with parmesan cheese. I tried it, but it came out a delicious gloppy mess, not the crispy breading I had hoped for. I modified it and now I just toss butter, garlic, broccoli, and cut up chicken into a pan, gradually stir in parmesan cheese. Tastes like chicken alfredo without the noodles to get in the way. AWESOME.

I've been told to eat it sparingly, but bacon is most excellent, dude. You're not an egg person, but personally I go nuts for deviled eggs.


A warning: For some people, cream cheese, sour cream, and cheese slow down weight loss (mostly cream cheese it seems) so if you have some trouble losing weight, maybe try avoiding them.

Oh yeah... CRYSTAL LIGHT! The best thing ever is to take a few grapefruit slices and sprinkle crystal light powder on them. It tastes like candy, but grapefruit helps burn fat when digested with protein.

[JerseyGyrl]

Originally Posted by Shen

(you can go nuts on the meat, mayo, and mustard!)

No, you can not "go nuts" on the meat, mayo & mustard. Meat, according to Dr. Atkins should be eaten until you feel satisfied but not stuffed. Mayo has 0 carbs per Tbsp & Mustard, 0 carbs per teaspoon....however that does not mean you can "go nuts" with it as it still contains calories.

Originally Posted by Shen

Oh yeah... CRYSTAL LIGHT! The best thing ever is to take a few grapefruit slices and sprinkle crystal light powder on them. It tastes like candy, but grapefruit helps burn fat when digested with protein.

Grapefruit slices are not permitted on Atkins Induction and would not be permitted until the 7th rung of the carb ladder on OWL.
Crystal Light powder contains aspartame which Dr. Atkins advised to avoid.

This is why it is very important you read the book, (2003 & prior editions) and follow it precisely.

[DCHound]

I would just add, when you have questions about stuff like salsa, read the ingredients list and compare it to what Atkins said was permitted. I'm guessing most commercial stuff is going to have sugar or HFCS as an ingredient...definitely a no-no, in any quantity.

[sarahinparis]

Welcome,

As others have suggested, the first weeks are the hardest because you're coming off carbs and are learning what you can eat.

Although they are not part of Atkins in early weeks, I don't think I'd have made it through the start without bags of nuts in my purse for when I was out and needed something low(ish) carb fast. I travel for work and so having access to low carb foods is not so easy. I now eat nuts much more rarely (and sparingly) but they did help me manage the lifestlye change in those first weeks.

Finding good recipes is also a help, and one thing I think is important is to find really indulgent food that you LOVE that you can eat on Atkins that has generally been something you restricted due to the fat & calories when you did other diets. The story of the mock chicken alfredo above is a great example of this -- others feel this way about bacon etc. But finding the things that you CAN eat that you enjoy makes the giving up of some other things easier.