Newbie to Atkins; Question about bacon
 

Hey everyone. I just started my induction with Atkins yesterday. I just got the book today, so if I happen to ask a question that could be answered in the book, please forgive me. I'm not that fast a reader!
I tried CAD earlier this year (started in March and finally gave up in June because I wasn't losing). Two acquaintances of mine are doing Atkins so I thought I'd give it a go since the CAD wasn't working for me.
One thing I was confused about with CAD and now with Atkins is bacon. I am not able to find bacon that does not list sugar as an ingredient. Is this bacon still OK to eat, especially with induction?

hi Flo Jo,

I hope Atkins suits you better than CAD :)

Bacon does have sugar in it, as well as nitrates. These are in relatively small amounts, so don't make the mistake of assuming that bacon has zero carbs like other meat.

You can have it on induction, but don't go overboard ;) Too much of it can make you retain water which will show as weight o nthe scales.

A few strips for breakfast each day, even on induction, is definitely allowed :)

Lesley

Sugar is part of what makes it taste like-- bacon! Otherwise, it's fatback. If you notice, sugar is listed after salt as an ingredient. All ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. So there are less than 240 mg of sugar (the amount of salt) in the particular piece of bacon I'm looking at. I suppose there might be one or two grams of sugar in a pound of bacon, but not in a serving. I wouldn't get really wound up about the sugar unless you eat the proverbial fivepoundsofbaconaday! :daze: Or unless you find yourself so sensitive to sugar you need to avoid ALL sugars.

Thanks, Lesley, for the reply.....and so quickly, too! I hope Atkins is the answer, also.

Thank you, too, pittypat!! ;)

Question for FLO,
Why do you think CAD didn't work for you? I put a week of CAD in the middle of a 6 week LC diet cycle and am always surprised to find I lose at the same rate on CAD as on the more restictive LC diet. One of those things that make you say Mmmmmmmmm :idea:

Answer for Shark
 

I haven't a clue! I really wish I knew, because it really was a great thing having that free hour every day. The only thing I can think of is maybe in that one meal I had too many calories. I always had a dessert with my Reward Meal.

Hi FloJo,

I too had tried CAD for 2 months and didn't lose any weight. It was my first try at low carbing and I really didn't have all the knowledge I have now. I agree, I think it was the reward meal that I didn't handle very well. I also had dessert almost everyday so was just consuming the wrong foods. I then tried Protein Power, started losing weight and feeling great immediately and so began my low carb journey. I lost most of my weight to date on PP, then I hit a plateau and just stayed there. I didn't try too hard to lose but had no difficulty maintaining. A couple of weeks ago I decided to start low carbing again seriously and decided to give Atkins a try. I've found it more difficult but am committed. I'm glad you decided not to quit all together after CAD was not successful. You need to find what program is comfortable for you and that you can adopt as a WOL. I wish you great success!

Thanks Janice! I really appreciate the words of encouragement. I did decide I would start the calorie counting again, even though I despise that and haven't done that for many, many years. By that time I was getting desperate......again. That lasted about two weeks with no results. Then I came back to my senses and decided to give this a try. I REALLY hope this works. Thanks again! :)

Good luck FloJo,
I too have tried CAD and I lost a bit at first...then bam...it stopped....
The RM just killed me I felt like I had no control...I wanted to eat everything I could get my hands on within that hour!

So now I'm in my 9th day of Atkins' and I've lost 12lbs! So far so good. I feel like screaming it from the roof tops.....lol :o

Good eating to you!

Posting Results
 

I am absolutely blown away by the results so far!! Weighed myself last night and I was another 3 pounds lighter! :thup: I already weigh less after four days of Atkins than I did the entire 4 months of CAD! That just goes to show you I guess........different strokes for different folks. CAD works for some and not others. I am so glad I decided to try Atkins. I hope the weight loss doesn't stop until I'm at my goal weight.
I was wondering if you all have a thread to post results with each other? I know about the journals but thought maybe there might be a specific thread for sharing results.

A real good tool to help with Atkins is Fitday.com. It calculates your food ratios and calories.. so you know each day that you are eating the right ratios of fat to carbs to protein.. and you can make sure your intake is where it should be. it only takes a minute

I bought bacon that says 'no sugar added' and it certainly tastes like bacon to me. I've been consuming up to 7 strips a day, scattered through the day although some days none at all.

Its stuff like this that bugs me. I figured a serving (3 strips) probably has 1-2 carbs, even if none are listed, but I wonder about the creep-in here and there. Perhaps I'm trying to be too rigid. :)

Good for you FloJo, keep up the good work!

Relax, Chrish, you're being too hard on yourself! If the serving size listed is three strips of bacon, and it's listed as 0 carbs, there can't be more than 1/2 a carb, or they round up. Labels are better than they used to be about putting in a realistic serving size. That's where they could get sneaky. Another good way to figure if they're being "honest" on the label is to take the number of fat grams times 9, the protein and carb grams times 4, add the results together, and compare the answer to the calories listed. The answers should be pretty darn close, or they're fudging somewhere. Then call their 800- number to find out what's going on!

All in all, you figure out pretty fast what you can and cannot eat, and how much.