I am new here, but not new to lowcarb....

What are the 5 most important things in doing Atkins?

1. Drink enough water. Drink MORE than you think you need. If you drink anything that is dehydrating (like coffee or alcohol) make sure to drink extra water to make up for it. The same for exercise, hot weather or anything that makes you sweat.

2. Take a multivitamin/mineral supplement daily, especially on induction. Some people may find they need potassium, calcium or magnesium supplements also, and particularly if they are drinking plenty of water as there is a tendency for these minerals to be flushed out of the body. ANYONE on a weight loss diet is deliberately restricting the body's intake of nutrients below what is needed for maintenance. Supplements compensate for this.

3. Move into the OWL portion of the diet after Induction is over. Spend the additional carbs on veggies. Eventually you will even be able to eat some fruit again.

4. Read up on low-carb as much as you can. The more you understand, the more successful you will be over the long term.

5. Move more. It doesn't have to be a lot more at first, but do something. Stalls are less likely if you exercise.

What are the TOP 5 mistakes?

1. Over-relying on the scale as an indicator of fat loss. Much better to rely on measurements, or even better, on clothes. Measurements can lie if you don't take them in precisely the same locations every time. Clothes never lie. (They didn't lie when you were gaining the weight, and they won't lie now that you're losing it.)

2. All-or-nothing thinking about cheats. You WILL cheat at some point. Everyone does. It is important to understand what will happen when you cheat on a low carb diet. Expect to gain several pounds of WATER weight in the day or two following the cheat. It is only water and it will go away if you stay on-plan. Don't use a cheat and the corresponding water gain to proclaim, "I've blown it," and give up.

3. Getting discouraged when weight loss is not as rapid as it is during the first two weeks. Much of what you lose during the first 2 weeks of Atkins is WATER. After that the weight loss may settle down to a pound or two a week, as with any other diet. One to two pounds per week is about the maximum amount of fat your body can rid itself of safely. (Extremely large people do tend to lose faster than this for a while, until they reach a more "normal" weight range.)

4. Calorie mistakes.
a) Not eating ENOUGH calories. Many people find that ketosis suppresses their appetite. That is probably the biggest reason I can stick to low-carb when I could never stick to other weight loss regimes. I don't get hungry very often, and when I sit down to a meal I'm invariably surprised to find I'm getting full on very little food. I started watching calories to make sure I was eating enough.

b) Thinking calories don't count at all. At some point most of us will have to watch calories to make sure we're not getting too MANY. This usually happens as we get closer to goal.

5. Gorging on LC "fake" foods and LC desserts. These can cause stalls, either because of hidden carbs (glycerine and the like), or because of very high calories (cheesecake and the like).

Emily