She says the American diet is so different from the French one. Her English is good but she still says something in not quite right: she says "I am fattening" instead of "I am gaining weight" or "I am getting fat". She sounds so cute, I don't correct her. In American English, we fatten the calf, not humans.

It must be difficult to manage all the cultural shocks AND a diet shift.

Just a suggestion: Atkins suggests a two week "induction" period which has a much more limited set of foods. In this "induction" period he excludes all fruit. I was not clear from your post if you are still in induction.

Also, you can go to library and read Atkins books for free. You can even sit in some bookstores and peruse books for hours.

You can find what you need to know here, I am sure, but since you mentioned no healthcare I also projected you were light on funds. The library is our friend.