Hiya everybody!

Glad to have found this board, because it seems to help and inspire me when I can talk to others going through the same thing as me.

Well 4th day on the plan and I've already lost a few pounds. But I gotta say that must be from water loss. I don't think I'm in ketosis yet. Still it feels good anyways. Guess I better drink some more water.

The first day was horrible. I think it was the combo of carb and caffeine detoxing that did it to me. And work stress and heat outside could have been factors as well. My job is pretty stressful, but I've found that I can keep from feeling sick or headachy if I keep the stress level around me low. I cheated a bit, because I was worried about my job performance, and ate up to 70g of carbs that day.

Next day I went down to 30g of carbs. Third day on program was able to get to under 20g of carbs, so yay for me. Looks like I'll be able to stick to this!

On another positive note, my nails are growing like crazy and look really healthy. Must be all the vitamins and protein.

Hairpin,

Now that you mention it, my nails are growing nicely as well!

Keep up the good work!

-Janeen

Ladies, Ladies...

Quit worrying about your nails! Geez... I don't remember that being one of the benefits of the Atkins Diet. Congrats on the four days so far... just remember, to get in to Ketosis, and start losing weight, you have to stay under 20 carbs per day for at least 3 days. Have you read the book?

Well I've had one day with 30g of carbs, another at 20g, and yesterday at 15g. So I think I'm almost there. I am dropping weight very well right now, but it does not seem to be fat. Maybe after today, I'll get the nasty breath. My husband's breath smells really bad. Maybe that counts.

I did read the book way back when (1999 or so), and found it to be really strict. From what I remember, the book said I should go off the pill and stay under 13g of carbs. I'm thinking I still should be able to loose some weight by staying on the pill and under 20g as the website says. I do prefer www.atkins.com since it's easier for me to find answers to my questions via search.

So far so good. Thanks for the support.

What? Get off the Pill? I have never heard of that. Why would you have to do that? And, what are you talking about bad breath? I guess I didn't read the same book as you, or I skipped those 2 chapters. Let me in on what you are reading. Thanks.

On the website, they are a bit more laid back on the rules. They say that you MAY want to go off the pill. It seems they are worried about estrogen affecting your ability to loose weight. (Atkins Diet Revolution)

And once you go into ketosis, you are supposed to be able to tell because your breath changes. Or you can buy these strips of paper called ketostix (used like a pregnancy test), that tell you if you're burning fat (in ketosis).

Don't go off your pill for Atkins. Not neccessary.

Also, 13 carbs are too low. The old book had practically no carbs to start and they found people often did worse with losing.

20 carbs is the recommended average... most of these 20 are ingested with healthy veggies (natural fiber).

Once in ketosis the most obvious clues are hunger/cravings getting remarkably lowered and odd smells associated with breathe, urine and sweat.

Sometimes you actually have to force yourself to eat. It is the most amazing feeling for someone who WAS ALWAYS HUNGRY!!!

Hang in there.

Ahh, I see! Well, I understand about the estrogen thing, but I would rather be a "heavy gal" than "knocked up!" Yes, I am married, but children are not in my future... Last time I was on Atkins (about 3 years ago) I never got into ketosis. Probably because I was drinking things with Aspartame and eating Tic Tac's non stop! This time, I quit the Tic Tac's, but I am still drinking the flavored water with Aspartame. I can't help it, I NEED the SWEETS!!!! So, I guess I won't hit ketosis this time either. Only time will tell. Yes, I do have those ketosis strips. I will probably start to use them next week, as that will be going into my 3rd Atkins Week. Yay For Me!!!

Have you thought about the Depo shots? They are progesterone based, so while in some people they can cause carb cravings, they won't interfer with weight loss the same way estrogen can. There are also low estrogen pills women use while breastfeeding you can ask your doctor about.

You also don't have too much to lose, so your weight loss will be slower. Make sure to work through all levels of the program, including OWL and premaintanance to increase your chances of keeping the weight off.

As for the breath, some never get it I havn't. I also rarely get the urine smell. Part of that is I drink so much water my urine is more diluted. For me I get sever cotton mouth. I use the sticks to check myself in the mornings, but the steady slow loss has been the biggest indicator to me for ketosis.



The only way to break the cravings is to have a clean induction, no sweets. If you don't break the cravings you will have them continue and that can lead to far more temptations. The best thing you can do for yourself is get rid of the sweetened water and go completely clean. It will be hardd, but after a little bit you will lose the sweet cravings. It does get easier. One of the main purposes of induction is to break cravings and tha tis why many go through it again after a cheat when they have wakened old cravings.