Hi everyone!

I've been reading here almost every day, and feel there's a lot of courage on these boards and I'm inspired by so many of you.

I lost an inch everywhere and 8 pounds on Week One of Induction! So did my husband. - cool, eh? We went shopping last night for this week's groceries and we were amazed at how little there was in the cart compared to our sugar/carbo days where the shopping cart was filled to the top with breads and baking and Pepsi and more bread and baking - LOL!

I lost the 8 lbs. in the first 3 days and have not lost any more since. From day one I had a really bad headache that lasted 5 days! On day four I started drinking coffee (1 cup only) with heavy cream (I added a tsp. of sugar a couple of times - bad, bad dog!!). But I only did that for three days and got back on the wagon totally until yesterday,when I ate two advantage bars late last night - Gawd I feel like when I used to sneak cigarettes before I quit smoking for good!!! I'm craving sugar like crazy! Oh, and to add to the mix - I did not have a 'movement' for 9 whole days!!! I was taking psyllium twice a day, then took a ducolax, which finally all began to 'work' last night. So, now that's 'moving' along...LOL!! I can be rather silly, can't I... :-)

I love this diet, but I'm finding a weakness in myself that I would like to overcome. I am so pleased with the weight loss and the loss of inches....I feel SO MUCH better, and this is just the beginning!! I'm very grateful for this. I can't say that my energy has gone up. I'm hoping this week it will kick in.

Recently, I've found that my appetite is reduced and I've eaten under 1000 calories the last 4 days. Could this, perhaps, be keeping me from losing more weight? My ratios are good re: carbs vs. fats, but I don't eat dairy products, so I fry things alot and butter everything, as well as use oil in salad dressings.

The best ratio I ever got was at my highest calorie count of 1500 calories. It was 75% fat/5% carbs/20%protein. Interesting that more calories got me better numbers. Hmmm....?

Eating under 1000 calories put me in the low 30 percentile for protein. Is that still not too high?

Okay, I guess that's enough questions (if not too many) to throw out today.

I'm an Atkins convert, and will work at this to accomplish not only my weight goal, but to receive all the other benefits this life plan offers.

Have a great day, everyone, and thanks for any input you may have.

/Maddy

Protein is important...so that you don't lose muscle with the fat. Up your protein...your fat, although high, is OK but I would use more "good" fats...i.e. avocado, olive oil...less of the other things.

BUT you guys are on the right track so congratulations and happy losses!

8 pounds is extremely good the first week
more will come. alot of people experience that the third week or forth they don't lose anything, don't let that discourage you as it's just you body adjusting to how much weight you lost. as soon as it does the pounds will start melting away again. I would definatley eat more calories though
good luck and stick to it

Read protien power, or use the body fat calculator at www.zoneperfect.com and find out how many grams of protien you need a day. Then just make sure to get 20g carbs, however many g of protien you need, then enough fat to get a good ratio. It doesn't have to be as high as 75%, 60-70% will work. Everyone is different though, so find what percentages and calorie amounts work for you. Eating fatty cuts of beef really push up the overall calories for the day. Eggs are a wonderful source of protien, so maybe add more of those to your menu.

I very much appreciate the great responses I've received!

LadyBelle, I went to the zone site, as you suggested, and used the body fat calculator. The test suggests that I eat 77 grams of protein per day. Interesting that my best ratio numbers were at the 1500 calorie level and my protein intake was 77 grams at a ratio of 20%. Hmmm.. this is good information for me to have. I will work with this. You know what they say...'knowledge is power"...and I now I more knowledge than I did before.

Thanks so much, everyone.

Maddy