Hi! i consider myself only one week new because one week ago I bought the Atkins book and immersed myself in Induction. But I had cut down on my carb intake and believed the theory.The inches are dropping off and i am down 5 pounds. One question, is there a remedy for the "dry mouth" or "metal mouth" feeling, or do I just continue to drink water all the time? Any candy ( non-carb) to suck on? Not really a big deal! I called myself "emptynestr" on this forum because the big deal in my life right now is not losing the 15 lbs, but the fact that my 22 year old son, the last child living at home ( daughter working on a cruise ship)..is moving out tomorrow and i am feeling fragile. This is permanent..he bought a house and is moving himself and his collected inventory of stuff from our place into his. Yes, it's 5 minutes away, yes, he'll be around...but I am feeling sad and old!And today on the beautiful west coast it is rainy and melancholy . But..now I have the Atkins to focus on, and am finding that so far, this WOE lives up to all i have seen on the support forums. Love reading the stories of success! and no doubt in a few days, I will sign myself off as "freedom", "been there, done that" or some such ..just have to get used to having no kids! have a great day & thanks for reading this!

Welcome fellow BC'er! Congratulations on exploring the low carb way.

I have no opinions on the fledgling leaving the nest because I don't have any fledglings. But all big life changes take some getting used to, no matter what they are.

Try chewing on a cinnamon stick. Metal mouth is a very good sign. It means you are burning fat! Other people use artificially sweetened Listerine strips and things like that. And keep drinking water. It dilutes the ketones.

Karen

WEll, Emptynester, I hear yeah, my oldest son, 19 just moved out, 4 weeks ago, almost just an over night decision, he got a job offer he could not refuse, in Victoria, so it happened so fast, it was pretty rough the first few days around here. Such mixed feeling, you know they are doing well and ready to move on, but it's hard to let go is'nt it. I still get teary when I see him and have to say good bye. At 19 he still never went out the door or to bed with out saying Love you Mom. Oh well it could be worst, he could be half way around the world

So it looks like your doing fine on this WOE, good for you. How about starting a journal, they are a fantasic tool.

Cheers Kathy

I remember well how it felt when my daughter left home and how the house felt after she was gone. For days afterward I had this feeling like I was waiting for something and it was hard to get any motivation going. I felt very disoriented and my head felt foggy. I would start to cry each time I was about to leave a note on the refrigerator as I always did so she'd know where I had gone but then realizing she wouldn't be reading it.

I couldn't help but feel that my life was over and for the first time I felt old. It seemed like all the good things of my life were now behind me and the future would never be as good as the past. I couldn't see then that my life was far from over, it was just changing and there were a lot more chapters to be written. Some of those chapters have been the happiest of my life.

I'm glad that you're talking about how you feel because that really helps. One of the things I realized was that I'd been a mother most of my adult life and some of those feelings of feeling lost/sad were because I didn't know how to be an adult without being a daily mom and doing mom things. I didn't know how to focus on my needs instead of my child's needs. It wasn't just my child leaving home, it was my identity leaving with her. Her leaving meant that had to change. Does that sound familiar?

I'm only 5 days into Atkins induction, but I feel good already. It sounds like you are doing great. So this is just one thing you are doing for YOU. Maybe you can sit down and make a list of other things you can do just for you. That's one of the positive things about this stage of life. there is more time for YOU.

Thanks to the folks who replied! it is good to hear that metal-mouth is normal, and yes I will buy some cinamon sticks. A related question...does metal-mouth mean that I also have bad breath? or is it just a taste that I have in my mouth, and nobody else knows? ( I hope) And PS to Karen who answered me, I was in your class a couple of weeks ago, in the kitchen store at our mall! Enjoyed it a lot, in fact am sitting here feeling very full after a nice meal of meatza...looking forward to your book..to the folks who sympathized about my baby flying the nest, thank you so much. i think it'll hit me when the truck comes tonight and the kids start packing stuff out of here...I love this forum and feel very supported.

Sorry ... DH hates the smell of ketosis breath. I hang onto listerine strips.

Glad to hear you are feeling supported by everyone. This really is a great group of people.

I've started getting that breath problem too. Didn't know I could use the Listerine strips, so I'm glad to know that. What I did was pop a few whole cloves in my mouth and chewed on them as someone recommended to me. It tasted refreshing and took that terrible taste out of my mouth.

I wish you well when that truck pulls away. Remember, you can always log on and talk about how you're feeling no matter what time of day or night it is. This forum never closes, which to me is very comforting.