hi all...I really would like to lose weight...my weight as been yoyoing for a long time....but I really love to eat sweet things( and yes epps, I eat loads!).

Ive read so any of your read and seen so many positive mails. I would like to find a plan that I can hopefully stick to and find livable. The low carb diet really seems to work...but you all just seem to be eating meat and not sweet things all the time. I am not much of a meat person....and I cannot make myself eat things like bacon and eggs for breakfast. IF I were to try the low carb diet..would the low carb products ..like low carb mixes ( the atkin pdts, bread mixes)...still be considered okay? Can I eat low carb sweet stuff like advantage bars and shakes instead of meat and cheese for main meals instead?

Or would it be like having my cake and wanting to eat it?

I love my sweet things too which is why Atkins was the LAST weight loss option I considered. But I have found a way!

For a start, in the first two weeks you will have to sacrifice and cut the nice stuff out. I myself felt crappy for about three or four days. After that, I felt healthy for the first time in a long time. Getting rid of all the articificial toxins and crap in my body was wonderful.

As I have gone on, I have developed substitutes to satisfy my sweet cravings. For instance, instead of regular chocolate, I eat Lindt 85% cocoa. It's horrid to begin with - very bitter - but you do develop a taste for it. There is low-carb ice-cream in most supermarkets these days.

There are also websites where you can get low-carb recipes.

www.atkins.com

http://www.carb-lite.au.com/

I love in particular a flourless chocolate cake made with splenda and the lindt chocolate. I make the cake, cut the cake horizontally at two heights and then fill the middle with the low-carb ice-cream. I've served this at a dinner party with non low-carbers who couldn't tell the difference.

I use the Atkins bread mix (but you won't be able to use that for the first two wees) and have two slices for breakfast every morning with butter and vegemite. Like you, I can't eat a bacon and eggs breakfast every morning.

Atkins is extraordinarly flexible and if you want to eat something bad enough, there's a substitute out there.

Good!

Anyone can lowcarb!!! I "loved" carbs, but, since I started this way of life, I don't plan to look back! Cause my health is much better! I won't turn back!!

you have to decide what's more important, losing weight or carbs? i don't recommend trying to do atkins using bars and shakes as meal replacements, the point of low carb is to eat well and healthily and to break the carb addiction. if you do induction i'd say you will feel pretty blah as you get over carb withdrawal, but once you are through that and start to see results, why would you want to eat differently? you need things like meat, cheese and eggs because they are good sources of fat and protein, whereas shakes and bars are refined and processed, no matter if they are low carb. so yes, ithnk you are trying to have your cake and eat it too, but you can always give it a go, you'd be surprised what you can do and eat when you try!! good luck, let us know how you go.

Rachel, what you should be focusing on is your health and the best way to do that is through eating real food. We don't only eat meat and eggs here (vegetables and low carb fruits are an important part of healthy low carb eating). Protein and good fats from meat, fish, cheese, eggs and nuts are also vital. You will find that if you decide to adopt this way of life, your cravings for sweet things will subside if you let them - and the way to do that is to keep the processed low carb "pretend" foods to a minimum and focus on getting good nutrition most of the time.

Believe me you will feel great, and you will probably lose a few pounds as well.

Cheers,

Malcolm