she said I looked good and what was I doing to lose weight and when I said "Atkins" a red flag appeared above her head! She said it's good, but when you go off of it, you gain it all back. I said I didn't plan to ever go off it, I plan to stay on Atkins for life.
She said it's not healthy to do so.

I explained this to her, as said in "Atkins for Life" (not verbatim):
When you reach maintenance, you will be at your CCLL, and by that point you'll be eating less fat/protein"

is that true?

Yes, and it makes sense if you think about it. Unless you also want to increase your daily caloric intake, as you increase your carbs, something else needs to decrease. You can only eat so little protein and not be getting enough, so it's usually the fat that decreases.
By the time you reach maintainance, you will be eating a wide variety of veggies and a pretty good quantity of them as well as some fruits, nuts, perhaps some whole grains, adequate protein and healthy fats in the amounts that you can have and maintain your weight. Dr. Atkins calls this the Atkins Carbohydrate equilibrium or ACE. I doubt your neighbor would find this unhealthy unless they are still parroting the old "fat is bad, carbs are good" dogma.
OTOH, they may be mistakenly thinking that everyone who does Atkins stays at 20 grams of carb for the rest of their lives which is a common misperception. Most people find that they can maintain between 40-60 grams of carb per day and many find that they can maintain at higher levels. That's a lot of room for veggies, low GI fruits and even some whole grains in moderation.

so well said, and very supportive! Thanks!!

I had that same conversation with the nurse when I had my bloodwork done. I wanted to let her know that I had thouroughly planned and choreographed my progress. I was not going to stop this diet just because I reached my goal. I told her of all the different phases of the diet and how the final phase, maintenence was about the most important phase to follow because it prevents the weight from returning. She then said, well, you definitely have a good idea of how the diet works.


Black57

Thank you for the information. I am very new at this LCing yet and really not sure of how much protein one should eat a day. i do know how many carbs. I seem to be satified with about 5 to 6 oz of protein ( chicken, pork, beef or fish) in the evening meal. 3 to 4 slices of bacon with my eggs or Atkins pancakes in the morning. A snack once in a while of a atkins muffin or maybe pork rinds with cream cheese. 2 cups salad mix with 1/2 tomatoe, few slices of cucumber, slice of onion chopped, 1 oz cheese, a tablespoon of pine nuts covered with 2 tablespoons of Ranch or Blue Cheese.

I find it very hard to eat anymore then that a real chore.

Someday I get 20 to 45 grams of carbs a day. Have been doing this since April 1, and have lost 16 pounds.

Any imput would be welcome.

Nat...overall your menu looks pretty good although I have a hard time seeing how you could get to 20-45 grams of carb from what you posted above unless you aren't deducting fiber from the total count. Adding more veggies would be a good thing, so don't be afraid of them.
Protein requirements are very individual and depend on how much lean body mass you have if you want to be precise. Protein Power does give a calculation in the book to determine your minimum protein requirement based on lean body mass and it's generally around 0.6 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass if you aren't excercising a lot. You would need more if you excercise regularly and/or strenuosly..up to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. For me that works out to about 80 grams of protein per day minimum. Keep in mind that's a minimum and that it's okay to exceed that a bit if you're still hungry or not satisfied with that amount.
Did I mention that's a minimum?

Sixteen lbs. is alot of weight. You can add variety to your diet, however, by choosing other low carb veggies such as kale, collards, turnip and mustard greens. These greens are very good cooked or steamed with a piece of nitrate free ham ( if you can find it ). I like to heat ceasar dressing on the stove, and use it as a sauce which is good on mushrooms, chicken or shrimp. These mixtures can be ladled on low carb fettucine. Red, yellow and orange bell peppers and avocado are good fruit replacements as are raspberries, strawberries and watermelon. I have never had so much asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower in all of my life. I think that I have been enjoying these low carb delights too much and I have stalled my weight loss. When my teaching assistant job is done for the summer, I may go back to induction for a couple of days and see if that helps.

Good Luck,
Black57

Thank you 2 for your comments.
Dang nab it, can’t find my Atkins book, only my Protein Power. Must have not unpacked it as yet after my move from NC to CA. Sheesh!! Hope I find it.

Not sure how to figure lean body mass to get the minimum. Sitting here trying to figure the LBM. LOL

My full daily menus aren't posted. I have been keeping track of my daily intake of food for over a month. Only listed from the day I started on the threads.
Ouch!! BMI 40.1/LBM 104.39
So if I take 104.39 and x it by 0.6 = 62.634,
Would that be 62 grams of protein a day? Boy has a lot to learn here.

I am finding I am having trouble finishing a dinner with 2 cups of romaine topped with 1/2 tomato, 1/4 cup of cucumber, 1/4 cup of onion (red), 1 oz feta and sometimes a tablespoon of pine nuts with 6oz of protein (chicken, pork or beef don't care much for fish) topped with Jalapeno Ranch (2 to 3 tablespoons). To me this is the most satisfying meal that last the longest.

Love the idea of the greens (kale, collards, turnip and mustard greens). Was raised on Kale as a kid in a Portuguese Kale Soup that my Daddy would make. Could modify the recipe not to include red beans and potatoes and it would still be really yummy.

Kale Soup Minus the potatoes and red beans
2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp salt
1 ½ pounds linguica or chourico Portuguese sausage
1 med. Onion
2 bunches of Kale (or 4 boxes of frozen kales) *note
1 head of cabbage chopped or shredded
Shank meat or chuck roast optional

Place sausage and meat in pot, Add red pepper, onion and salt,
cover with water. Bring water to boil, simmer until meat is almost
done
Add kale and cabbage
Cook until kale is tender
*note: Collards maybe used in place of kale


Just not sure how to figure this up but did sit and calulate this as follows
Used 2 links of linguica 6 carbs
2 c onion 14 carbs
2 bags Kale (5 servings per bag) 20 carbs
5 c cabbage (10 servings) 36 carbs

Total carbs for the pot of soup 76 carbs
10 servings 7.6 per serving
Hope I did that right new to this.

Not sure how to deducting fiber from the total count.

Hugs
Nancy

Nat that soup sounds yummy! I make something similar using spinach and Italian sausage with chicken broth instead of the water and also a cup of heavy cream.
I have a chuck roast in the freezer that's starting to show a bit of freezer burn that would be perfect for just this purpose...think I'll give it a try over the next couple of days.

Hi Lisa,

I am going to the store in a few to get the makings for the LC recipe of Chai tea I found on the net. Trying not to drink my 2 cups of coffee in the morning cause I use too much powder creamer and the atkins shake mix is less carbs and so is the tea.

Really trying to stay in range on this per day carbs. Wow, I just forced a atkins lemon poppy muffin with 1 oz of cream cheese.

I am improving lol Got breakfast and a snack in before dinner

I just made a pot roast yesterday with a chuch roast. Think I might of blew it cause I used a pack of onion soup over it and after I looked at the carb count. Figured it was 32 grams for the whole package in the roast. 32 divied by 6 is 5.3 grams about for the roast cooked in the liquid I belive. Didn't add any of the juice to my plate so figured it at 4 grams. Maybe I should add the other 1.3 grams in for safe measure. lol

Going to sit down tomarrow and figure out the carb count on the kale soup. I want this so bad now <giggle> and having left over chuck roast is a plus to make it.

your
Nancy

That is the kale soup I make at least every couple of weeks!!!My Austrian grandmother would make it (no beans) as a family favorite. The only other thing I add is a squirt of tomate paste for a very pretty colour.

My father-in-law came to visit at Christmas and was quite ill with a virus. Fed him that soup for 3 days and it sure fixed him up. His sugars ended up getting into normal range. (He was on Atkins and didn't even know it).

Hi Jean ,
I was raised on it as well. Love it and have a pot cooking right as we type.

hugz
Nancy