Help me!
Hello everyone! I am still new at this so I have a couple of questions...

I bought Dr. Atkins' book, and am still reading on it. Last night, I reached the part that said to start with only 20 carbs a day and I hit the floor! How is that possible? How can I eat 3 fulfilling meals a day with a limit of only 20 carbs? Any suggestions?

Also, I read a post that was talking about Crystal Light and how it could stall weight lost. I bought the Rasberry Ice POWDER mix, is that okay? I'm also drinking diet Dr. Pepper and sugar free Kool Aid- which is carb free. Are these okay?

Thanks for your help and that's it for now!

If you read the book, it is quite clear about what you can and can not eat and drink. It is best that during at least the first 2 weeks of induction that you do not have anything sweet (artificially sweetened drinks, etc..). After that you may want to try them but they do stall many people.

As for eating a satisfying amount and staying under 20 carbs. It is quite easy. Again, look at the list of foods. You can have an omelette for breakfast, meat and vegies for lunch and meat and salad for dinner. Atkins recommends 1 cup of vegies (those that are listed) a day and 2 cups of salad. You can pretty much eat all the meat you want. Meat has no carbs and the listed vegies and salad have a very low amount of carbs. Many people find it hard to get near the 20 grams of carbs. If you haven't gone there yet, I would recommend you go to the FitDay website. You can register for free and enter everything you eat. It will calculate the carbs for you.

Good luck!

If I recall, the Atkins book lists some sample menus as well. As Jennifer said, it really isn't so very difficult to curb your carbs and be satisfied. With the increase in fat your hunger will be minimized and you will feel much more satiated then if you'd been eating the generally recommended low fat fare.

Give it a shot!

Hi Sheri!
I find it hard to get in 20 carbs a day, even counting each and every splenda packet! You can do it and once you get into it, IMHO, you hardly miss the carbs.
As for the crystal light, the powdered mixes contain aspertame (sp?) and Dr Atkins recommends not consuming any of that. He recommends Splenda instead and you are to limit that to no more than 3 packets a day. (at least according to my book)
I drink all varities of crystal light and so far (3 weeks and 13 pounds) haven't had any problems with it causing me not to lose weight, but it does seem (from posts I have read) to cause some problems for some people.
Let me share what I had last night for dinner:
Taco salad minus the tacos! It was super and very filling. I also have to ditto Jennifer's recommendation to go to fitday.com
It is excellent for keeping track of your daily intake of food, activity, weight, etc. Great site!
Good luck!
Sherrie

I am having trouble getting to 20 carbs too. At first I used up every last carb I could! LOL But when your tastes change and you want foods that have no carbs it becomes much easier. Right now I have around 10-15 carbs a day and I am more than satisfied.

So is it okay to go over the 20 carbs in the first couple of days and then work my way down? That would make it a lot easier for me... I can work my way down to 20 instead of just going from my LOTS OF CARBS a day to 20... do you think that would still work?

Ummmmmm.. NO and YES...
No, if you want this way of eating to work as well as it can.. I would not work my way down to 20 carbs/day. The first 2 weeks of induction is a training period for your body and you will lose a significant amount of weight for a good start to your new life. I believe just as the other posters have stated that 20 carbs seems few.. but when you actually see what all you are allowed to eat and still stay under 20, it isnt really that big of a letdown.

Yes, if the only way you can begin this way of life and stick to it is to gradually drop your carb level down to 20 grams, then that should be the way you do it. But, understand that you will not have the big loss for the first 2 weeks and you will not get many of the benefits as quickly. You will not lose your cravings for food or feel that "non-hungry" feeling as quickly. I don't know how it will affect that first few days of carb-withdrawal. I would assume that whenever you got down to a low level that the withdrawal would start. Be PATIENT through that withdrawal period. It does end and you will feel soooooooo much better overall. So, in my opinion, if that is the only way you can feel comfortable dropping your carb level.. do it. Eventually you will get down to the level that allows you to lose weight.

So there are NO misunderstandings.. I DO NOT think that dropping slowly is the best way and would not personally do it that way at all... but... I believe 100% that low-carb is the way to eat for life and however we can get people to that point is good (in the big picture).

My biggest problems I'm having with this diet are:
I don't know how to cook a lot of the food suggested (I'm only 21!)

Getting off of coke which I'm addicted to.

As far as the coke goes, it's 10:38 a.m. here and I haven't had a coke since yesterday around 5:00 p.m. That's awsome for me! I haven't gotten the usual headache yet, but I'm sure it's coming. I will try my best to not go over 20 carbs, but I need support...

Just to let everyone know, the reason I'm doing this is b/c I have the classcial symptoms of PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and can't get pregnant b/c I'm not ovulating. From what I've read, if I get my weight under control, I might conceive on my own.

I'm going to try!

I have read many, many posts of other people who have PCOS and have noticed much improvement eating low-carb. I hope it helps you just as much.

Good luck on getting pregnant!!!!!!

Just keep posting with any questions or just if you wanna rant and rave and I feel sure there will be tons of people who will jump right in with support. This is a great group of people.

ps. Where do you live in MS? I am in Hattiesburg.

Wanting babies but can't cook? Better learn, fast, sister!

As for the coke - it might help to wean yourself vs. going cold turkey. Just a thought.

OOOOOPS... i forgot.. the cooking.. I don't really cook a lot of difficult things. I try to eat whatever is cheap and easy. I eat alot of chicken for that reason. Throw it in a pan, add some spices and bake it until its done. Hamburger patties are easy.. juss make balls and flatten in the pan. For almost all of my veggies.. I buy frozen, put in a dish and microwave until done, then add some butter. Salads are just cut and eat. It isn't necessary to eat complicated food.

You've gotten lots of good replies from the more senior members so I won't add much but I do suggest looking at the threads that deal with fake sugars. As for me, I started with the Atkins bars because my lifestyle is very busy and they were easy. Whammo! No weight loss in 10 days.... I stopped eating them and have lost 1 pound in the last 2 days which while not great is at least a start. Some people do not have this reaction - my recommendation is to stay away from all sweet things (diet soda, crystal light, Atkins bars, etc.) for at least the first two weeks because you want to know what works and what doesn't - once you're on your way, introduce them and monitor yourself to see how your body reacts.

Also, my cravings for real sugar get bad when I drink diet soda - just the sweet taste does me in. If that's not you, great!! But be careful of it. Good luck!!

Aysiama,

I'm from Brandon, MS right outside of Jackson.

The bad thing about Atkins is how extreme it is, especially at the beginning. I found it to be a very harsh and painful adjustment, and all my friends, seeing how sick and weak I felt, counseled me to quit. So you might want to consider a more moderate LC eating plan.

But if you do Atkins, based on my experience, I have to say that I think that trying to taper off of carbs and caffeine is only going to prolong the agony. Because if you allow yourself the possibility of "just a little carbs or caffeine, in just a little while," you're constantly tormented by temptation.

Whereas if you make the decision once and for all, you're no longer in a constant mental struggle about what you can and cannot do. It's simple, it's over, and you're free.

You WILL feel like crap, if you're anything like me. Withdrawing from carbs and caffeine at the same time sucks rocks and I felt as though I had a bad case of the flu for three weeks. (Some people feel like crap only for 2-3 days, lucky bastards).

But even feeling like crap is helpful. It makes you think, "I don't EVER want to go through that again!"

And it emphasizes the clean break you're making with your prior habits.

You're not goin to get the benefits of induction, you're not going to lose the appetite for your old vices, and you're not goig to feel as though you've embarked on a new WOE if you taper slowly.

I did a "practice" induction for a couple of days before I started "real" induction. I didn't count that time as my first start day and didn't expect to loose any weight. I just did it to "get into the groove." It did seem to help for me but then again, everyone is different.

As far as menu suggestions, perhaps try browsing through journals. I post everything I eat in mine with recipes included (granted it's something more complicated than throwing 2 frozen burger patties in a pan!). The kitchen section of the boards is very helpful too.

Good luck on this WOE. I've been avoiding trying it for years simply because I thought I could NEVER eat only 20 carbs per day. I can't believe I put it off for so long! It's so much easier than anything else I've tried! I eat like a queen and do not feel deprived in the least. Once the carbs are gone give it a few days and you'll never miss them!