Me !

Each human being is a miracle - so I figured, from my own point of view.... oh nevermind


OK. Now that I got that out of my system...

I am Atkins LC for about 10 days... Lost 9 pounds, and only 100 or so to go! Had to share with somebody. We are keeping it kind of secret so as not to have to argue with friends and family.

The first few days were tough, but now that I am coming out of the the headachy, grogg fogg... its a lot better.

Hello LC World !!!

My wife and I started about 10 days ago. We both paid a lot of attention to recent changes in criticism by medical establishment. A lot of our friends were praising it. So we bought the books (New Diet Revolution, and an Atkins cookbook). She read the books and shared a lot of it the material with me.

We "transitioned off strong European Coffee by going half and half (real vs decaf) with the beans we ground each morning until about day 4 or 5 we went straight decaf. I thought I would give up coffee altogether, but my wife found some great tasting decaf whole beans and we still enjoy the morning coffee ritual... Now we are Completely Atkins Induction Mode and caffiene free too for about a week!

Background: I am a BIG guy, at 325. Have been big all my life. Very close to hypoglycemic. Used to have blood sugar crashes a few hours after I ate. I lost 60 or so pounds in 6 months to a year at two other times in my life (at age 25 and age 30) by increasing exercise and cutting portions, cutting sweets, but the weight usually came back on over the next 2 years or so. When I quite smoking, 10 years ago, I gained almost 100 pounds. It never went off. Since then I gained about 25 pounds more. Ugh. I know. It's ugly and it endangers my health. But since I live in my head, as an intellectual, I was not real body conscious. It did not matter. Everybody in my family is this kind of BIG. I reasoned that this was "my genetic makup".

THE BIG BANG THEORY: Finally, I had had enough. God moved, to orchestrate my wife's interest too, and BANG! Here I am!

Notes: The first week was TOUGH with fuzzy head, fatigue, and headaches... But things are getting better now. Starting to click in and hum. Mornings are GREAT now (instead of painful)..... But still getting fatigued as day wears on. Still, the energy swings are leveling out and I really like that!

Questions:

• How many pounds should I expect to lose while in the induction phase?
• Given where I am starting, how long should it take for me to drop 100 pounds on Atkins?

Menu: I am being VERY GOOD at eating only the foods approved for induction.

Eggs with a little pepper jack cheese for breakfast. Sometimes hard boiled eggs only.

Cold cuts Rollups or leftover dinner meat and salad for lunch (my wife makes Atkins style salad dressings by hand). Sometimes salad and hard boiled eggs instead. LOTS of water all day. Meat and salad for dinner. My wife likes to cook, and the new menu is actually fun with the rubs and marinades she is using.

Favorite Dinner So Far: Chicken with broccoli in olive oil with a "Gravy" made from mayonnaise and sour cream - tastes like it should not be Atkins legal, but it is!!!

Lunch in a pinch? I forgot my Atkins lunch the other day. Went to arby's and got a BIG MONTANNA. Ate only the beef. That will hold ya! Another day, when I took my salad with me, but forgot my meat to add to it

Hungry? After the first day or so We were NOT hungry throughout the day, but I was getting pretty hungry in between lunch and dinner and right before meal times. We eat a late dinner, sort of european style. A little Celery and Cream Cheese snack when I get home from work takes care of the stretch between lunch and dinner.

Hard Parts: Giving up Bananas for breakfast. And Bagels. That was kind of hard. It's only mental.... Also, It is a little hard to learn to stop eating before feeling "FULL". When I stop eating, I am still feeling hungry. But about 10 minutes After I quit eating, I start to feel completely satisfied.

Good Parts: The food is great! No skimpy diet food on Atkins! The feeling of not being hungry stays with me long after I eat the high protien meals.

Oh, yeah, and I took my belt in two notches since I started!

Looking forward to hitting my stride and counting off the pounds.

So... HELLO LC WORLD !

BTW: My compliments to the admin here. Great Job with vBulletin (which I know a fair bit about since I ran my own fairly popular forum in another life). Well Done!!! Bravo !!!

Wow!! You and your wife are off to a great start!!! Congratulations on making a great choice and good luck to you!

Just as an example, my husband started Atkins about a week after me (June 8th), he started at 385 and as of this past Saturday his weight was 318. At this point, he has not added any extra exercise or workouts (just the normal stuff required to chase 5 children around) but plans to join a gym when he hits 299.

Like you guys, we've actually enjoyed the meals planning and different way of cooking, and each day this gets easier.

Once again, congratulations...hang out here and read everything you can find and you'll do great!

Thanks for the welcome Carrigen!

Sorry if went overboard on the world's greatest miracle stuff... I am doing a lot of Postive Mental Attitude stuff right now to overcome life in general and fuel my changes... It helps... Hope nobody was offended.

Your hubby's results are WOW !!!!!!!

I have not read a lot about what to expect. We started on the testimonies of several people who have lost a lot weight over 6 months to a year....

So, please forgive my ignorance, but, Is it healthy to lose that fast?

DayStar, you didn't go overboard. I think your attitude is great! I believe the secret of success on this WOL is mental attitude. You are a special miracle. God made each of us that way. We need to love ourselves before we can love others.

You are off to a great start. Rate of loss is different for everyone. The guideline used around here for induction loss is 10% of the weight you have to lose. I lost 11%.

Re quick loss: This is healthy WOE so whatever rate you lose I believe is healthy for you. They do say that slower loss is more likely to stay off. Going into OWL and gradually increasing carbs to find your CCL will naturally slow loss, as Atkins says.

I had a good loss in the beginning, but it has slowed down considerably even though I have kept my carb level about 20. The really important thing to remember is that everyone is different.

I will continue this WOL even if I do not lose another lb. I feel so good and several health issues have been solved eating good, real food.

Good luck, and keep your good attitude. (And don't apologize for it. You will inspire others.)

Thank you SDgrandma for the encouragement and the info.

Very helpful.

God is Good isn't He !

About your plateau... Hang in there with your WOE and WOL. I know a lot of people who have lost a lot of weight on Atkins.

Bet you Whoosh soon!

Happy to have you with us Day Star,

If I were you I would throw a party between you and your wife for starting such a wonderful diet together. LC party of course...LOL....
I would love my DH to do this with me but alas, I do this alone, but not completely alone, cause I have my forum buds.
After you lose weight, remember this is a life time commitment. There are people who get thin and then go back to high carb foods, thinking they will stay thin. It does not work that way.
From your stats it looks like you are doing fine. Better then I did at the begining. It all takes time, so just enjoy the food and you will feel lots better in time.
Jehovah God is good to us.

Thanx Fat:

Good idea. Reward Party coming up!

Last week we went out to Olive Garden restaurant, and found that they offer several LC dinners - but they don't quite get it when you ask them to skip breadsticks and salad croutons

Still, it was pretty good.

Giving up bread is hard, but it is still AMAZING what you can eat on Atkins.

Appreciate your statement of faith. And your progress! Keep it up and you will soon be proud to be a walking temple of God!

I went to kfc and ate and took off all the skin, because of the carbs on it and ate all the white me I could contain.....LOL...... it was fun.

I forgot my bag lunch today, and discovered Arby's Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad. Wow !

There was so much there I did not even want to eat it all.

Watch the dressing. It has some corn syrup in it. I went real sparing. Do you think that will hurt me ?

(week 3 but still on induction because.... why not)?