Hello Everyone,

I have just started the infamous Atkin's diet. I started this program on August 4. About a year and a half ago, I began my weight loss regimen with Weight Watchers. I was at the start 151 lbs. I lost 26 lbs in about 5 months and now have presently gained back 5 lbs because I found myself cheating more often than not, because I always felt slighted and restricted. My goal weight is 115 lbs. My present weight is 131 lbs and I started the program at this weight. I believe that I am following the diet pretty precisely; however, I am discouraged because I am on day 11 and have not seen any results. I love the diet too, because I am never hungry anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions?? I don't drink anymore caffeine or anything with aspartame. I actually have trouble making my 20 carbs a day. Please HELP!!

Good morning!
You might want to post an example of your daily food intake. That way, you might get more input. We can see what you are consuming and advise (if we can).
Also, are you consuming water? Keep me posted and do not give up. This woe is wonderful and certainly has diminished my appetite, I don't feel restricted at all and I have been "doing Atkins" since June 14 and plan to continue forever.
Have a great day and be sure to post your menu, that will help.

Morning: 2 scrambled eggs with 2 tbs of butter and 4 strips of bacon
2 carbs

at 10:30: 4 cups of lettuce and 4 tbs of caesar dressing 5 carbs

at lunch: chicken with either soy sauce no carbs or Frank's red hot sauce no carbs either

At 3:00: 4 ounces of mozzarella cheese and about 8 peices of pepperoni
4 carbs

dinner: A can of spinach 6 carbs and 6 chicken wings or 2 chicken breast cooked in soy sauce with 2 tbs of olive oil.

dessert: an advantage bar 2 carbs

total carbs 19 estimated carbs but sometimes I don't even have the spincah which brings me down to 13 carbs

This is pretty much everyday with little variations here and there.
I drink water over the amount that I should and I also take Atkin's Basic 3 vitamin
three times a day

I was told by an Atkin's representative that I should never go under 15 carbs per day. Is this true?? When I initially started I was only having about 10 per day and she told me to up this to at least 15. But it's hard because even calling 4 cups of lettuce 4 carbs is a way over estimation according to the carb gram counter on the Atkin's website.

Please HELP...and thanks for responding

Yes, it's pretty good advice, narek. Dr. A found that the difference between eating 20g a day and 0g a day was negligible, and that 20g of carbs made for a good amount of veggies.

Lettuce has minimal carbs and almost no fiber - you should look to dark green leafy / non leafy veggies as your carbs. Broccoli, asparagus, spinach, brussle sprouts, green beans, etc. More fiber, more carbs, more phytonutrients = happier LCer

Going too low with carbs also leaves you nowhere to cut back to should you need to (say to bust a stall or break through a plateau).

Your menu looks to me to be very high in sodium - cheese, soy sauce, pepperoni, bacon. This could be a problem as excess sodium can equal water retention.

You might also want to consider that at 5'4", 115 lbs is a little on the low side for you. LC is a great plan in that it allows you to have a higher goal weight than low fat dieting as it is muscle sparing. You can weigh a little more but look like you did at a lower weight.

Cheers,
Nat

Thanks very much, Nat. Do you mind listing some other meal ideas?? I am definitely going to up my carb intake to make sure that it is really close to 20. Also, what do you mean by "muscle sparing?" And one more question, How did you know my height? I thought that this wasn't listed, just the weights.

Narek, muscle sparing means that as weight is lost it's mainly fat and not muscle (unlike with Low Fat dieting). Low carb is all about high fat and adquate protein as well as restricting carb intake - the protein and the calories makes fat attractive as a source of fuel and protein is spared.

Your height is listed in your profile You can get more info on members by clicking the profile link at the bottom of each post. Like I know you have listed that you didn't read and LC books

Menu ideas - best bet would be to check the Atkin's webiste. www.atkins.com

Cheers,
Nat

Sounds like you are doing pretty well.

Now you have to realize that you want to lose 15lbs in total.

Average weightloss is usually 10% of your goal to lose during induction (that would be 1.5lbs) and then approx 5% each month after.

The thing is that low carbing makes our bodies look leaner faster.

Usually a person has to lose approx 10lbs for each size they reduce. I have lost about 20lbs on Atkins but have gone from a tight size 16 to a looser size 10. So sometimes we are smaller and not lighter. Exercise in almost anyway really speeds this up too.

Take some measurements and try to be realistic with your success so far.

Lisa, you have made me feel soooo much better I really just don't want to get discouraged because I love the new diet I am on right now. I feel good and I am never hungry. It's great. I guess I just need to be more patient and get my butt back on the treadmill Thanks again

I think looking and feeling good and eating without guilt is the most amazing gift in my life.

Glad to have you with us.

Hi Narek,
A good place to get menu ideas is by reading member's journals. A lot of people post what they are eating each day. Of course they also post a lot of other interesting material which can get pretty distracting! You find journals by clicking on the journal link at the bottom of the post (if the person doesn't have a journal no link will appear).

Thanks Quest