I have decided to start LCing early. Today is the first day and so far I am ok... couple of questions because, though I have read the book, it is better to get answers from those that live it.

1. How much water is the minimum? If I drink 4 liters a day I will NEVER get any work done. I hate the taste of water (or the lack thereof) and would drink more if it had a bit of taste. I have heard of lemon juice in it but isn't that a fruit? Also, if I make some no carb drink, can I have that even if it says that it has some sugar ose written on the packet? I would love to drink that for dinner and have it as a popsicle after dinner.

2. How much lettuce CAN I eat? I love salads and vegetables but I am REALLY afraid of going over my limit in carbs by eating too much. I don't want to be hungry either and I know that I need to eat alot of meat (now I know what to do with all the left over turkey) but I would rather eat a HUGE salad (I am not going to eat any dressing with it because I know it has hidden sugars I don't care WHAT the carbs say)

3. I used to smoke so I am a snacker. If I don't have something that I am chewing on then I will find the nearest thing (normally the candy machine.) Does anyone know of anything that I can snack on all day long that has little to no carbs so I don't have to worry about watching what I eat.

4. Is it possible to get too little carbohydrates? I know this sounds stupid but if I keep my carbs under 10 would that inhibit my weightloss any?

This is my second time really doing this and I need ALOT of support. Getting through the first 2 weeks is the HARDEST! Thank you to all of you that are here!

-Try beginning slowly. A rule of thumb is to drink eight 8 ounce glasses each day PLUS 8 ounces for every 25 pounds you want to lose.
-Try to drink it through the day, starting as soon as you get up.
-The plainer you can drink it, the better. You may be surprised at how you come to crave water after a few days of 'just drinking it and not enjoying it'. That's called the "natural thirst" which comes back on LCing.
-Try drinking cold water, ice water, warm water, even hot water, from the frig or from the tap and see which temp suits you best.
-Try drinking from a cup, from a bottle, lining up several 1 litre or 1 quart bottles to see how much is left to go for the day. You'll soon know which you prefer.



I wouldn't worry about eating too much lettuce. If you are hungry enough, go ahead. The fibre almost cancels out the carbs. You will soon be surprised at how NOT hungry you become. It's only the first days that I wanted to eat everything in sight. Mostly, I was afraid that I'd be hungry. Oil & vinegar are certainly your best bets for dressing in Induction.


Celery.



There's no minimum but Dr. Atkins found over 30 years of practice, that going below 20 gm of carbs per day had no benefit either. (And constipation might be worse.) As you go along, raising the carbs may help you find the best level for YOUR body to lose weight. You might lose better at 50 grams or you might feel happier and so will stick to the plan more closely. The pyschology is an important aspect to sticking with the way of eating.

Good luck - may you soon be a big loser!

tofi made great points! almost all the ones i wanted to make!

for snacks, be sure to count the carbs on your celery, cuz they are there. i'd also suggest cooking big batches of nicely seasoned chicken breast and snacking on them (no carbs!) with your celery. also tuna or chicken salad would be good with your celery. the protein and fat will help you to feel satisfied sooner and longer. i also enjoy pepperoni and salami as a snack, and can find them with truly 0 carbs.

i'd also reccomend setting up a journal at www.fitday.com. record EVERYTHING you eat. also, buy a food scale (ecko makes a great one that can be found at walmart). this way you will know exactly what you are eating and how many carbs. this is very helpful if your loss stalls, because you will be able to see if you are doing something different than you were before.

also, and i can't stress this enough, READ THE BOOK. read it thouroughly. start at the beginning, because the information there is very motivating and helpful to understanding WHY atkins works.

good luck!

Read, re-read and read the book again. And search the treads on this board for support...it is all here! Good Luck!

Thank you for the great comments. I was thinking that maybe I could get a dehydrator and then start making jerky. That way there would only be salt and pepper and I wouldn't have to worry about counting the carbs all day.

I am really afraid of being hungry all the time and I hope that I have brought enough food with me but it is only 10 am and I am almost finished with my salad and turkey. (told you... I snack all day)

As for weighting the food, that is what I really wanted to stay away from. I will stick with it better if I don't have to think about it too much. I really am too lazy to do that and would end up just getting a snickers bar.

"As for weighting the food, that is what I really wanted to stay away from. I will stick with it better if I don't have to think about it too much. I really am too lazy to do that and would end up just getting a snickers bar."

Hon, this isn't going to be easy!! If was "easy" the whole world would be doing this! The hardest part for me was actually "cooking" for the first time in years! No more tearing open boxes and bags! And all the "work" and effort you put out the first month will become second nature and you'll wonder why you thought it was such a big deal further down the road. All "diets" have issues...that is why you see so many frozen "diet" meals in the grocery store. Eating healthy is work! And you ARE going to be hungry for the first several days. You have to get yourself into Ketosis and then you will find your appetite is curbed. Get through the first two weeks and it will get progressively easier...but it isn't going to be a cake walk! When you get frustrated, just remember that most of the people on this board went through, and are going through, the same experience. You aren't alone!

I was just saying that the easier it is for me the more likely that I will incorporate it permanently into my life. I really do like the way that I feel when I am doing the Atkins but I am SOOOO weak when I don't plan. I guess that is something that I will have to do more!

Plain water upsets my stomach, especially at room temperature (probably all in my head but it sure shows up in my stomach). Ice is 7 floors down where I work but I do drink very cold water tap water when I bother to fenture down for ice. I drink 4 - 6 liter bottles of room temp, flavored seltzer each day. I've heard the carbonation isn't good for you (is this true?) so I always take the top off the next bottle so that by the time I'm drinking it most of the fizz is gone. No calories and I had no trouble losing weight this past year. Orange is my favorite. I buy it by the case at Shop Rite for $4 or $.25 a bottle. The big discount stores (Costco, BJs) charge more, go figure.

I love to munch and spent all summer munching on cucumbers and peppers. Just don't care for the raw veggies much in the winter and am having trouble staying away from the nuts now. I still want to munch but what I crave is causing me trouble so I'm just drinking more and trying to keep away from the snacks.

Lots of newbies swear they can't drink more because they'll be in the bathroom all day. Rest assured that your bladder capacity will grow. I'm thinking of suggesting a new category for the Guiness Book of World Records: the longest pee. I think I stand a good chance of being the record holder in that category.

Good luck and Happy New Year to All,
Barb

Barb,

As far as the setzer water I have heard two conflicting things but I know in Germany that is all they drink and they are still around and ALOT thinner than we in the states are.
As far as being in the bathroom all day... I am not kidding. You may have the largest but I have the smallest. I go in the restroom and think to my self how can the women pee so long??? I would love to have that capacity!! I will still drink alot of water but the flavored seltzer water I am going to stay away from because I think the sweetener doesn't work for me. I really do hate knowing that I have an "all or nothing" body!

Your bladder builds upa fter a while, so your not always in the bathroom even though yoru still drinking alot of water.

Stay away from anything with sugar in the ingredient list if you can. Some things it's harder such as salad dressings and mayo, so you just make sure sugar is low on the list.

Instead of trying to chug water, keep a water bottle full of ice cold water around to sip off of. This also helps with the hand mouth issues that are leading you to snack. Don't snack unless you are actually hungry. Just snacking all day to keep mouth busy, even LC snacks, will result in poor losses.

I'd say yes measure at first. After measuring for a while you get a really good idea of what 4oz of this, or 1 oz of that looks like and you don't really have to measure anymore. At first though you may be amazed at how many servings of certain foods your having when you thought it was just 1.

Smurfy,

The flavored seltzer water has no sweetners. I picked up some water at Walmart once that I thought was flavored seltzer and it was horrible, full of sweetners. Yuch! It was called flavored water not seltzer but it didn't mention sweetners on the label (although aspertame was listed on the ingredients). Flavored seltzer only contains carbonated water and flavor. I've tried Diet Rite. It's OK but it's expensive and never on sale around here. I tend to stay away from sweetened drinks except for tea/coffee/cocoa. I sure do love my seltzer though.

I used to have a really small bladder and went all the time. Dr. said that I have a tear in my muscle wall from having quick deliveries and that part of my bladder kind of fell through the hole so there wasn't as much room in the part of the bladder that was in the right place to hold the pee. Of course he wanted to do surgery. No thanks. It took a while but not only does my bladder now hold a record amount, but I also go a bit less often. I wonder if losing all the weight around the middle took some pressure off of it. I carried most of my weight in the middle, a real apple shape. Must have had 20 pounds of fat pressing on my bladder before. No wonder I always felt like I had to go. Still have to get up during the night - 2 and 6 like clock work, but I also drink during the night and I can't seem to give it up even though I've tried. I'm a true water junkie. The bright side - I don't need an alarm clock for work, the bladder always gets me up on time!

Keep us posted on your progress. You did it before so you know you can do it again!

Barb

If I were you, I would put olive oil and vinegar (I like red wine vinegar -- 0 carbs) on your salad. It will keep you satiated a lot better that way and olive oil is very good for your heart.

I never eat the commercial dressings because I don't like them and because I don't trust the ingredients. I make all my own salad dressings and start with olive oil and red wine vinegar as a base. After that, you can add in whatever you want -- herbs, salt, pepper, a little grated parmesan cheese, a little Dijon mustard, etc. If you add Dijon mustard, either use a whisk to get it to dissolve or put it all in a jar with a tight lid and shake hard.

I have to disagree with those who have said snacking is bad. This is Atkins, not CAD or some other plan, and Atkins is a snack-friendly WOE! I have always been a "grazer" and cannot limit myself to three meals a day. Even when I was on induction there were some days where it seemed like I was constantly eating, but I did not go over my 20g of carbs and I still lost weight.

Now I'm more likely to have a cup of herbal tea than food in the afternoons, but I still eat more often than most people. Smurfy, if you are snacking on approved foods, don't worry about it! One of my favorite snacks is lunch meat rolled up with cream cheese in the middle. Yum. Slices of raw red bell pepper, plain or with salad dressing, are tasty as well. Let yourself eat!

You are right, if this is going to be a WOE you have to do it your way. It is important to follow the rules of induction closely as they are written in the book. As you get the hang of it and move into OWL, you will work out "your" Atkins plan. Every person on this site does it a little differently.

Most definitely sign up for fitday. It's free and most helpful. It tracks your carb intake as well as calories, fat, protein and is user friendly. Atkins is the only woe for me. It does take so getting use too. You will never go hungery on Atkins. I had a hard time adjusting the the water intake at first but now I can't get enough. For flavor I get an orange drink. It's water with orange flavor. It's not sweet. But the can says it has no sugar and no carbs. It called La Coix. Costco has one called Talking Rain. It comes in several flavors and has no carbs or sugar. I don't drink these all the time. I try and stick with tap water. But it's nice or a change. If you need support, please log on we are here for you.

I am a huge water drinker, at least 6 litres a day and it is one of those things that you have to make a habit. I don't remember not liking water but I know that initially I had to make myself drink it. I never wake during the night to go the washroom but it takes awhile to build up a tolerance to all the liquid. It really is one of those things you should just make yourself do. Your body and your skin will thank you for it!!

Also, I don't think you need to be hungry following a lc lifestyle. I am a snacker and keep things like hard boiled eggs, some deli meats and string cheese at work. I also have some almonds, soynuts and other things. The great thing about eating so much protein is how full you should be feeling. The only times I ever run into trouble is when I have not planned my next meal and if I have nothing around to snack on. Try having some different types of really tasty cheeses, you never have to worry about the fat count (yahoo)!!

Good luck