No, I haven't cheated, but if anyone has read my posts today you know I have been led astray by Pria Low Carb Bars. I gained half a pound and my blood sugar has been a mess all weekend. I am eating nothing but eggs and meat for the rest of today, and some veggies with dinner maybe. And drinking green tea with cream.

Since I have realized I need to start over with whole foods, and keep things like meal bars and treats an occasional thing, anyone have any suggestions? I am away from home a lot (at school, at work, at my boyfriends). I can't tote around fresh food that easily.

Do any supermarkets near you (whereever you might be) have salad bars you can pick from?

I am sure you can keep some fresh foods at your boyfriends place as well as at home and get a small picnic cooler if you need to take things to work and to school.

Some suggestions:

I seriously lack self control so I have found it works best if I take half of an advantage bar with me and leave the rest at home when I can't carry around food that spoils. That way I'm not tempted to eat the entire thing.

Also, celery and cream cheese is okay out of the fridge for quite awhile, cucumbers, cheese sticks(don't get carried away), pepperoni, and porkrinds(just don't bring the entire bag, put some in a smaller one)

I also try to leave food at places I goto frequently, my mom's house I keep stuff there, work, that way I don't get hungry and tempted to eat things I shouldn't. Good Luck!

Are you doing induction all over?

I agree with the previous suggestion, pack a lunch. It is better for you. I used to live on Advantage bars when I was working 60 hours a week on my previous job. I was also deterioriating my health. Not getting the proper nutrition during this LC woe can have some serious side effects. Pack almonds and walnuts and make a salad. I make low carb tortilla wrap sandwiches, they are easy to pack and eat later. I understand you don't have time, but you gotta make your health a priority.

Being on the go does make things a little harder. I think the most important thing is planning and NOT letting yourself get hungry because then you will be tempted to grab anything. You can make quiche in little muffin tins for mornings when you have no time to make breakfast. Use eggs, cheese, half and half, sausage, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, red peppers or whatever combo of stuff you would like. Just wrap them individually and freeze them. Set them out the night before if you know you have a busy day ahead. Although it's not really induction food... individual packets of almonds or sunflower seeds are nice to have on hand in your purse in case you get caught in traffic or out and just need a quick fix to keep you going. Salads and veggies (celery, red bell pepper, broccoli or cauliflower flowerettes, cucumber slices, turnip "chips", radishes, cherry tomatoes for dipping) are both great snacks/lunches that are pretty easy for on the go. You can buy tiny little storage containers that are perfect for salad dressing or a dip for your veggies. Cheese sticks are great to keep on hand. I always take packets of mustard with me too so I can dip my cheese sticks. *I think I must miss my mustard dipping pretzel days* After induction you can take fruit and cottage cheese for a snack or lunch too. You can always pick up those roasted chickens from your local grocery store (although read labels) and cut up chicken to toss on your salads. Hard boiled eggs are good for salads too and are something you can just make a large batch of once a week. Also meat slices wrapped around a cheese stick or spread with mayo and lettuce and rolled up like tortillas are quick snacks. Those are all things that can be taken with you pretty easily and eaten on the go. Hope there are some ideas there that will help you out.

Jenn

vanity 3, I am starting induction over. I never really got OFF induction per se. everyone has good ideas, thanks. the advantage bars are more expensive though. where can I get them cheaper? i know they will be better than non-atkins approved ones.

Little lunch baggies from ziploc can be your best friend! For me, I am always on the go, and usually pack celery with cream cheese, a bit of cucumber, cheese slices, boiled eggs and pork rinds. I pack my lunch for work the night before, and keep salad dressing at work. It might work for you to try some of the ideas mentioned.

The cravings may require another induction period though, it is hard to say. Good luck

i'd get a small cooler too they work well, i have two lil guys so we are on the go alot also, i pack a small cooler. i use ziplocks bags and storage containers, you can freeze a bottle of water to use as your ice as well as to drink,, it works great. i had trouble with even the advantage bars stalling my weight loss during induction, i'd stay away from those foods and eat whole foods for a while.. tell ya get a grip on it.. hugggs to ya.. and good luck..

barbara

My best advice is to plan ahead. If you're like me this might seem very hard to do, but planning actually makes things easier. I cook some veggieson sunday to take to lunch during the week. Get some tuna in the pouch, there's new flavored ones with ZERO carbs. My fav is the hickory smoked flavor. I pack everything at nite and put it in a bag in the fridge. Next morning I grab and go...and I leave the house at 6:15 am..sometimes earlier. Needless to say I'm not quite coherent at that time so this is a real lifesaver.
And one more word of caution....avoid malitol at all costs. I hate the stuff and I think nothing good can come of it!

Here;s some stuff I read on this board about it...
Maltitol has a glycemic index of between 38 and 50, and 2.7 and 3 calories per gram. This makes it roughly equivalent in carbohydrate level to Rice, or lactose.

Gram for Gram, it has about 53% of the effect on your Blood Sugar that Sucrose has [76% for Maltitol Syrup,] and 68-75% of it is absorbed. So, figure that for every 2g of Maltitol, you'll get the effect of 1g of Sugar, and for every 4g of Maltitol Syrup, you'll get the effect of 3g of Sugar. So, 14g of Maltitol would have the effect of 7g of Sucrose [Table Sugar.] 14g of Maltitol Syrup would have the effect of 10g of Sucrose.

With your reaction to the pria bars, I woudl say stay away from the Atkins bars as well. Pack yourself a lunch. Have nuts in the car or other places for an emergancy lunch.

I would also recomend having more veggies then maybe just some at dinner. Try fried cabbage or an omlette made with mayo and spinach filling. Have a large salad for lunch with sliced egg and diced chicken breast. Ect. The veggies will not only add nutrition and regularity, but also help you feel fuller. They are also a good way to add aditional fat in the forms of butte ror other mix (such as coleslaw) or a good way to reduce calories if you are going that direction.

You can get a small cooler for the car if you are going to be gone multiple days. If you are home at some point in the day though, pack fresh snacks. Ziplock has snack size bags that work great for this. Get celery stuffed with laughing cow or peanut butter. A hard boiled egg and string cheese are also good snacks. IF you use store mayo tuna salad, chicken salad, or coleslaw can safely stay in a lunch box until lunch. Try packing a small plastic container of ranch dressing, then have things to dip into it like celery sticks, sliced cucumber, broccoli and so on.

Thanks...everyone has helped out so much! I just went and bought some veggies. My mom was like "who's eating celery!?". She was shocked. Usually my only veggies are in the form of salads.