Greetings,

Looking for someone to connect with here! Feeling a little lost today and sure would like to chat with those in the same boat! Been on Atkins since 4/02. This is my "third time round the wheel" on this diet and hopefully will be my wol for good. As I have done this before and gained it all back and then some, the loss is MUCH slower this time. I have to work out much harder, drink much more water and keep my carbs very low in order to stay loosing. The key, I guess, is that I am loosing.
Stats: 33, soon to be married (November), no kids, work in very high-stress environment---sales, network security in Silicon Valley. (Bad time to still be here--Trying to wait out the really bad market)
I know that if I stick to the plan, I will see my goals. It's just somedays are much harder than others. Anyway, hope to hear from you!!!!!!

Hi Trica... I could sure use a buddy...

Sorry for the delay in responding. Just got back from 18 days away---got married in the British Virgin Islands. I am always looking for a buddy here---I love this forum and the support I get here. Feel free to check out my journal--stop by anytime! I will head over to yours now. Hang in there! We can do this together!

Hope you had a great time.. That would have been lovely getting married there..

I am finding Low Carb pretty easy to stick to but I get a bit frustrated when there is nothing in the house for me to eat.. especially because my family eat normally..

Karen

I understand---my husband (feels strange calling him that!) loves carbs and is not affected by them at all. All he has to do is exercise occasionally to keep fit. I just try to keep as much lc "small" foods around, like lc crackers and dip, lunch meat and cheese, tuna, nuts, etc. That way if I get in a situation where I feel like "cheating" I just reach for something safe to keep me occupied. I know that getting through the holidays will be tough---I'll need some serious daily visits to this site to get me through. Traditionally I pig out during the winter and try and take it off in the Spring. I am DETERMINED not to do that this year. My New Year's resolution this year is to be at goal by my birthday, 7/22/2003! I can't think of a better birthday gift to myself. Anyway, great connecting with you!

I totally agree.. what a great birthday present.. I have my sisters wedding in April and she has told me that I am too fat to be her bridesmaid... That hurt.. so I am out to prove her wrong (mine you she is the same size as I am).. I am being nasty though and not letting on that I have found the answer to weight loss.. I feel that she will have to see the changes for herself before I let on.. may not sound nice.. but.. hey.. why not!

Regarding low carb snacks.. I have found it hard to find LC snacks in Australia.. I have been wanting to make some pancakes or something but can't seem to find the right flour to use.. so I am stuck on the basic protien and salad.. so a bit of variety soon will help my cause I hope.. but I will keep looking around and see what I can come up with..

Karen

That's quite a harsh thing for your sister to say! I don't blame you one bit for not sharing the LC wol. She's a big girl---she can figure it out on her own when you show up looking fabulous! Regarding food---I would suggest that you check out the recipe corner. There are some incredible ideas there that help broaden the mind. Karen's Corner is great---she is a chef in Vancouver and has some truely gourmet meals that I bet your family won't even guess they're lc. Meat and salad every day does get a bit stale. As far as snacks---I was talking about the homemade kind like stuffed celery with cream cheese, marinated mushroom caps stuffed with sausage and feta cheese (yea!), etc. I am currently addicted to hummus and toasted salami slices.

I have checked out some of the recipies but must go back and look for more..

I love the idea of Hommus and salami slices... didn't even know I was allowed Hommus I don't like mushrooms so that puts an end to anything with them in it... stuffed celery sounds great though.. Thanks

Karen

That puke guy is gross !

heh heh heh---I've always wanted to use that little puking guy! Hummus is allowed because there is so much fibre---I get mine pre-made and it has like 2 grams of carbs net for 4 tbsp. I love it. Okay, so no mushrooms. What else---curried deviled eggs, egg salad on crunchy romaine leaves with hot sauce, roasted zuchinni stuffed with sausage and cheese, grilled ham and cheese "sandwiches" (2 pieces sliced ham w/cheddar in the middle and either pan heated or nuked), smoked salmon w/dill sour cream sauce, etc. Also you can order all the lc pre-packaged foods on line. Like, lc tortillas (woohoo!) and bread mixes or baked, pancake mix, shakes, muffin mixes, etc. When I found out that I could have lc chocolate I way over did it. The sugar alchohols DO NOT like me. I stay away from them now. Oh, and I love the sf syrups. I like to mix them with club soda for drinks or mix them in with coffee, etc. My favorite on-line store is www.greenbeanz.com. It's a very basic site (not a lot of graffics) but they have an actual store near where I live and they are REALLY nice people. I like giving them the business.

Yum that all sound quite nice...

The problem with me buying online is the Australian dollar is so low so it costs me twices as much.. and then the postage is a killer..

There are places here in Australia but they are in other states but they don't have mail order or online ordering which is a pain..

I will get there... once I explore new avenues..

Karen

I'm embarassed to say I don't know much about the various areas of Australia. Forgive me, but where is the Gold Coast? I'll check out a map here shortly on line.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshel...a/australia.htm

Here's the map I found.

http://www.queensland-holidays.com..../maps/index.htm

Choose the South East Queensland map .. that will give you the close up of roughly where I am.. or the Queensland map will give you the whole state.

The Gold Coast is just 45mins south of Brisbane on the water.. very popular tourist spot.. Surfers Paradise

My DH and I are avid sailors. I have always wanted to sail your waters! We usually take one big sailing vacation a year---this year we wrapped our wedding into our BVI trip. Next year we are either going to St. Vincent and The Grenadines or Belize. Perhaps in a couple years we will make it out to Australia!

I will be off line for a few days as DH and I are going south to visit family to celebrate our Thanksgiving. I'll check in this weekend. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Just wanted to drop in and say hello! I tried out a few new lc recipes that turned out well---if you are interested, please visit my journal for links and details. Hope you are well!