Hello!

I am an ex-jenny craiger and after s-l-o-w results and a lot of money spent I decided to give low-carb a try.

I am on Atkins induction and I am a little scared of my next weigh-in, I am definatley not used to eating such rich foods.

What have others induction results been? I guess I am so used to all the low-fat propaganda, I'm feeling a little guilty about eating all this fat!

I plan to weigh-in after induction, I'm just hoping that all this fatty food won't cause me to gain. ACK!

RELAX and enjoy. Learn to enjoy high fat dressings (caesar, ranch and blue cheese are usually the best) and drown your veggies w/ butter and don't worry about lots of mayo in your tuna, chicken, egg or shrimp salad ever again!

You will get used to it and it is really amazing... you will eat and eat and lose weight and never feel bloated anymore. Finally you can eat whenever you are hungry and not feel guilty.

And it's funny.... after you enter ketosis your hunger will lessen somewhat (more for some than others) and find you are not eating enough.

Just make sure to eat your veggies! Great for natural vitamins and fiber...

Most of us have to eat more to lose faster...

Relax and enjoy is very good advice. To that I'd add read, learn, participate in the forum.

You're going to need to chuck those Jenny Craig files that you've got stored in your head.

Open your mind to LCing! Read some books and find the program that most appeals to you. Study it. Plan menus. Buy supplies.

You'll love it. You'll feel great. But give yourself some time, as your body will be adjusting for a couple of months. Oh, and defintely work some exercise time into your schedule as well.

Good luck!

Donald

Thanks for the great advice! I have all the low carb books (everything I could get my mitts on) and choose Atkins to get things moving for me.

I guess I just got so used to Jenny Craig food that eating this way seems like I am cheating! You wouldn't believe their faces (at Jenny) when I said I was quitting to go on low-carb, you would have thought I'd said I was off to go kidnap small children!

Hi Digitalgrl...

I smiled as I read your post, because I thought it was one of my earliest ones on the forum!!

I was a STRICT low-fat guru...boy, did I preach the dangers of butter and arteries and energy, etc.

I started at 260...lost 60 pounds on low fat and was SOLD. However, I still had all my symptoms of PCOS, weekly migraines, sagging skin, lost TONS of natural collagen (and it shows!) and basically wasn't enjoying my foods, because there was so little flavor and so little choice. I always felt DEPRIVED...

Welcome to Low Carbing, girl... This is a whole new world...one that terrified me, and after I got done scolding the whole world about trying some ridiculous "meat and cheese" diet, I actually sat down, read the book and gave it a whirl.

WOW...took 57 days to get one headache, and that was after a cheat. I have energy, my skin has completely cleared up (the body needs fat!!)...you name it, I feel better and the best thing is, I can eat REAL foods that keep my hypoglycemia under control.

Anyhow... just wanted to tell you not to worry about the fats...you should be getting about 70% fat, 25% protein and 5% carbs in your daily diet. Use fitday.com to enter in your foods and it will break it all down for you. It's a great tool.

You'll be fine at your next weigh in...and you may want to take your measurements in the early stages as well. Sometimes when you don't lose and wonder what's going on, you'll find that you're actually losing inches instead!

Good luck...

Hi Digitalgrl,

I've been on Atkins for 3 months already (though Christmas was kind of disaster since I did not stick to the diet) and I still feel guilty when I eat fat. When I was a teenage I was always overweighted thoug I did always a lot of exercise and I did not eat that much. Then, after being almost for two years following a low-fat diet I was diagnosed hypothyroidism, and when I started to take the prescribed hormones I lost all the extra kilos I had. That was 13 years ago. For some years I did not have problems in keeping my weight, but then I started a new job in another country and my diet got out of control. I was eating a lot of pasta, rice and fatty things (a fatal combination). I tried to follow a low-fat diet again and I could lose some kilos, but very slowly and in the evenning I was very hungry. And then I learnt about this diet, what Mr. Atkins says makes sense, and the diet is working for me...BUT, that is my "BUT", since I was 12 I was told not to eat fat and now I feel GUILTY when I do so...even though I know as long as the carbohydrate intake is limited it's OK. And reading the posted messages in this forum helps, but the association "fat=bad thing" is so deep inside my mind that I do not know how to overcome it. I guess this feeling will eventually dissapear and I hope so since I intend to make of Atkins' diet my way of life.

So, Digitalgrl I understand you completely! And as long as you keep your carbohydrate intake low the fat will not make you gain a single gram.

MJ

Thanks MJ.

I think one of the hardest things about low-carb is getting over that whole fat=bad concept. I know I've tried every diet out there, WW, Jenny Craig, Vegetarian ... the list is huge. I guess I am just used to thinking that I have to be hungry and suffering with rice cakes in order to get the weight off.

I think I thought of low-fat as my pennance for the years of
overindulgence. Pay now for what you ate before.

I guess it just seems like it's too good to be true!

It is awesome! And I have found eating this way is so much more satisfying.

This is very important: Go through induction and really look at how you feel. That is key here.

I was laughing a little as I read your post. I remember all that disgusting Jenny Craig food I subjected myself to.

I still have some Jenny Craig fajitas in the freezer (I've been off JC for over a year and can't even face those foods again). You just inspired me to go throw the last of that unsatisfying food in the trash. Yesterday I found a Jenny Craig pasta marinara packet and I couldn't believe I ever made myself eat that cardboard.

I feel really fortunate today that I don't ever have to eat unsatisfying food again.

Thats the best part of this diet is it does seem to good to be true who would have thought that you could eat steak and chicken wings and all of the fish that you could want and more and still lose weight. This plan is great and if you stick to it the right way then you should be very satisfied with the results. and you are entering it durring a time where the public is hearing more about it and the stores are starting to sell lo-carb.

when you are on your ongoing weight loss there are health food stores out there that have lots of low carb goodies but don't indulge in these too much just when you have the craving. they have Atkins white bread that you can make the best sandwhichs with but I would only use it spareingly, Lo-carb ice cream ohhhh good stuff and of course low carb candy.
of course you can look forward to that stuff a little later
but dont eat too much of the goodies just have it as a guilt free treat.

Anyway just keep up the good work stick to it and remember to drink your water that is very inportant to drinl plenty of water,, WATER WATER WATER WATER

welcome to the board and to your new way of eating

I never did the Jenny Craig diet, but I did do Nutrisystem...twice! What I wonder about now that I'm doing LC and feel soooo much better, is why on earth did we ever think that tiny boxes of food so full of preservatives and sodium could possibly be healthy or the right things to put into our bodies. It's amazing what junk we've put in our bodies to lose weight just because it was low fat.

And not only is the extra fat tastier, it will actually help improve your cholesteral! *Totally* against all current way of thinking, but I have the blood tests to prove it.

I've been thinking about all the prepackaged yucky food I've eaten on various diets and it's amazing what we all went through in the way of very dissatisfying eating in order to get here. I'm glad THAT's over!

I LOVE eating protein and fat! It feels like the gates of the lowfat, high carb prison have been flung open! Hooray for us!

Ick, yup within a few months I was SOO sick of Jenny Craig packaged food I was ready to go without food at all!

I ended up giving it all away to my friend who is still on the program.

It's just amazing how much better I feel on low carb, I am eating less frequently as on Jenny Craig (it's 6 times/day on Jenny) but am WAY less hungry.

They do have a "low-carb" program, but it's quite a joke. There regular program is 60% carbs, 20% protein, 20% fat. Their "low-carb" program is only 50% carbs, 20% protein and 30% fat. Just not enough to get anyone out of that sugar mode.

And it was made up of all the same Jenny Craig food as well.

Yes, I still have Jenny Craig desserts from 1 1/2 years ago in the freezer because till I started LC I thought I would want them someday. Even their DESSERTS I couldn't make myself eat after I was so sick of that food.