I do feel like a snack at times which would be the best to have ?50gm packect beef jerky or a bar of darrell lea milk chocolate ( zero carb sugar free) I am so used to eating 6=7 x day going done to 1-4 is really hard and ocassionly really need a snack some times sweet sometimes salty so I tend to alternate is this ok

>which would be the best to have ?50gm packect beef jerky or a bar of darrell lea milk chocolate ( zero carb sugar free)

I would say, be careful with the jerky. Most jerky manufacturers hide sugar in their marinade before they dehydrate the meat. So, even if it may not seem sugary, it probably is. It'll add carbs to your diet.

As far as the zero carb sugar free bar, you'll have to read the ingredients and decide for yourself. Simply because it says 'zero carb' doesn't necessarily mean this is so. Always check the ingredients for hidden sugars and starches.

If you're looking for snacks, nuts are really great. High in protein, medium in fat (good fat), low in carbs. Salted nuts sometimes have added modified food starch to hold the salt to the nuts (like glue). As far as a sweet snack, I bake almond cookies or drink lemonade sweetened with sacharrin/stevia. Peanut butter mixed with a little honey is also a great treat. Honey is a sugar, so use it sparingly (17g carbs per tablespoon).

Before you decide whether or not to indulge in low carb chocolate bars or other sweet treats, please read over this information about sugar alcohols ... they are notorious for stalling weight loss in some people (not all).

Thanks for the input folks and I think I am going to try and hold off and just stick to a few nut and up my water and green tea intake.

6/3/03

Have been reading about the Atkins diet and now feel that I am going to try it. I am going to start tomorrow as I have just written a shopping list so I am all prepared. It funny usually I would go out for a big carb binge before stating previous diet but this time even though I am changing to the induction plan I am trying ( I will ) keep to my lc eating.
Had an MRI on my back and it does not look too good and am seeing a spinal surgeon today, usually something like this would also throw me into an eating frenzy - not today.
Had a nice breakfast of eggs, mushrooms and a few smoked suagages. very nice and very filling. Exercising at the moment is not great but trying. well until tomorrow. the all my stats will be added to my journal. This is great.

why are you cutting down from eating 6-7x a day to 1-4? i eat about 5 times a day. 2 pretty normal size meals, and 3 small snack size meals. as far as snacks go. i eat veggie sticks with ranch, celery with peanut butter or cream cheese, pepperoni and cheese, lunch meat roll ups with mustard, cheese, and pickle slices, nuts, fruit(berries, melon, small oranges).

good luck to you

jules420,

Don't consider LCing it as a 'diet'. Consider it the beginnings of a new WOE and your new WOL. Make this new WOE your friend, not your enemy. Make every effort to change your habits to include only those foods that aid in your goals. Exclude all foods that don't.

Your health is dependant on what you eat. Thinking about this as a 'diet' is what makes people fail. It isn't a 'diet', it should be an event so life changing that once you're on it, it becomes old hat. In fact, once you're on it, you shouldn't even think about eating or binging on 'regular' foods. Because now, your regular foods are LC.

Psychologically, I know it's hard to break the habits. Especially when there's no immediately evident reason when you do. Physically, once you are on the diet, your body will go through changes in the way you perceive foods. Once your body has become accustomed to a LC diet, you will be less hungry and crave empty carbs much much less. In fact, there were times initially that I wasn't hungry at all. I had to eat something when I wasn't hungry.

However, the first few weeks are the hardest as your body undergoes a series of changes. The first being sugar withdrawal (yes, sugar is addictive). The next being conversion of intake carb-based energy to fat burning based energy. During the transition, you may feel lightheaded, crave food badly, feel lethargic and feel tired among others. But, after you reach over that hump (between 2 and 7 days), you will likely feel the best you have in years. It's really pretty amazing once you're over that hump.

During the transition, however, it's very easy to revert back thinking something is horribly wrong. Before you're over the hump, this is a the crucial time which will tempt you to cheat.

If you get the urge to cheat, drink or eat something sweetened with an artificial sweetener or stevia. This always curbs the sweet tooth. If you need something baked, make something from almond flour. Almond flour is low in carbs, high in protein. If you need to snack, eat nuts (plain)... not honey roasted or other sugary varieties.

Beef jerky is a great treat if you can find it without too many carbs. Be careful, though. Manufacturers of beef jerky tend to use lots of sugars in their marinades. Best is if you can dehydrate the jerky yourself. Very easy to make, actually.

Anyway, these are a few tips. Keep in mind that you want to think of this as a life and health changing event. Not simply a 'diet'. The word 'diet' has connotations that imply a temporary state to be discarded later. This isn't something you discard. You will need to remain on some form of controlled carb diet forever to maintain your weight even if you do start adding some higher carb foods back in later. However, you won't be going back to eating pizzas, pasta and burgers and fries in the future. Not unless you make it yourself without all the carbs.

As far as exercising, I lost around 40 pounds through LC without stepping foot into a gym or adding one additional bit of exercise to my daily routine. After about 50 pounds, I started adding in weight training to help speed the process along. After all, muscle helps burn fat.

Good luck.

Thanks guys for all the advice. As for my new woe I started Atkins today so here it is.
13/3/03 weight 68.9kg (151.5)

breakfast= 3eggs, edam cheese, ham, black coffee.

lunch= ham, cheese, salad, peppers, mushrooms,tomatoe, & mayo & green tea

dinner= steak, salad, feta cheese, olives (4) & mayo diet coke


snacks. celery cream cheese, olives, salami
drinks green tea x 3 and 1500mls water.

exercise 20min walk after work.

Should I be having these snacks on induction some times after having them I feel full when I am feeling like this should I skip dinner or just wait until I feel hungry the eat again.

i usually skip the snacks when i am not hungry. my dinner usually has more of the balanced protein and veggies and i would prefer to get that in and skip a snack or two.

I was wondering if I should cut out taking the snacks to work. I sometimes wonder if I just eat them because they are there and not because I am hungry. I know this may sound silly but sometimes I find it really hard to to know whether I am eating because I am hungry or just eating for the sake of eating. I think about food all the time so really worry that when I eat snacks that my calorie intake will be to high and I wont lose the weight and just keep putting on, I know you a not supposed to worry about counting calories but if your energy intake is higher than your energy out put surely you are going to gain.
JULES

I would keep taking them. Those snacks at work are probably keeping you from overindulging later due to hunger. Dr. Atkins says to NEVER go more than 6 waking hours without eating something.

As long as the snacks are low carb, you don't need to worry when or how often you eat. Eat what you need until you are satisfied. As long as the food is low carb, you'll stay in the fat burning state. The volume really doesn't matter as long as it's low-carb. In fact, as long as you have something digesting, this is better for you. Digestion burns calories. If you eat foods that burn calories to digest, you keep the 'furnace' lit (so to speak).

Keep in mind that meat proteins are, in fact, the hardest to digest and actually expend the most amount of calories to digest than nearly anything else.

Yes, I know, calories aren't really important numbers here. But, they are important when describing the fat burning process. So, the more calories your body burns, the more consistent the fat burning is.

I snack throughout the day on cheese, homemade jerky and nuts (not all in one day, though). I also don't eat tons, mind you, but just enough to take the edge off until the next meal. For example, with cheese I eat one or two slices. Nuts, a handful or maybe a little more. Jerky, actually, I haven't found any limitation on this. But, jerky is pretty filling so I have to be careful or I won't be able to eat dinner. The snacks have not stopped the fat burning process. Just be careful. You could easily mistake a food that is low-carb for one that is high carb. So, always read the labels.

The snacks I usually have handy are olives, celery with cream cheese, cheese, salami. All in a plastic container so I can pick at them. I noticed today that I didnt feel hungry had breakfast late but about four hours later started to get a bad headache so went and made my lunch I am taking that this happens to others and is an idication i should have something to eat. Also how long does it take to get into ketosis. I have been lc for a couple of weeks but am only in day 2 of the Atkins woe. I must say how encouraging it is to be able to be part of these forums you certainly dont feel like you are doing it alone. You have support every day if you need it.
jules.

Actually, it takes only about 48 hours to get fully into ketosis. But, that doesn't take into account the symptoms you may feel as a result of this process. After you've been in ketosis for a while, your body gets used to it. Until then, you can feel headaches, tiredness, hunger pains and lethargy among others. Once your body is burning fat for fuel, you will actually feel less hungry. That's just one of the benefits of burning stored fat.

Also, if you're monitoring your ketostix, the slightest amount of red could indicate ketosis. But, keep in mind that these sticks measure the amount of ketone bodies that are in the urine. Ketones being present indicate that your body is metabolizing fat. What it doesn't indicate is if the fat is from your fat stores or from the food you ingested. So, if you know you had relatively lesser fatty meal and your stick is dark red or purple, you know that you're burning stored fat. However, if it's light pink, it could be from stored fat or from the food you ate. It especially darkens after eating nuts. Nuts contain lots of fats.

Olives are good. Relatively high in fat, though. So, it could trigger ketone release in the urine.

When you say you've been lc for 2 weeks, how many carbs are you eating daily?