Is it okay to include Atkins Shakes and Endulge Bars during Induction as long as you're not going over 20 carbs??

I usually have a vanilla Atkins Shake for bfast (with bacon or eggs).

Sometimes I also have an Atkins Endulge Bar (the 2 Carb or the 4 Carb Wafter bar, depending) for a snack in the same day even though I had a sweet Shake at Breakfast.

Although they r low carb Atkins products, is this too many sweety Atkins yummies for the Induction Period? Could this produce a stall? Are these products supposed to be used only in moderation like a once per week treat?

Please advise. This could very well be my problem......

Atkins Endulge, Carbolite, De-lite, Russell Stover, Hershey and numerous other sugar-free chocolate candy bars and treats that contain sugar alcohols (maltitol, lactitol, sorbitol, HSH etc) are NOT PERMITTED ON INDUCTION. If you go to the official Atkins website www.atkinscenter.com ... you'll see in their products section that these foods are not permitted until Level 2 (OWL) and beyond.


Atkins (and other brands) of protein shakes that are low in carbs and absolutely no sugar or fructose added are permitted on Induction. These products typically consist of protein from isolated whey or soy, and/or casein (also called "milk protein"), plus non-caloric sweetener such as aspartame (undesirable), acesulfame potassium, sucralose or stevia. There may also be some soluble fiber such as guar gum or carageenan, and flavourings.

High protein bars such as Atkins Advantage or EAS Advantage are also permitted on Induction. These products typically contain similar protein to the shake mixes, plus added vitamins etc, a sweetener as above, and also glycerine, which is used as a "humectant" .. it keeps the bar soft and edible, otherwise it would be a small, hard brick! (*note - while glycerine may be considered a "deductible carb" that you don't need to count as part of the net or effective carbs, just be aware that it can cause stall problems for some. Proceed with caution)



Just a comment about using the high protein bars and shakes ... These products are considered Convenience Foods. Here is what Atkins has to say about their use on Induction:
It really is best to stick to real foods .. meats, fish, poultry, eggs, natural cheese, vegetables, salads, butter and oils. Save the convenience products for an infrequent indulgence only, or better yet, save them till after the 14-day Induction period is over. It's best to not rely on these things to replace a meal of real food.

As well, relying on sweets, even high-protein low-carb sweets may work against your efforts in the long run. Especially if you have a real problem with carb and sugar addiction, the sweet taste can trigger certain hormones (adrenalin, cortisol, serotonin, etc) that can lead to an insulin spike which interferes with ketosis and fat loss. So ... know your demons

hth,

Doreen

I appreciate your prompt response. I knew they were just too yummy for Induction...... I am eliminating the bars from my menu immediately and will reduce the daily shake to an occassional shake. I'm thinking I should see some sudden weight loss w/ this change. I have been tracking my food intake on 'fitday' and all else looks good (as far as I know at this point). Perhaps this is also why my appetite has not seemed to decrease. Stay tuned.......

That has certainly been my experience. I stay away from those lucious things like the plague!

Jinx

I am on induction too. I have been drinking an Atkins shake daily. I hope it's ok since it's easy to bring to work. I just mixed 1 scoop chocolate shake mix w/4 oz cream and half of a splenda to make mouse...it's amazing! I'm going to eat half...so that's about 4 carbs. They say you can have a couple ounces of cream each day. Yummmmmmm.

--Cindy

I was eating low-carb chocolates every day and even though my carb levels were within range, my weight loss began to fluctuate and my food cravings returned.

When I stopped eating them, my willpower returned, my appetite decreased and my weight started to come off again.

It was hard the first day because they were still in my system, and I'd developed the habit of eating them, but it was easier the second day and by the third day, I was back in control of my appetite.

I'm back to non-processed foods - even avoiding the Atkins muffins for a while - and I'm going to be a lot more careful when I add them back.

Nelle

Hi There,
Since yday I've started my induction over so we can go thru this together. Are you an Atkins "newbie"? I've attempted Atkins before but I didn't follow it strictly, so this time I am determined to be successful and smart at it!

I do know that shakes are permitted in Induction, but I'm not clear on the frequency and if its okay to have one everyday. (Anybody know the answer to that??)

I just LOVE the Vanilla flavor from the can poured over ice! I only know from my own experience, I was drinking one every morning for the last 3 weeks and yday I stopped - cold turkey! I can recall that ea morning I awoke I was in the mood for that "sweet" shake and it was the first thing I did when I got up. I KNEW I shouldn't be having that sweet craving on Induction --the only other sweets I had were Atkins bars so I've just stopped them both and I am 1 lb lighter this morning. I am going to continue without the shakes for a while so I can see what it feels like to be sugar-craving FREE!! I'm also thinking alleviating those may introduce me to the loss of appetite and I want to see if I can achieve that.

Let me know if you find out anything else about the shakes.
Have a good day!

I am new to Atkins altogether. I was always anti and figured it couldn't be good for you. I always tried to do the low fat way and lots of fruits and veggies and very lean proteins...but I have uncontrollable sugar cravings...I'd be good all day then binge on chocolate after eating my plate of veggies for dinner. In the 5 days so far, no cravings and no binges! I'm afraid to weigh until it's been a week. Plus it's that TOM so I hear you may not see results on the scale until after. I do feel like my tummy is smaller and I feel like I'm losing a little.

I think for now I will stick to the shake for breakfast during the week but not on weekends. Atkins site says only to have 1 per day which is all I have. I've heard the bars aren't good on induction so maybe that was the problem.

Looks like we're in a similar weight range. I used to weigh about 115 then I went up to 135 by eating lots and lots of bagels and rice and stuff. I lost 10 pounds via low fat diet and exercise. I've think I put those 10 back on lately though. My first goal is to get back to my most recent average weight of 125 then back down below 120. I already feel so much better not eating sugar!!!

Cindy007- I was excited to see in your note that we are permitted atleast one atkins shake per day during Induction. Can you tell me the url site that you found information pertaining to that so I can take a look too?

This morning's weigh-in measured .5 lb lighter which puts me at 121.5. Yday I didn't have any shakes, jellos, or bars (or caffeine) - BUT I did have 16 macadamia nuts; I know nuts r not allowed during induction but my carbs were low. I think if I left those out the loss may have been a full lb. All is not lost, I will try harder today to make better choices. I know I could have found a legal carb.

It is amazing how much those sweet little bars can hold you back.

Changes I'm starting to notice are my rings are lose and they turn around as I type, so my fingers are getting smaller. Gee, just where I needed to lose! Perhaps its b/c they're getting a good work out by typing so much into this forum. ha ha

Also, my thighs are slowly getting smaller and noticing some improvement in my rear - cellulite is also smaller and less visible. Oh, and my saddlebags are shrinking too!

I've also been drinking lots of water this week which is hard for me to do.

I too, in the past maintained my weight by following a low fat diet and exercised religiously! Well, I was always left hungry b/c I limited proteins, and ate lots of veggies and fruits (no mayo, butter) and I ate fat-free dressing which I hated. I maintained at 110-115 range and I felt great about my look when we went to the beach. But...we go to dinner out a lot w/ friends & family and I dreaded it b/c I was always tempted w/ the rich foods everyone ordered around me b/c I knew I was still hungry after eating my salad w/ no protein and that grose fat-free dressing. Now dining out is fun b/c there is such a big legal selection I can have.

I just cant do low fat anymore; I refuse to starve myself and feel guilty about foods - now I don't have to.

Well, thanks for sharing, and please keep me informed with your posts; I enjoy reading them.

MFO,

I read on Atkin's own site that one shake per day is ok. I searched under shakes and that's how I found the article. I decided to try not to drink them every day though at least for the first 2 weeks. So this morning I made a quick mock danish in the microwave and ate if before running out the door. It's definately better in the pan but it'll do. Tomorrow I think I'll just nuke some eggs and normal cheese. Yesterday I ate a chicken bowl from Chipotle and I kinda freaked out b/c I think it might have been marinated in carbs. I don't know. It taste like fajita meat. Oh well. Probably not that many. Today I went to costco and stocked up on meat. There were yummy smelling carby samples all over and I didn't even get tempted! I'm just so satisfied! I just had halibut w/ a spoon of heavy cream and some parmesian cheese...and I'm full! I agree...I was always hungry eating low fat and always had insane cravings for junk!

I feel like I've lost weight and I'm starting to see more definition in my tummy and my arms. This rocks! Won't weigh until Friday though at least.

--Cindy

Some time has passed and I've done more troubleshooting with my diet. Yday I passed on all bars and shakes (and all other sweets except 1 diet rite splenda soda) just to completely rid the sweet cravings and today I dropped 1.5 lbs. However, I have learned from the mediator one reason I was not losing was being closer to my goal weight I need to watch my calories closer and I was not. Today I am 124 so I multiply that times 12 and know that today I should not exceed 1,488 if I want to lose. So....as long as I do not exceed my calorie count I can probably have an Atkins shake or Atkins bar and continue to lose. Presently, I'm still working on NO SWEETS, but next time I need a convenience food I think I may be able to have that (within my daily calorie guideline) without feeling guilty and still lose.

I rec'd my new Atkins catalog in the mail and they show several Advantage bars, oh, PLUS new Morning Start Bars (Creamy Cinnamon Bun, Choc Chip Crisp, Blueberry Muffin, Apple Crisp) and the shakes all as part of INDUCTION - as you had mentioned.
But the Atkins center website does not reflect these products yet. I called and they said they are running out of these products as soon as they get them and they're being sold on a first come, first serve basis, even though they get shipments DAILY. This diet is really popular it seems.

How is your progress?

Hi MFO,

I am doing well. I weighed in last Saturday and had lost 6 pounds. I weighed myself again this week on a different scale and it said I stayed the same. Don't know if it's b/c it's a dif. scale or what. I feel smaller though. I did cheat big time and have 4 vodka diet cokes on saturday. NO carbs, but not supposed to have alcohol and I think it messed me up for a few days! I had a friend in town I hadn't seen in months and we'd planned the evening a while ago so I felt like a stick in the mud not drinking. Now I'll be good though. My 2 weeks are up but I am going to stay on induction. I drank a couple shakes this week or made mouse out of it and cream...maybe that's why I'm not losing? I'm trying to have eggs in the morning again. I bought some of those morning bars yesterday. Blueberry and Cinnamon don't have malitol. I tried blueberry and was way impressed. I'm going to try not to have those regularly, but I have a class all this weekend from 8-5 so I need snacks that don't need to be refrigerated. Today I made a good desert instead of the mouse...decaf coffee, splenda, 1 tbps cream and a tablespoon of atkins sugar free chocolate syrup. I hope the syrup is ok for induction. No calories, no carbs. The drink is super yummy!

So how many calories were you eating that were too many? I'm trying to stay at about 1500. I figure I should eat b/w 1300-1600.

Enjoy!

--Cindy

Hey Cindy,

Just to let you know, on Induction, no more than 2-3 tbs. of cream (heavy, light or sour cream) is allowed during this time. Two tablespoons is equal to one ounce. So 1 1/2 ounces max.

Jones

the one I tried has only 1 gram of countable carbs, and does NOT taste sweet, even though it's chocolate flavored. It is my personal opinion that we ex-sugar and carb junkies need to stay away from a false taste of sweetness. I would try to avoid even allowable sweet drinks until you get used to plain drinks like water. Anyway, this Lo Carb brand, or Lo Carb 2, of bars does NOT taste or feel like a candy bar. It's not even really "good." But here is what it does for me.

I end up not eating quite enough protein at the end of the day but the fat level is high. I am either over or where I want to be with carbs. So there is NO FOOD with lots of protein and no fat to kind of bring me up to the proper proportions. That's why I started trying a bar. It did not make me gassy like I have read about. I also cannot find any fake sugar on the list of ingredients (I am just not a fake sugar babe, it always bugs me).

Anyway, I am on day 13 of Atkins, but I am not doing 20 g carbs, more like 35, because I am a nursing mom. However, I vowed to only add more fruits and veggies to induction -- no way will I eat grains or naughties.

Anyway, I lost another 2 lbs, bringing my total loss to date to 7 lbs, so I do not think that 1 of these bars a day will harm me. What do you think?

Good luck, all!
Yaelle

Hi There,
I'm using the 12 X Current Weight = Daily Calorie Max as my guideline. Today I'm 124, so that means my max should be 1,488, and so on, as I continue to lose. When I am 120 my goal will be 1,440, etc.

But...this is an adjustment for me. I find I am still hungry after I meet my goal in the evening. Not starving, but I realize you do have to have some WILL POWER and effort to get results!! I have a seltzer water after dinner and the carbonation helps me feel full and my stomach eventually forgets about food.

I continue to eat fats like butter, mayo and dressings & sufficient amt of protein, so It will help me remain full, but since watching the CALS I did have to cut down on that. I think after a few days of sticking to the cal max my body will adjust.

I need to add 30 min daily routine aerobics so that will help speed the process. I eat 4 times day (Early Bfast, Lunch, Snack(just before leaving work to keep me satisifed for the traffic commute home), Dinner) so that's roughly ~350 cals per meal give or take a few, so I'm thinking that should be sufficient in meeting my body's nutritional needs - it's not like I'm starving myself.

Will let you know how goes....

And I also got a scale to measure the oz of my proteins so I could be certain in entering my meats into fitday. This should help.

Have a Great Weekend!