Hi everybody. I'm on day 4 of my general low carb diet. I've been in moderate ketosis since the third day. I've been having 15-25 carbs per day. At first I had a bad headache and now it is gone. I guess that was sugar withdrawal. I've experienced almost no hunger as these types of foods are very filling. I've had bacon and eggs alot, chicken, egg, and tuna salad, steak and green vegetables. Today I couldn't stand the thought of meat for lunch so I had a chocolate LC shake and some pecans with cinnamon, butter, and probably too much splenda and a homemade slice of LC cheesecake with splenda not sugar alcohol. I've had 2 Advantage bars in 5 days. What else? I've had 2 Atkins small candies and decaf with cream and Atkins syrup. How does this sound to all of you general low carbers out there? I'm not eating large portions, just satisfying portions. I'm nervous that I won't lose weight because I just came from Weight Watchers where I struggled to lose 15 pounds in almost 7 months! Every week I'd weigh in and be so dissapointed because I followed the plan, went to bed hungry every night, and rarely lost any weight. Tonight after having 1/2 a steak,a few mushrooms, and some zucchini with caeser dressing I'm still completely full! I keep thinking that this can't be working! Any words of encouragement or advice for me? I guess I won't know until the moment of truth when I weigh in. BTW, do you all cout carb grams for black coffee or decaf? I drink flavored decaf and haven't counted any points for it this week. THANK YOU FOR HELPING

Well there is a small problem, on induction you shouldnt be eating anything but the allowed foods -- no shakes, no bars, no sugar alcohol junk. If you can stop eating that stuff you will be a lot better off, and will be losing more weight. Good luck!

oh and decaf coffee is okay, i personally dont bother counting carbs for coffee

There was a thread over in the Atkins side that someone checked with the USDA and coffee is actually 0 carbs per cup.

I agree with Matt, stay away from the bars. Even after I had lost quite a bit, the bars stalled me. Don't let the bars make you think the diet doesn't work. Other than that, everything looks good.

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to totally cut out the bars.

...and the candy, and the pecans...the list of allowed foods for induction is kind of strict because it's the detoxing/jump starting part of the diet. Investing the effort to do induction cleanly does pay off though - you'll lose more weight during that two week period, your cravings will be zapped, and you'll form good LC habits. Pecans can be added back later when you get to OWL and lots of people can occasionally enjoy treats with sugar alchohols (I can't, they cause cravings for me).

I believe the post said that she was doing GLC not Atkins Induction.

Your menu sounds good! I too would stay clear of the bars just due to the sugar alcohol content. The other Splenda-based treats should be fine. If you do find that you are craving sweets, try and cut back. It's totally a YMMV thing. Also if you find that you are losing slow, check calories. Some of us need to watch Kcals as well as carbs, unfortunately.

Best of luck!

Hi! I'm very happy for that you find this way of eating so satisfactory. That was exactly my my feelings when I went low carb, and I lost 40 pounds.

If you are concentrating on losing weight; yes, the bars do stall some people, as do nuts. But I urge you to keep thinking long term and find ways to stay with low carb, and if the bars and nuts help, and you can trade off a slower weight loss for it, that is something everyone has to work out for themselves.

Me, I didn't do induction. I cut my carbs from 350-400 a day to 40 a day. I ate bars and nuts and lots of coffee. It took me 6 months to really settle on the weight I am now.

I think the fact I spent a decade seriously exercising helped my metabolism, and the fact I took care of emotional food issues in my twenties. My only problem was that the way I had been told to eat made me constantly hungry, and I couldn't help eating more than my body needed.

Weight loss is great, I'm certainly enjoying mine. But I just wanted to caution you that being too strict when you have thirty pounds to lose can backfire. They aren't going to come off as fast as you'd like (which is true of anyone.) If nuts and bars and Splenda cheesecake keep you on this Way of Eating, then have them.

My bad...I saw all the Atkins products and missed that she is doing general low carb...