Atkins/Low carb attempt. Am I doing this right? This is what I ate...

[Happymum22]

I started atkins last weekend, I have had a few 'blips' but am back on track now. I always fail at diets- I generally have quite a stressful job and busy lifestyle and tiredness always makes me give up. But I have been really motivated and (as pathetic as it may sound) am pleased with myself I have done it (mostly) for a whole week.

Just wanted someone to tell me if I am doing this right. I am doing 'induction' but not as strict as I perhaps should e.g. already eating berries. I am a bit worried about the amount of fat and whether this is making it counterproductive.

I have generally been eating..
BREAKFAST- egg and bacon, ommelette
SNACK- 20g cheddar cheese snack (don't always have this)
LUNCH- cold meats, salad, tomato
SNACK- diet lemonade (no artificial sweeteners) or sugar free jelly (again, don't always have this)
DINNER- meat, green veg or salad, raspberries and a small dollop of cream for pudding.

Drinking lots of water.

In the week I broke this twice- once going out for a pub with a friend lunch and finding there was literally nothing on the menu without carbs. I went for a chicken wing thing only to find it was coated in breadcrumbs. Secondly, I went to a friends for dinner (not planned and so couldn't tell her or make excuses not to eat there) and she served up a pasta bake :S so I had to eat a portion.

Any comments? Should I cut out the berries? I am aware I'm not eating enough green veg perhaps as my basic carbs but I struggle with too much salad.
I am 11 stone and hope to get down to 9.5 stone which would be perfect for my height (5 ft 7). Ideally by 7 weeks time, but perhaps that is ambitious, I am quite relaxed about how long this takes.

I have lost about 2 kg in this first week.

[Happymum22]

Bump! Would really appreciate someone to give me a bit of advice here if I am going right or not.

[Amyand]

Hi. I did Atkins a few years ago. Like you I'm 5' 7" and weighed about 11 and a half stone when I started. It took me about 6 months (I think, it may not have been that long, sorry if a bit vague but it was a long time ago now!) to get down to 9 and a half stone. I had a lovely flat stomach too (sadly this has gone!). If you've already lost 2 kgs you are doing really well and are obviously doing something right. I did like Atkins but found I couldn't live without pasta and bread! Good luck, it sounds like you're on the right track.

[Happymum22]

thanks for your reply.
Wow 6 months sounds a while but worth it, I'm sure.
How did you decide to move off induction?

[NobodyPutsMyBabyInTheCorner]

Hi Happy.

I'm probably not going to be much help as I'm in the same boat as you!
I'm trying to not be too strict on myself as I don't want to doom myself to failure.

I'm 5ft9" and weigh 11.4 stone (I did do this after breakfast and a pint of water so it might be a bit off). I'd like to get down to a minimal of 10.7 but my dream would be 10stone. I've got a big event planned for the 17th-18th of august so have 10 weeks to do this. If I loose one pound per week I can get to 10.7 on time.

At the moment I've completely cut out the main carbs- potato, bread, rice, etc and have no more than 30gs of cheese per day.

With regards to meat, yogurt, fruit and veg I'm having pretty much what I want. (although trying to keep clear of, peas, squash, bananas or anything that's more starchy)

I'm also allowing myself one treat per day of up to 100kcals of naughtiness. Tonight will be an options hot chocolate with whipped cream.

My last rule is that I won't eat past 8pm, it's very hard but I'm a t.v. snacker

I'm going to see how this goes for the week and then decide if i need to be stricter on myself.

[prettybird]

Come and have a look at the Boot Camp threads (we're about to go in to Week 7 of the current Boot Camp). If you look at the spreadsheet that starts each week's thread, you'll find one tab which has links to resources which will help explain why the high fat is not only ok but required

I lost over 2 stone on the New Year Boot Camp - have lost a few more pounds on the current Boot Camp but as I have less than a stone to go (and have finally got back in to the "normal" BMI range), progress has slowed probably not helped by the copious amounts of wine that the sunny weather has forced me to drink

Love this WoE - no calorie counting and lots of enjoyable, tasty food.

[WillieWaggledagger]

well done for surviving the first week - it can be really tough as the body craves carbs like the devil! you have got past the hardest bit.

i've been low carbing for 18 months or so, close to atkins style but i haven't read atkins so my comments might deviate from his advice. however, based on my own experience, i would make the following comments on your meals:

BREAKFAST- egg and bacon, omelette
this looks like a great breakfast, hopefully you cooked in butter to make sure your fat intake was nice and high to keep you full? if you wanted to add more veg you could add some spinach perhaps to this? also it may be worth not having bacon every day as it's quite highly processed so not as healthy as fresh meat

SNACK- 20g cheddar cheese snack (don't always have this)
no problem with this, as it's not very much cheese and i think atkins advises against too much dairy. once you get into the swing of it, you will likely feel much less need to snack

LUNCH- cold meats, salad, tomato
again, looks good, though be aware of how processed the cold meats are (cold leftover roast is fine of course), and hopefully you added plenty of oily dressing and/or full fat (low carb) mayo? keep an eye on the tomatoes as they can get a bit carby

SNACK- diet lemonade (no artificial sweeteners) or sugar free jelly (again, don't always have this)
i'm not sure how diet lemonade can be free of artificial sweeteners - is it sweetened with sugar? either way, if you can, try to avoid sweetened things for a while as they won't help you kick the carb cravings

DINNER- meat, green veg or salad, raspberries and a small dollop of cream for pudding
looks good, again you should be adding butter to your veg, oily dressing to your salad, cooking in butter and using fatty cuts of meat as much as you can. no problem with the cream (if you don't have a problem with dairy) but the berries will increase your carb intake and could potentially perpetuate the cravings for sweet flavours

as i say, i haven't read atkins, but the reason for the induction phase being very strict (e.g. no berries) is i suspect to do with reducing the cravings for carbs in the longterm. although it can make you feel a bit unpleasant for a couple of days, once you get out the other side you feel fantastic.

you've had a couple of off-plan moments this week, but still have a very good loss, which i am sure is to do with the fact that you have drastically cut your carbs overall compared to before. just be aware that in the longterm you might not be able to get away with going off-plan this frequently, and it might not help you move away from craving carbs. your strictness though depends on how quickly you want to lose weight - you may prefer the 'scenic' route, which is ok, life happens. i think a stone and a half in seven weeks is quite ambitious though, and with this WOE (way of eating), weight loss can slow for weeks 3 and 4 quite often, before it picks up again. i could see you getting close to 10st though, and because you don't have the bloating effect of carbs you would likely find that you look and feel slimmer at that weight than you did before.

the thing about this WOE is that it is very good for longterm weight loss because once you have got over the initial carb cravings and your blood sugar levels are under control you are less hungry, less likely to snack, less likely to crave sugary/carby foods. you can eat big, satisfying meals, and eating in restaurants is relatively easy (compared to if you were trying to eat low fat/calorie). although it is not very forgiving if you go off-plan (if you eat carbs your glycogen stores will replenish, which can see 3-7lb go on overnight - it's not fat, and it will go within a few days if you go back to strict low-carbing, but it can be a bit of a shock on the scales!), it's much more sustainable in the longterm, as you can see by the length of time i have been doing it (i don't really have much if any weight to lose now, i'm sort of maintaining or losing about 2lb a month depending on whether i have many social occasions, but i love the other benefits this WOE brings, like clear skin, no tiredness after lunch etc)

sorry for the mammoth post! have you read into low carbing? it can really help to understand why you should be making these food choices.

[NobodyPutsMyBabyInTheCorner]

Hi Willie and Pretty.

Thank you both for your posts, I'm shamelessly hijacking OP's thread

I've added myself to the spreadsheet and looking forward to having everything in butter. I'm not too much into diet fizzy drinks or sweetener in coffees anyways so thats not a problem for me. I love black rooibus tea (DH is from SA and they drink it all the time there!)

My current downfall is definitely the fruit as I would rather eat this than sweets anyways so I need to really limit myself here.

After just three days I can't believe how un-bloated I feel. I usually have a bit of a food baby on board and carb face but I'm feeling rather slender today

[NobodyPutsMyBabyInTheCorner]

p.s is olive marge okay or does it have to be butter?

[WillieWaggledagger]

def butter, marge is full of nasties

[prettybird]

Rooibos is lovely and is the only tea I will willingly drink without milk (can't bring myself to say "black" 'cos it is red ) although I do prefer it with milk. When I am doing "ubercamp" (which means all dairy is out), that's what I will drink for the 3 days.

My aunt has given me some "Earl Grey" rooibos - really just rooibos with some bergamot - which is lovely. :)

[WillieWaggledagger]

yes my mum has drunk rooibos for years (she suffers from migraines and caffeine and tannin are triggers) and she likes it with milk. i remember when she had to get it from health food shops. it's available in many cafés and restaurants now which is nice

[Happymum22]

Hi there, just wanted to check in again and say thanks for the replies- especially willie.
I have read a lot about the diet, I am much more on track now and feeling confident it is working. What I find hard is that fact that I am not feeling hungry often! It feels like I am eating too much in many ways and am not craving carbs at all. By 'too much' I don't mean I am over eating or feeling overly full, I simply don't feel like I am on a diet. I think it is because previous diets have been wishy washy with no clear rules, just calories restriction/trying to eat as little as possible. Which never could be sustained or worked!

I was 'tested' today as I went into a chocolate shop to buy a gift and was offered a free sample, it was tiny, but I still turned it down. I feel like I am not 'missing out' on nice stuff on this diet or tempted to cheat. I almost feel I have the same reaction to 'not allowed' foods as I have to nuts (which I am allergic to so avoid like the plague).

I am still on the sugar free jelly as it doesn't leave me with sugar cravings, it fulfills them. I'm not having the lemonade everyday to try and not be too heavy on the sugary tasting things.

I am sticking with the berries, I know they aren't technically 'allowed' but pre-diet I was a huge fruit eater and I think about 5 raspberries a day, if they keep me on track and happy, they won't do too much harm.

I have lost half a stone now :D

[Amyand]

Hi Happy. Sorry I haven't replied to your earlier posting about moving from induction. From what I remember, induction is only 2 weeks, is that right? I was pretty strict during the induction phase but only did induction for the 2 weeks and then re-introduced food. Well done on losing half a stone, that's brilliant! Looking back it may have been 3 months to lose the weight, not 6. Sorry to be so vague, I've had a baby recently so blame it on baby brain!!

[WillieWaggledagger]

well done on your half stone! the fact that you're not feeling hungry is a good thing.

do be careful with the artificial sweeteners. they are processed and can mess about with your body something rotten, and there is some evidence to suggest that they can cause an insulin reaction in some people, which would cancel out the benefit of a low carb diet see here

i wouldn't worry too much about the berries, maybe something to think about if you stalled, but as long as you're not eating more than a few then i don't think it would be a problem.