A super easy and quick soup is a can of ready-to-serve chicken broth with an egg. Boil broth, drop in egg, scramble egg just a bit, and serve. Instant egg drop soup! I’ll have that and a salad for breakfast or lunch, then usually have an Atkin’s Advantage bar (chocolate decadence is best) for the other meal.
Dinner is usually some type of meat and a salad or other veggies (like stir-fried mushrooms and sugar snap peas, or some cauliflower or broccoli). I sometimes get some low-carb bread from WalMart and eat that with a meal, or as a PB sandwich. I limit that to 2 slices a day, and only if I haven’t splurged on anything else.
I do eat sugar-free candies, but since they tend to cause stomach upset, I don’t have to worry about overindulging.
For salty snacks, I like nuts, pickles, microwaved pepperoni slices, cheese, and cauliflower or broccoli with some ranch dressing.
In 6 months of doing this, I haven’t had a single potato chip, corn chip, Wheat Thin, Cheez-It, or any other bad-for-you savory snack.
Seems that everyone is doing a great job. Atkins is a balanced way of life. But as with anything else, if you don’t make a lifestyle change and you go back to eating the ‘old’ way, you will regain the weight and pretty fast. Atkins is a way of life and it doesn’t just leave you hanging. His last book is about how to maintain your weight for life and you add back in a lot of foods. Most people stop after losing the weight they want and then are disappointed with it doesn’t stay off.
I’ve been on the diet since January, more for my diabetes than anything else. My doctor suggested that I give it a try. It’s working for me, to the point that by the end of this year I should be completely off all medications. For me that is an accomplishment.
Good luck to all. Purchase the book, keep it with you, read it over and over. One thing about the way of life, you either do it or you don’t, there is no middle ground. Going off/on, taking days off, having ‘cheat’ days, that’s not advised in the book. It’s bad for your health, and it’s not the Atkins way of life.
Is there ever a point in the future where chocolate is allowed (even in tiny bits)?
And are you ever allowed honey, as a less refined alternative to sugar?
Well I managed day one today. Lunch was gross, because I made a brunch salad from tuna, mozarella, an egg and chopped cucumber, and it was way too wet and mushy. I don’t eat breakfast, but I will start maybe having a boiled egg to start the day. Guess I’m lucky not having a toast-and-cereal habit to kick.
I ate olives as a snack in the evening, then at night I made a great stir fry with bok choi, salmon, ginger, chilli and soy sauce. With a splash of lime juice. I still feel hungry though. I felt hungry all afternoon, despite the huge icky glutinous salad.
I’m also WAY more thirsty than I used to be. I’ve been downing bottles of sparkling mineral water and whole teapots of herbal tea. I think the stuff I am eating is more salty than usual.
The Carbohydrates Addict Diet .is worth a look. It’s 2 lo/no carb meals a day and then a reward meal where you can eat whatever you want in an hour period. For me, it’s an easier way of life than Atkins would be longterm. I’ve been doing it for 7 weeks and the weightloss has been slow but steady. I’ve been told that you do tend to lose more weight more quickly on Atkins and I might do that for a while to shift the bulk.
But once you’ve lost the weight the CAD is an easier way to live IMO.
istara, sugar free chocolate is okay in moderation, but it’s really not a good idea to get the real stuff, especially if you’re afraid you can’t control it (and definitely not for a few weeks). The lack of hunger will go away soon, within a week or so. What meat did you eat for dinner? If you’re hungry, try to eat a piece of chicken, fish, steak, etc. The protein will curb your hunger.
I low-carbed a couple of years ago and lost twenty-five pounds. It was great. I’ve since gained back about fifteen, so about a month ago I decided I wanted to do the South Beach Diet. The ultimate goal is to eat the right carbs and right fats, but it has the same basic induction as other low-carb diets. Overall, it’s a great diet and I’d recommend it.
I was nauseated. I lost seven pounds my first week, but I didn’t even want to get out of bed to go to work, let alone eat. I read the book twice and followed the prepared diet almost to the letter, but I felt so awful. I don’t know what went wrong. I think the real breaking point was when I went to see my boyfriend at lunch, and I started crying because I just wanted to eat an apple. I decided I had to stop because I was getting ready to move to a different city, and I couldn’t even move myself. I figure I’ll try again another day.
Anyway…Avarie, congrats on your loss so far, and I wish you much more continued success! And for anyone else starting Atkins, Carb Addicts, South Beach, anything…one day of nausea is for the lucky ones! Guzzling water helps, but since I had no appetite and threw up whatever I did eat…well, in the words of my boyfriend’s coworker who saw me crying over wanting an apple, “It must be a great diet if you don’t ever eat!”
BTW, I have recipes galore, and will post if anyone wants any. Or email me.
I’m considering going back to low-carbing. I initially lost my weight on a vegetarian plan with Weight Watchers, then went to low-carb last summer for awhile and went from 135 to 127 in about a week and a half - once I got my energy burst, I was at the gym constantly, and had more energy than I knew what to do with! I LOVED it!
Then I fell off of my horse. I hurt myself pretty badly and ended up bedridden for about four days and in pain for another few months (still in pain, but that’s another story). I fell off the Atkins’ wagon, and have been struggling ever since. I just can’t seem to do WW right now…every time I try, I get so annoyed with counting points that I eat too much.
I need someone to combat and offer suggestions for my hesitations, though. My first one is the fact that when I do fall off of the Atkins’ wagon, I put the weight back on and I put it on QUICKLY. That’s how I’m up in the 140s now. If I’d been doing low-fat instead of low-carb, the weight wouldn’t have come back on so quickly. I also don’t like the bad breath/keto-smell thing. It was bad last time.
I do LOVE the way that I feel on Atkins’. I feel in control of my eating and energetic. The meat is an issue for me, as I’ve been vegetarian since November, but recently started eating meat again - I’m not ethically opposed to meat, I did it for health reasons - but the vegetarian WW thing just isn’t happening for me right now. I know that I’m not good with carbs. I overdo them. And so Atkins’ is a good plan for me. I just need someone to give me that extra push to get me back on it - I’m still considering doing Body For Life, but I’m not a fan of his eating plan and I’ve known people who’ve been successful with BFL workouts and Atkins’ nutrition.
avabeth have you checked out The Zone at all? I think Barry Sear’s is a bit cracked, but the plan works great, in that you get some carbs in moderation. You’re not in ketosis like with Atkin’s. In fact, it’s a 30-30-40 split of fat to protein to carbohydrates. However, he discourages high-glycemic index carbs like white bread, white rice, pasta, etc. I feel fabulous when I do it, lots of energy, lose weight, etc.
From the research I’ve done, it’s more ideal for people looking to shed just a few pounds (sounds like you’re looking to ditch 10-15?), than Atkin’s is.
Huh… That sounds like what I eat anyway, who knew it was an actual diet plan!
My mother tried Atkin’s a while back, and spent all her time on it exhausted, freezing, and sick to her stomach, so I suspect it’s not for everyone. Congrats to anyone who’s had success though!
I always thought the Atkins Diet, and other low-carb diets by association, was full of crap. Then I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and found out that limiting my carbs was the only way to control my blood sugars. Amazingly, I also found that when I limited my carbs, a lot of my food cravings went away and I stopped feeling the need to eat 24/7. I also lost 40 pounds without even really trying. I mean, not that I just sat on my butt and did nothing and 40 pounds melted off; I also started exercising a lot, and I would guess that by limiting carbs I was also limiting calories. But my goal was never weight loss. That was just a happy side effect.
I would point out that I never did the induction phase thing. My daily carb load has never dropped below 100 grams or so, which is why I always describe my diet as “limited carb” instead of “low carb”. But the fact is, I went on a lot of diets before, mostly low-fat or low-cal diets, and limiting my carbs is the only thing that actually worked. I will second what others have said about having more energy, too, although that might be a side effect of the weight loss, I’m not sure.
Yes - the impression I get from reading the book is that while the Atkin’s Diet is possible for everyone, it’s specifically targeted at long term obese people, probably pre-diabetic. Most of the research examples concern obese people, rather than just overweight ones.
I am glad to hear it has been working so well for so many people.
I am on Day 2, but still feeling quite hungry, despite two-egg cheese omlette, cheeseburger without the bun, and a small pat of goat cheese.
And I have issued a fatwa on a colleague of mine who brought in a coffin-sized box of Cadbury’s Chocolate Fingers for the office, which I can smell from my desk…
istara, like MsWhatsit, my diet is more “limited carb” than “low carb”, but I have given up refined sugars and white flour completely. So, I thought up a little trick that helps when I’m confronted with the sight or smell of something I used to find delightful that is now off-limits: I imagine biting into it, and finding it mixed with sand. I can’t imagine a more unpleasant texture/mouthfeel. I don’t know if something like this might help you, but it’s helped me immensely!
You need to try the Atkins Endulge Chocolate candy bars. They have solid milk chocolate, chocolate with almonds, they have peanut butter cups that taste like Reeses, they have peanut butter wafer crisps that taste like a Kit Kat, they also have mint wafer crisps, and a carmel nut chew that tastes like a Snickers. I was a major sugar freak until Atkins. Eating those bars have really helped axe the chocolate cravings and they are so tasty! Good luck.
At this point, I need to shed about 30 (I’m only 5’1, and 110-115 is my ideal weight). But I’ve looked into the Zone - it seemed complicated - which is why I liked Atkins’ - no counting except of carbs, etc. However, I will definitely check out The Zone. Someone I know lost an amazing amount of weight on it very quickly (although she could also afford to have the Zone meals delivered to her house;)). Thanks!
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