day 6 and I have a few questions...

[cragsdale]

Well, first off, I feel great! I haven't had the "flu" yet and I'm feeling better in this WOL than I ever have. I have forced myself to exercise daily for at least 30min. I'm hoping to move up to more time soon. (with five kids it's hard to find the time) This WOL takes a lot more of my time with food prep, ect...and I'm trying to get used to that. But with a 6lbs loss I'm still happy. Couple questions though. One, should I be worried that I have not had a BM since before I satrted on Monday? That does concern me slightly. And two, next week I have surgery (a tubal) If what they tell me is true, exercise will be out of the question for at least 3 days next week. Will that hurt me in induction, not being able to exercise? If so, is there anything I can do to counter act that? And three (I promise, last one for now!! ) as for calories, how many should I eat per day? I input into fitday, which says less that 2200 per day for me. But I'm going higher than that, and I am *hoping* that it is okay. Is there any magic number of calories per day? Thank you everyone, and this site has been a wonderful inspiration and a great guide!

[sunflowergrl]

Are you eating 3 cups of veggies every day? If not, you must!! Do you have the book? You can take 100% natural psyllium husk fiber capsuls if you need 'help' going. Just make sure you drink 8oz of water per capsule. You need to get your carbs and fiber from good, healthy fresh veggies.
I don't think not being able to exercise after your surgery will hurt you. Life happens, and you will be fine! You can just go back to exercising as soon as your Doc says its ok. I am glad to see that you are following the plan.
Hope you get better quick!

[Moochiecat]

I echo the same questions as sunflowergrl, are you eating your veggies? Are you eating a good variety of veggies to get the maximum benefit of the nutrients and fiber they all offer? Drinking the appropriate amount of water?
You can supplement (as per DANDR) with psyllium husks or flax, but remember to drink plenty of water with them so they keep a'movin' and do their job correctly.
If you feel you are ready to have a bowel movement but your body is not co-operating, try a glycerine suppository. They're cheap, they work usually within 15 mins to half an hour, so make sure you are at home when you do this! They seem to stimulate contractions and they've helped me when I've needed them.
It's fairly common to have potty issues in the beginning. Spread those veggies out through the day to help with the elimination process...and when you are done Induction you may want to progress to the first rung of OWL (5 carbs more of veggies) and park there for a while, as opposed to doing extended Induction to get the benefit of the nutrients and fiber.

Don't be concerned about not exercising for a few days...life happens, it's more important you recover properly from your operation. Medical issues take precident.

There is an endless debate about the role of calories.
While calories do play a part in things, we do not count them in the traditional way that dieters have counted them in the past. Our focus is more on the ratio of fat/protein/carbs
Personally, I looked up my BMR to get an idea of the range that's best for me
http://www.room42.com/nutrition/basal.shtml
and then I kept a loose eye on my calories...and I mean a very loose eye.
Mainly I focussed on the Rules of Induction and eating correctly from the Acceptable Foods list. An invaluable tool to me was www.fitday.com
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5235
as it gave me clear information about where I was at.