Day One (Have a few questions!)

[New_Me]

Hello,

Firstly, I would just like to say that I was totally blown away by the before and after shots of those of you who are following the Atkins diet. Well done everyone!

Since this is my first day on the induction diet, and I haven't got Dr. Atkins book, I have read about the induction diet on several websites. I do not know how accurate they are, therefore I have a few questions to ask.

I started my day off with a cup of coffee, and a drop of light milk. I had two poached eggs, with a little butter. I was going to have two slices of back bacon with it, but I had a close look at the package and noticed that they had added sugar. So I skipped the bacon, and just had the eggs.

For lunch today, I am going to have three slices of pork, and a salad with added goat cheese. Is this okay?

And tonight I plan to have a cheese salad.

Am I following this diet correctly? I know that milk has carbs, but I just can't do without a cup of coffee in the morning, and a couple of teas mid afternoon. I use light lactose free milk, and only use a couple of drops per cup.

I am getting married in May, 2007, and I have only 7 months to lose weight. I currently weigh 204 pounds, and would like to drop down to 143 pounds by then. Is this possible? I have PCOS, so I'd imagine it would be a bit more difficult to lose weight.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Helen

[Summer-Caitlin]

Hi Helen

Firstly welcome, I am a newbie too and am on day 3 of induction. I like you am getting married in Aug 07 and it is one of the main reasons I want to lose the weight. Also like you, I have PCOS and it is more difficult to lose the weight but not impossible.

While I can't help you out with your queries specifically, I'm sure someone else can, I just wanted to let you know that there is someone else in the same boat you're in.

I have struggled with PCOS weight gain for years, and everytime I have restricted my carbohydrate intake, I lost weight, quite quickly too in fact!

As far as coffee goes, I cannot and will not stop taking it. I tried the Atkins a couple of years ago and went strictly by the book and cut out the caffeine. My headaches were so severe I couldn't function at work or sleep. So this time I am keeping the caffeine but restricting my intake to max 2 per day but because I am trying my best and drinking loads of water I sometimes only have one and even then I half the teaspoon. I have a headache but it's bearable.

Hmmm, I had bacon and poached eggs this morning and to be honest I never even looked at the packaging for the bacon, dammit, I guess I'll have to have a look tonight.

I would have thought that you're lunch and dinner sounds just fine as long as you are aware of how much salad you're consuming. Because you're adding milk to your coffee and teas, it all has carbs, so try and gradually cut back on the milk or the tea/coffee altogether and restrict yourself like I do.

Make sure you exercise as I was told by my doc that I have to work doubly hard to shift the weight due to the PCOS, but exercise really is the key for us. I've noticed I lose a whole lot more when I exercise, I am starting with 15 min on the Elliptical trainer, 100 sit ups and 20 reps of weights every day for a week then I'm upping it.

Feel free to ask any questions, they are a friendly bunch on here

[abstractillusions]

Hi Helen, good call on the bacon, you can get no sugar added bacon. Good call also reading the ingredients.

Here is a post that has the acceptable food list in it: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=6781 (What foods can be eaten on Induction?)

Here is another post with the rules of induction on them:

http:///www.atkinsdietbulletinboard....ead.php?t=6782

Instead of milk, try heavy whipping cream.

Good luck and welcome and congrats on your engagement! I am sure with some dedication and persistence you will be right on track for your wedding. And do as i say lol not as i do, start exercising as soon as possible, it is beneficial to start as you mean to go on. and drink your water religiously! i know you say you "can't" do without your coffee, but it would be beneficial to your over all plan, if you can cut out caffine as much as you can. Unless you are drinking decaf tea, i believe i heard that tea has just as much if not more caffine than coffee. Perhaps while going through the beginnings of induction it would be helpful to make a clean break from caffine also. Just a thought.

[New_Me]

Dear Caitlin,

Thankyou ever so much for your helpful response! I was only recently diagnosed with PCOS, and I have most of the symptoms. My main concern is the weight. I think I have had this condition for years but was never given the proper diagnosis. My first gyno didn't even realise I had PCOS, and gave me the wrong treatment to regulate my periods. She gave me an external ultra sound, and made me have a blood test. She said that it was 'just' a hormone imbalance, and never even mentioned PCOS, even though I had most of the symptoms! I was so greatful to my mother who took me to a new gyno a couple of weeks ago. He told me straight away that I had PCOS. I am currently taking Metformin and it's making me feel quite ill. I feel nauseous and very tired most of the time. The doctor told me to cut the dosage in half for two weeks to give my body some time to adjust to it.

I really hope I won't have any problems getting pregnant, as I hear many women with PCOS have difficulties in that area.

I do think exercise speeds up the weight loss process, so I'm going to give it a try in addition to dieting. I'm just very lazy, though!

I had a very generous amount of salad for lunch. iceberg lettuce, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, onion, and a few small cubes of cheese. I'm not sure if I'm allowed any more salad for today, so I don't quite know what to have for dinner!

Any suggestions?

Thanks again for your encouragement!

Helen

[Summer-Caitlin]

Hi Helen


I know what you mean about the PCOS and getting diagnosed. I pretty much diagnosed myself and went to the doc and told them what I thought I had, eventually ended up getting an internal scan and I saw for myself I was correct. I was put on Metformin and felt quite nauseous, it did nothing for my weight control, but thats just me, you may be different. I came off Metformin when the docs agreed it was doing anything for me.

None of the docs have told me whether I will find it difficult or not to fall pregnant. Have you checked out the PCOS forum on here? It's very helpful and I know that lowering your carb intake helps a great deal in alleviating the symptoms.

As for dinner, have you thought about having some chicken, I find it's the easiest of foods to dress up and you can have it in such a variety of ways it never becomes boring. I'm having Garlic Chicken, chicken breast sliced and stir fried with garlic, onions and mushrooms, you could even have some melted cheese on it. I'm having a side salad with lemon juice and cauliflower and cheese along with loads of water. I don't struggle at all for dinner, my problem is breakfast and lunch. I don't want hot food every morning I would love cereal, so I'm currently on the lookout for anything cereal like. As for lunch I can have salad, but I like to save my bigger meal for later so I tend to add that in then. Snacks and dessert are another big thing for me so I am currently looking up induction friendly stuff.

Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll try to help

[Pumababi]

They do make a sugar free low sodium bacon by plumrose. It's pretty good!

[Jes]

Hi ladies,
I guess that makes 3 of us on the same boat, I am also getting married Feb 2006 and that is one of the reasons why I am trying to lose weight. I wish you guys the best!
By the way....what is PCOS?

[abstractillusions]

Hi Jess, congrats, some unsolicited advice i would recommend doing as i say and not as i do here lol and get really ultra serious about your exercise. Even if the scale doesn't show your #'s i would concentrate on inches and toning rather than the scale. Start with that and the scale will follow. If that makes sense. Good luck and congrats.

[Summer-Caitlin]

Congrats Jes on your upcoming wedding

PCOS is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which is a condition that affects the ovaries.

In PCOS, the ovaries are bigger than average, and the outer surface of the ovary has an arc of fluid that grows around the egg under the influence of stimulating hormones from the brain. It can affect many things such as menstrual cycle, weight, insulin resistance and fertility. Sufferers may have all or some of these problems.

I have found that unless you are of childbearing age and apparently I'm not there until I reach 30 , so the docs said, they focus only on weight and menstrual cycles, normally they prescribe Metformin as it often used for tablet controlled diabetics.

Still the good news is, if sufferers of PCOS lose weight, many symptoms/problems may disappear altogether, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel

[Jes]

Oh, I see I have learned something new today