Advantage Bars Question

[Snuggles11]

I just want to confirm what I think I know: We are allowed to use the atkins advantage bars on the plan for, say, breakfast right? It says 22 cabs on the package but then on the front is says only 2 atkins carbs. So when I'm counting my carbs...I only count 2 not 22 right?

[not2late]

Over the last 4 years ADBB has been on the Net, it has been our collective experience that those bars and shakes slows or stops weight loss in some people. Therefore, we cannot recommend their use during the Induction phase, when our 2 week weight loss results help to determine how to proceed with our Atkins diet plan.

There are some people who will tell you they used these products and lost weight, but neither they nor we can guarantee that you will have the same experience.

[attek]

In my opinion, you should do a two-week Induction without any of those carb-controlled products. See what this diet can really do for you. Then if you want to try them after that, use caution. I have very occasionally grabbed a bar for breakfast when I was away from home with no problems. Nutritionally, I don't believe they are very sound...natural foods are better.

Why do you think you would want to use those - because you don't like eggs or because you don't have time to fix breakfast? We have lots of ideas to help with either of those situations.

[Snuggles11]

Mostly it's because I am used to eating a granola bar for breakfast. I don't cook breakfast in the morning and I just don't have much of an appetite that early. We have cooked sausages that are in the fridge and hardboiled eggs so I could grab those to go, but they just don't sound good that early.

[julirama723]

You don't have to eat typical breakfast foods for breakfast, nor do you have to eat a huge meal. You can have leftovers, or veggies and dip, or heck, even a cheesestick as long as you eat a snack a couple hours later. The key is jumpstarting your metabolism each day and keeping your blood sugar stabilized.

Check out Linda's Low Carb Recipes...she's got some GREAT stuff! The recipes with an asterisk (*) are induction-legal.

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes - Home

[Elizellen]

I always recommend reading the list of ingredients on any special 'low-carb' products to help you decide which phase of Atkins you are going to use them for.
As far as I know none of the bars are induction-legal as they all seem to contain ingredients that are not on the allowed list.
Save them for when you reach the level/rung of Ongoing Weight loss (OWL) that allows the ingredients and you might find them a useful addition to your way of eating if they dont affect your body adversely.

[sallyseachange]

Be very careful of the bars, particularly in induction (I'd avoid them completely there). Elizellen's advice about reading the ingredients is good... if they're not on the acceptable induction foods list, then stay away.
Atkins Nutritionals is a business...their focus is on profits, before your weight loss.

[so sweet]

This is my second induction and I used to grab an advantage bar in the mornings for breakfast. I still ended up losing 7lbs at the end of my induction.

I also had the occassional diet coke and it didn't stop my weight loss.

I need something to keep me motivated sometimes and if being able to have a soda or a chocolate when I want will help me then so be it. I would rather a slower weight loss than to martyr myself and end up jacking in my diet out of boredom or frustration.

[WarOnTypeII]

so sweet,

To Thine Own Self Be True, right ? It has been my experience with the several times I've embarked on Atkins in the past that these bars have been a source of "abuse" by me. Something in my body causes me to crave more of "it" once I introduce "it" to my body. This renders the notion of "just one" almost impossible for me.

Like, when was the last time I ate just ONE potato chip ?

As such, and as I reflect upon the prior experiences with Atkins I wonder if the primary source of my frustration at stall points and "ill feeling" was my abuse of the bars.

I started off this cycle with the bars, because they were labelled as being "Atkins Bars For Induction" or something but am reconsidering their use because of what I've read and learned here.

I do drink soda, but I've cut back heavily. One maybe two caffiene free diet cokes and one Diet RootBeer with heavy whipping cream in it (farmers soda).

I have one cup of coffee in the morning, black.

These are changes to my lifestyle and they are a start. I am content with them for the time being. If I don't see or feel results though, I will not get frustrated this time, I will know what to attack ... my soda and/or my coffee intake .... or the bars. Rather than suck my thumb and sit in a corner saying "Atkins doesn't work for me so I might as well go to cracker barrell and get a bunch of pancakes and start some other diet "Monday".

Congrats on your weight loss, this is "week zero" for me, meaning I am crafting and adapting my lifestyle enough so that I can get a clean induction cycle in the next two weeks. I've had a few missteps and miscues out of my own ignorance and have been educated here on this board. Like for instance, I didn't throw out the box of Atkins bars, last night in the middle of the night I went down and ate one. Rather than "throw it all away", I'm just going to move forward, get more informed, throw the bars away and hit the ground running Monday.

I'm not abandoning it, I'm just recognizing my first week wasn't as clean as it should be and intend on doing as clean an induction as possible.

My .02, once again congrats and good luck.