Reflections on Induction

[jamikins]

Well, I've done it. Fourteen days of induction...no cheats. Except for the coffee that I didn't give up, but I did reduce it to just one cup per day. (I knew I could not do Atkins flu and caffeine withdrawal at the same time.)

I lost 7.5 pounds in the first week and was very impressed. Everyone I talked to (people who have never done Atkins or read the book) said my first week's loss was all water, and that I was bound to gain it back when my electrolytes balanced out. After my gain in the second week, I wonder if they're not correct. I keep trying to watch the progress of the people on this board...people who know, love, and accurately do Atkins and take inspiration from them. I know you guys haven't lost 100s of pounds of WATER!

On the other hand, the one pound gain hasn't made me give up.

Here are my "pros"...reasons to keep at it:

1. You guys are right...my appetite is way suppressed; my cravings for junk are gone;

2. My skin--normally dry and flaky (like an 80 year old's)--is almost "supple";

3. Though the tape measure doesn't show it yet...I'm SURE my love handles are melting away;

4. I'm feeling very much in control of what I'm eating...rather than what I'm eating in control of me!

5. Ah...the joys of butter and heavy cream.

6. Avocados are my friend again...not the secret lover that I had to keep hidden from my low-fat friends.

7. No measuring portions, no counting calories or points. Yes, I count carbs, but mostly I just stick to the legal foods (meat, cheese, greens) and so I don't worry too much about it.

8. Eating only when I'm hungry...and NOT being hungry ALL THE TIME!

9. Water...love it! Saving money on diet sodas.

Here are my "cons"...but not yet reasons to give up:

1. My grocery bill is up. Dang if "real" food isn't way more costly than junk food! (Who would have thought that?)

2. Dry mouth, thirst, getting up at night to wee.

3. Highly self-conscious of my cheese-breath.

4. Drive-through fast food is nearly impossible to do, so road trips take a lot more planning!

5. I may be experiencing some ketosis-related neuropathy. Not bad, just some sciatica-like pain/tingling down my legs when I flex my neck down. I have only ever experienced this while trying to low carb. Weird, I know...but I expected it from my past experiences.

6. Paranoia about the amount of fat in the new WOE. ("If this doesn't work, I'm killing myself!")

Reflections on the past week:

• Gained one pound.
• Might be hitting the avocados too hard...they're higher in carbs than I thought.
• I'm still in ketosis, which should be a good sign.
• I need to maintain my water intake...somedays I drink a gallon, the next day only one or two glasses (but I'm not drinking anything else, either, which might be a problem).
• Summer schedule has me eating at 9:30 or 10:00 at night; maybe I should try to eat earlier in case that myth about eating before bed is true.
• No exercise: that will change today with the ADBB 20/24 challenge!

Goals for the coming week:

• Exercise! Specifically: 30 minutes on the treadmill every day.
• Maintain consistent water intake of 96 oz/day
• Cut back on those avocados!
• Move to OWL Veggies
• Try at least one new vegetable. This week: spaghetti squash.
• Dig out those size 12 jeans and display them for incentive!

Thank you, ADBB!

[moniegail]

congrats on the 7.5 lbs weight loss, and it's good you are not fretting too much about the 1 lb gain. it happens to all of us sometimes. if you post a couple of daily menus i'm sure someone could take a look at them maybe they can spot something you're eating too much of that might be a factor in your gaining.

something i might suggest is that you not wait until you get hungry to eat. you shouldn't go more than 4 to 6 hrs between eating. if you wait until you are hungry, you may overeat which is something we are all trying to get away from in the first place. i always try to get one of my cups of veggies in by munching from a veggie tray between meals or maybe some cheese. even a can of tuna with mayo for a snack would be ok.

also water is so important. i'm glad you made a goal to drink your water more consistantly. i'm so glad you are starting your exercises, there are some great challeneges on the board. you might want to look into those, i for one am doing the abs challenge.

as far as fast food goes, i know that in the past doing atkins that i have went to wendy's, burger king, and even McDonald's and they will fix a sandwich without the bun and whatever toppings you want on them, and they all have salads. you might need to do a little research as far as the nutritional info for the dressings.

sorry for the long post just wanted to give a few suggestions. overall, it sounds like your induction well and what you weren't happy with, you made a goal to fix it.

good luck and happy low-carbing to you
moniegail

[*Emma*]

can i say a bigggg "well its not atkins if you're not doing it by the book!"

ie caffeine!!

either way you lost 6.5 pounds which means you have a very low resistance to weightloss - most people lose betweek 5-10% of the amount they need to lose, so that would be 4.5 pounds to you and you went over that by 2 pounds! so if you ask me, that was a pretty darn successful induction even if it wasnt by the book!

[jamikins]

Thanks for the replies and advice! For the record, I just want everyone to know that I'm not ******** about the one pound gain (even though my post does sound kinda whiny about it). I'm dismayed, disappointed (but only a little), and overall I am awfully glad to have those 6.5 pounds gone.

Actually, if I had lost, say...3 pounds the first week and 3 pounds the second week, I would be ecstatic...even though I'd actually be 1/2 pound heavier! Isn't that weird? I guess any tick upward on the scale panics me. I gotta keep things in perspective, though. I am quite glad I lost the pounds so far. And, I'm very impressed with my new soft skin.

I agree, the coffee is not by the book. I just figured one habit at a time is hard enough to break. The really good news though is that I feel in control now. I'm ready to switch to de-caf. Then I'll be totally legal!

One thing I forgot to think about. I had company this past week and we went out to eat at least 5 times. That's pretty unusual for me. I stayed faithful, but I wonder now if maybe there were some hidden carbs or ingredients that would cause a stall. I stayed in ketosis all week, so I didn't go over the critical carb limit, but who knows what kind of sugar/starch/filler/trans-fat/aspartame/salt was in my restaurant food?

Homecooking for me this week. I feel great!

This board is AWESOME!

[julirama723]

Jami, what's next! Are you going to move on to OWL???