Questions and Concerns

[rich0788]

I had a rough day at school and i went abuot 9 hours before my next meal. Is that going to totally throw off my body or metabolism/weight loss. I never do this, so i am a little worried.

[atkinsgal08]

>>I had a rough day at school and i went abuot 9 hours before my next meal. Is that going to totally throw off my body or metabolism/weight loss.>>

No, it won't "totally" do anything.

However, it should teach you to plan to have a snack with you at all times.

[chinadoll]

One bad day won't make or break you, but as J says it should teach what to do/not to do next time. Plan ahead, or go out of your way to make sure you get a meal in there. Don't make this a habit.

I know my own Atkins guys (DH and son) don't always plan ahead and at school you can't always take stuff with you as easily, but you need to think in advance of a back up plan. Then, when you need it, you will know what to do. Even if you have to have a pizza delivered to the library and eat the topping off.

[just4me]

When you wait too long inbetween times you eat I think you further the chances of eating too much or the wrong things at your next meal. I know my mind goes into the "I'm starving and JUST need to eat!!" mode. Eating regular helps yourself to always feel fufilled and in control.

[cheribaby]

ALL of my mess-ups have been because I was not prepared. It's definitely taught me a lesson. I always keep snacks with me so that if I miss a meal, I have something to chomp on to hold me over.

[Elizellen]

I agree with the others, though leaving a long gap before eating is not necessarily mess up your metabolism or your Atkins efforts, it is more likely to help you make the wrong food choices.

So being prepared for those times when you can't manage to eat a proper meal within the 6 hours Dr Atkins told us to eat is very important.

A member here used to have a phrase in the signature block saying

Failing to plan means planning to fail

which I have always taken to heart.

So for the future you need to work out what 'legal' snacks for your Atkins phase you can have with you at all times.

Induction is a bit tricky. The best thing is to get a small cooler bag so you can keep things like cheese/meat/cutup veggies/dressing cool, but it is possible with some forethought wihtout one.

Putting a plastic bottle of water into the freezer overnight (make sure it is not full to the brim to allow for expansion) is good, as you can put it in your bag next to any perishable snacks and it will keep them cool till you want to eat them, and as a bonus you will have a bottle of melted cool water to drink as well!

Otherwise look into making things like cheese or flax crackers which cen be carried in an airtight 'tupperware-type' box and are fine at room temperature. Maybe with a few small 'babybel' cheese rounds they could make a decent snack and are easily eaten at your desk.

Hardboiled eggs are not at their tastiest unrefrigerated but would keep OK and make a good highfat snack to tide you over too.

And once you get into the main weightloss phase of Atkins (ongoing weight loss/OWL) you can consider other snack foods such as cottage cheese, yoghurt, nuts, muffins/breads made with nut flours, berries etc.

My small containers of one ounce of unroasted almonds have been a godsend to me as they are so easy to carry and means I can eat a few if I am approaching the '6 hours without eating' limit or get out to eat if others are ordering cream cakes when we meet for coffee and a chat