Heart to heart: Confessions of a Newbie Struggling with induction

[Daphne]

Hi All,

I have just started doing the Atkins diet again, I have tried unsuccessfully to complete a clean induction 2 times before about 2 or 3 years ago and dropped the whole idea. I had a baby 8 and a half months ago and started exercising after 2 weeks and have been exercising vigourously for 8 months, sometimes 4,5,6,7 days a week but an average of 4 days a week but have been unable to shift even 1 of the 21 pounds I have been trying to shift for 7 years.

In desperation I got a personal trainer 2 months ago and while I have slowly been loosing inches I have not lost any weight on the scales but all the time getting fitter mixing up my exercise regieme I am actually fitter than I have been in 15 years! This is poor consolation for no actual weight loss on the scales. Up until last week Thursday I was breast feeding and could not go on any diet. I decided after keeping a food a food dairy which showed I averaged 10 slices of bread and marmalade a day (albeit linseed and soya bread) and even though I was not eating much else ( I am a busy mum with 3 sons under 5) I could see my high carb intake was the problem.

Since Thursday I started to cut down carbs and from friday stuck to induction rules except lucozade sport or a banana before my work outs and the odd Atkins breakfast bar. On Monday I decided to do a clean induction which was going well till yesterday when I had a bad day and had 5 breakfast bars, half a low car milksahke and 2 decaff coffees with 3 packets of splenda each in them and a sulcrose sweetened drink!!!! I also had a small salad with chicken, 4 sall low carb susages and a little cheese and 8 glasses of water I did not go over my 20grm carb allowance but obviously this is not ideal.

My problem is that i have been a unable to wean myself off sugar or sugar substituites as I had been a diet coke, splenda and aspharmatane junkie for years . If I did not have the bars and the drinks yeterday I would have definitely fallen off the wagon. Reading through the book yesterdaty I realised part of the problem was not taking he vitamins suggested I have since started taking L-glutamine for sugar cravings and have ordered all the other suggested ones for indution as well as L carnitine and CoQ10 for the metatobic resitant as I am sure I am after dabling in all sorts of diets for years. The positive thing is I am in ketosis and have been for about 3 days.

I am 5 feet 8 inches weigh 154 pounds or about 70kg I am looking to loose 10kg or 21 pounds. It may not seem much but I have been trying for so long. I have

Please help, I need support, hand holding , and lots of suggestions!!!! I need to be able to complete a clean induction free of all sugar substitutes and processed food.


Thank You
Daphne

[ValidRouge]

Daphne, I'm going to give you some tough love here. If you REALLY want this, you can achieve it. Look around this board at all the people here who've done it. We ALL are sugar addicts, heck we're ALL food addicts period.

Get the junk OUT of your house. Make yourself a plan. Tell yourself you are going to start this WOE on Monday, May 15. On Sunday, May 14 get up and clean out your refrigerator, your pantry, etc. Get RID of everything that is not on that induction list. If you have a family that wants the other stuff, make a shelf for those types of foods that is just for them, you are NOT allowed to have anything on that shelf, or in that particular cupboard. Give the food to a food bank if you have to, or just throw it away!! Then go to the grocery store with the list of induction acceptable foods and buy ONLY those foods. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT buy diet soda, low carb bars or shakes or anything of that nature. When you get back from the grocery store make sure that you have the foods prepared so that you can easily grab them in a hurry.

Chop up your vegetables into sticks, boil a carton of eggs, cook some chicken breast and cut it into strips. Then you have all the foods ready to grab when you've got a craving. Browse the recipe forums on this site and get excited about the foods you CAN have instead of focusing on what you CAN NOT have.

Too many of the carbage foods have been made for convenience...and they are making your life miserable!!! If you prepare Atkins foods ahead of time, then they are convenient too.

The bottom line is, if you don't have it in your house, you can't just go get it.

Yes, getting over the sugar withdrawal is going to be rough. It was rough for all of us. Just DO IT. You will feel so much better in two weeks and you'll be lighter.
Congratulations on the exercise, you've already tackled that beast!!

[Daphne]

Thanks Joy, I will get rid of all the diet drinks, shakes and bars. I had bought some and put them in the car, my bag and my home incase of emergencies but you are right if they are not there then you cannot have them.

Today has been a much better day and I have managed to stick to water and not had any bars, drinks or shakes

[ValidRouge]

Yay Daphne!

Another thing you need to consider...the exercise thing. As long as you are strong and healthy and SMALLER, who cares what the scale says??? YOU are the only person who knows what it says...but EVERYONE sees your healthy trim body.

On Atkins we tend to weigh more than we look....so, you may not get down the number on the scale to what you *think* it should say. Don't ignore the measurements and the way your clothes fit. Also, don't rely on what you see in the mirror, alot of us wear "fat goggles" when we look in the mirror. Take pictures of yourself now, and then again in six weeks or so. That will be a real eye opener. There is no ignoring the pictures, even if you don't see it in the mirror through your "fat goggles"

[Denise2002sfa]

Well said Joy!

[fawn]

More tough love on the way.

You mention you are a busy mom. Understood! I can relate just as many others can as well.

The first step is realizing that without your health, you are not as useful a Mom as you think you are. You are not doing your family or yourself any favors.

A Mom's body needs, demands, craves, and cannot live without protein. Protein is the builidng block for everything. By taking the time to feed yourself and your family properly, you are instilling good habits for life.
We tell our children not to smoke, drink or take drugs. We monitor their computer, electronics, TV usage. We buy them helmets for their bicycles. We try to teach them good manners, to brush their teeth and even how to wipe their butts.
None of the above will give them as succesful a start as proper nutrition.
We are an obese pill popping chemical **** storm society. We need to take a stand now and send our children out in the world with good old fashioned whole food advice.
I hope this helps. It's a general statement and I have been guilty of all of the above. It's one of those wish I knew then what I know now things. Your children are young.....start now.

[Daphne]

Thank you all for your advice. I am on day 2 of a clean induction trying to hang in there, thinking of having decaff coffee with splenda is this ok?

[ValidRouge]

Yes, that'd be okay. Be sure to count each packet of splenda you use as 1 carb towards your 20 allowed. Also, count each packet as 1 of your 3 daily limit.

Good luck!

[Daphne]

thanks

[BCBERRI]

Oh Daphne, my heart aches with you! It was so hard for me to get over the initial sugar detox. I had to literally go through every food item in my house and just throw ANY thing that I could not eat while on induction AWAY. Boy was that hard! But I was tough and even down right mean to myself and I made it through it. You can too. Just believe in yourself! Go and look at the before and after gallery, it will help so much. It realy inspired me. I swear I feel in my heart that this BB has helped me so much. When I feel a craving or an old habit sneaking back I just jump on here and it helps to distract me. I promise after a CLEAN 2 wk Induction you will feel awesome! I felt like I was ready to take on the world. (still do!) I found that if I used the sugar and chocolate subs that it made me want it more. The vicious cycle. I have just cut it all out. The only thing that has any sweetener I use is Da Vinci's Syrup. And even that only gets used in my decaf cup on sat & sun. I found that my body was less dependent on the sugar and filler carbs and now I feel like I use my food for fuel, not just filler. We are always here for you. Like Joy said, you have already beat one beast... exercize. This is my next big step. Just hang in there. It's only 2 weeks. You can do this. Just take it one small baby step at a time.