Tips for Guaranteed Success w/Atkins

[msanjelpie]

Private Message:

Subject: Thank you !
I just wanted to tell you that i have copied your remarks about how to succeed with Atkins and i will read them every day. I have started Atkins about 10 days ago, i am not cheating, even staying at around 15 netcarbs every day, exercising and nothing is moving .... Total frustration - but i think you are right, i feel like my body is readjusting. I guess i havent been eating proteins for years and i feel very energetic and happy - But i need your words not to sink into gloom. Because there is no alternative to Atkins, going back to headaches, cravings, tiredness ? NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you again !
Best regards

I'm so happy for you... I hope that hundreds and hundreds of people will read these words - and even if only one sentence in this thread strikes a chord with how they are dealing with Atkins, then it was worth it to type it.

I have been FAT for 7 years. Prior to that I was always of normal weight. This diet is so easy for me. Not so much the food of which can get very monotonous after several months, but just the fact that it is easy to stay on it. The lack of hunger and feeling great are good incentives. I know if I just stay on it that I will reach my goal eventually. I have put my faith in it.

I have a dream. A dream of being able to ride a bike with my children. I haven't done that in about 10 years.

My mother is having a hard time with Atkins. Her weight is coming off a lot more slowly, she doesn't move around as much and she has to stick to 15 grams a day or stall. Each person has to learn how to deal with their metabolism and to work with it. Your body is your friend. Let it be the boss for awhile

It is very easy to get discouraged, especially after seeing the same weight on the scale for 10 days in a row. (I have a stall like that about every 10 lbs. of loss) I remind myself that my body is resting and gearing up for the next session of losing.

Right now I have 2 eggs / american cheese / 2 bacon for breakfast. 1 hamburger patty with monterey jack cheese for dinner. 1 hot dog for midnight snack before bed. For snacks I munch on 3 baby carrots or celery and cream cheese - along with my diet sodas and occasional tea. I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. I consider this the 'junk food' way to do Atkins. The atkins fanatics think I'm wrong, but that's ok. They can sauté their asparagus all they want. I'm a picky eater and this is the best way for me to succeed. You also will find your way after a month or so.

If you quit you will not lose. If you quit you will probably gain. If you don't quit you will lose 'eventually' That's all you have to remember. Thanks so much for your message! I appreciate the kind words.

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Just wanted to also say that I agree about the stress factor. I put off starting this diet for over a year because there always seemed to be something that was just coming up or going to trip me up in some way. I finally got to a point where the future looked blank for awhile and I took that opportunity to hop on the bandwagon. Several weeks later when thanksgiving/christmas hit, I was already going strong and had the strength to turn the cheek towards the meat/cheese/salad and away from the cookies and mashed potatoes. (It's funny what you crave after being deprived for so long...)

For seven years I thought of myself as fat. 'I'm fat, so whats the point? I'm going to eat this candy and I'll think about dieting next month...' Thoughts like that were normal and everyday. You get used to people averting their eyes, and to feeling ashamed of the way you look. Eating whatever you want whenever you want becomes normal and preferred. The thought of giving up that freedom seems insurmountable. It wasn't until the doctor said I was a walking heart attack waiting to happen and that I was ½ step away from diabetes, that I 'woke up' and realized that I couldn't eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. There was a price to pay for that binging freedom and it was my health and longevity.

Still - fear, although it might be a wonderful motivator to get started, isn't going to carry you through the long haul, the day after day and week after week of thinking of your self as 'on a diet'... When I look in the mirror now I can actually catch a glimpse of the person I used to be so long ago. That's what keeps me going. I want that person back so badly. You don't realize how much until it comes within your grasp.

There are many who think you have to love yourself in order to succeed with self improvement. For the majority of the obese, I find that near to impossible. Even half way to goal I hate many things about myself. I think the weight was there because I hated myself, and then it seemed like I hated my life because of the weight, but you have to know that the hate was there long before. The weight was just a symptom. Learning to love yourself is another part of the weight loss process and is probably harder than the actual food/rules/exercise part of it... It's actually the most important part, the part that is going to keep the weight off after all that hard work...

[CJ2BFit]

Thanks for all the tips and inspiring advice everyone!! Especially, the examples of what you eat! I'm a vegetarian and am trying very hard, but the scale is very slow to budge!! so far it hasn't! I may have to get down to 15 g. of carbs or lower?! Not giving up, because of this message board! Wish me luck with the weight loss and my psych. test tomorrow

[starrynight]

GOOOD LUCK!!

[msanjelpie]

Before I started on the diet, I weighed 216, had high cholesterol and hypoglycemia where my blood sugar would be around 130 and then plummet into the 60's and I would have stomach cramping and the shakes etc... I always had some sugar to eat so it never went lower. That's what the doctor told me to do when it got low, eat some sugar. I couldn't sleep through the night, because after 5 hours or so my stomach would start cramping again, and I would have to get up and eat. Usually when we were out in public, I would say, I have to eat, and everyone knew that meant NOW.

So I decided to try Atkins because I thought it would be easy for Mom to stick with, especially if we did it together. We emptied the house of all sugar items, and anything not allowed on the induction menu. First I had to get off of the caffeine. I didn't want to go through the withdrawal and starting the diet at the same time. So a week after I got off the caffeine, I started the diet. I remember my very last normal meal. Toasted sourdough English muffins, melted peanut butter, melted butter, and honey.

The first morning getting up was hard. I was of course starving as usual, and I couldn't have my normal breakfast of hot chocolate, extra sugar, and waffles and syrup. Instead I got a cup of decaf tea with Sweet'N Low. Nothing could possibly taste more horrid. But I was psyched, and determined. An hour passed, and it was time for breakfast.

3 scrambled eggs with butter, 4 pieces of bacon, one diet caffeine free soda. It tasted great. I missed toast, but it did take away the hunger. The first strange thing was that I was able to go for 6 hours without eating again. Unheard of for years for me. Not only that, when I did get hungry, there were no stomach cramps or nausea, just hunger. It was strange.

I had dinner. Two hot dogs, an ounze of monterey jack cheese, a salad with 1 tbsp dressing, and a half a stalk of celery. I was stuffed. I was afraid when bedtime came, because I always had a big meal at bedtime to try and get as much sleep as I could before it was empty again. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a slice of american cheese and tromped off to bed. I had a slight headache from starting the diet.

The next morning I woke up 8 hours after going to bed. I was amazed, I was thrilled with the 3 lb weight loss, and completely shocked that I could do stuff around the house for another 2 hours before having to eat breakfast. I was so happy. I never for a million years thought the diet would have that effect on me. I figured it would be like every other diet I had been on where I was always starving and fighting with my brain about staying on it.

The second day was easier. I started each morning the same way, 3 eggs, 1 slice of American cheese melted on top, and bacon or ham. That would take me 6 to hours up until dinner. Dinner was a rotating schedule, basically what sounded good that day. Options were:

Hamburger patty with melted MJ cheese.
2 hot dogs with melted MJ cheese.
Boiled chicken
Baked fish fillets without coating.
The entire top of a pizza, any topping except pineapple, and no crust.
turkey sandwich, lettuce, onions, tomato, mayo, no bread
ham sandwich, lettuce, onions, tomato, mayo, no bread
roast beef sandwich, lettuce, onions, tomato, mayo, no bread
1 slice of bologna, 1 slice American Cheese
1 mozzarella cheese stick
celery with cream cheese
1/2 tomato
cottage cheese with mayo
tunafish, mayo, chopped green onions

I used Fitday http://www.fitday.com everyday to make sure I was staying on track. Carbs staying under 20, and ratio of 30% protein, 65% fat, 5% carbs. It took several weeks of juggling food around to get some daily menus that met all the numerical criteria. Once I had 'perfect' number menus, I just printed them out and picked one to follow each day.

When I would get a hunger pang I would grab a small piece of cheese or a couple of baby carrots to hold me over for another hour. I went into ketosis after the 3rd day, and the weight started melting off. I was so amazed with both the loss and how great I felt. Extra energy, sleeping through the night, no stomach cramps, etc... I felt like I had a new life.

I got blood tests done before starting and again at the 3 month mark, to check for lipids and kidney function. Cholesterol had a major drop, and kidneys were fine. I kept on keeping on. I was on the extended induction phase for over a year until I met my goal. It has been 8 months since that time. I still eat mainly the same things, just in greater quantity, and I've maintained my weight.

I pray that others will find the same joy and awe that I found with this diet

[msanjelpie]

I have 2 neighbors. They were very inspired by my weight loss and decided to 'give it a try'... I helped them with every aspect. They asked me about food, (they had no idea corn was a no-no) They signed on with fit-day to make sure they were staying under 20 carbs per day, (it's SO easy to have more without realizing) I told them to stay away from that net carb crap, and the most important thing, I told them to STAY in ketosis. If you hop on and off, take days off here and there, you will be on the sloooooooow road. They have stuck with it and one has lost 50 and the other 30. The one that has lost less does a lot more exercise, so we are thinking weight redistribution, because she sure 'looks' a lot thinner.

Now I have complete strangers asking me for advice. I think one of the important things is that once you lose your weight, to share your knowledge, your tips, your enthusiasm. Now my neighbors are starting to teach others, and it just snowballs.

Maintaining the weight loss is a whole other stage. I weigh once a month, and if the number is within 2 lbs then I figure things are going well. If the number is higher than I want, I cut back on the carrots and salad dressing, slipping back into induction for a bit until I am back to where I want to be. I still can't believe the extra energy, how easy it is to move around and do all the things I use to do when I was younger.

On this Christmas day, I wish all of you the strength to love your self enough to want this wonderful way of eating to change your life forever, for that it surely will if you trust in it and share your good fortune with others around you.

[msanjelpie]

I can't believe it's been over 5 years since starting this post. I have been struggling for the past 3 years with this diet. Lack of variety being the main issue with long term maintainance. Now I need to lose again and figuring out what to eat after reaching goal and maintaining will be something to work on.

[CATEYES222]

You need to lose again, how much have you put back on? I believe you can do it.

[chinadoll]

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