Just finished induction and ...

[Eighties]

Okay,

This might sound like I'm patting myself on the back but I'm really not fishing for compliments here.

I'm a second time arounder and have just finished my first two weeks. I stepped on the scale today and tah-dah, 10.2 pounds gone. Some folks do better, some do worse, I've hit a statistical average. Here is the thing. I'm more than happy considering the shear amount of food I've been eating. Over the course of the last two weekends, we have eaten out considerably at all you can eat buffets. I stayed on induction only foods and been very faithful in that regard but have literally ate way more than I did (average per day) before I restarted and still managed to lose weight. I would say about 7 pounds the first week and 3.2 the second. Never was I hungry, I've had a lot more energy and I honestly just love induction type foods. I'm going to be staying on induction for a while as the wife has decided to give this a serious try. I hope to be a good support for her.

This is actually not my second time around, it is more like the fourth or fifth but I came to a realization about what I had done wrong the last couple of times when I actually gained weight. Here is my story and maybe it will help some others who are giving it the old college try once again.

The first time I had no idea what I was doing, someone at work gave me a Xerox of the foods list from the 1992 book and I just did an extended induction for a bout three months dropping about 10 pounds a month. Then I sort of backed off and even fell off a few times but still managed to lose about five more pounds over the course of two more months. Then with a vacation looming on the horizon I decided to really crack down and start excersizing and kabamm lost another 13 pounds in about thirty days. I would then go off and on as it suited me but still stayed just a bit above my lowest weight of 197 over the courseof the next four years. It stayed that way until I met the lady who is now my wife. Once we were comfortable with each other we both packed on the pounds and have neither one been able to totally lose it since. I tried to reboot my self a few times but would get discouraged if I didn't lose or stopped losing for too long. I'm fully aware that my age and it being a second time will likely cause me to lose more slowly and have some stalls but I also am not making some of the same really big blunders that I did on attempts two and three.

Here are some things to definately avoid.

• Alcohol during induction
• The low carb ice cream
• The Low carb bars
• Too much diet drinks.

I would enjoy all of the above the first time I lost the 50 or so pounds. But by the time I had learned about them, I was well past induction and more into an OWL phase, slowly increasing my daily carb in take and not even realizing it. Yet I had never read the book so I thought I could do these things when I restarted. Instead I would lose about seven pounds one week, then gain back four and say "Well screw it!"

This time my body seems to be responding very favorably and I will engage in some of the above again but I won't try to exist on them.

In the meantime I have relearned what it was I loved about this WOE. I can enjoy rich, tasty, whole foods like omlettes, steak, veggies, butter, spinach salads and cheese and lose weight, improve my health and not feel like I'm missing something. I will still have an occasional scotch or martini, low carb cheese cake, etc and they will be all the better because they are the rare treat. During the process I will again start eating to live and stop living to eat, yet not stop enjoying eating either. I will have my low carb cake and eat it too.

Lets all enjoy this ride!

Chris

[rajenki]

Toot your horn, Chris! I do!

After restarting about 300 times over the years, I learned the same thing you did. I need to NOT include the things that I worked my way up to the first time around. I have this one meal that I ADORE...but it's costly in the carb/calorie/fat department. First time around it was an occasional treat that I discovered about a year into the diet...but every restart since I've tried incorporating it in right away and frequently. Big mistake. This time around, I've been on for 57 days and have had it twice. I also stare longingly at the Atkins bars and LC icecreams, but don't buy them.

I've reduced my alcohol intake by asking myself this question every time I want a drink..."do you really want to shut off the fat-furnace for tonight?"...because that's what happens. Your body will stop burning fat for fuel while it has alcohol on board. I'm enjoying the fat burning process too much...so usually my answer is no. I've had 3 drinks in 57 days.

I have an upcoming trip to vegas where I had planned on avoiding the buffets...however, I might just do one or two and eat LC all the way as you suggested. We'll see how it plays out. Mostly I find it to costly, but maybe if I can do a "brunch" that will tide me over with some minor snacks till dinner, maybe that will be a good plan. Not sure yet.

Another mistake I think I sorta made in tha past was not ACTUALLY climbing the carb ladder. I'm at a decision point right now. I feel I should be adding berries and melon, but am scared to. I never added these my first time around, but they will make the WOE so much more varried (and get the nay-sayers off my back for not eating fruit)...but I'm nervous about cravings it might cause. Maybe I'll give something a go this week.

Great work Chris! Hope to hear more from ya!
Becki

[Pandoralou]

I am in the middle of induction and I just had a Carb Smart ice cream bar because I was screaming for something besides a piece of cheese. It had 3 carbs. Is this going to ruin my progress???

[momtomany1]

Hun, everyone has their own individual experiences with these. A very general rule.. if they bother your tummy noticeably, you probably didn't metabolize the carbs. If they didn't, your body might be recognizing them as carbs (the sugar alcohols) and using them accordingly. Will they ruin your progress? Empahtically no, not in an of themselves. They just aren't the sort of things to rely on, really. Maybe they will slow your loss just a little bit.. not for long, not permanently, you'll be fine.

Dr. Atkins was about health, not just slimness. His whole program teaches us to seek out and consume real food. Trust me, if you stick around here you will get that message over and over. Your sugar monster that was screaming at you? don't feed him and he'll go away eventually. Feed him and he just hangs around giving you a hard time. Kick him to the curb! and much success to you.