Just starting!

[sillygirl]

OMG Michelle! What a warm welcome you've received here! It's great, isn't it? You have received wonderful information so far, it leaves me not much to add except that you totally can do this. The board people will help you out every step of the way! You might want to start a journal for yourself in Journal Chats! Check it out.

[Mickkey]

Michelle, you're really doing good! Here's another tip I do each day, and I think most people do here, that is to keep a food diary or journal. Write down each day everything that you eat.

Have you heard of Fitday? Here is the link: http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/Index.html It's free and you can register and keep track each day of what you've eaten and it will record the carbs, fiber, calories and percentages. Dr. Atkins recommends we eat (roughly) 65% fat, 5% carbs, and 30% protein to lose effectively. After you put in your food, Fitday will give you the percentages, and after a while you can learn what not to eat so much of, or what you need to increase. You certainly don't need to be perfect. Remember to subtract your fiber from your carbs.

It's also helpful to read these forums. There's so much you'll learn just by reading them. If you have questions, ask away, someone here will gladly answer.

[MorningGlory]

Hi Michelle~~what a beautiful smile you have!

Do you get the feeling that there are a lot of people here who really want you to succeed? Wow, what a lot of supportive posts you've received!

Here's my 2 cents:

*Invest some prep time for your snacks. It will really save you, especially considering your packed schedule. What I do is stir fry a bunch of chicken and beef strips, and keep those handy in the fridge all the time.
*Pre-cut your veggies for on-the-run snacks.
*Planning your meals ahead of time saves you big time. When you know what you're having for lunch and dinner especially, it takes a lot of stress off you.

One of the other posters to this thread mentioned how she started walking just 15-20 minutes a day and how quickly she progessed from there....that's great advice if you aren't used to exercise. Start small and you'll be surprised at how fast you can advance. Don't set yourself up for failure by running before you can walk, so to speak!

Check out the Journal Chats and Exercise Challenges too. Lots of motivation here.
Oh, and one other thing...make the measuring tape your friend instead of the scales! You're going to see a big difference in your measurements as you continue on this journey.
Have a great weekend!

[sensfan1960]

Thank you Mish!!!
Soon you too will have your next pic up
Hugs

[sallyseachange]

That's the spirit Mish! You'll be in that beach in a swimsuit before you know it!

[daisy8869]

Hi Michelle,

I've just started induction as well and I'm also a young woman with a lot of weight to lose. I'm on day four of induction and I'm already feeling better and not very hungry. My start weight was 293 and my goal is around 200 so we have a similar amount of weight to lose. I think this site is awesome and I love the support, hang in there and I'm online pretty often if you need a buddy. Also, I live in North Carolina as well so I know about the struggle with the southern comfort food but WE CAN DO THIS!!!!

[mish711]

Hey Daisy!! Yes!! Let's be buddies!! This site really is great! I'm so glad I stumbled across it!! I'm online a lot too - normally in the evenings!! What've you been eating out of curiousity ... since we're both newbies! I've been going off of the acceptable foods list, but I am just really anxious that I'm going to do something wrong! lol I guess that happens when you want something so bad, huh?? Yeah! North Carolina has got some comfort food alright! haha We CAN do this!!

Thank you Sally and MorningGlory and everyone who has responded!!!!!

[daisy8869]

Hey Michelle,

I've also been sticking to the acceptable foods list. I've been trying to eat as much natural food as possible: chicken, steak, eggs, onions, mushrooms, salad. One of my best finds so far is canned chicken breast, it makes great and fast chicken salad. I'm about to graduate from college so I'm really broke, which was one of my concerns about starting Atkins but I just went shopping and I got a weeks worth of food for about five dollars more than normal.

For motivation...I bought one of those super cute bikini's at Target...I have it hanging in the kitchen to remind me if I want to stray. Hopefully, I will be able to pose in it by the end of summer and post the pictures up here. Another thing I did today was bought some ketosis sticks from CVS...they tell you if you are losing weight and sure enough, it turned a deep purple.

Let me know how tomorrow goes...we CAN do this and we WILL do it!!!!

[babywoogie]

Hey Mish,

I'm new to Atkins too so you are not alone sweet......and yes you do get a little sceptic cause we are changing our way of eating COMPLETELY. Its only till we educate ourselves enough to know which are good foods and not......i too was not sure if i was eating well during the induction phase, and i find my self eating way more than i ever did before.......Now the only thing that i have to get in my head is to exercise at least 4 times a week.

I work reduced hrs, have 2 westies, a hubby...now that's lots of work..LOLOL....I have a 2 yr old boy and right now I hear the word mummy i dont know how many times a day .....i even hear it in my sleep, but i love him to pieces.

I enjoyed reading all the comments you received as they are very helpfull to me as well.

We can do this, lets keep each other motivated. YES WE CAN!!

Keep in touch

[mish711]

Hey Janet! Thank you for the message!! Yeah, I'm trying to get this down pact!! I don't want to mess up!! My official Induction date is tomorrow, so i guess this past week has been trial and error, huh??? Thanks for your motivation!! I'm always here too if you need anything!!! We can doooo it!