Doing it again for the 2nd time

[eissakha]

Hi everyone,

I did Atkins for the first time in 2003 and lost almost 70 pounds. Maintenance was OK for a while but unfortunately my love of pizza and cakes got me back to the same starting point.

I finally got to a point where I refused to buy even bigger clothes and my clothes were basically suffocating me. I breath hard all the time and am totally out of shape.

So I finally made a decision to do Atkins again starting October 27th, 2008. I made this decision on October 23rd and I spent that weekend eating everything in the world that I like.

I officially started Atkins on the 27th, weighing 235 pounds. Today is day 11 and so far I have lost 11 pounds and 1 belt size so I am motivated, pumped, ready to see more losses.

I want to lose a bit more weight to feel more comfortable before I start adding excersise to my life.

First week I was kind of miserable, I only eat what I cook and honestly, I hate the taste of my food mainly because you cant add alot of sauces and rice so the food is kinda blan and tasteless but I took it like a man and everything is cool now. I am looking up recipes on the net but most things that I see, if it makes sense to me, has more carbs than I want to put in my body at this point. Also, I am eating alot of salads which I absolutely HATE.

At the same time, when you start this thing, your body does not want to go to bathroom anymore (#2) so you feel extra fat which is discouraging but since I had a very successful run last time, I knew it was a matter of time before things started happenning so even though I was miserable I was hopeful too.

Basically, I just want to introduce myself and if anyone wants to start Atkins and wants to ask questions or talk to someone about it, I am here. At the same time, I am sure I would need someone to lean on at some point and ask for some advice so I hope some of you here will be there for me when I need you.

This diet is so incredible and effective especially if you do it right.

I know back in 2003, it pretty much saved my life. I was overwight and had tried every other diet and the words miserable and desperate would have been a great way to describe me. I saw an ad for Atkins and I prayed to God that this thing would work for me and it did everything it was supposed to do and more.

I made some mistakes last time that I am hoping I will avoid this time but if you are new to this, trust me it works.

Anyways, I am glad to be back and I hope to hear back from some of you (new and experienced). We are all in this together and I wish you all the best.

Sincerely,

Edwin Issakhanian
235/224/190 (including some muscles)

[Justabittoloose]

Have you tried some different salad dressings? I too hate salad but with dressings I can manage and almost enjoy it. Italian dressings and cheese ones are good. I don't know whether you can get hold of the dressing from Pizza Express that is available in supermarkets in the UK becuase that's my fave.

I've tried a couple of recepies that are great for induction, one is really simple. Chicken diced in pan with olive oil. Sprinkle with paprika (no carbs)and add a clove or two of chopped garlic (1 carb per clove, that's only if you actually eat them). Fry the chicken until cooked then add parsley and a squeeze of lemon. For induction leave off the lemon. It's worth exploring with herbs and spices. Mix them with cream, sour cream and tomato puree/passata and try different mixtures to make interesting sauces.

Another one is tablespoon soy sauce, diced garlic, diced/grated ginger root (or you could try ground ginger) and 1 diced red chili minus the seeds. Mix together in an oven dish and then add chicken breast or works really well with salmon! Coat the meat/fish with the mixture and cook in the oven for about 20 mins.

Good luck experimenting

[eissakha]

Thank you.