Starting on Wednesday

[JulieB]

Hi,

I'm a 36-year old female, 5'2", pretty small boned (from what I can tell ). I plan to start Induction on Wednesday. My hubby is going to do it with me, although I could lose 1/2 my body weight or more, where he could lose the 20-30 lbs he's gained since we got married in '01.

I have been 'fat' my entire life, since I was a toddler. I went on Weight Watchers the first time when I was 5 or 6 years old. I did the yo-yo thing for 20 years, then swore off dieting altogether about 10 years ago. (Haven't missed it a bit). I have, however, gained a further 40+ lbs...This is why I need to do this:

1) I feel rotten
2) If I gain ~5lbs in a year - that doesn't seem like a really big deal, but If I continue to gain 5lbs a year for the next 10 years - that's ANOTHER 50 lbs. I'll have to start wearing Moo-moos.
3) I would really like to look and feel really good, for the 1st time in my life!
4) I'm worth it!!

The funny thing is, I'm having a hard time setting a goal weight...lots of people say they'd like to weigh what they did in high-school or even college - I was already pushing 180lbs at Grad, 240 when I finished university 5 years later. If I think how old I was the last time I weighed 130/140lbs (prob a reasonable goal weight for me), I was likely in elementary school!

I de-carbed the kitchen today - WOW, I had a lot of cr*p . It's ALL GONE.

Tomorrow we see our doctor (& get weighed), & fast tomorrow night for blood tests on Tuesday.

Wednesday will be day 1.

I have prepared a 5-day menu, which will take us thru the week-end. I swore I would never again count calories, mesure or weigh everything I ate & make diet meal plans again, and from what I'd heard of Atkins I thought I wouldn't have to...but I found making the meal plan pretty difficult. I haven't got a hot CLUE how many carbs there are in ANYTHING. I have to look everything up. I got pretty discouraged there for a bit (and I haven't even STARTED).

I feel a bit better now, hubby has been GREAT! I've already figured out some of the numbers and found this board and I'm sure it will get easier from here.

Right now, my goal is just to figure this out, and get thru the next few days without screwing up or cheating. I'm sure this board is going to be invaluable - I'm already super-inspired by some of what I've seen here!

Here we go...
Julie

[Desertthorn]

Tell you what, post your menu so the experts can take a look, but you really don't need to count anything after the first few days because then you'll get the hang of it.
1 carb per egg,
1 carb per pack of splenda
you need to have 2 cups salad type veggies and 1 cup other
meat, for the most part is free, fat is filling and also free
So if you had bacon or ham and eggs for breakfast, eat as much as you like until you feel satisfied
Lunch, taco salad without the bowl/chips but with your two cups of veggies, Linda's taco seasoning, sour cream, little avocado, even some olives
Dinner - pork chop, cup of other veggies/
Snacks - porkrinds, cheese crisps,
Check out Linda's recipes and if its got a * by it, its induction friend. (She even has pizza)
Julie, don't worry to much about a goal, make it "I will start to exercise" or my nemisis, I will drink my water.
Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes - Recipes

[Sunny_0ne]

Oopsie! A typo:

you need to have 2 cups salad type veggies and 1 cup other
meat

I think she meant two cups of salad type veggies and 1 cup other vegetables!

Julie, I'm impressed with your planning and your determination. That's the biggest part of the battle--already won.

So glad you joined us... and I will enjoy following your successes!

If you have any questions or concerns, just ask. One of us will probably have just the answer you need!

[Chicklady]

Hi Julie Planning is half the battle, you seem well armed
Come join us in the century Club for daily roll call!

[blueberrylady]

Welcome to the board, Julie!

Do you have the 2002 edition of the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution? It will be invaluable to you in explaining how and why the diet works and inspiring you with details of how much the diet will do for your health. It's a must read.

Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress!

[imagood1]

hi and welcome Julie. Planning will get you further than anything else you can do for yourself. Keep track of your food intake with Fitday, it's what a lot of us use..once you use it a few days it's fairly easy to do.

We keep track of net carbs -- not full carbs (subtract fiber from carb and you get net carbs). The first few days when you are hungry grab some meat and dip it in mayo or a handful of veggies (zucchini, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli) it all adds up but especially with radishes (11 medium radishes .91 net carb). I've never eaten 11 radishes BUT I use that as an example of how much you can actually eat to keep from being hungry. Fat will keep you full longer so dunk your meat into mayo as well as veggies. I never ate Hellmans mayo before I started but I've gone through 2 jars of it since January!

Here are some links that will help -- good luck to both of you!!

Rules of Induction:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=6782 (What are the Rules of Induction?)
Induction Acceptable Foods:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ead.php?t=6781 (What foods can be eaten on Induction?)

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes - Daily Menus
Sheila's Low Carb, Atkins & Induction Friendly *ORIGINAL* Recipes Page!
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...n-recipes.html (Never ending induction recipes)
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...pes-added.html (Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)

[MsUnderstood0000]

Julie,

Good Luck. I envy you having a hubby to do it with you. One of my biggest headaches is cooking for the rest of the family..... Don't get discouraged at the meal planning, start simple. Find Linda's low carb site, pick some good sounding food and try it. Also www.fitday.com is invaluable just to track your daily intake. Its easy to use and I find it fun. I got my co workers tracking too. The low fat dieters have no idea how many carbs they really eat and how unbalanced thier diet is.....well, they do now lol.

[JulieB]

Thanks everyone - Day1 is going great! This board rocks!
Julie

[liv]

Hi fellow Canadian. Glad to hear you are liking day one!!