The Newbie Returneth

[bellajgw]

Ok, so I never belonged to the ADBB before, so I am a newbie, but I have tried Atkins twice before, so in that I am returning.

My name is Jacqui and I'm fed up. I have a pretty decent life, a wonderful partner who is joining me in my goals to lose weight, a job and an apartment which both keep me ahead of the curve in this economy. I also have a sedentary job, a 1.5 hour commute each way, and a level of exhaustion that I've never experienced before.

When I hit puberty my father decided to start cooking and he made amazing meals. I ate two and three large helpings at each dinner. Once I stopped growing, around 13, I started packing on the weight because I kept eating the same. I'd get upset and comfort myself with ice cream, candy, cookies, you name it. By the time I graduated high school I was 190, by the time I graduated college I was 210. After college I lost weight on Atkins and gained it all back during a bad relationship. Then I moved to DC and I was 200. I met my partner and we, together, because so obliviously happy that we gained a lot of weight together. In 2 years of happy bliss I weighed 225, and she weighed 260. We went on Atkins together and I lost 25 pounds and she lost 20. We got cocky and before you know it a year went by and I was at 240 and she was at 290.

Now we are fed up. It's time to humble ourselves and go back to what we know. We've tried going vegetarian, we've tried South Beach, we've tried vegan, and Weight Watchers and everything in between. This time we are sublimating ourselves before the Atkins altar again. The only change? This time we want to keep our fat grams down as much as possible because of her history of gall bladder problems.

Wish us luck!!

[Lil_Texas_Tornado]

You have come to the right place for support. Good luck, you both can do it!!!

[blueberrylady]

Welcome to the board, Bella!

Having someone doing Atkins with you will be a big help and you both sound motivated, so read the forum, drink lots of water, read the book, and try to get some exercise.

I know the exercise might be a challenge at first but just a walk around the block to begin with will help alot. Then after you've been on Atkins, your energy will return and it will become easier.

Good luck to both of you!

[EverLosing]

Welcome back to this WOE!!! Your energy levels will be back and boundless before you know it! It's so awesome you have someone to do this with you! What a blessing! Be careful though tinkering with trying to keep your foods low in fat grams. That defeats the science of the diet. A certain amount of tweaking may work for one or both of you but the fat you eat promotes fat loss and hunger suppression. You might want to start a post about gall bladder problems and fat intake. I know there are members here who have had the same problem and give you detailed advice about that. Use every resource you can! The board is full of information!! Good luck! Keep us informed of your progress!

There's also the STAC forum. It's the Second Time Around Club. There's a morning (or whenever) roll call every day. It helps keep us accountable and it's a chance to check in and on each other. Feel free to pop in and say hi! We'd be glad to have both of you!! Here's the link.

Second Time Around Club - Atkins Diet

[bellajgw]

Thanks everyone!

I will definitely be getting involved in the STAC and maybe the Century Club as I want to lose 100 pounds.

In terms of low-fat foods, really the only thing we are doing is limiting our pork and red meats. For example, I made some dishes last night (began our WOE yesterday, woohoo!) and here is what I made to get us through the week:

12 deviled eggs (1g carb for 2 pieces)
1 crustless quiche with part-skim mozzerella, turkey bacon and veg (3 g 1 piece)
Tofu and Spinach soup (1 g per 2 cups)
Curry chicken and shrimp with veg (7 g per 1.5 cups)
Tandoori chicken and veg (7 g per 1.5 cups)
Roasted veg (5 g per cup)
Teriyaki beef sticks (1 g per stick)

That should get us through about half the week with good portion control. Then I'll be making some salmon and veg, some tilapia and shrimp soup, and maybe some teriyaki chicken and veg. All in all, with legal snacks throughout the day we'd be looking at about 17-18 grams of carbs but still keeping it relatively healthy.

Does that all sound good? Oh, and we aren't doing Net Carbs as we find that we tend to try to squeeze more bad foods into the list because the "net carbs are lower!" Good old fashioned Total Carbs for us.

We have both read the book a few times, both the old and the new. We're no slouches

[blueberrylady]

Your menu looks real good to me except for the tofu which isn't allowed until Rung 6 because it's made from soybeans. And make sure there is no sugar in the teriyaki sauce.

Other than that, it appears that you really have a handle on the diet and are motivated, so keep up the good work!

[JimShortz99]

Hello and welcome to the boards!

[imagood1]

hi and welcome Jacqui -- hope you and your partner are very successful on this WOE.

I looked through your meals and was wondering what you used for the sauce on your Tandori Chicken -- if you used yogurt that's not an induction food so besides the foods Everlosing ask about the tandori chicken might be a problem also!

Are you getting enough veggies in each day? 3 cups a day is what we are suppose to eat.

I hope you have a copy of the DANDR 2002 book and also have the rules of induction and acceptable foods list close at hand. Have you been to the recipe sites - there are loads of wonderful food there - just make sure you are making induction recipes.

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)



I agree about posting questions about gall bladder and fat in your diet -- fat is a pretty important part of induction.

[liv]

Just wanted to say welcome too.
Just wanted to say that tofu is allowed on induction - there are some limitations on it - 4 oz max I think.

[bellajgw]

Tofu...I read that it was ok in small amounts and in a serving of soup I'll only be getting about 2 ounces max. I am lactose intollerant so I have to get my calcium in the form of soy and herbs...so I can't just get rid of soy, so I make sure I use it in small amounts and track the amount of carbs in it carefully.

The tandoori sauce I have is one I picked up at a Wholefoods. There was no yogurt or illegal foods listed in the ingredients...I believe it was a tomato base and the carb amounts are OK. We won't be making it every week but I wanted to make induction as flavorful as possible. Each week I plan on trying different recipes.

As for veggies...I believe that with all the veggies I add into most dishes we will be getting about 3 cups worth. There are veggies hidden in everything Plus I have cut up cucumbers ready to snack on, and other little veggie treats for the days we are low. Those items I mentioned were really just the items that I cooked up for the week.