Newbie Here!

[nmbr5ve]

I am a 24 y.o. graduate student who put on extra weight in college and because I'm still leading a semi-college lifestyle have been having a difficult time getting it off. I tried weight watchers and was successful in getting it off but because it was more focused on portion control and allowed me to continue to eat unhealthily (at least the way I followed the program lol) I was unsuccessful in keeping it off. I would do things like save up all my points so that I can eat cake and chinese food. Also, I was known to skip meals in college because I would sleep til 3 and just was completely off schedule. The second time I attempted the program as a grad student trying to cook for myself and eating 3 meals a day it absolutely didn't work.

I travel home alot and notice that everytime i do, I put on 5 lbs in a week. Its all those things that I have to have that I can't get here. So when I went home 2 weeks ago, I said I would try something else since I was at my heaviest coming from visiting family in NY for a week and then having visitors. When I went home to VA this time I didn't eat any bread, anything fried, any potatoes, and mostly drank water. I thought this would at least keep me at the weight I was, but to my surprise, I lost 4 lbs! This is when I decided to give the low carb thing a try and do Atkins for real.

So here I am! Its Day 6 of induction and I'm loving it. I have some difficulty because my brother and his son live with me and I am the primary cook and he gets lots of snacks in the house for he and his son. Also, before that I was cooking rice, potatoes, or macaronni w/ each meal (along with a veg and meat). The first day I cooked for the house I cooked two vegetables for me and made rice a roni for them. The temptation was so hard. It wasn't that I even wanted the rice but I wanted to taste the food that I made. That's when I made the rule that I would not only not eat things that weren't on the acceptable list, I would not make them, not even for others. So if they want something in addition to the vegs I'm making, my brother can make them.

I've hid the scale under the bed so that I'm not tempted to weigh myself everyday and I'm focusing on measurements. (I measured myself in cm so that I can see each cm go away). I hope to lose weight and cm during induction but I really just want this phase to be about ridding my addiction to carbs. I plan my meals each evening in my google docs and after eating them I write down how I feel. So far I think Splenda induces hunger for me. At least the packets do so right now I'm drinking a cup of coffee with only cream. This is difficult being that I used to use like 6 packets of sugar. I surprisingly love vegetables that I haven't tried or trying new ways to eat them. I'm loving mashed cauliflower, eggplant pizza, zucchini spaghetti, and jicama with cinnamon (I had to nix the splenda for now). Drinking 8 cups of water is a breeze now and I usually get in 10.

I really love reading this board and hope that I can get in the habit of posting here (though I need to be writing a paper and I'm a queen procrastinator so maybe I'll hold off on the post for awhile).

[chinadoll]

So glad you found this life and the ADBB board.

[blueberrylady]

Welcome to the board!

I know it's hard to stick to a diet when you have to depend on quick and easy meals but Atkins can be done with some planning ahead. Check out the recipe forum for ideas and keep reminding yourself that all that carbage is not your friend!

Good luck to you!

[imagood1]

I cook for my family who aren't on Atkins so I understand what you are saying. There are several recipes here that you can incorporate for your family -- if they like macaroni & cheese try the mockafoni & cheese recipe (it's cauliflower instead of macaroni and it's delicious)....there are a lot of great recipes you can make for all of you (and they will be eating healthier than all the starches they are eating now).

Good luck. Check the recipe sites for great meal ideas:

Recipe Sites
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/menus.html
(Never ending induction recipes)(Never ending induction recipes)http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-diet-14-day-induction/58513-never-ending-induction-recipes.html
(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)(Induction Recipe Basics--More recipes added)http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-diet-14-day-induction/6807-induction-recipe-basics-more-recipes-added.html
http://www.sugarfreesheila.com/RecipesPage.html

[nmbr5ve]

Thanks for the suggestions. The recipes look great!