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Anybody doing Atkins?

Posted: Jun 30, 2003 10:59 pm
by patsue53
I just started it today. I have not been able to stick to the low fat and exercise regime so I'm trying again with something new. I'm using their online journal and carb counter. Today was day 1....I really hope I can stick to this and get off some of this lard!! DD is doing it with me which will help.

Anybody else doing Atkins? How's it going? Any tips?

Posted: Jun 30, 2003 11:37 pm
by Scoutsmum
Scoutsdad is doing it. He's dropped 25 pounds!

I think it's more of a "guy" diet. THey like all that meat and cheese and eggs!! LOL

I'd suggest getting the book. He did it for a cocuple of weeks, just following the example of co-workers, before I bought him the book. He says it helped him to better understand how and why it works. It also tells you why it's dangerous, and what to be careful about.....

Good luck! :-)

Posted: Jul 01, 2003 3:06 pm
by Connie_MD
I'm doing it and also the rest of the nurses in my office are also doing it! I've dropped 12lbs. on it.(lost 16 on the typical diet)..

Even though the weight is coming off slowly..I have lost 3 inches..before starting Atkins I wore 1x-2x..now I am into reg. L.

I have found that you lose inches faster than the poundage which is fine with me since we never talk actual weight :wink:

Get the book!! it is essential for this diet and good luck! :D

Posted: Jul 02, 2003 10:28 pm
by patsue53
You're doing great Connie! There's several nurses in my dept. that are doing Atkins too. So far it's been okay, but today was tough. We had a Taco potluck at work today (everybody brought different taco ingredients). I had a taco salad without the shell, but it was awful hard to pass up the Coconut cake and the cream cheese bars that were brought for dessert! :lol:

The book will have to wait. I just shelled out $248.00 for a new starter on my car. Next payday. :lol: I think the website has alot of good information though.

Posted: Jul 03, 2003 9:56 pm
by flowerchild59
All I can say is that I did Atkins a couple of years ago and do think that it contributed to the demise of my gallbladder. I did lose weight, and inches and that was good. It did creep back though over the last couple of years. The funny thing is that my cholesterol and lipids were normal on that diet. They were dangerously high, like over 400, prior to Atkins.

Posted: Jul 03, 2003 10:16 pm
by Connie_MD
Yep, I have a friend that is on Atkins and has similar results on BP and Trig/chol. levels.

Let's not forget the 3 F's associated with gallbladder disease...Female, Fat and Forty. For most of us, we are doomed either on or off Atkins to have problems with our gallbladder.

Posted: Jul 06, 2003 10:55 am
by patsue53
Cheryl, it's not uncommon for weight loss to cause gallstone formation no matter how the weight is lost. I don't know the pathophysiology behind this but it's true. Probably has something to do with more fat being flushed through the system. The one time I had a severe gallstone attack was when my twins were about a year old. I'd lost about 40 lbs. A great percentage of the young women who come through the Endoscopy lab for ERCP's have given birth within the las year. It's weird.

Posted: Jul 06, 2003 10:56 am
by patsue53
Cheryl, it's not uncommon for weight loss to cause gallstone formation no matter how the weight is lost. I don't know the pathophysiology behind this but it's true. Probably has something to do with more fat being flushed through the system. The one time I had a severe gallstone attack was when my twins were about a year old. I'd lost about 40 lbs. A great percentage of the young women who come through the Endoscopy lab for ERCP's have given birth within the las year. It's weird.

(by the way, I've been on the diet for 6 days and I've lost about 5 lbs! This is way out of character for me. I have the metabolism of a slug! 20 yo DD has lost 10 lbs!)

Posted: Jul 06, 2003 7:30 pm
by Connie_MD
Pat the average weight loss during Induction is 10 lbs. Your DD may want to slow it down a bit..make sure she is taking a multivitamin to decrease the chance of leg cramps.

I lost exactly 10 lbs during my 2 week Induction phase. I am now occasionally adding other foods like nuts. Otherwise I am going to stay on the 20gms. per day for another month or so.

Remember, fat intake should be equivalent to the protein intake or you won't be in a good state of Ketosis. :D

Posted: Jul 07, 2003 12:22 am
by Doris_J
I'm doing Atkins, ladies. I started in April, and I've lost 20 pounds!

I was never a big meat eater and I loved my bread, so I thought I couldn't do this, but now, I feel great. Pat, what got me through induction was having one Atkins Advantage bar a day. I have a huge sweet tooth, and those bars kept me sane (S'mores are the best, and the Cinnamon Swirl breakfast bars are great, too). I also eat a lot of grilled chicken with salad, cheese, and dressing, nuts, sunflower seeds, fish, turkey, eggs, and sometimes red meat (I love roast).

There are low carb tortillas from La Tortilla Factory (www.latortillafactory.com). They make a tasty snack with melted cheese. If you go to the website, there is a spot where you can type in your zip code, and you'll see who stocks these near you.

Good luck, and keep us updated!

Posted: Jul 07, 2003 6:13 pm
by patsue53
Thanks Connie and Doris! Connie, I didn't realize that about the fat intake equaling the protein intake. I have a hard time getting my brain out of the "no fat, you're on a diet" mode. The first time I fried an egg in butter I was almost shaking...I've been frying them in PAM for so long! :eek: I havn't bought the Keto sticks yet because of some expensive car repairs last week, but plan to buy them over the later this week. I'll try to get DD to slow down, but she's so tickled that she's losing it so fast it's going to be hard to do. I'm going to stay under 20 grams of carbs for a while too. I've got alot of weight to lose.

Doris, thanks for the info on the low carb tortillas. I'd KILL for a taco in a shell right now! :lol: I found some carb free (Net carb free that is) chocolate bars at Walgreens. They aren't the Atkins' brand and they're also alot cheaper. These were 2/1.50. I know that you're supposed to eat only foods on the approved list during induction but I was very close to pulling into McDonald's for a quarterpounder with fries and a chocolate shake on Saturday and figured that would be a better alternative. :???:

Keep up the good work ladies. It sounds like you're both doing great! I'm going for my annual Sibling Reunion this weekend and I know I'm not going to stick to the diet, but I'll start again when I get home on Monday.

Posted: Jul 08, 2003 5:14 pm
by Connie_MD
Hi Pat,

Keep going girl! the longer you are on it, the easier it gets :D This past weekend was the first weekend for me that I ate something from my "past" LOL. I had 2 bites of chocolate cake w/ chocolate frosting...it was awesome!! but it was enough. Anything sweet tastes VERY sweet after not having anything like that for 6 wks.

Psst...if you are dying for something chocolately and you like Mousse........Chocolate Redi Whip is what you need. 2 TBSP has 1 gm of carbs! my friend discovered this and brought it to a baby shower for all of us Atkinites :wink: LOL..she put it in pretty bowls for us..while the others were eating cake we were eating this! it's delicious! :D Oh! and if you needs a crunchy/junk foody snack..try Fried Pork Skins w/ 2 TBSP of dip made from Sour Cream..it's yummy (once you get over the smell of the pork skins :lol: )

Pat, also don't keep away from McDonalds! there quarter-pounders and other burgers are great for this diet..just throw away the roll and ask for no ketschup :D I LOVE (and find it very filling) Burger Kings Double Bacon Cheesburger! get it about once a week when ds wants fast food. :lol:

Don't want to sound nasty or anything, but if you don't want to get the Keto sticks (I test mine at work because we routinely do urinalysis')..you can just look at your urine to see if you are in Ketosis/liposis..you can literally see the fat molecules :eek: also, you may be able to tell by a sweet odor eminating from you..that's how I knew when I was in ketosis then confirmed it with a u/a.

Good luck!

Posted: Jul 10, 2003 7:57 am
by patsue53
Thanks Connie! What a great bunch of tips! I just posted the Readi Whip idea on another thread...my girlfriend passed that on to me. I havn't tried it yet, but it's a great idea.......and I didn't know it came in CHOCOLATE!!!

Jeezzz.......a BURGER KING BACON CHEESEBURGER! Why didn't I think of that??? YUMMMMMMMMMMMM

I'm leaving today for my mini-vacation. I'm going to try to be good, but I'm NOT going to spend the weekend obsessing about carbs. My siblings and I have an annual reunion weekend and I just wanna have fun and not worry about carbs and other daily trials and tribs. :lol:

Posted: Sep 30, 2003 8:40 pm
by doublemom2
Burger King Triple cheeseburgers - throw away the bun. Yummy!!!!

Andi

Posted: Oct 12, 2003 6:48 pm
by newtohosta-no more
My boss, his wife, and another co-worker all started the Atkins diet about a month ago. My boss is doing great! He read the book and understands the theory behind it. He has lost about 30 lbs so far. His wife lost about 12 or 13 lbs. but then fell off the wagon, so to speak, and has decided to do Weight Watchers instead. My other co-worker has lost about 8 lbs. and she obsessed so much over the first two weeks when she only lost a couple pounds that I was ready to strangle her!!! :lol: She kept calling the 1-800 # to ask their "advice" when she was having trouble losing. She was sticking to the diet, but she kept getting conflicting advice from these Atkins people when she would call. I suggested to her that maybe this wasn't the diet for her, so when she asked the Atkins people they said "Oh no!! Don't go off the diet!! Read the book...buy these products...etc...." :lol: I told her "of course they are going to NOT tell you to get off the diet" Sheesh! Anyway, she called them so much that I think they now have her phone number memorized on their caller ID and now argue amongst themselves who has to answer her call. :lol: I would like to lose about ten pounds myself, but I know that the Atkins diet is not for me. I just need to get myself motivated again, start an exercise regime and then just watch what I eat. I'll start.....someday. :lol:

Posted: Dec 12, 2003 8:29 am
by Linda P
Hello, everyone! How are you all doing with Atkins? I've been on low-carbs since the first of September, and I'm down 33 lbs so far. It's hard to stick with it during the holidays, and I cheated over Thanksgiving some (cooking is the worst! I cook by tasting, not by recipes...so that's a real diet killer!) and went back up a few pounds for a week, but then it came right back off and I was on track again. Those low-carb tortillas are a life-saver! I just tried the 'Counting Carbs' bread this week, and it isn't bad. I keep it in the fridge so it will stay fresh longer. Yesterday I used my carbs for the day on a grilled-cheese sandwich made with it! Yum! I've used this type of diet in the past, and it's the only thing that works well for me. A good deal of the weight that I need to lose came from 'stress eating' over the last couple of years, and I swear that my aunt's scalloped potatoes with ham accounted for at least 15 pounds of it! She brought that over twice a week for our family when my sister and I were taking care of Mom at home on Hospice, and Mom's best friend brought Texas Sheet Cake at least that often. My sister is doing low-carb, too, and she's lost about 15 pounds. We are both 5' 10" tall, so we can carry a little extra weight without it being noticed, but it also takes a while for it to show when we're going the other way!
So, check in, ladies...how's it going?
Linda P

Posted: Feb 15, 2004 10:18 pm
by Doris_J
Hello, ladies! I'm still doing it, but I've been able to add back some carbs, since so much time has passed (I started in April of last year, and I've lost 30 pounds). I'm where I want to be, so now, I just want to maintain the weight, which has actually been pretty easy now.

Love those tortillas!

Posted: Mar 02, 2004 8:15 am
by Linda P
Good for you, Doris! I've lost just another 8 pounds. I decided that I'd better slow down to a pound or so a week. I'd like to keep going for another 20 pounds or so. I know that I'll lose 10 just getting out side when I can garden again. I'll have a big problem when it comes to the summer wardrobe, because all my summer clothes will be 3 sizes too big!
Linda P

Posted: Jun 30, 2004 3:27 pm
by Sweetpea
Wow! You ladies are inspirational!

I am on day 8 of the Atkins and am down 7 pounds. I have done it a couple of times over the last 4 years and I find it's the only diet that works for me. But I do have difficulty going the distance and tend to lose half to one stone (urg, sorry - I am in the UK - that's 7 to 14 pounds) and then something happens.....and irrisistable dinner invitation, a big bowl of mashed potato...etc.! lol! and then I've lost momentum and fall off the low carb wagon.

The Advantage bars have only recently arrived in the UK and my nearest stockist is 20 miles away! :roll: , but I tried the choc wafer and it's delicious! I left the other bar I bought (choc indulgence) on my bedside cabinet and didn't shut my door properly when I went out. When I got home, the dogs had kindly left me the wrapper! :???:

Is anyone else just starting or still on the Atkins?

Posted: Aug 03, 2004 8:10 pm
by MAC_MN
Hi Sweetpea,
Sorry I'm not one of the ladies :( , but I've been on the Aikins for 15 months. I hit my target weight faster than I should have but have been at the weight I wanted to be at for 1 year now. :P
Lost a total of 40 lbs. I was overweight, but "looked" like a pretty normal middle aged guy, most of the extra weight was around the waist. :D
I still watch the amount of carbs that I eat, it has been a lifestyle change but not that big of a change.
I used to "preach" to people and finally realized that I was becoming a carb bore.
All I can say is that the diet really worked for me and is still working! Blood pressure and transfats, LDL, and HDL all went in the right direction. My doctor wasn't too wild about it, but said hey its really working for you.

Good luck on your diet!!
MAC