Nelle's Atkins for Life

Ne!!ie

Member
I've been lurking here for a week or so now, had read through several diaries, and have been very impressed by the honesty and support I've found on this forum. So I've decided to chronicle my own Atkins journey.

A bit about me: I'm American, but have lived in the southwest of England since 2004. I've been on and off diets since the age of 13 and have tried almost every diet out there. Most recently I was on the Cambridge Diet, where I lost and regained the same 15 lbs for the past two years. Cambridge is great but it greatly interfered with my social life. The entire time I was doing the CD I thought about Atkins and how much I could eat on a low carb plan. But it wasn't until I was in the states after Christmas and picked up a copy of Gary Taub's book, Good Calories, Bad Calories which helped me to understand the science behind the low carb WOE that convinced me that Atkins is not a diet but a way of life.

It's a bit scary, but I'm trusting you all will support and guide me on my way, and in turn I will endeavour to do the same. So here I go..........
 
Hi and thanks for checking in with me. It's rather daunting to see myself out here--I'm not accustomed to opening myself to the public. It will get easier, I'm sure.
 
B: 2 eggs fried in butter plus 4 strips streaky bacon
L: 4 chipolatas and a cup of purple sprouting broccoli
S: 30 grams pistachios
D: salmon and green salad with caesar dressing
sugar free jelly & cream (yum!)
W: lots and lots
A: none today (saving up for tomorrow's Valentine's dinner)

A good day, I think!
 
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Happy Valentines Day! Today is the anniversary of the day I met my husband 28 years ago. That's almost half my life! We have a celebratory dinner planned at a lovely foodie pub that specialises in seafood. They also sell champagne by the glass--great idea so that we can have champers and wine with dinner (and not have to finish two bottles! So I'm resolved to eat very cleanly during the day so to have some leeway at dinner tonight.

B: 3 small eggs plus with spinach and 3 slices of bacon

Yesterday I thought I had done really well but this morning the scales said I had gained 1.8 lbs. And if that wasn't bad enough, I turned the scales off then on again and I had gone up another .2 lbs! I read somewhere that changing the batteries on the scales might help. I need to do something--my weight this morning is up to 210 again! I know I'm not supposed to look at daily scales but even looking at the week I think I've stayed the same or even gained. Generally I stick to induction, but I did have a rather heavy carb day (about 45 gms) on Sunday, with wine and 1.5 Atkins bars. The ketostix next morning said I was in ketosis (although slight). Not sure what to do.

Should I be counting calories in addition to carbs? Yesterday I had some chipolata sausages--would that have done it?

Mini goal: > 200 lbs by Easter

Methods: Limit wine to special occasions (i.e. not daily)
Stay away from all LC products (Atkins bars etc), nuts and sausages

Any guidance and/or suggestions are welcome.
 
:eek:Posting to add my new ticker--not sure where it went, so trying again. Oh yes, seems like I've done it, and pretty too!
 
Hi and welcome! I am only on my first week (2nd/3rd time around) and i too saw a gain yesterday when i weighed myself! I really am trying to not weigh daily....im hoping on friday it will be a good loss!
I think your weight can fluctuate with water retention/not going to the loo etc!

I hope you enjoy your valentines dinner today! :)
 
Hi Nellie and welcome
How lovely that you met your hubby on valentines day and have been together so long!
Good luck and enjoy your evening x
 
:)Good morning and thank you all for your kind comments.

Our valentines dinner was wonderful and mostly on plan. Starter was a scallop cooked in its shell with some salad. For mains I had duck breast with savoy cabbage, and instead of the mash they gave me steamed kale (which I didn't really need because I was rather full from the cabbage). For pudding my husband ordered a rhubarb plate that included rhubarb crumble, rhubarb panna cotta, and rhubarb sorbet. When I said I would only have a bite of his panna cotta, he decided it was too small to share and ordered me one of my own. So my one off plan item was a small panna cotta which initially tasted so sweet I wasn't sure I would eat it, but I can't resist the lovely creamy texture, so of course I ate it. For drinks we had lovely champagne, followed by two glasses of sauvignon blanc. In ketosis still this morning, but barely.

Weight still up this morning, but I'm trying not to get discouraged. I went to Holland & Barratt yesterday and picked up some Linwood organic milled flaxseed and made my first mim. What a treat! and it filled me up. Next I will try making it in the oven, once I work out the recipe for that. Any help with this would be appreciated.

I'm off to art class now--I'm learning to paint in oils--then for a dog walk. I'm hoping my breakfast of a mim will be sufficient to hold me till lunch. Maybe I should have lunch first and walk the dogs after. Weather looks iffy at present, so will wait and see. I enjoy walking in misty rain but don't like getting soaked.

Nelle
 
Damn Yanks LOL, Hi Nellie and welcome, whereabouts in wiltshire are you, I was stationed in Wilton when i was a Soldier, we loved Salisbury. Good luck and I'll be following your diary.
 
Jim, thank you. You are a huge inspiration and presence here. I look forward to knowing you.

Yes, I'm a yank (from east coast) but every time I return to the states I feel like a foreigner. I'm even accused of having a british accent! (by those who have never been here). We live very near Wilton, in Tisbury. Do you know it? We've a large military presence here, retired mostly. Yesterday and today we are listening to the guns firing on Salisbury plain. They make the ground shake. I'm told it means they are preparing for a new conflict, which I hope that's not the case. Were you career military?
 
Hi Nelle and welcome:). My mum came over from boston over 50 years ago. British say she sounds american and americans say she sounds british - gotta roll with it;)
 
Thanks for the welcome Katie. Interesting about accents--I forget I have an accent until I talk to another American. I do love living here, and can't envision moving back to the states. Where would we walk the dogs?

My diet today has been transformed by my discovery of the mim. Not sure how many one should have in a day - I've had three! I raved about them to the point that my (thin) husband wanted one too, so I made him one to have with his tea. So the mim gets 4 thumbs up from us

B: mim and coffee
L: mim and sirloin steak with raw celery
S: mim with butter
D: plaice fillet, broccoli, mixed green salad with red pepper and caesar dressing
W: lots
A: none
E: dog walk 1 1/2 hrs

I'm loving this website and this way of eating. Now if only the weight loss would follow-
 
Hello Nelle and welcome... Sorry it's taken me a while to get to your diary !!

You should have no more than one or a half mim a day... Moderation is the key word ... They are great though and so versatile!

Good luck with your journey x
 
Morning Nelle, oh yes I know Tisbury, just off the A30 near Shaftsbury, pretty little place.

I was indeed love, I did 25 years in the Army. I loved it, well mostly. Can't say I've heard any rumours about a new conflict, but we used salisbury plain a lot when I was in.
 
Good evening all.

Hello Di, and thank you for the welcome and good words of advice. Moderation is something I need to learn. I'm more of an all or nothing kind of eater, and do well on diets like Cambridge where I have to abstain from food entirely. Today I went totally off the rails trying all the yummy Atkins products, cream etc and ended up throwing the lot in the bin. I made the cheeseburger pie just to use up the remainder of the cheese. I think I need to keep away from recipes, mims included, and keep to meat and veg. Too much creativity is not a good thing at the moment.

Jim, more thunder on the plain today, making four days in a row of serious training. Lots of helicopters too. Preparedness for the sake of it? Hope so.

I had a singing lesson this morning, which was wonderful. And I can't stuff my face while I'm singing!
 
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Morning Nelle, maybe it's a battalion preparing to go to the 'stans.
 
Better day today.
B: bacon & coffee
L: Seafood stew
S: Mim
D: cauliflower & cheese
S: two squares very dark chocolate
W: Lots
A: none
E: none--knee bunged again and very painful. I must get this weight OFF or face another knee op.

On a brighter note: Bought tickets for Mallorca after Easter.
 
Morning Nelle, your off on Holiday then, sounds nice love. :)
 
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