Thread: Can I join you lovely people?

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would quickly introduce myself as I am starting on Atkins / low carb tomorrow

I am 23 and cannot remember a time in my life when I have not been on the dieting merry-go-round. I was a 'podgey' child, certainly not fat, but even at primary school I remember being very concerned about my weight. My first diet was when I was 10 / 11 where my parents encouraged me to cut out rubbish and eat more fruit, but I was already at that point secretly weighing myself. I spent the next 6 years swinging between gorging on sweet stuff when no-one was looking, to going all day at school without food and just eating evening meal with my parents.

At 15, I Joined WW, didn't follow the diet, and instead starved myself, refusing to eat more than 500cals a day. Then I regained it. then I lost it. then i regained it.... etc. As a result, my weights over the past 8 years has swung from 12stone4 to 7stone 13.

This summer, I married my childhood sweetheart, who loves me for me and has stood by me through both ends of the weight spectrum. The motivation of getting into a wedding dress saw me join slimming world, and then move to weight watchers, and I steadily lost 3stones over 18 months. I thought I had finally cracked my weight problems through being 'sensible' and not putting unrealistic demands on my body and I felt like a princcess on our wedding day in a fitted fishtaily style dress, size 10, but even then needed taking in!!!! (never in a million years did i think this would happen!) Unfortunately, I have gone off the rails since the wedding, and have re-gained 10lbs. Granted, not loads, but I am short and petite, so it shows. I feel like I never kicked my carb / sugar habits, and as such now I am craving them more than ever. Also, my IBS has come back - partly due to stress, partly food. I have started my teacher training this year, and have been in the habit of grabbing a croissant / sandwich / crisps between lessons. Now, I understand that a low carb diet can really help with IBS symptoms, so I am going to try and kill two birds with one stone. I want to get the 10lbs off, but I don't mind it being slow so long as I am learning new habits and kicking my 'addiction' to junky carbs at the same time. What I really don't want to happen is to use Atkins to shift the weight, only to return to my old eating habits. I have been reading these forums with interest, and the book, and really do hope I too can look at a table of buffet food and think, 'you know what, I'm not interested'

Anyway, because I have less than a stone to lose, apparently, I should start in OWL, I am just going to try and keep my carbs under 20g for two weeks, then re-assess from there. Should mean I won't need to stick so strictly to induction foods, but I will still be incorporating lots of veg (I do really enjoy veg - the lack of fruit may be a problem for me though, as most days I eat at least 6 pieces of fruit, hmmmm...)

So, thats a bit about me - thought I would introduce myself as no doubt I will have plenty of questions over the coming weeks / months. I really want this to become a way of life for me

have a lovely Sunday everyone! xx

Hi , and good luck, i used to be a carb addict - still slip up sometimes but weight keeps on going down, very very happy on this diet and i really feel it has helped me overcome my sugar addiction. Love Atkins.

Thats great to hear maybe there is hope for me yet! x

Ketosis is like a 'miracle' for reducing appetite and need for sweet / carby stuff. Give it a full week where you stick to plan no matter what and you will be rewarded with a zen like state of calm around the carby stuff .

Hi Mrs B, it amazed me how quickly I just didn't feel hungry, realised I could be low carb for life and actually enjoy turning down the sugary carby stuff I get offered!
Anyway, good luck and I'm looking forward to chatting along the way.

Again, great to hear! You two have done brilliantly

How long did it take you to get into the swing of it, if you don't mind me asking? Any tips for keeping the headaches / lethargy at bay? I have read lots of water and salt, but thats all I can find...

Having never really tried low carb before (apart from the three days between hen do and wedding, lol!) I must admit to feeling a bit skeptical about some of it, but I am really hopeful that I will be proven wrong, and all you lovely people on here are testament to it!
x

It took about 5-7 days I think, I was jet lagged at the time so not too sure what was what as far as the 'Atkins flu' went. I had 2 cups of bouillon every day , still do when needed, because you really do need the salt. Also, I drink 3-4 litres water every day. Just take a couple paracetamol and drink more water if you get a headache.

Hi there! First of all, congratulations on deciding to ditch the carbs. It will reward you so much with weight loss, feeling 'cleaner' (as mad as that sounds) and just feeling so much better overall.

I ditched carbs in August of this year and haven't looked back. Iv lost 2 stone so far and I'm on a bit of a plateau right now, but I will never revert back to my old eating habits.

I had the usual headaches in the beginning but nothing that a couple of paracetamol wouldn't sort. I also suffered a bit with achey muscles (but crampy) but I just upped my salt intake.

Once you break through the initial few 'side effects' of your body ridding itself of carbs, I promise you will feel fantastic.

Some people get the 'fantastic energetic' feeling after a few days, some after a week, but with me it was about 4 or 5 weeks until I felt super energetic and had a wonderful 'clean' feeling inside. That feeling is better than any bag of crisps, cake etc etc

Good luck x

You should start a diary in the diary thread

Thanks I might just do that x

There are a lot of people on this board who have lost 5-7 stone and are keeping it off (some only pop in occasionally now) so you'll certainly find proof of how well it can work. I've lost 3 stone so far myself.

Re: fruits - rhubarb is technically a vegetable, it's low carb, great for induction, great for keeping you regular and great stewed with a little sweetener.

As you're starting on owl you can also have berries - raspberries, blueberries, strawberries - just count the carbs in what you have as they do add up.

Hi, welcome and good luck! My weight loss has been quite slow, two stone since Feb I would like to lose 7lb more but very happy with loss to date. I eat around 40g -50g carbs a day and regularly eat blueberries, raspberries , strawberries and rhubarb. There is loads of support on these threads so just holla when you need any advise

Hi and welcome to atkins, the first few days are the hardest, but once the carbs in your body have been used up the cravings will go and your appetite will reduce, so my advice for the first week is just to eat when you are hungry and don't worry too much about the calories and make sure you are having enough day. Good luck

Thank you for your advice

Today hasn't been as hard as I thought, however, not sure I am doing it right. Well, I know I'm not if I am supposed to be hitting 5% carb, 35%protein, 60% fat...

Have tracked through myfitnesspal, and fat is only just higher than protein. I would really appreciate it if anyone has any advice?

Thanks,

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein
Tesco - Medium Free Range Egg, 3 egg	264	0	8	9
Cheese - Cheddar, 1 oz	114	0	9	7
Tesco - Spring Onion (Salad Onion), 25 gms	6	1	0	1
Add Food Quick Tools	384	1	17	17
Lunch
Tesco - Fresh Salmon Fillets, 1 fillet	235	0	16	23
Tesco - Seasonal British Baby Leaf Salad, 42.5 g	38	1	0	1
Cheese - Cheddar, 1 oz	114	0	9	7
Tesco Finest - Coleslaw 100g, 100 g	290	4	29	1
Add Food Quick Tools	677	5	54	32
Dinner
Anchor - Butter 10g, 10 g	146	0	16	0
Tesco - Green Beans, 50 g	13	2	0	1
Tesco - Brocolli, Fresh, 100 g	30	2	1	4
Maille - Wholegrain Mustard, 10 grams (1 tablespoon)	16	1	1	1
Mushrooms - Raw, 4 medium	16	2	0	2
Tesco - Creme Fraiche, 60 ml	177	2	18	1
Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, 1 breast, bone and skin removed	284	0	6	53
Add Food Quick Tools	682	9	42	62
Snacks
Wrigleys - Extra Cool Breeze Chewing Gum, 1 pellets	0	0	0	0
Sainsbury's - Diet Indian Tonic Water With Lime, 250 ml	3	0	0	0
Add Food Quick Tools	3	0	0	0
Totals	1,746	15	113	111
Your Daily Goal	1,200	165	40	45
Remaining	-546	150	-73	-66

I know it's been a week... but i wanted to say, that it's not worth sweating over the tiniest details here. The carb value is the most important out of everything, as long as that is under your daily allowance i wouldn't worry too much. If you want to increase fat you could just try adding a little extra butter / mayonnaise / oil / cream to your food, and/or cutting down the portions of proteins a little, something which i find naturally happens after a good few weeks on Atkins as your appetite decreases. To be honest i never really pay attention to my fat and protein proportions, and i've never had problems losing. When i do look at it on mfp i generally see huge variations, some days i eat mostly protein, other days i get good ratios, it comes and goes. My weight loss is usually directly related to how many carbs i have eaten (or not eaten) that week.