Atkins: The Diet I Never Thought I'd Try
- Thread starter Canadian
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Canadian
Full Member
It looks too complicated for me. I'm just beginning to wrap my head around Atkins - the thought of studying a new set of rules makes me want to scream! 
Today was a day off and I feel 90% back to normal, thank God. I didn't binge but I ate enough carbs to kick myself out of ketosis, no question about it. It sounds like some people have an awful time switching between high and low carb, but so far I'm not having any bad effects. I didn't get the carb flu when I started induction either, so maybe I'm just lucky that way. Tomorrow I will go back on induction. If my heartburn/acid reflux/whatever it is symptoms come back I'll need to try something else - I'm leaning toward carb cycling - but for now I'm going to give Atkins another chance.
Today was a day off and I feel 90% back to normal, thank God. I didn't binge but I ate enough carbs to kick myself out of ketosis, no question about it. It sounds like some people have an awful time switching between high and low carb, but so far I'm not having any bad effects. I didn't get the carb flu when I started induction either, so maybe I'm just lucky that way. Tomorrow I will go back on induction. If my heartburn/acid reflux/whatever it is symptoms come back I'll need to try something else - I'm leaning toward carb cycling - but for now I'm going to give Atkins another chance.
Canadian
Full Member
Alright, back at it. I'm going to do another two weeks of induction, which will take me to the end of the month. When I call it induction maybe that's not completely accurate because:
- This time around I will be sticking to the induction rules and foods except I'm not going to restrict my veggies to 3 cups. It's only my opinion but I feel like veggies have so many health benefits that limiting them doesn't make sense. Knowing that others who have been successful with this WOE haven't necessarily followed that rule helped me make up my mind.
- I'm not going to worry about hitting 1500 calories per day or eating enough fat. I will eat until I'm satisfied and that's it...no adding coconut oil or butter if I don't want it. My focus will be solely on carb intake and staying in ketosis. After all, if I'm not hitting my fat intake % according to MFP it's not like I'll starve...my body has 60+ lbs of extra fat to feast on!
So maybe what I will be doing isn't exactly Atkins, I don't know. But the book certainly helped give me a crash course on carbs and I'm still very much relying on the rules of induction. My goal here is to stay in ketosis to suppress my appetite and cravings, which in turn will make it easier to eat fewer calories. I'm taking this on a week-by-week basis, and in June I may or may not make some changes. When that time comes, I'm going to use the Atkins phases as a guide to help keep me from falling back into old habits.
- This time around I will be sticking to the induction rules and foods except I'm not going to restrict my veggies to 3 cups. It's only my opinion but I feel like veggies have so many health benefits that limiting them doesn't make sense. Knowing that others who have been successful with this WOE haven't necessarily followed that rule helped me make up my mind.
- I'm not going to worry about hitting 1500 calories per day or eating enough fat. I will eat until I'm satisfied and that's it...no adding coconut oil or butter if I don't want it. My focus will be solely on carb intake and staying in ketosis. After all, if I'm not hitting my fat intake % according to MFP it's not like I'll starve...my body has 60+ lbs of extra fat to feast on!
So maybe what I will be doing isn't exactly Atkins, I don't know. But the book certainly helped give me a crash course on carbs and I'm still very much relying on the rules of induction. My goal here is to stay in ketosis to suppress my appetite and cravings, which in turn will make it easier to eat fewer calories. I'm taking this on a week-by-week basis, and in June I may or may not make some changes. When that time comes, I'm going to use the Atkins phases as a guide to help keep me from falling back into old habits.
Canadian
Full Member
Bumping myself out of ketosis made me pretty hungry today. No cravings, just hunger. I'm also very irritable...more than usual, I mean. That may or may not be the diet's doing! I can still faintly feel heart palpitations and other unusual sensations sometimes which is concerning. I think and hope the worst of it is over, but I thought I'd be back to normal by now. This all started five days ago and it's made for an awfully stressful week.
Food so far today:
Half a can of turkey with a small amount of mayo mixed in
Salad with field greens, cheddar cheese, salsa and sour cream
Two cups of hot tea with cream
An omelet with 1 egg, liquid egg whites, onion, feta and green olives
Still working on the water - am a long way off from my 8 glasses but will be sure to get there
Right now I'm sitting at just over 1000 calories, 12g net carbs, 52g of protein, 82g of fat and 13g of sugar from the veggies, egg and olives. I will probably have something else before bed.
Updated to add I hit my 8 glasses of water (I think - I kind of lost track today) and ate some more salad this evening.
That may or may not be the diet's doing! I can still faintly feel heart palpitations and other unusual sensations sometimes which is concerning. I think and hope the worst of it is over, but I thought I'd be back to normal by now. This all started five days ago and it's made for an awfully stressful week. Food so far today:
Half a can of turkey with a small amount of mayo mixed in
Salad with field greens, cheddar cheese, salsa and sour cream
Two cups of hot tea with cream
An omelet with 1 egg, liquid egg whites, onion, feta and green olives
Still working on the water - am a long way off from my 8 glasses but will be sure to get there
Right now I'm sitting at just over 1000 calories, 12g net carbs, 52g of protein, 82g of fat and 13g of sugar from the veggies, egg and olives. I will probably have something else before bed.
Updated to add I hit my 8 glasses of water (I think - I kind of lost track today) and ate some more salad this evening.
Last edited:
coffeelover
Gold Member
Good luck with new plan and more veggies are a good thing. x
Canadian
Full Member
Hope everyone had a good day!
It was beautiful here so I spent a few hours in the garden and got some things planted. I love this time of year!
There's still a tightness in my chest that I can't explain and I occasionally still feel palpitations. Last night I noticed I'm unable to take a reaaaally deep breath, and when lying in bed, some positions (left side and stomach) are more comfortable than others. To me it feels like inflammation or an infection of some sort, but I'm only guessing. Since it doesn't seem to be getting worse I'll just keep an eye on it. I'm not rushing out to the doctor because in my experience, trying to get answers about mystery ailments is often an exercise in futility! So for now I'm just going to take it easy and hope for the best.
Brunch today was two chicken hot dogs wrapped in lettuce leaves with hard cheddar cheese, mustard and a spoonful of salsa.
For dinner I've made a salad with field greens, lettuce, tomato, feta, green olives and walnuts (I decided to add a few nuts back in). I've also made a casserole with cauliflower, sour cream, cheddar, onion, a sprinkle of onion soup mix and butter. It's a variation of another recipe I like that's presently off limits. It's baking now and smells really good!
If I'm not back in ketosis yet I imagine it will happen any time now. Aside from the strange symptoms I mentioned I feel perfectly fine - no carb flu! Enjoy the rest of the weekend! It's a long weekend here - I think I heard it's also a long weekend in the UK, is that right?
It was beautiful here so I spent a few hours in the garden and got some things planted. I love this time of year!
There's still a tightness in my chest that I can't explain and I occasionally still feel palpitations. Last night I noticed I'm unable to take a reaaaally deep breath, and when lying in bed, some positions (left side and stomach) are more comfortable than others. To me it feels like inflammation or an infection of some sort, but I'm only guessing. Since it doesn't seem to be getting worse I'll just keep an eye on it. I'm not rushing out to the doctor because in my experience, trying to get answers about mystery ailments is often an exercise in futility! So for now I'm just going to take it easy and hope for the best.
Brunch today was two chicken hot dogs wrapped in lettuce leaves with hard cheddar cheese, mustard and a spoonful of salsa.
For dinner I've made a salad with field greens, lettuce, tomato, feta, green olives and walnuts (I decided to add a few nuts back in). I've also made a casserole with cauliflower, sour cream, cheddar, onion, a sprinkle of onion soup mix and butter. It's a variation of another recipe I like that's presently off limits. It's baking now and smells really good!
If I'm not back in ketosis yet I imagine it will happen any time now. Aside from the strange symptoms I mentioned I feel perfectly fine - no carb flu! Enjoy the rest of the weekend! It's a long weekend here - I think I heard it's also a long weekend in the UK, is that right?
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ladyfelsham
Back to SW again
Soooo glad you're feeling better now hun!
coffeelover
Gold Member
Good to hear your feeling better. x
Canadian
Full Member
Morning all!
Today I weighed in at 205lbs which is what I was before my cheat day. I think I'm down around half a pound or so. Considering how much I ate yesterday I'll take it! The one effect of the cheat day I've really noticed is that my hunger is no longer subdued. Yesterday I was as hungry as ever and ended up eating a whole bunch of salad. That being said, this morning I can tell I'm definitely back in ketosis and I think my hunger has been curbed again, so that's good.
I'm really loving having a peanut butter smoothie for breakfast. I will happily eat breakfast foods like bacon and eggs later in the day but don't love them for breakfast. For me a smoothie is far more appetizing and it helps me bring my calories for the day up to a better number too. The label on my peanut butter says 3g net carbs and 1g sugar which seems fine, but in the ingredients it lists sugar and corn syrup. Should I be buying the all natural (and not nearly as tasty) peanut butter from the health food store instead, or is what I'm doing okay? I suppose the answer to my own question is to watch the scale as everyone is affected differently...
Today I weighed in at 205lbs which is what I was before my cheat day. I think I'm down around half a pound or so. Considering how much I ate yesterday I'll take it! The one effect of the cheat day I've really noticed is that my hunger is no longer subdued. Yesterday I was as hungry as ever and ended up eating a whole bunch of salad. That being said, this morning I can tell I'm definitely back in ketosis and I think my hunger has been curbed again, so that's good.
I'm really loving having a peanut butter smoothie for breakfast. I will happily eat breakfast foods like bacon and eggs later in the day but don't love them for breakfast. For me a smoothie is far more appetizing and it helps me bring my calories for the day up to a better number too. The label on my peanut butter says 3g net carbs and 1g sugar which seems fine, but in the ingredients it lists sugar and corn syrup. Should I be buying the all natural (and not nearly as tasty) peanut butter from the health food store instead, or is what I'm doing okay? I suppose the answer to my own question is to watch the scale as everyone is affected differently...
Canadian
Full Member
This morning I woke up feeling strange again! It isn't as bad this time but there's definitely a tightness in my chest. It could very well be heartburn this time as I ate quite late and should have drank more water last night. I got up, drank a bottle of water and took an antacid. I'm comfortable enough but can't ignore the fact that something still doesn't feel quite right.
Tomorrow will be one month since I started induction. I know I'm not insulin resistant as I lost 9lbs during the first two weeks. But as of yesterday I'm sitting at 205lbs - only 7lbs down for the entire month I've been at this. I can't help but feel disappointed as everything I read made it sound like my initial weight loss would be more substantial than that.
I haven't cheated - aside from the one planned cheat day - and I'm not overeating. I should be dropping weight simply due to the fact that I have an 800+ calorie deficit per day. I keep thinking and hoping it will happen once my body gets the memo I've changed the way I'm eating, but I'll admit I'm getting impatient. According to my doctor I do have a "sluggish" thyroid, but I've never had problems dropping weight in the past. As long as I would stick with something, the weight would come off consistently - my problem was always discipline!
Between the disappointingly slow weight loss and strange heart/chest issues, I'm beginning to think it's time to ease myself out of induction. I'd wanted to stay in it until I lost a good chunk of weight, but now I'm having second thoughts. I will continue with this way of eating until the end of the month, but if I still haven't seen a good loss by then, I think I may move to the next phase of Atkins.
Tomorrow will be one month since I started induction. I know I'm not insulin resistant as I lost 9lbs during the first two weeks. But as of yesterday I'm sitting at 205lbs - only 7lbs down for the entire month I've been at this. I can't help but feel disappointed as everything I read made it sound like my initial weight loss would be more substantial than that.
I haven't cheated - aside from the one planned cheat day - and I'm not overeating. I should be dropping weight simply due to the fact that I have an 800+ calorie deficit per day. I keep thinking and hoping it will happen once my body gets the memo I've changed the way I'm eating, but I'll admit I'm getting impatient. According to my doctor I do have a "sluggish" thyroid, but I've never had problems dropping weight in the past. As long as I would stick with something, the weight would come off consistently - my problem was always discipline!
Between the disappointingly slow weight loss and strange heart/chest issues, I'm beginning to think it's time to ease myself out of induction. I'd wanted to stay in it until I lost a good chunk of weight, but now I'm having second thoughts. I will continue with this way of eating until the end of the month, but if I still haven't seen a good loss by then, I think I may move to the next phase of Atkins.
Canadian
Full Member
One thing I should note is I'm not exercising nearly as much as I should be. In fact once the palpitations started I got scared and backed right off the working out. On the days I feel normal (me, normal? HA!) I really should get back at it, not only for weight loss but also for general overall health. So it's not accurate for me to say I've tried everything to get the scale moving. I really ought to try consistent exercise before dismissing induction, I guess.
