Bess's Atkins Diary - all advice and comments very welcome!

[Bess]

Dear Diary,

I started Atkins yesterday and have decided that it would be a good idea to post my food on here for a few days so that fellow Atkins's (?) can offer advice, support and encouragement - and check I'm doing it right.

So, breakfast today - bacon, 2 eggs, fried in a little olive oil and a fried yellow pepper. Redbush tea.

Lunch - (out, swish restaurant for work!)
Salmon mousse, smoked salmon,salad starter. Rib eye steak with melted stilton and a few french beans ( didn't want to stand out so picked the best of carrots, potatoes and beans.) I refused pudding which was my all time favourite of creme brulee , decaf coffee, black.

Lots of water.

Snacks - roast pork, olives and 2 perreroni (0.6gms carbs each.)

Will post supper later.
Checked for ketosis this morning, which I know was a bit early - not in it yet.

 

[Bess]

Adding to the above: Supper: Peppers stuffed with minced beef, leeks, garlic and mushrooms topped with mozzarella and salad. Coffee and cream.

All ok?

 

[British_Claire_84]

Hate to be the bearer of bad new Bess but carrots, potatoes, peppers n leeks are all quite high carb. Leeks n peppers are ok in moderation. Have you counted up all the carbs you've had today??

 

[abz]

hey bess. welcome and good luck.

your food looks lovely, but it may be a tad carby as claire says. it depends on how much of everything you had

well done on resisting dessert

abz xx

 

[Jim]

Bess, have you read my stickie "So You're thinking of starting Atkins"?

 

[Bess]

Hate to be the bearer of bad new Bess but carrots, potatoes, peppers n leeks are all quite high carb. Leeks n peppers are ok in moderation. Have you counted up all the carbs you've had today??

I didn't eat any potatoes or carrots Claire, just a tiny spoonful of beans so I didn't draw attention to myself. There was probably 1/5th of a leek in my stuffed pepper and I'd eaten 3 peppers in total yesterday. I had another look at the Atkins book last night and can't find the bit about counting carbs, please can you tell me where it is? And it's up to 20gms a day right? Is 'up to' ok, or did I read somewhere that it should be 20gms?

Bess, have you read my stickie "So You're thinking of starting Atkins"?

Oh yes, all the way through before I started. V. helpful. I'll have another look later to make sure I haven't missed anything.

Breakfast: fried bacon, Shropshire Blue (like Stilton) cheese omlette. Redbush tea, black. I fried it in olive oil and butter - I just can't get used to this, I normally use a smear of olive oil to fry anything - nearly dry frying really.

Not in ketosis yet. And feeling quite full around the tum. Clothes feeling tighter too, just about to get on scales (mistake?) bit worried about all this......
please reassure me. :wave_cry:

 

[abz]

you weigh AFTER breakfast? you are one brave lady i'm naked, after a wee, first thing on a morning, hee.

you won't be in ketosis until at least day three honey. so just go with the flow for now. as long as you stay below 20g carbs per day you will be fine. at least 15g of that should be through veg.

abz xx

 

[Jim]

I'm with abz here love, you should weigh in first thing in the morning before you eat anything. Your weight can fluctuate by anything up to 3lbs in a day. You;ll do fine, I know it's really hard to get your head around it at first love.

 

[Bess]

Thankyou all so much.

I haven't got on the scales yet, it's just that my loose clothes feel a bit tighter.

Lunch: Salad of lettuce, watercress, cucumber,celery and 2 cherry tomatoes with smoked mackerel (ok?) and feta. Redbush tea. Water, water everywhere.

Thanks Laura, I'll try the ketostix after supper tonight. I used one this morning and it was just a little bit pinker than nothing, but that could have been wishful thinking!!

This diet is lovely, I'm really enjoying the food and not at all hungry - quite a novel feeling after 6 months on the Cambridge diet! Just hoping to feel/see some results soon, for reassurance mainly.

I don't usually have a sweet tooth at all, but I really fancy something sweet at night. I'm looking forward to later in the diet when I can have a few berries with cream! And, I think, a whisky and soda? That right?

 

[abz]

hey hon. remember that after being on cd you may not lose for the first week as your body will also have the weight of food in it, whereas it wouldn't have done before. but don't lose heart. keep at it. it really does work

i have gin and slimline tonic. i know that normal tonic water has loads of carbs in it. i'm not sure about soda water... i know it can be sweetened on occasion, but usually that's if it has added lime.

 

[Jim]

Soda Water Nutrition Information - Low Carb

 

[abz]

ha. looks safe then bess

 

[Bess]

Right, I've counted my carbs and I think it's about 18. Found the carb counter in the back of the book! It didn't mention Brazil nuts tho'. I'd like to know.
Supper: cabbage, 3 sausages (2.6gms of carbs in total) and mushrooms.
Coffee and cream to follow.
How long have you been doing Atkins then Abz? I read a lot of your posts on the CD board when I first started - what made you change?

 

[Bess]

Woo Hoo! ketosis!! As Laura suggested, I tested last night and it's so pink!!!!!!
Bad taste in mouth not too noticable (I hope!) I always brush my tongue, so maybe that helps.........Or maybe my family are just too polite to mention it!?

I checked the scales this morning, and I don't weigh any more.....I wonder why these jeans still feel a bit tight tho?

Hey ho, never mind ketosis . I wasn't really a doubting Thomas - well just a little bit, it just seems so scary to be eating what I think are big meals that are full of fat and so delicious!

Breakfast - very late, lunch really - fried bacon, mushrooms, 1/2 a tomato, courgette, peppers and 2 eggs. Diet? What diet?

 

[abz]

hey hon. i changed because cd really messed up my hormones and i want to get preggers. so i'm doing atkins until i am. so it could be quite some time, ha...

well done on hitting ketosis babes

abz xx

 

[Jim]

Ah, the joys of ketosis, stinky breath smelly BO and strange fluorescent pee.

 

[Bess]

hey hon. i changed because cd really messed up my hormones and i want to get preggers. so i'm doing atkins until i am. so it could be quite some time, ha...

well done on hitting ketosis babes

abz xx

Aww, abz, I really hope that happens soon for you. CD does do funny things to hormones - mine too.

Ah, the joys of ketosis, stinky breath smelly BO and strange fluorescent pee.

Ha ha! I thought that was the multivitamin tablet, but maybe not!

The ketosis stick wasn't as pink this morning as it was yesterday, does that mean I overdid the carbs yesterday? I didn't think I did, but it's all so new and easy to make a mistake.........

 

[British_Claire_84]

Bess love, if there's any trace of colour on the sticks then you'll be in ketosis. You're either in it or not basically. The darker the colour does not mean the more you're in it. It actually means the more dehydrated you are To aim for the first two pinks is a good guide i find, anything darker and you need to up you're water levels. Sometimes if i've been to the gym i won't even show at all on the sticks as i've been using up the ketones for energy at the gym. I'll still be in ketosis but it won't show as they'll be more diluted when they come out on the stick that's all. Hope that helps a little?

 

[Bess]

Brilliant Claire, thanks very much. I'll stop fussing now! Just waiting to see the pounds roll off . Two of my daughters have joined me on the diet, making it much easier. We just add carbs for the meals for the others.

I was outside early and didn't have time for breakfast so we had 'brunch' at about 12.30. It was- bacon, cheese omlette, sausage and fried yellow peppers.
Supper: roast chicken with small portions of cabbage, courgette and runner beans. It says in the book that French beans are allowed but we only have runners left - they can't be that different can they? I made gravy by thickening the meat juices a little with flax flour, after reading that it could be used in some of the recipies on here during induction. Do you think that's ok?
Snacks: 4 tiny tomatoes from the greenhouse, size of my thumbnail, and cucumber, nearly a whole one. Picked and eaten just where I stood - yum!
I'm drinking plenty and taking psyllium husks, just to make sure!

 

[British_Claire_84]

Runner beans are fine i think, well i've been having them.. No idea on the flax flour thing as it's not something i've tried. I count cherry toms as 0.5g carb each and cucumber's - 45g (about five slices) = 3g carbs. So a whole cucumber may be quite a lot when you think about it? Are you weighing n adding up the carbs each day or just roughly guessing? It's suprising how some things are more than others and how easily they can rack up! Good luck to your daughters too, it must be nice to have others to talk to about it and must be nice to also have others that are sharing in what you do