Laura's Atkins Diary 2013

[lollycakes]

I haven't been deliberately restricting my calories, but I've also been trying to avoid too much fatty food, simply because it makes me feel a bit icky if I eat too much of it. I'll look in to the coconut oil, though. I've heard a lot of really good things about it - some people even swallow a tablespoon of it straight! - but I've never tried it myself. Does it taste coconutty?

 

[Jonsgirl80]

No it doesn't taste of anything.

i can't swallow it straight thought - I just can't bear the thought of it. I fry things in it generally or some people use it as a cooking ingredient. There are some recipes on here that use coconut oil I think.

 

[teeney]

Just catching up with your diary, as everyone has said ignore the big plate comments, what can be more healthy than a large plate of salad??? Have you seen how many calories in a bag of salad??? Do not feel bad about having a plate of legal food!

As for atkins bars, as yummy as they are they stall a lot of people :-( plus we are trying to cut out all processed foods...... That said I bought a couple yesterday for travelling (after eating my home made choc I could only stomach a couple of bites)

Not sure about the rasp ketones, if they work then great..... I'm sure as you are doing you will find what works for you

 

[lollycakes]

Today has been a bit of a crappy day. Food-wise, it has been fine, but I have things going on that make me think, "What's the point of going to all this effort?" which is frustrating, because I don't want to give up, but it is hard to keep focused when my normal reaction to emotional situations is to eat something bad for me.

Day 4
Thursday 5th September 2013

Breakfast - I had 2 servings of sugar free strawberry jelly with 2 tablespoons of double cream. I poured the cream over the jelly while it was still liquid - but cooled down to room temperature - and then put it in the fridge. The cream rose to the top over night, but it mixed with just enough of the jelly to set slightly. It makes it look a little more desserty that way.

Lunch - Chicken & smoked sausage salad. Lettuce, rocket, cucumber, a few tomatoes, some olives, feta, chicken, and some sliced Mattesson's smoked sausage.

Dinner - I'll make a spinach, feta & smoked sausage omelette later tonight if I'm hungry, but right now I'm eating more sugar free jelly with double cream.

Exercise-wise, I've used my seated pedal exerciser for 35 minutes today - 20 minutes for my legs and 15 minutes for my arms. I'll use it for another 15 minutes for my legs later tonight.

My set of weights is being delivered tomorrow, so once that's here, I'm going to start combining the cardio from the seated pedal exerciser - I'm not entirely sure how great the cardio benefits are, but it gets the blood flowing if nothing else! - with strength training 5 or 6 days a week. My double strength Raspberry Ketones were despatched today so I should get them soon, which I'm excited about. They may do absolutely nothing, but I'm interested to see what results I'll get from them.

Oh, and lastly - even though people have said they're not very reliable, I peed on a Ketostix stick this afternoon and if it's accurate, I'm in ketosis.

 

[teeney]

Why not add a bit if walking in there? Don't know how much free time you have but even a walk on a lunchtime would be good.

Unless you are having coconut oil if the strips as coloured then you will be in ketosis its great when you get a visual confirmation

Stick to it, it's hard at times but what other diet allows you to eat like this x

Ps well done on not comfort eating! Break the cycle x

 

[lollycakes]

I really should start walking more, but my fitness levels are abysmal! I'm going to stick with exercising at home for the time being, and then I'll start to do more outside. I just don't fancy huffing and puffing around other people at the moment, lol. Which reminds me - I must check YouTube for some workout music compilations.

I've logged my food intake in to MyFitnessPal and it says I've had 22g carbs & approx 1750 calories today. Their carb recommendation for me is 263g for a 2lb/week weight loss, so 22g seems pretty good in comparison!

The diet itself I find super easy to stick to (most of the time!) but it's other people's attitudes I struggle with. An example being a few minutes ago, when my mum's boyfriend giving me a patronising confused look when she mentioned I'd bought a set of weights, and the tone of his voice when he asked me if I wanted to cut the hedges in the garden. I was like, "hah, no" and he said, "why not? It's better than that stupid thing" and pointed to the seated pedal exerciser. It's silly to find such a minor thing upsetting, but I'm more than capable of doubting myself, I don't need everyone else to imply I'm doing the wrong thing. Yes, maybe what I'm doing isn't the most effective form of exercise, but I've spent a long time leading an embarrassingly sedentary lifesyle, so I'm trying to do the sensible thing and ease into it rather than going for a 6 mile run on a treadmill only to push myself too hard and cause myself an injury.

...As I was saying about the comments from other people, my mum's boyfriend just questioned me about the seated pedal exerciser. He asked me what it does, and I explained it. He asked me why I bought it, and I said because it's a form of exercise. His face told me exactly what he was thinking. Then he asked me about the weights, and asked why I'd bought them. I told him they're the most effective way to lose weight, and he was like, "Are they? Well, only if you bother to use them" which is an entirely fair point, but the tone of his voice told me that what he really meant was, "Are they? Well, you're never going to use them" which makes me feel like I've failed before I've even started. So now I'm sitting here waiting for them to leave so I can feel bad about myself in peace instead of fake smiling and chugging down a huge bottle of water to avoid bursting in to tears like a child.

It's a small thing to be upset by, but all I want is some support from the people around me. Maybe I'll fail, in fact I'd be surprised if I don't, but until/if that time comes, it would be nice if the people around me were like, "Hey, that's great, I hope you do well". I don't feel like that's too much to ask.

 

[teeney]

Hugs!

You have started to lead a healthy life-style! That in itself is so good! You will use the weights, you will build up your stamina and soon you will feel confident enough to think sod everyone else, I'm off out for some fresh air and a walk! Put on some headphones ignore the world and pound the pavement

You are in the right place for support, everyone here is trying to achieve the same thing xx

 

[lollycakes]

I hope so!

I've just finished doing another 20 minutes on the pedal exerciser, so if I add that to the 35 mins I did this afternoon, it comes out to almost an hour of light cardio. Which is far more than I ever used to do! It's not a lot and the calories burned are minimal, but it's better than nothing. Once the weight starts to come off, I'll increase the intensity accordingly.

 

[teeney]

I hope so!

I've just finished doing another 20 minutes on the pedal exerciser, so if I add that to the 35 mins I did this afternoon, it comes out to almost an hour of light cardio. Which is far more than I ever used to do! It's not a lot and the calories burned are minimal, but it's better than nothing. Once the weight starts to come off, I'll increase the intensity accordingly.

You hit the nail on the head there! Better than nothing

 

[lollycakes]

Day 5
Friday 6th September 2013

I wish I'd weighed myself before starting this because I'm almost certain I've lost weight already. I can only judge by how I feel and how I look, but there definitely seems to be a little less belly than there was before! I'm trying not to focus too much on that side of it just yet, because I know that as long as I keep my carb intake as low as possible and eat plenty of fat, protein & veggies the weight will come off, so for now I'm trying to make sure my diet is as good as it can be, but it's definitely a little boost to know that it's already working.

Breakfast - 2 servings of sugar free jelly with 2 tablespoons of double cream. I was going to make something a little bit more substantial but I have no appetite at all right now. Is that a side effect of ketosis?

Lunch - I was going to make baked eggs but I don't have the ramekins needed, so I made a crustless quiche instead. I used 5 eggs, a splash of cream, 100g smoked sausage, 100g feta, 60g mozzarella, 30g goat cheese and about 4-5 blocks of frozen spinach with all of the water squeezed out of it. I beat the eggs until they were completely combined, and then mixed in all the other ingredients with a little salt, pepper & dried chilli flakes, poured it all in to an olive oil greased cake tin and baked for about 30 minutes at gas mark 5. It made enough for today and tomorrow.

Dinner - I'm going to have a chicken & smoked sausage salad. Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, feta, chicken & smoked sausage with some pesto dressing. I can't see myself getting tired of this at all!

I think I will bake some chicken thighs later tonight as well. I have plenty of them in the freezer and I've hardly used them, so I will bake several and either snack on them or use them for tomorrow's dinner.

Right now, I'm drinking a cup of coffee made with sweeteners and a splash of cream. According to MyFitnessPal, everything - including the chicken thighs I'll bake later - adds up to 21g carbs & approx. 1900 calories.

Exercise-wise, I did 30 minutes on the seated exerciser before my morning shower. My weights arrived this afternoon, but I'm going to use them later tonight when everyone else has gone to bed. I'll do 3 sets each (light, medium & heavy) of deadlifts, squats, upright rows, overhead presses, lateral raises & calf raises, and I'll also do another 10-15 minutes of light cardio.

I haven't been doing this for very long, but right now I'm feeling really good about everything. I'm sure I'll have many moments of doubt, but it really does help to come here and write everything down.

 

[teeney]

Loving the positivity in your last post

 

[Kat1e]

Sounds like you are doing really well on the food and exercise! How great you are seeing results already

 

[lollycakes]

I'm definitely feeling more positive today. I'm certain it's down to reintroducing exercise into my life again. It's not hard or vigorous (yet!) but I think it's helping to improve my mood. I don't know how long it will last but I'm enjoying it while I can.

The one thing I am struggling with is my water intake. I've drunk less than a litre so far today, but I'm going to force myself to make it to 2.

 

[ladyfelsham]

Hi Lolly - you are doing brilliantly, a really great start!

I know peoples comments can sometimes be unhelpful or even hurtful - but try not to rise to it, smile sweetly and just think about all the lovely grub you're having while still losing weight and getting toned up!

 

[lollycakes]

That's true. I'm going to start using their negativity as motivation - to prove them wrong! I also recalculated my carbs for the day using the UK labels on MyFitnessPal, and it went from 21g down to 18g, which I'm pleased with.

That said, I calculated tomorrow's carbs, and it comes out at 29g - eek! They're all from induction-friendly foods, though. But I said previously that I'm aiming for between 20-30g a day, although the lower the better, so I'm hoping the days when I'm a little higher will be counteracted by the days when I'm a little lower. I know that induction recommends no more than 20g, but I want to do a long term induction to shift as much weight as possible, so I thought that if I gave myself a slightly higher carb allowance, I'd be far less likely to fall off the wagon. Is that ok do you think?

 

[teeney]

Lolly it's trial and error, if you feel you are losing stick with what you are doing! Some people stall eating too much veg, others swear that you cannot overdo veg..... One thing I would say though is try not to go over 5g of other carbs like sweetener, cream and such like.

Just remember lots of fat

 

[lollycakes]

Good advice, thank you! I'll stick with what I'm doing, and reduce my carb intake if/when I need it. As for the carbs from cream, sweetener, etc. I'll start keeping a strict eye on it, although I don't think I've gone over 4g yet. I want to keep my carb intake as low as possible, but I think Atkins suggests the lowest of 20g, where as other low carb diets recommend 30-50g for ketosis. So, I hope that if I make sure I stay on 30g or less, I'll still lose weight.

In fact, have any of you tried doing 1-2 days a week where you eat nothing but protein & fat, with the rest of the week still being low carb? I can't remember where I read about it, but I was wondering if it would give me a boost, or if it would just knock me off course entirely.

 

[lollycakes]

As for fat - I think I'm eating enough! I use at least 60g of cheese a day, if not more, as well as using olive oil for cooking & salad dressings, and I eat chicken thighs which are more fatty than breasts and I keep the skin on. And then there's the fat from the cream I use sometimes, although I'll be using that sparingly.

MyFitnessPal said I've had 138g fat, 121g protein and 18g carbs today. Is that about right?

 

[lollycakes]

And for my meals planned for tomorrow, it says I'll eat 113g fat, 193g protein and 29g carbs.

 

[lollycakes]

Since the whole point of this diary is to keep myself accountable, I should probably be honest about the exercise I've done!

I did 30 minutes on the seated exerciser this morning like I mentioned previously, but I just couldn't manage three sets on the weights. I did 2 sets/12 reps of bicep curls, calf raises, lateral raises, upright rows, overhead presses, squats & deadlifts using a weight just heavy enough to make the last couple of reps super difficult, and now I feel like jelly. I'm a little disappointed I couldn't manage 3 sets of light, medium & heavy weight, but I'll build up to that eventually. I'm going to crank out another 10-15 minutes of light cardio before bed just to keep myself in the habit of doing it every day. I think I'm going to be sore in the morning.