Phoenyx does Atkins....

[Phoenyx]

Hi all! I'm starting a new diary here because I'm finally ready to commit to Atkins after a couple of weeks umming and ahrring over whether a vlcd, Dukan or Atkins would be the best option for me.

Since the start of the year I've dropped just over a stone. Initially I dropped a stone by calorie counting, but I was hungry all the time, quit and put 8 lbs back on. Then I did a vlcd for 10 days and dropped 10lbs. It was fine, but took a lot of mental energy, and it was affecting my relationship with my children (I wasn't cooking so didn't want to cook for them, or sit down and eat at the table etc). I fell off the wagon just after easter, and decided not to get back on, but loved the whole ketosis thing. So I did a lot of reading (these forums, Gary Taubes, the Atkins and dukan books etc) and low carbed whilst making up my mind.

Dukan looked too faddy for me - I liked some things about it but I didn't like the low fat thing (most of the research seems to stress the importance of fat) and the on a day off a day approach felt more like dieting than a way of life.

As I was already in ketosis I haven't done induction, but am now hopping straight onto OWL, with a max carbs of 30g for the first week. I will up it later.

Im tracking calories as well as carbs (initially I was restricting them as well as carbs) but I'm trying not to worry too much now as long as they don't get too out of hand!

So there you go....sorry for the long post!

 

[Phoenyx]

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]So here's what I've been up to in the last week (low carb diary in a nutshell):

Thursday: 49g carbs / 929 cal / 30 min run/walk
Friday: 55g carb / 1011 cal / shred level 1
Saturday: 42g carb / 1006 cal / 35 min run/walk
Sunday: 50g / 1057 cal / lawn mowing!
Monday: 45g / 1421 cal / shred 2
Tuesday: 20g / 1392 cal / 30 min run/walk

As you can see by today, I'm worrying less about calories and more about carbs... Let's hope it works [/FONT]

 

[TahjmansMum]

Welcome!

 

[Phoenyx]

Welcome!

Thank you!

 

[Kat1e]

Welcome to your atkins diary - i definitely find that if carbs are lower i can have more cals and still lose. Enjoy OWL

 

[slaj]

Welcome and good luck

 

[Phoenyx]

Welcome and good luck

Thank you!

 

[Phoenyx]

So, day 7 and tomorrow is weigh in day. I'm logging my food intake on mfp, and have noticed that I eat nearly all my calories between 6 and 9pm.

So a summary of the last week:

Thursday: 49g carbs / 929 cal / 30 min run/walk
Friday: 55g carb / 1011 cal / shred level 1
Saturday: 42g carb / 1006 cal / 35 min run/walk
Sunday: 50g / 1057 cal / lawn mowing!
Monday: 45g / 1421 cal / shred 2
Tuesday: 20g / 1392 cal / 30 min run/walk
Wednesday: 16g carbs / 1091 cal / rest day

I've significantly cut down carbs in the last couple of days, and it hasnt felt that difficult. I have found it useful to cook in bulk for breakfasts and lunches whilst im working, then have something scrummy for tea. For example, I cooked a big, 8 egg frittata on Monday, cut it into quarters and have had it for breakfast and lunch (with a salad) for the last couple of days. Today I cooked up 6 hardboiled eggs wrapped in beef mince (a bizarre homemade scotch egg!) which will do me breakfast & lunch for the next few days.

 

[Phoenyx]

Week 1 weigh in and down 3.5lbs! Delighted with that as I was already in ketosis

 

[slaj]

Well done, that's great

 

[Phoenyx]

Okay, so a quick summary of the last couple of days:

Thursday - good day except I tried to go for a run with colleagues from work and felt awful! My legs felt,like lead and I had no energy I ran for 30 mins with them, but v slow and had to walk a couple of times. Normally I'm in the medium paced group but on thursday I was the slowest of the slow group!

Thursdays food:
B: homemade scotch egg (egg wrapped in beef mince - much prefer pork or turkey mince but they'd run out) dipped in guacamole
L: homemade scotch egg dipped in guacamole with salad
Pre run snack: roast chicken fridge raiders (not v nice, a bit artificial and no use providing energy on a run!)
T: 2 big pork loin steaks with broccoli and green beans - was craving fatty meat! Lush

Carbs: 15g
Cals: 1337
exercise: 30 min slow run
water: 2.5-3L

Friday:
Running again today but this time I tried a slightly carbier shake (13g) before I ran. It was a bit better, energy wise, I ran non stop for 36 mins but still slower than my usual pace.

Food
B: babybel and Atkins advantage mocha shake. Shake was okay but not v filling at all. Babybel was a poor substitute for marmite cheddar bites but nowhere local sells them
L: chicken salad with guacamole
S: slim & save shake - higher in carbs but pre run, macadamia nuts and brazil nuts
T: tuna mayonnaise and broccoli

Carbs 34g
cals 1413
exercise 36 mins running
water 2L

I also discovered that I don't like deloius mayonnaise (back to hellmans!) and I opened 2 cans of tuna because I was hungry but was stuffed after one, which is very encouraging! and I'm going off coffee! I prefer weak black tea instead at the moment (with a sweetener).

 

[Dawnejoy]

Hello, thought I would come and see how you were doing as you were kind enough to come and support me in my journey.

 

[Kat1e]

Evening phoenyx

 

[Phoenyx]

Evening! I've been all over the boards but for some reason haven't written in here! Am supposed to be lesson planning but am procrastinating. How goes you?

 

[Phoenyx]

Hello, thought I would come and see how you were doing as you were kind enough to come and support me in my journey.

Hi dawnejoy, good to see you here!

 

[Phoenyx]

S'pose I ought to update my diary now I'm here! Was doing fine yesterday, lots of work to do so the ex kindly took the kids for an extra day. All went smoothly until the evening when I dived head first into a packet of pistachios, and didn't come up for air until I had consumed 200g...good thing calories are not so important coz I wolfed over 1000 calories of almonds, almost straight after a large tea!

Not really sure why I did it. I really wanted to feel v full, binge full I guess, so when I started on the packet I knew I was going to finish them. Two things spring to mind - one was that I had a big problem with the work I was doing earlier in the day which could have influenced my decision. The second was I was kind of feeling woe is me, and I deserve a treat etc. to be honest, I'm not that bothered by it as long as it doesn't happen too often - note to self, nuts are a trigger food. They are just on this side of nibbly and naughty....

Anyway, saturday went:

B: total 0% yoghurt (in a rush)
L: Milano salami, goats cheese, 2 chicken drumsticks, small soya latte from costa
S: homemade scotch egg dipped in tzatziki
T 2 lamb steaks with pesto and roasted veg
S 200g pistachios

total carbs 65g
Total cals 2927!!!
Exercise cleaning the house
Water lots

 

[Phoenyx]

So today, Sunday, is back on track. No exercise because DD had a friend overnight so no space or time.

B 2 fried eggs, 2 sausages, mushrooms
L small costa latte, 25g cashews (forgot to eat lunch, now that's a first!)
T pan fried duck breast with cauliflower mash
S: coffee with a splash of cream

Carbs 25g
Cals 1127
Exercise none
Water 2-2.5 litres



Total:

 

[Phoenyx]

One thing I did do today was download some podcasts as I had to drive for a couple of hours. I downloaded livin la vida lo-carb's interview with John briffa. It was brilliant, so interesting, and I really liked the bloke (agree with Gary taube but not sure I like him per se, he can put things in a very confrontational matter, and seems to be v black or white on some issues).

I also watched an interview with him on YouTube, and read his diet book - waist disposal. It's really written for men, but applies equally to women. One woman lost over 100lbs after reading that book. It's very Atkins owl, which I like. But he doesn't advocate counting carbs or calories. He has an eat freely list, an eat moderately list and a don't eat list. It's based on primal eating and things are purely on there for health. You can eat moderate foods once a day on the diet, more often when you've lost weight. He subscribes to the 80/20 rule - as long as your diet is right most of the time, don't worry about it. But if you do decide to come off track, it must be a decision, andyou must set a time when you will resume primal eating. And stick to it.

The eat freely is v Atkins, here's the list I made whilst reading it:

All meats can be eaten freely but pork and chicken should be free range and organic as they can be intensively farmed.

Processed meat is on the moderate list due to nitrates e.g sausages, salami & bacon

Fish: limit tuna marlin & swordfish (mercury). Preference for tinned mackerel, sardines or salmon.

Eggs, berries & avocado can be eaten freely

Green and leafy veg, and onions can be eaten freely

Avoid non fermented soy products. Miso, tofu etc can be eaten sparingly because they're fermented (less health issues)

Nuts and seeds (poss excluding peanuts which are a legume), can be eaten freely

Olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil can be eaten freely

Butter can be eaten freely but margarine should be avoided

Plain full fat yoghurt, preferably Greek (strained) may be eaten freely

Cream and cheese can be eaten in moderation (but preferably goats or sheep)

Dark choc (70% or more) can be eaten in strict moderation

 

[Dawnejoy]

Hi and thank you for that info - I have got Gary Taubes book along with the New High Protein Diet and the Harcombe diet and I do think you have to take on board what you think will work for your body - for me I already know that eating any type of fruit triggers a sugar craving and one that I fight with continually I probably should avoid dairy more than I do as had loads of cream at the weekend and have put on a lb but have been totally on plan, so I do think that it is a case of learning to work with your body and finding out what suits/doesn't suit you as we are all individuals. For me as well, tho I totally enjoy the plan and believe it works it is slower than I would like and is easy to eat something that doesn't suit me and then I have a weight gain caused I'm sure just by fluid but is disheartnening nontheless I also don't think I drink enough Look at me...............rambling in your diary Hope you have a good day

 

[Phoenyx]

Yup I'm with you there, dawne - it all works to an extent but there are ways we can push the system to its limits! Dairy doesn't bother me so much - I like cream but can moderate it quite well, but nuts are my downfall - I can eat LOADS of them, and as we all know, calories may not be the be all and end all, but they do count to an extent. 1000 cals of nuts a day might be considered excessive...!

Am enjoying following your progress, so feel free to waffle in my diary! I think the harcombe diet sounds v interesting!

(just amazed to find a diet I haven't actually tried, I've been on and off so many!)