[TepSteade]

Hi all

i am 5'2 and quite fat. I have always had to diet apart from about 10 years ago when I was very active and sort of went off eating. I then got pregnany 5 years ago and started baking and eating and couldn't really excercise after the baby because I had a c section, and thats where I think it all went wrong. I went straight down to 9 stone after I had my son and wanted to get back to my previous 8.7 and couldn't do so it without excercising. well slowly but surely I am now about 12 stone and very very round. I dont get much excercise either.

So I started a low carb diet and and have looked at the atkins only I'm struggling a bit.

What do we eat. I didn't realise that most things that I eat are full of carbs. I dont mean the obvious like bread rice, etc, I mean everything else, right down to Ketchup !!!

Any help would be appreciated

Bev

[TughEmotteTug]

Hi Bev... welcome to this forum and to the low carb way of life. What to eat... well... you can go to the Atkins website and get the Induction food list if you want to do Atkins (it's in pdf so you can save it). In a nutshell as to what to eat...

All form of protein... beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, shellfish, egg

Dairy... cheeses, heavy cream

Veggies... avoid starchy vegetables (no corn, potato, winter squash, etc), the Induction list would be the best source for you... it will list the ok to eat veggies and their net carb counts.

Drink LOTS and LOTS of water. Just when you start to slosh, drink more.

Some people have to reduce/eliminate caffeine but not everyone.

SF stuff... diet sodas, gelatin, etc are ok just watch your own personal response to them... and becareful of sugar alcohols, they can mess up your digestion.

Avoid alcohol.

Be prepared to feel "icky" for a couple of days as your body transitions to burning fat instead of glucose for energy.

Good luck!
Tril

[usacomm]

good luck bev - stick with it and you'll do great...honest!! only a few days more til you feel in charge and soooo much better!

tracy

[Flistelib]

Don't forget to get and read a copy of Dr. Atkins New Diet REvolution. It helps you understand what's going on in your body. Also, he is so great at giving you moral support. When I read his writings I really feel as though he understood us overweight people!

Best of luck to you Bev! You can do it!

I've only been "on" for the last 4 weeks and I love it. I love the food. I love not going hungry and I love the weight loss.

[RobsShow]

good luck with your diet im sure you will do great

[tipokotap]

I hope you stick with it...there are so many wonderful ways to enjoy a very wide variety of foods, never go hungry and lose steadily on Atkins. I made researching low carb recipes a hobby and find such fun in cooking new things. I've lost 30 pounds (American) so far with only 10 more to go, and those weeks I am not losing, my body is shrinking!

I'm 5'3" so I know it can be difficult when we aren't tall and statuesque. Track your loss and your measurements and the reward is SO great! You WILL see results if you don't cheat!

Good luck!!

[eropiereetuekm]

I'm on Atkins again - this is probably my 5th go around with the diet. One thing that I learned when I first did Atkins probably at least 30 years ago was that the scale does not tell the whole story because I found that it didn't really matter what the scale said as long as those darn ketone test strips turned purple every day! That meant that I was burning fat for energy and my body was shrinking no matter what the scale said. Many times I'd go weeks with the scale showing no change but suddenly I was wearing the next size down pants. So now (with 60 pounds to lose - oh good Lord) I'm paying attention to the ketone sticks and don't weigh myself every day or even every week. Good luck to us all! We'll make it!

[Donadoni1809]

Welcome! This is a great way of eating. I have done Atkins more times than I can count. The times I didn't succeed wasn't because of the diet, it was because I wasn't ready mentally to stick with it and let it work for me. This time I feel mentally ready. I had a c-section almost 6 weeks ago so I haven't been exercising either, but I think actually it is probably a good thing for me. I tend to try and get my eating and exercise on track at the same time and I think I end up failing because I am trying to do it all at once. This time I am going to take some time to get my eating on track and then start exericsing.

You can do it! We can all do it! We just have to be ready and keep going when it gets tough.