[Bondjrno]

Hi all,

I'm 5 days into induction and just have a few questions. My goal is to lose about 15lbs, but because I'm short, that is likely to take a while. mostly, I need help with a good menu. The last 5 days have put me under 1200 calories, and despite being very short (5'1"), I think I need at least 1200. Any thoughts? I usually have eggs in the morning, sometimes turkey bacon, cheese as a snack, salad with salmon or tuna for lunch and a frozen low carb meal and shrimp for dinner. Throw a couple of jello cups in there for good measure. Any thoughts? Do I not need 1200 cals? All ideas welcome!
Julia

[Barryrich]

"a frozen low carb meal"

What's this??? Is there a reason you don't cook dinner? You could probably have more calories and better food if you cooked yourself 1/2# of ground beef with some grilled veggies and a side salad with EVOO vinaigrette dressing. Or a steak with green beans topped with garlic & herb butter...

Have you lost anything yet?

Oh yeah... welcome to the forum AND to Atkins!

[Bondjrno]

Actually, this issue is that I'm starting the diet as part of a scientific study. It was the best way to stay on it! So, that's what the study provides for the dinner option. I can mix it up with shrimp and there are ground beef options which I plan to try- but for now, I don't have a lot of leniency. I was thinking of trying some of the low carb dessert options- do you think that's just giving in? For the most part, I know I don't crave them- but once in a while seems like the low-carb cheesecake would be delicious! Any thoughts? Is 1200cals likely to be more than I need?

[cyslespitocop]

Hi, jledewitz!

Welcome to the forum!

During Induction, there is a very specific list of foods that you can eat. Everything else must wait until after Induction. The best thing to do would be to print out this page and keep it with you:

http://www.lowcarbsite.com/showthrea...ds-(Induction)

If it's not on the list, put it aside until after Induction. This phase is carefully designed to change your metabolism from burning sugars from carbohydrates to burning fat instead. Any deviation from the list will make it harder for your metabolism to switch over.

Most frozen dinners won't work during Induction. There are a couple of exceptions under the South Beach label, but check the ingredients list carefully.

If you take the time to go through Induction correctly, you will not feel hungry and your cravings will disappear. Plus, you'll lose weight faster than you have before. (I've lost 82 pounds so far on Atkins.)

Can you tell us more about the study?

Karen

[Barryrich]

If you're part of a formal study, wouldn't they be watching your calories? Most studies don't have the options you're talking about while insisting on frozen dinners. Is it a study... or is it something like Jenny Craig where you buy your meals from them? It's not Atkins, that's for sure.

Tril

[Bondjrno]

The study is the Ketogenic Diet study, which is used to treat epilepsy patients. I'm sure most of you are well versed in the process of ketone production so I won't explain. I am happy to say that my ketostix have been a dark purple now for 3 days, so I know my body is responding appropriately to the diet. The frozen meals are selected precisely for their carb content- so none has more than 9/10g of carbs and the rest of my meals are sure to have fewer than 9 carbs total, so it works out to be less than 20g/day. I understand I am not following Atkins to a T, but it is very close. Basically, I have another 7 days on the diet and then I will have much more flexibility and can follow Atkins a little more closely- mostly I'm looking forward to adding more veggies! So, that is where I am. I think my diet sodas might be hindering some progress, but primarily I just need to get my calorie intake up. Are deviled eggs and that sort of thing allowed? I'm so used to low fat, and low-calorie that it's a hard transition for me.

[Bondjrno]

No, it's a study. They provide all of the food and they are not interested in limiting my calories, only the carbohydrates.