I'm a little scared!

[kpoll19]

Hi, my name is Kelly. I have done Atkins a few years ago and lost 30 pounds. Then I went off and gained it all back plus some. Recently I have been doing the Weight Watchers Core program which I like. But, I screwed that up too and was finding it hard to get back on. My friend and I decided to go back to Atkins for 2 weeks to "jump start" our system. Well today is 1 week and I have lost 12 pounds!! It is amazing. The problem is that I am terrified I am going to stay on this, lose more weight and do the same thing as before. I can't stand the thought of losing just to gain it back again.

Is is difficult to move to other stages without screwing it up. I intended to go back to WW after the first few weeks, gradually, but I just don't know what to do.

Another question, is the caffine and aspartame thing an individual thing? I mean, I quit coffee all week but I still have a diet soda a day with aspartame and caffine and have lost 12 pounds. Should I not worry about it because it does not affect me?/

Any help appreciated.

Kelly

[Effie]

Welcome back Kelly!

First and foremost: When you did Atkins the first time, what phase did you get to? As you know, there are 4 phases: Induction, OWL, Pre-Maintenance, and finally Maintenance. I know you said you lost 30 pounds, but did that bring you all the way down to your goal weight?

The best way to make this WOL work is to not think of it as something you can go "on and off", like you mentioned. Once you go through the OWL rungs and then into pre-maintenance, your daily menus will look very similar to WW's Core plan. The biggest difference is that the Core plan is a low-fat plan, and Atkins is a high-fat plan, so you will be much more satisfied eating on Atkins. I found that I was starving 99.9% of the time that I did Weight Watchers.

Some might disagree with me, but if you're planning to only do Atkins for 2 weeks, then I would say don't bother. Of course you'll gain the weight back. If the program worked by only following it for 2 weeks, then the book would have ended at Chapter 11. You've already lost 12 pounds, which is fan-flippin-tastic! :icondance I guess I have to ask why you would considering turning your back on something that has been so successful?

[FightingTheFight]

ome might disagree with me, but if you're planning to only do Atkins for 2 weeks, then I would say don't bother.

I agree :nod If you are going ot treat this as a crash diet, then you haven't understood the principles of this way of eating.

I can't stand the thought of losing just to gain it back agai

Then don't

[Elizellen]

Re: I'm a little scared!

Hi Kpoll :wave The others have answered your question about going on and off any kind of diet - and I agree with them that Atkins is really a way of eating - not a crash diet. :yes

Is is difficult to move to other stages without screwing it up. I intended to go back to WW after the first few weeks, gradually, but I just don't know what to do.

Many people here (and others who have reached goal and don't visit here so often now) have successfully followed the 4 phases of this WOE for many years without regaining their weight.
Why not visit the Ongoing Weightloss forum (OWL) and the Maintenance forum to ask the regulars there how they managed it?

Another question, is the caffine and aspartame thing an individual thing? I mean, I quit coffee all week but I still have a diet soda a day with aspartame and caffine and have lost 12 pounds. Should I not worry about it because it does not affect me?/

Here is a link to the effects of caffeine on the body which might help you decide whether to include it or not.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=68090

[kpoll19]

Good Morning. I don't plan on using this like a crash diet. I have no intention of going back to sugar and white flour. I just thought I would start adding healthy carbs back in more like the WW Core program after the first two weeks.

Effie in response to your question - No 30 pounds was not even close to what I need to lose. I never went off Induction and just got really tired of not eating fruit and milk and such. Foods by all counts considered healthy and mainstays of nutritional eating. That's what kind of freaks me out about Atkins. I swore I would never do it again but but here I am. However, I think I have come to the point where I now know that I am a person who cannot handle sugar and carbs in the form of salty snacks (chips, nachos, etc) in moderation. My best bet is just to not eat them at all. I can't do a little taste without it sending me spiraling. So, this may be different now because I do not intend to ever go back to eating white flour products and sugar in processed forms. That is my true goal. But I believe that whole wheat and unprocessed carb products, i.e. found in nature, are good for you in some quantity.

I guess I am just having a complete inner struggle with this. When I did it last time I went overboard on high fat foods that were considered ok. I really do not like eating high fat foods like that all the time. So now, I am trying to eat more chicken and fish and when I buy ground beef, I stick with the 10% fat kind. I DO know the theory behind this diet, protein and fat. I do eat some salad dressings with plenty of fat in it. But I looked at the labels for like cream cheese - no difference in the full fat and the 1/3 less fat in terms of sugar and carb content. So I cut some fat out where I can.

Sorry this has been so long. I am just really divided with this in my head.

Kelly

[Effie]

Kelly,
I know exactly where you are coming from. This is my second time doing Atkins. The first time, I lost about 20 pounds, but then fell off the wagon and started rationalizing it. "I'm not going to follow a diet that doesn't let me have friggin' yogurt! I'm a young female adult! I can't not have yogurt!" and then I'd proceed to eat yogurt, followed by a few handfuls of pretzels, followed by everything but the kitchen sink. When I gained 40+ pounds, I blamed Atkins. I swore it had done some permanent damage to my metabolism. I tried Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, a million self-devised programs, and the weight wouldn't come off as easily as it had in the past. This HAD to be Atkins fault, I thought.

Then a co-worker with about 5-10 pounds to lose, was looking for a way to drop this weight. She came to me for advice since I'd obviously done every diet in the book. She asked about Atkins, and I tried to discourage her from doing it. I told her about how I'd gained all of my weight back plus more when I stopped following the diet. Since I knew she was looking for a quick fix, I knew she would probably regain any weight lost while on Atkins. Well, she decided to do Atkins anyway. I lent her my copy of the book (which she said was "too big to read"), and I watched in horror as she butchered the plan. The very first day on Atkins, she came in to work with 2 of the Atkins candy bars. I tried to tell her she shouldn't eat them because a) they're not allowed on Induction and b) sugar alcohols stall some people. She was a little ticked off at this, asking why would Atkins sell them if they're weren't allowed - much like many posters on this board ask, which is a very valid question. She was still resistant to reading to book. "Just tell me what page tells me what I can and can't eat," she'd say. The final straw was when we went to Denny's for breakfast. She ordered two eggs and a side of bacon. The waitress asked her if she wanted toast and she said, "Nope! I'm doing the carb thing!" but then proceeded to order a glass of orange juice!!! I was so embarrassed at her ignorance. I said "Juice probably has more carbs than the toast!" She said that it was unhealthy to cut out healthy stuff like juice, so she wasn't going to do that. Anyway, I found myself defending Atkins and trying to prove to her how and why it works. I must have completely forgotten that I myself was against this WOE too. :confused She did her version of Atkins for about 3 days, and of course didn't lose any weight. Maybe I was out to prove her wrong, or maybe I did an excellent job of convincing myself that this WOE works, but I took my book back from, re-read it, and then started the next day.

I think what I've learned this second time around is that you have to be patient. I know I can eventually have yogurt, so I'm not pissing and moaning about it now. I know that I'll be healthier when I get these 50+ pounds off of me; more healthy than if I weighed over 200 pounds, but was able to eat all those healthy foods. One of my biggest enemies is my ability to rationalize anything. The bottom line is, I was fat and needed to lose weight, and now I feel healthier and more satisfied than I ever did on WW.

I agree with Elizellen. Go over to the OWL/maintenance board. I did this in week 2 or 3 myself. I wanted reassurance that people further along in the program were eating things besides bacon & eggs and bunless cheeseburgers everday. You'll find that people are eating whole wheat toast with peanut butter for breakfast (which is like a 6 point breakfast -- too high for WW and not allowed on Core!) They're also eating good yogurt & cheese. I don't know about you, but I could never be limited to fat-free plain yogurt and fat free cheese. I'd rather not eat them at all. Atkins allows you full-fat cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, real sour cream! That right there is reason enough to pick Atkins over WW Core.

I'm totally rambling now so I'll wrap it up! The choice is yours, but don't dismiss Atkins because you think you can't have all of those healthy foods. If you did Induction for 2 weeks, and then did a modified OWL, you could be adding in breads and fruits within 2-3 months. In the grand scheme of things, when you're at goal a year from now, or 2 years from now, or 10 years from now, and you're able to eat all of these wonderful foods, you're not going to care that you had to give them up for 2 months. You're going to know that it was worth it, and your body is going to thank you.

[kpoll19]

Effie,

Thank you so much. I think that was the problem. I rationalized things too. Also, instead of gradually adding things in, I just went off. I felt the SAME way you do about fruits and yogurt! I will go the OWL board because I need to see those things also. This time I need to add things in gradually. Truthfully, I am so disgusted at this moment, that I have the attitude that ice cream, sweets, chips, etc. is just NOT worth how I feel every day. Right now I could care less if I ever eat it again. But, check in with me next week and I'm sure my feelings will have changed :confused

Thank you very much though because now I don't feel like I am the only one with these concerns. :wave
Kelly