Can someone help me stop eating rice?

[Nocturnal]

I'd love to start the Atkins induction phase. I need to stop eating rice. Unfortunately I've eaten rice my entire life ever since I was born. I would love to just cut it out cold turkey but I have a feeling that it would be rather hard.

I need any tips or advice regarding kinda tapering off of eating rice with my meals.

My normal meal schedule is as follows:

Wake up, no breakfast

Afternoon, get hungry, eat some Pizza Rolls for lunch or go to McDonalds to eat something such as two hamburgers, a large french fries and a large coke.

Dinner, out of five cups of rice cooked, I eat roughly 2 enture cups of rice. Then on top of that I eat whatever is for dinner such as steak, beef stragonaff, sausage, etc.

I will try to keep a log of what I eat this coming week and the next.

If you can give me any advice, I honestly, truly, appreciate every bit.

I am 5'6" weigh almost 250lbs. I want to lose weight for my health really badly. I have a feeling I may encounter a lot of health problems in the near distant future if I can't stop my eating problem.

I'm also 23 years of age and I don't exercise or anything like that. I only go to school, work and watch my four year old son. I would love to lose weight and start training martial arts.

[will7128301]

try chaning to grass seed.... or what worked for my instructor back at the academy find maggots at a crime scene, he still can't eat rice or even look at it without turning colors.


seriously, I would just back it down if its too hard just start decreasing it, or focus on something else that you love. Start by making the availibility of rice next to impossible in your house, get it out so your not tempted or grab some out of habbit. Its hard to eat it if it ain't there. Avoid resturants where you can be tempted. Really if your in a place were they serve rice your probably in the wrong resturant for induction.


I used to down rice left and right at college til I found atkins I gave it up, it was a very easy meal, but I weighed the outcome let the rice drag me to the grave or ditch it and become healthy...I followed the healthy path for a while and fell off, and I regret it. Now Im back for good and nothing will stop me not even my ole precious Mt. Dew which was like you and rice. This is a lifestyle and a healthy one at that. Don't give up!

[Desertthorn]

I understand what your saying and I understand that nothing can replace rice for you, I mean I was told to try cauiflower and rice it. No doesn't work. You just have to descide what you want worse, the rice or the weight loss.
Good luck to you

[cmcole]

Well, looking at your menu, I can see where you would run for the rice to fill you up - after eating poorly all day.

If you can't do it cold turkey, then don't cook as much.

Cook a couple tablespoons of it - you won't have leftovers, and you won't be consuming vast quantities.

Switch to brown.

Mix a lot of veggies in with the rice, so that you have a little rice, and lots of other, more healthy selections on your plate.

Most of your menu consists of carbohydrates, and most of those are the poorer selections. Can you see where this leads? You, apparently, derive almost your entire menu from processed or "empty" carbohydrates. You need to replace those with good/better ones, if you feel you cannot jump into an Atkins menu in one go.

Otherwise, you need to clean out your pantry, and start fresh. If it's not there to cook/eat, you won't be inclined to go for it, and will perhaps grab a more acceptable (health-wise) alternative.

[Moochiecat]

Firstly, read the book, Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (version 2002, DANDR for short) and learn about what carbs do to your body. When you fully understand the 'why' behind the Atkins Diet, you might start to rethink the role of rice in your diet, and it'll make it easier to change your eating habits.
There is no substitution for education when it comes to a life change, so I urge you to learn all you can about this.

A lot of us went cold turkey with a lot of foods. Sugar was my demon, and a lot of people had big caffiene habits and they dropped it out of their diets.
It's not a lot of fun...we get Induction Flu, we pout, we try to justify 'just one little bite'..we mourn...but we survive it all and it's all really very worth it.

Again..do your reading..learn all you can, ditch the bad foods, and welcome new healthy fresh foods into your life! :yes

[Elizellen]

How about starting on a completely new way of eating so you are not comparing what you used to eat - which helped make you the size you are?

Start with breakfast - eat as much as you want from the acceptable foods list, making sure you have more fat than anything else. Perhaps add some mushrooms or a few slices of tomatoes or sweet peppers to start spreading your carbs out through the day.

Then plan a lunch of perhaps a salad with meat or fish and a creamy dressing - you need to choose one with little sugar or use a mix of oil and vinegar or just oil.

Evening meal - plan some meat or fish or chicken with one cup of veggies from the one-cup list covered in grated cheese.

Have ready some 'legal' snacks for if you feel hungry outside meal times - check the recipes for snacks in the recipe forums further down the main index page.

This might sound familiar? Atkins maybe?

I have posted this in a lighthearted way but it has a serious point - you can't eat rice on Atkins till you have followed the plan through induction and OWL and even then wild rice is prefered to white rice as it has more nutrients - so try to forget rice as an option and find other more healthy foods to eat - there are plenty to choose from.

[leslie0021]

find maggots at a crime scene

WOW...see, that did it for me.....lol....

[tabekat]

Faux ball

No offense dear Desertthorn, as we are all different.

Faux rice does work great for me. In fact, I prefer it. I am more than willing to be fooled, in order to save carbs and blood spikes. Attitude is everything. Don't forget to include it it in your veggie count.

Faux Rice
Low Carb Recipe
Ingredients:
10 ounce bag frozen cauliflower
Butter, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Microwave cauliflower until done; drain well.

Put in food processor with butter, salt and pepper and process in short bursts til it looks like rice.

Chinese Fried Faux Rice

Ingredients:
1/2 head raw cauliflower
1 = (grated to make 3 1/2 cups)
3 green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 = (or 1/2 tspn garlic powder)
1/2 tsp ginger
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 eggs, beaten
1 olive oil, as needed
1 cooked chicken, beef, pork, shrimp,
1 ham, turkey, etc.
1 = (any mixture, your choice)


Instructions:
In a wok or large flat skillet, heat enough oil to cover the bottom. Fry
minced garlic (or garlic powder) with finely diced white part of onions for
approximately 1 minute. Add grated cauliflower and fry for 4 to 5
minutes, stirring constantly.

Add soy, ginger, diced green onion tops, and pre-cooked cubed meat or baby
shrimp. Stir to mix well and brown a bit. Push mixture to one side of
pan.

Add more oil if necessary and scramble eggs in empty side of pan until done
but still moist. Stir eggs into "rice" mix and remove from heat.

This recipe yields 3 to 4 servings; 5 to 7 carb grams per serving. Stores
and re-heats beautifully.

Comments: For an additional 6 grams for the entire recipe, try adding 1/2
cup frozen green peas (about 2 minutes after adding cauliflower.) It adds
great flavor and richness to the dish!

[Elizellen]

Great recipe for the 'chinese' faux-rice tabekat - with one suggestion - no peas unless you have reached the 'starchy vegetables' rung #8 of OWL.
I often use chopped green beans which are induction-legal.

[JESTEROO]

:guns PUT THE RICE DOWN ! :guns


I would agree with a couple of the others in here . . . try cutting back on the amount of rice you cook . . .

If you only cook one cup, you can only EAT one cup.

Also, instead of eating rice along with "whatever" else you are eating for dinner, why not incorporate it into your meal and cut out some other part of the "other" dinner?

I would have to agree...... the cauliflour rice does NOT work for me either.

[Moochiecat]

Rice is rice, and mashed cauliflower is mashed cauliflower....but oh man, is mashed cauliflower ever good!!! :yummy

It took me a while to feel that a meal was complete without having a starch in it, but as long as I was eating my protein with fat, I felt really satisfied.
I gave up rice/spuds/pasta....but I was allowed to have real butter on my veggies!! Nice trade off :yes

[spazzyhilo]

Or you could try thinking about it in a different way

Instead of thinking "I'm not allowed to have rice ever again while on atkins" instead think "I'm not allowed to have rice YET on Atkins" which is more true

On the grains rung of OWLS is when you can start reintroducing more grains into your diet, including wild rice. so maybe that could be a good mini goal for you, get through a clean induction and then make your way through the rungs of OWLS. If you do this, you might not even WANT rice again.. but at least do 2 weeks of a clean induction first and see how you feel

[matawguro]

I grew up having rice make up 50% of my meals. I'm not sure if you eat rice the same way we do here in the Philippines, but if you know what I'm talking about, I can only suggest one thing.

Quit cold turkey.

The way we eat rice is that it's our staple, and we use another food or viand to add flavor to the rice. From the way you describe your meal it seems you're eating "rice toppings" style.

The main effect of rice other than filling you up is that you can use it to temper the taste of what you're eating to your liking. The hardest part of taking rice out of your diet is that you'll have to deal with the full flavor of what you're eating.

I won't lie. Cutting out rice completely during induction is hard. During the first week of induction, you might feel like you're getting sick of what you're eating. In fact, you might feel like gagging. Actually, what you'd be experiencing would be the full satiation power of whatever you're eating, especially if it has a high percentage of fat.

I think eventually you'll find that rice cravings will be the least of your worries once you've cut it out.

BTW, a word about cauliflower...

I'm not sure what race you belong to (Caucasian, Polynesian, etc.), but if you're a native Hawaiian or descended from Polynesian stock, then like me, you belong to that group of "island people" who are predisposed to gout. Cauliflower is high in uric acid which exacerbates gout. So if you're like me, stay away from cauliflower (and brocolli too).

[nikki_e]

I say stop cold turkey too. Just stop making rice. Get rid of any you have left in the house. We all had to give up things we loved. I believe anybody can stop anything cold turkey. Just suck it up and do it! Its just one item of food! Rice may seem important to you now, but once you start seeing results, it won't be as important. Or if you can't give up rice, you may need to look at other ways of losing weight. Low-carb isn't for everybody. You have to find what works for you and your lifestyle.

[oletaterhead]

I feel your pain.

It's so hard to pass up that plate lunch Hawaiian style. Kahlua Pig, 2 scoops rice, 1 scoop mac salad (or for me, when I ate them, all rice baby).

I use my rice cooker to steam veggies now, so it still gets a workout.

Every once in a while I break down and have a little rice (like 1/4 cup or so).

Hawai'i loves to eat rice, that's for sure!