Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

[Sharon Williams]

Hi, this is what I have eaten today, could anyone please have a look and tell me if it looks about right. I have stopped using the sugar free sweets for a couple of days now, and have increased my water to at least 3 litres a day, and completely cut out coffee. But, no weight loss so far.

Breakfast - omlette made with 2 eggs, dash of water, cooked in olive oil, mixed herbs, and half a gammon steak (the thin bacon steak kind - said trace of carbs on the pack). 2 cups of redbush tea - this is caffeine free and low in tannin.

Water all morning.

Snack during morning - half a packet of pastrami - about 50g. Nil carbs on packet.

Lunch - one tin of peppered mackeral - nil carbs on tin, in sunflower oil. Mixed leaf salad - about 1/3 of the pack - should be less than 1 carb, about 1inch of cucumber, one ring of yellow pepper, one cherry tomato, 2 spring onions. Salad dressing made with olive oil, dash of lemon juice, dash of red wine vinegar, and herbs. Really small amounts of lemon and vinegar cos I know there are carbs in both.

2 cups of redbush tea.

Lots of water.

2 cups of Jasmine Green Tea.

Snack - half packet of ham - about 50g - says 1.2 gm carb per 100 so i guess that would be 0.6 of a carb.

Dinner - 1 and half gammon steaks (as breakfast - no carbs). Spinach cooked in olive oil, about one cup when cooked, and purple sprouting brocolli - five stems of this - boiled.

Snack this evening - 2 hard boiled eggs with mayonaisse, and the other half of the packet of ham .

This is a fairly typical days menu. I tend to need snacks as well because I do have a rather healthy appetite (which is why I chose this diet because you don't need to starve - or so I hoped).

In addition to this I have had two pieces of sugar free chewing gum, which have replaced the 20 or so sugar free sweets which I was relying on to help me with my nicotine withdrawal pangs.

Anyway, I would appreciate it if someone could let me know if I am on the right tracks or if I am doing something fundamentaly wrong.

Thanks, Sharon xx

[womanpraised]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

Sharon, are you able to use Fitday in UK measurements? Unk what a gammon is, or how the tea will affect you. HOw long has this been standard menu? Are you dropping pounds and inches?

[Moochiecat]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

Those meats you are eating are processed meats, right? If so, they contain a lot of sodium and that can lead to water retention. I realize you are drinking copious amounts of water and tea, so theoretically that should be flushing you out, but I'd try and stick to regular meats instead of the processed. Cook up a whackload of chicken and use that to snack on...it's great dipped in ranch dressing or mayo.

The closer the food is to it's natural state, the better it's going to be for you.

Also, if you are in Induction, I think you've gone over your veggie limit for the day but it's hard to say because I don't know what 'half a pack' of mixed lettuce amounts to.

It doesn't appear to me that you are doing anything fundamentally wrong, other than perhaps eating the processed meats too often.

Are you using Fitday? If so, how do the numbers line up?
If not, here's a link to help you out.
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5235

Fitday is a very valuable tool to help you see where you are and let you know if you are on track when it comes to your proteins fats and carbs.

[Sharon Williams]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

Hi, thanks to both of you. I tried using Fitday, but I found it hard to get scrambled egg up on there that didn't contain carbs, so it made my count higher, there are also a lot of things we get in the UK that do not appear on the food list, so I found it a bit confusing.

I am going to get a large chicken today I think to snack on!!!

I have not lost any pounds for a week , and the inches are coming off slowly. I have only had one ketostix that has shown the pale pink - trace of ketones.

I am really starting to wonder if I am just a freak of nature who this diet is just not going to work for.

BTW my starting weight was 9stone 4lb, my current weight is 9 stone and my goal weight is 8st 7 lb, if that makes any difference - i.e. am I classed as having little weight to lose?

Thanks, Sharon xxx

[2big4mysize]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

the amount you lose on Atkins is determined by how much you need to lose and how hard you work your plan those with losts lost more pounds but the % of weight lost is about the same some one needing to lose only 10 pounds a 1 pound drop would be the same as a 10 pound drop for someone needing to lose 100 pounds.

for your eggs just use raw eggs. it really doesn't matter how you cook them in your fitday just so the ingredients in the posted food are the same as what went in your mouth.

[Moochiecat]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

I found it hard to get scrambled egg up on there that didn't contain carbs,

Eggs have carbs, so there will always be a carb count if you are including them in your diet.
I also just put in the ingredients rather than try and find the fully made item on Fitday....so with scrambled eggs it would just be the eggs and butter, and the carb count would be correct.

I encourage you to keep using Fitday....there is a forum for International users, and you can ask other UK Atkineers in the Main Forum as well if they have tips for you on how to use it and what they do...I'm sure they'd be happy to help you.

So, bear with me, I'm not very familiar with stones....1 stone is equal to 14 pounds, right? and you have just over a stone that you want to lose, so yes, you are classed as having a smaller amount of weight to lose.
I think I've already suggested you read this:
http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5090

I'm down to my last 15 or 20 pounds to lose, and I've found that the progress is slow going, and I have to remind myself of this daily. I do notice that the inches are slowly coming off still, and even if the number on the scale never changed, I'd be happy to just enjoy the shrinking body.

The best advice I can give you is to keep following DANDR, and start progressing up the OWL ladder. Accept that you are not very far from goal that it's going to take some time. It'd be nice if we could sleep for a few months and then wake up and be excited by the differences in our bodies, but when things happen gradually, it's not exciting and it feels like nothing is happening, doesn't it?
Only by looking at my journal and photos am I able to really recognize that my body has changed since last fall. To me, it seems like I've been at a standstill and it was beginning to be very frustrating until I reviewed my weight and measurements.
Start taking a monthly picture of yourself so you have something to compare yourself to....that might help you pick out the changes.

[Sharon Williams]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

Hi Moochiecat, thanks for that link - have just read it, and its great - ty ty ty. The eggs that I buy only have trace carbs in - so I have been eating about 4 a day. Thinking about that, that's another question I have - in spite of drinking loads of water - I have pretty bad constipation. This can be a bit of a problem for me anyway, and has got worse since being on Atkins. I have to use Senna which is a natural laxative (no carbs I think - definately no sugars) to help every couple of days or so. Do you have any handy hints to cope with this - also will this pass as my body gets used to the change in diet?

Thanks, and I appreciate all the time you are giving me with my never ending questions. Sharon xx

[2big4mysize]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

senna is the natural vegetable laxative Dr Atkins mentions in DANDR.. Check your fiber totals and see if you have enough if not then you will need to use rule 12 and start adding some fiber either flax meal, wheat bran or psyllium. Once you get unclogged then you need to keep using the fiber to keep things moving. Dr Atkins discusses that in his chapter on fiber too.
As you hit OWL and add more complex carbohydrates your fiber amount will go way up and you shouldn't have this problem any more.

[Moochiecat]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

It's pretty common to get constipated in the beginning.
Something that has been a big help to me are glycerine suppositories. They are quite cheap to buy and you don't have to worry about carb count..lol. I had a difficult time with laxatives (I tried Senokot) as they made me crampy the next day and I felt like I needed to stay right near the bathroom.
The glycerine suppositories are for those times when my body is absolutely ready to go potty, but it just can't: they seem to stimulate contractions and get things moving. They work within 15 minutes or so and they have always given me the relief I needed. Keep up with the senna, choose fiber rich veggies, drink water water water and use the suppositories when you need them.

[Savannah]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

Hiya Sharon

I also have a few pounds to lose like yourself, i am currenly at 125 Pounds and hoping to lose the last 5. I find that calorie watching is needded at this stage to shed the last couple of pounds. Have you checked to see wether your going over your daily calroie limit?

[shrinky]

Re: Please can someone tell me if this looks OK? Thanks

Hi Sharon

I take 2 psyllium capsules with breakfast and I haven't been constipated once. Holland & Barrett have them. Hope that helps.