Hi everyone I need some help please

[Morrisey]

Here is the quick lowdown of my situation.. I am 6'2 and 375 pounds, I always kept fit (275 is a really low bodyfat weight for me and was my weight for years) I used to do physical work. Well I hired more and more people and as the business expanded and now I am in the office all day and dont lift more than a pencil 90 percent of the time and I expanded too! Combine this with my current diet of absolute junk just does not work for me anymore. I kind of stopped paying attention to myself due to this crisis or the other and find myself now needing to lose 100 pounds before it really gets out of hand, and to come up with something so this does not happen again with my new lifestyle.

I have read all kinds of diets and the only one I have a snowballs chance in **** of sticking with in my opinion is atkins as meat and cheese are 2 of the 4 things I really like (potatoes and breads being the other but better to lose 2 than all 4 is my logic).. I loathe and hate vegetables of all types and have always eaten horribly with no ill effects until I stopped burning off probably 50k calories a day. My typical supper consists of a huge steak with cheese on it, mashed potatoes, and a couple cokes or iced tea. Switch the meat and potato/pasta side dish around and you have my typical meal that I have eaten my whole life. I do like lettuce with blue cheese dressing on it and chicken tho I sometimes have that for lunch but I dont consider that a vegetable. Lunch is almost always fast food and breakfast I eat life cereal every day.. (Usually 1/2 a box)

Here is my stumbling block the biggest one, well pretty much the only one I can see me having is not being able to drink beer. I dont drink every day and would have no problem giving it up for the 2 weeks of induction, or at the house as I dont have any there anyway. But what about after induction say once a week? Booze is not touched on really much at all in the book besides dont have any and after to really limit it. I know its not good for you but in real world adult situations (at least in mine) that alcohol gonna come up a heck of a lot more than a piece of chocolate cake plus I am not crazy about sweets anyhow besides soda which I can also take or leave.

When I do sales with my type of clients beer is a very easy and successful ice breaker to take them out for a drink it puts them at ease and I make a lot of sales that way. (I usually will have at least 4-6 beers in a situation like this).. Would this be permissible if it was a once a week thing after the induction phase? Is there any other drink besides baccardi and diet coke (blech!) that is out there that is low carb? Giving out liquor recipies in the same breath as saying "healthy" and "diet" kind of does not make sense so I can see why it is left out of books and most advice but I have to believe someone knows and if you dont want everyone to know you have 60 recipies for drinks please private message me I promise I wont tell!

Also given what I like to eat can anyone give me suggestions for vegetables that a guy that likes meat cheese and potatoes/pasta would eat? Will the diet work without vegetables? I know its the soda and potatoes that are making me gain the weight but I wanted some real world awnsers to these questions and I figure you guys have em..

Thanks so much for your time and pardon my spelling etc I dont have call to write letters much.

[Buddrfly]

Hello and welcome to the board :wave

On veggies: Yes you have to eat them. That is were you get your fiber and the majority of your carbs while on atkins. They also play a big part in avoiding constipation. There are lots of veggies that are acceptable. Do you like- tomatoes, pickles-cucumbers, mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, etc? These are all acceptable. If you wanted you could just choose only the veggies that you can stomach, and experiment with them.

There is a sticky in the 14-day induction forum called "What can I eat on induction?" Print it out, and select only the veggies you could see yourself eating. 2-3 cups of veggies per day is the allowance.

Also make sure that you drink atleast 64oz of water a day, plus another 8oz a day for every 25lbs you want to lose. This really helps!

As far as the beer goes, wine, spirits, etc. are allowed until you reach the wine and spirits rung of OWL (ongoing weight loss). The beer would probably hurt you more than it would help you.

Also, if you happen to have a sweet tooth, you are allowed 3 servings of sweetner a day--no more! Splenda is the only sweetner allowed in the WOE (way of eating).

Beware of the Cheese!--It has been known to cause weight loss stalls in some of us.

As long as you can make up your mind to follow the rules to the letter, you should have no problem reaching your goal weight. How fast you lose that weight depends totally on how strictly you follow the rules. Set backs may happen, but the best thing to do is dust yourself off, and get back on track.

Also remember, that this is not something that you start and once you reach your goal, stop! It is a WOL (way of life), basically you changing your eating habits forever. You must go through all the phases to ensure lifetime success. Otherwise, you could end up gaining all or more of the weight you lost back.

It can be a tough decision to make, but once you mind is made up, you should have not problems.

Good luck, and I hope you stick around :hug

[Moochiecat]

Hi and welcome!!! :wave
(Hopefully a forum mod will move this to the 14-Day Induction Forum...it's geared towards new folks like you!)
Good for you for making the decision to change your life. Given some time, diligence and patience, you won't regret this.

Firstly, I would love love LOVE to tell you that yes, you can do Atkins on lettuce and beer...but sorry, no can do.

You've read the book (Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, version 2002, DANDR for short, yes?) so you know how it works. You've also read 'why' it works, with the concept of keeping blood sugars level. You know about the Acceptable Foods list, the Rules of Induction and you read about ketosis.

You could do a low carb diet without vegetables, but Holy Constipation, Batman :yikes it's just not a good idea. Your body needs the nutrients that a variety of vegetables can give you plus it needs the fiber to help move that cheese and meat through your system.
(If you go up to the Search tab, and type VOTW in the first line, you'll get a list of veggies that I've done features on over the last few months. It may encourage you to expand your veggie horizons)

And the beer....you'll be allowed to have alcohol again in the higher rungs of OWL.
Dr. Atkins wrote this plan for a reason...to help us learn how to eat again. It works if you follow it properly.
Some of the changes are easy to make, some are emotionally difficult, but they are not impossible. You need to decide how you want to do this....do it right, and you'll see the pounds fall off of you (you men lose weight WAY faster than us women!!)...do a half-assed attempt at it following your own rules, you'll get a half-assed result. You may lose weight...you may not...it may take longer...I don't know about you, but I want this weight gone ASAP!
It comes down to how much you want this.

Chapter 3 in Atkins For Life in a section called "Can You Drink Alcohol?" pp 46-47 in the hard-cover edition says this...I've highlighted the things relevant to you.

In [Dr. ATkin's New Diet Revolution[/i], we included wine and spirits as a rung on the carb ladder, but we have since decided to remove it because alcohol is not a nutritive carbohydrate and shouldn't be consumed in place of food. This is not to say that you can't enjoy alcohol occasionally, assuming that you are not diabetic or have trouble controlling how much you drink. The good news is that a number of recent studies have shown that drinking alcohol, particularly wine, with a meal diminishes the impact of the carbohydrate on blood sugar. Other studies show a favorable impact from drinking wine in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes. Most spirits are very low in carbs, especially gin and vodka, but the alcohol is burned before fat for energy, so limit your alcohol intake. The higher the proof, the lower in carbs the spirit will be. Dry wine is lower in carbs that sweet wines such as sherry and port, which can be quite high (no pun intended). Liquers also tend to have a high sugar content. Use low carb mixers such as seltzer or sugar-free tonic water. Also avoid the use of fruit juices, which are high in carbs, as mixers. Beer is too high in carbs to drink more than occasionally and in moderation, even when you're at Lifetime Maintenance level. Light beer or the newly introduced low carb beer, however, is lower in carbs and can be used in place of other alcoholic beverage selections.

So basically, what that says is that when your body is burning off the alcohol, you aren't burning fat, so you are slowing your weight loss down. Nutritionally, it's a bust.
You also might want to think about the effect alcohol has on a persons inhibitions. After 4 to 6 beers, when the nachos are ordered, are you going to be able to say no?

None of that is what you want to hear...and change is hard...but I think you know that you are not duty-bound to order a beer or any other alcohol when you go out. Lots of people don't drink for personal or medical reasons...if you need to tell a white lie, then do so.
Beer will not help you achieve your goal quickly and efficiently.

So...changes need to be made, and not even so much changes in what you ingest...it has a lot to do with how you think about things.

Your beer is not gone forever, but in order for you to get the best possible results, it has to be put away for a while.

Go into the 14 Day forum, read the sticky's there and learn all you can. Ask others how they did giving up things they loved.

I never in a million years thought I could survive without chocolate...but here I am, over a year later, and I don't regret it at all. I've seen many a cake devoured at birthdays or other parties, but my focus was on the social side of it, and I got over the whole cake ritual thing.

Best of luck to you...if I can help at all, please ask or pm me. :yes

[**Nikki**]

Hi and Welcome to the ADBB. I understand what you're saying. But, you can always have satueed veggies in butter like mushrooms and put that on your steak to count in some veggies. I don't care for them either, so I went to GNC and bought some Psyllium Husks powder and add it into my water for a nice bowel movement. Good thing you can cut out the starches, because they make you crave like ****!! The "good" fats like Olive Oil, Canola Oil and Butter (there are more) along with the protein like eggs, beef, chicken (and the such) will totally curb your appetite. Drink LOADS of water that will flush out toxins and keep your metabolism revved up. About the beer, oh believe you me I had my whole vegetable bin dedicated to them, I would buy a case of Miller High Life's (used to be my favorite) but now my favorite is WATER because I don't want to go back to that yucky feeling or lose my progress. I can't really describe the yucky feeling, but after the 2 week Induction period, I DID NOT want beer (which was highly unusual) well I kicked the yeast, and the forbidden stuff I craved like **** for. So, beer isn't worth it you'll see, you'll choose a nice bottle of water over a nasty beer, plus your mind will be clearer than the others. I feel energized, my mood is waaaaaay better, I don't let beer or foods control me any longer on this Way Of Eating, I can control it because I truly did a clean Induction initially!!! Don't play around, do it to the letter. If you don't get all your veggies in, oh well, just try to and those will be your only carbs, because they are fiberous carbs (like Martha says: A Good Thing!) Well, you can definitely do it!!! If I can then anybody can, because its a no willpower diet or should I say a no willpower Way Of Life; Your cravings will cease and energy will burst through you after the first week definitely. Just hang in there and DO IT!!!! Because you can!!!! This is a God send this diet!!!! Everyone here is so helpful and will answer ANY of your questions or thoughts, just ask and you will be well on your way. See, I love this board its #1 on the net, you will get all the support and encouragement you'll need and more right here. So, again welcome and I'm so glad to see you here and if you can get Dr. Atkins Essentials, that book is a great kick start for induction and its in Laymen's terms, it breaks it down for you. Also you can stay on induction long as you like, its called Extended Induction. Some say until they lose 1/2 their weight then gradually move up the steps of adding in other foods, but I'll say until 1/2 your weight you want to lose is gone. Good Luck!!

[Morrisey]

Thanks for the great responses guys I appreciate it.

[theredhead]

Here's one more specific suggestion about veggies. If you always liked potatoes, you'll be amazed about how versatile cauliflower is. I didn't think I liked it until I made it into "fauxtatoes". Look in the recipe room and you'll find lots of stuff like that. Even my husband is a believer now! Good luck!

[ttdriver]

Welcome! :wave

I agree with Moochie on everything she said. (of course, I ALWAYS AGREE WITH MOOCHIE)! Anyway, I can't add much except to say, if you like potatoes as much as I used to, try turnips .. they are very much the same texture and if you cook them long enough, they lose their bitter taste and with enough butter, you will think you are eating potatoes. Seriously.

The beauty of low-carb is most foods can be adapted to your lifestyle after you get into OWL and beyond.

You are wise to be thinking of getting the weight off once and for all and becoming a healthier person. Atkins is truly the empowerment you need to achieve it. There are 5 steps: Desire, Drive, Determination, Discipline and Dedication. I'd be lying if I said its easy purging poison from your system. Rough waters ahead, mate! But you can do it!

I speak from experience. I wasn't ever obese, but I was overweight and absolutely HOOKED on junk foods. Burgers and fries everyday without fail. And never a diet soda .. always the 100% sugary syrup ... Lived on donuts ... potatoes ... pasta ... all junk. Veggies to me were potatoes and corn (which in fact are STARCH, not veggies in the true form). Did you know the starch (i.e. sugar) in a baked potato will convert to sugar in your blood stream faster than a twinkie?? Scary thought for someone trying to avoid sugar...........

Anyway, I just wanted to welcome you and assure you that you can indeed do this. Try veggies you've never heard of before that are on the acceptable list ... you just may discover something grand you've been missing out on all these years!

YES THERE IS A DARN GOOD LIFE WAITING FOR YOU WITH ATKINS!! Oh and don't forget EXERCISE. ITS NON-NEGOTIABLE. Its made me what I'm not today: A COUCH POTATO.

Betty

[Isabeau]

Couldn' agree more with the previous posters. Welcome aboard. We're all here to help!