My friend meant well....

[EverLosing]

My friend came up to where I work on Friday to give me an early birthday present. She gave me a nice little portable storage box and inside I could tell it was filled with goodies. I opened it. There were a ton of scrunchies for my hair and Trident sugar free gum. That wasn't the part that surprised me. I reached in a pull out several Atkins Endulge Chocolate Coconut Bars and Peanut Butter Cups. Aw, poop!!! I have successfully avoided this aisle at the grocery store for nearly THREE months!!! Then, I looked down and was baffled. Were those bags of microwave popcorn?? Yep! She knows me so she included the nutrition info label cut off the side of the box. She said, "Look, you don't have to miss out on the good stuff. The popcorn doesn't have a lot of carbs and it has fiber too!" Uh, yeah. It also has a serving size of 1 CUP. No way. Net carbs are 12 grams per cup. NO WAY!! I don't think I can do any of these. She meant well and I love her for it but I was certainly surprised by my present!! I just thought it was cute in a way. She's been off work with a complete knee replacement for nearly 3 months. She's been low carbing and I guess since she was so close to goal when she started, these things aren't a stall pitfall for her. I know better though. They scare the heck out of me! I might Endulge in one on my birthday but I don't think these products should be part of the plan.

[stephbob]

Re: My friend meant well....

Aww, well it's the thought that counts! If you have doubts about being able to eat them in moderation when you're allowed to, then it's probably better to avoid them altogether.

You should be proud that you've been able to avoid that aisle for so long!

[EverLosing]

Re: My friend meant well....

You should be proud that you've been able to avoid that aisle for so long!

Well, I've made an effort to not browse that aisle. It's pretty easy because the last time I had Atkins products was many years ago and at that time they tasted like crap. She's been trying to tell me how much better they are now but I think that makes us want to introduce an unhealthy product into our WOE. I'm staying away for now. I don't think I need a chocolate bar. I know I will wake up tomorrow even if I don't chow on some peanut butter cups today!! LOL

It was a sweet thought. She's just sick of me being hard core. I know myself well enough to know I need to be hard core. There's time for what if products waaaay later!! I'm still not too keen on this whole sugar alcohol thing either!

Off I go to broil a t-bone steak!! I can't wait!!!!

[Peej]

Re: My friend meant well....

Aww, its the thought that counts. I can relate to having someone who is sick of me being hardcore about Atkins. My Mom is reducing her carb intake with me but not doing Atkins. I'm ok with that, it seems to be working for her (she's losing more weight than me actually!) but it is not for me. Even Splenda knocks me out of ketosis for a few days and I get hungry and want to cheat. Could I get back on the wagon after? Probably, but why bother? A few moments of enjoyment to stall for a week? Its not worth it to me.

I'd suggest you keep the treats somewhere for when you get further on in your weight loss or are really having a bad craving for something sweet. I don't like the frankenfoods, but given the choice between eating a slice of cake or an atkins bar, I'd take the bars for sure.

[imagood1]

Re: My friend meant well....

Your friend sounds like she wanted to be helpful...only thing is, unless someone is doing Atkins they assume to know how to DO Atkins.....

If it were me I'd just throw away the contriband and forget them. I've tried the cocunut bars and my mom loves them (she's diabetic also, so when I found out it wasn't something on the plan I gave them to her).

Honestly I'm a little upset with the Atkins brand for allowing things like this out on the market...there is enough misinformation about Atkins without this also. Atkins is not a "drink one of these and loose weight" or "eat this protein bar and loose weight" like Slim-Fast and others out there. Enough people think they know what Atkins so, but until they actually get the book and follow the plan they have NO idea! I can tell you I didn't!

Your friend was trying to be helpful - be thankful you have such a great friend.

[Lyndyn]

Re: My friend meant well....

Hi! Just popping in...

Isn't it surprising sometimes how what YOU decide to put into YOUR body can annoy other people? So strange...

YOU know what works for you - and since you are almost half way to your goal - it obviously IS working!

People often bring me treats. If I'm not feeling like getting into a big discussion about it, I just say - "oh, thanks! I'll save it to have with my coffee." And then I wrap it up and ditch it in the trash later.

Better in the can than on MY can!

The whole low carb products thing is tricky. I try to avoid it, too. I just don't trust them too much. Not to mention how expensive they are. I'll have an EAS shake once in a while or some of the Designer Whey protein powder, but I try to avoid the bars and cookies, etc.

[not2late]

Re: My friend meant well....

It's the thought that counts and it seems she made an effort to give you things that appeared to be legal. You can discreetly donate them to a food bank.

But the 12 net carbs per 1 cup popcorn is appalling! I pop my own corn (cheaper to buy a pound of corn kernels for $1.50 at Walmart than to buy those pre-packaged bags, imo.) According to my bag of popcorn kernels, 3 tablespoons of kernels has 25 total carbs and 5 grams fiber. 1 tablespoon pops to about 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups of popcorn. So about 1 cup of popped popcorn has roughly 5 net carbs. It makes you wonder what stuff they're putting in those bags to jack up the carb count!!!!!!

[EverLosing]

Re: My friend meant well....

It's the thought that counts and it seems she made an effort to give you things that appeared to be legal. You can discreetly donate them to a food bank.

But the 12 net carbs per 1 cup popcorn is appalling! I pop my own corn (cheaper to buy a pound of corn kernels for $1.50 at Walmart than to buy those pre-packaged bags, imo.) According to my bag of popcorn kernels, 3 tablespoons of kernels has 25 total carbs and 5 grams fiber. 1 tablespoon pops to about 1 1/4 to 1 1/3 cups of popcorn. So about 1 cup of popped popcorn has roughly 5 net carbs. It makes you wonder what stuff they're putting in those bags to jack up the carb count!!!!!!

I donated the popcorn to my 13 year old son. Turns out it was not buttered or seasoned at all. You should've seen the look on his face!! He promptly donated the bag to a kitchen garbage bag!! LOL!! Like I don't have 14 sticks of butter in the fridge!!

[EverLosing]

Re: My friend meant well....

So....turns out my mom took my son out of town on a nice little trip to Pigeon Forge for spring break. That happened to be the same week as my birthday. On Wednesday night, my grandmother called and apologized 87 times for forgetting my birthday on Tuesday. No biggy. At a certain age, who counts anymore?? I assured her it was ok, not offended, still knew I was her favorite grandchild. We continued to talk. I told her I had lost 35 pounds. She's seen me but hasn't said much. I explained my WOE to her. I explained no sugar, no bread, no starch, blah, blah, blah.

Fast forward. Next day. My phone rings at work. It's my grandparents. They say they're in town and coming to see me at work. They sure did....and with them they brought a huge sugary birthday cake to express their sorrow about forgetting my birthday. Well, d*mn it all!!!!

I did bring it home....for my son and my mother. I haven't touched it. It's in the fridge and my son has assured me of it's deliciousness!! Anywho...I just thought it was funny that Grandmother and I had that Atkins talk the night before and she brought me a cake!!!!!! It IS kind of funny. I remember posting way long ago....several months ago that I couldn't imagine my birthday without a birthday cake....and I was right. I've got one, just didn't HAVE any!!!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: My friend meant well....

You can't win! I'm so sorry you are going through all this "goodwill" at the expense of your new way of living. At least you know if you can resist treats from a friend and a birthday cake from grandparents, you can resist anything.

[Georgiana]

Re: My friend meant well....

Yay, you!

Happy belated birthday! (That's an Atkins-legal cheesecake, btw. )