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I'm hoping that with this post others will chime in with simple ways they manage their diet. I have a very simple palate and I require a simple diet plan in order to maintain the Atkins WOE. I started Atkins one week before New Years to drop my access weight and get into shape. I didn't tell anyone about my diet except my fiance (I know some disagree with this and think you should tell a lot of people for accountability, but I also knew that some would shake their heads and be negative about it due to ignorance and I didn't need that kind of discouragement). I'm 5'4" and started out at 141lbs and today I'm 129lbs and think I'm only about 5lbs away from being pretty fit. I've been in the Induction phase the entire time as I wanted to be a little more aggressive about my weight loss as I'm going on my first tropical vacation in a couple weeks and wanted to see where I could get myself prior to the trip (and I will say that having a goal with a nice reward like a trip is HUGE for me in keeping up my motivation, next up is my wedding in August!).
So, what's my simple way of life on this diet? Well, I'll either start my day out with two scrambled eggs with a few ham steak chunks, green peppers and onions OR an Atkins shake. About 3 hours later I have my lunch (I like to eat early and often during my work day). My lunch is usually two turkey with cheese hot dogs and a little mustard (very good by the way! I thought I'd miss ketchup but I actually don't.) About an hour later I'll have an Atkins bar. They feel like I'm having a treat but without the carb guilt. A couple hours after that I'll have two pieces of string cheese and maybe a sugar free Jello cup. I never feel hungry throughout the day and drink a LOT of water (about 100oz). My dinner varies greatly. Sometimes I'll have a grilled chicken caesar salad with onions, mushrooms, hard boiled egg, and a few cherry tomatoes (Ken's Steakhouse Caesar Dressing is surprisingly low in carbs, but be careful on the calorie count). Or sometimes I'll have steak with sauteed mushrooms and onions, or sometimes I'll even have my scrambled eggs for dinner (there's no rule on when you can eat breakfast food!). Later on at some point I may have another Atkins bar as a treat, another Jello, or some raw almonds. If I find myself with a sweet craving, I'll have a Diet Sierra Mist but I have to be careful with diet soda as the artificial sweetener tends to give me additional cravings. I avoid soda most days because of this.
My diet doesn't vary much more than that. I'll substitute a few things here or there but I find sticking to a similar diet (at least during induction) really helps make things simple. Plus I also know the carb count by heart too so I'm really aware of where I can adjust things.
I definitely stay under 30 carbs a day on this diet and leave a little wiggle room if on Friday night at bowling I want to have a really low carb beer. The one thing that I think should be mentioned is calorie count. I know this lifestyle is not meant to count calories but I don't think it's any secret that the way to weight loss is to burn more calories than you take in BUT I do 100% agree that greatly restricting carbs is the fastest way to do so. I am mindful about not consuming more than 1500 calories a day.
As far as exercise, it's critical to my success! I make sure I do some sort of workout every single day except Tuesday night when I have bowling league. I'm a devotee to workout DVDs as I don't like gyms. I really love Hip Hop Abs and Turbojam. I also like to incorporate the Wii Active (don't be fooled with it being a "game", my legs really burn when I'm done!).
My future on Atkins, well when anyone asks how long I will be on this "diet", I say forever, of course with a little more flexibility once I reach my goal and go onto the maintenance phase but I know how hard I work every day to get me to where I am now and where I'm going, I'm not about to let reckless indulgences ruin that. Someone once said in a magazine article as their mantra, "nothing tastes as good as it feels to be thin". I love that mantra and tell myself that anytime I have a senseless craving or am tempted to make a bad food choice. I'd love to hear others' mantras if they have one!!
Anyways, that's my story so far and I hope to be able to keep celebrating my successes as the weeks go on. (And not to give too much information, but I will say that self confidence is the world's greatest aphrodisiac! My fiance is definitely a believer in this diet now
I'd love to hear others simple ways of maintaining their weightloss as I'm always looking for great ideas...but I'm no cook so fancy recipes are not my style.
Sincerely,
Not "2muchtresa" anymore!
So, what's my simple way of life on this diet? Well, I'll either start my day out with two scrambled eggs with a few ham steak chunks, green peppers and onions OR an Atkins shake. About 3 hours later I have my lunch (I like to eat early and often during my work day). My lunch is usually two turkey with cheese hot dogs and a little mustard (very good by the way! I thought I'd miss ketchup but I actually don't.) About an hour later I'll have an Atkins bar. They feel like I'm having a treat but without the carb guilt. A couple hours after that I'll have two pieces of string cheese and maybe a sugar free Jello cup. I never feel hungry throughout the day and drink a LOT of water (about 100oz). My dinner varies greatly. Sometimes I'll have a grilled chicken caesar salad with onions, mushrooms, hard boiled egg, and a few cherry tomatoes (Ken's Steakhouse Caesar Dressing is surprisingly low in carbs, but be careful on the calorie count). Or sometimes I'll have steak with sauteed mushrooms and onions, or sometimes I'll even have my scrambled eggs for dinner (there's no rule on when you can eat breakfast food!). Later on at some point I may have another Atkins bar as a treat, another Jello, or some raw almonds. If I find myself with a sweet craving, I'll have a Diet Sierra Mist but I have to be careful with diet soda as the artificial sweetener tends to give me additional cravings. I avoid soda most days because of this.
My diet doesn't vary much more than that. I'll substitute a few things here or there but I find sticking to a similar diet (at least during induction) really helps make things simple. Plus I also know the carb count by heart too so I'm really aware of where I can adjust things.
I definitely stay under 30 carbs a day on this diet and leave a little wiggle room if on Friday night at bowling I want to have a really low carb beer. The one thing that I think should be mentioned is calorie count. I know this lifestyle is not meant to count calories but I don't think it's any secret that the way to weight loss is to burn more calories than you take in BUT I do 100% agree that greatly restricting carbs is the fastest way to do so. I am mindful about not consuming more than 1500 calories a day.
As far as exercise, it's critical to my success! I make sure I do some sort of workout every single day except Tuesday night when I have bowling league. I'm a devotee to workout DVDs as I don't like gyms. I really love Hip Hop Abs and Turbojam. I also like to incorporate the Wii Active (don't be fooled with it being a "game", my legs really burn when I'm done!).
My future on Atkins, well when anyone asks how long I will be on this "diet", I say forever, of course with a little more flexibility once I reach my goal and go onto the maintenance phase but I know how hard I work every day to get me to where I am now and where I'm going, I'm not about to let reckless indulgences ruin that. Someone once said in a magazine article as their mantra, "nothing tastes as good as it feels to be thin". I love that mantra and tell myself that anytime I have a senseless craving or am tempted to make a bad food choice. I'd love to hear others' mantras if they have one!!
Anyways, that's my story so far and I hope to be able to keep celebrating my successes as the weeks go on. (And not to give too much information, but I will say that self confidence is the world's greatest aphrodisiac! My fiance is definitely a believer in this diet now
I'd love to hear others simple ways of maintaining their weightloss as I'm always looking for great ideas...but I'm no cook so fancy recipes are not my style.
Sincerely,
Not "2muchtresa" anymore!
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