My first post! >^.^<

[HaloKitty]

Hello,

*Deep breath* Okay, so here goes ...

I'm Mandy, 23 years old from Roanoke, VA. Up till now I've had a sort of contempt for those on the Atkins diet, thinking there must be something wrong with people who thought it was alright to eat three burgers and a pound of bacon ... but can't have an apple cause the carbs in it. I believed that I didn't have to adhere to an idealistic vision of beauty marketed by fashion magazines and negatively reinforced by a society dumb enough to believe that beauty can only be achieved by reaching a dress size in the single digits.

I've always been a big girl. When I was in middle school I remember the scale being at 180, and it's only gone up from there. When the scale hit 200, I tried the diet and exercise thing, joined Curves, started drinking protein shakes that tasted like sand in my mouth, and tried my best to keep away from the sweets.
It worked for a while, but then I lost my job and had to cancel the curves membership. That was a let down that just spiraled my depression down and I gave up (consoling myself with ice-cream and chips) . Thinking that if I just ate like a sensible human being, the weight would eventually just come off on it's own.

I was wrong. Obviously eating sensibly was harder than I thought because just recently I stepped on the scale again and it read "275lbs".
That scares the crap out of me.

I called my mom, who a couple of years ago went through the gastric bypass surgery, and then taking on the Atkins mentality to eating and lost A LOT of weight. She also made me aware of a problem that I have myself ... that sometimes I will go through a day and not even be aware of what I put into my mouth. Or sneak in that spoonful of frosting when no one was looking ...
We talked about the Atkins diet, that it really works, but that I would have to commit to it religiously, or else the ketosis wouldn't work. No food "rewards" or it would be back to square one.

I thought it would be easy ... no breads or pastas and no sweets ...
I was very, very wrong (again)
When checking the nutrition lable became a every meal thing, I started noticing just how many grams of sugar and carbohydrates I was really getting before.
And just how many foods were "off limits" now.

When I told my gran-parents that I was going to be starting the diet on Monday (6/15) They seemed genuinely supportive. But, as the both of them practically live on carbs and sugar, it's been difficult. For my gram especially because shes very much the typical cookies, cakes, and just about everything else type of gram.

I'm sure shes not trying to sabotage my efforts on purpose, but it's frustrating when she keeps offering me all these things three days into my diet. It's hard to say no to a house that smells like chocolate chip cookies or fried chicken.

That's when I realized, I need help. Looking through the sites for recipes that I can eat now, I found this site. Looking for as many hints and tips that I can find, especially for snacks and recipes.

So, here I am. Ready and determined to get it right this time!

[Donpope]

Re: My first post! &gt;^.^&lt;

Omg!
What a post lool
Hopefully you get past all those cravings and lose the weight you wont to.
Good luck and all the best

[neutronnorman]

Re: My first post! &gt;^.^&lt;

Hi Mandy, that's a great post. I get the same stuff from my family, as they eat themselves into hypertension, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

[october.sparrow]

Re: My first post! &gt;^.^&lt;

Hi Mandy
Welcome aboard...
I am sure with the motivation & determination that you have shown in the post you will succeed.
Atkins board has some really experienced people who are always there to help you.
Again welcome & best of luck.

[chinadoll]

Re: My first post! &gt;^.^&lt;

Hi Mandy,

Why don't you sit down with Grandma and tell her you really need her support face to face. Then give her a list of induction friendly foods. Also I know it seems like you are checking everything now, but rather than read labels of processed food, you would be better off forgetting all that stuff and going for the simplest version of Induction--that means, eggs, meats, mayo, olive oil, butter, salad veggies (no carrots and watch tomatoes - they add up) and other green veggies such as green beans, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, etc. You can also have 3 ounces of hard cheese like cheddar. You don't have to think about it and you can eat liberally from the allowed foods. 2 cups of salad veggies and one cup others per day.

Then you don't have to worry about labels so much. Just eating good food.

If you have not yet read the book, please do. It helps more than you know to motivate and educate you so you'll do this right.

[imagood1]

Re: My first post! &gt;^.^&lt;

Hi - if you are really serious about making this a lifelong change you should get the 2002 Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR) book and read it cover to cover. That way you know what you are doing and why the plan works. So many people have the perception you did about Atkins - if they would just read the book and see that we eat more than bacon and burgers they would be on this plan also.

Drink at least 64 ounces of pure water daily (NOTHING ADDED) - exercise starting today - find something you can do and do it. Track your net carbs daily on a program like www.fitday.com.

You are the only person who can make this work -- I eat with my family everynight who do not follow the Atkins plan....we eat the same meat but my meals are healthy - they hav starchy carbs....it doesn't bother me to see them eat because I'm doing this for me - not for them. Over time they have tried and even like some of the meals I eat and once in awhile we all "eat Atkins" - that's nice but I'm not forcing them to eat my food and I don't feel forced to eat theirs. You have to make up your mind and decide what you put in your mouth is for your health, not because it's sweet and someone else is eating it.

Good luck