Back to Atkins

[ellenw12345]

Hi, I'm starting again since I was successful before at getting weight off. I have never tried to do Atkins in any other mode other than Induction. I have to say I am fearful of putting nuts or berries in my mouth for fear of starting cravings and eating a small amount and then not stopping.

Thank you for welcoming me into the group. I was discouraged when I got on the scale this morning and found it was 2 lbs up after an 8 lb loss??? I am printing the rules and allowed foods and restarting again today thanks to your inspiration.

Two questions I have always had about Atkins induction:
1. 2 cups of lower carb salad fixings plus 1 cup higher carb veggies allowed per day (iceburg lettuce is so low in carbs.. it doesn't count for almost anything... so how can that be the bulk of my veggies??? If you count the veggies in this 3 cups.. you don't get 20 carbs... I don't understand??

2. Do you count the sucralose in diet drinks as 1 of your allowed packets?

Thanks.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Back to Atkins

Welcome!

>> I have never tried to do Atkins in any other mode other than Induction.>>

Are you going to do all the phases this time?

>>I am printing the rules and allowed foods and restarting again today thanks to your inspiration.>>

That's handy ... however, it's not substitute for owning and reading Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (2002). I hope you have a copy of the book, too!

I've never known anyone to be successful at achieving their goal of keeping the weight off without a copy.

>> 2. Do you count the sucralose in diet drinks as 1 of your allowed packets?>>

Yes. Also, diet drinks don't help you, water does. Drink all your water first.

[liv]

Re: Back to Atkins

Welcome.
You can do it again. This time do try to move up the rungs. It is a way to keep the weight off you just have to become friends with healthy foods again and berries and nuts can be healthy when we learn to portion control them. Which is what we try to learn on Atkins.

Your questions
1: Cups. The way I see it there are about 40 veggies listed and many of the veggies have carbs - so do some variation. Eat some peppers, mushroons, jicama, turnip, pumpkin, tomato, onion, radishes, snap peas etc etc. Veggies will be something you should eat a lot of as you move up the rungs so induction is a good place to learn how to get to know them.
If you do not get to 20 carbs that is not a problem as long as you do eat 3 cups of healthy substantial veggies. (and most of your daily carbs have to be from veggies)

2 - I do not drink diet drinks. I think they are aweful things. But if you drink them yes you count the seetener as carbs and as one of your three allowed sweet things a day. (i sweetener in 8 oz I think is the rule of thumb). But the most important think is to drink plenty of clean water.

Welcome

[ellenw12345]

Re: Back to Atkins

Thank you. But I like to have veggies like green beans and cauliflower (mashed) instead. Isn't that ok instead of salads? Individual vegetables are more appealing to me than salads right now.

[ellenw12345]

Re: Back to Atkins

Yes, I have books and also have pre-ordered the new one coming out in March. Thanks!

[liv]

Re: Back to Atkins

You do not have to have salads. There is no rule that you have to have salads.
Do you have the 2002 edition. It is the one we use here.

[Georgiana]

Re: Back to Atkins

Individual vegetables are more appealing to me than salads right now.

You can cook peppers or mushrooms... and basically any "salad" vegetable.

[bizzlekitty]

Re: Back to Atkins

Welcome back. What are you going to do differently this time?

I fell off the wagon hard too but am back on track.

As for moving into OWL, I highly recommend it. Part of the process of OWL is figuring out your CCLL, and which foods you can and cannot tolerate.

I also avoid soda as I've discovered it causes cravings and triggers, so you might want to cut it out all together. I've also reduced my sweeteners (Splenda) to 1-3 packets a day, if that. Also remember that there's more than one serving of soda in a 12 oz. can so be sure to count each serving against your sweetener limit.

Good luck!

[imagood1]

Re: Back to Atkins

There is nothing scarey about moving to OWL -- you can go as slowly as you feel is needed for you - there are so many different food choices for each rung you can spend long periods on each rung or pass up some altogether until you feel ready to try them (the berries for example)...

Make sure you follow the rules, drink enough pure water (64 ounces is just the minimum -- more is better for you), take a vitamin without iron and exercise. Good luck to you.

[ellenw12345]

Re: Back to Atkins

Thank you all so much. I don't know how long I will stay on induction, but the scale hardly moves now... so how could I ever tell if adding 5 more carbs (n on n on) stalls me... That seems very confusing because weight loss is so slow as it is.

[imagood1]

Re: Back to Atkins

You don't have that much to loose so it's going to come off slower than someone who has 50 or 60 pounds (or more). The first rung of OWL is 5 additional net carbs of vegetables....many people find when they start adding foods back the weight starts coming off -- I know it helped me!

If you only stay on induction you really aren't doing yourself any good -- you need to start adding foods back at sometime -- the book says 2 weeks of induction followed by OWL as phase 2.

Good luck

[ellenw12345]

Re: Back to Atkins

Ok, everyone is convincing me to move into OWL. I haven't been getting in my 20 carbs a day now. Should I make sure I'm doing 20 before I move to 25? What should I choose as my additional food?

I also have fibromyalgia. I am have been having difficulty with exercise. I'm walking around my subdivision every day which is .7 miles. But I find increasing anything I do doesn't work well. My muscles get sore and don't quit. How is it going for you?

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Back to Atkins

>>I haven't been getting in my 20 carbs a day now. Should I make sure I'm doing 20 before I move to 25?>>

Yes. However, you could make sure you're getting 25 net carbs when you move to OWL.

>>What should I choose as my additional food?>>

The first rung of OWL is an additional 5 net carbs of Induction vegetables.

If you're adding a new to you vegetable, then you only add it 3 times per week. On the other days, you stick with vegetables you've already eaten.

I wouldn't worry so much about the exercise ... do what you can do.

[mission to lose]

Re: Back to Atkins

Thank you. But I like to have veggies like green beans and cauliflower (mashed) instead. Isn't that ok instead of salads? Individual vegetables are more appealing to me than salads right now.

"Salad vegetables" is just a name of the category, and you may certainly enjoy them hot, cold, cooked, raw, in a salad, in a casserole, roasted, anyway you like them..

[Georgiana]

Re: Back to Atkins

I haven't been getting in my 20 carbs a day now. Should I make sure I'm doing 20 before I move to 25? What should I choose as my additional food?

I would do a week at 20 net carbs, with over half of them from Induction vegetables. Then I would increase to 25 by adding 5 net carbs worth of Induction vegetables.