Anyone on Atkins?

[NMCruzzin]

Happy Friday!!!

Wed night I got a call from an Aunt who happens to be one of my favorite..and she said she was in town just for Thursday and could I 'come out to play?' ... so I swapped my Friday off day for yesterday and we did the Old Town, Lunch and the Hot Air Balloon Museam! It's always fun to see Albuquerque as a tourist! So, I'm doing my time here at work today...oh boy. But it's all good...the weekend is 6 hours away! LOL!

Pink - I'm on your challenge board - mine sounds pretty wimpy..I'm sure I will not have the body of steel that others are striving for....but a firmed up Dough Boy will make the jeans and sweaters this fall look and feel a lot better! heh! :p

Peaches! - Oh you poor girl! Uh yeah...I think Dr Atkins called some of that 'the bite of death' or something like that! I hope you've recovered...and are back on track! We are already thinking of doing a week in the trailer and making a big loop around Utah, Colo & NM next year - fun to plan this winter!

Jocelyn - Yeah..I'm not sure on the wheel base lingo - but my job is loading the food, doing the cranking thing to pull up the braces that help keep it balanced, help Steve on the backing up thing ~ this has gotten much better now that he knows I not just messing with him with the "little to the right, no,no,no a little to the left no,no,no a little to the right...ohhh you just missed it..." Not enough to make the neighbors come out and wonder if our marriage is going to make it past our first RV season...but you'll get the idea!! LOL!!:p

Luv - I'm so glad you found your book! Keep it safe!

For all of the Newbies that just want points and tips - You are all very welcome to post here ask questions - jump on board and have some fun -make some cyber friends - tell us about yourselves - share low carb discoveries - ways your exercising etc.... But I think most of the regulars on here will always suggest the following:

#1 - Get yourself the Atkins book and start reading it! It really helps to get yourself mentally prepared on why this works, and your induction guidelines.

#2 - After you see what you can and cannot eat on low carb - empty your little stashes of junk in the pantry, fridge, office desk, of all these items that have contributed to the reason your need to trim down - just get rid of it - REplace it with a trip to the store to get the items that you are going to be eating!

#3 - Go back and read some of the pages on this Thread - Great websites to check out!

#4 - Pick out some way to work out !! Walking, The Gym, Just Get Moving!

Now that you've done all 4 of the things listed above..you are on your way!!!

Ok! Keep it low Carb out there!

[donnaholder]

I hope everyone is having a good week. I have been pretty sick this week. It is a little rough because I would really like to lay in bed, drink apple juice and eat chicken soup. I sure don't want to gain any weight back. Any ideas?? I know what my mama would say but I can't drink lots of juice and eat chicken noodle soup. :rolleyes:

 

My attorney sent the consent form to me ex so I guess I will find out something in the next couple of weeks. Have a great weekend!

[NMCruzzin]

Hey Pink....

I saw that there is a Daily Exercise Thread a little bit ago, not really much on weight loss as more of "what ya did, how long..."

If there's not much responce on your Atkins Thread - we can still post here - I'm usually around most week days.:D We'll see what happens.;)

 

Donna....oh girl - you not supposed to get sick in the summer! ... Awww, Hope your better soon!

[Pinkbikini]

Donna,

 

Get out your food processor and throw some veggies and low carb broth in there. You can throw in chunks of chicken but no noodles ok!!!!! And juice is not the best thing for you. Water. Lots of water. And vitamin c... some people (esp under LOTS of stress--- hmm, is that someone we know going through a super stressful period???!!?) find their immunity goes kaput after struggling to stay well for awhile. Please load up on Vitamin C to get you better quicker. And drink your water!!!!!!!!

 

Pink

[jbrambach]

Hi Gang,

Tried to logon yesterday but they were updating the boards:rolleyes: . Anyway, it us a beautiful Sat here in NY with low humidity:) I will be out of work in 5 hours and ready for the weekend. We will probably hit the truck beach today after work and maybe go fishing tomorrow. I checked the scale the other day and I am down 4 lbs of my 10 lb goal b4 my cruise so only 6 more to go:D . We have a weekend in Baltimore coming up so I am looking forward to that, I just love Baltimore, it is so much fun. Plus we got tickets to the Yankees vs Orioles YEAH!

 

Tom, I agree that the fat fast is harsh...One day was plenty enough for me.

 

Pink, after I post this message I am going to check out your new thread, thanks for the great idea for the challenge.

 

Jean, I keep thinking of when you first got the RV and almost took the roof off :eek: :D

 

Donna, feel better

 

Welcome Cruisefan42!

[Sirwinston]

Hello Gang:

Happy Monday :eek:.

Well it is plateaus vill for me :eek:. the darned scale won't budge....

 

Oh well I think I have lost 1/4" in a few places. :D

 

So slow but sure. My schedule is not allowing me to do the extra exercise I did last year. But I do walk daily.... Looks like I must at least start back to the gym tomorrow...

 

All for now, Tom

[coffee39]

I a 5' 3" and 283 pounds. I gained over 100 pounds since I quit smoking three years ago. I had smoked for 40 years.

 

I tried everything to lose weight and the doctor just kept telling me to be patient because after smoking so long my body went into shock when I quit and it was going to take time for it to decide to let go of the weight.

 

I started atkins a week ago today. On Wed. last week I checked my urine and I was showing a trace of ketones. I have since fluctuated between trace and small amount however, I have not lost a pound. I am trying to stay motivated and stick to this but when will I see a drop in weights...

 

I would appreciate any information or help anyone may have.

[jbrambach]

I a 5' 3" and 283 pounds. I gained over 100 pounds since I quit smoking three years ago. I had smoked for 40 years.

 

I tried everything to lose weight and the doctor just kept telling me to be patient because after smoking so long my body went into shock when I quit and it was going to take time for it to decide to let go of the weight.

 

I started atkins a week ago today. On Wed. last week I checked my urine and I was showing a trace of ketones. I have since fluctuated between trace and small amount however, I have not lost a pound. I am trying to stay motivated and stick to this but when will I see a drop in weights...

 

I would appreciate any information or help anyone may have.

Welcome Coffee!

Ahh one of my favs (coffee:D ) The best thing you can do is get the Atkin's Book it is called "Dr. Atkin's New Diet Revolution" and make sure you are doing the program right;) Somethings esp condiments have hidden carbs that can sneak onto your plate w/o you even knowing it. Also, visit sugarfreesheila dot com she is AWESOME and has many great tips and recipes.

[jbrambach]

Hey Gang,

Well I am in the thick of finals uggh, but only have 4 more to go. I checked the scale this morning and still down the 4 so guess that is good after a weekend:D

 

Hey Tom, losing inches is losing too:) Get ready for the whoosh soon though:D

 

Hey Pink, I posted on your other link and I actually got on my treadmill Sat for 30 min!

 

Hey Jean, what's new girl?

 

Hey Lisa, how's the house going?

 

Hey Donna, feeling better?

 

Hey anyone I missed, how's the WOEing going?

[Sirwinston]

Hello All:

I just wanted to let Jean and the regular girls know that I got married (legal after 14 years of "living in sin") LOL. On Friday 08/08/08. So now Ray and I are legally married (in California). We went to the courthouse. Because we have already been together a long time, do not need toasters, blenders, etc.... And I would rather spend the money on cruising... :D And with no reception, comes no temptation.... :rolleyes:

All politics aside it is really nice knowing that we will have all the normal rights of being spouses, hospital visiting, property, etc. We have a house, a kid, and a basset hound... So we were pretty married already.

 

And I made it to the gym today hurray :D.

 

Tom in Long Beach

[Kreeb]

Tom - Congratulations on your marriage and best wishes for many happy years together. I would have opted for more cruises instead of a wedding & reception also.

 

Today was weigh in day and the bad news is....I didn't lose any weight; but the good news is...I didn't gain any weight. I am due for my TOM so I'm sure it's just water weight because I feel bloated and it should disappear in a few days.

 

I am flying up to Buffalo, NY on Friday for 11 days to visit with family and friends. I fully intend on staying on Atkins...I'm done with the "vacation mentality" of going off Atkins, putting on several pounds, and then struggling for weeks to get back on the wagon. At least Buffalo is where Buffalo chicken wings were invented, so I'm sure I'll have some wings while I'm there.

 

We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner tonight, and I ordered an antipasto salad. It had lettuce, cherry tomatoes, roasted red and green peppers, black olives, provolone cheese, salami, italian ham, and pepperoncinis with oil and vinegar dressing. It was delicious! Everyone around us was eating pizza, but it didn't really bother me.

 

Just keep in mind that scales are evil, and that weightloss is not linear. Stay the course and the plateaus will pass, you'll lose inches, and the scale will head in the downward direction.

[Kreeb]

I came across this on another message board and thought you would be interested in reading this.

 

WHY THE SCALES CAN LIE:

 

We ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale.

 

Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don t understand what s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.

 

A biologist at Berkeley shared something very revealing on the low-carb BBS system about 4 years ago that helps us all through the erratic weight fluctuations you invariably encounter:

 

"Fat cells are resilient, stubborn little creatures that do not want to give up their actual cell volume. Over a period of weeks, maybe months of "proper dieting", each of your fat cells may have actually lost a good percentage of the actual fat contained in those cells. But the fat cells themselves, stubborn little guys, replace that lost fat with water to retain their size. That is, instead of shrinking to match the reduced amount of fat in the cell, they stay the same size! Result - you weigh the same, look the same, maybe even gained some scale weight, even though you have actually lost some serious fat."

 

This is what we have been telling folks. You lose inches but not pounds because your body plumps the fat cells. I tell them it is a complicated biochemical process that your body replaces the fat molecules with water and fluids until you exceed your bodies predetermined fluid level. Then your body will release a chemical that releases all this stored water and you get a sudden overnight loss of several pounds. Then the cycle starts over again with inches gone and the scales lag behind.

 

The good news is that this water replacement is temporary. It's a defensive measure to keep your body from changing too rapidly. It allows the fat cell to counter the rapid change in cell composition, allowing for a slow, gradual reduction in cell size. The problem is, most people are frustrated with their apparent lack of success, assume they have lost nothing, and stop dieting. However, if you give those fat cells some time, like 4-6 months, and ignore the scale weight fluctuations, your real weight/shape will slowly begin to show.

 

Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That s why, when it comes to eating, it s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners.

 

Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum.

 

Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it s associated water. It s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.

 

Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it s wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you ve had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It s the actual weight of everything you ve had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you ve finished digesting it.

 

Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it s not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, it s likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it s only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it s physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you re really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle.

 

This brings us to the scale s sneakiest attribute. It doesn t just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn t necessarily mean that you ve lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you ve lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you re just sitting around. That s one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.

 

Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn t differentiate between the two. It can t tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat. There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current.

 

If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn t appeal to you, don t worry. The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. It s a matter of mind over scale.

 

by Renee Cloe,

ACE Certified Personal Trainer

[donnaholder]

Tom- Congrats!!:D I agree completely about more cruises! If my boyfriend and I ever get married it will be short and sweet. We will probably just have immediate family there and then take a fabulous cruise!! I don't know if it will ever happen because he was in a bad marriage for 26 years before he met me. We have lived together for 2 years so who knows. Time will tell.

 

Kreeb - Thank you so much for that post. I really needed to see that today. I am not losing right now and it has me pretty depressed. I guess I need to up the water intake.

 

Thanks for all the well wishes. I am feeling better, not 100% but a lot better. I had a pretty rough weekend though. My boyfriend took the boat to the lake Friday and on the way home was arrested for DUI. :eek: I never in a million years would have thought that I would be bailing him out of jail. How do you go 49 years with a clean driving record, never in any trouble and then get a DUI? :o I am hoping that everything works out and that he is at least able to get limited license for work. He owns a heating and air conditioning company and needs to drive. He hired an attorney first thing Monday morning and he is pretty confident that it will all work out because his record was so clean. Right now I have to get up every morning at 5:45 and take him to work and then a friends son is driving him around during the day. He has to go back to his attorney Friday afternoon to do an assessment and he should get his license back in 10 days instead of 30. When we were heading back home from the jail Friday night he told me to go ahead and let him have it. He wanted to make sure everything was okay with us. I told him everything was fine. He was beating himself up enough, what was the point of me saying anything? Of course I was upset but getting mad sure wasn't going to change anything. He has cut down dramatically on his drinking and I hope it stays that way. I am not a big drinker and I have always told him that if he wants to drink that is fine. But don't drink and drive.

 

I hope everyone is having a good week. I am enjoying my last week before classes start back. 9 hours again this fall. Wish me luck. ;)

[jbrambach]

Hello All:

I just wanted to let Jean and the regular girls know that I got married (legal after 14 years of "living in sin") LOL. On Friday 08/08/08. So now Ray and I are legally married (in California). We went to the courthouse. Because we have already been together a long time, do not need toasters, blenders, etc.... And I would rather spend the money on cruising... :D And with no reception, comes no temptation.... :rolleyes:

All politics aside it is really nice knowing that we will have all the normal rights of being spouses, hospital visiting, property, etc. We have a house, a kid, and a basset hound... So we were pretty married already.

 

And I made it to the gym today hurray :D.

 

Tom in Long Beach

CONGRATULATIONS TOM & RAY!!!!!!!

How wonderful! Now time to plan the Honeymoon;) :)

[GAPeachessweety]

Hello. There has been a lot going on lately.

 

Tom - Married! Congratulations. My DH and I did simple too. Well, some wouldn't call it simple. We flew out to Vegas and got married and spent the week just us two. We had both been married before and didn't want a "family-to-do" wedding and wanted a honeymoon instead.

 

Donna - Glad you're feeling better. I think you handled the DUI situation in a very mature way. You're right in that he probably did beat himself up more than you ever could. Hopefully all will work out with his license.

 

Kreeb - excellent post. It is so easy to go by the scale and nothing else. I tend to go by my clothes and the way they fit....which is not working out well for me.

 

I have fallen, off the wagon, and I can't get up. I don't think it started last week when I had the ice cream but rather this past weekend. I was feeling really stressed and ate a slice of hot bread with honey butter and it's been downhill since. I am able to resist things like french fries and pasta and stuff but last night I just had to have a rueben sandwich with the yummy buttery toasted bread. I only ate half of it and opted out of fries. I just feel like poo right now. The past couple of days I have added a few carbs here and few there and I feel sluggish and tired now.

 

Please kick my rear someone :)

 

On the flip side.....10 days until we leave for San Fran. :D :D :D

 

Hey everyone else I missed. There are so many I can't keep ya'll straight yet.

[Sirwinston]

Hello All:

 

Kreeb, Jocelyn, Donna, Peaches, thanks for the congrats. :D I feel even better now opting for simple.

 

Kreeb: Thanks for that fantastic post about fat cells. Our bodies are complex. We cannot reverse all that abuse as quickly as we wish we could.

 

Donna: Sounds like you are handling the D.U.I. well. Hope you cope well with all your stressors...

 

Peaches: You have to do what I do and stop and think about what you really want. The bread and desert today, or a future with fitness and better health, possibly a longer life.... As a professional yo yo dieter I know how conflicted a person can get. Stay away from shame and guilt, that will only make things worse. Remember that you deserve health and fitness. But you have to make it happen for you. Every day is like a link in a chain.... Also stay way from addictive foods. Cause "just one" soon becomes one dozen, or one a day, or one of each.... Try to focus on whole foods and find some low carb replacements. Like flax seed pancakes... Or low carb sugar free home made ice cream

 

All for now, Tom

[Pinkbikini]

Congrats Tom :) Sounds like you guys have a great relationship to begin with. I'm glad you'll finally get to enjoy some of the perqs that come along with it financially, legally and otherwise!

 

Pink :D

[donnaholder]

Happy Friday!!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I guess I need to get my water intake up. I have not only not lost any weight in the last two weeks, I have gained one pound!!:o I have not cheated so I can only assume that it is water weight. I sure hope so. I guess I will learn how to pull a trailer this weekend. Keith wants the three of us to go to the lake and I will have to drive. I don't want to drive my new truck though, I will drive his truck instead. ;) Keep the miles and wear and tear off of mine. Where is everyone??

[Rocknsoul]

Hi all,

 

Quick post, but I wanted to say...

 

Congratulations, Tom!!!

 

Hi to everyone else...hope to pop in & say more soon...

 

Have a great weekend, everyone!

[Pinkbikini]

DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!!!

 

ABSTAIN FROM SALT :)

 

NO Cheating... and boom! Still waiting on my wii fit to arrive... why doesn't ups understand how important this package is...hmmm...

[donnaholder]

I lost the pound that I had gained!! I guess not enough water and too much salt did me in. :rolleyes: I am trying to do better so I can lose some more before we leave in 58 days!! I am getting excited. :D

[marci4tony]

What an interesting thread...

 

Pardon me for the intrusion - My dh and I are headed out on Carnival Liberty 11/2 and we have a bet - Who loses the most wins...(He gave me a 10lb cushion)

 

I am on Atkins. I am also the Administrator of a large Challenge (Biggest Loser Summer Edition) on sparkpeople.com. Nutrition is my life. And I started running 3 miles a night a week ago. I will give myself a "day off" - but, I run as hard and fast as I can one night and then "slog" as my dtr calls it the other two. My weekends are miserable to stay on track, but it's all part of the game. I figure with the running and nutrition combined, no matter what the stupid scale says, I'm going to look fabulous in my bathing suit.

 

I have been the Admin for Spark people for over a year, and have a wealth of information - If I can help in any way, please let me know!

 

Good to see others with similar goals!! Happy Losing!!

[Dedivah]

Hello Everyone!!

 

I have re-started Atkins Induction 1 week ago today. I have lost 7.5 pounds my first week and praying for similar or more results for this week.

 

 

I turned to Atkins first in early 2003 to loose weight for my upcoming 2004 summer wedding. After loosing 40 pounds, we concieved in late 2003 and had our daughter in July of 2004 and then got married in August of 2004. I then went back to Atkins in February of 2005 to loose the baby weight after breastfeeding. I was successful up to July of 2006 when we went on vacation to WDW and I just could not get back on the wagon and gain 50 pounds. I went back and forth through different progams because I really did not want to do Atkins again. I felt it was too restricting and I felt deprived, more often than not. Needless to say, nothing worked. So I am back to Atkins.

 

My first goal is to loose 10% of my beginning weight by October 4th.

 

My family and I are sailing out on the Carnival Triumph on October 5th.

[donnaholder]

I am shocked! My ex actually signed the consent form for me to get sole custody of our daughter!! :D I am tickled pink. I have to go to my attorneys office tomorrow so that I can sign it. Hopefully it will be taken care of by the end of the month. We have the appointment to get her passport set for next friday. She is really excited that we are going to be able to go on a cruise right before Christmas. I just hate when the final payment is due. Keith and I will be getting off Carnival Destiny the day that the final payment is due for our December cruise. Finally some good news! Also, Keith will be getting his license back tomorrow. I will be thankful to not have to take him to work at 5:45 am. ;)

[Pinkbikini]

Donna, I'm glad you got the custody situation sorted out!

 

Divah, Welcome! When you lost the weight before (and got bored with the eating plan) did you ever make it to maintenance??? Did you try new veggies? Was your family mostly on board or did you have to look at bread, white rice, and pasta on the table every night? I'm curious. Those are my biggest challenges. Outside of my birthday cake last week I'm not a big sugar eater. DH only has dessert at work and I normally get dark chocolate and popcorn for myself to have as treats when I need something fancy around the house. In maintenance now, I also indulge in peanut butter on whole grain toast with sugar free chocolate. that would have been a standard snack before...now it's a treat and makes me so happy after a rough night at work! Best wishes with your loss this time!

 

Checking in with everyone... hi!