First week on Atkins

I wrote this yesterday but I guess I never posted... Will try to remember everything I said.

I am on day 5 of Atkins, officially 3. I started out not wanting to eat carbs. The most familiar to me were pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes. After much research I discovered Atkins and realized that almost everything I eat on a daily basis has over 30g of carbs per 1 serving. Disgusting! This is the food I live off daily and I'm wondering why I keep gaining weight. This is a lot more strict than what I initially wanted but its a lot easier to follow. I've been taking it day by day, decreasing my carb intake as I go. I'm calling this my pre introduction week as I am learning that more and more items have a high carb intake. I dont go by scale weight. So I wont be sharing any exact weight amounts but if I feel good in 3 months and decide to weigh myself I will share the news with you guys! Scales terrify me. I am a naturally curvy girl so I will never be stick thin I just want to lose excess weight and the 10lbs I have put on this winter! I am very new to Fat Secret but everything seems amazing in here! So helpful! I've tried eating healthy and exercising but it just doesn't work for me. I need structure, routine, and clear guidelines so Atkins is great for me!

I work a lot and dont have much time to post but I love writing and I am a research junky. Therefore, I will be posting tips, tricks, and recipes as much as I can. How I feel:

*All my favorite foods have become my enemy. I must rid them from my body to gain something more. Self confidence.*

Tips:

Drink lots of water. You probably already do because of how thirsty you are becoming. I'm up to 6 500ml bottles of water a day!

Chew sugar free gum or brush your teeth when you are craving something bad! Sounds weird but your not going to want to eat a bag of chips with a minty taste in your mouth!

Write down everything that you eat. I keep track of my calories, carbs, fat, and protein. Staying as low carb as possible, naturally minimizes your calories! I'm trying to stay under 1,200 even though I'm allowed 1,800 for my weight, height, age, and low active lifestyle.

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Id love some tips in return

Stay tuned xo

Your body burns 1200 calories in a 24 hour period just to maintain normal bodily functions. Your brain uses the vast majority of those calories. Going under 1200 calories is a bad, bad idea.. 1500 calories is more realistic.
You should read the book and educate yourself well on how to do Atkins induction clean and proper and you should be fine. Your aiming for 60% calories from fat, 30% from protein and 10% from NET carbs.

As for water intake. A good rule of thumb is take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2. The answer is how many ounces of water you need to drink every day. Water is needed to metabolize fat, but most important you MUST have it to keep your kidneys flushed of ketones.

Thank you for the info! As far as reading the book goes....unfortunately I have no time. My calories are lowering daily due to my carb intake staying lower than 20g. There's nothing more I can eat to increase my calories without me eating JUST to increase my intake! I'm trying to stay as close to the Atkins diet as I can but I am mostly winging it. My main goal is NO CARBS!!! I am already feeling great! I dont know if I have lost any weight yet but I'm fitting into my clothes better and my skin is glowing!

It's actually really easy to up your fat intake without feeling like you're eating more food, if you aren't hungry after eating 1200 calories.

Cook your foods in butter or olive oil. Use full fat dressings. This is how you could easily increase calories by at least 200 a day to get to a healthier range.

Oh wow! That actually makes total sense and works ! Thank you!

Yep don't be afraid of real butter, olive oil (but only cook that at low heats) if you have something that needs to be cooked at higher heat cook it in coconut oil which is recomended for up to medium high heats. It feels strange to add fats to things, but it really does work

Yes I noticed my energy level decreasing because I was doing no carbs and low fat everything now I've learned...increase fat & protein , decrease carbs and starch! Thank you

there is nothing disgusting in eating more than 30 g carbs a day, in facts that is the type of diet over 90% of world population is on including skinny people. Low carb diet is one of the possible approaches,albeit not the most sustainable one long term IMHO, and if that works for you that is great but carbs are a very important source of nutrition and they do not make you fat if eaten in the context of an energy balanced diet.

Being a "research junkie"as you are, take the time to research what you're doing. Even chewing gum has carbs. You will not be successful on Atkins unless you research the program - it's imperative.

My tips would be:
Follow the rules
Read all list of ingredients carfully
Get most of your carbs from veggies
Drink plenty of water
Move - because your body was meant to move

"Everything I eat on a daily basis has over 30g of carbs per 1 serving." @paperiniko. And thanks again for the advice! But Ive already lost weight and feeling great so I must be doing something right! I guess I may have remove myself from the Atkins diet. There is not enough time in my day to follow the Atkins diet 100%. So Im taking tips and following as closely as I can, and that is the most I can do. "Regular excersise and healthy eating" dont work for me. I am busy busy busy, and want to get this weight off asap. This is not something I will do long term but it has taught me alot and I will always watch everything that I eat going forward.

Whatever you end up doing with your personal diet needs to be long term for sure. If you start cutting out food groups, you need to make sure they stay out. Or, when you incorporate them back into your meals, you have to re-balance your existing macro % to make sure you aren't going over your calories.

The best diet? The one you'll do.

Don't forget the veggies! They don't add a lot of calories but they can be the vehicle for the butter or olive oil!