Alison's attempt at Atkins!(Comments welcome)

[AlisonB]

What a good idea this journal is! I joined the WISH board after about 10 days of being on Atkins, and now I'm about 15 days in - and I've only just starting reading the journals. I can really see how they help, so I'll go for it!

I am 5'11" tall and started off weighing 248 lbs. (I was very annoyed with myself because 6 years ago I did Weight Watchers very successfully and got down to 165 which felt perfect. I maintained that for about 6 months and then ended up working in the evenings, which meant I couldn't go to my regular WW class, aerobics classes etc. So you can guess what happened - I put the whole lot of weight back on plus 100%!! (Over the course of the six years though!) I joined WW again several times, but just couldn't get into it - also Slimming World (do you have that in the US? ) no good with that either. I got more and more fed up and turned to food for comfort - oh, and holidays of course!

So, that brings me to now and I'd better explain how I got started. We (DH, 2 DDs and me) went to WDW for 12 days in August and had a whale of a time...so much so that I came back looking like a whale! It's such a blast having all you can eat buffets (almost unheard of in the UK!) that I went totally overboard! Anyway, once I had my photos developed I was horrified - I thought I looked gross. So I decided I'd have to do something about it - but what should I do?

As I went back to work, I found that in my absence a colleague had started on Atkins and had just completed her first week, losing 7lbs. Sounded good - I needed something to show a quick result and then I thought I could stick to it.

The very next day, I went and bought the Atkins book and started on 9/11/03 (a date I'll remember).

For the first week I stuck to it religiously, although I felt weak and lethargic quite often. My big problem was eating savoury stuff for breakfast (I used to have a massive bowl of cereal and toast with jam). Anyway, I persevered with eggs etc and always had a salad and cold meat for luch. Dinner was something different every night - salmon, chicken, beef, smoked mackerel, lamb - all with different vegetables.

By the end of the first week I felt really pleased with myself for sticking to it and didn't feel quite so tired - maybe I really was kicking the carb addiction

When I weighed in I'd lost 13lbs! Woo hoo!


Well, that really gave me the impetus to carry on and I hit week 2 with a vengeance! Carried on doing exactly the same and I wasn't tempted by anything. The best thing of all about Atkins is not being hungry!

I bought some Ketostix during the second week - dark purple!

The only thing I missed this week was Coke/Sprite etc. We can't really buy soda over here without Aspartame in, (not without mail ordering it etc) so I've been drinking fizzy mineral water instead - not quite so nice.

At the end of the second week I'd lost another 6 lbs, making 19 lbs in total.

I'm so pleased with Atkins - and really keen to carry on.

OK - that's the start of my journal - I'll try to post at least 2 or 3 times a week now that I've got going!

 

[lulu201]

Hi, Alison, and welcome to the journal board! I think that you'll find that writing a journal is a wonderful addition to your healthy living program--it's a place where you can honestly list your successes and your struggles. I know that you'll find lots of support, friendship, and encouragement plus lots of good tips from all the Atkins folks around here.

Good luck, and remember: it's day by day, pound by pound, onward and downward!

Lulu

 

[AlisonB]

So far so good, this week. I've stuck to induction as I'm not finding it a problem, except I found some lovely flavoured water to drink instead of the plain stuff (but it does have some aspartame in it).

I made the big mistake of weighing myself this morning rather than waiting until weigh in day (Thursday am) and I was disappointed to see that the scales hadn't shifted at all.

So I've cut out the flavoured water (therefore nil aspartame!) and hope that it makes a difference.

Note to self: Do not weigh yourself except on the correct weigh in days!

 

[AlisonB]

Well, all ok today. Had a yummy salad for lunch - slices of ham, stuffed with cream cheese, with a salad of mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, mayonnaise and sprinkled with cubes of cheese and crumbled crispy bacon.

Curing my desire for something sweet after lunch with a cup of black decaff coffee with a tsp of Splenda (don't usually have sugar in coffee) and this really cures the longing for something sweet - which I am sure is just a habit.

One of my weak moments is always after I've done the school run in the afternoon and have an hour or so spare - so I quickly log on here (with a bottle of water and some cubed cheese or crispy bacon on the side).

French Style toulouse sausages for dinner tonight (made with red wine and garlic - yummy!)

 

[AlisonB]

Got a bit tempted by some nice buttery toast this afternnon - but I fought it luckily!

Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs
Lunch - bowl of bolognese with a side salad
Snack - ham and cream cheese, sweetened black coffee and cream
dinner - steak and marrow.

Didn't manage my usual swim tonight - childcare issues. Never mind - will try to have a bike ride or walk tomorrow to make up for it.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Good job, Alison! Those tempting foods can really throw us for a loop but when we say no to them, our confidence grows, doesn't it?
You're doin' great! Keep up the good work, Alison.

 

[AlisonB]

Thanks Pamela!

I've lost 1lb this week - but I'm sure my scales are rubbish - I got on them 3 times and had three different weights register! So I walked away for 10 minutes and decided that I'd get on again and accept that weight! So it was just 1lb down.

But I did measure myself and I'd lost quite a lot of inches - so I didn't mind!

Anyway, off shopping tomorrow to buy some new scales!

 

[AlisonB]

Tough couple of days but made it through.....out for lunch yesterday (Burger King - but threw away tthe bun), Indian meal last night (no rice or bread) and lunch today - had chef's salad. Woo hoo!

 

[AlisonB]

OK - bought new digital scales. So much easier than balancing on the old scales leaning one way or the other seeing how much I could lose that way!

Made the lovely Atkins recipe of basic ice cream custard.....but just ate a small bowl of it hot as a dessert...yummy!

 

[AlisonB]

Manic evening this evening - doing the school viewings now for DD Alexandra who moves to secondary school next September. All very stressful as she takes her 11+ over the next few days - hope I won't be tempted to cheat, stress has been one of my weak points previously. I've actually not cheated at all in 3 weeks and 5 days so far(what's that - 26 days?) so I really don't want to ruin it now.

I'm still sticking to Induction every day as I still have lots to lose (around 60 lbs I think) and don't want to start OWL until I have maybe 30 lbs to go. Does that sound about right?

Yummy lunch today - crustless quiche (warm), salad with crumbled crispy bacon, cubes of cheddar cheese and a huge dollop of mayo.

Snack when I got in from work was a couple of pices of cold chicken.

Dinner was sort of on the run - some lovely ham stuffed with cream cheese, served with sliced tomatoes drizzled with Olive oil.

Only 1 day til my 4 week weigh in!

(Oh and I bought the digital scales - hooray!)

 

[AlisonB]

Great day today!

I didn't sleep very well last night....very busy mind as DD1 is in the middle of her 11+ tests and I couldn't sleep for thinking about the tests and how she'd do.

So I jumped out of bed at 7.15 am (half an hour early) and got on the scales - amazing! 220 lbs! That's 8lbs off in the week! (And only 21 lbs til I reach my Onderland by Spring target).

Well, my feet didn't touch the ground after that! I was floating on air as I cooked my scrambled eggs for breakfast! I like weighing in on a Thursday as I'm still hyped enough not to go off plan at the weekends!

I really hope that I keep losing (although not at this rate) as I'll be gutted if I stall.

Lunch was a bowl of chilli and a side salad with mayo.

Dinner was savoury mince (with peppers, spring onions and mushrooms) and courgettes.

Onwards and downwards!

 

[AlisonB]

A good day today, despite there being cakes in the office for someone's birthday! I felt very virtuous saying no thanks as they passed by under my nose!

Scrambled eggs and grated cheese for breakfast, minced beef, courgettes, peppers and spring onions for lunch.

Snack - slices of mustard cured ham.

Dinner - made up a new one - chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese and garlic, wrapped in bacon and cooked in the oven. Yummy and very filling! All served with marrow.

 

[AlisonB]

I don't know if I've done the right thing or not but I tried something else for breakfast today.....'porridge' Atkins style.

1 egg, 2 tsp SPI and some cream and water all mixed and zapped in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Once it's mixed up you add 2 tblsp of mixed chopped nuts and some splenda to taste.

It was OK....but I wish I hadn't had it now! It's the first time I've had nuts since I started Atkins and up until now I've stayed on strict Induction.

I really hope just 50g (2 oz) of nuts don't affect my weightloss! I know this is a bit daft because at some point I have to start adding other foods to see what I can and can't eat, but I don't want to stall my loss yet!

 

[AlisonB]

Well it's my weigh in day tomorrow and I had a quick peek at the scales today (bad move - no weight loss showing). I just hope I get a big whoosh sometime today - just so that I can drop at least 1lb! I'm sure I've dropped some inches this week though - my DH noticed that my stomach is lookign flatter and I've noticed that my bra is fitting better - no extra little bulges over the top of the cups! (Anyone know what I mean?)

I really have to try to come to terms with the fact that this is not a 'diet' for me to go on and off at times - but a complete change of lifestyle, and that if I don't lose weight sometimes it doesn't matter, as long as I have a general downward trend. This HAS to be a whole new way of life for me....but I'm having some trouble coming to terms with that, just like I did after I hit my target weight a few years back with WW. I vividly remember thinking YES! now I can eat all the stuff I want to again

I just don't want to fall into that trap again....although I know it'll be a while til I even get to goal!

 

[AlisonB]

Well the nuts obviously didn't stall my weight loss - I lost 2 lbs this week! (A bit unexpected as I weighed myself yesterday and no loss showed - but today 2lbs had gone!) Just goes to show that it's not worth cheating before the week is up if you are depressed at no weight loss showing!

Today cheesy scrambled eggs for brekkie, bolognese and vegetables for lunch and peppered mackerel and salad for dinner.

I feel newly focused again by this weight loss - and I wasn't unfocused before!!

 

[AlisonB]

Haven't posted on here for a few days - oops!

Things are still going weel, but for the first time I find myself fancying food that is not allowed, like a thick slice of freshly baked bread, or a wedge of sponge cake etc. I know I could have all of these items if they were the low carb versions, but I don't have the low carb versions sitting around (that's for a reason - if the food is there - I will eat it!)

The trouble is that I've just not been fancying this sort of food since I started on Atkins - but now I am. I just hope I can stay strong enough!

I really want to stick to Induction for at least another 2 stone weight loss. That would put me on OWL when I have about 2 stone left to lose and I hope that then I can start playing around with adding extra foods.

Roast beef and vegetables for lunch today. And I made a small portion of a suggested breakfast dish for dessert! 3tblsp ground linseed, 3 tbslp SPI and 1 cup boiling water, sweetened with splenda plus one tsp butter. It was OK, but I wouldn't rave about it!

 

[AlisonB]

Another oops - didn't add to this journal for a few days!

Everything's still going OK, had my first planned cheat this week as I saw a couple of friends and had a few glasses of wine. My first alcohol in 6 weeeks! Very nice, but I just kept thinking that my body was burning alcohol rather than fat!

My problem this week will be that the kids are on half term from school so I'll be out of my routine for the week - hope things still go well!

 

[AlisonB]

Whoops! Haven't posted on here for about 3 weeks!

Still sticking to Atkins, just running a little low on time for this journal!

I've not eaten a slice of bread, any past, rice or poatoes or sugar since 10th September! I never ever thought I could do that - I was a true carb addict!

The weight and inches are still going down (although I've stalled the last couple of weeks).

 

[Clarey]

Hi Alison reading your journal has really motivated me into losing these last 7lbs that I have been carrying around for the last few months (Prob more like a stone as Ive gone over board this xmas). I dont think I will try atkins though, will go back to Slimming World I think. How did you get on over the Christmas period?

 

[AlisonB]

Hi Clare

Actually I was fine overall - no potatoes and no Christmas pud! I did have a few treats though - peanuts etc. I think I put on 1lb over the Christmas week - so not too bad at all!