Hey guys my name is Carmen and I am from San Antonio, Texas and I'm trying to start a new way of eating. I weigh 210 lbs & am 5'1. I have tried to eat low carbs but keep eating only the same things over & over. I have lost a total of 5 lbs since I started about a week & a half ago. I would really like some ideas on what I can eat besides eggs, meats, & pork rinds. LOL Really this is basicly what I've been eating. PLEASE HELP!!!! My Birthday is next week & I would like to at least lose another 5 lbs.

Welcome, fellow Texan!

First, which low carb plan are you following? And why aren't you eating veggies, especially salad? You should be having some kind of veggies with lunch and supper.

You're losing nicely, but keep in mind that doing low carb isn't a "diet", but a way of eating, to improve your overall health first, and then to lose weight. And weight loss should be slow and steady, even though you whoosh during the first few weeks. You want to learn new eating habits, so that they can last you a lifetime.

Most here do Atkins, and use the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR) for guidance. Some follow Protein Power, by Drs. Michael & Mary Dan Eades, some do South Beach, some the Zone. Some do a combination of several plans, after experimenting and finding what works best for them.

We highly recommend getting the book of the plan of your choice, reading it over, take notes, highlight, underline, and get to know what foods you need to eat for optimal health and weight loss.

There is a lot of variety in low carb. Educate yourself. Knowledge is power.

I wish you a lot of success with your new way of eating.

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Nita

Carmen. Congratulations on your loss. Nita has given you good advice. You should not base your understanding of low/controlled carb eating on what you may have heard. There is a lot of misinformation out there and you need to be able to separate fact from fiction. Also, you should never be bored with what you are eating. There are just too many low carb dishes available for being bored to be more than just an excuse. Even during the induction phase where you keep your daily carb count to 20 or less, there are good veggie and salad dishes available to keep you at the 20 grams range. Look in our cooking forum and recipe section for ideas. Good luck.

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Henry

Welcome, Carmen.

Good advice above. Picking a plan and reading the book are the first two steps to changing your way of eating.

Hope you'll make yourself at home.

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Welcome, Carmen.

Expereicned LCers will tell you that veggies are one of the mainstays of LC living, and VERY important! Some folks confuse LC with no-carb, which we don't recommend here. Those veggies are good for you! And since you can subtract your fiber grams from the carb grams for almost any plan you're following, you can eat plenty of them and still have a low carb count for the day.

Do check out the estabilshed LC plans as others have already suggested, as it will help you understand how to transition from the idea of "losing a few pounds" to finding a healthy way to eat that you can happily follow for the rest of your life.

I'd also encourage you not to live and die by the scale numbers and avoid short-term date-based loss goals (like losing 5 pounds by next week). It's really the long-term approach that will serve you the best and if you do approach LC like a diet, you'll have results similar to other diets - i.e. when you stop "dieting" the weight comes back. Much better to find a permanent solution, eh?

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