I stumbled across this site with much pleasure. I started the Atkins plan on 9/2/03. My daily meal consists of 2 strips of bacon for breakfast, a salad for lunch (consist of lettuce, carrots, broccoli and sometimes sunflower seeds with salad dressing) then dinner which is normally a piece of chicken and a green veggie. I havedropped 2 lbs to date and am getting very discouraged. Please tell me what am I doing wrong? Will the weight ever come off? I really need encouraging words right now.

Its looks to me like you are not eating nearly enough food and could be in starvation mode!
Anyone else?

To get to the rainbow you must first pass through the rain!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>My daily meal consists of 2 strips of bacon for breakfast, a salad for lunch (consist of lettuce, carrots, broccoli and sometimes sunflower seeds with salad dressing) then dinner which is normally a piece of chicken and a green veggie. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Have some eggs with your bacon.

Have some meat, or other protein with your salad - make your salad a little bigger as well.

Have more chicken, another green veggies, and maybe a larger salad (I don't know how large your salads are).

What are you drinking throughout the day? How much water?

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

I forgot and did not include that I do eat 2 boiled eggs with my bacon every morning although I am wondering if it would be okay to do other types of eggs like scrambled. For water, I am currently doing about six cups trying to get to at least 8 cups per day. Could my problem be that I am not drinking enough water per day? Anyway, thanks for the help. I don't know if I could eat a bigger salad. Mine is not a huge one but it fills me up. I will add more chicken on my plate at night - 2 pieces instead of one. Any other help is greatly appreciated.

The funny thing I don't feel starved at all. I feel more fuller now than I did when I wat eating high carbs and junk food all day. I was never a breakfast eater - just junk like a pack of Nabisco crackers for breakfast or a bagel with cream cheese and coffee. Lunch would be a burger and fries. Dinnere would be rice with baked meat. Snacks would be chocolate. Is it okay to drink coffee on the plan? I normally have a regular size cups (6-8 oz) with 2 packs of equal sugar and 1 tsp of creamer in the mornings. Sometimes in the afternoon I might have another but that's it. I hate to keep bugging you guys but I am baffled. Why eat more if I am not hungry? Is it eating more protein that makes this plan work?

Have your coffee.. have cream in it, have the Splenda in it.. (Tho, if you used Davinci SF syrups which are sweetened with liquid Splenda, that would low your carb count).

6 cups of water is only 48oz. Unless you weigh 96lbs, that's not nearly enough.

If you're in induction, you should have 2 cups of salad veggies per day (with full fat dressing), and 1 cup of other green veggies per day in addition to plenty of fats and proteins.

The reason for eating even if you're not hungry is to keep your metabolism going. Try a few full-fat snacks as well - a strip of string cheese, some pork rinds, celery with cream cheese (flavored or plain, but full fat), etc.

If you're past induction into OWL, then you're still not eating enough..

How long have you been doing this, and where are you in relation to where you want to be?

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

Hi!

You are so wonderful in your replies. Thanks so much. What is Splenda? Is it the same as Equal which has less than 1 carb per pack? If so, I would prefer to stick with that. How much water do you think I should be drinking per day - 8 cups? I currently weight 152 lbs and I need to get to at least 135 lbs? I don't want to sound so dumb but what do you mean by "If you're in induction.?" Also, what do you mean by "full fat dressing?" I normally use regular dressing - ranch, tomato bacon, caesar - on my salads. How long does it take before you start dropping lbs and do you ever take a break from this diet? I thought every 10-12 days you go back to a normal diet within reason and then back on the plan until you get to you desired weight. I thought I would drop at least 2 lbs per week but that has not happened - I guess because as you said not enough salad (2 cups) and enough water. I really think I am doing something wrong although it seems like for the most part I am not.

Which low carb lifestyle are you trying to follow?

I assume from your posts that you haven't done much reading on the subject. For now, it's best to figure out exactly which plan you want to go with, buy that book, and read it from cover to cover. You will quickly become aware of all of the key words, key products, etc for all of your questions, and the reasons why this doesn't seem to work for you will become crystal clear. From there, you can start over, and end with success.

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

One last question, I promise. Do you know the names of the books or point me to a site where I can choose them from? Thanks again.

You can try typing key words into a google.com search - there's CAD (Carbohydrate Addicts Diet), South Beach Diet, Atkins, and I believe a few others..

Maybe just type "low carb diet info" into the search box, and you'll come back with more responses than you know what to do with.. Scan them til something catches your attention, and start there..

Otherwise, you can check a local library - they'll have lots as well.. When you find something that sounds like it will suit you, THEN buy the book.. Otherwise you'll end up with alot of needless clutter that isn't going to help...

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

From my personal experience, I have no problems using Splenda and do have problems with Equal. Equal used to give me strong sugar cravings.

Are you trying to to Atkins, CAD, or just your own plan? Part of that depends on what kind of advice you may end up getting. One thing, on CAD, carrots are not allowed for non-carb meals, as they can cause an insulin response.

As far as your weight loss goes, it can be affected by many different things: medications, age, how close to goal you are, previous "dieting", sodium intake, amount of exercise, if you are healing your body from damage you may have done to it with your previous WOE.

Ilse

380/304.6(WW)/231.5(current)/154
5'7"
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
Walt Disney

Everone. Thank you VERY, VERY much!!! I was very low in my spirit on yesterday but you all really encouraged me. I have the book slated to sit down and read again. I must have gotten confused by reading more than one diet plan because I thought the grapefruit juice was a part of the Adkin's LC diet plan. Last night I was stunned to see that indeed it has 26 carbs per 6 oz and my drinking it 3x per days... OH MY GOSH!! I think I did more damage in the last 3 weeks than good. But I do no remember reading I could not have the carrots. Anyway, you all REALLY encouraged me as I was ready to give up. I will look for the Splenda sugar substitue this weekend. I just hope the taste is similiar to equal and not Sweet-N-Low which I cannot tolerate. The best thing that came out of the last 3 weeks is I was never hungry or craving between meals and I felt better. So, wish me luck and please continue to ENCOURAGE me. I would like to shed at least a few lbs in the next 2-3 weeks to assure me this is working.

The drop in the number of carbs you're consuming in a day will be so drastic, that I'm almost positive you'll shed weight like it's a piece of cake for a little while.. (depending on how metabo-resistant you are, of course).

Good luck!

BTW - Once you're WELL into OWL, you might be able to have the diet v8 splash fruit juice once in awhile.. Approx. 4 carbs per either 6 or 8oz serving (I forget which), depending on how it affects you... It's really good, though, and I buy them in little 6 packs, and have one on the way to the gym every couple weeks instead of water.

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

Water is extremely important. At least 8 - 8 ounce classes a day. At first you may spend a lot of time in the bathroom, but soon your body will adjust. Keep up the good work!!

Rhonda

Heavenbound what exactly are you drinking during the day? Are you using dressing?