So I have read so many post and I still am discouraged. I live in the beautiful Hawaii. I have a lovely husband who is perfect weight and height. I love him dearly but his solution to my weight problems is "don't eat so much". Well, yes I know that. I am 6'2, not your average female, so when I do go out I am very noticable. It sucks. It is not like I am fat and can hide. Everyone notices me. I can't cook, so for the last three days this has been my eating habits:

Breakfast: 2 eggs
Lunch: 2 celery sticks w/ cream cheese
Snack: 20 peanuts
Dinner: 2 cups lettuce with rolled up deli meat
Maybe a sugar free jello later.

I AM BORED ALREADY. Please don't tell me to cook more. I can't. I have a 1 year old and I fell like the worst mom ever. I am just so tierd. Anyone else like me out there?

Hawaii

Hawaii, there are a lot of us out here that have felt like you. But you can turn that around by eating right.

First off, you are not eating enough, and not enough variety.

Second, go buy a book on whatever low carb plan you want to try. All of them have websites where you can get a good overview of the program, but you want to read the details.

Being tired is really hard with a little one, and you need to get your energy levels up. Low carb will do that. Sometimes it's immediate, but for some people it comes after the first week or 2.

There are lots of things you can do without cooking. Try tuna salad. I make mine with mayonnaise and sugar free sweet pickle relish. You can buy canned chicken for chicken salad. Or egg salad. Eat the salads with pork rinds, or stuffed in a tomato. Have green or red bell peppers. You can eat zucchini raw. Have cucumbers. Just make sure you are getting some variety in your veggies.

You can also go to www.nocarbzone.com. It is a low carb support site for low carbers living in Hawaii. Yes, you can eat Spam on low carb. (But only if you like it.)

And check out the recipes in the cooking section. You might find some good ideas without having to do much cooking. There's even a recipe for a 3-minute chocolate cake!

Keep us posted, Hawaii, on how you are doing. Consider joining some of our challenges, where you will get tons of encouragement, and perhaps start a journal.

I hope you much success.

__________________
Nita

Dear Hawaii,
I read your profile, and noticed that you are doing Atkins. If so, you need to read DANDR (Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution) from cover to cover FIRST. Read about induction and what is allowed, check out what the good Dr. has to say about how much you should eat and when. Your husband means well, I'm sure, but just eating less is not the idea behind low carb. You are not eating enough, nor do you have enough variety in your diet. Of course you're bored, eating like that.
Try incorporating more salads and fresh seafood into your diet, and new and different vegetables. Two sticks of celery, even with cream cheese, is not lunch. You have an unlimited array of meats, cheeses, dairy products, vegetables and, after induction, fruits to choose from. Take advantage of this and don't let yourself get bored. (By the way, peanuts are not approved for induction.)
What does your family eat if you don't cook? If your husband cooks, can you enlist his help in your new way of eating? Even if you eat out often, you can still stick to your plan and stay healthy. It just takes knowing what to do and DOING IT.

__________________
Trina

Vice-President of the Intergalactic Order of Brussels Sprouts Haters

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Hi there Hawaii,
I'm new around here too, but I thouht I'd add a few things that work for me. My husband is deployed to Iraq right now, and we have two children, ages two and seven. Trying to keep them busy while I'm preparing meals is a big challenge, but I have found a few things that work for me.
1. The freezer section is great. Watch the carbs, but opt for precooked sliced chicken breasts, steak, and so on.
2. Take an hour or so on your husband's day off to prepare your foods for the week ahead of time. For instance, cook a few chicken breasts, chop some veggies, etc. Then, all you have to do is throw a few things in a bowl and pop the bowl into the microwave.
3. Make yourself a priority. LC is a big committment for your weight, your health, and your life. It's worth spending a few minutes in front of the stove to give yourself more energy, a slimmer waistline, and a longer, healthier life.
Also...
Read DANDR! It's vital to your success. No amount of information you find online can compare to reading that book. Some of the information online is downright false, including plenty of the recipes I've found.

__________________
Michelle
209 / 187 / 150




DH's R&R Goal:
209 / 187 / 165
(2 months to go!)

Aloha Hawaii! I'm on induction myself and its only day 3 for me. Oh, please don't let yourself get bored. That's the worst thing that can happen. For me that's when I'll let myself start eating bad stuff. I've been on atkins in the past know that I'll binge if I get bored. If the food isn't good...then changing my way of life is not going to work. I agree with Michelle - Maybe just find a couple hours where you can power cook all your meals for the week. And take advantage of all the lovely seafood your island has to offer! Kauai is my favorite place in the whole wide world. We try to visit every year but I have a 3 month old baby so we were not able to go this year. I'm in Seattle and its the 25 day of rain!!! :( (I don't know what this has to do with anything but had to say it anyway). And like someone else mentioned..you're not eating enough. Especially at 6'2, I'm surprised your not starving! I too am reading the book and its well worth the time. I wish you luck and give the sun a big hug from "soggy in seattle"
Amber

PS - Look at the receipes on the Atkins website, you might get some good ideas out there.

All the help and suggestions you've read here are excellent. But all the "suggestions" in the world won't help if you just can't get together the energy to put them into practice.

From the tone of your post, I'd like to suggest a visit to your doctor or clinic. Your tiredness and discouragement could simply be a result of the challenge of being the mom of a one-year-old. But it could be a symptom of depression, or low thyroid, or iron deficiency, or countless other physical causes only a doctor can detect. So go. Be honest and forthright about everything. Get some blood tests. Talk over your dietary goals. Once you have this baseline information--and perhaps some therapeutic tools--you can decide how to plan for your low-carb eating lifestyle. (Which doesn't have to be complicated or involve a lot of cooking.)

Best wishes.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Aloha Hawaii!!! Welcome to LCE!!!

I have to ditto what everyone has said so far, especially Barb L. You sound depressed. And as my beloved Dr. Phil says, "You can't change what you don't acknowledge." IF you are depressed, you HAVE to acknowledge that and do something about it. SEE a doctor.

Second, you are STARVING yourself. You WON'T lose weight if you are starving yourself. That is.........your body won't give up its fat reserves, it will start eating up your muscles.

I can't stress enough how important it is to read DANDR. And your hubby should read it too so he can understand what's important to do this correctly. If you BOTH can understand it, it will go more smoothly.

How much weight do you need to lose?

__________________

Hello ALl,

WOW! Was not expecting such a response. I re-read my post and I do sound depressed. I think I am just a carbaholic. Two years ago I did the atkins for 8 months. I lost about 40 pounds and got pregnate right away. I gained it all back. I remember how I felt 40 pds lighter and I tell you it was a great feeling. I don't think I am starving myself at all. I have read the book from cover to cover a couple of times. 20 carbs for induction. So lets break it down:

Breakfast: 2 eggs at 1.2 total carbs
Snack: peanuts at 3.8 carbs
Lunch: Celery and cream cheese at 2.4 total carbs and then cheese and meat slices at a total of 1.8 carbs
Dinner: "Husband cooked last night!" Steak and broccoli at a total of 1.6 carbs

I am not really hungry, just bored. I liked the post of "just get in there and prepare" but you have to remember if I was like that I would not be this fat now. I agree though. I need to just get in there. I did make eggs in advance! That is a start. I am eating the same today, but maybe I will throw in a little more snacks. I had planned to have my jello and whip cream last night but I had a vodka and water instead! Long day. Not only do I have a 1 year old going through separation anxiety every time I walk out of the room, but I teach severly behavioral students addicted to drugs, violence etc. I think I just needed a place to vent. I feel much better in doing so now! Thanks ladies. I think I will be hanging in here more!

Hawaii

hi hawaii -
first, cut out the peanuts - they aren't in until after induction.
most of your 20 carbs should be in veggies. you're still well under the 20 - the goal is to get as close to 20 as you can - 10-11 is too few. You will not feel right staying at that.
get more of the brocolli and celery - and I like having pepper spears around.

check out Maggies cereal in teh recipe section here - it definitely keeps me from getting tired of eggs, or making breakfast.
I keep a large freezer bag full of it in my fridge, with a 1/3 c measuring cup right in the bag.
I put the stuff in a paper bowl, heat some water in the microwave for 2 minutes, and just put it on until I like the consistency.
I do sprinkle about a tbs of sugar free syrup on it.
Great for trips too.

try to make up some tuna salad - it's great on celery.
how hard do I work on tuna salad - dump the can and put some 'sandwich spread' in it. stir it up and it's 'good enough' to eat.

or wrap it in lettuce leaves. yum.

there is a lot of support here (I was gonna say tons, but that is ever shrinking!!)

Good luck - you will start feeling great in a few days.

__________________
Mary Kay
2009 WW - 228 / 199

I want a Christmas Onederland!!

I never remember reading that peanuts were not allowed during induction. Why is that? Low in carbs, great snack, so are macadamias and walnuts, I don't understand. I just looked at the atkins site and it said they are fine.

Hawaii

I take that back. Just got an email that said no nuts. Now I am really in a bind!

Hawaii

Hawaii, are you remembering to subtract the fiber from your total carb count? It's VERY important to remember to do that or you will cheat yourself out of more food. The fiber doesn't count as a digestible carb, but yet IS counted as a carb on food labels.

Can you make your self some egg salad???? I just boil eggs for ten minutes (NO PEEKING) with the cover on. Drain and fill the pan with COLD water. Crack the eggs and soak them in the cold water. After they are cooled off, peel them, rinse and chop them up with a fork and knife, add plain mayo to them. If you can find DILL relish (if you like that) you can add that. You can chop celery and add that too, or just eat the plain egg salad on celery stalks. I like eating egg salad on a bed of chopped lettuce.

I like to make ham roll ups with cream cheese spread on them with olives or baby dill pickles in the middles too.

Don't be afraid to fill up on veggies. You can make a simple homemade dip for raw veggies with sour cream and dried minced onion and dried minced garlic. Just add about a tsp. of each to a container of sour cream, stir well. Add a pinch of salt and let it sit for a couple of hours first to let the dried onion and garlic soak up some moisture to rehydrate. Then you can sit with raw veggies and dip and eat. YUM!!!!!!!

Nuts are for OWL. When you are done with induction, you can add nuts back. I'll bet you can get the BEST Macadamias there in Hawaii!!!!!!

__________________

Hawaii, here is a link to the Atkins website for the rules of Induction. http://www.atkins.com/articles/atkin...s-of-induction

__________________
Henry

Hawaii -
I'm with you...I'm not really much of a 'cooking' person. But I've found that planning ahead, really works well. I'll cook multiple hamburgers or chicken breasts and baggy them and use them during the week. One cooking time, one clean up session, and it's done.

Good Luck and welcome!

__________________
Started: 261
Currently: 182

Here is the phase I (induction) list of acceptable foods from the Atkins site:

http://www.atkins.com/articles/atkin...ceptable-foods

Nuts are not allowed until AFTER induction. They are calorie dense, have a higher carb count for the amount of nutrition that you gain AND peanuts are not a nut, they are a legume, which can cause some people to stall.

__________________
Katie
275/238/150
Restarted 01/08/2007
37 pounds lost!
http://justanotherfatgirl.blogspot.com