Hi everyone, i'm new here and wanted to say hello. I'm 21, from the Uk and i'm trying out atkins/low carb to help me lose some weight.

Today is my first day of induction. I have been experiementing with what i can eat that adds up to less than 20g carbs for the past week or two, and i have been going on and off the idea of whether i should do atkins.

But i seriously need to lose the weight i gained from medication side effects as its making me very very depressed and i had a friend (ex) who lost alot of weight on atkins and she looked great, so thats why i'm trying it.

I was hoping i could find help and support here with this diet and be of some support to everyone here too.

I am having trouble with what to eat during the day. I cannot eat any meat that isnt halal ( killed in a specific way - religious reasons), so i cant eat bacon, ham, beef, steak, all that stuff.

I can eat beef if its halal tho, like from the indian takeaway (i had a beef burger no bun with onions today) and i can eat chicken and lamb and turkey (if its halal) and chesse and eggs and fish.

I only know how to cook food indian style though (not like the take aways and restaurants) - is that ok on low carb??
I also want to cook chicken wings and lamb chops in the oven but i dont know how to cook it. I try reading the recipies but i get confused. I can cook these foods indian style, but i a have no idea how to cook it in the oven.
When i say i can cook it indian style this is what it contains:
onions, garlic, olive oil, meat (chikcen/lamb), tomatoe, green chilis, water, 1 tsp salt and chili powder.- I have no idea how many carbs are in this! Anyone got any idea??

I have brought the Atkins Morning Shine Breakfast Bars to eat in the morning and a Atkins milkshake to try in the evening.

My diet today consisted of:
Breakfast: Atkins morning shine breakfast bar, 1 fried egg ( mde with 1ts butter), water
Lunch: Beef Burger with onions no bun ( from take away), water
and For dinner i want: 2 scrambled eggs with cheese and onions, maybe the Atkins ready to drink shake
Then i do cardio for about 45 minutes after 8pm
I tried the atkins wafer chocolate but it was disgusting, i had to throw it away!!!

I have some chicken breast in the fridge that i wanted to have with salad, bt i'm not sure if i should make it indian style and just add no water n add it to a salad or if i should put it in the oven, so i might just leave it till tmrw and see what i want to do.
I just dnt want to be eating eggs everyday and i dnt want to eat beef burgers from the takewaya because that to me doesnt feel like i'm on a diet or going to lose any weight.

So what do you guys think?? Please dont say i shouldn't try atkins because i have been trying to lose weight for 5 months trying to eat healthy but i havn't lost a lb infact i have gained about 7lbs, (but it could have been my medication which i have now changed).

If there are any asian, muslims trying this diet who can relate to what i'm on about, plz pm me or post here and let me know what your diet consists of and how you prepare it, i would appreciate it soo much.

I would also appreciate any advice, help from anyone, thank you.

I hope you are all doing well on your diets.

xx

ps, i was wondering on this diet can you ever go back to eating things like brown rice and pasta if it is wholegrain?? Thanx

Welcome, Slim. You have asked a number of questions. Before addressing your questions, let me ask one. Have you read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, oftened refered to as DANDR? If not, that is where you should start. I notice in your post that your menu is lacking vegetables. The Atkins approach is not a no carb approach. It is better characterized as a controlled carbohydrate approach. If you are going to be successful with it, you must read the book and follow the plan, adjusting as you go along your weight loss journey. Here is a link to a food database that you can use to find the carb content of most foods. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
You should be careful about eating the bars and shakes as they contain sugar alcohols and cause a lot of people to stall. Controlled carb eating is more about eating natural foods, rather than a lot of manufactured "low carb" products. After you read DANDR, you will find that your ability to ultimately add back in brown rice and pasta will depend on what your carb tolerance level turns out to be.

As far as cooking Indian style,garlic, onions and tomatoes can all be managed on a controlled carb lifestyle. However, because of their carb content, they should typically be avoided during the induction phase. Green chilis do contain some carbs, so it all depends on how many you use. As far as spices, a general rule of thumb is to count 1 carb per teaspoon.

One of the things I found helpful in adjusting to a controlled carbohydrate lifestlye was to find substitutes for the foods that I liked, but which were too high in carbohydrates for my lifestyle. One of my favorites is a substitute for rice made with cauliflower. Here is a link to a curried "rice" recipe that I created and which is one of my favorites. http://www.lowcarbeating.com/bb/show...hlight=curried Good luck on your journey.

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Henry

Slim, first off, like Henry said, read DANDR. I've been doing this for years, and I've just begun reading the book - again. It will help you so much.

And second, don't think of this as a diet. It's a way of eating (or woe, for short). You are trying to build healthy eating habits, learning to love veggies, and finding out how many carbs your body can handle.

And just like Henry said, stay away from the bars and shakes. They are ok in a pinch, if you just can't have a meal, but they are better off left just for emergencies. Learn to cook stuff ahead of time that you can have in the fridge and just reheat. Spicy Indian food sounds wonderful. Experiment!

And check out the one minute muffin; there's a sticky for it under the Low Carb Cooking forum. It's very versatile, and easy to make. If my husband can make one, anyone can make one. In the UK you'll probably look for linseed rather than flaxseed. You can grind your own seed, or buy the meal ready to go. Keep it refrigerated, or it will go rancid. You can also use nut meals instead of the flaxseed.

Wishing you much success on your low carb journey!

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Nita

Welcome, Slim.

I'd like to add my voice to the suggestions that you get the book.

As to your last question, the Atkins Nutritional Approach is a four stage plan. In the last stage (maintenance) many people can include small amounts of whole grains. Many can't. It depends on what your carb tolerance level is, which is what you will learn by working your way through the earlier stages.

Hope you'll make yourself at home.

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I'm not Asian or Muslim, but I eat Asian food at least 3-4 times a week. I usually do Chinese, Thai or Indian style foods.

A good place (for me anyway) to start is to go to www.foodtv.com and do a search for the kinds of things you like to eat (I search curry, or stir fry, or whatever). Go through the ingredients list, compare it to what you know are allowed foods, and just eliminate or cut down the ingredients that are too high in carbs.

Other alternatives to Atkins are The Zone and The South Beach Diet. Both of those allow more carbs, and you'd be able to fit brown rice and whole grain pasta into your meal plans.

I do Atkins 5-6 days a week and do a low calorie and higher (but still reduced) carb plan the other 1-2 days a week so that I can have brown rice or whole grain pasta. Basically I "save" my carbs from the other days so that I can have 1 or 2 days with slightly higher carbs and still lose weight well.

Good luck with whatever plan you decide on. I hope you stick around

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

Hey everyone, thanx for replying. You dont know how much i appreciate it. I really want to make low carb a lifestyle rather than just a diet but i really enjoy my pasta and brown rice. But i think i'm going to buy DANDR and have a read of it and try make sense of everything.

Thank you again for all your advice.

xx