I am a newbie and and I have just started the diet about 2 weeks ago. I started off really good and lost 6 lbs. and that was within the first 7-8 days. But since then I have not lost anything. I am excercising more then 2 weeks ago. Im just not sure if this is normal, or if there is something that I could be doing wrong?!?! And if anyone could give me some ideas for snacks, I dont care for raw veggies that much, but can deal with a little. Ive never been over weight until I got pregnant and after I had my daughter the weight didnt go away! So all of this is all new to me! Any help or advice would be great!! THANKS!!

Hi Angel and welcome to LCE.
A pause in weight loss the 3-4th week is very typical. Keep doing what you're doing. Also, with your added exercise, the muscle you're building could be masking your weight loss. Get the tape measure out and start measuring on a regular basis. You'll see as much if not more results in inches as in pounds.

Good luck.



Always eat your veggies first!

Hi, im new too, and im not sure what exact foods to eat and which not to eat. I need help, and some advice. I want to lose about 45 pounds. please help me to get started. Thanx!

Welcome Angel and Crystal.

Crystal, what plan are you following? You need to get the book or go to the web site and read up on the details of your plan. Adkins site gives you the information that is in the book.

Angel, it is important to eat the right veggies and to drink the water. Congrats on exercising. I agree with Bright Lady about the tape measure. Always measure :-).

Good luck to both of you.

Susan
207/178.5/160

OK, here's my schpiel for newbies:

You've chosen the BEST website for LC support. We are all in this together. We are ALL carb addicts. My weakness has always been French or Italian breads, cakes, cookies, potatoes and pasta. I did not think, in the beginning, that I would be able to do this. I am here to tell you I AM DOING THIS. I thought my cravings for these foods would be insurmountable. I scoured the internet for LC recipes. I read the book of my plan choice, Dr. Atkins New Diet (DANDR) I went to www.atkinscenter.com and read every article I could get my eyeballs on. I armed myself with KNOWLEDGE. I went to past posts here and read others' posts in order to see what people have struggled with and to get veterans' advice on how to do this successfully. I cleaned out my pantry and replaced it with allowed food. I cleaned out my fridge and stocked up on staples of this WOL (way of living.) I didn't exercise much the first couple of weeks. I just didn't have the energy and I suffered from headaches. I now know that I needed to de-tox and my blood sugar wasn't too happy with the lowered levels, but I adjusted. My body adjusted. I just had to give it time. I accepted that I wasn't going to lose weight overnight. The weight didn't come on overnight, so I know I won't lose it overnight. I am doing this for the rest of my life, so however long it takes, that's how long it will take. I like the fact that I can eat like a QUEEN, not go hungry and still LOSE weight. I love trying new recipes, so I now have a renewed interest in cooking. I had gotten into a rut and made the same old same old, night after night. Variety IS the spice of life. Here's what I have learned about this WOL and about myself through my journey and what you have to do to succeed:
1) Follow the book of your plan choice and the advice of LC veterans and read everything you can here and at other LC websites or other books-----KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
2) Drink TONS of water-for detoxing, flushing, hydration, to pevent headaches and balance
3) Take it one day at a time
4) Set small , reachable goals-imperative for success
5) Exercise AS SOON AS you feel up to it and as often as you can, even if it is just walking. Go to Target or Walmart and buy some 5 or 10 lb dumbells and come up with a routine of 8 different exercises, keep a journal and add 2 more repetitions the next time you do your routine.
6) Decide that you are going to do this the rest of your life, this is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change!!!!!! If you only do this temporarily, you will go back to the way you lived before and gain the weight back.
7) Create a notebook of recipes, articles, before pictures, journal your feelings and your goals.
8) Take beginning measurements and record them in a journal or at the Low Carb Tracker here at the top of the site.
9) Use a food tracker program, either here at the Low Carb Tracker link or at www.fitday.com. The tracker link here allows you to input your food intake, your stats, etc. It is imperative that you track your food intake for at least the 1st three weeks so you can evaluate what you consume to see if you have a correlation between loss and consumption., i.e., if you are not losing, you can look at what you are eating and change things.
10) Come here often for support. We have all been in the same boat you are and are here to help YOU. I personally want each and everyone of you to succeed. There is no greater feeling of satisfaction and acheivement than to take control of your life through this WOL!!! I am doing it, and I want this for you too!!!
11) Yes, post your menus so we can evaluate it for you.
12) Weighing daily will show minute fluctuations and can be discouraging. Only weigh yourself once a week!!!
13) Expect stalls every now and then. If you expect them, they won't come as such a shock. I seem to stall every 3 weeks. This is my pattern. Learn what your patterns are and then just ride them out. I think it has to do with the dreaded TOM!!! (curses being a woman sometimes, )
14) expect some detoxing symptoms: headaches, diahrrea or constipation, fatigue, nausea. These symptoms usually disappear after the first week or two. Pamper yourself, don't try to do any strenuous exercise and sleep whenever you feel you need to and when you can. After that, kick it up a notch and start exercising and try to build up your exercise regimen.
15) Do your homework, look up recipes here and at other lowcarb sites.
16) Clean your pantry, cabinets, fridge and freezer of foods you will or could cheat with.
17) Do NOT use Low-carb bars or shakes in the beginning, they will stall you.

I think I have rambled on enough, but there was a lot to squeeze in here. I couldn't leave anything out. If I have forgotten anything, I am sure other Vets will chime in and add to what I have said.
THE BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!! (I will stop now, my fingertips are raw, LOL)



Barb Keith
Atkins 3/14/03
174/151/135

Barb

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for all the advice.
Crystal..I got the book and that is what helped me with alot of my questions. I always look back at it, just to check out certain foods or veggies! It will help!
Barb...thank you for all the wonderful info that you gave. You answered alot of my questions! It has also helped that my husband has decided to do Atkins as well, so I cleaned everything out, so we didnt have any temptations. My only problem is that I am in a way a picky eater, so some times it gets a little hard. But we have done it so far!
It is so great to get help from people that are actually doing Atkins. I drink so much water now, Im sure I will start to float here soon! But it helped out with headaches in the beginning.
I wish I would of found this site earlier. I am a military wife and we are about to move, AGAIN!! So I will be offline for about a month, but you can be sure that once we are online, this site will be one of the first that I'll come too!
Thank you so much everybody!!

Angela

Atkins 8/15/03
212/206/150

Barb,

i hope you had that in notepad or something... cuz yikes that's a lot of typing.

thanks for posting that.

Angela, when you get back on line, do report back on how you are doing... nothing more stressful than a move - as you know.

Terese
LCE Member since 12/00
LCE Moderator since 3/01
My LC web site

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Crystal:
Hi, im new too, and im not sure what exact foods to eat and which not to eat. I need help, and some advice. I want to lose about 45 pounds. please help me to get started. Thanx!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Crystal - first off, welcome to the LCE message baord. Second - you have to have at least ONE low carb book, you can not do this correctly without one.

until you get one of the books (which plan are you doing?) you should go to the official web site of said plan to get you going.

hope this helps,

Terese
LCE Member since 12/00
LCE Moderator since 3/01
My LC web site

LOL, Terese. Yes my newbie schpiel is in Wordpad, so I can just copy and paste it. I was inspired one night and typed it up and saved it. Now when a new newbie pops up and doesn't seem to have a road map yet, I just pop it in there. It saves me a lot of fingertip blisters, LOL. I so want to help newbies get on the right path and found that I was saying the same stuff over and over. I guess it's my own personal "sticky." I am just glad to help whenever I can. Thanks for the moderator "approval."



Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/151/135
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."