Hi all. I found your forum yesterday and have enjoyed reading through the information here. Wanted to say "hi" and introduce myself.

I started Atkins last Monday (10-27) and so far I am down 7 pounds. I had a headache but by day 3 I was feeling great. The appetite suppression is awesome. If I had this kind of appetite all the time I would have never gotten overweight to begin with! My husband joined me last weekend and has lost 6 pounds so far.

I have 5 wonderful children, aged 15 to 4. I have continued to cook for them, no problem. Even made homemade pizza and birthday cake last week. No, I didn't cheat.

My husband travels a lot and has had no problem staying on Atkins while eating out every meal. Here at home, however, meat and eggs and salads have gotten old very quickly! I now understand the "egg gag" reflex! I need to get creative with my meals, but it seems like lots of recipes either aren't suitable for induction or they require strange ingredients that I've never heard of. Anyway, I'm hanging in there. I'm sure over time that I will be able to add some variety to my menus. Right now I'm just concentrating on doing a "clean" induction.

Thanks for the great forum. I hope to find time to check in often.

Karen

Karen - good for you, and your husband! I have been doing this woe since May, and have gotten pretty creative with breakfast. I eat leftover dinners and also smoked salmon, cream cheese and celery rollups, which are my favorite - quick and yummy. I, too, LOVE the appetite suppression of this woe. Yesterday, I ended up having two slices of pizza for lunch (I am working on a project at work right now that pretty much has me tied up all day - so we have been ordering out a lot) - lemme tell ya, I was so hungry this morning when I woke up, I could have eaten the paint off the walls. I am not used to that anymore!

Good luck and keep up posted.

Jen
175/130/120

Welcome to Lowcarbeating! It's a great forum, and you'll find lots of encouraging and informative folks here.

My January induction seems like a distant memory by now, and I'm sure you'll breeze through from now on. Then the variety picks up, and you'll have more choices and changes.

Actually, one reason I like Atkins is that it's relatively simple. Tuna, chicken, or ham salads with mayo, celery, and egg are my favorite portable staples. Try a "sandwich" with whatever filling you like between leaves of romaine lettuce.

I never get tired of deviled eggs. And the Mock Danish (see recipes) is a delicious alternative for breakfast--and easy.

Best wishes.

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/141/130

Welcome Kmcg! These folks can tell you everything you want to know about LC eating!

Barb,
I love the sandwiches made with lettuce leaves, I even order extra lettuce instead of the bun when I eat out.



Melinda B
240/229/150
Atkins 10/12/03

Thank you all for your ideas and encouragement. I survived 2 weeks of induction, and it has actually gotten easier! Instead of gagging at eggs, now I wake up wanting one, lol.

We had a very busy couple of days and I've been amazed at how easy it was to stick to Atkins without making any real preparations. We had a long drawn-out house closing Friday, but we didn't get hungry until well after lunch time. Eating out was a breeze.

I have lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks, and my husband has lost 7 pounds in 1 week.

I am going to add an acceptable vegetable to my daily intake. That is my heart's desire! Instead of craving sugar and bread like I expected, I'm craving vegetables!

Thanks again for your help. I'll be hanging around reading every day. I've already seen such great information here and I'm sure I've only scratched the surface.

Karen

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I have lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks, and my husband has lost 7 pounds in 1 week.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Your both doing Great!!! Good luck in days to come!!!


Old age ain't no place for sissies.
-Bette Davis-..
215/178/160
37 Gone
18 to go!!

Welcome Karen!!!

Be sure to check out the recipes here and go to sites like www.lowcarbluxury.com The more recipes you find, the better off you will be.

Do your kids like veggies? You will really do them a favor if you can get them off the sugar too. Just think about what sugar does to the human body. You have an opportunity to set them up with lifelong healthy eating habits. Why not start now? I wish I had known then what I know now. I would not have fed my kids so much mac and cheese and garbage like that. Although, I have always liked veggies and intilled that in my kids. They are all grown now, and all 5 of them eat veggies. They have their carb issues, which I blame myself for. But as Maya Angelou says, "I did the best I could, and when I knew better, I did better.".......I LOVE that quote. Just think of the new way you can teach your kids to eat.

And I think it's WONDERFUL that you and your DH are doing this together.......that's great. You both are off to a fantastic start. Keep up the good work!!!!



Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

Thanks for the link, Barb -- the recipe section looks very promising. I also discovered the great recipes on this site after my original post.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>You will really do them a favor if you can get them off the sugar too. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
This is a burden of mine, one step at a time. Back in the spring, before I ever considered low-carb (too dangerous! lol), we recognized that the amount of sugar our family was consuming was unhealthy. My children, in particular, were *drinking* their sugar in the form of juices and koolaid. I switched them to sugarless, and now 8 months later, they have switched to mostly water. This was with no particular urging/coaxing from me.

I cook most every meal (3 meals a day), and so I can control what my family eats. At the moment I am considering my use of flour, and how to begin changing that. Over the years I have handled the challenge of feeding a large family frugally with lots of scratch-cooking with plenty of sauces, gravies, pasta, rice, and homemade bread, along with salad and vegetables which they like. Those things need to change, but I need to incorporate it slowly to avoid the "Mom's on a weird diet and we're suffering" mentality.

I was particuarly intrigued by Sharron's recipes, which seem to be geared toward feeding a family.

I doubt I will ever stop the birthday cakes, if the child wants it. Birthdays are a big deal around here, and the child gets to choose the meal, which is usually homemade pizza or lasagna. Perhaps if their tastes slowly change along with my way of cooking, they'll get to the point where they no longer care about the cake.

Lots of rambling thoughts. It's not easy switching from a "Weight Watcher's" view of life!

Karen

Karen, boy can I relate!! After raising 5 kids, I know what you mean about cooking frugally. I had to use lots of starchy fillers, especially to fill up the bottomless pit boys. But I think what you are doing so far is wonderful. You GO GIRL!!! I know it will take time to transition. Afterwhile it gets easier, when your mind-set is changed over totally. That does take time. I congratulate you for getting them off the sugary drinks. That was one thing I did try to avoid while raising my kids........and absolutely no pop. They did drink juice however. The 3 older ones are step-kids and their mother LOADED them with kool-aid. I put that to a halt when they became "mine." But I regret that I didn't know better then when it came to juice. Oh well, you live and learn. Let us know if we can help coach you through this transition. At least we low-carb parents can be a little wiser with our own experience.

Best of luck to you,



Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

wow. I hope that when my wife and I have kids we can be that dedicated to our children. Theres alot more there in her message than cooking.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> bottomless pit boys </pre>
Got one of those so far (the 15 year-old), and 3 more rapidly up-and-coming, lol.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> I hope that when my wife and I have kids we can be that dedicated to our children. </pre>

Thanks, DasAmigos, that's so sweet. We just have that typical "Momma's heart" that makes us want to do our very best for our kids.