Hi all! I'm starting today. I just want to clarify that EVERY carb needs to be counted, including all vegetables? Even if it's .3? And during the "induction" I'm only suppose to eat meat and veges and/or cheese? What about sugar free Jello? I suspect that I'm going to have a challenge over the next few days since I'm such a carbaholic! Thanks!

If you go over to the Fitday.com site, it will keep track of everything for you, carbs and fiber and everything else. It's free, and once you figure it out, it's relatively quick and easy. I think you'll like this plan once you get into it more! Just to give you an idea (and I'm not saying my way of eating is right, but it's mine) you can look at my public journal on Fitday and get an idea of what I ate yesterday. It doesn't list the fiber in the public journal, which was 8 grams, so if you subtract off the fiber it puts me under 20 grams for the day.

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3rd time around

Restart 4/13/04 ~~220/207/125~~

Counting carbs can seem a little intimidating at first. I ditto the thought to use a food tracker. Once you are on plan for a while, the counting does become more second nature.

Take care and best wishes for great success!

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Atkins since 5/31/03 - - - Came back "home" to LC on September 10th, 2004 after hiatus into stupidity....lol ~ Reinduction day eight!!! 153/?/138-140?

Strawberry-aholic!!! Avid strawberry collector!

I hate to say it but you need to read one of the low carb books before you get ALL messed up. I read "Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution" but there are many low carb eating plans out there. Choose the one you like best. You won't achieve very good success without educating yourself so this is a priority.

If you are just rarin' to get going today I'm going to assume you are thinking about using Atkins since "induction" is strictly an Atkins phrase. Some quick advice is to use the Fitday as recommended above, input EVERY SINGLE THING that goes into your mouth - even if it's less than 1/10 of a carb or a glass of water, do not exceed a total of 20 carbs per day and try to make sure that most (like 60% or more) of those carbs are from legal (low glycemic) veggies and count 'em all during induction. Do not eat starchy or sweet veges like potatoes or carrots. Drink 100 oz of water per day, briskly walk 60 minutes per day for exercise (not optional), don't eat any fruit, fruit juice, nuts, aspartame known as Equal (this includes sugar free jello), soft cheeses like ricotta or dairy products other than cream cheese, cream and hard cheeses for the next two weeks. Sweeten using Splenda sucralose only. Count every packet of Splenda as one gram of carbs. Count every tablespoon of cream as one gram. Avoid prepared low carb goodies you can buy in the store like the plague. They are full of sugar alcohols which will cause your body to release the same hormones it releases when you eat bread. When in doubt of an item ask on this board before you eat it. Induction is a time for "clean" eating. Don't eat too many sweet tastes. You are supposed to be breaking your sugar and flour food additions so tastes can be a craving trigger. Be sure to weigh yourself at the same time of day when you start as you will normally (only weigh every 7 days). Take your measurements at the upper arm, bust, waist, hip, thigh and calf every 7 days too. Take them now. Often you won't lose weight but will lose inches. Use ketosticks testing strips to make sure you are in ketosis (it'll take almost a week to turn the sticks pink from the day you start). Test at the same time every day. This will give you confidence that you are doing things right. Take supplements. A good Multi without iron, Calcium, L-carnitine, Chromium Picolinate, CoQ-10 at least to start. You can noodle as necessary from there. The book "Vitamins for Dummys" is good. Expect that you will become very weak at first as your body switches from burning carbs for fuel to fat for fuel. This is normal. You'll really notice it when you walk up a hill or stairs. It'll start like 4 days into this way of eating. This is a sign that you are doing everything right so don't think it's bad. B-50 complex can help. Also, L-glutamine (500mg doses) taken before each meal will cut down on cravings after you've been taking it for a week or two. Eat at least 3 times per day until full but not stuffed. The more small, frequent meals you can eat the better since digestion burns a grip of calories.

There, that's a lot of info for you and it ought to get you through induction and give you time to read your book. As you can see there's a lot to this. I left a lot of little things out. Good luck and don't be discouraged. In two weeks time you will be thinner, more educated and feeling really, really good losing weight while eating yummy foods and not starving. Hope this helps!

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Cindy
161.5/153.5/120

Wow Cindy, you really gave her some great advice. The only thing i didnt see was drink lots and lots of water, 1 oz of water for every 2lbs you weigh. This is probably one of the easiest things to do, yet it is so hard to get all that water in. Find yourself a water system(like fill a jug with your daily allotment and make sure it's empty before bedtime) and make it work. Dont get your water and you more than likely wont succeed.
And to ditto something very important Cindy said, educate yourself, get the books read up and pick whatever plan you choose to follow. If you dont educate yourself you wont be successful, thats the bottom line.

Good luck, Welcome and Happy low carbing.

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Started LC 1-10-04

302/199/160, 103lbs down, 39 to go, simply remarkable.

Restart- 8-19-07
242/226/160


405 points to date ( HOLIDAY CHALLENGE )

Hey! Thanks! About a year ago I tried a low carb diet (South Beach, Curves) and after a couple of days I thought I'd go nuts: irritable, sweet cravings, headaches. I suspect more of the same, but I'm determined to get through it this tme. My dad has lost 15 lbs so far. If he can do it, then so can I. From reading some of the other posts, it's nice to know I'm not alone. Thanks again for the advice! I'll definitely check out the website that was recommended. I'm quite familiar with journaling ! Until next time....

Be sure to read your book girlfriend! Take the L-Glutamine and avoid sweets to break cravings sooner rather than later. Tylenol will get you through the headaches and the weakness only lasts a week or two and then you'll find you are quite energized. Good luck and keep the faith!

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Cindy
161.5/153.5/120

Yes, during induction count EVERTHING!!!! It is very important that you keep it at 20 grams (minus the fiber) in order to kick your body into ketosis. After you have lost a significant amount of weight (in your case it might be 5lbs) you can lighten up a bit on counting, but still keep it LC.

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