Hi all:

I'm back on track with my food after several weeks of being on and off. I've had a harder time staying on track after the holidays. I thought I could handle a few days of being off plan. But a few days became a few weeks and I gained several lbs back. I'm not sure of how many because I refused to get on the scale. But I just finished 14 days of induction and am back to my last weigh in (168). I really want to do things differently this time. Its really scary how quickly the weight will come back. This time I really want to watch my fat intake as well as my carb intake. I also started using fitday. I was amazed at what percent of my diet is fat. My calorie intake is not that high but my fat intake was 60-65% fat. Thats scary! I have to somehow increase my fiber intake without increasing my carbs. So I'm going to start having a green vegetable for breakfast. I also started using egg beaters to decrease my fat. I know that will add a few carbs but I'm going to have to do something to get some of the fat out of my diet. I'm also switching to the lower fat cream cheese(1/3 lower fat). I'm trying desperately to hold on to my half and half. I have 2 cups of coffee a day and can't stand black coffee.

Does anyone have any suggestions to help?

Oh, also, I have finally started to walk 3 to 4 times a week. I'm only at 2 miles but thats ok for now.

Good for you getting back on track! Keep in mind that at least some of the weight that comes back so fast is water. Increasing carb intake also causes the body to store more water, so you could very well experience an encouraging whoosh.

The Atkins plan does not particularly encourage low-fat. You have to get energy from somewhere. My fat percentage runs anywhere from 55-65% on a total calorie intake of about 1500.

Most of the fat I eat comes from salad dressing. I've noticed that Kraft Light Done Right Cucumber Ranch has only 3 gm fat per serving (two TBS) and 80 calories. This might be a suitable trade-off of carbs for lower cals, as the full-fat dressings I like can have as many as 2 gms carb for the same serving size--and way more cals (170).

I love my cereal for breakfast. This is a big fiber and omega-3 boost that's very filling. Lots of ways to mix this up, here's mine:

1/4 cup Bob's Flaxseed Meal
1/4 cup wheat bran (from Whole Foods or Wild Oats)
(I keep this mixture already made in the freezer, and dip out 1/2 cup)
Optional: Scoop of Whey protein (vanilla flavor, with Splenda--from Costco)
1 cup water, or to taste
Stir and nuke for one minute, stir and nuke for another minute or so.

Top with one or more of these:
Frozen berries
Chopped pecans or other nuts
Atkins Maple syrup
Dollop of low-carb yogurt

Like you, I want my half-and-half--limited to about an ounce a day in whatever coffee I drink.

Just bought a couple new Leslie Sansone walking workouts at Target. When I can't get outdoors, these are enjoyable and effective.

Best wishes!

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


My Fitday Journal

Good for you for taking those measure to get back in the track! I'm re-doing induction now myself for the same reason (...HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND!!...) .

A few years back, when I got within about 10 lbs of my goal weight, I found I needed to cut back on fat or calorically dense foods and bring down the total calories. Even so, my calories from fat ran about 60 to 65 percent. At that point, I was trying to stick with fats from more benificent sources; i.e., more olive oil, less bacon and sausage.

Barb, your cereal recipe looks very nice. I think I'll go mix some up to have handy, as I already have the ingredients (subbing egg and milk protein for the whey portein). Is there some reason you don't mix the whey protein ahead of time with the flaxseed meal and wheat bran?

__________________
~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

Teelbee, sometimes I like to make this cereal without the whey protein. Some days I eat the cereal and have an egg or some other protein source. Just a variety thing. You could certainly mix up all the ingredients in advance. Very handy!

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


My Fitday Journal

Barb, I'd love to have hot cereal for breakfast. I used to love oat meal. How many carbs are in your cereal recipe. I never eaten any of those things in it.

What I call "flaxbran" cereal (my mix) has 15 gms of carb--but a whopping 14 gm of that is fiber! So...one net gram of carb. (And at the risk of TMI, I'm a regular gal! This really helps brings my fiber count for the day very near the recommended 25 gms).

The whey protein adds another 2 gms carbs (one scoop is 28 gms volume--a little more than 1/4 cup).

This is a nutritional bargain, as well as very filling, warm, and yummy in the morning.

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


My Fitday Journal