Ok, I must be a HUGE whimp! This is only my first day of induction and I have to say, right now, things are sucking big time. My oldest boy is back from school, my four year old is being his normal tonado self, and my 3 month old baby is crying. And me, I can't have one cup of REAL coffee...the stuff with caffine. And I can't have one packet of sweetener in my decaf. My head hurts, and I feel edgy already. Gotta run, baby is having a melt down.

Hang in there. This is my first day also. I have three kids ages 5, 3 and 1. Some days I feel like pulling my hair out. It gets better. I read that in just a few days you start feeling more energetic. Maybe we can keep up with our kids then.

2boysand1princess - you are not a huge wimp! More power to you for being home with the little ones. I never was able to give up caffeine during induction - NO WAY was I going to do that, too much of a coffee hound - so I just made it extra strong ( so I could get away with fewer cups!) and dropped some yummy 1/2 and 1/2 in it and had a caffeine ball. You really should wait on the sweetener, however.

Tanya is right - in a couple of days you'll feel like you can slay dragons.

Good luck and post as often as you can.

Jen
175/131/120

Aww go ahead have a cup of high test coffee. Put some splenda in it. I think anyone with 3 young kids should get a caffeine dispensation.
Heck have a cup for each kid. LOl
Rob

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I think anyone with 3 young kids should get a caffeine dispensation.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
AMEN!!

If you want, you could do half caffeinated and half decaf. I couldn't handle induction and no caffeine either.
Take something for your headache! You no whimp by any means, but there's no need to suffer when you can get some relief with an asprin or tylenol.

Hope it gets better soon.



Always eat your veggies first!

I'm glad others posted before me. I refused to give up my coffee. I suppose it slowed things down, but it all worked out ok. For reasons not related to the LC WOE, I realized my normal 6-8 cups a day was probably a bit much, so I started working on cutting back. These days, I have gotten to the point where I can take it or leave it, most of the time.

It can be hard to go cold turkey on all these cravings. Sometimes it helps to tackle one challenge at a time. Instead of going cold turkey off caffeine, try and cut back a bit at a time.

--jim

Jim,

I decided when I started LCing that a slightly slower weight loss would be worth never going through that evil caffeine withdrawal headache ever again! I've been drinking about 16 ounces of coffee every day, and it hasn't slowed me down!

Emelia

"We can only learn to love by loving." - Iris Murdoch, Irish writer
294/208/174 since 25-Nov-01

Thats one good thing for me. I have been drinking caffine free diet sodas for a while. The only caffine I had was my mint tea and they sell that in caffine free also. Less tea bags but I'll suffer.

I work for a major coffee manufacturer. Talk about free flowing coffee & tea! I use to drink coffee all day...and I mean all day! I would take a cup home with me after work. I'm down to 1 large cup of Starbucks decaf a day now. But this is summer in Texas and I'm sure once winter arrives (at least a winter for us Texans) I'll be downing more than my fair share of coffee again.

Darlene
318.5/289.5/170

MMMMMM..... COFFEEEE .......


Maggie
5'1"
Atkins since '98 (160)
Maintaining nicely (110)

Redhead until further notice!

I want to get the new revised book but until then I have one question and I know someone can help. I started Atkins on 8/25/03 and I'm down 8lbs. I absolutely LOVE my coffee but losing weight is more important to me. WHen can I have decaffinated coffee with cream and equal in it? Once again I just wanted to once again say that this is a GREAT site and it's really nice to be able to read different situations. Thank YOU.

180/172/130

Welcome!

Many of us have normalized our weight and maintained it without ever giving up our "full strength" coffee.



Did we take a little longer to get there? Perhaps. When it's a life choice and not a race, a little longer is not a big issue.

Just one perspective.

Maggie
5'1"
Atkins since '98 (160)
Maintaining nicely (110)

Redhead until further notice!

I gradually decreased my amount of caffeine over a loooooooooong period of time. I used to drink full strength coffee AND full strength Coke. I first switched to half decaf coffee ( I grind my own beans and use 1 bag of decaf Hazelnut and 1 bag of full strenght Kona) Then I switched to decaf Coke (with sugar). Then I switched to mostly decaf coffee. This took years to transition through. So..........give yourself time to make the switch if you so choose. I never did get the hatchet between the eyes syndrome and did get rid of my heart paplitations. I now have 1 cup of coffee with soy milk and cream, splenda and Stevia and sometimes cocoa powder. I have an occasional Diet Rite soda, decaf. It's a personal choice. According to Dr. Schwarzbein, et al, caffeine does stimulate insulin and adrenaline production. This can whack out our hormone balances. Food for thought.........



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

[This message was edited by Barb Keith on 09-03-03 at 05:52 AM.]

Before Atkins, I used to be able to maintain a nice little cup-a-day habit. Then the fiends...er, "friends"...on this list introduced me to DaVinci syrups, even "helpfully" pointing out that they are available in the coffee section. Hazelnut syrup and a little cream...mmmmm!! While I do hold it down to 2 cups a day, we're talking about my biggest, heftiest mug!

Aderyn