I am brand new to this site, and reading through some of the topics on this forum gives me hope that someone out there can relate. I have been on this LC (Atkins) lifestyle for just over two months, and while I have lost 22 pounds, I feel like I haven't lost any. Yes, I have dropped one and a half to two dress sizes (depending on the dress), but I guess mentally I think I should be Kate Moss thin. I know that's unrealistic, but my biggest frustration is the counting of carbs. I am at 50g per day, but there are many foods that are either too many carbs or so little carbs I feel I'd be eating the equivalent of a 12 course meal. Any suggestions on how to deal with this phase?

Sorry for griping, but my poor husband is ready to bonk me on the head for my silliness - you all seem nice enough to at least just tap me on the head....

Colleen Roney

Ok, Colleen, being the *hormonal woman* that I am right now, I'm going to try REALLY hard to just *tap* you.

YOU HAVE LOST 22 POUNDS IN TWO MONTHS AND YOU'RE NOT HAPPY!?! <oops, sorry; didn't mean to yell>
Good grief, woman! You're a role model!
Most of us should be so lucky as to have the results you have. You should be proud.

I want you to consider a couple of things...
How long did it take you to put on that weight? Did you do it overnight? (I highly doubt it)
Then why on earth do you think it's gonna come off overnight? (That would be nice, though, wouldn't it? <sigh&gt

And just *think* how your skin would look if you DID lose it any faster!
Why, you'd be like the saggy, baggy elephant! Our skin's not *that* elastic, you know! Especially after we move out of the teenage years! (why, oh why NOT???)

Finally, would you REALLY *learn* anything if it all came off so easily? Would you *relearn* better eating habits if it really didn't matter what you ate? Yes, the waiting game can be VERY hard. For some of us, it has been excruciating (did I spell that right? It looks funny). But you know what? You should be GRATEFUL for this time. This is your time to HEAL.

This is your time to overcome the unhealthy eating habits that got you to this point in the first place. This is your time to come to terms with the emotional baggage you may have attached to food. Are you an emotional eater? (Man, oh man, I AM) Now is your time to learn *other* ways to cope with the ups and downs of life without turning to the fridge.
Ok, so maybe *GRATEFUL* is bit unrealistic. But *ATTITUDE* is everything.
You can look at this woe (way of eating) as an irritating, drawn out, frustrating detour... OR:
You can see this time as a journey.
It's not a race, you know.

Trust me when I say, you are doing splendidly and I am so happy you have decided to join our board. KEEP READING. You will see posts of joy AND frustration. We're all in this boat together.
So, welcome aboard!

Summer


www.herstorygirl.com

Thanks for the "tap"! I figured out what got me down (after I posted the message, of course!). I saw my sister's best friend today - haven't seen her for over six months. She looks amazing. Not that she ever looked bad, but she did have a few (very few) extra pounds from having had a baby two years ago. She's always been slender, but today she has clearly lost a bit of weight. Funny, she noticed I have, but that didn't seem to register with my brain. Anyway, I asked her how she managed to look so fantastic, and she told me she is doing the Schwartzbein Principle and Atkins (sort of a combo). I don't know how much weight she has lost, but she has been on it for four months, and she has lost a bunch of weight.

All that was to say this: I was comparing myself to her - big mistake. While we may both be apples (women of a similar height), she is a Red Delicious, and I am a Gala. Different body types, different metabolisms, different lifestyles. I realize I need to just knock it off and keep doing what I am doing. I guess I sort of wished it would be a super fast thing to lose a ton of weight, but you are right. It took me ten years to put on 75 pounds - it's not going to come off overnight.

I do wonder, though, is there a way to get through the phase I am in, without getting discouraged so easily? My biggest struggle is that I like variety and I don't feel I'm creative enough to introduce variety like I could. I guess what I mean is that I know I have only so many carbs per day, and I'm at a loss for how to fill up the carb quota. I can only do so many steaks and eggs and bacon meals. I feel like I can't eat as many fruits and vegetables as I would like because they have too many carbs. I'm thinking perhaps the menus online may be a better help, especially if I can get ones that have a carb count already figured for me. That may be the way to go......

Thanks again for the kick in the pants - I needed it!

Colleen Roney

You're quite welcome!

And WELL DONE on the self-analysis! See? You're *healing* already!


Ok, part of your problem <if I may> is this:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I feel like I can't eat as many fruits and vegetables as I would like because they have too many carbs. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
If I may be so bold:
IGNORE ATKINS' LIMIT ON THE VEGGIES. &lt;Oops, there goes that *All Caps* key again!&gt;
Seriously, though, IMHO you should eat ALL the veggies you want.
Honestly, *those* are not the carbs you really need to worry about. Have you EVER seen anyone who got fat from eating too many veggies???
And there ARE some fruits you can eat! I eat strawberries and raspberries, and blackberries regularly! These are wonderful and perfectly acceptable on low-carb.
Yes, your only problem is that you are still new to this woe. You need to think outside the box. Do you think I would have been able to stay on this woe for TWO YEARS if all I could eat is bacon and eggs and steak???
AAAcckkk!
Check out our cooking forum.
Is the recipe section on this site up and running yet? (I SHOULD know the answer to that, but I don't) Well, if not, it will be soon and there are some awesome ideas there!

Our very own Sharron Long has written and published TWO cookbooks full of LC recipes. I have the first and am anxiously awaiting the second.
There are SO many possibilites; now you just have to find them.
Happy hunting!

Summer

Ok, just checked: SOME of the recipes are there, but Andrea is still transferring stuff from the old site, so keep checking back. We have a HUGE database of recipes/menu ideas.
In the meantime, why don't you start a thread asking for sample menu/meal ideas?
It's been done a million times before, but it's always a welcome thread and it provides newbies with lots of ideas.

Colleen

First...WELCOME!!!

OK...I think I know a bit of how you might feel. I went through a period of time where I saw myself as "FAT". I didn't see the rest of me. It (pardon the pun) weighed me down. I was not happy and all that jazz. Even after dropping 50 lbs I wasn't happy.

It took me a while to change my inner image. It also took me some time to polish that inner image to a point where I could see myself for what I was. I'm a good person that happens to be over-weight who has a great life, a loveing wife, and the ability to do something about the world around me.

Ya done good by dropping by here.

HANG IN THERE!!!

Don


http://home.insightbb.com/~athuddriver/index.html
http://home.insightbb.com/~athuddriv...nks/links.html

Colleen, how nice that you've joined up here! This is one of the most awesome sites on the Internet, IMHO. Lots of great support, great recipes, great people!

I think Summer and Don have given you plenty of good fodder, and I think you yourself hit the nail on the head when you realized you were comparing yourself to someone else's success. So I know you'll move forward and be pleased with what YOU have done! No one else can do it for you, and you can't do it exactly like the next person. It's a very personal journey and I think you're doing great!

I love my berries, luckily they're my favorite fruit, this time of year I get them fresh and the rest of the year I buy Trader Joe's frozen mixed berries - blueberries, marionberries, and raspberries, unsweetened - and I heat those little babies up with some DaVinci sugarfree syrup (either huckleberry or Danish pastry flavor), add a spoonful of ground flax and some heavy cream - YUM!

Also think about eating HALF a fruit of your choice, like half an apple, sliced an sprinkled with Splenda and cinnamon, or HALF a peach, sliced with DV SF syrup and cream - save the other half for later. When I do eat fruit, I always try to eat it with fat and fiber to help lessen the insulin impact too. LIke maybe eat it right after a meal, or do the cream/flax thing with it.

Keep up the good work, check out the recipes sections on this board, and maybe get a low carb cookbook - another one I really like is Dana Carpender's "500 Low Carb Recipes" - they are mostly everyday ingredients type stuff and everything I've tried has been really good!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!

Hello and Welcome, You will drive yourself crazy if you try to count all the carbs in veggies, they will not hurt you , so go ahead and eat them!!The refined foods and starches are the stuff you want to be very careful with, I try to avoid them completely, and anymore I really don't miss them. As for this website, these people are the BEST!!you will come to love it here!

Jackie