Hi all! Well, I did Atkin's for I don't remember how long exactly but It was less than 10 months and I lost all the weight I gained due to medication I had to take. I gained 50 lbs in about 6 months back in 1998! Well, then I lost 55 in about 7 or 8 months on Atkin's but then we moved to Colorado and the family dinners were not a problem (I never had a weight issue until I was on medication for my adrenal glands), but then I got pregnant nd miscarried 4 times over 1.5 years! All the pregnancies, etc. took their toll on my adrenal glands *again* and I gained the weight *again* and now after one year of being about 40-50 lbs overweight - I am back on Atkin's. I was on the meds for 10 months this time until my adrenal glands normalized - as opposed to 6 months last time. Now that I am off the meds for good (and I would not have been back on if it weren't for the pregnancies) I want to get back to my normal weight.

I am officially starting today - although I was under 20 carbs yesterday as well - but not "purposely." It was just the luck of the dinner!

I am really looking forward to this because it really worked excellently for me last time!

The only issue I have now though, is that I live in Germany and really, the food here is not "labeled" with the nutritional values more often than it is! So, it's a tad more effort - because you can't just read a label al the time like you can in the U.S. - but I am living in Germany to stay (husband is German) and since I plan to stick with this for life (and obviously not TTC ever again! 4 M/C are enough, thanks!) I need to get used to the lack of labels now! However, there is one benefit: The "whole" foods here are less expensive than in the U.S. and the "junk" foods are more expensive so that's a plus!

I think induction is pretty easy - and last time I stayed on it for 4 weeks with no problems at all!

I don't really have food cravings and I am not hungry all the time, so I feel lucky in that respect!

Sooo, I need to buy a scale because I don't have one - and then I'll post my *actual* weight and first goal, etc. I don't know exactly what I weigh, but it is somewhere right around 200-210, as far as I can tell from being overweight before.

I am sure that this was more than you ever wanted to know - but hey! I figure if you're going to do something, do it right!

So - I hope to get to know some of you nice folks and I wish you all the best!

~Kimberly

I am sure you will do great this time, too. This is my second time with Atkins and I was worried since I had already used by "golden moment". Even though the weight may not come off as fast (it has been slower for me), it will come off. I have been back on plan for 181 days and have lost 48 lbs so far.

If I were you, I would not worry so much about labels and just stick to basic foods. I know this does not sound like great news when you hear all about the new products out on the market. However, in my almost six months back on plan I have found that I lose the most weight when I stick to simple proteins, fats, and low glycemic veggies with an occasional foray with some berries (about once a week). Every time I get into more complicated low carb food preparation (e.g., low carb breads, muffins, desserts, pastas, etc.), my weight loss seems to slow down.

Hope your first week back goes by fast and real soon you get the extra energy this way of life brings!

Congratulations!



Oh! LOL! We don't have any of that new "Low Carb" stuff here. At least nowhere that I've seen. I meant things like premade sauces, marinades, dressings, even cheeses don't really have any nutritional values on them. Some things do - but not like in the U.S. - Mostly just the junk I don't want to eat anyway has labels on it. Thankfully, I know how to make most the marinades and dressings I like from scratch - so that will be helpful! I'll go through the recipes later and post the ones I use which might not be listed.



Oh! Agreed! That's what I like about this plan! I am not wild about breads or pastas anyway



Have you noticed that those things tend to "stall" a lot of people? I was reading through the boards and I think that's so odd how those items are LC but still stall a lot of folks. I think I would just rather pass!



THANKS! I think it'll go excellent! Thank you for all the excellent advice and I wish you the very BEST with your ongoing weight loss! I actually feel pretty good already today! *YAY!*

I will post my actual weight later today (husband is picking up a scale for me on his way home) and I will redo my stats in a week.

I'll check in on you to see how you're doing!

Best of Luck!

~Kimberly

Hi Kimberlyw. Im also new at this stuff. both the diet and the forum.. I think you sound incredibly motivated and your gonna do great this time. I have been a weight watcher for about 10 years. (throughout my 3 pregnancies) and I'd lose about 15 - 20 lbs. and then I would loose my motivation. I started doing Atkins (I was skeptical at first) but the instant weight loss got be so motivated that I really got into it. I think for certain body types this is definately the weight loss plan to do. However, I have been really sticking to it and have been at a plateau for about 3 weeks. Can you give me any tips to jump start my weight loss again. I bought the metabostix to measure if your in ketosis or not and I definately am in ketosis. But I havent lost anything in a few weeks. What do you think? I read how you were saying that when you start using the products that atkins puts out it stalls weight loss. The only real thing I use is the icecream bars and they are only 4 or 5 carbs. Is there such a thing as eating not enough carbs to stall weight loss.? I don't want to get discouraged and you sound soooooo motivated. Can you send a little of that my way??? Thanks so much.
20togo....

Hey thanks 20togo!


I think I can help - at least with any discouragement you might be feeling...

As I don't know how long you've been on Atkins or if you're still on Induction - so I am going to base this as if you are still on induction and have been for about 2-3 weeks, OK? If that's wrong - let me know and I'll see what else I can tell ya!

1.) Most people go through a "plateau" about 2-3 weeks into induction. However, as you'll notice when looking through some posts here, they have noted that a "stall" is not really a "stall" until it goes on for about 4 to 6 weeks.
2.) Have you measured yourself? I've read that a lot of people weren't weighing any less on the scale, but that they were dropping inches nonetheless (or centimeters) - so what about measuring yourself? If you don't have a sewing tape measure, then you can use a string and knot it, and then measure that with a normal household tape measure. This is better than trying to bend that thing around your curves, more accurate, too! I would measure yourself today, then again in a week.
3.) Have you been drinking a lot of water? I drink 3 liters a day (and I did before too) and I swear by the water, as most the others around here do too.
4.) Not to tell you how to work your "Way of Eating"/"Way of Life", but I would seriously consider cutting out the ice cream sandwiches. After reading through the boards (and remembering that there was NONE of this stuff when I did this in 1999 - and I never really hit much of a plateau at all) I really believe that these kinds of "additional" foods really do have a bad effect on some people even though they are Low Carb and may not have a bad effect on others.
5.) There's not a such thing as not eating enough carbs - but there is a such thing as not enough carbs from vegetable and not enough fats.

Your body is trying to learn to live on fat instead of sugar. So, supplying it with even the carbs in the Ice Cream bars as opposed to the carbs in the vegetables allowed in the induction phase (such as Broccoli), which also supply fiber and are really good for you, maybe isn't helping you very much?

The way I understand it is that most of your carbs should be coming from vegetables. As we didn't have these Atkin's things then, most my carbs came from Vegetables and cheese the first time around (and will this time, too), and I lost steadily and kept it off for the whole time I was off medication.

So, I think you'll pick right back up if you drink your water and drop the "extras" and stick with "whole foods" as heartsnsyn suggested to me earlier.

Again - I don't mean to tell you what to do here - I am just repeating what I've read and telling you what worked for me.

I will check in and see how you're doing!

I wish you the best of luck on those last 20 lbs! I KNOW you can make it!

~Kimberly

Welcome back to the board!!!

Congratulations in taking control of your life. Welcome to the forum - It's great to have you here.

Thanks for the welcomes ladies!

Great job losing that weight - both of you!

~Kimberly

I was just thinking:



That's very near 50lbs in 9 months! Did you know that most people would be GREEN over someone losing this much weight so quickly?

I mean - I knew people before I was living Atkins who would rave over losing 10 lbs in like 3-4 months!

I remember my Mom talking to her friends when I was younger (in the early days of the fad diet) getting all excited because they lost a pound or two in a MONTH as opposed to more than 5!

So, I think you're doing wonderfully! Keep up the excellent work!

~Kimberly