How do you eat 20grams a day? I guess I should say, what do you eat? What vitamins? Other pills do you take, if any?

I do well most of the day until about 5:30pm, and then I want to eat more than I should, more than 20 grams worth. But I really want to only eat 20 grams a day for 14 days to get my metabolic rate up! Any suggestions? I'm at a loss here!

Many thanks,
Christy

if you feel hungry after 530 just eat 0g carbo snacks incl. cold meats, tuna with grated cheese melted on top boiled eggs...

Watch out for those hidden carbs. Many processed sandwich meats and cheeses have carbs. A hard boiled egg has .6gr of carbs. The carb counter at this site will help you find those nasties, as will the hidden carb counter.

If you are hungry, eat!

Most people experience hunger in the initial stages of LC as their body switches from glucose to fat burning. Protein snacks are the way to go with this. It's always prudent to have prepared LC food around. Cold chicken, meatballs, hamburger patties, cold roast meat, hard-cooked eggs and canned fish. You may want to have 4-5 smaller meals a day. This works well for a lot of people. You will soon find the level of food that satisfies you. Remember that your body is somewhat "confused" in the initial stages of LC but it soon sorts itself out when it realizes that no carbs are coming its way.

Karen

Wow! Thank you all for the replies! I am feeling good about all this!! I'm going to go boil eggs here in a little bit. I have celery & peanut butter for one snack during the day & that holds me until dinnertime. Oh, and I am not totally, doing Atkins. I drink a shake in the morning with Herbalife pills. I don't know if I am doing the right though. I guess I shouldn't combine programs together. I'm sure the shake have plenty of carbs in them in addition to the proteins. So, I really don't know what to do. I guess in the induction phase I should allow myself to be a little hungry? I don't know, what do you think?

Thanks again!

Christy

Hello Christy,

For myself I can't combine different ways of eating... Once I intro carbs into my diet my body goes out of wack. There are some who are able to have different amount of carbs in their diet without any problems. For the 1st 2 weeks I would stick to under 20 carbs a day, and lots of water. Getting most of your carbs from salad/veggies cheese, dressings etc

Welcome to this commuinty... the people here are awesome.. and a great inspiration and full of knowledge..

5:30 pm is early - definitely eat When I started WOL, I got hungry at 10pm for probably two weeks. I realized later that if I eat late at night, I won't lose. 5:30 pm is still a great time to eat....

Good Luck,
Erin

Christy, if you're hungry you should eat. Try making your meals a little larger and see if that helps - but if you're following your plan and you become hungry there is a reason for it. Of course if those shakes are loaded with carbs that could also be the reason for the hunger.

Nat

Hi Christy,

I'm no Doc, but I would definitely recommend you research low carb programs like Atkins a bit more. If you like what you see, and can live with eating just what the plan allows, then go for it. At least in the beginning, follow it strictly. For instance for Atkins, the first two weeks is an induction diet which get's your body into a state called ketosis. In order to do that, you have to eat less than 20 good carbs. Some people have to eat less than 10.(depends on your body)

So if you chose that plan, it would mean lots of fish, beef, pork, chicken, bacon & eggs. You can also have up to about 4oz of cheese, 3 cups of salad, or 2 cups of salad and a cup of another safe vegie specified on a list.

If you mix Atkins with any thing else, you probably won't suceed.

If you don't want to buy the book, you can learn most of what you need to follow the diet from atkinscenter.com. It talks about the induction diet, what you can eat, what you can't.

The great part, is that you are able to eat as much of the meats, etc. as you want, and with the fat content of the meat, you are rarely hungry.. and when you do get hungry, you just have more meats, cheese(up to your limit), etc..

But I would definitely pick on or the other... Because it sounds like what you are trying is at complete odds with each other.

Good luck,

Mike

Thanks Mike for your kind reply! I am going to go to that website right now because really I am one of the totally clueless beginners!!! haha!! I'm trying to figure out my place in this diet world!!! I really like what I have read about the Atkins Diet. The induction phase is a little scary for me, but I'm trying it! I keep forgetting that I can eat a lot of meat. Tonight I ate one piece of boneless chicken breast with salsa & a little bit of shredded mozarella cheese sprinkled on top. Now am I doing this right? Does that sound like something I can eat??? I still need to read more of the recipes listed in one of these forums. I just am so absorbed in learning from everyone's experiences that I haven't read the recipes yet! LOL

Thanks again for being such a support to me!! Is it possible & healthy to lose 20 pounds in two months? Really I want to lose 30, but I'll settle for 20 if it's possible!

Thanks again everyone1 You all are so wonderful to me!! I look forward to your continuing guidance.

Christy

I average about ten pounds a month and I know others that have average more (and less). I heard that the average per week in 2/week (although I have lose more) so 10 shouldn't be a problem. If those two months include induction, you may lose more (b/c excess water, etc). Again, it's your body and everyone is different. It took me three months to lose 30, and now it's going to take my 5 months to lose 40 - see...it's hard to tell.

Hey if you want you should join our Spring Break Challenge - it might help keep you modivated.

Good Luck,
Erin

It is only possible for most women to lose 2 lbs of FAT a week - anything more is usually water and/or muscle. You do not want to lose lean muscle mass as it decreases your metabolism and your ability to burn fat. Sure it's possible to loses more than 2 lbs of WEIGHT a week - but it isnt healthy. The safe average loss of FAT for men is 3lbs a week.

Nat

The chicken and cheese is okay, but as far as I've seen, the salsa is not. The tomatoes, lime and onions are all pretty high in carbs. It's not to say you can't have it on atkins(after induction) if you find the right salsa that's low in carbs. But the induction is very strict. It would be better for you to have chicken breast(no breading), cheese and bacon. This is one of my favorites.

Try instead to make your meals rich with butter, cream, sour cream, cheese, etc.. (Things you can normally never have on other diets.)

So for two weeks, your fruits(includes tomatoes) are completely off limits. I'm a big fruit and veggie person, but you can get past it. After the induction, you can start to introduce some of these things in moderation.

Don't be afraid of the diet. Embrace the good parts and enjoy it. You probably have never eaten so luxuriously. Once induction is past, and your losing weight regularly, you'll be able to get some of those things back. For me after induction, I didn't crave carbs at all. It was mostly just variety in veggies and some fruit. And I'm a big bread and potatoes guy...

20-30 pounds is not impossible. The first couple months it seems to go away very quickly. Just becareful not to expect 10lbs every month. Sometimes you plateau and it won't budge until you go back on induction for a few days.

One thing to consider with Atkins is that if you cheat, your back to square one. A couple potatoe chips and you pretty much need to go back on induction. (at least for me, it has been..) Which that kinda stinks. But for me, since I know that, it strengthens my resolve to not do it.

Good luck, you do fine once you get the list of foods you can eat. Just don't deviate.

Mike

Mike, Check Atkins book again, you are allowed tomatoes (limited) on Induction.

Dave

Thank you all so much!! Little by little I am understanding more of what you are saying! This is mostly new to me. I have a weird kind-of story. Before I tried to get pregnant with my 2nd son, I was taking clomid fertility meds for 11 months, and I my weight was just coming off like crazy. I weighed 180 pounds & got down to 144 pounds. I was not really trying to watch what I ate. I just ate in smaller portions, tried not to eat many high-carbs like bread, pasta, rice & potatoes. And if I did eat one of those foods, I would do a 30-minute workout with weights. I ended up losing 36 pounds and everyone kept asking me how I did it and I really didn't have a good answer!! So, it's really strange to me now that I am learning LC'ing that I just can't quite figure everything out. There's so much to learn!!

I have PCOS (polycystic ovaries syndrome), so basically my hormones are out of sinc. I don't know if that contributes to my rapid weight gain/loss or not. When I was in high school & college, I had no problems with weight. People thought I was anorexic because my waistline was 24 inches. Now, I can't even find my waistline... LOL! So, I hope that I can figure out the Atkins' Diet & adjust my eating style & exercise more throughtout the week! I hope this helps me lose the weight I need to lose. I feel a little overwhelmed right now, but not discouraged. I know I can do this, I just have to change this little old mind set of mine.

Well, I certainly appreciate all the advice, concern, guidance, encouragement. I have been looking for this type of meesageboard & when I found this one... I thought I found a little piece of Heaven! Keep telling me your experience & knowledge.

Sincerely,
Christy