And just to reiterate an earlier point. This way of eating won't work permanently for weight loss if you don't like what you're eating. You need to find foods you enjoy that are within a plan that allows you weight loss and health, then you might have a chance to keep up the woe.

So, you say your plan is 'Atkins, sort of'....what does that mean?

Have you thought about the fact that maybe Atkins isn't the best choice for you? There are many good low carb plans that many of us have had success using. Have you considered any of them?

Exactly!!

I don't knwo where i said atkins sort of? I have adhered to atkins 72 every time i have done LC. the problem was i stay in induction so long and limit my food choices so much do to many circumstances that i now cant stomach them. steak, eggs, bacon, chicken, fish, sausage, etc. most of the meats. the kicker is i dislike veggies although i may have to try them at some point.

been off a whole week now and gained it all back

trying to figure out how to eat and what to eat with not much time for cooking or shopping.

with all my travel and things going on the time i did atkins and lost the 90 was basically fast food without buns, or steak eggs and bacon

i know of lindas low carb site, and low carbediem and all those recipes look fantastic but with none of that time to cook i am left again to what has worked before but this time with the pallet for none of it.

add to this needing 2 full knee replacement and neck surgery etc and my mobility is greatly decreased as well.

at 47 my doctor just put me on O2 at night due to low O2 apparently, from being this large (no apnea thought) and i feel so stupid so i guess we can add back the depression that this cycle never stops and every failure is then compounded and becomes worse the next go round

You said it in your profile, Atkins sort of.

You've got challenges and cooking for yourself is one of them. I strongly encourage you to figure out how to do some home cooking. Nobody can do that for you, sorry to say. Unless you can afford to hire a cook to do it for you?

I cook 2 things per week. One soup and one main dish that I make a lot of and then have plenty for 4-5 meals.
I don't eat much breakfast other than a small amount of Greek yogurt with my coffee. I keep hard boiled eggs ready to be peeled in my fridge. I keep cans of tuna and or salmon in my pantry, ready to be opened and made into a salad with chopped celery, onion, mayo and HB egg.
I keep fresh veggies around to be able to make a salad. Asst. greens, cucumber, tomato, olives, red onions, red cabbage, snap peas, roast red pepper, etc. and yummy to me dressings.
I've been making a large batch of crackslaw each week. This week it was Asian flavored. I do it on the weekends when I'm not busy. It lasts me the whole week.

These are just some ideas for you how I've created a way for me to eat that I enjoy. Only you can do that for you.

ah, i forgot i said that

I think the context for it was that i did induction, and not a very healthy one for the most part.

You are absolutely correct, its 100% true. I need to find time to shop and cook and prepare meals that are varied and healthy and LC.

I just feel overwhelmed with the health issues, travel and 3 smaller kids and all that entails and really i think the depression counts for a ton of it, i look around and see all this and i just go, wow chicken NUGGETS! love them! and bam off i go

i swore this time to i wouldn't do an unhealthy LC but i just cant find the time to do so

i pledged to fast food burgers and restaurants if i could or at least keep to a minimum. i wanted to cook and eat REAL foods from local farmers, organic and grass fed.

there is only so much time in a day though

but you are correct on all of it

3 small kids? does this mean that there is a wife? Does she cook and food shop too? Does she support you in getting healthy?

I'm a lot older than you. At 54, I started this journey for about the 20th time. I didn't know how to cook and thought deli meats and processed foods would get me where I was going. I learned fast just how wrong I was.
I set out to learn how to cook things that I enjoyed eating. But I first had to identify my favorite flavors and then go from there.

Now I cook....and maintain my losses. But I had to stop complaining about how hard it was and shift my attitude to figuring it out and getting it done.

Same here - constantly thinking how I couldn't do it prevented me from planning how I could do it.

Getting healthy takes time and sacrifice. We have to really commit to it to make it work. I've tried many times and failed because I wasn't committed or prepared to put in the work. And the work includes preparing food when you're so exhausted or in pain it feels like you can't, but I just make myself and have easy solutions about, like Judy, tinned fish, salad fixings, cooked meat, nuts and easy cook things.

To start either make a large batch of two meals once a week, or just have easy to cook things around for each day like fish and stir fry veg or salad, or throw some meat and veg and herbs or spices into a slow cooker in the morning and dinner's ready when you get home. Keep it simple until you've lost some weight and start getting more energy, then you can think about doing some more complex recipes. I don't eat breakfast and lunch but they're easy, mixed salad with olives, egg, avocado, tinned fish - there are some compliant dressings that can be shop bought to make things easier to start, there are nuts, jerky, cold meat with mayo. If you google you can find all sorts of easy to put together things.

The depression is a big issue and you need help with that. If it is affecting your ability to motivate yourself then you will struggle, though lc will help depression, you may need to get some counselling or cbt therapy to support you with all this.

Your health and mobility are poor. You need to sort this asap to ensure you'll be around for your kids, sorry to be so direct, but I'm sure it's a thought you've had.

Eating organic, grassfed, local real food is a great goal, but if that is not within reach right now, dont let it keep you from making and keeping the more important goal-- finding a lowcarb plan you can stick to and getting at it, so you can confront and improve your health and weight issues ASAP.

In my opinion, if you need to start out faster and easier, and that means fast food burgers without buns/ketchup, I would say, start that way. The alternative is to keep eating carbs, and that got you to your current weight, and thats not working so well, right? Get the carbs out, get your body in ketosis, get to burning fat, get to feeling better. As your energy and mobility increases, you may find you have more stamina to take on more, and you can inch your way toward additional goals.

Even if it takes 6 months or a year for you to shift your diet to a more natural/organic assortment of food, if during that time you have gone lowcarb overall and have been steadily losing weight, you will be that much healthier.... and a bit more time taken adjust the sourcing of your food to what you eventually would like it to be is a minor ripple, compared to the years you are going to be living thinner and healthier with a lowcarb WOE.

WOW! LOVE THIS, Kathleen. THIS is AWESOME!

~everyone - Thank you all, I started again yesterday. Everyone here is correct and I thank you for taking the time to care enough to help, be direct if needed, and also point out different approaches and scenarios

LC works very well for me, and if i can just see that its ok like you said to do the burgers if i need to from a fast food joint while also starting to cook but maybe just a couple things and build on it, that i will be ok and way better than all or nothing

thats a big thing with me, i build the day up in my head and then if i deviate even a small amount i toss it and need to spend weeks starting again

i went this time and bought a bunch of atkins meals, not the candy and stuff but the actual meals. i figure they look better than a mcDonalds hamburger with some veggies at least and i can whip them up fast

i will try and cook some stuff ahead now as well.

I had a mental breakthru this weekend. it just kind of hit me that wow i look horrible, i feel horrible and i am on O2! at 47! i mean, really?! i was in the army, played sports and all of that and i let myself go so bad that i am on o2 to get thru the night

i have to di it this time because every time i did do it and then put it all back on i would get less healthy, and this time around i have so many medical issues and the o2 now that i dont think there will be another time

so thanks again all.

and yes there is my wife, and she wants me to get helathy but she is pretty burnt out on me always starting something, then she shops for it and then i quit and the food would waste, that i am trying not to do that again. she did buy me the atkikns meals though

i feel horrible i have disappointed her this much, this long

anyway thanks all

Day 2 !

Good luck, I really hope it sticks this time - looks like you're starting to assess what does and doesn't work for you.

If for any reason you do struggle again, there is always the option of taking small steps (which is what I did eventually after many failed attempts), like this:

First 90 days: No sugar.
second 90 days: No sugar, No grains.
Third 90 days: No sugar, no grains, carbs under 30g.
etc

Everyone wants a quick fix, but in reality for some, splitting things into more achievable chunks of time (where each behaviour change can become habit) is quicker than years of failed attempts. I wasted four years trying to do everything all at once, when that approach was never going to work for me.

Well, i weighed in this morning, one week into Atkins. I am down 9.5 lbs

thats pretty amazing and i was shocked, i have never had that kind of a week before.

i stuck to only eating real foods, even if it wasnt always the best quality. i ditched the atkins sweets and didnt stray

i need to up my water this week, and my goal is try and cook some veggie quiches and start to vary it up.

i am also going to add tomatoes, spinach and veggies i like. again for variety and for carbs that i like and that are allowed.

i still kept drinking coke zero but i want to phase that out and go to a diet green iced tea.

thanks everyone for the help! week 2 is underway, i have to keep vigilent every day cause i am still nauseus at times with the meat. but duly impressed and happy with the results.

oh, i am also checking myself daily for ketosis with the keto stix and have been medium or so all week, that is also different for me and i think its truly because i ditched the fake sweets

Great update Trock! Good job!

I wish a successful week 2.
It'd be a good idea for you to start a journal on this site and use it to visit daily for yourself. Notes you'd want to write about and food logs so you can keep track of what you're eating...and we can too.

I found that committing to logging my food in my journal here daily, no matter what, really kept me in it all the way to goal.

Trock,

This is my first time to read this thread, and when you started it, you were really down and you appeared to be scared. Sometimes that's what it takes to make life-changing decisions. I hope the positive feedback has helped.

I just want to say that I've been following LC since Atkins book came out in 1972. Over the years I've gained and lost the body weight of several large people. I kid you not. All the times I've dieted, lost, re-gained. It is terribly discouraging. But the alternative is deadly.

Finally, I got to a place in my head where I really believed that my life depends upon this being my WOlife. Just as we make a promise when we marry and have children that we will remain faithful and take care of our family, I have to make that promise to myself FOR myself. Sometimes I have to "renew my vows" every day.

The people on this forum are amazingly supportive and will be there for you. You can do this if you want to.