Intro and A few Questions

[curlyabie]

Hello Everyone!

I've been on Adkins for about a month (This time) I lost a lot of weight with it before a few years ago. I ended up putting it all back on and then some because I stopped. I have been doing ok with Atkins this time around. I have had 3 major complaints.

1. The more I eat, the hungrier I am even if its lowcarb food. - I've been most successful on days that I skip breakfast, dont drink anything but water or black coffee, etc..

2. I do really well for a couple of weeks and then all the sudden I feel like Im going to vomit if I eat another egg/chicken/cream cheese/brocolli etc.. again. Then I end up reaching for something high carb. I just get to the point where I feel like I can't take it anymore.

3. Its hard for me to cook for my family and then eat something else. I usually end up eating in another room and I don't like that.

I have the CAD book. The CALP book is on the way. I am going to give this a go for a month and see if it is more livable for me than atkins. I have been reading a lot here on the board and I have a few questions.

1. Besides the coffee in the morning the only clean drinks during the day are water, black coffee, and teas (nothing in them) is that correct?

2. What would you keep on hand for a CA snack just in case you find you need one?Ideally I'm looking for something with a shelf life as I don't plan on eating a snack every day.

3. Is there any advantage to eating lower carb "carbs" at your RM time?
Ie.. Lower carb bread, splenda sweetened ice cream for dessert etc..

4. Is there a good place to read cad/calp success stories? I have a lot of weight to loose, I need some encouragement!

Thanks!
Abie
250/230/>200 (first goal)

[Zuleikaa]

What you describe of your behavior is a classic sign of a carb addict (CA). You got hungrier because you ate more than for times a day or had carbs spread out the day. The three weeks compulsion is binge cycling. CAs actually need some level of carbs to function well.

With CAD you can have Reward Meal with your family and join them in eating the foods you like. You just have to eat balanced and reasonable portions.

1. Correct.

2. Beef jerky, slim jims.

3. Some people need to do so to have good weight loss. Some people do so to have more balance and more carbs.

4. You can read Vels journal. Sheilaraye and BeccaRN reached goal. Sheilaraye has before and after pictures posted.

Good Luck!!!

[curlyabie]

Thanks for all of your answers! I can't wait for the book to get here. I'm officially starting today from what I've read of CAD and then combining the cheat sheet info. I'm pretty sure that will be fine but I still want to read the real book to make sure I'm not missing anything.

SO far this morning has been good. I am sitting here starring at my coffe w/cream waiting to start that 15 minute timer =)

Abie

[Jalera2003]

Welcom Abie - I wish you great success with this WOE.

[gowe]

Hi Abie,

Welcome to the CA forum.

gowe :)

[Tess M]

Welcome Abie--Sounds like you are definitely one of "us".. I'm with you big time on the egg thing. I used to like them (usually in a sandwich, of course), but "just" eggs are a little hard for me to take. As long as I don't try to eat them too often, I can handle it, though. Most days I just have a cm brunch and then my rm in the evening. A lot of days I have what I call "roll ups"... I buy deli turkey or ham (you have to be really careful to read labels!) and have it sliced as thinly as possible without having it "shaved". Same with swiss or provolone cheese. I take a slice of the meat and 1/2 slice of cheese-spread with a tiny bit of horseradish or mustard-and roll it into a deli platter style roll. I can eat 3 or 4 of these with a nice big salad. It usually makes me much happier than any egg could ever hope to.. :p I think you will find your way on the snack thing. And you will get some really good ideas right here. I certainly have, in the short time that I've been here.

[morningsun]

Your concerns sound alot like mine when first started. The first two weeks were really tough. I too was very hungry between meals, but it got better. Now I find I am often not ungry at all at my cm's.

Once I got past my two weeks I experimented a bit. I found that if I added sweets to my day, other then my rm, it was like starting over for me. I quickly began to get hungry between meals. It would take another two wks to get back on track without hunger pains.

I too love coffee. I allow myself 2-3 cups a day not neccesarily with my cm's ( powdered creamer as regular has less carbs than liquid or lite creamer, and I use equal for sweetener). For me this has been okay, I am still losing (14lbs in 2 months this way) and find that a hot cup of coffee will often relieve my cravings.

I understand about aversions to eggs and all that as well. This diet knocked out my appetite a lot. Sometimes I just don't want to eat those things. I have to make myself eat though. I stopped eating breakfast as I hate eating in the am. I hit a 3 wk plateau doing this, and found that when I skip meals I stop losing. Strange eh? Keep sticking to it and your body will adapt. What you are feeling now seems to be the norm, but it does get easier! Good luck!!

[KittenLady]

Hi Abie,
Welcome!
I just started CALP on Sunday, along with joining this forum. I'm getting hungry in the late afternoon, about 2 hours before dinner, and respond by eating something high in protein. Other than that, I've been feeling better than I did on Atkins.

I hope this WOE works for you. So far, I love it! :wiggle: Now let's see the pounds go away! (I don't want to lose weight because I don't want to find it again! I just want it to go away!)

Now I have to see what this journal is all about...