sandhya, tuscany, n rst of the vege gang - HELP!!

[comrat]

hi ... me too indian, dunt even eat eggs n hate tofu/soy... start atkins induction 3 weeks ago... stay all day on atkin bars n shakes (3-4 servin) and at nite have salad... :help:

so far not much happenin... also go to the gym n try to burn arund 350 cals per day for 5 days on the cross trainer...

plzzzz help me ... i really wanna lose dis xtra weight but i m totaly frustrated n demotivated...

hope u guys are all doing great... take care... :help:

[Gaelen]

hi ... me too indian, dunt even eat eggs n hate tofu/soy... start atkins induction 3 weeks ago... stay all day on atkin bars n shakes (3-4 servin) and at nite have salad... :help:

Y'know, it can be hard enough to be a vegetarian, but if you're trying to control carbs and you don't eat eggs or soy, you are *really* putting yourself in a hard place. And IMO you're not doing the best for yourself eating mainly Atkins bars and shakes. Do you eat dairy? Seitan? Lentils? Nuts and seeds? Get some real live protein into your diet and lose as much of the low carb junk food like bars and premade shakes as possible. You can have things like saag paneer, seitan made any way you like, nut butters and sauces on vegetables, lentil enriched sauces and pappadums...you don't have to limit yourself to bars, shakes and a salad.

Make sure you're supplementing adequately, and make sure you're getting enough water. And frankly, I'd find a low or zero carb protein powder that you like and supplement with homemade protein shakes, rather than drink the pre-made ones. BTW, in my opinion EAS Carb Control shakes are far better (and have less junk in them that you can't pronounce) than the Atkins shakes, but YMMV.

so far not much happenin... also go to the gym n try to burn arund 350 cals per day for 5 days on the cross trainer... plzzzz help me ... i really wanna lose dis xtra weight but i m totaly frustrated n demotivated...

You don't say how long you've been working on your new menu, but sometimes it can take awhile for your body to adjust and start losing. You didn't gain 50 extra pounds overnnight, and despite what you may have heard, you're not going to lose it instantly on low carb either. It's work, and you need to find the menus that work for you. Sounds to me like you're not getting enough protein, your diet is deficient if it's limited to shakes, bars and a salad, and if you're not getting enough water to keep hydrated and flush your system, it won't matter that you're going to the gym every day. Patience is part of weight loss, too. ;) Just make sure you're getting at least a half-gram of protein for each pound of your current body weight, getting at least 64 oz. of water and proper supplements daily, and try to lose the low carb junk food--it's full of chemicals and sugar alcohols that could be disrupting your program. Good luck.

[comrat]

gaelen, i agree premade stuff is bad... but its only in the effort to take in protein... i try to take 35-40 gms a day, plus i eat a couple of table spoons of sunflower seeds, peanuts .. n some times a cheese slice or so...but not too much. coz indctin does not allow dairy or nuts... i also agree that its not ovrnite gain so it vil not go away over nite either... i m just tryin to figure out what might help... btw, are u from north india - saag paneer...soo temptin :)

[tuscany]

comrat - you will not last long with the plan if you do it this way. I eat eggs & some soy (mostly tempeh). I also eat cheese, beans, lentils, nuts & vegetables. You could try some whey protein shakes - blend some kefir, whey pritein powder, ice & berries.
I did not try atkins induction - such an extreme plan is not for me!

[Faithnj]

I luuuve indian food. If you haven't had tofu that you liked, buy extra firm tofu, then freeze it, or press as much water as you can out of it. With the fresh tofu-- fried tastes the best. (Chinese restaurants will give you an idea of how good it can be this way.) But if you can't buy it pre-fried and packaged, then take the frozen or pressed tofu, and cook it in a curry or a cream sause. You should be able to get a tasty meal out of it.

Also--- as for Atkins induction and no cheese: If you are exercising, you can eat cheese and paneer other lower carb foods without worrying about it. You will still go into ketosis. When you do Atkins as a vegetarian, you can't always keep your carbs as low as Atkins would like. But that DOES NOT mean you won't get great results, because your carb count will still be dozens, if not a hundred times lower than it would have been on a normal vegetarian diet. So don't be so harsh with yourself on induction. It's not necessary if you are exercising!

Good luck!

Faith

[Gaelen]

gaelen, i agree premade stuff is bad... but its only in the effort to take in protein... i try to take 35-40 gms a day, ... indctin does not allow dairy or nuts...

If you need to take in protein, make yourself a whey protein shake (mine has up to 50g protein per serving.) 35-40g protein per day is less than half of what you likely need...at 180lbs, 120g of protein would be reasonable, and 75-80g the bare minimum. You can't do body reconstruction if you don't give your body the fuel to rebuild itself.

Not from northern India...and saag paneer only has 5-8g ECC per serving, with 18-25g protein. You can make saag paneer with extra firm tofu if you're skipping dairy, but IMO, skipping dairy and nuts (two serious vegetarian protein sources) would be a major reason not to try to do Atkins induction. Protein Power allows you to have 40g effective carbs (carbs minus fiber) right from the beginning, which is much easier to pull off. YMMV.

[comrat]

Hi all... hope u guys are all doin well and stickin to ur guns... i m proud of you and wish u all the vry best...sorry for not replyin earlier... i have been too busy wid studies and also becoz i had chuck the diet while indulgin in tension eatin.... i hate all this... this is soo bad and such a damn vicious circle... u feel horrible coz u cant stik to diets.. if u do stik weight doesnt come off.. so u get depressed and eat more.. wat hell guys... i m still feelin low... but wid Gaelen's advice got WHEY adn will start fresh from tomorrow.. back to ATKINS INDUCTION... WHEY+SHAKES+BARS+SALADS+CHEESE...hop n pray that I lose somethin...i wished i was like u guys...more sincere..anywasy wish me luck...take care...

[tuscany]

comrat, don't fret too much - all of us stumble, at least I do. For vegetarians, it's harder unless you can deal with eating a lot of eggs. ever since I cut back on soy products, I have been pretty much stuck. Still I will take my 13lb loss...

[.muse.]

One thing that no one mentioned, and I'm kind of shocked as to why not, is that the bars may SAY they only have 2-5 ECC, but they don't. If you look at a hidden carb counter, most of them have close to 19 carbs per bar. That right there will throw you off if you're trying to stick to "induction" levels of carbs.

Also, some people react poorly to the sugar alcohol's in the shakes & bars and won't ever lose while eating them.

Not to mention, you're trying to do Atkins but are starving yourself of all the proper nutrients. If you are in ketosis but are not getting adequate amounts of protein and fat in your diet, your body will think it is being starved and will absorb everything you put into it because it doesn't think it's being supplied with enough to survive.

Also keep in mind, that Atkins was not designed to be done by vegetarians, so if you're going to go strictly vegetarian, you need to follow more acceptable guidelines .. you can't say "i want to do Atkins induction" and then later say "I don't like tofu or soy or this or that", because you're leaving yourself with literally nothing to eat except vegetables, and as any vegetarian will tell you, you do need more than just veggies to stay healthy - you need your dairy (or supplements) and you NEED your protein.

What you're talking about doing is borderline dangerous.

[comrat]

One thing that no one mentioned, and I'm kind of shocked as to why not, is that the bars may SAY they only have 2-5 ECC, but they don't. If you look at a hidden carb counter, most of them have close to 19 carbs per bar. That right there will throw you off if you're trying to stick to "induction" levels of carbs.

OMG this has totally blown me over... you are damn right I did NOT know this aspect, nor anyone pointed it out... THANKS a bunch... u saved me a lot of depression and helplessness... I had also been doin some serious thinkin these days regarding the weight loss... and i realized, i dunt deserve to torture myslf like this and neither am i competing with anyone... its true dat i need to loose weight, lots of it and so i need help which wud be motivating and less harmful... butcherin myself up physically n mentally, through ATKIN, is anythin but that... i have decided to try either the Nutrisystem, Medifast, or Weightwatchers and see how things go for me...hopefully things will turn around...

BTW, does anyone have any inputs regarding the HOODINA (african cactus) and PU-ERH (chinese tea) hype???

[.muse.]

You said it yourself - it's hype.

It works in it's natural forms, which you can only get if you're local to those countries. Pill form, liquid form, etc doesn't work for Hoodia. I don't know much about the other tea.

[tuscany]

comrat, it is not atkins or nothing...i would recommend you looking at south beach or protein power. nutrisystem will not teach you how to cook properly for yourself. if you are exercizing & do soem version of low carb, you will see results

[DJsGirl]

Hello Comrat

I am a vegetarian too and haved faced the same issues. The following helped me lose 35 pounds ( from 170lbs to 135 lbs in 2004 -2005)

NO SHAKES AND BARS for first 2 months. They just stall me everytime I have tried them.
3 oz Cream cheese package for breakfast ~ 1 carb (300 calories)

SNACKS
2 tablesppons of natural creamy peanut butter (~ 2 carbs) (200 calories)
1 serving of almonds (28 pieces)- (~2 Carbs) (170 calories)
2 egg yolks and one table spoon mayo ( ~1 carb) (200 calories)

Lunch and dinner is a salad with RANCH or some other low carb dressing.

Total calorie intake was ~ 1300 to 1500.
TONS of water....12 to 15 glasses (8oz each) a day.

The above mentioned food items add a lot of Fat content to the diet...and a high fat to protein ratio has always helped me. I kept losing weight as long as I stayed away from "PROCESSED foods" Just try to stick more to natural foods and the weight will come off slowly but surely.