Elihnig
Fri, Jun-29-01, 06:46
Hi all! I've been doing Atkins since last August. I took a break from it at Christmas, and in March when I found out that I needed to look for a new job. I stayed off the plan mostly while looking, and now that I've got the job lined up for September, I'm back on the plan and have been exercising all this week. I really do feel a lot better when I'm staying low carb. I started out weighing 216, and now I weigh 166. This plan has been so good for me. I tend to keep my meals simple but I've found a few ways to get some interesting combinations.
I used to carb out on tacos and fajitas, but I figured that it was mostly the wraps that I couldn't have. So, now I bake some boneless chicken breast and then melt some cheese on top and have a bit of salsa and sour cream on top and I'm having low carb mexican!
I've read Atkins (several times) and find it very readable and interesting. I've read the Hellers' book from the library but I knew that it wouldn't work for me. I've recently read the Protein Power book, again from the library. It's good, and it will work, but it's not as motivational or precise as Atkins in my opinion. I've been active on the Losing Weight with Friends at MSN communities, but the majority of people there are not low carb, though there is a low carb thread. I just shake my head at some people's food diaries that are obviously low fat and they wonder why they are hungry and can't loose weight. (All those pretzels and bread and fruit.)
My downfall lately has been nuts. Especially cashews, which have about 7 carbs an ounce. Last night I put some in a 1/4 measuring cup and told myself 'that's all you can have' and it worked. I just get going and it's hard to stop. After this batch is gone I don't think I'll buy anymore for a while.
I also discovered Splenda a few weeks ago. I never use aspartame because of the taste, though before I read Atkins I tried to drink diet soda but I just found it to be too gross. I used my Splenda, or sucralose if you like that name on some strawberries and in the heavy cream that I put on top of them. It was heavenly. I found that the cream will fill you up, but you have to wait for it to get there.
My plan presently: 20 carbs a day, mostly in my salad, at least 72 oz of water, plently of protein in the form of eggs, meat, poultry and fish and some cheese. I take a multi vitamin and chromium picolinate. I've been exercising, this week anyways with Body Electric on PBS. My goal is to lose at least 11 more pounds and then take a good look (because reasses just looks weird when I type it). According to the height weight chart in the Atkins book a female 5'11" with a medium frame should weigh between 140 and 155. Just for the sake of doing it, I did the body fat computation in the Protein Power book. I did the calcuations for both the younger age up to 30 and the older age of 31 because I'm 29 and I figure it's close either way. That calculation came out to 141-152 for the younger age and 142-154 for the older age.
I'm just trying to keep myself psyched up so that I can make the most progress this summer while I have nothing better to do, and I can make a good impression in September when I start my new job. My mother and my sister could both benefit from low carbing but they have very closed minds. Thankfully my husband supports my efforts, except for my exercise which he says isn't real exercise. Any support welcome!
I used to carb out on tacos and fajitas, but I figured that it was mostly the wraps that I couldn't have. So, now I bake some boneless chicken breast and then melt some cheese on top and have a bit of salsa and sour cream on top and I'm having low carb mexican!
I've read Atkins (several times) and find it very readable and interesting. I've read the Hellers' book from the library but I knew that it wouldn't work for me. I've recently read the Protein Power book, again from the library. It's good, and it will work, but it's not as motivational or precise as Atkins in my opinion. I've been active on the Losing Weight with Friends at MSN communities, but the majority of people there are not low carb, though there is a low carb thread. I just shake my head at some people's food diaries that are obviously low fat and they wonder why they are hungry and can't loose weight. (All those pretzels and bread and fruit.)
My downfall lately has been nuts. Especially cashews, which have about 7 carbs an ounce. Last night I put some in a 1/4 measuring cup and told myself 'that's all you can have' and it worked. I just get going and it's hard to stop. After this batch is gone I don't think I'll buy anymore for a while.
I also discovered Splenda a few weeks ago. I never use aspartame because of the taste, though before I read Atkins I tried to drink diet soda but I just found it to be too gross. I used my Splenda, or sucralose if you like that name on some strawberries and in the heavy cream that I put on top of them. It was heavenly. I found that the cream will fill you up, but you have to wait for it to get there.
My plan presently: 20 carbs a day, mostly in my salad, at least 72 oz of water, plently of protein in the form of eggs, meat, poultry and fish and some cheese. I take a multi vitamin and chromium picolinate. I've been exercising, this week anyways with Body Electric on PBS. My goal is to lose at least 11 more pounds and then take a good look (because reasses just looks weird when I type it). According to the height weight chart in the Atkins book a female 5'11" with a medium frame should weigh between 140 and 155. Just for the sake of doing it, I did the body fat computation in the Protein Power book. I did the calcuations for both the younger age up to 30 and the older age of 31 because I'm 29 and I figure it's close either way. That calculation came out to 141-152 for the younger age and 142-154 for the older age.
I'm just trying to keep myself psyched up so that I can make the most progress this summer while I have nothing better to do, and I can make a good impression in September when I start my new job. My mother and my sister could both benefit from low carbing but they have very closed minds. Thankfully my husband supports my efforts, except for my exercise which he says isn't real exercise. Any support welcome!