as u all well know, i need to buckle down and do this diet 100%, so im going back to basics and doing the egg and meat fast for a few days - have big night coming up soon and want to drop some water weight (TOM) curb some cravings, and lose some weight.

ive been reading some past posts about the diet and understand this so far: as much meat and eggs as u like, as long as under 5g net carb...no cheese..am i right so far?

also, any diet sodas allowed?

anyone had any luck with the fast...

Anna:

If you can't stick to Atkins, which is relatively forgiving, all you're going to do on a Meat & Egg Fast is deprive your body of valuable phytochemicals and antioxidants from vegetables.

And when you fall off the fast, you'll feel even worse.

It's not healthy.
Please don't do it.

i feel so desperate though,

Here's some challenging tough love.

Don't feel desperate at all.
You have no reason at all to feel desperate.
You're a lovely young woman who is lucky enough to only want to lose a few pounds. There are hundreds of women on this forum alone who would give their right arm to be as slender as you are.

Take stock of what is good in your life. I think you'll find there's quite a bit. In the final analysis, those things that are good are all that matter.
The rest simply aren't worth worrying about to the point of obsession.

I can't suggest strongly enough that you see a therapist or counselor to get your eating disorders and self-esteem issues under your control. You've learned here what a good diet looks like. Now you need the psychological support to be able to stick to one. I suspect you'll only get that from a professional. You might be able to do it on your own, but it's going to be a very difficult battle. Until you've exhausted all possible avenues, why go it alone?

Hope that helps.

H

hogarth - thanks for your help and support, much appreciated..i acknowledge my problems/issues but cant quite seem to deal with them...need a fresh approach..il keep you updated.

by the way - well done on your weight loss...thats such a great achievement..

I am on it, I have been on it for a while now. It does help, you just have to make sure you take supplements, it's only to break a long standing fast.

If you have a hard time sticking to Atkins, this might be hellish for you. It is easy for me since the only things I have is non-dairy creamer once a day *I allow myself this* and just meat and eggs, cooked in coconut oil because it is very nice and lovely. I personally think it has many health benefits. I think it does give you more energy and is supposed to kill off yeast too, which is good.

I think we have somewhat similar issues with food. I have had an eating disorder for my whole life and really struggle with sticking to healthful eating. I agree that the meat and egg fast will be a nightmare for you.

I think the first step is to stop beating yourself. Trying to buckle down and do the meat and egg fast is just a way to punish yourself. When you do that you will rebel by bingeing.

One of the wonderful LCers on this forum suggested that I try to gradually lower my carbs down to Induction levels rather than jumping right in. At first I was totally against it, because how was I going to Lose Weight Right Now???!!???

However, I grew sick of bingeing and beating myself up and restricting and overexercising. I took his advice and it worked!!! The pounds are not melting off, but I feel better, I am not bingeing and my diet has cleaned up a lot.

Remember that Dr. A was writing the book to the average person who has a problem with their weight and health, but NOT a full blown eating disorder. Atkins is a wonderful path to good health, but you may find (as I am finding) that ALOT of emotional healing will have to take place before you can commit yourself to a new WOE, even if it is a WOE that allows for delcious steaks and cheeses.

Just keep trying and maybe put your body worries on hold in favor of working on your inner self. You are not in any medical danger right now, so maybe switching to OWL for a bit while you hammer things out might be really beneficial in the long run.

My therapist told me that ED recovery has three main facets: emotional recovery (healing all the things that made you get sick in the first place), mental recovery (changing your thoughts about things), and physical recovery (either restoring weight or losing weight). She said that the physical recovery will come last and that if you jump into it too soon you are setting yourself up for failure. It will come, you just have to do the other parts first.

Good luck!

Love, Kate

after a binge last night and then unsuccessfuly trying to throw up, then having a good cry i decided to start the fast today, i feel that the only way to beat my ED is to prove to myself that i can lose the pounds, then move onto a healthier level of this diet...i feel sick, its 6am and im having eggs for breakfast 0 whcih i hate, but im just going to block it out and do it, once i see weight loss, that'l encourgage me....what the weird thing is after yesterdays binge - i never gained weight...weird?

I feel the same way you do.
I ate alot more than I wanted to tonight, I feel awful. I ate two cans of tuna with alittle mayo and mustard -_- a little beef and 3 eggs scrambled, -_- I feel awful for eating that much since I have been barely eating anything lately. Arg.
Eggs can be good, you really need to spice them up. If you like hot sauce, they are awesome like that or with herbs.

Weight gain?

Please, please please stop caring about that.

You said "i feel sick".
Worry about that. Please.

H

anna, please, please, please....find yourself a good therapist to work with you on this. It's admirable that you want to beat this thing, but there are some problems that are more effectively addressed with the help of another that is trained in this area and there is no shame in asking for help. Weight and eating are only one aspect of this issue and the larger one is the emotional 'stuff' that is causing your to behave and think this way. Changing the way you eat is not going to address that. Neither is punishing yourself for 'not doing it right' by treating your body extremely.
My dear, it's obvious from your posts that you are very unhappy with the way things are for you right now. Please...find a qualified counselor to help you with this so you can begin truly healing.

I hate to be the jerk here....but i really must leave atleast a few sentences here....i hope that they aren't taken the wrong way...

This is not the first time i have read a post similar to this posted by anna....
What you are asking for...is encouragment to lose weight that you're trying to lose in an unhealthy manner....and to me it seems as though you're reaching out for someone to almost tell you that it's OKAY to eat this way. You're reason for "trying" atkins, and a fast....aren't exactly positive reasons. If you really want to lose this weight..then you need to chose a positive approach. Otherwise...i really doubt that you're going to continue to get advice on how to continue on with this ED..
You've gotten the same responses....in numerous posts...."seek therapy"...."you're a good weight already"...just to name a few....
If you're not willing to make a change and deal with this ED within you...then you're probably not going to see results with any "diet"....or with any encouragment you get.
I wish you luck.

the meat fast was exactly what i needed, because i learned a crucial factor. I learned that when i thought i was doing induction, it was actually owl, and doing the meat fast FINALLY curved my appetite, and I feel so full of hope right now. I dont want to do the fast forever, but it for sure its purpose.

with all the negative talk about M/E i just wanted to mention that the '72 version of Atkins was much more restrictive with carbohydrates and he mentioned that some people's insulin metabolism is so messed up that they need to eat virtually NO carbs to lose weight. It's curious why there seems to be so much negative reaction to it...