Well I just wanna say Hello to everyone.
I have being following Atkins since Jan 7,03 and have made the
decision to switch to Schwarzbein. I did great on Atkins with a 14 pound weight loss but that is not the measure of success for me at this point and in fact I have gained back 3 pounds .That is ok with me . I just wanna feel good when I eat and that hasn't happened for me since I was 16 years old. Can you believe it ? I haven't felt good when I eat for the last 25 years.

The Schwarzbein principle made a lot of sense to me and I think I can make this work for me. I have had hypoglycemia for 25 years and the last 5 has progressed to fibromyalgia but I can see now it is all related to fixing the insulin problems and the rest will heal.

I am more interested in healing my body and I know that the weight will come off after that. I have to be strong enough to concentrate on loosing and I was just going too fast with Atkins. I needed to make this switch to get back to feeling better. I was doing pretty good before I started LCing in Jan. But about a week into it I was having terrible leg cramps again, and my fatigue has shot through the roof with 3 days of 2 hour naps in the day time.
I was able to resist taking one today but I am heading to bed early again. So I am here to heal first .

Thanks for having me
Debbie

Welcome to Schwarzbein Debbie. I've been following her program for the last year ( did fall off for a while in the summer ) It is wonderful. The weight doesn't come off as fast. Remeber your body needs time to heal first. You may even gain some weight at first but it does eventually come off. Remeber it took years to put on the weight, it will take time for it to come off. But you will feel so much better eating this way. Lots of energy. Which of her books did you read? I've read both I and II. I started with I and since it's always made sense to me that's the one I've stuck with. Guess I've been lucky though as I grew up not eating much sugar and stuff, at least until I went to university. My weakness was always salty, fatty chips. Still miss them once in a while, but the way I feel now makes it easy to give up the junk. Good luck.
G

Puppetlady -

I think it's great that you put your health first, and I hope the switch to Schwartzbein works really well for you. The only thing I wanted to mention is that the symptoms you've been having (leg cramps and fatigue) sound very much like you are low on potassium. This happens because LC diets are diuretic in nature, and you can lose essential minerals along with the water. (Your body releases the extra sodium that's been making you retain water, and it takes your potassium with it.) One or two 99 mg potassium tablets a day could go a long way toward making you feel better no matter which plan you're using, and it should certainly solve those leg cramps. They're a classic symptom.

Best of luck to you.

--Ruth

puppetlady -

Welcome to TSP!

We need to have patience with ourselves. Like gingertea said the healing process takes time.

I found my leg cramps stopped when I began taking calcium& magnesium tablets. They work synergistically in the body.

RGale - thanks for the reminder about the potassium. I forgot to take mine today.

Happy Schwarzbeining!
amieK

Hi Gingertea,Ruth and Amiek
Thanks for welcoming me!

I am feeling much better the past few days since switching and adding back a little fruit. It is funny cause I didn't eat fruit much before but I want it now for variety.

As for the leg cramps ,they are pretty much gone but even when I was supplementing with up to 1000mg a day of potassium on Atkins I was still having problems with them .

I found just adding some carbs back in has helped with that alot and I am sleeping better again. I did add back all of my old supplements yesterday after my friend reminded me how much they help me when I remember to take them. I did feel lots better. I have been taking coral calcium for a year now and also added some other herbals to support the thryoid. I have ordered some new magnesium and potassium Orotate. I have done some research and supposedly this form is more absorbable. I will see.
I still need the supplements to get me through .

I am wiped as usual after eating breakfast but I am going to go on my treadmill and see if that will wake me up.All I really wanna do is go to sleep but that never helps anyway.

I sure do miss the e-mail notifications .It made me visit more during the day but if this is better for the forum then I guess we have no choice.

hi puppetlady.! I had leg cramps and 'jumpy legs' at nighttime when I tried the Atkin's induction a few years ago. As I take a small amount of HBP med I was told by Dr. and pharmacy personel to *not* take a potassium supplement ( they should be used with caution as one can easily throw off the balance of things in some people) They slowed when I switched to Suzanne Somers program (which includes some fruit), now have ceased while following TSP. I hope you find this true also. Leg cramps can be so bothersome!

Have you had your thyroid levels checked ? I could not get thru the afternooon without a nap before I was diagnosed and treated for thyroid disease.

Hi Debbie -- You and I are on the same track here! I started Atkins 3 weeks ago, lost 7 pounds, and got really, really sick from it. I spent the last 2 days in bed. I have a problem with weak adrenals (diagnosed by an endocrinologist after suffering a massive hemorrhage 3 years ago). I recognized both the elation I felt at first on Atkins (due to the increase in cortisol from the stress of the diet) and the subsequent crash (due to the adrenals giving up the ship and the cortisol dropping too low) that happened 2 1/2 weeks later. The feelings were so familiar. I knew I was again in adrenal exhaustion. I couldn't walk across the floor!
By coincidence, my sister in law had sent me SPII, and I read it while lying there. It makes SO MUCH SENSE and feels intuitively in alignment with all I know about nutrition. So I've increased my carbs to 15 a meal, and 2 little snacks. Amazingly enough, I'm still in ketosis, and its the third day now. I want to get out of ketosis, but I don't want to increase the carbs too fast. So I'm jsut trusting and doing this slow. Today, my energy is about 3/4 normal. I can tell I'm coming back from the Atkins. Whew.

I've also gained back 2 pounds - even tho I know I'm eating less calories total. It feels like water weight from the carbs -- allin my belly and butt. Oh well -- like you, I feel determined to do this the healthy way, and Atkins was simply NOT healthy for me

The people researching Atkins should focus onthe effect on t he adrenal glands, NOT just on the cardiovascular stuff. That is the real problem area, or at least one of hte problem areas.

HI Bethany,
I have added fruit and that is really helping me. The weird thing is that I never ate much fruit before and never really wanted it but now I seem to want apples and strawberries and melon.I have more energy again and I am not getting the leg cramps now so I just needed to up my carb levels, whether that means Atkins or schwarzbein I am gonna try and heal first. I think I just went to low in my carbs on Atkins.

After reading all of the books.........AS I own all of them. I am finding they really all are very similar .I kinda took a break from everything for a few days. Not really changing anything but just not thinking about it so much. I found not stressing over it helped me to focus again..

I really do want to get healthy first so I am paying very close attention to everything I put in my mouth and seeing how I feel within a few minutes to a half hour after eating. also trying not to wait too long between meals. If I need snack I have one. I grab a small piece of chicken or some nuts ,

Eating again is a big challenge for me because I used to not eat so that I wouldn't feel sick so it is nice not to be afraid to eat. I used to cringe just thinking how I might feel after I ate. I m enjoying eating during the day again and yet I could fall back into not eating if I let myself.

Well gotta go get on my treadmill before I get sleepy here.

Debbie

In how you are doing on the new Schwarzebein regime - I hope that is how you spell it! Madi