Hi, I'm Eli, an American living in Germany and after watching my mom lose weight on Atkins for years, I'm giving it a try after reading the New Atkins book.

I've always been hypoglycemic and extremely reactive to carbs. To lessen this I eat meat at every meal. Trying to be healthy, I would use wheat noodles and brown rice and for years thought that this was low-carbing. You're laughing at me aren't you?: )

This year I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and hypothyroidism. I'm 44.

I was always OK with my body, not thrilled but not worried about it, and guys always looked at me. Then I turned 40 and it was like someone flipped a switch. Almost on that day I went to 189 pounds. And I became invisible.

I started avoiding mirrors and cameras and wearing only black.

I had some success with Weight Watchers and almost starved to death.

For many months I've been shopping for an Arabian horse, and in Germany if you weigh what I do, people won't sell you an Arabian. I know that this breed can carry 200 pounds, but Germans aren't so sure. I would make a call on a horse I found online, and lie and say, "My husband is 185lbs, is he too heavy for your horse?" It was always bad news.

On our America trip this year, I found my family shrinking. My sister and father had become health fanatics, and my mom's Atkins was working exceptionally well for her. Drawers full of clothes awaited me in my bedroom - all their fat clothes.

See I can't buy clothes in Germany, they don't sell plus sizes, and XL is tiny here. I would wait til our next trip home and go straight to Lane Bryant, euphoric to not be their largest size.

We all have a catalyst, don't we? This week my mom sent me a YouTube video* of a tiny little lady describing how she lost weight with ketosis and how she cried as she walked past a Lane Bryant. Hey, I want to cry too. It felt like an intervention. (* - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPbFOoykP5s)

I just now emailed my mom and told her I am starting Atkins. She was overwhelmed and laughed at me "You never understood low-carbing, but now you do!"

Oh, I think I'm supposed to say my goal. It seems very high, I'm sure, but the last time I was happy with my body I weighed 170. So that's it. 19 pounds.

On my next trip to America, I want to be able to wear my mom's current clothes.

I just watched your mom's video. Absolutely beautiful story and a beautiful person.

I wish you much success!

And better yet, ride the horse of your dreams.

But surely there are large-size Germans? All that beer and bratwurst?? Stereotyping, I know.

In any case, Atkins is a good and healthy way of eating, not just for now, but for life. This is a good site to join in the journey.

Best wishes.

I hope to succeed and be able to tell that lady that her video was my inspiration. She has a blog with recipes at www.lifewithbutter.com.

That is so sweet of you to say, considering how horse-crazy I am.


There are some older Germans who are hefty, but it's not like in America. The first thing ex-pats notice on arriving back in the States is how fat everyone is. Indeed, trying to shop online for a sports bra in Germany, I read the advice, "Shop by American brands. Those people know about reducing impact for large busts."

The hardest part will be that I don't have the ingredients used in many LCHF recipes. I have never seen pork rinds here, nor almond flour, and the only artificial sweetener is saccharin tablets. Also, there is no (American breakfast) sausage.

I think I can manage it, though, despite my location.

You don't need any of these ingredients to create a wide range of delicious low-carb meals. I rarely use any kind of flour substitute. In fact, simple cooking is best: baked or grilled meat, poultry, and fish, fresh vegetables, moderate amounts of cream and cheese.

Pick the low-carb foods you like most, and build your daily menus around them.

Best wishes.

LCHF works well with unprocessed, recipe-less food, and if you crave American-style sausage, just add the appropriate herbs and spices to some of that great German minced pork.

I lived in Germany from 1967-72 and at that time I could buy cyclamate tablets (AS). I loved them so much that when I moved back home, I smuggled thousands of them inside my wool yarn skeins. Cyclamates are illegal in the USA, but I order mine from Canada.

BTW, the first time I went on Atkins was 1972 while living in Germany and I had great success. Good luck on your journey.

Thanks, I'll do my best not to feel bad when I read recipes online, then again, being in Germany I'm used to this!

I've done it but it turns out quite dry, probably because of the low fat content of the meat. I'll keep trying.

I know nothing about making sausage. However, adding fat is one of the recommendations of low-carb eating. So...get some bacon, lard, schmaltz (chicken fat), beef trimmings, or any animal fat you want and make that minced pork delicious!

Welcome to the forum Eli!

You sound like you have had your switch flipped and are ready to go. That's great. People usually need something to give them a push. Lots of great recipes here but as a few people above said, it doesn't have to be complicated. Just grill/fry/broil some meat and some veggies and drink tea or coffee and you are done. Simple meals with minimal additives often make your chance of success much higher than if you would try to replace every high-carb thing with something else similar and try to use all the artificial sweeteners.

Good luck!

Although pork is the most commonly eaten food in Germany (indeed Germans jokingly refer to themselves as Schweinefresser - pig gorgers), there is nothing similar to breakfast sausage or Polish hot dogs or Italian sausage (Salsiccia). I went to Rome and found some Italian sausage and saved the label so I could learn to cook it. I'd love to find out if they actually eat Polish hot dogs in Poland (Krakauer as we know it).

Thanks for the tip. I look forward to finding simple solutions.

We eat a lot of pork at our house, but rarely the processed kind. Pork tenderloin, boneless chops, odd cuts on special at the grocery, pulled pork cooked in the crock pot. Easy and delicious. Marinated and grilled, or skillet browned with mushrooms and cream sauce, etc. It truly is "the other white meat" and it's cheap. Most fresh pork sold in the U. S. these days is lean and trimmed, so I usually have to add some form of fat to cook it nicely.

Occasionally we have bacon, usually as a condiment in some recipe. I keep a bag of sausage patties in the freezer for once in a while. No hot dogs, no lunch meats like bologna, no Italian sausage. I do take seriously the possible health consequences of processing. Not that I believe most of what comes across as health warnings in the media.

If you can get fresh pork cuts in Germany, go for that.

Best wishes.