Thanz for the recommendation...I've actually been reading quite a lot about low-carb diet online from the different website and i'm really keen on this diet...I intend to get the book at a later time when I'm free..meanwhile...do you think you can give me an idea of the different phases..like what I will need to do stuff like that?...Thanzzzzzz

For Atkins, there are four stages:

1. Induction - 14 days or more

This stage is to basically switch your body from burning sugar as a primary source of fuel to burning your own body fat. You cannot avoid this stage. You can go to atkins webpage to read more about it and what are the stuff you are alowed to eat.

Basically for me (in Singapore, non-muslim food)

Breakfast - go to fried bee hoon stall to order:

2 x fried eggs
2 x toufu
2 x small fried fish
2 x chicken wings

Lunch - "young tau hu" is your best friend.

"Young tau hu" - must choose carefully and only order soup based, drop the source!
OR
"Ba Kut Teh" w/o rice - go east on the soup, i think some stalls put sugar inside.
OR
Slice fish soup w/o rice
OR
Slice beef soup

Dinner - western food but drop the fries and bread, also NO sweet chilli source or cook yourself. I find making my own salad quite cheap and easy.

It is important that you should drink at least 2 litres of water a day . You should spread your water consumption throughout the day to maximize it's benifits. Do not try to drink 2 litres of water at one go.

Do not worry about drinking too much water because, assuming that you have healthy kidneys, your body can safely process between 12-15 litres of water in a day. I normally drink about 4 litres a day becasue I am a big person.

The follow three stages, I do not think I need to explain right now.

2. Ongoing weight loss

3. Pre-Maintenance - very close to reaching your desired weight,

4. Lifetime Maintenance - when you reach your desired weight.

hey thanz saymeng...that was really useful...is it ok to take fruits?... and if i really need to take some carb...is it ok?...how about food from those fast food?...like burgers without bun...and fried chicken and stuff...izzit ok to eat? (i really dun wan to take the wrong food before i get my book =P)

*flips DANDR book...............*

OK based on Dr. A, no fruits during Induction. You are allowed a total of 20grams of carb per day. You should get most of your carbs from vegetables.

Do not eat carrots, potatos and corn which we can easily get in sing. All green vegetables are OK. All herbs and spices are ok.

You can eat all types of meat including the fat! hehe (serious ) Do not eat fried meat with flour coating, go for BBQ types. Also watch out for process meat like hot dogs as they have high salt content and starch in them. Bacon are ok but moderate them becasue they contain nitrate and so far did not come across any in sing without nitrate.

All types of sea food but watch out for shelled types cause they contain carbs.

All Cheese but watch out they contain carbs.

Eggs (your best friend) are good and cheap, I eat close to 20 whole eggs per week. I know what you are thinking right now.....I am crazy! but.......before you jump the gun please do a search on the web about egg cholesterol and human cholesterol. Study enough and you will know that they are safe to eat.

Fast food IMO is a No No, unless you got no other choice. In LC life style we want to eat highly nutritious foods not a piece of round brown thing fast food companies call "meat".

Also, you will need to go get yourself some multi-vitamins (for women type) and omega3 fish oil supplements. They are suppose to help you out during Induction.

***Only eat until you feel full, do not eat too little and over eat. Eat slowly, it takes our body about 20mins to tell our brain that we are full.

There are generally two types of carbs, complex and simple. We want to concentrate on eating complex carbs only.

Do not buy "low fat" stuff becasue they are full of carbs. Go for stuff like "Real Mayo" not low fat mayo.

Go for butter not margerine.

You food ratio must maintain like <10% carbs, 25-35% protein and 55-65% fats.


A recount of my own experience during induction.............

I was constantly thinking about eating even after I have just had a meal. It is due to my addiction to carbs, so I split my meals into about 5 to 6 times a day. In the begining I was eating alot more food then normal (w/o rice and noodles) and it was kinda of expensive ($30-$40 per day). I also had problems sleeping the first few days and had a mild headache (addiction to carb). Then..........14 days gone.

After some time LCing (different for everyone) your need for the quantity of food will slowly get less, this is becasue you body is getting adjusted. So do not be worried if you are spending alot more then usual for food in the begining of LCing.

Nowadays, I need less sleep, I wake up very alert, I am never sleepy after lunch, I got alot of energy, do not feel hungry between meals.

Thanzz for telling me that...I was just getting real worried....I tried today not to have rice/noodle...juz a feel of what its going to be like.... i ended up eating : steam egg, vegetables, fried fish, fish cake, hot dogs, bacon, omelet, lots of yong tau fu stuff....(Whao, plus tiny bits of rice and sweet drinks).. The whole day i found myself digging in my kitchen!.........But after what you say...i think its normal ritez?...or izzit still a lot ahzz?....
Anywayzz...thanzzz a lottt...I'm prob getting the book this coming sat (yeah)...and hopefully setting myself into the diet =)

I think you should stop eating rice altogether , especially during induction. Aviod eating too many fish cakes as they do contain starches. I would suggest that you add some cheese to increase your fat intake. I personally found that I do not like to eat salty cheese and I managed to find one called "elemental" (spelling might be wrong) which is a long rectangular block, they are high in fat and low in carb, found in NTUC and Cold Storage (more $$). Another type are bably adams, they are small round orange/red cheese.

The sweet drink you are refering to I hope are stuff like diet soda right? Just one can of normal coke can have more than 30grams of carbs. You you really need to have one go for coke light, they have zero carbs. But......some peope stops loosing weight after taking them. I do not have that problem so far...

Dr. A do not encourage people on his diet to take products that contain aspartame

Beri normal, it will go away in a few more days, but might take longer depending on your degree of carb addiction.

hmmm...okok...i will remember that...I have a problem with finding food without carb in them... i went shopping in cold storage and literally went through almost all the food to try to find those without starch....and i almost found none except bacon....and for those with starch are like hot dogs, crab meat.....i don't even know whether they are present in small enough quantity or not....how ahz?(The worse thing is I tend to snack a lot lot).....do you think u can recommend any shops or food that i can snack on?.....

you are allowed 20 grams of carbs per day, you should try cheese, cucumber, tuna as snacks during induction.

After induction you may have in moderation strawberries, blue berries and nuts as snacks.

Perhaps u should try reducing the dosage? For me, I took 2 capsule 15mins (as opposed to 30mins cos Xenadrine seems to kick within 15mins for me) before I do my morning/evening workout. During workout, I dun feel anything. But if I take Xenardine without working out, the jitterness (I feel funny) will kick in. And yah, Xenardine got a funny taste (like ginger if I am not mistaken, especially if u burp) =)

haloz...i've bought my book and has finished the first part and is reading on the induction...(yeahz!)...keke..I'll be starting on the plan soon but hoh..the meals that they wrote inside for induction ritez...like not very common lehz....can any1 suggest me sme meal plans that you guyz took during induction? thanzzzzzzz

heyz guyz...juz asking if any1 wanna buy stuff from overseas?...i'm trying to order it online from vitacost.com ....they are selling stuffs real cheap..but the shipping cost is US$37...And issit ok to eat fishballs and meatballs when taking yong tau fu?...I'm on my 2nd day of induction and i'm finding real hard to plan out my meals...can any 1 help...

I think meat balls and fish balls/cakes are OK if you only take in moderation.

What stuff are you planning to order?

i plan to take in mostly food...low carb food...and i may wan take in sme supplement...are u interested?..

nope, not at the mement. i find them to be expensive for me.

hi guyz...today is my 6th day of induction...and just yesterday when i measured...i lost 2.5kg! =)...was really happy...but i think coz its probably water loss ritez?...so i'm quite scared that my wt won't drop to my desired wt...anywayz...i've got a question...is it possible for me to take starchy stuff like cookies if i can still keep my daily intake of carb less than 20g?...coz i got hold of those cookies for diabetics ppl...and the carb content are quite low...i juz started taking them...like around 1 or 2 per day...but is getitng worried abt it stopping my weight loss...??