Wow, it looks like you're doing fantastic! Keep up what you're doing, it's working!!!

If I have a few items to choose from, I aim at the lowest GI I can get. But even then, it's hard to keep up. I need a hand-held cheat sheet. It's so much to remember. I wish I could because it's effective.

CONGRATS ON YOUR CONTINUED WEIGHTLOSS!

wow you guys are so inspiriing!! i am thinking of doin my own low carb plan as well. i cant have coffee without cream, and i LOVE salads, so im gunna see what i can do...but all your insight is very helpful!

you know Julia, i started with Atkins and you know what...i understand you very well...there is so much meat and fat a person can eat...i got so sick and tired of meat and fats especially fats it was driving me nut and quit that..i was and still am so use to eating lean and well balanced that mayo, oils, butter etc etc couldnt handle it anymore..i was missing my fruits and grains...now this is ME and i know a lot of you guys love Atkins and by all means if it works for you go for it...being italian and eating tons of veggies and fruits i was missing that..

when i got off of Atkins i started Fat Flush just to cleans my body and man did it feel good...guess certain diets isnt for every one...you have to keep searching and try them...we have to use our heads and be reasonable...South Beach or Suzanne Somers, GI, Zone among others are great ways to start if you cant handle all the fats...just read and i mean really read a lot before starting anything...the net is a big help and dont go on the sites trying to sell you stuff cause they are the worst and full of lies...and one thing i found good is typing in the words Side Effects or Reviews beside what i was looking up..you will be surprise what you will read...my logic is eat fresh and exercise or just go out for walks everyday...start with that...dont forget Dieting is the biggest money market on earth...billions and billions of dollars are spent on dieting and when people are getting bigger and bigger and more sick...read what other countries do as a way to eat..im sure you will find a lot to read then...and do what your doing now...ask questions..best reviews are from the people that are doing different diets...

good luck

Hi..my husband and I both are going to do our own thing, we have been following Atkins since Monday and have decided that were just gonna do what makes us feel good, right now we feel soooo much better just getting off the sugar.

Have a great day..

i hear ya..im officially starting when i get back from florida on 3-4-07

im ready for it this time!

Some 10 years ago, I devised my own plan and went from 457 to 327 (130 pounds) in eight months and then went off because of the cravings for carbs overwhelmed me from my severe seasonal affective disorder, and I was never deprived, although I felt cravings and "left out" of food events every now and then as it was the winter holidays. After that year's seasonal depression and because of some other health issues, I did not return to that WOE until now. I also let all that media "YAK" get to me. I even thought about doing Eat to Live (Joel Fuhrman, M.D.).

I ate ad lib from low carb protein from meat, seafood, eggs, and cheese (no soy, milk, yogurt), fruit (no high sugar fruit like bananas), vegetables (no high starch vegetables), and unlimited butter and olive oil. I am blessed because I cannot use caffeine and already had been drinking only water for over 20 years and I cannot tolerate any artificial sweeteners, so diet soda and diet Jello and all that nonfood stuff was not an issue for me. So it was down to real food.

Now that I have FitDay program and have analyzed what I would call a typical day on that ad lib plan, it seems I was still taking in about 150 net carbs at the max, and most days it was probably around 75 to 100 carbs. On the lower carbs, I was just too weak and craving all the time.

I was never physically hungry (emotionally and mentally, sometimes yes), and my weight, my fasting blood sugar, and more importantly my A1C normalized to 5.0. I understand diabetics would kill for this reading.

So I am here, working it out again. For me, I function better with the 100 carb or so level, as long as (and believe this is key) the carbs are only mostly raw fruits and vegetables with some cooked vegetables.

So poco a poco, I am learning just what works for me, how low the carbs, which carbs, and whatever else can help me recovery my health and my right weight.

I like the way you ladies and gents think. I hate giving up my daily coffee with the creamer and just when I thought I had to give up my International Delight hazelnut creamer, I took another look at the bottle in my fridge and realized I had been drinking the sugar free one. Woo hoo, it only has 1 carb per tbsp. If I find myself stalling, I will give up the coffee for a couple of weeks and see if that makes a difference.

Anyway, I like the idea of taking what works from the plans and modifying it to make it not feel too restrictive. For the most part, I really like the Atkins plan.

I'm restarting the induction phase of Atkins on Monday 3/5/07, um with slight modifications.
wish me luck.

GET IT? SEMI - low carb?

Okay bad joke, but I've restarted my own Mack-Atkins (semi-low carb) this way.

Breakfast cottage cheese.
Brunch, cheesey omelette with butter.
Lunch - tuna salad, hb eggs, green peas (1/2 cup - about 4 net carbs), lots of green...
Snack - 1/2 pear and ricotta cheese...
Dinner - Chicken, salad - lots a vegs
Snack - rest of pear and string cheese. I only LIKE pears.

So boring, but it works for me.

I eat alot of fat/protein...I believe in high protein, high calcium - to lose weight / do some research - its proven -

Its as low carb as I'm comfortable going for now...I need the fiber... - and I only LIKE green peas...go figure...they are not actually HIGH carb.

Am thinking of learning how to make my own cheesey chips.

Keeping to no milk/yogurt (though I take probiotic) or grains, avoid all other sugar (fruit is VERY low glycemic) or high glycemic or processed anything. Its workin' for me, but I do admit I eat too much cheese - oh well.

I exercise regularly and DON'T SPEND MY DAY COUNTING ANYTHING (carbs). THIS is freedom to me. I think as long as you are slave to counting anything - you are not really free of the word DIET.

Hey, if it works for you, GO FOR IT! I appreciate those that follow a regimen, but I get much more out of this lifestyle if I do it my way (and it works). Glad to know I'm not the only one. Some days, I would wonder...

I'm on atkins induction again for 2 weeks, I ddi my own thing before and didn't lose quickly enough for me.
I am planning to totally stick to it for 2 weeks and then go up to 25 grams a day.
I had probs v exercise before and felt too weak/tired to do it.

I'm going away for a weekend for 3 days and won't be able to stick to programme totally (without eating own food while bf sits in restaurant) - staying in hotel for 3 days in Germany.

I was planning to drink vodka and diet coke, eat meat and eggs for breakfast and try to eat salads/meat with fish/veg.
I may end up cheating as don't want to be obsesed with 'the plan' all weekend - want to enjoy myself.

What would be the 'least bad' things to cheat on e.g. add 1 piece bread or eat fruit?

Can I ask when you do your own thing and eat more carbs do you reduce fat?
I try to eat lean meat/fish but I do like my cheese as snacks (would prefer fruit for sure but not an option right now)

Would it be better for me not to try to stick to atkins (as could end up eating the fat and then have only high carb alternatives later on in the day)
any advice gratefully received - I was thinking maybe increase carbs/reduce fat/calorie count.
Help!

I'm also doing my own thing, but let us not forget that Atkins does include fruit, whole grains and yogurt! On Atkins you also don't have to eat fat like crazy. I use fat liberally and I'm still below the American average grams for women. An the further you move up the carb ladder the more fat is replaced with healthy carbs. I lose quickly on Atkins, but I'm just don't keep up the counting so I'm off on my own. I eat fruit and whole grain every day, but can't do bread. I'm cutting my dairy a little just because it's processed, but that's a daily for me too in some form. I'm trying to eat almost everything 'whole'. I do have veg at least 3 times per day. It took me many failures to figure out that even 'low-carb' processed products set me off for crazy cravings, so no more. So I guess I'm a LC rebel since I do my own thing. Yay rebels!

After being on Atkins since after Thanksgiving 2006, I have decided to do my own thing. My main issue is the incredible fatigue I was feeling. Atkins took care of that for the first week, but then it came back, and no matter how I cut carbs, it didn't help. So, as of right now, I am just cutting out sugar, white flour, caffeine, and all diet sodas. Fingers crossed, the fatigue is pretty much gone, although I had a horrible caffeine withdrawal headache, tylenol just wasn't cutting it, so I caved and took some excederin. Right now, weight loss is taking a back seat to just feeling better.

Hi dolphinlov....i was thinking instead of cutting out you caffeine "cold turkey", why not try doing 1/2 real coffee and 1/2 decaf for a few days and slowly decrease the real stuff. Personally, I have no problem losing weight drinking "real" coffee but it is one of those YMMV situations.

Good luck!! Unfortunately, headaches are a withdrawal symptom from caffeine. Hopefully your will be gone soon!!

Patty

Thanks for the idea, but most of my caffeine was coming from diet sodas and diet energy drinks, as I have never been a big fan of coffee. Just gonna have to take it one day at a time!!

If you want fruits, you can try Scarsdale. They have fruit every morning, and you can even substitute fruits for lunch.