Aiming High!

[Chezzer]

Hello everyone :D

My name is Cheryl and I've been reading your forum for the past few days looking for inspiration. I've been overweight most of my life but I decided to really do something about it in January. I spoke to my doctor and she put me on Xenical. This worked and I lost 25 pounds but I plateaued in May and haven't lost any weight since. I got tired of eating such a low fat diet. I was in a rut and I decided to give myself a few weeks off to think about what I was going to do next.

Here in the UK there has been a lot of good press about Atkins. As my husband seemed very interested in the diet (he's never been interested in being healthy before!) I thought we might give it a try together. He has about 30 pounds to lose. I have 100.

We started on Friday and so far it's gone pretty well. We've each lost two pounds. We've both had pounding headaches though and I feel really tired. Is this normal in the first few days? When does it end?????

Does anyone have any tips for ensuring that Induction really works? I'm going to visit my family in Canada in a month's time and I really want to impress them with my weight loss. I can already tell that they won't think much of low carbing. I want to convince them by being thinner. I will be staying with them for at least a month so I want to stay on the plan with their support. :thup:

Also, does anyone know where you can buy low carb food in the UK? I've been trying the health food stores but not had any luck.

Thanks for providing such a wonderful resource. I'm looking forward to being a member of the community.

Cheryl

[Nelle90]

Originally posted by Chezzer
We started on Friday and so far it's gone pretty well. We've each lost two pounds. We've both had pounding headaches though and I feel really tired. Is this normal in the first few days? When does it end?????

Does anyone have any tips for ensuring that Induction really works?

It is a pretty common thing to feel bad the first few days as your body switches from a primarly sugar-burning engine to a fat-burning engine. Also, Atkins recommends cutting back on the caffeine, so that may be the cause of your headaches as well.

I felt lousy the first few days of Induction and then the 4th day was like a gift from Heaven. Bounced out of bed, full of energy.

Induction works differently for everyone. I lost 6 pounds for two weeks. I lost 4 pounds the first week (so immediately began calculating that I'd lose 8 pounds) and then only 2 pounds the next week. But with low-carbing, it's not the start but the guarantee of the finish that makes it so attractive. Knowing that the weight will stay lost is the biggest thing.

My family has gone through some changes in their thinking since I started low-carbing. In the beginning, I didn't try to convince them figuring that results would speak louder than words. I didn't tell anyone that I was following the Atkins diet either because I didn't want to have to defend something I was still learning about. I simply told people that I was giving up sugar, junk food, and white flour and focusing more on vegetables and other whole foods. What's not to like about that?

Good luck to you.

Nelle

[Chezzer]

Thanks Nelle,

That's good advice telling people that you've given up sugar, wheat etc. rather than explain the whole Atkins philosophy. I just hope that people won't judge me on what I am eating. I teach at a boarding school and many of our meals are communal. Many of the women I work with follow a strict low fat/high carb regimin. I'm sure they'll be looking at my plate thinking 'No wonder she's fat. Look at what she eats!' Partly to avoid this, my husband and I are going to cook some of our meals in our flat. Maybe then people will only notice how much weight I've lost and not how I'm going about it.

Again, thanks for the advice!