Is it bad to eat like this...?

[Tesora]

OK, so i'm low-carbing. I'm not quite on Atkins, because I do eat some fruit and yogurt every day. I'm still consuming considerably less carbs than I usually do (rice, bread, pasta, cookies were all a part of my daily routine). I don't only eat meat and cheese and eggs though---I also eat maybe 1 or 2 Atkins Endulge bars (sooo delicious) per day....and low-carb ice cream at night. I would say that 50% of my daily calories (which hover around 1500) come from this "fake junk food"..with those sugar alcohols. Is this unhealthy? Will it affect my weight loss in any way? I feel like eating cheese and chocolate and losing weight is too good to be true!

[Cara73]

HI Tesora,

There is a lot of discussion on this topic. From what I have read and seen, anything with sugar alcohol isn't too good for you. They say, if you body doesn't take in the sugar alcohol and rejects it, typically you have bad digestive side effects and get kind of sick. If you don't have those side effects, then your body is taking in those carbs and digesting, which isn't good. They have said that you should count at least 75% of those sugar alcohols towards your daily carb count. For example, if you eat one that says 20g sugar alcohol, then count 15 g towards your carb count for the day.

IN summary, I'd stay away from them. Look at the recipes on here, there are some really good sweet treats that are truly low carb. One that was recommended to me was cream cheese, splenda and flavored extract. Melt the cream cheese in the microwave, then add splenda and extract to taste. Put it in the fridge or freezer. It's really good.

Just my opinion. Good luck to you :)

[Cara73]

Oh yeah, not to mention the fact that you're not getting any veggies in or anything. My suggestion would be to start a journal here and log your meals. Then you can get some help if you stall. Also, open an account on www.fitday.com (http://www.fitday.com) and you can log all of your foods in there. When you look back over it, you might thing twice and follow a certain plan. Typically, your %'s should be for the day.....70% protein, 10% carbs and 20% protein.

[Emeraulde]

That's a can of worms :)

You need to read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. You're not doing any good by the way you're eating now.

If you're eating fruit and yogurt every day, you're not doing atkins, and you're probably not doing low carb either. You'd be surprised how much carbs those things have! Also, the fake foods (we call them frankenfoods) are a no-no, especially at the beginning!

First, I would say read the book.
Second, if you're excluding cheese and eggs and meat for a reason, talk to someone who is vegetarian and can help you do a vegetarian version of the diet. Otherwise, start including them in your menu plans.

Finally, start a fitday.com account (it's free) and track your food.

Eating cheese and chocolate and losing weight...well, on Atkins it's true! I'm LIVING proof! I do'nt eat a lot of chocolate, but the first week of Atkins cures you of the cravings for it! Read the book...i can't say it enough...you'll understand, and you'll be on your way to the new you!

[Tesora]

wow...interesting to hear that cara. bye bye atkins peanut butter cups :( I'll check out those recipes..I am a desert fiend!

[Tesora]

oh man i feel like i have been shot in the heart! i need to seriously re-evaluate my eating. Thanks everyone...I'm glad I know this at the early stages of my weight loss.

[Cara73]

HI Tesora,

You know, I think it's a mind game we play with ourselves. I fell into that, bought all kinds of RS low carb candy. I WANTED to believe it was ok to eat. Fortunately for me, they did not like me very much. If I ate more than a few pieces, I was sick sick sick. So I threw all of them away. Then this time around, I knew better. All of the ice cream, candy and so on is all too good to be true. Just like when low fat diets were so popular, everything was low fat. People were going around eating a box of snack well cookies because they were fat free. But everything still has calories. And that's pretty much what it all boils down to. If you have 0 carbs a day and live on RS low carb candy that had 0 net carbs, you won't lose weight.

I do buy the LC BBQ sauce and ketchup and things like that. You still have to be careful of sugar content in addition to carbs. The one BBQ had 3 g of carbs with 0 g sugar, and the other had 3 g of carbs but 2 g of sugar. I believe that is what they call "hidden carbs" when it has sugar in it. And moderation is the key.

Again I say, I highly recommend fitday, it's a very useful tool. If I can be of any further assistance to you, feel free to click the journal tab at the bottom of my post and you will be posting in my personal journal. I'll be happy to help you best I can :D .

Cara

[jagbender]

Good job Cara73 and Emeraulde!

Jag

[Cara73]

Hey, thanks Jag. :D

I now feel like a useful part of this forum, instead of always asking questions LOL :lol:

[Emeraulde]

Ditto Cara! And nice to see ya Jag, I wondered where you'd gone!

[VickySail]

Hi all,

It's interesting to see you have comparatively little to lose, but are already looking to all the treats. Are you using up all your carb allowances on these things? Where are your veggies, young lady? :nono:

But seriously, there are no vitamins, no fiber, no benefit and no future in using these things several times a day. I am guilty of eating the Klondike low carb ice cream on occasion, but always get in my good foods first.

The frankenfoods and sugar alcohol nightmare treats are best left to rot in the warehouses they are stored in, but there will always be dieters who don't want to change their eating habits. What a lovely dream, to be able to eat treats every day and stay healthy!

Vicky :D

[thinmom2b]

They mess with my stomach too. I do indulge when I absolutely need something. I am going to go check out the recipe section. I also agree with everyone else. Junk is junk. Not only that, but its expensive junk!!

[black57]

There are many misconceptions that Atkins or low carb is meat cheese and eggs. I am doing Atkins and I do eat fruit almost daily such as strawberries, blackberries, avocadoes, cantalope. I also eat low carb full fat yogurt. I eat eggs, meat, cheese and lots of veggies. I eat veggies that many grown-ups turn their noses up to. I have bloodwork that proves that I am a healthy meat/fat/veggie/ eater. I am a lover of food and I eat plenty that do what I expect them to do. Yes, I eat chocolate without guilt. Chocolate is bad when it is filled with sugar. But, dark chocolate has less sugar and fewer carbs but I eat dark chocolate that is sweeten with sugar alternatives.

[black57]

Junk should be expensive. We need to realize that we can't eat a full bag of treats and not have to pay for them. I don't mind paying bifg bucks for a bag of candy because I will stretch that bag out for what it is worth. I eat a small snack in the evening and that is it.

[VickySail]

Hi Black57,

The reservations I have is that there are no new good habits evolving by replacing overeating sugary treats with overeating sugar alcohol treats.

I agree wholeheartedly with cheat days, treats and rewards, but to overuse them is to invite serious trouble, and then the low-carbing lifestyle is blamed, and abandoned.

I am sure this is not the result any newbie wants, and I wish I had done the research into these BEFORE I stalled for a month back in February. :rolleyes:

I also have the best intentions, and hope none of this sounds too harsh. My apologies if I offend anyone, but I feel strongly about food companies and their marketing vultures ganging up on the newest group of dieters in order to fleece them and destroy their diet goals. "Net" carbs, indeed!

Vicky

[angstusn]

If fruit is really important to you make sure how many carbs of it you are eating. You need like 205-25 on induction so if fruit is a must all day make scarafices in other spots. Water and veggies are the most important thing in addition to your carb intake.

[black57]

Food companies are in the business of selling food. They are always targeting something or someone to purchase their products. We, as consumers, have to be on our toes to not fall for products that we do not need.

[LilaCotton]

EXCELLENT advice here, but I'd like to tack on one thing.

I am a desert fiend!

If Atkins Induction is done properly, it will go a long, long way to curbing those 'I just gotta have dessert' feelings we have. Trying to just cut carbs isn't going to give the same effect. We have to ask ourselves: a. do we just want to just lose weight, or b. do we want to lose weight and learn to live a healthier, thinner lifestyle?

If we answer a., just want to lose weight, we are going to be hit with resounding failure. Losing weight and keeping it off takes learning and completely throwing out our old eating habits.

Our bad eating habits are what teaches our body that we 'need' dessert, or we 'need' pasta or whatever it is. Our bodies don't need any of this stuff--our psychological being and our tastebuds do because this is what we've taught them. Our bodies need adequate amounts of protein, fats, vitamins and minerals, and it cares not from what source those nutrients come. Unfortunately, if we give it the desserts and carbs we've taught it to love, it will only ask for more. By purging our bodies of those things, our body learns never to ask for them again--and this is exactly what Induction was designed to do. :)

[Tesora]

The advice you guys have given my is so valuable and i am really grateful...I realize now that all my LC treats are not "ok", especially in the amount that i was consuming them. I need to focus on changing my eating habits, not feeling as if I NEED something brown and sweet and full of caramel to survive my day. Because, seriously, in the long run, if I ever cease to be on a LC diet, or very gradually add in some carbs when I reach my goal, and have never mastered the art of healthy (veggie) eating, I will gain the weight back and be miserable. Those food companies are very smart---making LC versions of the foods that I (and millions of others) cannot live without...chocolate, bread, and ice cream. For the one week I was indulging in these treats, Atkins made a TON of money off me! (1.79 for a chocolate bar is INSANE!)

[black57]

By Jove ( sp? ) I think you've got it. The rain in Spain lies mainly on the plane/plain...er something like that. In order for lc to be a healthy way of eating you must learn to eat healthily. Fortunately, I have been a lover of veggies, meats/fats. I became a carb eater much later in life. I was always told, "not so much butter/eat your rice" I was never a dessert eater so this comes very easy for me.

Now on the "dark side" I have always been a candy eater. My favorite potato chips are Lays. I adore Oreo cookies. But I have been able to control my sordid desires because I can have the other things that I so love. When I "need" a fix, I will have a little choco/walnut cookie ( lc of course ) and my urge vanishes.

[VickySail]

Yaaayyyyy!!! :clap:

Now go out and buy some VEGGIES!

Vicky :D

[VickiR]

I like my veggies, too! I think that picking the right, low carb veggies, is essential to any low carb plan. They supply vitamins, minerals, and FIBER!

Examples of low carb veggies are pretty much listed in any of the low-carb books, but include anything that is a leaf, celery, cukes. Things that have slightly more carbs include broccoli and cauliflower (but they are still fairly low, I just don't eat a lot of them).

I like my fiber - it keeps things mooooooooving!

Vicki - I see you push veggies, too, love your avatar! Can we be the Vicki Veggie Pushers? "Veggies, veggies, RAH RAH RAH!"