I'm a New Member!

[G246810]

Hi Everybody! :wave: I'm 15 and have been doing Atkins about 6 months now because I started around my fifteenth birthday. I've lost about 24 pounds and my life is just awesome now. I just wanted to introduce myself before I asked some questions....if ya'll want to know anything more about me, feel free to ask cuz I don't know how much more you want to know! :p Anyway, I was hoping someone could help me w/ a question I have. I've just noticed that back when I first started low-carbing I was eating more carbs than I do now. Now, I don't know why, but I'm eating more protein and fewer carbs (less than 10 a day) and I just read in Atkins' new book about how too much protein can affect your blood sugar and therefore slow weight loss, as opposed to fat which doesn't affect your insulin or anything. I was thinking, to expediate things, should I sort of start at the beginning again w/ 20 carbs (adding in more servings of veggies & fats and a little less meat, which I think I tend to overeat) and then gradually add more as I go on? That's more carbs than I eat now, so would that make me start to gain weight again, or should it still be safe b/c that's what Atkins says to do on Induction to lose weight? Also, I think I'm eating a little too much protein, so how many grams of protein and how many grams of fat am I supposed to eat per day? Thanks for everything! I would really appreciate it if someone could help me out!

[Talon]

Welcome to the forum! :wave: Have you seen the teen section yet?

You are correct, soem books do say that excess protein can turn into glucouse.. and it would probably be best if you upped your carb intake in the forum of veggies - need that fiber!

But that being said, you are so close to goal weight (good job btw!) that your loss is going to be going slow no matter what.

[MKGretchen]

First off it might help if we could know if you are male or female because growing children need different requirements.

I have 13 year old daughter who is wanting to LC but doesn't thing she can because of school lunches. Do you have any suggestions I could give her on that subject??

Welcome to the board. Just like being addicted to carbs you will become addicted to this board. Have fun and look forward to reading your progress.

[G246810]

Thanks to you both for responding! As for Talon, thank you, it's reassuring to know that I can eat a few more carbs. And I agree, slower weight loss is better. :thup: to you too as far as your progress goes!

And to MKGretchen, I'm a girl :D I think it's awesome that your daughter wants to start LC-ing; I have a little sis that same age who's trying to watch her sugar intake. I feel her pain as far as school lunches go! At my high school, the lunch lines serve disgustingly carb-laden foods. So, I usually take a lunch with me; easy stuff, like half an avocado, some chicken, homemade tuna along with a celery stick. Another quick and easy option is sugar-free Jello (they sell it ready-made, in little cartons) and a diet soda or water :yum: When I don't have time to pack a lunch, the one good thing they sell at my school is a ready-made chef salad, which is usually pretty fresh and most of what they have in it is okay, although you'd have to be careful because of the dressing and such.

Okay, that was the easy part! The challenge came from a group of friends I ate lunch with. They liked to eat things the school sold like potato chips, pizza, brownies, cookies, etc. and unfortunately were not understanding of how important Atkins was to me, and sort of teased me about what I ate, because here I was eating good, natural foods and they were eating the highly processed stuff. Big difference in our lunches. They thought mine was gross; I felt the same way about theirs. They just got so annoying I decided that some friendships are best left for the classroom and switched to a more supportive table.

Rarely does anyone else where I live understand this way of eating; there's not a single other student at my high school that I know of that's on a LC "diet". Your daughter may or may not have this problem; I was sneaky about it and told them I was a borderline diabetic (hey, you never know....it does run in my family!) and needed to watch my sugar. It's a lot easier when someone thinks the reason you're not eating white bread and sweets is because your body can't handle it; when I used to tell them I was on a diet, they mistook it for vanity.

If she does decide to try it, I hope she's happy and successful! Thanks to both of ya'll!

[MKGretchen]

That is such an inspiration to other young LCers as well as teens in general. You seem to be a level-headed youngster and to decide the friendship wasn't worth it and your health was that takes a lot of knowledge and bookwork. You sure will be better for it. I would love to be a fly on the wall at your 20 year class reunion. You will be slim and fine lookin' and those others will... Well, I don't even want to think about it.

Big way to go on taking a stand and seeking out others who support your WOE.

I will share the info with my daughter if you don't mind and get her on the same track.