Hi how do I post a bulletin? I'm new and I want to ask a question. Thanks

Go into the area you want to post.
At the top left there is a button that says new thread.
Click that and it will take you to a window where you post your question. When you're done, click submit.

HTH

Progress not perfection.

Lisa

Based on a discussion of goals and rewards I saw yesterday I want to add:

Making goals and rewarding yourself for success is great. But make goals based on things you *can* control and make goals that help you move towards permanent weight loss and better health. Sure, your overall goal may be to lose 50 pounds. But I wouldn't make a goal to lose 10 pounds in a month, because the number on the scale is not totally within our control, and that goal doesn't really do anything to help you get to that final number. You can do everything you think is right and still have no control over the number on the scale. You could do everything you know to do, still miss your numerical goal and end up feeling like a failure, when you should feel like a success for doing everything right.

So, try making behavioral goals that are totally within your control:

* Avoid fast food for a week.
* Plan a menu, shop for the menu, and stick to the menu for the week.
* Drink 100 ounces of water every day for a week.
* Walk 30 minutes, three times a week, this week.
* Read the book.

Small, weekly goals are easier to stick to. And specific behavioral goals are more effective as well. So, figure out where you struggle, and make yourself a game plan to deal with that struggle.

Do you get tired and hungry at the end of the work day and veer off to a Sonic on the way home for some cheddar poppers, because you are hungry and have nothing to eat at home? Well, make a goal to address that problem and get through it. (Bring a late-day snack to work to eat on the way home, and have dinner ready in the crock pot when you get there.)

Are you confused about what to eat and not eat, and you don't really understand low carb, so you make bad choices without realizing it? Make a goal to deal with this problem. (Read a chapter per night in a LC book, every night, until you have read your plan cover to cover. Then move on to reading the next one.)

Those kinds of goals actually attack the problems you are facing and help move you to a healthier place.

The same goes with rewards. Don't reward yourself with food, especially with off plan meals or "cheat" days. Reward yourself with tools that make it easier to continue on the low carb path. With the money you save from quitting the fast food monster, reward yourself with a new crock pot, so those home cooked meals are easier for long days at work. When you finish reading your Atkins book, reward yourself with Taubes' latest book, so you can continue your nutritional education. To celebrate the fact that you are moving again, reward yourself with properly-fitted walking shoes, so that exercise isn't painful.

Also, the goals and rewrads don't have to be completely about food and exercise. Do you have trouble sticking to the plan because you hate the way you look and have grown to think you are not worth the effort? Make a goal that helps you love yourself more each day, and reward yourself with things that reinforce your value as a person, regardless of the scale numbers or the measurments on the tape.

Choose rewards that reinforce your new way of eating and way of life, because we are each valuable people, and we are worth the effort to be healthy. And choose rewards that make sense to you, where you are in this journey. It takes some thought and self reflection, but that is how you grow.

Thank you faduckeggs for the tips!!!

Great positive post, faduckeggs :thu:

That was awesome, faduckeggs!

Thanks for the post Faduckeggs. Very, very helpful and useful!

Thanks :) getting used to it now :)

Bumping up a notch:wave:

Lisa this thread is a sticky, which means it is always at the top of the page. So no need to bump. ;)

Oh, thanks! I'm an idiot, I forgot it was in the newbie section, I was looking for it in the Atkins section. How embarrassing--because it was the thread that I started:blush: :roll:

hey there... i am new at the hood !!!
I am doing the atkins diet , is it ok if i drink diet cola ?
How many pounds is one supposed to lose in the induction phase ?
I think i should repeat the induction phase at least one time in a row (i have done 14 days and going to add another 14) because of losing only 10 pounds.

Hi there Ilias :wave: welcome to the board

It is generally suggested that a loss of between 5% and 10% of the total amount you want to lose is about "norml" for the first 14 days of induction.

So it seems as you have already lost 18% of your hoped for total loss that you are doing great!! :cheer: and really do not need to hang around on induction much longer unless you particularly want to.


How much diet cola are you drinking? On induction according to DANDR we are supposed to limit our servings of sweetener to 3 per day.
A serving of a drink is reckoned to b 8 fluid ounces, so 2 x 12 ounce cans would equal the whole "allowance" of sweetener for the day.

Dear Elizellen thanks for the useful advice.I am willing to lose a total of 55 pounds so i guess as you said that 10 pounds is good enough for the induction phase.
I drink about 3 glasses of diet coca in a week, is it too much? i try to avoid sweeteners at all.

Can you please suggest me a good cheese for our diet ? In my country we have hard white cheese which is a lot salty but very nutritious, have we got any alternatives ?

Ilias, it would be very helpful if you would let us know what country you are posting from -- then others in the same country could answer specific questions about what is available to you. There is a spot in your profile where you can enter your country and it will show up on the right upper corner every time you post.

Welcome to the forum, and to try to be a little helpful on your cheese question, the Atkins plan specifies no more than 3 oz of any hard cheese during induction, unless cheese starts to cause cravings.