Well I have to be honest I am not stuck just to the protein power diet, I just try to think low carb and high protein. I have read parts of Atkins, Protein Power,ect.. and have yo-yo dieted since what seems forever. I have had the most sucess when I cut the carbs, but its so hard and I doesn't seem fair that some people can eat whatever they want and not gain a thing. I love food & I love cooking. I have 2 small children and have a very hectic life style, come home and throw some frozen convenience foods in the oven or some kind of easy pasta bake. I have done pretty good this week as far as I'm concerned. I always eat light at work, but supper was a different story before. ( I would stuff myself full of whatever I wanted). I ate very well this week but stayed away from breads,pasta,and sweets. Mostly meats and veggies. I lost 6 1bs this week the last I checked yesterday). I have been doing exercises also. I want toknow if anybody knows the best workout for abdominals(one for upper and one for lower). Any good ideas for awesome recipes.

Welcome aboard!

There's quite a few good recipes in the Low Carb Recipes link on the orange bar.

Not following a specific LC plan - at least initially - is usually a mistake. All of the plans have been developed with a great deal of effort to make then a packaged whole. If you just wing it then you probably will not get the best results and you may doing some things that are not in the best interest of your health.

You might get lucky - the initial six pounds might mean that you happen to have struck on a combination that works for you or it may just be the diuretic effect that any LC diet has on most people.

If you don't want to commit to a plan right now, I would recommend reading several of the books thoroughly so that you can make informed decisions and not neglect things inadvertently and I would also recommend adopting a specific plan if you find your weight loss stalling.

Best of luck and keep up the good work.

Do you have a freezer? Since you love cooking, you can make lots of low-carb meals on a cooking day and stick them in the freezer for a hectic day. Many of us have posted our favorites in the reader's recipe section.

Low-carb chili freezes well. You can keep your portion separate and throw in a can of beans for the rest of the family. I do the same thing with sloppy joes. Tofu lasagne takes some work to make, but it is a big hit and also freezes well. There are so many good recipes and since you love to cook, you can experiment until you find your family favourites.

I actually find low-carb easy now, and less work than before when I was baking so much. Desserts of choice are now cheesecakes or SF jello. Meals are simpler but delicious. On the other hand, if you want to bake, there are plenty of low-carb tried-and-true recipes out there to try.

If you go to your public library and do a search for low-carb cookbooks, I think you will also get some good ideas. Fran McCullough is one author that comes to mind.

Hi! It's great to see another Wisconsin person! I can sympathize with the way you're feeling. I also cooked a lot, and I really thought that I loved to cook. Now, though, most of my family is grown and gone, and there's just my hubby and an 8 year old grandson we're raising, and after getting away from the cooking I've found that I really didn't like cooking and eating as much as I thought I did. What I've found from doing LC is a great sense of freedom -- I'm not a slave to food any more. I have control.

When I first started LC, I did worry about having to make 2 meals. But since then, my husband has joined me. It's not so difficult to just cook some meat and veggies or throw together a salad. To me, it's much easier to grill chops or steak, or to bake fish and cook some veggies in the microwave or throw together a salad. That really doesn't take any more time than using hamburger helper. Also, after joining this WOL, I've become an avid label reader, and there is no way I want to feed my family the junk that's in processed foods.

I hope that you continue educating yourself about LC and do choose a plan that you can live with. You'll find this forum is a great place to learn, to get your questions answered, and for fantastic support for you new WOL.