Help! I am about to start this diet (or at least try). I think I can handle the no bread or potatoes, but I am a sugar addict. What do I use in my tea? Equal or Sweet 'N Low? I love sushi and eat it almost every day, but it has rice! Can I eat it? What do I eat for dessert? Help!

hi elise and welcome! one of the benefits of eating this way is losing that sweet tooth. you can use a little artificial sweetener in your tea. splenda is best. make sure you count the carbs in it. you'll have to drop the sushi. sorry!! eat whole healthy foods. meat, poultry, fish, eggs, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage. flavour with olive oil, butter, mayonaise, sour cream. non of the low fat stuff though. you may have to bite the bullet for a few days, but then you'll really find that your sweet cravings are gone. for the first 2 weeks, dr. atkins recommends diet jello w/whip cream sweetened w/splenda. but that should only be on occasion. maybe to save for the weekend. please give it a try. do the 2 weeks induction and see if you don't feel differently! hope to hear more from you elise!

Thanks for the advice! I had tea this morning with "Equal" - is "Equal" ok? I had hard boiled eggs for breakfast and a couple of slices of cheese. I eat breakfast in the company cafeteria every day, Mon. - Fri. and they don't have hot food, so I cannot get say scrambled eggs nor an omelet. I'm a little concerned about having to have hard boiled eggs and a slice of cheese for breakfast every day! Any suggestions?

Why can't I have say Jello with sugarless whipped cream or sugarless pudding every night? I can only have it once in a while? Why is that?

(What do the numbers mean at the bottom of your message? Is that your height and weight loss so far?)

Elise

Welcome, Elise, I am also a newbie to this board. I agree with Debbie....forget the sushi, unless you can get it prepared without the rice While lowcarbing, forget worrying about the eggs you consume in a day! I consume anywhere from 5-12 eggs a day, depending on how my day is going! When I began lowcarbing my cholesterol was over 200 total, it is now 129 total. by the way, my doctor is a lowcarb convert, after following my progress and watching my test results!
A couple of the biggest reasons, that Atkins' suggests not using sugar-free jello all of the time is, one, aspartame occasionally causes stalls (not to mention the side effects of aspartame), and, the biggest one, is that you need to reduce your taste for sweets while in induction.
The first two weeks are the hardest, which is why it is "lovingly" referred to as Boot Camp! But like Debbie said, "bite the bullet", and you will feel a big difference after two weeks!
Good luck, Elise! Hope to hear more from you soon!

Thanks Golowcarb! I need all the support I can get. You wouldn't believe the amount of sugar I consume every day. Not to mention bread, chips, etc., so this is hard. I "only" need to lose about 40 pounds to get to my "ideal" weight.

The hard part is going to be at 3pm every day (when it's frozen yogurt time in the company cafeteria!) and in the evening after dinner.

Is a Caesar salad for lunch ok? (No croutons, of course! )

Elise

elise, caesar salad is great for lunch! how about a chicken caesar salad; my personal lunch favourite when eating out! after 2 weeks you really will have that sweet tooth tamed. during the first 2 weeks eat whenever you crave something sweet, but eat low or no carb. tuna, eggs, cheese, leftover chicken or meat. eat as much as you need and eat often. don't forget to add the mayo!
those numbers at the bottom of my post are my weights. they are start weight, current weight and goal weight. yes, the last figure is my height.