zippydo's Journal, 29 March 2013

If you DO Atkins, it won't take you but a day to master CARBS. It's really easier to submit fully to induction. It's rather limited, but during that time you have ample opportunity to "study" carb counts that you want to add back at a later date. Regardless!! Whatever you choose, Good luck to you! 

I agree. Track every single thing you put in your mouth and it won't take long before you know it all by heart, and or it will already be in your food journal which makes it easy to shop. I advise you list the weight of each item and when you list it, rather than a 'cup' or a 'serving'. Also, verify what you see in Fat Secret is the exact same product as the one you are consuming. Good luck, have fun and welcome to a new you. ~tig 

OH! And keep in mind that companies can leagaly list .999 carbs as zero carbs. Horrible imo. If it has zero carbs, there is a chance that it does not really have zero carbs but as much as .999 of a carb which we all know, is 1 carb. 8^ ) I learned this with non dairy creamer and diet root beer. Makes a great root beer float, but certainly is not zero carbs. 

All great advice above! I weigh everything by the ounce. Some say I'm a bit anal when it comes to that lol but I want to know exactly how many carbs, calories, etc., I've consumed. And so not fair about the so-called "zero carb" stuff. If the label says "<1 carb", it has anywhere from .5 to .9 carbs. If the label says "0" carbs, it can have .4 or less. Basically, the only packaged products I use are cheese, cream cheese, salad dressing and occasionally half & half. Be careful with the cheese and half & half. 1 serving may not have a negligible amount of carbs, and could be listed as "0", but 2 or more servings do have carbs. Those small amounts do add up! I get the bulk of my daily net carbs from vegetables. The rest are taken up with good fat, like avocados. I limit my cheese to about 4 ounces a day. I have been on the Induction Phase for 7 and a half months and I eat lots of food, so I don't find it limited at all. My love of veggies helps a lot. If you like, feel free to look at my food log :) I group the different foods under each section. Meat under "Breakfast", fruit (avocados and olives) under "Lunch", dairy under "Dinner", and vegetables under "Snacks". It helps me to determine if I've gotten my required 12-15 net carbs of veggies per day. Oh, and be wary of the Atkins bars/shakes and diet sodas. They will normally make people's weight loss stall, and sometimes even cause a gain :/ And drink your water! :) 

P.S.: I should have included to be wary of all products that contain artificial sweetener, not just the bars/shakes and diet sodas. Consumption of anything labeled "sugar-free" should be limited to a small amount due to the high content of sugar-alcohols. 

:) You guys have to forgive me. When I talk about Atkins I should point out that I'm talking about the Atkins ORIGINAL diet. The induction on that diet is far more restricted than DANDR. AND I should have used another word instead of "limited". I should have said "SIMPLE". If you stay with a zero carb count for induction the first few weeks it does give you time to research your other options while losing weight at a rapid clip. When I did the OriginalAtkins I lost 35 pounds in 13 weeks. That stayed off 23 years. This time I guess I'm following a mid-range between the original and the NDR. It works for me and I've enjoyed seeing how much a carb reduced lifestyle has changed in 20 years. There are options now that we could have never dreamed of before. Plus, FatSecret has been a great asset to my plan and the people are just the best. (Oh, I had to reduce Diet Coke this time around to one can a day, and eliminate the non-dairy coffee creamer all together! Ah, but I'm really enjoying eating spinach.) 

Great info and great PS! I add those sweeteners as a carb just in case. ~tig 

Good idea, tig! :) .. Gina, I think I might need to look closer at what the original Atkins plan was. It's the one I followed years and years ago, but my memory isn't that great anymore lol. I did find a link just now that outlines the eating plan, and see that it is a "zero carb" plan. I do kinda remember eating lots and lots of meat! lol .. I love being able to eat the vegetables, though! :D I did always lose a lot anytime I followed Atkins, but losing 57 pounds in 7 months on the "new" plan isn't something I'm mad about LOL! And, you're right, it IS a more simple way of eating. Actually, the more simple, the better, imo :) 

There is a new and an old aktins. I started in 2010 and it was the new atkins by then which (correct me if I'm wrong) is 20 net carbs a day with four phases. Old atkins is under 12 net carbs a day. 

tig, I was thinking it was around 10 or 12, too, but the link to the old plan that I found says "zero carbs". The first time I did Atkins was around 1980. Yes, I was a fat child of 12 lol :P You're correct about the new Atkins being 20 net carbs a day with four phases. 

I think I have the original book around here somewhere. It was actually zero carbs for induction. That being said, you were really still getting some, but the idea was zero. I did the original diet in 1974 to lose 10 lbs, again in the mid 80's to lose 35lbs, sooo it's the version I know the most about. BUT, I'm rapidly incorporating all the new information and "goodies".  

Love those "goodies"! :D Good luck to you and much success!