Truesue's Journal, 12 Jun 10

Hi Sue, My name is Paula - and I have been at this since Mid January. I will gladly give you a slew of tips for what works for me - but you will have to adapt this to what works for YOU!!! First, track the items on a notepad in your kitchen. Write down everything you put into something. 1 tbsp of cream, 1/4 cup of mushrooms, etc... Then you can go to the food log area and enter the info when you are done. Pretty soon, you will need to make a grocery list. You can do some advance meal planning and enter into the food log something AHEAD of time to see how many carbs, protein, fats, etc...and this will help you know whether you should be having that item ahead of time. Look for the common items you are using and enjoying to build your grocery list from. Second, be sure to do lots of reading on sweetners, processed foods with fillers, there are alot of hidden carbs in foods you think have zero. On to water. Be sure to drink 8- 12 glasses of water, each and every day! Space them out, but always be taking a drink (and looking for your nearest bathroom when you are out and about!) Keep your overall calories up - yes, I said UP - in the 1500 calorie range or you will slow down or stall out any weight loss completely. Use proteins and fats to your advantage to eliminate cravings, and eat 5-6 small meals/snacks throughout the day. Keep the metabolism burning on an even keel. And always have breakfast w/in an hour of arising. Try to avoid the "low carb" snack bars, or processed products available. Especially in the early stages. And most importantly - decide for yourself if you can see this Way of Eating all the way through to the end - as there is NO END. This is a complete and total lifestyle change. Sure, down the road, you may add back some additional carb veggies, fruits, nuts, grains etc... but you will always be eating low carb in comparison to the rest of the world. If that sounds like something you are willing to commit to - than you should be able to get the mechanics of the rest of this...and be on your way. Once your body transitions over to burning your own fat as fuel for energy - you will no longer crave carbs or sugars to do that job. But if you "cheat" you will send signals to your system to revert back to the old way of doing business...and send your system into a vicious cycle - all of which will equal slow or no weightloss. You can't afford to think of this as a diet. If you do - better (in my opinion) to not even do Atkins... lots to think about, huh? Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Lots of support and help on this site. And best of luck to you in your journey! 

i second everything she said! it's worked for me. i have lost 30 lbs in just a couple of months! best of luck to you, whatever you decide!  

Me too! I have lost 44 lbs in 4 months.