Another Adelaidean

[Parousia]

Hi all

I just started the Atkins diet yesterday and I'm really struggling. I'm getting married at the end of November (second time around) and I really want to be slim (or at least get rid of my double chin) by my wedding day. It's just one day, but the photos last forever!

Anyway, I hope I can get some support here to help me stick with it so that I have a chance of achieving my goal.

[melvan]

Hi Parousia, welcome :)

Wow another Adelaidean, pretty soon we'll outnumber the Perthites :D

[Sherrie]

Welcome Parousia :)

November is plenty of time to lose some serious weight!

When you said you were struggling were you saying that you were struggling with Atkins?

[Parousia]

Thanks for the welcome. :)

Sherrie, yes I did mean that I am struggling with Atkins. I do believe in Atkins and the philosophy behind it. I did it many years ago, and it worked well for me at the time.

My main problem, diet-wise, has always been what I drink rather than what I eat. I love milk and coffee, esp. made with all milk and two sugars! That has caused me to put off going on a diet (especially Atkins) for quite awhile. Yesterday I found it very difficult not to be able to drink milk or coffee the way I like it. I was also very hungry most of the day, which is unusual for me, because I don't normally have much of an appetite. And the thing is, I really didn't feel like savoury foods. I had a craving for instant pudding for some reason. I don't usually have instant pudding more than once a year, so that was quite strange to me.

I also had a severe headache, which I think must have been related to carb withdrawal. I know whenever I've had to fast before for blood tests or medical treatment, I've ended up with a similar headache. This time though, I wasn't fasting - just cutting carbs and caffeine (I usually have 2 - 3 mugs of coffee per day). I suppose it could have been caffeine withdrawal.

Anyway, I ended up having a mug of coffee the way I like it, as well as half a mug of milk. In the end my carb count for the day was 53, and when I weighed myself today my weight was up 0.6 kg. Not a very promising start to the diet!!

Today has been better, although I did have 200 ml of milk. I am still trying to stay within my 20 carb limit for the day, though.

[Sherrie]

Hey Parousia it usually takes a few days of induction before the appetite starts to fade.

With the milk have you tried mixing cream with water? I would do that and also try not to use much if you decide to have decaffs instead. Your taste will adjust, trust me :)

I find for me, caffeine withdrawal gives a massive headache which takes a few days to go away and nothing helps.

[Parousia]

I might try your suggestion of the cream with water if I get desperate again. Today has been quite a bit better, although the headache is still there. I've even got 1 carb left, although I might use it just before I go to bed (rather late!) because I am starving and I won't be able to sleep if I go to bed hungry.

Thanks for your feedback :)

[Sherrie]

You're welcome :)

[Sherrie]

Hey Parousia, how are you going? :)

I was thinking you might want to let us know where abouts you are here as we have had a few Adelaidian's sign up lately: South Australia - where are you? (http://www.apinchofhealth.com/forum/vbb/showthread.php?p=143374)

[luv2bslim]

welcome :)
from one of the Perthites LOL

[Parousia]

Will do, Sherrie. I'm not doing very well, but it is TOM so that might be affecting my weight loss. :(

Thanks for the welcome, luv2bslim. :)

[Sherrie]

TOM is a bugger at the best of times!

[Shez]

Hi There and welcome to the bestest, most supportive forum I have found:)
You guys from Adelaide are certainly outnumbering those of us from NSW.

I found I did get caffiene withdrawals really badly and just couldn't cope:o So now I allow myself one cup of proper coffee every morning and I use a tablespoon of cream instead of milk.

Having till November is great - you'll be trim, taut and terrific by then. Good luck with it all and don't forget to pop in regularly and let us all know how you're doing!!

[Moonie]

Hello and welcom to the forum!!
I'm getting married at the end of November (second time around)congratulations, and second time around is the best!!

I couldn't give up coffee completely so went to decaffe with cream, now I just drink it black..

a cup of hot water with 25ml of cream makes a nice drink too!!

[annie111]

Hi Parousia ! welcome from another south aussie! im also new so here's to finding a lot of new good things for all

regards Annette:D

[Shez]

How's things going Parousia? Had been wondering so thought I'd drop in and ask :)

[Parousia]

Thanks everyone for the welcome.

Shez, I'm doing pretty well now. The first week was pretty bad and I put on 1.6kg! I found I was much hungrier than usual and found it difficult to resist giving in to my weaknesses, like milk. But I kept going and the second week is going much better. I'm able to stick to the 20g of carbs much more easily (although I still find I need to eat quite a bit more than I used to eat to feel satisfied). Nevertheless, I've lost the weight that I put on in the first week (my week started on a Thursday) plus 200 grams, so I'm feeling much more encouraged to keep going. I was thinking if by the end of the second week I hadn't lost anything, I would have to rethink whether this was the right diet for me after all. Happily, that is no longer necessary.

[Parousia]

Oh...and Shez - taut and trim by my wedding is unlikely, unfortunately. :( I have about 36 kgs to lose. I really only have until end September to lose as much as possible, because I need to order my dress by then. Hopefully I will have made substantial progress by then, at least. Thanks for the encouragement though. :)

[Shez]

Glad to hear things are going better for you. I'm sure given a little time the hunger will go - most days now I find myself trying hard to actually REMEMBER to eat because I don't get hungry. In the beginning I would try and always have something I could snack on 'just in case'. My big favourites were Chicken Wings/Legs or Boiled Eggs - strange but it did the trick if I needed something low carb.
Oh and don't discount the trim, taut and terrific by November, you'll be surprised how fast the weight can drop off once you get into ketosis and stay there. I have faith in you, now you need to go and start a Diary in the other section so we can keep you motivated :D

[Sherrie]

I'm able to stick to the 20g of carbs much more easily (although I still find I need to eat quite a bit more than I used to eat to feel satisfied).

Hey Parousia :)

Usually people say the opposite, what have you been eating this week? Your not trying to do this the low fat way are you?

[Parousia]

No, I'm not Sherrie. Most people don't believe this when I tell them, given that I've always had a weight problem, but I've always eaten less than anyone else I know. I did drink lattes with sugar (2-3/day), before starting Atkins, as well as quite a bit of full cream milk. That satisfied my hunger. I do have CFS (improved quite a bit now) & Fibromyalgia, which has meant that the amount of physical activity I can do is quite limited, so I don't burn a whole lot of energy.

With Atkins, I can't drink milk or have coffee the way I like it, so I have had to eat actual food. I think just eating food stimulates ones appetite somewhat. I also used to ignore my hunger a lot of the time, which wasn't too difficult if I was busy with other things. Now I find that I have to be focused on food all the time, to try to keep my carb count down. That makes it harder to ignore the hunger pangs.

Anyway, the amount of hunger I'm experiencing lessens each day, and over the last 2 days I haven't been nearly as hungry as before. I am also elated that I am now losing weight steadily (about 200 grams / day) even though I am eating more than I have done in a long time (although the amount is decreasing as my appetite decreases - over the last couple of days I've had 6 or 7 carbs left at the end of the day which I could use for a treat, which was nice).

[Sherrie]

Parousia that is really great :)

I believe you about not eating much, people always assume that fat = eating too much and it is not always so. The problem is when you eat too little, your body slows itself down to meet that, which from a fat loss perspective is very self defeating.

I am very happy that you're eating more and losing more weight, that is fantastic news!!!

[Sherrie]

Hey fellow Adelaidian :) hows it going?

[Parousia]

Hi Sherrie :) . I haven't been very well over the last while, but I've stuck with Atkins. Results have been somewhat up and down, but the trend has been downwards, which is the most important thing, after all.

[Sherrie]

Whats wrong Parousia? anything we can help with?

[Parousia]

Mostly ongoing problems with the CFS/Fibromyalgia (FMS). It tends to be a bit up and down, but overall it was improving. Lately it has been getting worse, though, esp. the pain aspect. In addition I ended up in hospital with severe chest pain. There is nothing obvious wrong with my heart - its actually very strong according to the latest tests. They are still investigating further, because this is the third time I've had this kind of pain this year. There is a small chance that I have a coronary artery spasm, but its a hard thing to diagnose though. The other possibility is that it is an oesophageal spasm. Anyway, its possible that this is feeding into the FMS.

There is one thing that perhaps you could give me some advice on: I have IBS, and although some gastric pain and bloating is pretty much an ongoing problem for me, it seems to have got worse since I've been on Atkins (or at least, I'm more aware of it). Any suggestions as to what might help with this would be very much appreciated. Thanks for asking :)

[Sherrie]

Parousia, that is interesting because Atkins should help IBS, very unusual. You don't have some type of food intolerance do you? maybe salicylates?

What are the main changes to your diet?

Keep us posted on how you go did the hospital know about your diet?

[Moonie]

Hi Parousia, I am also a a FMS sufferer, and IBS is also something we have in common.(most people with fms have it) I find the low carb way of eating helps to some degree, but the sugar alcohols commonly found in a lot of low carb foods which are sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, and isomalt tend to disagee with me causing bloating and terrible *wind*.. Aspartame does the same thing so I have to be careful about the amount I take in..

Hope the chest pain gets sorted and isn't anything to serious..I had chest pain a few times which frightened me a bit but it turned out to be only an inflammation of the cartilage that joins the ribs to the chest bone. (painful but not serious)

[sinders]

hi and welcome, hope you do get better soon, and the weight loss keeps losing
good luck with everything

[Parousia]

Sorry I've taken so long to respond to your posts. I just haven't been well enough to spend much time online for awhile now. Unfortunately I can never guarantee whether I'm going to be able to come online from one day to the next - I might have periods that I can get on everyday, and other times that it might be weeks before I can get online, depending on how I'm doing.

Thanks very much for your welcome and good wishes, Sinders.

Sherri, my diet has changed substantially from what it was before Atkins. As I've mentioned before, I used to live primarily on milk and lattes during the day. At night I would eat some meat and mash, possibly with some peas and corn, or pasta with a white sauce base, or bolognaise sauce - something along those lines. Bloating was almost a permanent condition for me.

Since I've been doing Atkins, on a typical day I usually have either egg mayo or scrambled egg for breakfast/lunch (usually late morning), coffee with cream & Splenda, possibly some leftover meat from the night before for a late lunch (or if I have money, a small piece of steak with a creamy mushroom sauce), and then for dinner I have some meat, and possibly some broccoli or cauliflower, often creamed with some fried onion & garlic. I also have anchovy stuffed olives & cheese when I need a snack.

I was eating quite a bit of salad in the beginning, which I hardly eat at all now, and I was eating more vegetables as well then. As my vege intake has decreased, the bloating seems to have decreased, so it may be related. I really need to test it. I don't know whether I have specific intolerances or not, although I know bread and doughy things have been a problem for me in the past and I had coeliac syndrome as a baby, but apparently outgrew it. But, in any case, that should no longer be a factor.

Oh - and I didn't mention the diet to the hospital. I was just selective in what I ate. The next tests are later the month, so I have to wait and see, but I haven't had a recurrence of the chest pain.

Moonstruck, is it mainly the manufactured low-carb foods that you've had problems with? What about foods such as onion, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, mushrooms or cheeses - have any of them caused you problems? I know most of them are supposed to cause flatulence, but I don't know if there's a difference between whether you're having them as part of a low-carb diet or if you're mixing them with other high carb foods.

Btw. Sherri, I wonder if you could move these posts from here to my diary. It would be good to have most of my info in one place. I don't know whether its possible or not.

[Sherrie]

Parousia, I would investigate whether you have fructose malabsorption which is very common in IBS. If you do, there is still some low carb trouble foods such as artichokes, green beans, onions and leeks plus possibly chocolate as well. You can actually have a breath test done which checks for this as well as other intolerances such as lactose. They do it in a similar way to checking your blood sugar in that they give you a high dose of these sugars and then check how your body reacts to that.

[Sherrie]

Parousia I can most certainly copy posts from here to your diary, did you just want the ones on this page copied?

[Sherrie]

Some links to get you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption

Plus more in a thread I posted here: Fructose Malabsorption (http://www.apinchofhealth.com/forum/vbb/showthread.php?t=4982)

[Parousia]

Parousia I can most certainly copy posts from here to your diary, did you just want the ones on this page copied?

Yes please, Sherrie. That would be great.

Thanks for your suggestion about a possible fructose intolerance and for the link. I will look into that further (just hope chocolate won't turn out to be a problem for me - that's one treat I will miss!)