Day 5

Same weight today as yesterday. I got an unsweetened green tea from Starbucks. After a couple blasts of liquid stevia, it was pretty pleasant. It is a great appetite suppressant. I was not truly hungry since early morning.

Today's menu, 19.9 net carbs:

Breakfast: Bacon and Cheese Omelette, coffee 

Snack: green tea

Lunch: 4 oz cheddar cheese, 1/6 cauliflower crust pizza

Dinner: Bunless burger, caesar salad
Dessert: Atkins Endulge Caramel Chew Bar

These were fantastic. 1/2 lb burger topped with a tbsp of guacamole, 2 strips of bacon, pepper jack cheese, 1/2 roasted red pepper, 1 tsp chipotle mayo. Side was a caesar salad kit bag minus croutons. It is not my best plating, but it sure was delicious. The roasted red pepper added a sweetness to the burger while the chipotle mayo and pepper jack cheese added a little spice.

Tried a Atkins branded candy today. Only 2 net carbs. It is quite small, roughly the size of two fun size candy bars. Mmm... tastes like 3 Musketeers. Definitely a nice treat, though a bit small.

Day 4

Down 5.8 lbs. This is getting spooky. Before you start yelling at me that my weight drop is too fast to be healthy, please know that during the Atkins induction period, this is totally normal for someone my size. So I am delighted.

I am going on a family vacation on August 1st. I am excited and nervous about my diet during this trip. I know there will be carbs and junk food everywhere, but I am actually not too worried about that part. I am worried that I am going to have to plan completely separate meals from my family. Right now I walk the 2 blocks to the grocery store pretty much daily to get supplies. I will need to plan every meal and know ever ingredient so that I can purchase them in one trip.

Day 4 menu, 18 net carbs
Breakfast: 2 omelette "muffins", 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
Snack: String cheese
Lunch: 4 oz cheddar, 3 oz grilled chicken strips, 15 cocoa almonds
Dinner: Cauliflower crust recipe pepperoni pizza

The cauliflower pizza was floppy and lackluster. Definitely not worth half a day's net carbs.

Day 3

I have lost 4.2 lbs in 48 hours! What a great feeling. I was mildly hungry midday today. I could ignore it if I kept myself busy. I see a slight difference in the fullness of my face.

I figured out that 45 seconds is the perfect amount of time to microwave two omelette muffins for them to be hot but not scalding. I like them with hot sauce.

Day 3 Menu, 21 net carbs
Breakfast: 2 omelette "muffins", 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
Snack: String cheese
Lunch: 4 oz cheddar, 6 slices deli beef, 15 cocoa almonds
Dinner: unwrapped chicken fajitas
Dessert: pecan cheesecake

This is my own marinade. Measurements are approximate.

2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 chicken breasts cut into strips
3 bell peppers
1 onion
vegetable oil (for cooking)

I plated with 1 tbsp of each guacamole, greek yogurt, and salsa. I also sprinkled with cheddar.

Day 2

Reflection
Yesterday went well. I downloading the Atkins app to help with net carbs. My old app of choice, MyFitnessPal, does not calculate net carbs. I did feel hungry when I was trying to sleep.

Day 2 Plan, 16.5 net carbs
Breakfast: 2 omelette "muffins", almond milk (unsweetened)
Lunch: cheddar cubes, grilled chicken strips, cocoa almonds
Snack: cheddar stick, beef stick
Dinner: Stuffed pepper philly cheesesteaks recipe, parm zucchini sticks recipe
Dessert: Pecan cheesecake recipe

I halved the zucchini stick recipe, and it was still too much for two people. One zucchini is enough.

I cannot stress enough how very delicious and satisfying this meal was. 

The cheesecakes were quite nice. I skipped the caramel and put in a full teaspoon of vanilla. Next time I will grind the nuts to make it more "crust-like".

Day 1

Putting these lunches together was a snap! Two 8 oz cheddar blocks, two 6 oz grilled chicken strips, and individual 100 cal packs of whole almonds. Took 5 minutes for 4 lunches. These are great take-a-longs and EASY. I feel satisfied with this lunch.

I prepared our dessert in minutes, also. I had all of the ingredients except heavy whipping cream, so this 0.5 carb dessert was a no-brainer. Recipe here. We didn't end up liking it. It tastes like pure alcohol. I will try in another day by cutting the brandy by half and adding another sweet n low packet.

The 7.5 carb chicken gyros were the most time consuming part of the preparation because there is both a marinade and tzatziki sauce. It took about 30 minutes all together.  This dinner was delicious.

These 1 carb breakfast omelette muffins went together in less than 10 minutes and will provide breakfast for two for 6 days. It took 8 eggs to cover the ingredients in 12 regular size muffins. The recipe is here, but I didn't follow it too closely. They taste pretty good. I may jazz them up with hot sauce tomorrow.

So the journey begins...

290 lbs. You have GOT to be kidding me. A year and a half ago, I had lost 45 lbs, and here I am right back where I started. I don't feel good. I am tired and I get winded walking up the three flights to my Chicago condo. I don't like the way my clothes fit. I took a picture of a new dress to show a friend and hated HATED the photo. Who is this enormous person in my new dress? I didn't look like that in the mirror, did I?

I need to make a change. The calorie-counting and walking that worked so well 2 years ago is not working for me anymore. It is WAY too time consuming.  I have a busier life now. I fell in love. I got a new job. I am taking graduate courses. I am getting married. Who has time to walk for 2 hours a day? Not me. Not anymore.

There is a method I have been avoiding: Atkins. Low-Carb. It seems so counter-intuitive. Yet people seem to have great success at it. A friend of mine was told be her doctor to cut her carbs. Maybe this is a sign that I should too. That's it. Low-carb is my new strategy.

So how many carbs should I be eating? I check the Atkins website and there are two methods (I am not endorsing nor have I been paid by Atkins--it is this first place I thought to start). I chose the original Atkins diet--now called Atkins 20. Okay 18-22 net carbs seems SUPER low. But it is only for 14 days. 25-50 net carbs after that. That seems reasonable. What the heck is a "net carb?" Oh, carb - dietary fiber = net carbs. That's simple enough.

Okay, this is going to take some planning. Eating out is probably not an option for the first 2 weeks, so a lot of cooking too. Pinterest will be my best friend. I have a started a low-carb recipe board. There. That's a start. So the journey begins...