Sunday I baked a cherry pie using some of those yummy sour cherries we picked and froze last summer. We had a fresh carton of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. I could live on that ice cream and nothing else! Then Sunday night, Vince announced he wanted to start the Atkins Diet on Monday morning. OK . . I’ll do it too . as soon as that cherry pie is gone! I did eat an extra piece on Sunday night and then had a couple of slices on Monday but by Monday night, I committed to the diet too. It’s really easier and more encouraging for him if I’m suffering through it too and it’s surely not going to hurt me to do it seriously for a couple of weeks and then . . we’ll see how it’s going after a couple of weeks.
The main thing for which I’m thankful — I had already given up the soda. There’s no way I could face a diet and at the same time try to get myself off those 3 or 4 Dr. Peppers I was drinking each day.
Grocery shopping is quick . . though not painless with the cost of meat these days. Atkins Bars, Atkins shakes, lettuce and meat for the grill! Cooking is super quick. Vince throws something on the grill. I make a salad and steam broccoli or asparagus or fix one vegetable of some sort. Tonight we’ll have spaghetti squash. I made a triple batch of the Spicy Thai Soup and froze it in small portions and have been heating up a bowl of that each day for lunch. Today we’ll have an omelette with mushrooms and cheddar cheese.
My time in the kitchen is almost nothing these days and even though I’d love a bowl of ice cream, the diet is ok because it gives me more sewing time!
Mary L says
You are braver than I..there goes all the homemade bread! My eldest lived on Atkins for over 7 years. I kept telling him that life without homemade bread (especially cinnamon rolls) was simply not worth living! LOL. Now that he has “retired” he no longer is so strict and does eat pizza and other good stuff again..in moderation.
Chris says
Moderation is the key word. Not easy. If I go without bread for a couple weeks I can drop 10-13lbs. I am planning on that happening after I finish the bread loaf I have now. About two more meals and it is all gone.
Angie says
I can’t live without all the food I love. Like bread, pasta, ice cream, pototoes, cheese and well, just about everything we are used to eating. I joined Jenny Craig a year and half ago, and I’ve lost 25 lbs. I actually like their food and still buy it to keep on hand for when I don’t eat “regular food”. What I learned from doing this diet, and really from dieting in general is to eat small portions, and increase my exercise. Quilting is very non productive when it comes to loosing weight. I started to gain weight as soon as I started quilting about 12 yrs. ago. I have also found to my own amazement I will not shrivel up if I don’t eat what is considered normal of large portions of food. One small slice of roast beef is O.K, I don’t need 2 slices. LOL! I don’t need double dips of anything! I wish you and Vince the best of luck with your “dieting”. Anything we do is helpful, it’s living day in and day out with special diet regimes that is difficult to do. I hate to exercise, but if I do it first thing in the a.m., I’m set, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done to up my metabolism, not to mention keep my weight down.
SarahB says
Well, my doctor took me off all sugars 9 weeks ago and I am surviving day by day. It’s like a Diabetic diet but it’s for my Adrenal Gland Failure that I am doing it. Blood sugar levels affect the Adrenal glands productivity so it’s extremely sensitive… what that means is no ice cream, no cake, no cookies, no donuts, no white bread, no white rice, no baked potatoes, etc. What I can have is whole grains, in moderation, when accompanied by a protein, TONS of vegetables and limited fruit. It doesn’t sound very exciting but I am finding many ways to dress up a salad! The real bummer is that I have only lost 14 lbs when I thought it would come off much faster…. oh well. Breaking the donut and cafe mocha coffee every day was much, much more depressing (probably a lot like cutting out Dr. Pepper was for you!)
Amy says
I *LOVE* Atkins. Good luck to both of you! 🙂
Judy D in AZ says
Last summer, my husband and I went on a very, very low carb diet. It became easier as time passed. We found we really liked the taste of plain vegetables. Small portions of meat/poultry/fish gave us the needed protein. We did have fried (just a tiny bit of butter for taste) egg, ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. We used those sandwich thins. After 4 weeks we added fruit at each meal. I was so surprised that the cravings went away. We are now eating “normally” but still mostly low carb.
Good luck, you health is worth the sacrifice.
shirley says
i used Atkins for a while, too. it takes a bit of getting used to…but works surprising well. after a few weeks, just eating a regular strawberry and it tasted way too sweet. hope you do well.
Shirley Albertson Owens (sao) says
Good luck – it is nice to have more sewing time!!!! Love that idea! I think I could do this if DARK CHOCOLATE were allowed once in awhile!
sao in Midlothian, VA
Deputy's Wife says
I ordered a pizza tonight. Not good, I know. The Deputy was working late, every boy had homework (even the 1st grader!), and Wednesday night is laundry night. Not a good night to cook for me. And I usually save pizza nights for when I am working on a quilt deadline! (Which doesn’t happen very often.)
Also, normally our house is picked up and straightened up fairly well. Because of a couple of projects I have been working on and the Deputy’s hectic work schedule, it has gotten a little messy around here. Well, guess what. My oldest’s teacher stopped by to drop of some Girl Scout cookies. I.Was.Horrified. Dishes in the sink (and usually there is NEVER dirty dishes in the sink), dirty laundry waiting to be washed on the floor, and coats, bags, shoes spread EVERYWHERE! So tonight was clean up night after a long day at work.
By the way, the cookies are almost gone. Those boys eat everything!
Christine says
good luck with the Atkins program
anything that makes more time for quilting is a great idea
Barbara says
Be very careful on that diet. Lo carb is fine, but the high protein is very hard on kidneys. My husband has permanent kidney damage, most likely from that diet. It worked for him, but the price was too high. Now he’s doing whatever he can to avoid dialysis. Don’t mean to sound the alarm, but it is one of the risks.