Voyageur22's Progress Report

[voyageur22]

Cool. I love Torani sugar-free syrups. I just ordered a few online. Can't wait for them to arrive. Thanks for the tip!!

[voyageur22]

After only three days back on Atkins induction plan, I'm back to where I was when I feel off the wagon (birthday, business trips). Feeling good so far. Next big challenge will be on Friday night when I have plans to go out to eat with friends, but I'm not too worried. I can just ask the waiter/waitress to hold the rice/pasta/potatoes and replace with extra vegetables, but I won't really know if there are hidden carbs in the sauces. Any tips for eating out on Atkins?

[GuyK]

I've never really had any issues in restaurants -- in the US at least, it seems like every menu has some kind of salad with protein, such as a chicken Caesar salad. Some slight modifications usually needed -- leave off croutons, leave out dried cranberries, that sort of thing. Or they might have a small grilled steak, burger or chicken. We live close to a very good seafood restaurant, but by the time I limit to just the baked or broiled items, without breading of any sort, there isn't much of a choice. But I've found they will serve their baked seafood casserole without breadcrumbs on top. At another local place, I didn't want to make a big deal about low-carbing -- I had ordered a small steak (grass-fed sirloin) and asked that they just leave off the garlic mashed potatoes ("because you'll just end up tossing them"). I didn't ask for a substitute, but the chef decided to second-guess me, and sent out some fantastic sauteed spinach (best I've ever had).

Where I find the most trouble is that lots of restaurant salads either have dressings to skip (balsamic vinaigrette, for example) or carrots mixed in. Or soups that have pasta or rice, or are thickened with cornstarch.

[Tril]

Another restaurant tip... read the entire menu. If the grilled steak comes with sweet potatoes fries and glazed carrots and another entree has steamed spinach and a side salad, ask for the sides YOU want with the steak. If it's on the menu but not listed with a low carb entree, ASK. I will often ask for "no starch, double veggies". That's when you can find out that there's a fresh veggie available (like steamed broccoli) that's not even on the menu... it's just available that evening. So be sure to ask if there's anything not on the menu that you could choose from, too.

As for salad dressing... most places still have oil and vinegar. If you're lucky, it will be olive oil.

[voyageur22]

Well, I fell off the wagon a bit last night, but I got right back on again this morning with a trip to the gym and better no-carb eating. What killed me was not the restaurant food, but rather the empty calories that I drank. Oh well, one thing I've learned is that it is counterproductive to beat yourself up too hard if you have a bad day on a diet. Better to shrug and get right back on track. One question I have is ... how many carbs are in soy sauce? is there a lower or no-carb soy sauce? if so, where can I buy it online? I've been hankering for sashimi lately, but I enjoy it more with a bit of soy sauce.

[voyageur22]

I made it to day 12 of induction without letting my slip up on day 6 (when I drank too many glasses of wine) dissuade me. So far, I'm down a total of 6 lbs. Also, I took a blood test yesterday to see if this is impacting my cholesterol (high cholesterol runs in my family) and to see if I have the same problem with hypothyroid that my sister and niece have. I'm making an appointment with my doctor to go over the results next week. I should have seen him before I started, but better late than never. Not sure if I'll continue induction after my first two weeks are done. I need to read up on what food options get added in the next phase.

[voyageur22]

Well, as long as I don't pig out before bedtime, I successfully completed 14 days on induction or perhaps I should say modified induction, since I did sneak in a few glasses or wine, some nuts, and a few teaspoons of soy sauce, but overall I think I did pretty good. I'll stick with it for now, at least until I can find time to read up on what foods get added in the next phase. I'm nearly a third of the way to my goal weight, so I'm really happy about that. Got some Atkins candy bars to satisfy when I have cravings for sweets, but generally I'm not missing the carbs much. Thanks for following my progress.

[Aradasky]

Congratulations! Two weeks sounds like a long time when you are just starting, but looking back it seems like it went by fast. You must be so happy to be so much closer to your goal. Good job! And let us know how it goes on OWL.
Arlene