Bippity, boppity, BOO! An Atkins diet for you

First, let me say this : Atkins Induction is hard. I would say, "Atkins Induction is a b--ch," but I don't want to offend anyone's delicate sensibilities. I've spent the last four days obsessively counting my carbohydrate intake, because well, 20 net grams per day is not much, not much at all, especially for someone so used to obtaining a large portion of her calories from carbs. For comparison, a single slice of whole wheat bread has approximately 15 grams of net carbohydrate alone. Even most vegetables, contain net carbohydrates between one and four grams. Only meats and some cheeses are carbohydrate free.

But, I digress. Atkins has forced me to be far more creative with my meal planning and far more dedicated about my cooking than I ever imagined I would be. Now, I'm not saying I'm kind kind of girl to pull a Carrie Bradshaw and store sweaters in my oven, but I probably could, given that I use it less than once a week. However, on Atkins, that is just not the reality. Most every meal I eat needs to be cooked, if only for the fact that it must contain a 4-6 ounce serving of protein, and most proteins require cooking to be entirely palatable.

On the plus side, this means I'm expanding my horizon's in terms of the meals and items I have decided to eat. Last night, I faced a dish I hated from childhood (sorry, mum) Spaghetti Squash. While the rosemary and thyme heavy recipe was perhaps not my favorite way of preparing the dish, (below, from Martha Stewart Food) I was happy to find something different to eat, something outside my comfort zone.

Unfortunately, not all of my meals have been such a success. My biggest struggle so far has been breakfast. Atkins highly recommends eating eggs for breakfast (a perfectly normal thing, I must admit) but, after three morning attempts at eggs done various ways, I was forced to give it up. My body does not like eggs in the morning. Suffice to say, my reaction involved a lot of time spent hugging the toilet.* I guess after twenty-some-odd years of cereal and oatmeal breakfasts, the change was just too much for my tummy to bear. So, I switched to cheese. Yep, just plain old cheese, for breakfast. This has worked just fine for the last two days, though I feel a little bizarre swallowing my vitamins with slices of pecorino romano.

All in the name of science, right? Right. Another benefit of Atkins Induction is that while carbohydrates are severely restricted, fats and protein are not. This means I am rarely hungry, though I am frequently craving nuts and fruit, both forbidden for their carbohydrate counts. If you are the type of person who can live with eating as much as you want from only a very select list of foods, Atkins may indeed be the diet for you.

As for the weight loss aspect, I will admit I have already dropped 2-3 lbs, in four days, which concerns me slightly. While this would be fine and dandy if I were an overweight individual on Atkins; I am not. I do not have much weight, if any, to loose. Not trying to be Cinderella-sized for the prince's ball! Hopefully, as I continue on Induction, the weight loss will slow, but if not, I might have to move into the second stage of Atkins a bit early, for the sake of my well-being.

However, for those of you looking to loose weight, I can attest that so far, Induction works like a charm. Now where is my pumpkin carriage? Oh right, it has too many carbs....


*As a side note, I have had a cold, or similar, for the past few days, so my egg-cellent reaction may have been related in some manner to that, rather than the eggs themselves. All I know is that I'm not eager to repeat the experience.