After a successful first day on the Atkins diet, I was inspired to continue. There is a bit of a learning curve with this diet, and it takes some creativity in order to manage to stay under 20 carbs each day. I was looking forward to the challenge of the second and third days on Atkins.
My first day on Atkins went pretty well. By the end of the first day, I had only eaten 12 carbs, (out of the 20 I am allowed). I found myself thinking a lot about what I was going to eat next, and looking forward to it. I am a person who has a ton of food allergies, so this was a very big deal.
I didn’t drink any soda all day long, somehow. I wasn’t aware I could do that. Before Atkins, I was drinking an average of two sodas each day. I expected to start feeling lethargic, to have a headache, and to crave caffeine. For whatever reason, none of those things happened to me on the first day.
Day two, I woke up with a horrible sinus headache. I learned that there was construction being done right down the street from me. Construction work like this always sets off my allergies and today was no exception. I was sick all day, and experienced some of the worst sinus pain I’ve had in a while. This had absolutely nothing to do with the Atkins diet, and everything to do with my allergies. The pain overpowered any amount of caffeine withdrawal I may, or may not, have been experiencing.
On day two, I learned that iceberg lettuce was not the best choice for wrapping meat and other veggies into. It just isn’t flexible enough. I worked my way through the head of lettuce I had anyway, and decided to get a different kind next time.
The best thing I ate on day two was something from the meal plan. Cut a fresh, medium sized, tomato into slices. Throw a little cheddar cheese on top, and add bacon. This was absolutely delicious!
By day three I had finished off all the bacon, and the lettuce. I’d almost run out of Tejava iced tea. My husband and I went back to the grocery store, to stock up. I made sure to choose a greener, leafier, type of lettuce this time.
I picked up more of the Atkins granola bar things, too, since I had finished those off as well. Clearly, I had miscalculated how much food I was going to need for this diet. Hopefully I would do better on our next shopping trip.
I noticed on day three that I looked a lot less “puffy”, (for lack of a better word). Three days without eating any wheat made a difference. This was the biggest sign so far that I did, in fact, have a gluten allergy. I really wish I didn’t have that particular allergy, so this was rather depressing news.
The best part of the day was a trip to Starbucks. I got a grande black Tazo iced tea, with no sweetener. It was zero carbs. I was happy that I could continue making runs to Starbucks while I was on the Atkins diet.
Image by Liz West on Flickr