In the second week of the Atkins diet, I learned a great many things. No matter how prepared and informed you might be before beginning this diet, you will still end up learning something new about how to make Atkins work for you. The wisdom I have gained this week might be helpful for people who have just stated trying to navigate their way through this diet.
If you are using the Atkins website to keep track of your carbs and weight, you have the option of entering your weight each and every day. Personally, I prefer to check my weight just once a week, instead of daily. Seeing a big change on the scale each week has been motivating for me.
Speaking of weight, I ended up losing three pounds on my second week of the Atkins diet. This puts me at 175 pounds. I have lost a grand total of five pounds, so far, since I started this diet.
Before Atkins, I was someone who drank quite a bit of “regular” Pepsi. In the second week of the diet, I found myself desperately wanting a Pepsi. I managed to go about thirteen days, total, without drinking any kind of soda at all. For me, that is a huge accomplishment. I wasn’t actually craving caffeine. I just wanted a Pepsi. One can of Pepsi has 40 carbs, so I knew I couldn’t have one without cheating on the diet.
My solution was to get some Diet Coke with Splenda. One of the beverages that is allowed for people who are in the Induction Phase is “diet soda made with sucralose”. Splenda and sucralose are the same thing. I cannot say that Diet Coke with Splenda has become my new favorite drink, but it is a good substitute for now.
In general, I have found that drinking a soda helps settle my stomach when it is unhappy. There were a few times during my second week of Atkins where my stomach was upset. For me, drinking a soda that was made with Splenda worked well to make me feel better.
Are you eating the Atkins bars as a snack? Read the packaging carefully! It will say what phases of the diet that each particular type of bar is designed for. I learned that I shouldn’t have been eating many of the varieties that I have tried, because they are for Phase 2 of the diet.
Ironically, this means that I have accidentally cheated on the Atkins diet, by eating food made by Atkins. Fortunately, it hasn’t caused me any harm. I actually lost more weight in the second week of the diet than I did in the first. I thought it worth noting that you cannot just blindly eat anything made by Atkins. You have to read it, and think about it first.
Image by The.Comedian on Flickr