I love how so many people recommend that you clear the house of all your chips, cookies, cakes, etc. as part of starting a low carb lifestyle.
Not all of us have that luxury.
My thin wife and my thin daughter might not be too happy if their goodies suddenly disappeared – in fact, there would be something of a riot. While a person might make a decision to live a certain way, they cannot expect that others are going to join along – it’s unrealistic – and just plain rude.
And even if you do convince them, you suffer from the fact that their commitment might wane before yours – and if you made a goodie-free household a cornerstone of your weight loss success, when they bring in the Yodels, You Are Doomed.
It’s one reason why I’ve always shied away from having a ‘weight-loss buddy’ – you are supposed to be helping each other be strong, but what happens many times is one of the two falls off the wagon and the other follows.
No one can lose weight for you – no matter what strategies work for you, always remember: You are responsible for You – so if you do the buddy thing and your buddy bails, you don’t get dragged down.
Maybe because I’m trying to get into induction, but it sure seems that the number of high-carb goodies has increased in my house. Cakes and candy bars, mini bite pizza bagels for the kid. All sorts of gooey, yummy junk.
What do I do?
I live with it.
Temptation is all around us. It is a waste of energy to try to create a temptation-free zone most times – certainly if you live alone, ditching the chips is a good idea, but there’s a whole world out there full of chips – and unless you are housebound, you will run into them.
I remember people who would want to stop smoking and they would tell their friends not to smoke around them – then when a friend (who didn’t particularly want to stop smoking at that point in time) smoked in from of them, they would start smoking again – and blame the friend.
Stupid idiot – a person like this will never accomplish anything and blame everyone but themselves for their failures. You take personal responsibility for yourself and your actions and you will suddenly acquire enormous power in your life – not just to lose weight, but to do anything.
I know the M&Ms are in the basement – I have some ricotta with Splenda instead. There’s still a slab of strawberry cake in the fridge – I’ll have one of my almond cookie balls with some zero-calorie jelly on it.
Atkins is a great lifestyle because fat can really satisfy you appetite – OK, so you’d rather have the M&Ms – you’d also rather fit in a smaller pair of pants – you can’t have both.
Low Carb Confidential 
I consider myself really lucky, because once I’m on ketosis I’m not tempted by treats. (Potatoes and bread are another matter.) I’m glad, because I really don’t think I would be successful at taking those things away from my thin & fit family.
OYB
Temptation. Right now I am sooooo Jonesing for a martini. You can have your chips and cake, give me my cocktail! One more week!
Fortunately, both my wife and I started Atkins together 4.5 years ago (she was also a victim of gain due to medication and could not lose it after stopping the meds). We’re empty nesters, so that helped. But now, even though she never gained any of her 30 pounds back, she still eats controlled carb, so we don’t have any junk in the house. As long as she gets her Atkins Caramel Nut Chew bar every night, she’s a happy camper. (I like the peanut bar myself.)
And thank goodness THIS stuff is still available (again, not for induction, but wonderful for the lifestyle after you reach or are approaching your goal):
– Hood Calorie Countdown dairy beverage (formerly Carb Countdown; 3 grams carbs, 45 cals/oz )
– Kellogg’s Special K “Protein Plus” (9 net carbs/oz, but you HAVE to have 1.5-2.0 oz!)
– Thomas’ Multi-Grain LIGHT English muffins (16 net carbs, 100 cals, the real deal)
– Dannon Carb and Sugar Control yogurt (3 net carbs, 60 cals per container)
– Breyer’s Carb Smart bars (almond/chocolate coated vanilla ice cream, 5 net carbs)
– Atkins Endulge bars (2-3 carbs per bar)
– Lean Pockets Ultra (Supreme Pizza, Mozz&Meatballs, Ham&Cheese; 16 net carbs each)
– Jimmy Dean Omelets (Sausage&Cheese, Ham&Cheese, Three Cheese, Western; 4-5 carbs each)
– LA Tortillas (3 net carbs for the small, 5 net carbs for the large)
– Flatout bread, light or multi-grain (6-8 net carbs each, makes great pizza!)
A few recipes where we’ve found purple-top turnips to be a terrific substitute for potatoes is crockpot chuck roast dinner and New England clam chowder. You almost won’t know the difference it’s so good.
Oh well, don’t want to overstay my welcome! Thanks for indulging me, I hope you and your readers enjoy these suggestions as much as I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve found here!
PS – If you can locate them, try Parmesan crisps by Kitchen Table Bakers. They’re not cheap at $5 for about 12-15 crisps the size of a large thick potato chip, but they are very low carb being only cheese, and just a couple WILL satisfy the need to have something crunchy and salty. Comes in a bunch of flavors: Aged Parm, Sesame, Jalepeno, “Everything,” Garlic, and Flax Seed (I know, just try it).
Hi Megamas,
You can’t overstay your welcome – your posts are good – we low carbers need as many tips as possible – and I am NOT the Ultimate Font of Knowledge on low carb.
Keep ’em coming.
LCC