Janet - hop aboard! Welcome! There is a post just below on Fat Flush - same idea as Atkins from what I see. I post on Diet Pals - we do EVERYTHING, anything, our own thing and basically just keep each other going. I have a friend who has been doing Atkins and has lost a lot of weight. Saw a very good health show of someone who has a lifetime of yo yo dieting and found Atkins suits her and her weight is now staying off - she loves meats, has learned to use the right types of fat (which you need) and still keeps her carbs at bay. My success has been with a more balanced diet - weight watchers. Whatever you decide to follow, feel free to make new friends, join any thread you like and ask questions. You could even start a new thread on whatever diet you choose. We love new faces around here and have lots of encouragement. I use this forum as a journal, every day to reinforce my commitment to myself, write about the bad days too - moods, foods and all - I dust myself off and try again. Whatever you decide to follow, please post no matter what. Hi ya, from Scotland! (I'm waving and yelling - youuu hooooo!) McPeg

If you want low-carb recipes try doing a web search for the 'Paleolithic diet' on yahoo. I am a graduate student working with lipidology and human metabolism. I wanted to point out a few things: -it is true that almost all foods contain some amount of carbohydrate, but grain-based foods are not digestable by the human gut. That's why we have all of that lovely bacteria living inside us, they break down the complex plant matter into easily absorbed material. -the brain does not use just carbohydrates/sugar for energy. Most human tissues, especially the brain, can easily transfer to ketone bodies as a source of energy. These ketones are made from the body's metabolic breakdown of fats (a process called ketogenesis) and are produced in response to low carb availability. -the FDA Food Pyramid is not what you may think. The recommended daily allowances SUGGESTED by the FDA are not backed up by controlled experimental studies. Even the recommended amounts of vit. and minerals are a matter of guess work. Just like the Atkins diet, veganism, and several others, the studies the FDA based its recommendations on were small (number of participants and number/length of the studies), the test diets were bordering on inappropriate, and the results were summarized by people trying to prove their own ideas. Unfortunately, most scientific work has those same problems. Ask your doctor if she/he knows where you can find the FDA tests that the pyramid are based - they won't know, but they still recommend following it. Anyway, I'll get off my soap-box. If anyone is interested in a friendly discussion about diets, I would love to start one. Stephen

Cran, you're welcome. I hope you find a few recipes you like. LisaB: you are so incredibly thoughtful to pull up this thread from last year. Thank you! Here's some new ones. The pancake and Red pesto Sauce I've been making pretty much every weekend lately. Healthful, easy and super delicious. ALMOND MEAL PANCAKES Serves 2 Ingredients: 1 cup almond meal 1/4 cup cooked quinoa 1/2 cup Egg Beaters or 2 eggs 1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons walnut, olive, avocado or canola oil, your choice 1 tablespoon sweetener ( I usually use blue agave syrup) blueberries, if you choose Directions: Mix all ingredients, except blueberries if using them, together in a bowl. Gently fold in blueberries (if using). Cook on hot oiled griddle as you would regular pancakes. * The cooked quinoa keeps the pancakes moist and fluffy. I've tried it without, but prefer them with it. LEMON BLUEBERRY YOGURT MUFFINS Makes about 2 1/2 dozen Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Low Carb Baking Mix (don't accidentally get his Low Carb Bread Mix like I did last month! I buy mine from Amazon Prime or from Bob's Red Mill directly) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I prefer Fage 0%) 1 cup sugar (I know, it seems like a lot, but comes out to less than 2 teaspoons per muffin. You can try an artificial sweetener, if you like. I'm very allergic to them myself, though) 3/4 cup Egg Beaters or 3 extra large eggs 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (from approx. 1 lemon) 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 1/2 cups blueberries) 1 tablespoon of the baking mix, or regular flour Directions: Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Add muffin liner papers to muffin cups and spray the inside of each with olive oil spray (or Pam, if you prefer). This is very important because without the spray, the finished muffins will stick to the papers badly. Or, you can use the Caphalon Silicone cupcake liners. You do not need to spray them. Mix together the baking mix, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, Egg Beaters, lemon zest, vanilla and applesauce. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the yogurt mixture. In a third bowl, sprinkle the blueberries with the 1 tablespoon of baking mix or flour. Toss until covered. Gently fold blueberries into batter. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full with batter. This recipe should make about 2 1/2 dozen. If using large muffin papers, you may get just 2 dozen. Bake about 40 minutes, or until done. I say "about 40 minutes" because I live at an altitude of 6,000 feet above sea level and baked goods can take a bit longer up here. * These muffins are very moist. They also freeze well. RED PESTO SAUCE FOR SALMON, ETC. Serves 2-3 We eat fresh salmon a couple of times a week. I've been making this heart healthy sauce for it lately, and we love it. You'll need a food processor or blender for this recipe. Ingredients: 8 blanched almonds 1/2 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1/3 cup chopped, bottled roasted red bell peppers, drained Directions: Blanch your almonds by dropping them in a 1/2 cup of boiling water (off the stove) for 8-10 minutes. Drain, and pinch each almond to slide off skin. Pat dry and cool a few minutes on counter. In a food processor, pulse almonds until you have a powder. Add rest of ingredients, pulse to blend. Taste and add salt if you prefer. Serve at room temp or slightly warmed.

I eat non-soy fake meat and dairy. Some of the fake meats are being made with better ingredients than even a few years ago but they still all have some carbs. I try to limit tofu. I did keto for a month but stopped when I realized how unbalanced my diet was. I was existing on cheese and fake sausage and just didn't feel good at all. I get sick of eggs easily, unfortunately. I would have killed for some fruit. I was very strict. The good news is I tend to get into ketosis very easily (like 12 hours) and it's always the darkest purple so I have hopes I can increase my carbs a bit. I need a more balanced approach where if I'm craving fruit, I can have a little bit sometimes. The problem is when I do fall off the keto wagon, I go crazy and binge on all the carbs.