Norwegian surviving in a high-carb country :)

[silje]

Hello there!

I'm a 21 year old girl in Norway, I started Atkins in June last year. I lost 20 kg (46lbs), then had a Christmas break where I went up 5 kg (about 10 lbs).. i know. bad bad bad.

But I'm back on it now - and I'm going to reach my goal of another 46 pounds off!!

After I lost 20 lbs, my mother got her hopes up to. We had a bet for her to be on the induction for 2 weeks.. I won after 1 week when she lost her first kilo, and cried in joy. My father has also started it, and lost the same amount as me!

Only problem is, in Norway we have as good as nothing when it comes to low-carb products. And our customs refuse to let Atkins and food products through the post. So it's difficult - but i all the time try to find replacements for American products which i see in recipies!

It would be nice sharing thoughts, recipies and questions and answers with someone. My mum would like that too

Send me a message if you are a chatty, nice person! I'm on MSN and Yahoo too for talk


Greetings from Silje

[kimmik]

Hi .. I am in Sweden, but originally from Texas..

I know it's impossible to get Atkins products here, but it's very easy to follow the program with just normal foods. I find that the Swedes generally eat fairly low carb.... if you don't count the potatoes for every meal lol

I am almost 41, so closer to ur mom's age than yours but would be happy to see if we can come with some Scandinavian tips of our own

my email is kim3t@hotmail.com if u wanna talk some

Kim

[Marthad]

Hi there,

I'm in Sweden too. Moved here from NYC in November. I've been really struggling to eat properly here. I guess you have to like lox and shrimp. Anyhow, I'd love to set up a group or something if anyone is interested.

My email is mdewindt@mail.com

Hope to hear from you!

Martha

[silje]

What is it with all these Americans moving to Sweden?
(not that i'm in Sweden, but pretty close!)

Perhaps we could put up a "Scandinavian" group or something?


I have a boyfriend in Maine in the States, and he is helping me ship some Atkins products over here.. the products I've found most useful so far are the sugar-free syrups for coffee etc., and the "thiken thin not starch" for making soups and gravies.

Any other suggestions, good products that we simply can't find replacements for over here? It's nice to have someone in the US who can ship stuff to me

I'm going out on town tonight, and the only thing I can drink is diet coke.. *sniff*. oh well!

[Isme]

I am 62 but my Daddy was half Danish and half Norwegian. His parents met on the boat coming over. He was that last of 12 (live births) and they settled in North Dakota. His family taught my mom how to cook and I was raised on all the gravies, breads, rolls, etc. that really are hard to give up.

I was flipping through PenPal board and you all caught my eye. I can't imagine getting along without most things but most of us eat the basics and do better. The thing I wouldn't want to give up is Liquid Splenda that I ordered from Canada. It is only for sale to bakers or professional people. Otherwise we have to use the powdered Splenda. We also have a Carb Countdown milk (3 carbs per cup) that I would hate to do without. There are now many LC breads, too.

When I tried the baking with the special flours, etc. I wasn't real successful so just eat the good stuff on occasion. And...never bring it home because I don't trust myself.

Silje, even though my dad had black hair somehow I inherited the lighter hair with the black eyebrows. Are more Norwegians light or dark haired. I have two pictures from 1800's from Norway but they are of Great or Great Great Grandmother and one of young boy who looks just like my dad did when he was a boy. Gave the Norwegian house picture to my niece who was lusting after it.

Nice to meet you all!

[silje]

Thank you for your reply!

All (most) Norwegians, like most scandinavians, are fair-haired, blue eyes and pale skinned. I do have all that, but I much prefer myself with black hair than blonde, so I dye it. But yes, we are all blonde, basically (We do hae some brunettes!)

We do have something called "Suketter" here, which is originally Swedish, which comes as granular, liquid and small pills to have in your tea/coffee. These are of course all a must to cooking and going out to coffee places. Otherwise it's soy flour and "original" soy milk, which doesn't taste fabulous, but with some sweetner it's ok to use to make coffees. Slowly, but steadily, there are now some lowcarb belgian chocolates to get hold of in health stores too. They're fabulous!!

[Isme]

That is so funny. Most people want to be blonde and you want dark hair. I was blonde in the summers but mousy brown in the winter but early 30's my hair started streaking and getting lighter and lighter until now it is almost all white. My mom had darker than me when she died.

It is so neat to get to visit with someone from Norway. You are just a little older than my grandchildren except my step grand children, I have two beautiful step dgs's about your age and older who are half Korean.

What is your weather like? Do you have the same kind of seasons we do? Why is your English so good? I just retired from Family Services (State) so if I sound like I am cross examining just ignore it. I do have a healthy curiousity and you are the first Norwegian person I have ever had the pleasure to talk to.

I love Belgium chocolate, white is my absolute favorite. I really don't like soy products very well. What is the base of Suketter? What is it derived from?

Three of my grandchildren are staying with us this week so I am limited in time on the computer. Also our computer has been really contrary and a few more episodes, dh and I have decided to get another computer because it is so annoying. This one was inherited from my ds when he got a much bigger one and this one is really big but has always has a little gliche. We got new slimline monitor and scanner printer so to get the rest won't be that hard.

Thanks for replying!

[silje]

how very annoying. i had written the longest reply, but because lowcarbfriends.com uses tracking site cookies, i had to log in every time i wanted to do anything, and it "forgot" my long post. so here i am writing it all over again! grrrrrr!

anyway..

I wanted to apologize about my late reply. Long story short, i got a part time job next to my studies now, - at a pizza restaurant! I LOVE pizzas! So.. my diet has had its ups and downs. But I'm trying to start again now!

Regarding the hair colour question: remember that the grass is always greener at the other side. I am from Scandinavia, and we are all blond or brunettes here. Nothing special about it. And how boring it would be if everyone looked the same! I prefer to dye mine black

Suketter is based on Saccharin I think. Don't know too much about it to be honest.

But now, a new question to my fellow Scandinavian-living lowcarbers: Can I subtract the value of "kostfiber" from the carbs to get net carbs? Is it just the same as "fiber"?

Me and my mum just dicsovered a low-carb bread here, and we are now both experiencing the joys of getting lots of fiber when not used to it anymore.. "laxative effects"! Any good tips on how to get rid of that?

[nennygirl6]

Hello there to everyone! I am Jen and have been on Atkins since feb. 04. I am enjoying it and this web site! It is so cool to see so many different nationalities - I guess I am kind of a dork because I am a teacher. I teacher sixth grade social studies in Twinsburg, Ohio. We study a lot of different cultures so I guess i am a bit of a culture/people buff. Just wanted to through my two cents in - I too HATE when I have to log in a million times on this site. Ugh! Happy EAster all!
Jen