Hello all!

I started a low carb diet and exercise program the first of the year determined to get control of my life again. I'm 37 years old, stressed out, constantly tired & overweight. In the last few months I had a hard look at my life and made the decision it was time to get my body and my life back in order.

In short all the stuff I planned on doing tomorrow for the last few years is now getting done!

Only once before have I gone on a diet (Lean and Mean, M.Shaevitz) , perhaps 10 years ago and in all honesty had no problems with it. Of course back them my metabolism was faster then it is now, I worked harder and I think just cutting out the junk food had much to do with the weight loss!

The first of the year I talked to my older brother who always kept himself fit (currently 180 pounds, an inch or two shorter then me though) and inquired about his diet and exercise. I figured since we had the same genes, chances are what worked for him would work for me as well.

Pretty much he stated the Atkins diet was the way to go and since he is one of those people who researches everything before doing anything I felt somewhat comfortable about trying the diet plan even though I'm a bit of a skeptic. At this point I'll point out that chances are I'm a carbo addict- I love nothing more then cakes, bagels, different breads, french fries, cokes, mashed potatoes, chocolate etc.

After reading Atkins book I have to say I'm really surprised with how much sugar is pumped into foods that have no need for it! Checking labels in the supermarket has been a large (and at times depressing) eye opener. I'm beginning to think WE are being fattened up for some reason!

My first step was to whack all the drive through food I was consuming and reduce the stress of my job. Then I started walking a 1.65 mile circuit around my house in a brisk walk. I started out taking 35 minutes to make the circuit and now 2 weeks later can do it under 25, sometimes 20 minutes. I do this every morning and this morning did a double circuit in under an hour working up a good sweat while cranking along at a fast walk/march. When I can I head over to a buddies house (like tonight) and I jog on his treadmill at 5 mph for 1 mile (12 minutes) Later on as I lose some more pounds and get my cardo level back up to something reasonable I will hit the weight stack and start doing some bodybuilding. I have not done ANY exercise or gym work for 15 years and my job the last several years has been pretty sedate. I'm chafing at how limited my current cardio level is!

A current meal day goes something like this-

1 cup of coffee with splenda
2 eggs with sausage or hamburger with a few mushrooms with butter
1/2 slice of low carb flax bread with cream cheese
Good multivitamin and extra vitamin C and E

(Coffee in the morning is the one thing I'm not able to give up, decaf is terrible and I'm no longer using sugar) I have slashed my coffee consumption down to a single mug when I use to consume 2 pots a day!

Lunch usually is something light, either beef or pork with water and cucumber slices and an ounce or two of cheddar cheese.

Dinner most of the time is pork/beef/fish with broccoli or spinach with more water.

I drink 64 ounces of water a day now, I used to drink none at all! Coffee several times a day was the norm with perhaps a drive through Coke while dashing around town doing work related errands.

The first week of the Atkins diet I felt a tad sleepy for a day or two but the last few days been feeling much better. Between the exercise and different eating I'm starting to "come back to life" so to speak. I'm not nearly as lethargic, my stress level has gone down, I seem to sleep better.

I have several goals with my main one to get down to 180-190 lbs and a size 32 waist (current is a 38) before I start lifting weights. I feel so foolish now- When I was younger I had a good body but always found some fault in it not realizing how good it was and how much stamina and strength I had! Just three months ago I had trouble walking up a flight or two of stairs without running out of breath, how embarrassing! Now I realize not only can I have that younger body back but better if I have the mind to just do what needs to be done.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Gary

p.s. I have gone from 230 lbs to 216 lbs since the last week of December.

p.s.s. If I'm not hungry between meals will reducing my portion size hurt?