Winning his battle
02/08/2004
Mike Conaway of Council Bluffs took off 87 pounds and 8 inches on the diet designed by Dr. Robert C. Atkins.
"My starting weight as of last year was 290, and now I'm at 203," he said.
He also reduced his waistline from 42 to 34 inches.
Conaway started the diet Jan. 6, 2003, he said. Like many others, he adopted the diet to fulfill a New Year's resolution.
"I had tried it two years before for a short period of time but didn't stick with it," he said. "I made up my mind at the end of 2002 to set a (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Trackable) goal."
He made a commitment to follow the Atkins diet for one year and cut his weight from 290 to 225.
Before he started, Conaway consumed a lot of soft drinks, he said. He also ate a lot of fast food.
"I would probably drink five or more cans of pop a day at 41 (grams of) carbs per can," he said.
Under the Atkins diet, followers are to consume only 20 grams of carbohydrates a day for the first two weeks. To do that, Conaway cut out pop, bread (including hamburger buns), breaded foods, potatoes (including french fries), pasta and other starchy foods, he said. He drank more water and did not increase his meat consumption.
"I cut out all snacks," he said. "At night, I would have, say, three cheeseburgers with mustard and dill relish." That would contain a total of six grams of carbohydrates, he said.
Conaway weighed himself weekly to keep track of his progress, he said. Because he wanted dramatic results, he decided to stay on only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day after the initial two weeks.
"I stayed at that 20, and no higher than 30, throughout the year," he said.
Although he did not pay attention to fat consumption, he also reduced his cholesterol.
"My cholesterol was at 375 when I started, and after nine months on this, it was 195," he said. "My blood pressure is normal with medication."
Despite more than achieving his goal, Conaway isn't quitting.
"I will continue until I get below 200 pounds," he said.
Then, he will increase his carbohydrate consumption to 60 grams a day, three days a week, he said.
"If I don't gain any weight, I will raise my rate to 100 carbs per day for three days a week," he said. "It will be up to me to figure out what my carb intake per day will be; and, after being on the program for a year, you learn what carbs are in each type of food."
The diet has changed Conaway's lifestyle.
"Now, I don't consider it a diet," he said. "I consider it learning how to watch, as far as things that are high in carbohydrates to stay away from."
The diet does more than make you healthier, Conaway said.
"It makes you feel better," he said. "Then, you feel good about yourself, because you can get around better. You become more outgoing, more confident."
There are disadvantages to the diet, too, Conaway said.
"You have to have fiber," he said. "You can get constipated. You must take a potassium pill every day, you must take a vitamin every day; because you're lacking other nutrients.
"Another thing that will get frustrating for people is, after you lose your initial 30 or 40 pounds, the levels will go longer before you lose more. I've only lost about three pounds since Oct. 1, because, I think, I'm getting down to my natural weight."
The Atkins diet may not work for everyone, Conaway said.
"I would say this diet is not recommended for anyone that is below 25 pounds overweight," he said. "Their metabolism is high enough that this change doesn't really affect their system enough.
"When you're above 25 pounds overweight and you're on this, you'll know results the first week."
That was Conaway's experience, he said.
"I lost 14 pounds the first week," he said. "In the Atkins book, it says if you lose regularly in the first two weeks, this is a sign that you should have never been this heavy in the first place. In other words, you were eating the wrong things."
- Tim Johnson
Source:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?...id=507134&rfi=6
Linda
Winning His Battle (Atkins Success Story)
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