I was doing great on Atkins, lost 10 lbs. and all. Then the same ol' B.S. happened. I went off the diet and gained it back in two weeks. I made myself believe the same ol' story, I'm too busy to cook and make Atkins food for this diet right now. Well, I bought a house and spent the last two weeks packing and moving. Well, Im moved in and ready to start over for real this time.

I am going to start Atkins again on Sunday April 7th and begin lifting weights again on Monday. I am ready to go and lose weight and pack on muscle. I think I want to do just the Atkins thing for a couple of weeks to get a good weight loss going then switch over to the CKD way of eating along with the super heavy weight training.

Question: Why are you waiting until Sunday? It sounds like you are still firmly in the "this is only a diet" mindset. You really need to shake that and get into the "this is a permanent lifestyle" mindset.

Please be good to yourself. Give yourself credit for having the guts to try again. You are meant to be on this planet and a worthy person, try to keep that in the back of your mind, okay?

I agree with Wbahn on this.

This isn't a diet and should not be treated as such. It shouldn't have a start date and finish date like you are running some type of evil foot race to lose weight.

Did you have a start and finish date of when you gained 50 pounds? Of course not!

This is a way of life. Of eating healthier and not ever having to worry about gaining again. It is suppose to teach us what makes us gain, so that we can avoid those trigger foods.

No better time to start the plan than with your next meal.

Don't feel bad FA. I went through the same thing. I was looking great and feeling great when I was living in Spartanburg, S.C.. When I moved back to Cincinnati, I got caught up in being busy all the time and slowly let sugar creep back into my life. Pretty soon I was not feeling as good, looking as good, and getting those lovely mid-day energy drops. I finally got on the scale and saw to my horror that I was back up to 187 where I started. Been back on Atkins a week and I am already back down to 183 and feeling much better. I am starting to workout and lift weights again which makes me feel good as well. I think sometimes we just forget how bad we felt until we slip back a little bit. I recently read "The Diet Cure" by Julia Ross and have been incorporating Amino Acids in my diet to get rid of the carbo cravings. Check out something called "Bragg's Liquid Amino's". I can't say enough about the product. Good Luck

FA,
I had to check out what you had to say...because of your name. It made me smile! Don't get down on yourself. Just get started, not as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. Low Carbing takes some work. I whine about the dishes it creates and the amount of cooking. But really, what is the alternative? It is always better to eat REAL food, as opposed to processed or prepackaged fast food. Just get started in the next meal you make yourself and make better choices one meal at a time. Drink your water! You can do it! Victoria

You say you just moved into a new house. So start off right and stock your pantry and refrigerator with only low-carb foods.

When I started the Schwarzbein Principle (changed my life and way of eating), I went through my kitchen and cleaned out all the old low-fat, high-carb way-of-eating foods. My kitchen is now a low-carber's dream.

Also, you will find that with the added energy and lack of fatigue you get from a low-carb diet that cooking is not such a chore.

Good luck with changing your life!

;-Deb

Thanks for the encouragement guys, oh and gals. I appreciate it a ton and am on my way to a new lifestyle. The best part is......I got my wife to get into this whole way of life with me. Hopefully that will make it easier.

Thanks for all the positive direction and ideas.

Aaron

Hiya, FA... You should be nice to yourself and change your nick to something more politically correct, like "Gluteally Endowed" or "metabolically Gifted".

On a more serious note... Good luck to you, and don't succumb to the either/or thinking - either everything's going perfectly or you're off the wagon and that's the end of that. If you make good decisions most of the time, you'll be fine! Bonus: your gal is with you on it! I do all the cooking, so My b/f's been partially LCing without knowing it. He probably thinks I "forgot" to buy bread, and I suddenly really enjoying making him omelettes and sausages for breakfast.

You might watch out for the "partially LC'ing it". I think that is a mistake that we LC'ers have a tendency to make - namely preparing good LC meals for our non-LC friends.

For visitors it's fine - especially when you can then point out that this wonderful meal IS a healthy way to eat. But to subject people - generally family members - to a lot of LC meals when they are not following an LC lifestyle can be very harmful for them for then they are eating the worst possible diet that doesn't involve strycnine - high carb and high fat.

I agree with what everyone has said. But I just want to add that just because you don't have time to cook, doesnt mean you can't stay low carb. I have to admit I eat out much more than I cook. There are lots of things you can grab on the go. Burgers, (no bun!) chicken (El Pollo Loco!!) or just grabbing a hot dog from 7-ll. They also sell little packs of 2 bolied eggs and a small piece of cheese.

It's all about choices!! You can do it!!

Wow, great ideas sugarfree. I run into the problem of being out and about and getting hungry. By the way, you are doing great, judging from your before and after pics. Gives me confidence to stick with it this time. Keep up the good work.

Jim

Thanks!! I never thought I could loose so much weight. Believe me, if I can do it, so can you!!!

I usually eat out and there are so may great things to eat anywhere. Just going out with my friends for pizza for example. I'll have hot wings dipped in ranch and maybe sneak some toppings off of a slice. Or Chinese food, I'll have the chicken on a skewer or egg foo young, (eggs and veggies patty) or beef and brocolli.

No excuses!!! Have fun with it!!

OMG, that reminds me of my favorite thing to do. There is nothing better than walking into a pizza hut durning the lunch buffet and and watching the look of horror on the managers face as I rip through about two pizza pies, pulling the toppings off and chucking the crust! ::ROGL:: .....ya know, it's the small things in life that make it all worthwhile. ::LOL::

I LOVE THAT!!!