New to low-carb and already loving it!
I'm new too.
Hey all, in the middle of my 4th week of Atkins and loving the results!
I stumbled across this site dunring a random low-carb search and it looks like a great site for support, common cause, and understanding.
I started Atkins the day after my 33rd birthday. It seemed like a great way to kick off the year. Unlike many I have not been on yo-yo diets, or any real diets for most of my life. I have always been heavy, sometimes heavier than others and I have always known that it was my eating that did it. But I never felt like I had to change it. I really knew the health risks I was getting myself into, I knew that I didn't always feel that great. I ate what I read was good for me, and avoided things like mayonaise, eggs, bacon, red meat, and other high fat foods.
I was fairly active but just couldn't kick my body into losing weight. I was convinced that I wasn't paying enough attention to the details of what I was eating, and just eating too big a portion, but then it was hard to stay satisfied when I cut down. I am sure those were both problems, in fact I know it because in only a few weeks of low-carb I have gained a lot of insight into what to eat and be carefull of, and more importantly, how much I need to eat, for my body.
The block was also mental, I am sure. I think adapting a healthy way of eating is the segue from one stage of my life into another. For a very long time I felt determined not to let being overweight be a limitation. Any social stigma I felt worth overturning about being overweight, I did. I dated pretty girls, had the "coolest" friends competed nationally in Swing and Blues dancing (and did very well), etc. etc. all the while not really dealing with the fact that I was still 100+ pounds overweight.
Somewhere along the way I started to do some self-exploration and self discovery, dealing with issues and inner-demons that I had been carrying around for a while. Somwhere in the middle of all of that process I realized that eventually I would have to get the 100+ pound monkey off my back. But I wasn't ready yet. Maybe I hadn't built enough confidence to give up food as security device, I don't know. I knew that at some point, if I continued in my self-exploratory path, I would have to deal with it.
So here I am 7 years since I began that self-exploration, ready to deal with it. Actually looking forward to it, not just the end result of a healthy happy me, but because I know that along with any undertaking like this there are a myriad of spin-off changes and challenges that will happen around this process that will change my life. Who knows what they will be? I'm excited (and of course, a bit scared) to find out! But it's been a great journey so far. It's given me the confidence to know that I can do this, the self awarenes to know how to do it so that it works for me, and the security to know that even if I stumble or fall off the wagon, I can get back on and keep going.
So how am I doing? So far so good! Not weighing myself really, mostly measuring inches and 2-2.5 inches off my waist in month makes me a happy camper.
Atkins works well for me because I can be very satisfied with what I eat, and lose weight. The goal of maintaining ketosis makes it weasy to say no to foods that would kick me out of it. I can't eat something and think "I'll put in extra time at the gym to take care of that." It doesn't work like that. It could be the engineer/scientist in me, but in having some additional understanding about balancing blood sugar and the impact of the diet on insulin levels has also been helpful in focusing the "why" of exactly why I shouldn't cheat. I don't actually have many cravings, but when I do I find that celery and creamcheese make a handy snack, combined with some Diet Rite to satisfy the "sweet" component of the craving they really work. I don't look at it as a diet or even as a way of eating so much as a part of the process to becoming who I want to be. A healty, happy, active participant in my own life and in the lives of those I care about.
I've had to do more cooking, started watching the food network for cooking technique tips, not recipies really, and if there is one downside to the diet its that all the cooking makes me want to go out and get a complete set of all-clad cookware.
I enrolled everyone I know and they have all been very supportive, which has helped alot to minimize the impact of my diet changes on my social activities. I rarely drank alchohol to begin with and am surviving on decaf. Another thing I noticed is that now that I am no longer propping myself up with caffine and sugar, I can see just how little sleep I was getting.
Well, that's a long enough post for a start I think. Immediate future plans are to keep dancing (good for body and soul), keep low-carbing (sticking with induction for a while because I have so much to lose), get more sleep, and add a Pilates routine 3-days a week.
Last edited by Ogden : Wed, Feb-12-03 at 13:31.
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What a great post - you're headed for success, dude. You've got the right attitude. 
Can't wait to keep following your story. 
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