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I actually found this site while googling 'Atkins for a second time' or something along those lines, and really thought it would be worth getting opinions from people who were trying again. Pardon the long post that will follow, it is a basic rundown of my experience with the way of eating.
The first time I did Atkins was a few years ago. I dropped from 185 to 130 in no time at all, and looked pretty darn hot if I do say so myself. I sustained a comfortable weight of around 135-145 for a good year and a half simply by being reasonable (watching the sugar, moderate excercise, not eating tons of bread, etc).
Quite a lot happened to me in a few months time, some of which I'd rather not dredge into, but the weight started coming on, but not so much that it was alarming. Then I moved to England. Great, I thought, the English seem to keep pretty thin, I'll just live like they do. No more car means walking miles a day without realizing it. However, there is a lack of ANYTHING sugar-free here (I can't even find sugar-free cough syrup, what do diabetics do?), and pretty much anything prepackaged at the store is loaded with added sugar (I am told it is a preservative). I have to make my own salad dressing or bring it from the US, and even old standbys like lunchmeat and bacon have SUGAR in them!
So basically, I ballooned. In half the time it took me to lose the weight I was up to 205, larger than I had ever been in my life. I gained over 50 lb in a matter of MONTHS.
In March, I started back on Atkins. I was in the US for a while waiting on immigration paperwork, and it was easy as pie with the products available. I had the motivation of getting married in July, and started working out vigorously.
It isn't working. It just isn't working. My first time around I could up my vegetables and start on the berries and nuts and still get dramatic results. I have been lowering my carb count bit by bit until I am basically fasting on eggs and meat out of desperation. It still isn't working well. I am back in the UK and it is even harder because I can't keep myself sane with my little treats like sugar-free lifesavers. If I was seeing any sort of result, I would be a bit more enthusiastic. To make matters worse, the weight gain has made my sciatica act up like **** again (when I was at my goal it rarely, rarely, rarely acted up) and it is making me not want to excercise.
To be fair, I have lost 10 lb, but it is becoming such a struggle I wonder if this is really the way of eating I should be persuing. The 10 lb could easily be just from jogging and the liters of water I drink a day. When I have to eat out I can't even order a salad because all the dressings here are so loaded with sugar, and I swear I tasted sugar on a steak once. I usually just sit there hungry and mope longingly at everyone's food.
So basically, how slow is too slow the second time? My mother wants me to go to the Dr and see if there is a medical reason I can't lose weight, but right now it is not a financial option until I am a legal resident (in Augustish). Has anyone struggled this much the second time, and will it EVER work again?
The first time I did Atkins was a few years ago. I dropped from 185 to 130 in no time at all, and looked pretty darn hot if I do say so myself. I sustained a comfortable weight of around 135-145 for a good year and a half simply by being reasonable (watching the sugar, moderate excercise, not eating tons of bread, etc).
Quite a lot happened to me in a few months time, some of which I'd rather not dredge into, but the weight started coming on, but not so much that it was alarming. Then I moved to England. Great, I thought, the English seem to keep pretty thin, I'll just live like they do. No more car means walking miles a day without realizing it. However, there is a lack of ANYTHING sugar-free here (I can't even find sugar-free cough syrup, what do diabetics do?), and pretty much anything prepackaged at the store is loaded with added sugar (I am told it is a preservative). I have to make my own salad dressing or bring it from the US, and even old standbys like lunchmeat and bacon have SUGAR in them!
So basically, I ballooned. In half the time it took me to lose the weight I was up to 205, larger than I had ever been in my life. I gained over 50 lb in a matter of MONTHS.
In March, I started back on Atkins. I was in the US for a while waiting on immigration paperwork, and it was easy as pie with the products available. I had the motivation of getting married in July, and started working out vigorously.
It isn't working. It just isn't working. My first time around I could up my vegetables and start on the berries and nuts and still get dramatic results. I have been lowering my carb count bit by bit until I am basically fasting on eggs and meat out of desperation. It still isn't working well. I am back in the UK and it is even harder because I can't keep myself sane with my little treats like sugar-free lifesavers. If I was seeing any sort of result, I would be a bit more enthusiastic. To make matters worse, the weight gain has made my sciatica act up like **** again (when I was at my goal it rarely, rarely, rarely acted up) and it is making me not want to excercise.
To be fair, I have lost 10 lb, but it is becoming such a struggle I wonder if this is really the way of eating I should be persuing. The 10 lb could easily be just from jogging and the liters of water I drink a day. When I have to eat out I can't even order a salad because all the dressings here are so loaded with sugar, and I swear I tasted sugar on a steak once. I usually just sit there hungry and mope longingly at everyone's food.
So basically, how slow is too slow the second time? My mother wants me to go to the Dr and see if there is a medical reason I can't lose weight, but right now it is not a financial option until I am a legal resident (in Augustish). Has anyone struggled this much the second time, and will it EVER work again?
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