Remarkable

[Emre Yigit]

I started Induction on 28th April.

I weighed myself on the 29th; I was about 216 pounds. I followed the dietary requirements religiously, and walked a bit. It was easy apart from some digestive problems.

It's been barely 10 days, and I now weigh 208.

Some days, the weight sloughs off so fast that I am definitely not extending Induction to a third week. Anyway, I look forward to my three extra nuts a week or whatever.

It works!

[chinadoll]

Re: Remarkable

Emre, congratulations on a wonderful start! Your next step is easy. Just add five grams more of the vegetables you are already allowed.

The next rung after that you add 5 more and can include dairy with yogurt, kefir, milk, soft cheese. Just add one new food at a time so you will know if a certain food leads to cravings or stalls your loss.

I don't know if you can get the book there, but if you og to the Ongoing Weight Loss threads there are stickies to help you figure out what is allowed.

[Emre Yigit]

Re: Remarkable

Thanks for the kind words.

I have DANDR, and with the help of everyone here I am sure I can keep at Atkins.

Congratulations to you too!

Thanks again, and good luck to us all.

[C P]

Re: Remarkable

Emre that is a great start. Welcome to the 'OWL Adventure!'

CP

[Emre Yigit]

Re: Remarkable

18 days, and I am down to 203 pounds. This is despite one day this week when a client took me out to lunch and loaded my plate. I gained weight that day, but it reversed quickly enough. No client meetings scheduled for a fortnight, so it ought to be easy going. Next week, I am going to jump to rung 3; dairy products and weight loss do not go well together in my case.

Go Atkins!

[Emre Yigit]

Re: Remarkable

29 days, and I am down 19 pounds, with a further 16 to go.

Thank God, the weight loss has slowed down to about 2-3 lbs a week, and I hope it will slow further as I progress up the rungs.

I sort of skipped the dairy phase (if I feel like it, I eat a little yoghurt, and take a bit of milk in my coffee, but that's pretty much it) and the nuts didn't really slow me down. Am having difficulty eating a single strawberry every hour on the hour, so may try eating a few after each meal.

On the downside, even before the strawberries, I started to feel hungry. This happens on days when I exercise more than usual. For example, on Sunday, I spent maybe 4 hours walking, generally quite briskly. I was hungry by dinner and, oddly enough, didn't lose any weight that day.

I've noted that the effects of exercise on weight loss seem to have been dramatically reduced, and so I shall start alternating weights and walking.

Best wishes to all.

[Emre Yigit]

Re: Remarkable

Coming up to six weeks in total and I've dropped 23 pounds.

The problem is, I'm bored. I guess this is the period that separates the real Atkinsers from the amateurs, because, having sloughed off a load of fat, having begun exercising, some mild weights etc, I find a little red me on my shoulder telling me that this is enough, I shouldn't push it further, at my age (!), that vegetables are good for me, as is yoghurt by the pound.

Sigh.

And I only have 12-13 pounds left to go.

My weight loss is slowing nicely, I am still losing despite now being on the bean rung, and I just hope I can keep on being virtuous.

The main problem is, I'm actually feeling hungry. Whereas at the start of the diet, I could happily subsist on a few bites of chicken and some greens, now I could eat half a chicken and two pounds of broccoli. This is despite l-carnitine and zinc picolinate tablets. Plus, I feel a lot less energetic than I did at the start, though I think that might be because of the (very very mild) weight training - I am very seriously unfit.

Oh, well, hope I can keep it up.

[Emre Yigit]

Re: Remarkable

Day 42. Weight lost 26 pounds.

It appears that my weight "sticking" the previous week was due to my body rebalancing itself. I ascribe this to two factors. First, my long term average body weight has been around 193-194 pounds, and I guess there is something like cellular memory. Second, my very very modest weight training may have initially slowed my weight loss.

Took a client out over the weekend and had a lovely dinner. Managed not to gain any weight and continued to lose thereafter.

So, I'm happy again.

On the negative side, I now feel a little more tired than in the first three-four weeks of the program, but I suspect that that is quite normal. I am fast approaching "normal" weight and so I suspect my body is starting to react negatively to the diet. But it is nothing serious, and plenty of sleep seems to cure it.

Looking at my body, I figure I can afford to lose a few more pounds than originally targetted. I am now aiming for 176 pounds - a total loss of 40 pounds! - rather than 181.

[sham]

Re: Remarkable

Well done you go girl,keep going always remember your goal you'll get there in no time!

[Emre Yigit]

7 weeks gone by

Now at 187 pounds, having lost 29 since I began.

Feeling more energetic and less hungry than about two weeks ago.

Exercise continues to proceed apace and I see the occasional muscle appearing.

Eating everything other than starchy vegetables and bread, and will continue to do so in pre-maintenance.

I am on a client trip this week, so I have decided to stay on OWL one more week, especially as I will be away from my home and unable to weight myself regularly. If all goes well, from next week, I shall start pre-maintenance.

[sham]

Re: Remarkable

Keep it up!

[Emre Yigit]

8 weeks gone by

185 pounds, down 31 (!). Now in pre-maintenance, slowly beginning to feel my way through.

My last week was pretty much spent on the road, trying hard to keep to the diet. Fortunately, I was in the later stages of OWL, so it wasn't too difficult, and I still managed to lose weight.

And since part of the trip was in Paris, I congratulate myself on my willpower. The smell of freshly baked pastries as you emerge from the Metro in the morning.... Ah!

In short everything proceeding OK. Down to 1 pound per week, which is bloody brilliant from many angles.

Incidentally, I looked up my body mass index and my body fat percentage online. In the past 56 days, my BMI has declined from 28.5 (Overweight) to 24.4 (Normal). That is to be expected. What surprised me was the result in the body fat calculator, where I used one of the measures I found at:

Body Fat Calculator.

According to this admittedly imprecise tool, when I started, I had 153lbs of lean body mass, and 63 (!!) lbs of fat. My BF% was 29%! Now, I am at 151lbs of lean body mass and 34lbs of fat, with a BF% of 18%!


Wow. I guess Atkins + exercise really does work.

[cafe_et_creme]

Re: Remarkable

Hello

Ive just been reading your post's and think you have done amazingly well! you have followed the plan and got results. You have really inspired me with my own weight loss journey, i would love to see some photos of your progress. Did you take measurements when you first started?

[Emre Yigit]

Re: Remarkable

Thanks for the kind comments.

The only measurement I took other than my weight was my waist. That was 43" when I started and is now down to 35.5". If I continue all the way down to 176 pounds then I'm guessing I'll be 33" by the time I finish. But I have noticed that I have lost fat everywhere, including upper legs and buttocks. I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but I didn't. I do know that I'm having to have all my suits etc re-sized!

At this stage in the game, especially as I'm eating most foods, it's really the combination of the diet PLUS the exercise that is trimming my weight.

And, frankly, I think genetics is helping me too.

Good luck on your own journey. If you keep to the plan, you will lose all the unwanted weight.

[chinadoll]

Re: Remarkable

Wow. That's incredible. Good for you!