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I've been on and off the Atkins wagon for three years and am now, at last, fully on-track. I'm pretty gutted to think that, had I stuck to it from Day One, I'd have lost all my excess weight by now, instead of still being morbidly obese at 5' 3", 324 pounds with a BMI of 56.
Here are my Seven Deadly Sins, posted in the hope that it will be helpful to all "noobies".
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1. Substituting artificially-sweetened junkfood for sugary food. This perpetuates the sugar cravings and I found I was having more and more and more of them. Diet Coke, sugarfree sweets, toffees, chocolates etc. It is better to go Cold Turkey on sugar until the addiction is completely cleared, then have a bit of lowcarb junk occasionally as a "treat".
2. Listening to doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, health food experts and well-meaning, insistent friends, who repeatedly lured me into abandoning "The Controversial Atkins Diet" (they always, always call it that in the UK) for a wholefood/ muesli/ porridge/ wholemeal/ fruit / juice diet, that they promised would make me lose weight but just bloated me and made me iller and fatter.
3. Telling people I am on Atkins. They will always (in the UK) look horrified - OMG! all that fat! your heart! your cholesterol! - so it's better just to say "I've given up sugar and refined carbs for the sake of my health", then no-one will bore you with scare stories.
4. Letting on that I'd love a dessert but am denying myself. People will always say: "once won't hurt", "oh, go on, we're celebrating", "a little of what you fancy does you good!". The only thing to say is "I don't want a dessert because sugar makes me ill." (This isn't a lie because obesity is an illness)
5. Bingeing after a slip. Every time I've had one slice of bread or one portion of rice, one potato, or one bar of chocolate, I've thought "Oh sod it, I might as well forget Atkins for the rest of the day now" and I've compounded the problem, and slipped back into carb addiction, not just that day but the whole week, and mostly, the whole month. If you do have that one potato, whatever, get straight back onto Atkins as soon as you have swallowed it.
6. Impatience. I want results and I want them NOW! I'd stick to Atkins for three days of terrible deprivation, and what reward did I get - nothing! So in anger at Dr A and all his followers (that's you lot) I went back to the "fruit and fibre" diet again and again. When you have 150lbs to lose, as I do, you have to learn that this is the Long Haul, not the Quick Fix.
7. Envy. When I read that others have lost 14lb, or 20lb on induction, I'm so eaten up with envy and frustration at my failure to lose anything in a week, that I give up. The fact is, we are all individuals and our bodies work in differing ways. It has taken me a helluva long time to really and truly understand, accept and live with the fact that for one reason or another I lose really, really slowly. However, I DO lose, not dramatic amounts, but small amounts, and my greatest regret is that I didn't stick to Atkins the first time I tried it three years ago. If I had, even losing a mere pound a week, by now I would have lost 156 pounds.
So, that is my tuppence worth of worldly wisdom (hahaha), hoping it's of use to the noobies.
Good luck and keep taking the water!
Helena
Here are my Seven Deadly Sins, posted in the hope that it will be helpful to all "noobies".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Substituting artificially-sweetened junkfood for sugary food. This perpetuates the sugar cravings and I found I was having more and more and more of them. Diet Coke, sugarfree sweets, toffees, chocolates etc. It is better to go Cold Turkey on sugar until the addiction is completely cleared, then have a bit of lowcarb junk occasionally as a "treat".
2. Listening to doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, health food experts and well-meaning, insistent friends, who repeatedly lured me into abandoning "The Controversial Atkins Diet" (they always, always call it that in the UK) for a wholefood/ muesli/ porridge/ wholemeal/ fruit / juice diet, that they promised would make me lose weight but just bloated me and made me iller and fatter.
3. Telling people I am on Atkins. They will always (in the UK) look horrified - OMG! all that fat! your heart! your cholesterol! - so it's better just to say "I've given up sugar and refined carbs for the sake of my health", then no-one will bore you with scare stories.
4. Letting on that I'd love a dessert but am denying myself. People will always say: "once won't hurt", "oh, go on, we're celebrating", "a little of what you fancy does you good!". The only thing to say is "I don't want a dessert because sugar makes me ill." (This isn't a lie because obesity is an illness)
5. Bingeing after a slip. Every time I've had one slice of bread or one portion of rice, one potato, or one bar of chocolate, I've thought "Oh sod it, I might as well forget Atkins for the rest of the day now" and I've compounded the problem, and slipped back into carb addiction, not just that day but the whole week, and mostly, the whole month. If you do have that one potato, whatever, get straight back onto Atkins as soon as you have swallowed it.
6. Impatience. I want results and I want them NOW! I'd stick to Atkins for three days of terrible deprivation, and what reward did I get - nothing! So in anger at Dr A and all his followers (that's you lot) I went back to the "fruit and fibre" diet again and again. When you have 150lbs to lose, as I do, you have to learn that this is the Long Haul, not the Quick Fix.
7. Envy. When I read that others have lost 14lb, or 20lb on induction, I'm so eaten up with envy and frustration at my failure to lose anything in a week, that I give up. The fact is, we are all individuals and our bodies work in differing ways. It has taken me a helluva long time to really and truly understand, accept and live with the fact that for one reason or another I lose really, really slowly. However, I DO lose, not dramatic amounts, but small amounts, and my greatest regret is that I didn't stick to Atkins the first time I tried it three years ago. If I had, even losing a mere pound a week, by now I would have lost 156 pounds.
So, that is my tuppence worth of worldly wisdom (hahaha), hoping it's of use to the noobies.
Good luck and keep taking the water!
Helena
)
245/228/205
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