A little concerned

[motivation101]

Hello! I started reading these forums and realized how inspirational everyone was and wanted some advice. As of tomorrow I am starting the diet but I have a few concerns.

1) I am 19 years old, is that to young to be doing something this dramatic?
2) I am 5'9 and weigh 160 and wish to get to 135, will I most likely be looking at fast results, or slow results ( I know it depends on your body, but im not looking to loose a lot of weight)
3) Is this the right diet for someone of my status? Cause it seems like most forums people are looking to loose a significant amount more than me.

Thanks alot!

[Beekel]

Re: A little concerned

From my expierence 19 is ok. The first time I did atkins was when I was 19 and it was a few months after I had my child (first and only). I had great success.

[Brook]

Re: A little concerned

Hello! I started reading these forums and realized how inspirational everyone was and wanted some advice. As of tomorrow I am starting the diet but I have a few concerns.

1) I am 19 years old, is that to young to be doing something this dramatic?

19 is a perfect time for you to start eating real food and drop all the garbage fast food/processed food/etc. I know that's a dramatic concept- but real food really is good for you and it's healthy

2) I am 5'9 and weigh 160 and wish to get to 135, will I most likely be looking at fast results, or slow results ( I know it depends on your body, but im not looking to loose a lot of weight)

We're all looking for fast results, but the "instant gratification" mindset is what got most of us in the chubby boat to begin with. You can reasonably expect to lose 5-10% of what you need to lose in the first 2 weeks. For you that'd be 1.25-2.5lbs. I know you hear about people losing 10lbs in the first 14 days -but those are usually people with 50-100lbs to lose. Sounds great, but when you look at the numbers, the person with 25lbs to lose that lost 2.5lbs in Induction lost at the same rate the person that has 100lbs to lose and lost 10. It's a numbers game. Dr. Atkins advises us to take 6 months to drop the last 10+lbs. The reason is that this isn't a fast weight loss gimmick or scheme. It's a lifestyle change. Treat it like one and you won't be back here in a year or two re-losing the same 25lbs plus a few new friends. Trust me.

3) Is this the right diet for someone of my status? Cause it seems like most forums people are looking to loose a significant amount more than me.

You need to look more closely around here - And it's not about a "person of your status"- because frankly, you're not any different than anyone else here. It's about it being the right lifestyle change and approach for you. Is it one you can work? Is it one that works with your particular tastes and preferences? Is it one that addresses your issues with food? (Please don't tell me you don't have any. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here and wouldn't be carrying extra weight.) If it is and does, then yep....it's the right WOE for you.

There's no magic in weight loss. People lose weight all the time. Big deal. The magic is in maintaining what you've removed - and that is an endeavor with a 95% failure rate in a period of 5 years.

Any eating plan worth anything is going to not only help you remove the weight and control the food, but it's going to teach you to eat in a way that allows you to maintain what you've done and be healthy and balanced. Atkins is a path there, just like South Beach, Weight Watchers, Lean for Life, etc. Different paths to a very, very similar destination- eating whole, natural foods in healthy amounts while including exercise and supplementation in your daily regimine.

Read the book, okay? If you put in Cliff Notes efforts, you're going to get Cliff Notes results.

I wish you success.
~Brook