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Hi All...
I don’t post here much, but I do look in and lurk from time to time. I used to post over at Atkins By The Book until it was closed. I was “Jim†over there (I think) or some Jim derivative.
Anyhow, I am in the habit of weighing myself each day and recording the weight in my spreadsheet. I don’t freak out about gaining or losing a pound here or there. I do it because I have a bunch of stats and fancy graphs the spreadsheet keeps and it keeps me interested and entertained.
While entering today's weight, I suddenly noticed that today is my 1 year anniversary of starting Induction – and Atkins.
I have to thank Dr. Atkins. He has been, and continues to be, very good to me, even though we have, of course, never met and never will. One year ago today, I was sitting in my living room, working on my computer and eating a box of girl scout cookies. The “cookie mom†in my daughter's troop had ordered an extra 1,000 boxes by mistake and my wife generously bought about 150 of them to help bail the troop out. She said she would sell them, but there were plenty available to eat. I finished the box and went for a second. As I was standing in the kitchen opening the box, I realized that enough had to be enough. I had been thinking about doing Atkins for a few months and that sudden realization about opening a second box was the final push.
I put away the box, went back to my computer and Googled Atkins. Piles of stuff popped up and I began reading. Right then, I began induction with a bottle of water. Three days later I bought the book and a bathroom scale. By then, my 5ft 6in, 39 year old frame was at 201 pounds. I had 44.5 inches around my waist and my BMI figured to 32.4: Class I obesity. I was probably a few pounds higher while eating the cookies in the prior week. Because I didn’t get the book until several days in, I didn’t take measurements right from the beginning, but no real harm done.
I followed the induction rules religiously. I measured my salad and my cheese. I tried a few recipes with flax and cream cheese. I ate more steak, lamb and swordfish, which I love anyhow. And, I even discovered that I actually like asparagus! During the first two weeks, I went from 201 to 188.5.
I decided to stay on induction, since the book says it’s okay for up to about 6 months. I started walking most days and riding my bicycle. I went through the photo albums and found a picture my daughter had taken of me about a month earlier on vacation. I looked like a beached whale, and I wanted to remember! I can honestly say I didn’t cheat deliberately, although I made a few mistakes early on. I set my goal at 145.
I continued all this for a while, and at some point I added a little bit of OWL to my diet, although not lots. A little more salad, some tomatoes. Stuff like that. Time passed. Weight came off. Last September, on the first day of school, my wife and I brought my daughter in and the other parents were amazed. When you don’t see someone for 10 or so weeks, a difference really gets noticed.
According to my spreadsheet, on October 26th, I hit my goal. 145! Officially, I had lost 56 pounds in 6 months, although I’ll bet it is closer to 60. That’s an average of 9.3 pounds per month. My waist was down 31 inches and my BMI was 23.4.
I have since relaxed a bit on the OWL. I now occasionally eat peanuts and a low carb wrap sandwich. I admit to having a few desserts since then, but nothing like before. I still don’t eat bread or potatoes, or french fries or even diet soda. Just water. I exercised less in the winter. If it was less than 35 degrees out, I was in! But now I have started up again.
I’ve managed to stay between 140 and 145, usually around 143, since I hit goal. I still weigh myself each day, put the numbers in the spreadsheet and watch for a nasty upward trend. I if I see one, I deal with it before it becomes a big problem. I feel better, sleep better and really like having normal size cloths!
There were problems from time to time. I never got induction flu, but after about 5 months I was having headaches and getting dizzy from time to time. A little more carbs fixed that. I had a few of the symptoms that others complain about, but I was never hungry. The weight loss kept me from wanting to cheat, so even birthdays and the holidays were not to hard. My doctor checked my cholesterol, and said it is a little high. But we didn’t measure it before Atkins, so there is no way to know the cause. Heck, maybe it's lower than lasyt year. It’s not dangerous or anything like that, we we’ll figure out how to deal with it this year.
All my life, I was heavy. Even as a kid. The only time I was not was briefly when I was in the Army, and that was not long. Atkins is the first thing I had tried that worked for me. I survived girl scout cookie time this year and still have that beached whale picture somewhere, just as a reminder.
I wish everyone else as much success and good health!
I don’t post here much, but I do look in and lurk from time to time. I used to post over at Atkins By The Book until it was closed. I was “Jim†over there (I think) or some Jim derivative.
Anyhow, I am in the habit of weighing myself each day and recording the weight in my spreadsheet. I don’t freak out about gaining or losing a pound here or there. I do it because I have a bunch of stats and fancy graphs the spreadsheet keeps and it keeps me interested and entertained.
While entering today's weight, I suddenly noticed that today is my 1 year anniversary of starting Induction – and Atkins.
I have to thank Dr. Atkins. He has been, and continues to be, very good to me, even though we have, of course, never met and never will. One year ago today, I was sitting in my living room, working on my computer and eating a box of girl scout cookies. The “cookie mom†in my daughter's troop had ordered an extra 1,000 boxes by mistake and my wife generously bought about 150 of them to help bail the troop out. She said she would sell them, but there were plenty available to eat. I finished the box and went for a second. As I was standing in the kitchen opening the box, I realized that enough had to be enough. I had been thinking about doing Atkins for a few months and that sudden realization about opening a second box was the final push.
I put away the box, went back to my computer and Googled Atkins. Piles of stuff popped up and I began reading. Right then, I began induction with a bottle of water. Three days later I bought the book and a bathroom scale. By then, my 5ft 6in, 39 year old frame was at 201 pounds. I had 44.5 inches around my waist and my BMI figured to 32.4: Class I obesity. I was probably a few pounds higher while eating the cookies in the prior week. Because I didn’t get the book until several days in, I didn’t take measurements right from the beginning, but no real harm done.
I followed the induction rules religiously. I measured my salad and my cheese. I tried a few recipes with flax and cream cheese. I ate more steak, lamb and swordfish, which I love anyhow. And, I even discovered that I actually like asparagus! During the first two weeks, I went from 201 to 188.5.
I decided to stay on induction, since the book says it’s okay for up to about 6 months. I started walking most days and riding my bicycle. I went through the photo albums and found a picture my daughter had taken of me about a month earlier on vacation. I looked like a beached whale, and I wanted to remember! I can honestly say I didn’t cheat deliberately, although I made a few mistakes early on. I set my goal at 145.
I continued all this for a while, and at some point I added a little bit of OWL to my diet, although not lots. A little more salad, some tomatoes. Stuff like that. Time passed. Weight came off. Last September, on the first day of school, my wife and I brought my daughter in and the other parents were amazed. When you don’t see someone for 10 or so weeks, a difference really gets noticed.
According to my spreadsheet, on October 26th, I hit my goal. 145! Officially, I had lost 56 pounds in 6 months, although I’ll bet it is closer to 60. That’s an average of 9.3 pounds per month. My waist was down 31 inches and my BMI was 23.4.
I have since relaxed a bit on the OWL. I now occasionally eat peanuts and a low carb wrap sandwich. I admit to having a few desserts since then, but nothing like before. I still don’t eat bread or potatoes, or french fries or even diet soda. Just water. I exercised less in the winter. If it was less than 35 degrees out, I was in! But now I have started up again.
I’ve managed to stay between 140 and 145, usually around 143, since I hit goal. I still weigh myself each day, put the numbers in the spreadsheet and watch for a nasty upward trend. I if I see one, I deal with it before it becomes a big problem. I feel better, sleep better and really like having normal size cloths!
There were problems from time to time. I never got induction flu, but after about 5 months I was having headaches and getting dizzy from time to time. A little more carbs fixed that. I had a few of the symptoms that others complain about, but I was never hungry. The weight loss kept me from wanting to cheat, so even birthdays and the holidays were not to hard. My doctor checked my cholesterol, and said it is a little high. But we didn’t measure it before Atkins, so there is no way to know the cause. Heck, maybe it's lower than lasyt year. It’s not dangerous or anything like that, we we’ll figure out how to deal with it this year.
All my life, I was heavy. Even as a kid. The only time I was not was briefly when I was in the Army, and that was not long. Atkins is the first thing I had tried that worked for me. I survived girl scout cookie time this year and still have that beached whale picture somewhere, just as a reminder.
I wish everyone else as much success and good health!
5/2/05 Back to Day 2
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