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Hi All:
I've been putting a lot of thought into my Atkins WOL lately. Specifically, I've been obsessed for a while now with the following phrase on a fellow member's (can't quite think of who right now - sorry) sig:
"Atkins did not say calories don't count. He said don't count calories."
Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought that I would give everyone a brief update of my journey so far and offer my thoughts on this WOL and the statement above...
I started in late November 2004, weighing in at 326 lbs. Doing what I felt I had to do, I went cold turkey on the things I loved most: sugar, bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes. The results were astonishing. 29 lbs in December, 17 in January, 18 in February, etc... On July 31st, 2005, I weighed 215 lbs. The 'you look great' comments were pouring in, and I finally felt as if I was enjoying life.
From August to January, I lost another 33 lbs. The weight loss had slowed (as expected), but I was still marching along. I had re-introduced some fruits and (yikes!) bread into my diet, but had never 'cheated' once on the other stuff. I watched several of my collegues at work try to duplicate my success, each one a failure by the 5th month. One of my closer friends at work ended up losing 35 lbs and gaining back 40. As unfortunate as it was, it made my resolution to make this a WOL even stronger.
Since February, I have been following Atkins but allowing myself some latitude on what I have been eating (still no pasta, rice, potatoes, and definitely no sugar). I found that by the end of January, my mind and body were 'exhausted' by having to be on this WOL. So my portions did start to increase, as did consumption of the borderline foods & drinks such as diet pepsi/coke, fruits such as watermelon and canteloupe, etc... However, I could feel that I was still in control. I didn't step on the scale for 3 months until I got back on last Friday. I wasn't a surprise that I had gained 10lbs. Knowing where I had come from, and after having lost 144 lbs in just over one year, the 10 lbs was, to put it into perspective, no big deal.
However, it started me thinking on the phrase above (again!), to the point where I am now thinking about it all the time. It has become clear that I CANNOT not count calories. Calories are important! They must be counted! I have since cut out the extra portions during my day, and have lost 8 of the 10 lbs gained. I am currently operating on 1500-2000 calories per day. I have 21 lbs to go until my goal, and have been re-energized to get there sooner rather than later. I will make it!
Thanks for listening... I guess the moral of all this is that it doesn't matter if you follow this WOL to a 'T', you still need to watch your intake. At least I do.
Does anyone else count their calories? Is there anyone who is doing well and does not count their calories?
I've been putting a lot of thought into my Atkins WOL lately. Specifically, I've been obsessed for a while now with the following phrase on a fellow member's (can't quite think of who right now - sorry) sig:
"Atkins did not say calories don't count. He said don't count calories."
Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought that I would give everyone a brief update of my journey so far and offer my thoughts on this WOL and the statement above...
I started in late November 2004, weighing in at 326 lbs. Doing what I felt I had to do, I went cold turkey on the things I loved most: sugar, bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes. The results were astonishing. 29 lbs in December, 17 in January, 18 in February, etc... On July 31st, 2005, I weighed 215 lbs. The 'you look great' comments were pouring in, and I finally felt as if I was enjoying life.
From August to January, I lost another 33 lbs. The weight loss had slowed (as expected), but I was still marching along. I had re-introduced some fruits and (yikes!) bread into my diet, but had never 'cheated' once on the other stuff. I watched several of my collegues at work try to duplicate my success, each one a failure by the 5th month. One of my closer friends at work ended up losing 35 lbs and gaining back 40. As unfortunate as it was, it made my resolution to make this a WOL even stronger.
Since February, I have been following Atkins but allowing myself some latitude on what I have been eating (still no pasta, rice, potatoes, and definitely no sugar). I found that by the end of January, my mind and body were 'exhausted' by having to be on this WOL. So my portions did start to increase, as did consumption of the borderline foods & drinks such as diet pepsi/coke, fruits such as watermelon and canteloupe, etc... However, I could feel that I was still in control. I didn't step on the scale for 3 months until I got back on last Friday. I wasn't a surprise that I had gained 10lbs. Knowing where I had come from, and after having lost 144 lbs in just over one year, the 10 lbs was, to put it into perspective, no big deal.
However, it started me thinking on the phrase above (again!), to the point where I am now thinking about it all the time. It has become clear that I CANNOT not count calories. Calories are important! They must be counted! I have since cut out the extra portions during my day, and have lost 8 of the 10 lbs gained. I am currently operating on 1500-2000 calories per day. I have 21 lbs to go until my goal, and have been re-energized to get there sooner rather than later. I will make it!
Thanks for listening... I guess the moral of all this is that it doesn't matter if you follow this WOL to a 'T', you still need to watch your intake. At least I do.
Does anyone else count their calories? Is there anyone who is doing well and does not count their calories?
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