How do YOU know you'll stick to this forever?

[Effie]

Feel free to chime in and tell us why this WOE works for you, or what things keep you going.

For me:

1. I realized I'm too old to eat as much candy as I do. Before last week, I'd still eat like a teenager whose parents were gone for the weekend. Now that I'm nearing 30, I realize how embarrassing that is, and I think it's helped me gain control over food in those circumstances.

2. On my first attempt at Atkins in 2003, I thought I was treating it as a lifestyle change, but in retrospect, I wasn't. I know I am now, and it's totally a mental thing that has very little to do with setting a weight loss goal. My view of the world has changed, and things that were commonplace before are now horrible and shocking to me. Example: Fast Food. Sure I always knew it was gross, but after seeing the documentary "Super Size Me", I understood the global impact of it, which really turned me off. Another example: Exercise as a natural part of your day. I've been brought up being taught to exercise for X amount of minutes, X times per week. It was always a chore, or another factor mandatory for losing weight. I'm not saying I disagree with exercise, but I do disagree with how many Americans deal with it. I just cancelled my gym membership last month. I realized that if I just walked to do my errands, like walking to the grocery store or the hardware store, I'd actually get in more exercise than going to the gym for 30 minutes a few times a week. I saw a woman the other day in a parking lot, shutting the rear door to her giant SUV. She just clicked a button on her key chain, and the door shut automatically. I wondered how many times per day she would open and shut this door, and how much physical activity she was losing now that she had the convenience of just pushing a button. She probably has to add in a few more reps on the weight machines at the gym to compensate.

I've heard it a million times, and thought I understood it, but now I know what it means to think of this as a lifestyle change. For me, the difference this time around is that I've already experienced the lifestyle change, in part, and my way of eating is just following suit.

This post was supposed to be short & sweet -- so much for that!

Anyone else have their own tidbits or revelations to share?

[LilBit]

I know for a FACT that I'll eat this way forever, mainly because of how healthy this WOE has made me feel; the weight loss is a bonus for me.

I was extremely hypoglycemic, and I don't miss having the "shakes" to the point that I thought my bones would rattle out of my skin, at all.

I don't ever want to feel like that again, EVER! :no

[teejay]

I know that I am going to eat this way for the rest of my life, as I am fighting diabetes. I do not want to be diabetic. Although in my family it is not IF you are going to come up diabetic, it is WHEN. I tried all the other ways of eating and was getting more and more un-healthy. This is the healthiest I have been in years and I want to stay that way.

TJ

[batanguena75]

I know that I am going to eat this way for the rest of my life, bcoz this is the only Way of Eating (WOE) that makes me feel good about myself - I can control my eating habits & knowing that I'm eating healthier than with any other diets I tried before - plus the added bonus of really looking good bcoz of the weight loss. :nod

This is the easiest way of eating in trying to lose weight & keeping it off. There's no need to feel hungry becoz we can eat totally delicious & healthy foods (protein, fats, vegies) with the big time bonus of losing pounds along the way. :joy

[BabyPhat1]

Maybe this sounds bad or superficial but I know I will eat this way for life because I hate being fat. I was a sad, embarrassed, tired person when I was fat. Life, for me, is seriously so much easier, more fun and way less stressful now that I've lost all that weight. I never want to go back to being the person I was before. And I know that any other woe will bring me back to that someday.
This is the only woe thats ever worked for me as far as losing weight and keeping it off since I was diagnosed hypothyroid in 2002. Doing anything else would lead me to disaster!

[tickletussler]

I know I'll like this WOE forever because eating carbs makes me sooo sleepy afterwards and so FULL. Pasta, potatoes don't taste so good anymore, and I just love the oiliness of salmon, creaminess of cheese, aromas of sesame oil. I love the intense flavours of lamb, the smell of fish, the crispness of buk choy and the crunchiness of broccoli. I'm not on the fruit rung yet, but I am sure I would definitely enjoy the sweet refreshing taste of mandarins, grapes and watermelon!

In comparison, refined foods just don't have the taste... but nutritionally-dense foods? It is a heaven of aromas, flavours and textures!

[Kent]

I know I am going to eat this way forever because the guy who liked full carb pizza, Chinese Chicken, and generally anything and everything doesn't live here anymore. He is gone, and I've replaced him with a guy who loves simply Induction foods and the highlights of some of the rungs. The other reason I am sticking to this forever is stubborness. I refuse to be fat again, and everything about my former lifestyle screamed guy out of control. Now I am almost completely in control (except the occassional 2-3 oz nut binge). My life is just so much better now without the refined sugars, flours, and starches I can't imagine ever bringing them back.

[borntolose]

How do YOU know you'll stick to this forever?

:wave It is a superb solution to type 2 diabetes. My diabetes has been in remission for over 2 years my weight is down over 60 lbs.

• I can see clearly without glasses.
  I have feelings in my feet, that I was losing.
  I was told in 1997 that within two years I wouldn't be able to walk because of diabetes complications.
  My BG is always under 100.
  I truly believe I have a chance to live longer and better.
  I enjoy the food I am eating.
  I enjoy the weights I am lifting.
  I enjoy walking.
  I enjoy life. :joy

Look out 145 here I come!
BJ Webb

[ttdriver]

What's the alternative? Sugar? White flour? Starch? Health deterioration? Age-related ailments brought on by consuming garbage foods with no nutritional value? Obesity? Diabetes? Alzheimers?

THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST. THAT'S HOW I KNOW THIS IS MY LIFESTYLE FOREVER.

Betty

[Isabeau]

I know I'll be doing this woe forever too because for the first time in my life I'm not on a 'diet'. This is just the way I eat! I don't have to think about it. This wol fits me like a glove. Thank you Dr. Atkins!

[not2late]

First off this is the first weight loss diet I've purposefully have gone one in which I've lost weight not gained it, like I did when I was a low fat vegetarian.

Secondly, Dr. Atkins stated in his book that some of his low carber patients experience an improvement in their asthma and allergy symptoms. I've experienced a vastly improved condition in my asthma and allergy symptoms: I went from 3 medications to 1 (occasionally) for my asthma and I went from 2 medications (taken almost year round) to only 1 during spring for my allergies. Sticking with this diet is worth being able to breathe without having to take a boatload of medications.

Thirdly and most importantly, this weight loss stuff is hard work. So, I'm determined to stay low carb and stay at my goal, because there ain't no way, I ever want to go through the weight loss process again.

[artgirl7]

How do I know I will/can stick to this new lifestyle forever????

To me it is very simple...I look at pictures of myself at 200 lbs and wearing a size 18/20. Then I take a look at myself now as a size 4. There is no food that would ever make me want to go back to that lifestyle. It has not even been a year yet since I started the program.

When Oprah said, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels", she was so right!!!!

[soliwit]

From the moment in induction where I all of a sudden felt that energy-flash on, I knew I would never go back to my old wol, this healthy feeling is so wonderfull, not feeling drowsy and sleepy anymore, not thinking 'naaah, I can do that later' is so wonderfull, I am still stunned after 3 1/2 months when I leap up and just do what I need to do, how I am energetic at work and not come in with lead in my legs, how I am not as grumpy as I used to be in the morning, how I sleep much better (I am even off my sleeping medication I occasionally used when I had to get up early)
No way I am ever gonna say no to all that !!!!
And then the bonus of looking better and better.......... :icondance :joy

[fawn]

After 5 years I'm still sticking to it! It truly is a way of life for me.

Picking up a candy bar for me might as well be considered cocaine.

This is how I group white non nutritional foods.

[k5commando]

THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST. THAT'S HOW I KNOW THIS IS MY LIFESTYLE FOREVER.

Betty

Exactly.

I now for the first time in my life have complete control over my weight. There is nothing worse than hating yourself for being fat. I never want to feel that pain again, that's no way to live.

I love being addicted to the gym and to be able to not only join my friends at outdoor sports, but being able to beat them much of the time!

I love not having headaches due to my borderline hypertention blood pressure WITH medication. (Now optimal WITHOUT medication).

I love having self confidence.

I love eating foods I love and not feeling guilty.

I love the looks on peoples faces who havent seen me in a year.

I love being able to go shoping for clothes and not having to try on 20 pairs of pants just to find the one that makes me look just a little smaller.

The reasons to stay this way far out way the reasons not to by probably 100,000 to 1. Only reason to go back is my moms Rhubarb Pie!