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Hi all, My name is Zawar and I joined this board to share my Atkins experience and to learn about others experiences as well. I apologize if this introduction is a bit long, but here is my story anyway.
Background
My whole life I was very sluggish and always a little fat. Even when I tried playing sports, I was still fat and had lots of brain fog, and just generally depressed. At age 28, I decided I was going to do something about it. For 2 years, I tried all sorts of exercises and diets, but nothing worked. Then at age 30, I thought i had a life threatening condition. Even my doctor was confused and sent me to a specialist. Fortunately, it was nothing. During all the testing of me, I was discovered with high blood pressure and hypothyroid. I was probably near diabetic too because I remember my night vision was pretty bad. I didn't take drugs for anything as I don't trust doctors and I felt I was still young enough to do something about it naturally. At this point, feeling like I just got a new life, I felt I had to do something, anything, to change my self opinion, starting with my appearance. I read about and tried the Atkins diet.
Induction
I didn't have the induction results that were described in the Atkins book. A lot of people were doing the Atkins diet at work that January, and just about all of them had great results immediately. I was eating 20 grams of carbs per day, and was feeling miserable. I was 285 pounds and looked 20 years older than my age. I continued the walking/jogging on treadmill and park that I had started 2 years earlier, with the goal of one day jogging/running 3 miles continuously. For some reason, I heard that was some kind of fitness test. There was no progress the first week. In the middle of the 2nd week, I increased the carbs to 40 grams as I was feeling too weak. By the end of the second week, I was feeling terrible physically, and had lost only 3 pounds. By the end of week 3, I lost another 3 pounds. I wasn't happy, but felt I had to stick to this diet and exercise and at some point I might get the results others were getting. Every week it was the similar story. I would lose 2 or 3 pounds. I started in January, and by April, I still wasn't happy with how I looked, but at least I felt different inside. I couldn't tell, but my coworkers finally noticed that I was losing weight and looking a little better. I could now jog one continuous mile at the speed of 5. This was better than I had ever done in my whole life. But all the jogging was hurting my back. So I decided to jog only 2-3 times a week, and started a typical 3 day weight lifting routine with chest/back monday, arms tuesdays, and shoulders and legs on fridays.
Some Progress
After 2 weeks of weights and cardio and continued Atkins, I was now beginning to see significant gains. The weights helped me strengthen my whole body and helped me run continuously for longer durations. Every week, the recovery time from the jogging was also getting shorter. I think I was finally overcoming the effects of hypothyroidism. I felt better and my mind was clearer.
Success
By June I was able to continuously run 3 miles on the treadmill and the track. This may be a trivial goal for some, but for me this was like winning the Olympics. I had done something I never thought I could do. I was told that the body starts to age after 30 and this was a dangerous thing for me. But since I gradually increased my jogging, I didn't get any injury. At 6' 2" and a naturally broad frame, I was 220 pounds. My waist dropped from 48/50 to 38/40. I could finally buy clothes from regular stores. All the sweating cleared up my skin and I had a healthy glow about me all the time. For the first time in my life, I looked younger than I actually was. Throughout the 6 months I tried to increase the carbs as recommended, but this would make me sluggish. Strange. So I kept the carbs low enough to keep me feeling energized. At this point, I had felt high all the time. I was very energetic, always smiling, and my mind was very focused. I had increased my metabolism so much, that eating a cookies and bread occasionally had no affect on weight or energy.
Plateau
By October, I slowly was back to my old self and off the regular diet and exercise routines. I was still looking good and looking like I'm in my 20s. I wasn't exercising regularly anymore, eating whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it. I put back on twenty pounds. However, my waist only went up to 40. I was lifting weights some days and jogging, and sometimes sprinting. Every time I felt sluggish, I would go the gym for a 2 to 4 days and felt good again. And this continues till today.
Seven Years After
The Atkins diet and the exercise has changed me permanently. I can't tolerate sweets at all, and if I do eat something sweet, my head spins and I have burn it off with physical activity right away. I can't eat too much bread, rice or other typical carbs either. 1-3 toasts is my daily limit, but I can eat vegetables as much as I want. If I'm feeling down, I eat beef or cheese. It cheers me up more so than chicken or chocolate. I still eat lots of meat, fat, and 3 whole eggs daily.
My medical reports indicates I am totally normal except for the slightly high protein in my blood. My waist is permanently between 38-40. I can probably drop it to 36 if I try, but its hard to eat good low carb meals outside.
Thanks for reading.
Background
My whole life I was very sluggish and always a little fat. Even when I tried playing sports, I was still fat and had lots of brain fog, and just generally depressed. At age 28, I decided I was going to do something about it. For 2 years, I tried all sorts of exercises and diets, but nothing worked. Then at age 30, I thought i had a life threatening condition. Even my doctor was confused and sent me to a specialist. Fortunately, it was nothing. During all the testing of me, I was discovered with high blood pressure and hypothyroid. I was probably near diabetic too because I remember my night vision was pretty bad. I didn't take drugs for anything as I don't trust doctors and I felt I was still young enough to do something about it naturally. At this point, feeling like I just got a new life, I felt I had to do something, anything, to change my self opinion, starting with my appearance. I read about and tried the Atkins diet.
Induction
I didn't have the induction results that were described in the Atkins book. A lot of people were doing the Atkins diet at work that January, and just about all of them had great results immediately. I was eating 20 grams of carbs per day, and was feeling miserable. I was 285 pounds and looked 20 years older than my age. I continued the walking/jogging on treadmill and park that I had started 2 years earlier, with the goal of one day jogging/running 3 miles continuously. For some reason, I heard that was some kind of fitness test. There was no progress the first week. In the middle of the 2nd week, I increased the carbs to 40 grams as I was feeling too weak. By the end of the second week, I was feeling terrible physically, and had lost only 3 pounds. By the end of week 3, I lost another 3 pounds. I wasn't happy, but felt I had to stick to this diet and exercise and at some point I might get the results others were getting. Every week it was the similar story. I would lose 2 or 3 pounds. I started in January, and by April, I still wasn't happy with how I looked, but at least I felt different inside. I couldn't tell, but my coworkers finally noticed that I was losing weight and looking a little better. I could now jog one continuous mile at the speed of 5. This was better than I had ever done in my whole life. But all the jogging was hurting my back. So I decided to jog only 2-3 times a week, and started a typical 3 day weight lifting routine with chest/back monday, arms tuesdays, and shoulders and legs on fridays.
Some Progress
After 2 weeks of weights and cardio and continued Atkins, I was now beginning to see significant gains. The weights helped me strengthen my whole body and helped me run continuously for longer durations. Every week, the recovery time from the jogging was also getting shorter. I think I was finally overcoming the effects of hypothyroidism. I felt better and my mind was clearer.
Success
By June I was able to continuously run 3 miles on the treadmill and the track. This may be a trivial goal for some, but for me this was like winning the Olympics. I had done something I never thought I could do. I was told that the body starts to age after 30 and this was a dangerous thing for me. But since I gradually increased my jogging, I didn't get any injury. At 6' 2" and a naturally broad frame, I was 220 pounds. My waist dropped from 48/50 to 38/40. I could finally buy clothes from regular stores. All the sweating cleared up my skin and I had a healthy glow about me all the time. For the first time in my life, I looked younger than I actually was. Throughout the 6 months I tried to increase the carbs as recommended, but this would make me sluggish. Strange. So I kept the carbs low enough to keep me feeling energized. At this point, I had felt high all the time. I was very energetic, always smiling, and my mind was very focused. I had increased my metabolism so much, that eating a cookies and bread occasionally had no affect on weight or energy.
Plateau
By October, I slowly was back to my old self and off the regular diet and exercise routines. I was still looking good and looking like I'm in my 20s. I wasn't exercising regularly anymore, eating whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it. I put back on twenty pounds. However, my waist only went up to 40. I was lifting weights some days and jogging, and sometimes sprinting. Every time I felt sluggish, I would go the gym for a 2 to 4 days and felt good again. And this continues till today.
Seven Years After
The Atkins diet and the exercise has changed me permanently. I can't tolerate sweets at all, and if I do eat something sweet, my head spins and I have burn it off with physical activity right away. I can't eat too much bread, rice or other typical carbs either. 1-3 toasts is my daily limit, but I can eat vegetables as much as I want. If I'm feeling down, I eat beef or cheese. It cheers me up more so than chicken or chocolate. I still eat lots of meat, fat, and 3 whole eggs daily.
My medical reports indicates I am totally normal except for the slightly high protein in my blood. My waist is permanently between 38-40. I can probably drop it to 36 if I try, but its hard to eat good low carb meals outside.
Thanks for reading.
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