How to Lose Weight

The Atkins Diet works very well, and I have just lost 51 pounds while eating fun food and without going hungry. To good to be true? Read on...

Those of you who have known me for a while have seen me at a variety of weights. To such an extent that you probably don't care anymore what I weigh, and don't notice the changes as they occur. I have noticed that no one cares what you weigh as much as you do. If you think about the fat people you know, you'll realize that when you first met them you noticed their weight, and then after that you stopped thinking about it. I heard one study referenced that said that the reduction in life span when you are fat compared to when you are thin is only 4 years. So it all basically boils down to 'how do you want your body.'

Personally, I want all the babes to faint when they see my rippling abs. And I've noticed abs don't ripple when they have 8 years of Hagen Dasz piled on them. And I do like the sweets. But I am willing to hold off on the sweets to get down to my goal, and then I will try to stay within 10 pounds of that goal from then on. While I had never been as fat as I was when I started this diet, this era of dieting has been the most successful for me.

Here is the system...... DIET & EXCERCISE

So far, nothing new. But here's where it gets good. I am losing a little more than a pound a week while eating:

Bacon & Eggs
Burgers & Cheese
Pork Rhinds & Sour Creme
Ham
Tuna & Mayo
Green Veggies & Butter
Bleu Cheese Dressing on Green Salad

without ever having to be hungry.

Got your attention?

It's called the Atkins diet. It's based on the "steak and salad" diet used by the Air Force in the 60's. Atkins figured out why it worked, and presented it for our use in a book released in 1975. He updated the info with the 1992 release of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.

A little background... Food can be divided up into three categories PROTIEN, FAT, and CARBOHYDRATES. "Carbos", as those in the know call them, are what mostly make up things like potatoes, bread, cake, candy, sugar, fruit, and pasta.

Now, for whatever reason, and I'll give you some of my thoughts later, when you stop eating carbohydrates, the body starts burning fat.

Now, before you start freaking out about eating fat... and saying "Fat is bad for you" and "But, but, the cholesterol"... I have some new info for you. It turns out that the high cholesterol count in the blood stream is linked to eating fat AND sugar. A study cited in Linus Pauling's 1985 book How to Live Longer and Feel Better sites a study where people were given an identical daily diet, only varying the amount of glucose they were given. The results showed that their cholesterol level went up and down each day corresponding to the amount of sugar they were given. So... to lower your cholesterol you can cut out the fat or cut out the sugar. On the Atkins diet, you cut out the sugar.

Atkins is a heart doctor by trade. He has found that when most people go on this diet their cholesterol level drops. My cholesterol level was a little high when I measured it recently (around 250), but I don't have a test from before this diet to compare to. As far as I know, my cholesterol level was 300 before I went on this diet.

When you stop eating carbos, the body starts burning it's own fat. There is a waste product produced by the fat-burning process called a "ketone body". These are passed out of the body in the urine. If you test for them in the urine, you can determine the extent of the fat-burning that is going on. When your body is in this state, you call it "ketosis". You dip these little testing strips called "ketostix" in your urine stream, and they turn light or dark purple to tell you whether you are in ketosis a little or a lot.

I have been excercizing all along, which of course helps on any diet. But I have started losing a little more each week since I started doing more walking. I figured if I'm burning fat, then a long duration low level type workout should be useful, and it seems to be helping.

The amazing thing is that this diet seem to throw calorie theory out the window. Seemingly, you can eat all the calories you want and still lose weight. Now, because your hunger is reduced while you burn your own fat, it could be that you aren't eating that many calories, but I just like the fact that I don't need to worry about it. My theory is that the body uses your stored fat, instead of getting quick energy from the fat and protien you are eating, because the stored fat is easier to metabolize. Maybe the body takes what it wants from the protein and fat you have eaten, and then gets it's energy from your stored fat.

So... buy

Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution

J.C.

UPDATE
I like to eat candy and popcorn. So, I eat, I get fat, then I diet. This diet works the best of any diet I know of. I did it for a year and a half around the time I wrote that essay. I lost 55 pounds. Then I started eating my candy and popcorn and nachos again, and have slowly put on 40 pounds again, and coincidentally started the diet again 3 days ago.

One thing that makes this diet the best is that it does not require that you "stay hungry." And you get tasty food. For lunch yesterday I went to Denny's and had a dinner salad with blue cheese dressing, and a bacon cheddar burger. (I hold the bun and peel it away, and only eat the insides.)

Your craving for gummy bears could be strong for the first month. One trick is to keep eating "on program" food and never let yourself get hungry.

Thanksgiving is no sweat. Just get used to the idea that you are not going to have yams,spuds, or stuffing. You will have plenty to fill up on with Turkey and Salad and Green Beans with Almonds, Butter, and Parmesian on top.

Pretty much you will find that you will stay in Ketosis (use your Ketostix!) no matter how much salad and vegies you eat. Make sure there is not excessive sugar in the dressing. I find the store bought dressings have 2 carbos per ounce. Not too bad.

The simple rule on this diet is "Eat when you are hungry, stop eating when you are not hungry". However, I still lose weight when I don't stop eating. I can eat lots and lots of food, and as long as I keep the carbos down, I will keep losing weight. If you actually keep your volume down, you will lose weight quicker. And excercise of course will make it quicker.Dark Green veggies are low enough in carbo's that you don't really need to worry about them throwing you off. The amount you would need to eat to be excessive would be VERY filling.

It's funny, but I find if I eat your basic mamma-would-want-it-this-way-dinner, I am actually on the diet. (Leaving off mamma's potatoes.)

For variety, you can have any kind of vegetable dish you want with butter, cheese... your basic fatty goodness. I like Zuchini and other "gourds."

I advise you to try the meat and vegetable medley dishes at the slightly nicer restaurants. You will find that the quality of preparation is better than that found in the average home, and you may become inspired about how good a food dish can be.

Also, I like to melt mozzarella cheese with olives and hot sauce and pereroni's melted in the microwave.

Also, I like to make "ice cream" by taking 8 oz whipping cream, putting some salt, two capfuls of vanilla, and 5 little saccharin tablets and blending it with a cake mixer for 5 minutes. Stop just short of whip cream.. then freeze it for one hour and enjoy it with a spoon. The edges will have frozen, but the inside will be like whip cream. You can sprinkle shavings of unsweetened bakers chocolate on top!

You will not gain weight from going out of ketosis on one Twinkie. You will just go out of ketosis. If you keep eating carbos that night you will gain 1 pound for every 3500 calories you eat. If you totally go off the diet, you will have switched over to "calorie mode" instead of "ketosis mode," meaning that your weight will be controlled by how many calories you eat, rather than how many carbos you eat.

But, one Twinkie will not make you fat. You might gain 5 pounds in water weight in the first 10 days if you totally go back to a life of candy and popcorn. But that would come off again if you went back on the diet.

The only reason that breaking the diet is bad FOR ME is that I have a hard time starting again.

I fell off the diet a while ago and have had trouble getting back on. But I still feel it is the only diet that works. Eat your fun foods while staying on the diet. If you crave a brownie, have 1/2 a brownie on a day that you have no other carbos, thus keeping the carbo load to 20 for the day. Such a system allows you the "freedom" to eat what you want while maintaining full control.

J.C.