Greetings, from MoJo JoJo

[MoJo182]

Hello everyone!!! I am soo excited to have found this place. Let me tell you my story. I have been struggling with my weight for the last year or so now. I have tried most diets and supplements out there, and nothing worked well. I did the conventional low fat, low cal diet, and it worked for a while, it got me from 205 down to 185, but now I'm back up to 195 and rising. I am in the US Air Force so losing weight is not an option. I am at the point now after not losing weight for the last 3 months, that if i have one more "unsatisfactory" weigh in, i could be kicked out. (a satisfactory weigh in is a 5 lb loss OR 1% body fat loss). I am now at 22% and the AF standard is 20%. I work out a lot and it is not helping anymore, so I am really counting on the Atkins diet. I saw his book at Wal-Mart and read it and totally identified with so much he said. I think I might be a carb addict. I have told my wife more than once that "I could live off of bread alome", and "Bread and Italian food are the greatest food in the world". So starting tommorow morning, Mar 12, I will be starting my 14 day induction phase!! My next weigh in is on April 11th. From what I've heard around here, 5 pounds should be a breeze.... right? Thanks for listening....

MoJo

5'10"
195Lbs
37" waist

goal weight: 165 (weighed 158 when i joined the Air Force
goal waist: 32" (Wore 32 jeans all my life)

[alto]

Welcome! You're really motivated -- good for you :) The first five pounds is not necessarily a walk. Some people lose very quickly, others need to coax the way off. Poke around in journals and you'll see different patterns.

Am I right to assume that regular exercise is part of Air Force life? If so -- I'm exactly the wrong person to suggest this, because I've never picked up a weight in my life :) -- but you may want to look into adding weight training to Atkins. Check out the exercise forums and read all the "it's melting! it's melting!" stories :) Weights and water may just do it for you. (In addition to low carb eating, of course. If you really subsisted on bread and pasta, that five pounds may well drop right off!!)

[MoJo182]

Regular exercise isn 't always a part of Air force life. There are a lot of eggheads in the Air Force that don't exercise...Ever! But Pilots have to, and So do I ,as a Security guy. I don't lift weights too much, but am really into mountain biking and do that at least 3 times a week in the summer, often for 2 hours or more at a time.

[wbahn]

Greetings and welcome.

Where are you stationed at? With the "spacecop" moniker I'm guessing the mountain?

A lot of people have real fast early sucess due to water loss. Depending on what your efforts have done thuse far you may or may not have a bunch of excess water to lose.

But unless you are VERY insulin resistent you should have no sweat making the five pound mark each month.

I fought the same thing the last six months I was in. It was funny - we had the annual PT test and I blew it away. I ran the 1.5 mile in under ten minutes - faster than anyone else in my shop and faster than anyone from the Sqdn HQ. Many were unable to complete it running. Yet I'm the one that got written up for being "out of shape" because I was 235 pounds (with a 202 pound max). Back then they didn't even do body fat measurements - it was the scale and the scale only. I don't know what my body fat was then - it was probably pushing the current limit or over it somewhat.

[MoJo182]

Actually I am stationed at Schriever. I live at the AF Academy though. Quite a drive. I too am able to do most cardio activities better than most people I work with. It is frusterating because all that exercise isn't helping me lose weight or inches anymore. It is now the first morning of my diet. I think I am going to start eating breakfast at work from now on, i don't wanna wake up the whole family a 4 in the morning frying eggs. :D

[wbahn]

That IS a drive - especially if the roads are bad.

I would think they would house you at Pete.

I've got a couple of people on my staff that work out at Schriever.

If you haven't already been warned - be warned. The first few days can be VERY rough. Mostly bad headaches and low energy. The only thing you can do is grit your teeth and drink LOTS and LOTS of water. These withdrawal symptoms usually go away in a few days leaving you feeling really good.

Are you planning to keep a journal here? It's a great resource.