So the first time I'd ever heard of Atkins or LC I was introduced to it by my BFF. I was getting married, and she'd gone from a very slender 5'5" person in a size 2 to a big-for-her frame size 12. We saw a girl with a generous rear and the bff said to me "Please tell me my butt's not THAT big" and I said "Well... not QUITE but by next month?" Myself, well I was at a higher weight than I'd ever been but I was in very good shape. The BFF worked for a doctor who suggested that she try Atkins... she did, and between March and my wedding in June, she went from that 12 to a size 8 and looked great and so wanting to be sure I fit in my little teeny wedding dress, I approached my doctor about trying it. My weight did swing, with my menstrual cycle mostly, but a big swing of about ten pounds that my own doctor had tracked. My doctor was very excited that I'd mentioned it- turns out he was on a low carb diet as a lifestyle choice and his wife, a cardiologist, was too and that's how he got started. This is going oh, at least 12 years back. My doctor was a very slight man and I figured if he was so skinny and healthy, it might be a good choice for me too. I didn't need to lose or keep off more than 10 pounds, so rather than go the more extreme Atkins induction route, he asked me to try to count my carbs and keep them under 50 a day. Against his advice, I started atkins, mainly so I'd know what to eat, how much, and if I should supplement. Well, in two weeks I lost about 8 pounds. I was sold. I already have low blood pressure so that was unchanged, but my cholesterol, already not a problem dropped too. As did my heart rate which I attribute to all the extra energy I had. I was already active, but I felt like I had turbo-energy. Eventually I fell off the wagon and over time, unrelated, I developed polycystic ovarian syndrome. Many sugar-challenged women have this and because it leads you to carry weight it also tends to lead to diabetes. As a side effect of being on atkins successfully, I had at least sworn off all grains that were not whole and I definitely increased my love of lowcarb veggies which over time is what I attribute to not getting too far off my ideal weight. And I say this because the Polycystic issue - that I was SURE I had- was repeatedly blown off by my doctors because each of them said "Dear, you'd be OBESE. Morbidly obese by now...."
I used Atkins to help me lose weight again after two more children. The dread Ovary issue was confirmed after some issues and now I've hit the dread 40 and here I am going back to the tried and true Low Carb diet. I wish I had the wherewithall to never get off of it because I always feel so great ON it- but eventually I give in to something I love- Pizza, good bread... (hey, I grew up in NY), a banana, a baked potato... and the bad habits return- my problem is I know I can maintain at a certain level of carbs, but eating at that level I find I'm just a plain old weakling! Instead of low carb (so controversial with people) I prefer to say I avoid eating processed sugar and starches in favor of "keeping it close to the Earth" with meats, veggies, raw greens, etc. i've learned over time what does and does not work for me on Atkins and it's very easy for me to start and get through now with little to no cravings. I can cook for my family and eat with them instead of separately and don't mind that they're having whole grain pasta if I'm not. I lean toward eating the way a scientist would tell me to anyway and once past induction I do believe in a balanced diet but that does NOT include anything that came off a machine. This is my first week back on the diet and I've lost almost 4 pounds. Yay!
I'm here to see what works for others, to get new ideas for food incl. recipes, exercise, gind some encouragement for my long term goal of living this way forever and hopefully help others along the way.
On again off again...
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