Michael McNeil said:I have tried Atkin's a few times over the years. The first time I
was very successful and lost 40 lbs in a matter of 3 months. The
last 2 times have been difficult. I manage to last a couple weeks
and fall off the wagon. I have told my family of my intentions and
have even had my wife assist and go along with the plan the last
time.... She couldn't take the lack of foods she was normally eating
and went back to eating normally causing me to fall off once again.
It's difficult with a family of 4 and you're the only one eating
differently when they all eat rice, pizza, noodles, sandwiches,
milk, juice, etc.
It *is* difficult, but if you can reach a point where you take
complete responsibility for your health and don't expect anyone else
to help you, you'll be much better off. It sucks to sit there and
watch other people eat foods you miss, but it has to be done. Even if
your wife and kids did the diet with you, you'd still run into this
problem at restaurants and gatherings, so it has to be dealt with. I
know; I used that excuse for falling off the diet many times in the
past.
My last failure was a few weeks ago, when I went with my girlfriend to
a large picnic her family had. The table was loaded with carbs as far
as the eye could see, but there was barbecued pulled pork, so I
figured I'd just stick to that. The stuff turned out to have so much
sugar in it, I might as well have eaten a bag of M&Ms. After a
helping of that, the cravings went into overdrive, but I managed to
stick to high-fat, high-carb cheats like a cream-cheese dessert and at
least stayed away from the chips, which I hoped would soften the blow
enough for me to get back on track quickly the next day, which I did.
A couple hours after that meal, I was so irritable -- angry at myself,
mostly, but also moody and flighty from the sugar rush -- that my
girlfriend was really shocked. I'm normally a very mellow person, and
she'd never seen me like that in the year we've known each other.
The other real treat that day was something that may annoy me more
than anything else in the world: people who have to comment on what
you're eating. I just want to yell, "Eyes on your own plate, people!"
If you're a big guy, you've had this happen many times, when people
are terribly concerned that you might not get enough to eat. I'm not
sure how they think I got to this size in the first place, but it
really bothers them if I don't heap my plate and dig in with gusto.
So there I was with my helping of sugared pork, a couple deviled eggs,
and some cole slaw I hoped wouldn't be too sweet (it was, of course).
The people across the table, who were perfectly nice folks,
immediately started in: "Boy, you sure aren't eating much," to which I
smiled and politely replied, "No, I'm not." "Well, don't be shy; it's
all really good!" (So am I insulting everyone now by not wanting
their food?) "I know you've got a bigger appetite than that!" It
seemed to really bother them to see me eating less than them. Maybe
it made them feel gluttonous. Finally I just succumbed to peer
pressure and got some more, which my racing blood sugar wanted me to
do anyway.
I could have lied and said that I ate before I came, but then I would
have looked stupid, because the meal was the whole point of the day.
I could have told them I'm diabetic, but so many people think they
know what that means, and they just end up pushing high-carb
no-table-sugar foods on you, like potatoes. I'm fairly introverted,
so I certainly didn't want to go into the whole lecture about insulin
resistance and blood sugar and so on in front of a bunch of people I
just met. So I ate and paid for it.
Next time, I'll have to take one of those other options, imperfect as
they are. For starters, from now on, I'm always going to eat a full
meal before I go to anything like that, so if the menu is all-carb, I
can simply beg off, and I won't be fighting my hunger and cravings the
whole time. (I swear the smell of some foods can cause cravings all
by themselves if I'm hungry.)
Quoted message said:The bonus tho is that I absolutely love chicken, bacon, tuna and
hamburg. Just have to increase the intake of greens tho.
Well, you don't have to, but if you want to, it's a good idea. Man
can live and lose weight on meat and eggs alone, but greens can add a
lot of variety.
Quoted message said:This time I am hoping is different. I climbed on the scale
yesterday and noticed my weight was a little higher than what I
expected it to be so last night decided once again to begin Atkins
because of it's initial success a few years ago. I went out today
and bought enough food to keep me going for a couple weeks and
cooked up a pile of stuff last night and today to save time.
That's a good plan. Especially at first, it helps to have plenty of
stuff ready to eat immediately when the cravings hit.
Quoted message said:Hopefully I can stay with it this time. Wish me luck.
Not to sound too new-agey or camp-counselor about it, but the more you
can change that "hopefully I can" to "I will," the better off you'll
be. It's not easy; I'm still working on it.
Quoted message said:btw: any negative comments about my failures in the past... please
keep to yourself. I know my weaknesses and don't need petty
reminders of them from the idiots that troll this board.
Just kill everything that gets cross-posted to more than two groups,
and you lose almost all of that.
Quoted message said:currently: 5'11' & 272 lbs
hopefully: same height & weigh less.
Quoted message said:The overall weight is not really an issue with me but mainly losing
the love handles, stomach and the man [censored] are.
I know what you mean. Who cares how many pounds you weigh, if you
look good and are in good health. I don't think I've ever heard
someone talk about trying to reduce his density. :-)
--
Aaron -- 285/235/200 -- aaron.baugher.biz
