Down 40 lbs...

[JM]

...in just over 2 months. My wife $ (pronounced Ca-Ching) has lost nearly 30 in the same span.

Love this diet. I no longer crave sugar. I am in a better mood. My joints all feel better. My tennis game has improved dramatically.

15 more to go, then time to level off.

JM

[JohnKleeb]

1. congrads JM

[nini]

2. what diet are you on?

Congrats to you and the Mrs.!

[JM]

4. Funny...

...I just read the thread on Atkins. I am on Atkins, although I never completely eliminated carbs and reintroduce carbs periodically to stave off cravings and reset my body when I hit a plateau. Seems to work well for me.

Later,
JM

[nini]

5. Atkins is safe.. just need to drink alot of water.

good for you.. I just started that too!

Thanks for sharing your success

[KCDem]

3. don't keep us hanging!

What are you doing? Great job, good luck with the last 15!

[mourningdove92]

6. My significant other and I are also doing the Atkins thing.

I think we have both lost about 10 lbs and I am feeling better. All my stomach problems seem to have fled the coop. No more heartburn or diverticulitis attacks.....weird, but true.

[Ilsa]

7. diverticulitis?

could you have celiac disease instead? A problem digesting gluten?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. Celiac disease

many people have gluten intolerance and don't realize it. My sister suffered from it for years and eliminated wheat from her diet and her irritable bowel disappeared. A lot of physical ailments are related to wheat/gluten intolerance, including arthritis.

I have lost 20lbs in one month on Atkins and have lost my cravings for pizza, pasta and bread, which were the staples of my diet. I also don't suffer from acid reflux anymore. Anyone who has diabetes in their family or blood sugar problems is better off eating a low-carb diet.

[GCP]

14. I've come to believe that Atkins is the diet we're supposed to be on

Before I get flamed mercilessly, think about it - we lived on this planet for hundreds of thousands of years living off whatever we could find - plants, nuts, seeds, eggs, an occasional animal - of which we ate everything, all the fat and blubber included.

We didn't discover the planting of wheat, barley, oats, potatoes etc until about 10,000 years ago. Our bodies are not naturally adapted to take in large amounts of carbs which is most peoples' diet today. Think of the coffee and donuts breakfast, a massive influx of sugar in a very short time which our pancreas has to deal with, as opposed to something a hunter-gatherer might have eaten - nuts, berries and fruit - high fiber and complex carbs, fats and proteins which are absorbed much more slowly into the bloodstream. You don't feel hungry a few hours later, because your blood sugar level hasn't had a massive spike and then fall-back, it's been kept level by the fats, fiber and protein.

People have a big problem thinking that Atkins is meat, eggs cream and butter etc. Only the first two weeks are the induction phase to get rid of the carbs stored in your body and put you into the fat-burning, ketosis mode, and even then you're allowed salad once or twice a day. After that, you gradually add complex carbs such as vegetables, more salads, berries, etc.

An Atkins diet works, and diseases such as coeliac disease and type 2 diabetes become a thing of the past - which, when you think about it, shows that they are artifacts of a bad diet.

Read this, it changed my mind about Atkins, and I've been on a modifed form ever since - more nuts, veggies and fruit with meat once a day.

http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/articles/fatlie.shtml

[Ilsa]

15. ITA.

I think looking at this from an anthropological approach is very relevant, with some adjustments made for extremely gradual, over ten millenia or more, mutations in our physical requirements, if there are any!

I suspect celiac disease gets misdiagnosed pretty frequently. Maybe some people don't know how they are predisposed to it genetically. Sounds like some people are finding out more about the possibility, though.

I don't have celiac disease, but I placed our family on a gluten-free diet several years ago to see if my son's autism could be related to gluten intolerance caused by measles vaccine, etc. The results were disappointing, though.

But my family does have blood glucose problems, and I am insulin resistant (Metabolic Syndrome). I'm going to try Atkins to see how well it helps.

Thanks for the good news everyone; it is very encouraging.

[GCP]

16. Try a moderate amount of exercise every day

It should help with your insulin resistance - exercise helps you lower your insulin resistance.

When you cut down your carb load, your pancreas will pump out less insulin. Hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood, caused by insulin resistance and diet), is a cause of many of the problems faced by diabetics - sticky platelets, leakage of blood into the retinas, kidney and cardiac problems. Diabetes is the primary cause of blindness and limb amputations in the US, and one of the principle causes of heart and kidney disease. And type 2 diabetes is becoming an epidemic - I believe it's related to the high-carb lifestyle most people have.

I'm sure cutting back the carbs and increasing your exercise would do you a lot of good. Lecture over!

Good luck!

:hi:

[stanwyck]

8. Wonderful

I'm happy for you both. Losing 40 pounds is quite an accomplishment. You should be proud. Glad to hear you're feeling so well.

[TSIAS]

9. Great!

I've lost 20 pounds in the last 7 weeks. I wish I could do as well as you.

:toast:

--Taylor

[ProudGerman]

10. I've just hit the weights with a passion recently

Energy levels are through the roof. I haven't lost that much weight, because I've gained a good bit of muscle. The cool thing is that I haven't changed my eating habits that much. I've basically gave up soda and I munch on carb rich things.

I've almost lost the "spare tire", and I'm enjoying bitching about my pants being too loose. Once I get trim and fit, I'm going for some serious strength training. I wanna be able to lift the rear of my car like the guys do on the Stong Man competitions, lol.

[laura888]

12. can you drink any alcohol while on atkins?

n/t

[JM]

13. Actually...

...if you read the Atkins book and follow the additional information, they tell you not to kill carbs completely, but to restrict them for the first few weeks. The goal is to reset the body and find an equilibrium point with carbs. It also says you can cave in occasionally. The neat thing is that once you follow the diet, you lose the cravingfor carbs and don't feel so well when you overload on them.

My wife $ drinks occasionally, although I don't drink (I didn't before the diet, either). She drinks Michelob Ultra. She says it tastes good and it has less carbs than her favorite beer.

Later,
JM

[newyawker99]

17. Congrats JM to you and your wife!

:toast: :thumbsup:

[proud patriot]

18. Way to go to both you and your wife

:toast: