scansinboy

I'm probably not the person who needs to do Atkins. I'm 30 years old, 5'7" and weighed 185 lbs back on January 1st. Not fat, but I've been a lot less active since getting out of college. As a result, I had a bit of a gut. I've been on Atkins for a month now, (induction or very close to it the whole time) and I now weigh 165. 20 pounds in a month. Not too shabby.

I suppose I should say WHY I went on atkins in the first place.
I quit smoking almost 4 years ago, and quit at the drop of a hat. I was mentally ready to quit and found myself to have no withdrawl symptoms and very few cravings. 3 days After I had my last cigarette, I decided to cut out soda, more to get off of caffeine than to cut the sugar. I figured if I was goint to feel like shit from quitting smoking, I might as well Feel like shit from caffeine withdrawl as well. The only side effect of that was that by the second day off of caffeine I developed a wicked headache. However, I took two Aleve, went to sleep and woke up with the headache gone. So in one fell swoop I was off of Caffeine and cigarettes. Somehow I felt like it was WAY too easy.

So this year I decided to REALLY test my willpower. I decided to see if I could give up beer for a month. (I work in a bar, I LOVE beer, and drink about 3 or 4 Guinness a night, so this was going to be no easy task.) Once I had my plan in my head, I figured that since I was going to deprive myself of beer, I might as well try atkins and lose the love handles as well. About a week into the no beer thing, i realized that I really didn't care for the taste of Gin and seltzers so i just decided to give up drinking altogether for the month.

So that's WHY I did it. I also plan to keep on it for another month or so untill it gets warm enough here in Wisconsin to start excercising outside. Then I plan to start incorproating more carbs back into my diet in the form of breads and grains. At this point all the carbs are from vegetables.
Now for some tips and what you can expect.

If you drink, I reccomend you go completely dry, at least for a while, and definitely during the induction phase. Incorporate red wine after a while if you must but Alcohol inhibits the body's ability to burn fat, so stay away completely at first. You'll feel better plus the alcohol that you can/could drink (Vodka or Gin) is just empty calories anyway.

Sams club is your friend. I went and spent about $100 on food to last me through the month. Bags of frozen chicken breasts, chicken patties, burger patties, hot dogs, Pork chops, cold cuts, frozen salmon filets, cheese, eggs and vegetables. Not to mention little deli sausage sticks, which are great to snack on. Avoid Buying anything with breading. Having enough food to go on all month, (Well, buy the eggs as you use them, ) was a great way to motivate myself through the month.

A George Forman Grill is the best invention ever. Prior to starting this, I used our grill maybe 3 times a year. Now I use it practically every day. The small ones cost about $20 and they are perfect for preparing all those frozen foods that you stock up on in the beginning. Yeah yeah they're more of a fryer than a grill but they're still great.

The first 4 or five days are the worst. Normally at a meal one would eat a piece of meat, a helping of potatoes, some vegetables, salad and dessert. Now all you're eating is the meat. What I'm saying is if you imagine a full plate as what you used to eat, get used to eating 1/4 of the food you used to. It's during the first week that you feel the hungriest, because the standard carbs as fuel are gone. Your body is simply adjusting. Also the quick initial weight loss many experience is because you're simply eating less food. And no matter how much you do eat, you never really feel satisfied, at least at first.
Thankfully though, this doesn't last. After about a week and a half the constant hunger subsided and I felt fine and had plenty of energy eating one small meal a day.

Another benefit to this diet is that you VERY quickly realize just how much crap you're used to eating, Processed junk food and whatnot. You'll find yourself craving the weirdest things at the wierdest times, not unlike being pregnant, so I understand. The only difference is that you can't have any of the stuff you have those sudden cravings for. Which, for the most part is a good thing. Even if you're in shape in the first place, that stuff isn't very good for you anyway. You're better off without it.

After about 1-2 weeks your breath will start to STINK. For some reason, that means it's working. I'll leave the science out of it. Can't smell your own breath? Lick the back of your hand, then smell that. Yeah, it's pretty gross. Be sure to brush twice a day and use mouthwash. Your S.O. will thank you for it.

You WILL get sick of certain foods really fast. The key is variety and also flavor. Eggs and beef usually come first. Hot sauce, (if that's your thing) worked wonders for me. I also made up a spice blend that was great on all those chicken patties and burgers. Swiss cheese melted on hotdogs tasts great, and don't forget about hollandaise sauce. MMM mmm! Chicken cordon bleu, salmon oscar, Spinach stuffed pork loin, all delicious.

Take a multi vitamin, steam your vegetables (to keep the vitamins in) ,take fiber in one form or another. And get as much excersise as you can, even if it's just a walk around the block.

Well that about all I have to say on the subject. If you're still reading, color me impressed.

I will end with this: I made it a month and a few days not having any beer. I went to a friends party and ended my self imposed beer exile, drinking 3 guinness, as well as partaking in some chips & dip, and a large piece of birthday cake. (Bread AND sugar all in one!! What more could one ask for???) and ice cream.
And surprise surprise, guess what?
I felt like shit the next day.

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