StephenSa and scansinboy, I'd also like to thank you for sharing your stories, and thanks to bt8624 for adding the opposing point of view with civility. Too often the discussion degenerates into bickering over factoids.
Atkins has worked for me as well. I was 5'7" and over 200 pounds at one point. My doctor told me I was pre-diabetic. I wasn't an overeater during meals, but I snacked too much on chips and crackers, and drank fruit juice and regularly-sweetened soda pop habitually. I had several slices of toast or bread with dinner, and often had desserts like ice cream and pie. And I did not exercise. So over time, I eventually got mighty hefty.
One day I went over to atkins.com, out of curiosity. My interest was piqued, so I went to the bookstore and bought a copy of the book. I do NOT recommend starting the diet without reading the book cover to cover.
I lost twenty pounds in one month. It just slid off astonishingly. I was hooked. Now I weigh as much as I did as a senior in high school, which was seven years ago now. It was like going back in time. And I've kept the weight off by avoiding pasta, sugary drinks, fruit juice, carby snacks, and the other usual suspects.
Now, I find that carb snacking was a combination of habit and the body's seemingly bottomless appetite for that type of energy. I think it's the Lay's-brand potato chip product with this tag line: "You can't eat just one!" I had no idea how right they were until I looked back on my old self. Eating carbs just makes you want more carbs. Unfortunately, carbs take a long time to burn compared to fat, and fat won't burn until the carbs have been exhausted.
And yet here we are with grains at the base of the food pyramid. It seems no more accurate now than the "Four Food Groups" arrangement that people my age were taught in grade school.
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"The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine
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