John In Illinois
118 heat index here........
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2001
- Messages
- 461
After posting the results of my Doctor's visit this morning, I have received a couple of requests to write my "story", so that it could be shared with reluctant family members. I was going to just send it to the few people who asked, but one of them asked me to post it to the board in case it would help anyone else.
So here it is.
I began my diet on Feb. 1, 2003.
When I started, I weighed 245 pounds.
I chose Atkins as my plan, based upon the fact that it was recommended by my Best Friend, at first I ridiculed it as an "unhealthy" diet, because I was POSITIVE it would kill me with cholesterol. I had already been diagnosed by my doctor as having both high blood pressure (160/100), and extremely high cholesterol (262 total).
He put me on medication for both, the blood pressure barely dropped a few points, and the cholesterol came down to 226 and stayed firm there.
I bought the Atkins book, and after reading it thoroughly, I was convinced that it was a legitimate option to me.
I threw away a lot of unhealthy foods from my house to avoid what I foresaw as temptation. This would actually prove uneccesary, as I was one of the lucky ones that suffered absolutely NO cravings or withdrawals.
My loss was quite rapid, and this helped me to remain commited and to never let my motivation diminish.
In the first week alone, I lost TEN pounds!
In the weeks that have followed, I have lost an average of 3.15 pounds per week. Some weeks were complete stalls, and some were extremely "productive".
I have now reached 195 pounds, with my "goal" being 180-185.
Where my waist size was 42, it is now a loose-fitting 36, with a pair of 34's fitting "snugly" last week in the dressing room. This is a pants size I have not seen since I was a teenager. Buying clothes has become "fun" to me.
I can honestly say that I have not "cheated" even once, which is amazing given my lifelong lack of anything remotely resembling willpower.
I recently returned to the doctor after 6 months of him being unaware of any changes in my life.
When he walked into the exam room, his first words upon seeing my new lokk, were, "what the HELL happened to you"? To say that he was impressed is an understatement. He assumed that it was the result of me following his "low fat" diet. When I told him what I was in fact doing, he at first began to disparage the Atkins Plan, but quickly corrected himself by admitting that results speak louder than words. He did a thorough exam, and pronounced me healthier than he had ever seen me. My blood pressure has dropped to the low end of normal, and he is evaluating whether I am going to stop taking meds to control that. He ordered a full battery of blood tests, the results of which amazed him even more. My Triglycerides (which are the leading indicator of future heart disease), dropped from 219 to 70 (below 150 desired). My total Cholesterol dropped from 226 to 166 (below 200 desired). My HDL (good cholesterol) went from 43 to 48 (above 45 desired). And my LDL (bad cholesterol) went from 133 to 94 (under 100 desired).
This way of life has undoubtedly added years to my life, as well as giving me a new outlook on my appearance. I have NEVER been able to think of myself as anything other than a homely, plain guy, with a great sense of humor developed as a defense mechanism. I am still a LONG way from being able to see myself as anything remotely approaching good-looking, but I feel better about my appearance, and that is a big thing to this plain guy.
I hope that just one person is helped by reading my story, even if it only helped those insomniacs among you to doze off. ;-) (the sense of humor defense) LOL
So here it is.
I began my diet on Feb. 1, 2003.
When I started, I weighed 245 pounds.
I chose Atkins as my plan, based upon the fact that it was recommended by my Best Friend, at first I ridiculed it as an "unhealthy" diet, because I was POSITIVE it would kill me with cholesterol. I had already been diagnosed by my doctor as having both high blood pressure (160/100), and extremely high cholesterol (262 total).
He put me on medication for both, the blood pressure barely dropped a few points, and the cholesterol came down to 226 and stayed firm there.
I bought the Atkins book, and after reading it thoroughly, I was convinced that it was a legitimate option to me.
I threw away a lot of unhealthy foods from my house to avoid what I foresaw as temptation. This would actually prove uneccesary, as I was one of the lucky ones that suffered absolutely NO cravings or withdrawals.
My loss was quite rapid, and this helped me to remain commited and to never let my motivation diminish.
In the first week alone, I lost TEN pounds!
In the weeks that have followed, I have lost an average of 3.15 pounds per week. Some weeks were complete stalls, and some were extremely "productive".
I have now reached 195 pounds, with my "goal" being 180-185.
Where my waist size was 42, it is now a loose-fitting 36, with a pair of 34's fitting "snugly" last week in the dressing room. This is a pants size I have not seen since I was a teenager. Buying clothes has become "fun" to me.
I can honestly say that I have not "cheated" even once, which is amazing given my lifelong lack of anything remotely resembling willpower.
I recently returned to the doctor after 6 months of him being unaware of any changes in my life.
When he walked into the exam room, his first words upon seeing my new lokk, were, "what the HELL happened to you"? To say that he was impressed is an understatement. He assumed that it was the result of me following his "low fat" diet. When I told him what I was in fact doing, he at first began to disparage the Atkins Plan, but quickly corrected himself by admitting that results speak louder than words. He did a thorough exam, and pronounced me healthier than he had ever seen me. My blood pressure has dropped to the low end of normal, and he is evaluating whether I am going to stop taking meds to control that. He ordered a full battery of blood tests, the results of which amazed him even more. My Triglycerides (which are the leading indicator of future heart disease), dropped from 219 to 70 (below 150 desired). My total Cholesterol dropped from 226 to 166 (below 200 desired). My HDL (good cholesterol) went from 43 to 48 (above 45 desired). And my LDL (bad cholesterol) went from 133 to 94 (under 100 desired).
This way of life has undoubtedly added years to my life, as well as giving me a new outlook on my appearance. I have NEVER been able to think of myself as anything other than a homely, plain guy, with a great sense of humor developed as a defense mechanism. I am still a LONG way from being able to see myself as anything remotely approaching good-looking, but I feel better about my appearance, and that is a big thing to this plain guy.
I hope that just one person is helped by reading my story, even if it only helped those insomniacs among you to doze off. ;-) (the sense of humor defense) LOL
