I’m up to 81 pounds gone now and I’m due for a “woosh.” The plan is to be at 86 gone by the end of the month.
There’s a woman on a low carb message board I go to that tweaked Atkins a bit and lost like, 160 pounds in 7 months. She did it by concentrating on protein, cutting carbs nearly to nothing and watching her fat intake. She lost 77 pounds in 11 weeks: yes, one pound a day for 11 weeks. So I loaded up on protein today and am going to give her way of doing it a month and see what happens.
And yes, smokin, people treat me differently. Oh, I’m still very overweight but I look pretty damn good for a fat girl. I’ve got a good haircut and a pretty face and I try to doll up most days. People talk to me more now. However, my attitude has changed, too: I’m bitchier than I used to be, but not in a bad way. I used to be such a doormat. Now, not so much; I have a spine now. I still have trouble with eye contact but I notice I don’t look at my feet as much anymore when I’m walking around in public. Maybe I’m sending confidence signals to people and they’re responding, I dunno.
Just checking in again to say that in two weeks on WW, I’ve lost 14 pounds! I’ve still got a long way to go, so all the encouragement here will help lots! But already, I’m noticing benefits–my legs and ankles don’t hurt all the time the way they did two weeks ago! Yay for me! Yay for all of us!!
Still haven’t checked Curves yet though. Gotta find someone to keep the kids while I go! I’ve been told that there are no facilities there like the nursery at the Y, so until I find a way, I’ll have to wait.
Whoo Hoo! Got on the scales this morning and I was another two pounds gone. That’s 9 pounds in 6 days—nothing short of a miracle, as far as I’m concerned. Anybody know if there’s a way to tell when you stop losing water and start losing fat?
Thanks for the input on Curves, JavaMaven1. It does sound like something I could do without too much mental anguish! Do I need to call and make an appointment for my first visit, or is it something you can just walk in anytime?
Hi Smokinjbc! Thanks for coming out of lurkerdom—I’m a lurker too, mostly. (Check out my post count compared to my join date) A belated congratulations to you, too. 53 pounds—wow!
Maybe I’m just on a “beginners high,” but I definitely walked into the office this morning with a bit more bounce in my step. Especially for a Monday. And I actually got up when the alarm clock went off instead of hitting snooze five times—another miracle! I was just excited to get on the scales and see if I had made any progress.
(On Preview)—Yay, Mayflower! We can be newbies together!
Hmm, maybe I’ll have to give that a try, too. I’ve lost about 60 pounds on Atkins, but have hit a plateau and the scale hasn’t budged for a few weeks. I’m going to the grocery store a little later - I guess I’ll get a bunch of protein and watch the carbs and fats. I’ll go to Trader Joe’s, too and get some frozen fish.
I’ve noticed that, too. I’m still chunky, and I think I need to lose a good bit more (I’m at 188), but I guess I carry it well. When I do admit how much I weigh (only to a few select individuals), they seem shocked. They usually guess more around 160-ish. Anyway, since I have lost so much, and have been able to buy new (nicer) clothes, I feel better about myself. And when I run into people I haven’t see in awhile, and they comment on how great I look, that helps, too.
I mentioned in another thread that I lost a big chunk of weight over the summer (I teach preschool and am off over the summmer) and when I went back to work, one of my coworkers kept insisting that I must have spent the summer at a spa, since I looked so great.
(Note: I tried to post this in the morning, but I got booted out by the Great Pay-To-Post Conversion. I was able to go back and copy it into an email till now. I did go to the store and stock up on lots of chicken and fish and some lean lunchmeats. I’m going to try what SnoopyFan mentioned - lots of protein, lowest amount of carbs possible, and really watching the fat. I have to get that scale to move - it’s almost swimsuit season!)
Yes*. When your body starts to burn your fat (lipolysis, I think), it produces ketones as an after effect. These are flushed by your kidneys and you can detect their presence in your urine using testing strips from your drugstore (Ketostix ™ and others).
If you drink a lot of caffine (or alcohol), you’ll probably urinate enough that the ketones will be watered down to barely mark a strip.
** Insert other arguments or objections here.
Wow. My strips have been showing dark purple since the end of day two. (I don’t drink any caffeine or alcohol.) Does that mean all the weight I’ve lost since then has been real weight?
Also re: the Ketone strips–does it necessarily mean that I’m in ketosis? Or could it just be that since the fat content of my diet has gone up, that’s what my body is burning before it draws from the stored fat? I guess my question is–are ketones produced from burning the food I just ate, or does it only come from my own body’s fat?
The ketones are a symptom of bodyfat metabolism, not digestion.
Are you diabetic? If you are, and your blood sugar is sky high (450 or higher), you may be in ketoacidosis, which is bad. Otherwise, if your sugars are at an acceptable level (less than 150), enjoy the ride.
Hi all. Read all the posts here, and I must say it has helped me to get motivated. I had a kidney transplant 2 years ago, and am on immuneosuppressants, which include some nasty sterioids. Make you gain like crazy! I went from 225 to just under 300 lbs. in two years. Needless to say, I need to lose some of the weight. Talked to my Dr. about the Atkins diet, and he said it would be OK. Any good web sites with good low carb recipies? Keep up the good work, and I’ll be around for more motivation!
And, this isn’t a recipe site, but you can find the nutritional data on just about any food available to you here: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl That website has been extremely useful.
Hi all. I’ve been following this thread (and the previous threads) for a long time, and some of your stories and my brother’s success inspired me to start on Atkins. I’m 25, male, and I have been morbidly obese since I was about 10 years old.
I started Atkins on 01/07, my 25th birthday. As of Friday, 3/19, I had lost 41 pounds. I have never felt as good as I do now. I’m wearing clothes I haven’t in over 2 years and some other stuff that I bought to wear “when I lost the weight”, while assuming I never would. I’ve even managed to put on and wear (with only mild discomfort) a pair of shorts 5 sizes smaller than I was wearing previously. I sleep better, I have more energy, and I don’t have the blood sugar rollercoaster after meals any more. My blood pressure is down and so is my cholesterol.
I’ve been using FitDay to track my intake and it has turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be.
My goal weight is 240 and I’m almost one quarter of the way there. It might seem heavy to some of y’all, but I’ve always been fairly muscular underneath the fat, so I think I’ll look pretty good at 240.
Oreo, don’t bother with the strips. They’re useless: too many things can affect the color and all they’ll do is get you worried. If your appetite is basically gone, you’re in ketosis.
Heeeeeeeeee-YAW! kick
Now, vunderbob, you know that exercising daily in the mornings is a fabulous way to charge your metabolism, which is going to really help in your weight loss. I know how hard it is to get up early to go to the gym, but you know that when you get there, you’re going to feel better about yourself.
Bambi: Verily, it does rock, doesn’t it? I started at 315, am down 55 or so to about 261. Just whooshed my 260s, so I’m on top of the world. Keep truckin’, man. The world of 200 is much different from the 300’s (which is probably much different from the 400’s). I made one of the starting goals, which was to ‘make my driver’s license’. It’s been a lie for a decade. My final goal is 200 even, though I may just keep riding this train to see where it ends.
Another good recipe/whatever site is http://www.lowcarbfriends.com, which has a pretty good board too, if you can get by some of the drama queens.
Oh, I know about the world of the 200s. In high school, I dropped 110 pounds to make it down to 240, but it was basically through starving myself on a low-fat, moderate-protein, high-carb (like the AMA recommends) diet. I was miserable the entire time I was on it, and the person who emerged on the other side had lost all his muscle mass and kept on a lot of fat. I see pictures of myself then and I honestly look only about 50 pounds lighter (instead of 130 lighter) because my bodyfat percentage was very high. When I left the structured world of HS, it was much easier to snack and eat poorly, so I did. Put on everything I had lost and then about 70 more. I had managed over the past year or so to stop gaining and actually lose about 5 pounds a month, but it was just taking too long. At least when the weight returned, it brought my muscle mass back with it – I still don’t look like I weigh what I do, and anyone who asks is shocked when I tell them.
Weigh in today, and another pound gone. The two people who really inspired me on the Board are BiblioCat and JavaMaven, so I want to thank you both for sharing your experiences.
SnoopyFan is right about the Ketostix. When I first started, I could turn them easily. These days, even though I’m staying in Induction, I rarely show anything on the sticks. This is probably because I drink about 1.5 gallons of water a day. If you aren’t hungry – if you can look at a bag of potato chips or candy and honestly take it or leave it – you’re in ketosis. If you have to remind yourself to eat, or wait until your stomach hurts because you forgot, you’re in ketosis.
I’m just checkin’ in. As of last Thursday I was 189.8. Talk about exciting! I’m finally out of the 190s. My losses have slowed down quite a bit, basically a pound a week now, which I know is the healthy rate, but it’s also the frustrating rate. I want it off and I want it all off now!
I haven’t been tracking points like I should either. I usually don’t bother thinking about points at all over the weekend. I’m a bad little weight watcher.
I’m still trying to talk myself into going to the gym. I really need to get back into doing some activity. Problem is the gym in my town is pretty sad. I’ve quit there three times already in the last 3ish years and I’m almost ashamed to go back. Not to mention they don’t keep long hours. They open at 11 a.m. and close by 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Fridays they close by 6 and Saturdays they’re open 12 til 5. Still I know I could make time to go at least three times a week. I’ve just gotta talk myself into it.
Today though, I’ll just worry about tracking points again.
No freaking kidding. I feel better than I have in years. Getting off that blood sugar roller coaster is the best thing I’ve done. I also sleep better, and I have lots more energy. My skin has cleared up, and isn’t nearly as dry (My hands still get dry, but that’s because I wash them a lot and handwash all my dishes, but that’s another story). I don’t get cravings for sugary snacks or junk food at all anymore.
I’m going to go check out that link for FitDay. That looks kind of neat.
And what’s this? I “inspired” you? Lil’ old me? Aw shucks.
Glad to have helped.
My final goal is 200 even, though I may just keep riding this train to see where it ends.