The problem with weight loss through dieting, as I see it, is that we look to diets that have worked for others assuming that if they worked for someone else they should also work for us. But weight loss is uniquely individual to each human being. Our bodies, though mechanically set up the same, are individually fine-tuned and balanced chemically, and hormonally. It makes a big difference if we are men or women. Our hormones are balanced differently. Also, our genes have given us a unique set of “predisposed indicators”. Predisposition does not mean we will actually develop the issues we may be predisposed to, but they are all different for every individual, even those in the same family. Then there’s the biggest difference, and what makes us “human beings”, we all think differently. Every individual has their own preferences, likes and dislikes, for EVERYTHING, including food. Food tastes may run the same in families and cultures, depending on what you grew up on, but if you think for a moment about your own family and what each individual likes to eat, you will see that even in the same family, tastes can run completely different from one to another. Not only does it depend on taste, but the most important thing of all is our individual psychology. “How” we think, and “What” we think, about any subject, makes us who we are individually. So, it’s a miracle that any given “diet” works for a “group” of people. Every weight loss diet out there still needs to be individually tailored to the particular human being trying to use it. Each individual must look at a diet and know their own “weight loss psychology”, to make it work for them. I think one of the biggest problems is that too many people don’t do that. They don’t trust themselves because they figure that whatever they are doing is what got them to this point in the first place. So, they make, in my opinion, the biggest diet mistake of all, they follow the diet EXACTLY the way it is supposed to work. And you know what? It works!! They lose weight! But for most, it is VERY hard WORK. They are miserable. I know, because I’ve been there. Diets that make me feel “deprived”, make me irritable, angry, and rebellious. I may lose weight, but I am an unhappy, grouchy, person. How long can a person be on a diet if it is hard “work”? Long enough to “tough it out” and lose a good amount of weight before they decide they just can’t do it anymore and QUIT! And, we all know what happens after that. We go back to our old way of eating. Back to our old comfortable habits that require no work and no thinking and we gain the weight back. Most of the time, we gain a few more pounds than when we started. This is nothing new. As “weight loss experts”, we already know this, because most of us, at one time or another, have been there. If you hadn’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this, unless you’re one of my friends or relatives that I’ve forced to read it…or else! I think that most of you also know that there is more to our OLD ways than just “comfort”. Our old way of eating and “being” in this world is serving us in some way. We are getting something out of it, whether we are aware of it or not, and most of the time, what we’re getting out of it is just a way of distracting ourselves from the other things in life that we don’t want to think about or deal with. So ask yourself, “Is that second helping of dessert you’re having, at 8:00 p.m., what you’re really craving? Or are you bored? Or lonely? Or angry? Or totally stressed out from work, school or family?”
So, when am I going to talk about the Atkins diet? Right now! I started working at the state university hospital clinics in the mid-1970’s. From my employee physical, I discovered that my current weight loss technique, ‘fasting’, was literally “killing” me. I looked around to see if there was something else I could try. That “something else” turned out to be the newly introduced “Atkins” diet that made it’s debut in 1972, with the book, ‘Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution’, by Dr. Robert Atkins. Dr. Atkins developed his diet after reading an article in the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association’. The article included a diet that he used for his own overweight condition and it worked for him, so he developed it into what came to be known as the “Atkins’ Diet”. Of course, I didn’t know or care much about the technical stuff back then. I bought the book and was seduced by the idea that I could basically eat “as much as I wanted” of the foods allowed. I already knew that my “problem foods” were the carbohydrates. I loved the mashed potatoes and the French fries (my favorite)! And the staple food of my Spanish heritage, RICE! I also LOVE bread! The romantic in me, that led me to study ‘French’ in highschool, fostered dreams of traveling through Europe eating only bread, cheese and wine. Could I give up all of my favorite foods? Why is it that the things we love the most are often the things we are asked to give up? Well, that should have given me a clue right there. We DON’T have to give up the things we love. We have to learn to think differently and live a balanced life. But, I’m jumping ahead of myself. At the time, I thought the Atkins’ Diet, that forbid me to eat all of my favorite foods and didn’t allow for a piece of fresh fruit, was going to be the “easy, miracle diet”, that I’d been looking for.
Yes, I lost weight on the Atkins’ Diet. And through the years, I went back to this diet more often than to any other because I didn’t feel deprived and because it was easy to follow. Also, my mother, a diabetic, has followed a loose variation of the Atkins’ Diet for many years, and by eating low carb, she has been able to control her insulin levels so she doesn’t need to take any medications. In some cases, this kind of a diet may be helpful. But in the end, for me, the Atkins’ Diet turns out to be, once again, about restriction, and about forcing the body into the state of Ketosis. In the long run, both of these two things are negatives and what we must find for a balanced life are the POSITIVES.
A. zudro
Tags: My Journey to Weight Loss, Weight Loss Journal #3 / Atkins
