My 3 week experiment with Atkins

Hi, people. As you know I've been struggling getting back on my
healthy low-calorie, WW-like diet again but wanted to do SOMETHING. So
for the last 3 weeks I have been trying Atkins. I know, know. But I
figured I needed to do something, and Atkins does at least curb
cravings and help with blood sugar. So "in the meantime" I thought I
would do that rather than continue to overeat myself into oblivion.

I have been following Atkins to the letter. I even gave up all
artificially sweetened zero calorie drinks just in case they were
having an impact. I followed all their rules about getting 12 gm of
veggie carbs in, drinking enough water, getting moderate exercise
(walking) in, etc.

And there have been some positive benefits, including no hunger or
cravings problems, better blood sugar, slight improvement in
cholesterol, more energy, easier concentration, and good digestion. My
blood sugar in particular dramatically improved - dropping about 60
points.

But the fact is I am gaining weight and it is absolutely, positively
critical that I lose weight at a reasonable pace. I weigh TWICE what I
should and I simply have to lose weight. My stomach fat is pushing up
at my heart (you can see it in an X-ray) which is pushing up at my
lungs which is giving me shortness of breath and the only way to
resolve this is to lose weight at a reasonable pace.

I'm not asking for miracles here, just a normal 2 lb or so a week
weight loss, which is a perfectly safe and sane expectation for
somebody who weighs as much as I do.

Here are my first 22 day weights (in kg) on Atkins so you can see my
concern:

1. 127.0
2. 126.4
3. 125.8
4. 126.0
5. 125.6
6. 125.4
7. 125.4
8. 124.2
9. 124.2
10. 124.4
11. 124.4
12. 124.2
13. 124.4
14. 125.0
15. 124.6
16. 124.8
17. 125.8
18. 125.6
19. 125.6
20. 125.4
21. 125.8
22. 126.2

The trend is clear. After a few days of relatively rapid weight loss,
probably due to the dehydrating effect of a low-car diet, my weight
is creeping up again.

I also think the reason is clear. I am simply eating too many
calories. All the butter, mayo, fried chicken skin, thin slices of
fried pork (zero sugar bacon essentially) and all those things simply
have lots and lots of calories and so I'm gaining weight.

What other reasonable conclusion can I reach at this point?

So I am now gearing up to doing something else. I still don't know if
I can deal with the daily "points or calories" limit yet. And I didn't
lose weight in the past on Core (renamed Filling Foods). So I am
thinking right now of what my next step should be...


doug