Adkins Diet

Low Carb Weight Loss: A Success Story

Losing weight is tough. Watching someone else struggle with weight issues after I have lost weight successfully is even tougher. What's that thing about leading a horse to water? My husband grew up a food addict, self proclaimed, who always struggled with food issues all his life. He grew up in a big, Italian family. Cousins, brothers and sisters, relatives, all gathered at his parents' house for every imaginable holiday and excuse to eat. Telling an Italian to cut back on carbs for his health is like telling the pope to go easy on the Catholicism.  But, when I saw my husband's health begin to suffer, I became more adamant that he take steps to improve his health, even if it meant getting a carb-lover to adopt a low carb weight loss program.

When my husband began the Adkins diet plan, he tipped the scales at 240 pounds. Quite unhealthy for a man of 5'7", right? My husband had no problem with the more protein part of the Atkins diet plan. Unfortunately, he found it tougher to choose low carbohydrate foods, which is absolutely critical if one is to begin burning fat (ketosis). No, having two meat patties on a double double doesn't qualify for Atkins if you're still eating the bread and the fries. Slowly but surely, we were able to steer him away from obvious food traps. There were, however, other less obvious traps that kept him initially from making progress, but, in retrospect, any of the weight loss programs wouldn't have initially worked for him had we not realized these things.

Lesson one - not all proteins are created equally. For some reason, there are dairy items that seem to be high in protein that do not get digested by our bodies as if they were protein.

Lesson two - just because something is permitted doesn't mean it's a good idea. Atkins states that diet sodas, as in zero calorie, are permitted. The problem is, we now understand, that many artificial sweeteners actually make us crave more sugar. Your body seems to think it's real sugar and begins to secrete insulin in response. The excess in insulin results in your body actually becoming hungrier. This is truer of some artificial sweeteners than others. Stevia, for example, doesn't raise your blood glucose as quickly as others, but it does cause your body to release insulin.

Lesson three - substitutes don't have to be nasty. I will never regard a piece of fruit as a great chocolate substitute. However, a dark chocolate dipped strawberry is certainly a better choice than a half a box of left over Valentine's candy. Spaghetti squash has begrudgingly become a passable substitute for my husband's basic staple, pasta. Covered in marinara sauce, though it took some getting used to, it now takes the edge off of an otherwise difficult craving. The Atkins' calculator will give you a better idea of foods that you can use to placate those cravings.

Lesson four - blood glucose swings cause too much trouble so they are best avoided altogether. When we eat regularly, we maintain our blood glucose levels. If we skip meals or eat meals that are too high in carbohydrates, our bodies respond by making us hungrier.

To date, my Italian stallion has lost 65 pounds. Yes, it's unfair that it took him half as long to become one of the success stories, but I am excited that he received a clean bill of health and no longer requires many of his medications. Low carb weight loss is tough, but our bodies really suffer when we overload it with high carbs and watching our loved ones suffer is much tougher.

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