25 Pounds Lost with Atkins Diet

by Sean Rolling
(Phenix City, AL)

The year was 2007 and I was in Iraq. I was stationed about 20 miles outside of Baghdad and I was feeling tired on missions.

I decided it was time to try something new to getting my body back into the game. I had been eating way too much, drinking too much soda, and more or less not taking care of my body.

My friend Gordon McTaggart, a fellow medic who was born in Canada, told me how he lost all kinds of weight a long time ago on Atkins.

Of course, like anyone else, you hear Atkins and you think 'The diet that kills'.

But he told me how it works, how you can eat basically meat, cheese, iceberg lettuce, bacon, eggs, and protein until you feel ready to explode. So Protein Good, Carbs Bad.

So no bread, soda, sugar ... not even milk. I know some people instantly think 'No carbs? Carbs are life' because of what they consider healthy food.

I wanted to be skeptical, but when he said I could eat as much bacon as I liked (with consideration), I figured I could at least give it a try.

I started with Induction Phase, the first of the 4 phases of Atkins. Now in Iraq it can be a little limiting as far as food choices go ... thankfully however numerous Lunch Meats, Hamburgers, Cheese, and Lettuce are almost always available when you enter the Dining Facility.

Induction Phase, the one I used, called for less than 10 grams of carbs a day. You'd be surprised just what has carbs in it, and how much.

The only problem is, I spent over 2 months in induction phase because I never really felt like I had lost enough weight (personally) to warrant slowing down the process.

I ate 4 or 5 times a day, as much protein as I could take in, drank roughly 4 liters or more of water a day, and started running in the gym 3 times a week.

Within 2 weeks I had lost over 5 pounds ... by 4 weeks I had lost over 10 pounds and was starting to run over 10 miles a week stretched across my 3 gym visits.

This whole time I resisted sugar, soda, and what some would consider 'healthy food'. I dropped weight from 167 pounds to right around 140 pounds.

I never felt better. I had never looked better.

Some friends had shown me new work outs to incorporate into my gym routine and I was actually starting to develop some six pack abs. This was the first time in my life I had such an amazing body coming to fruition, and I had Atkins and some serious running to thank.

After 2 and a half months of nothing but Induction Phase I did start to get a little dizzy, and was forced to start to taper off of my Atkins diet.

What I can say is the first time I ate solid carbs after discontinuing Atkins I felt like there was a Nuclear Reactor supplying me with energy from the sugar rush I got from just eating bread and drinking half a Gatorade.

To put it simply, Atkins can be a revolutionary diet, but it requires the strictest discipline. It can also cost a little bit, as meat is not always the cheapest route for saving money.

I was eating way more than 1 pound of cooked bacon a day, 3 or 4 hamburgers with cheese, and as much roast beef as my body would let me.

But let no one ever tell you Atkins doesn't work. It does.

I guess the key I left out is your body breaks down the fat in a process called Ketosis. In the beginning of Atkins, your body just flushes all that protein, and starts going into scare mode because the carbs are no longer there.

Then once you've burned all your stores of carbs, your body starts burning protein for energy. Protein is horrible for energy to work, so your body eventually starts burning the literal fat in your body to make up energy to do work.

When this happens, a weird taste enters your mouth, almost metallic, letting you know you've entered ketosis.

It took me about 10 days or so to first enter Ketosis, but after that, it was amazing. The only real downside I can remember, other than a strict diet, was I always felt hungry, even after eating.

My body never stopped wanting carbs, so it never felt fully satisfied. I would feel both full in my belly, yet hungry because my body knew I had not given it carbs.

I've since put some of the weight back on, but I know Atkins is always there when I am ready to lose it all again.

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