Lesson 5

Now I want to explain thoroughly my dislike of the Adkins Diet.
As I mentioned before a doctor felt that the Adkins diet had caused my hypoglycemia. Now doctors are coming out and criticizing the diet and telling us that this diet can have serious consequences down the road.
For years the diet has been criticized for the process called ketotis;  a process by which excess, stored body fat can be burned (as well as protein), resulting in weight loss.The Atkins Diet, and others like it, trigger short-term weight loss through a process called ketosis. Ketosis occurs whenever the body lacks a sufficient supply of carbohydrates, a prime source of energy. During ketosis, carbohydrate-depleted metabolisms turn to other sources, including ketones from stored fat or protein, to satisfy daily energy needs. So you do lose weight, the first bit of weight loss is water weight, the carbohydrate that's in your muscles, and then later on the diet you will lose some fat, but you will also lose some muscle mass. This is not good. You lose energy and you look old.
Ketosis is one of the body's last-ditch emergency responses; deliberately inducing ketosis can lead to muscle breakdown, nausea, dehydration, headaches, light-headedness, irritability, bad breath, and kidney problems. In pregnancy, ketosis may cause fetal abnormality or death. It can also be fatal in individuals with diabetes! While supporters of the Atkins diet concentrate so much on the fat burning capability of ketosis they neglect to mention that over the long term protein, and thus muscle, is also burned!
Over an extended period of time, the Atkins diet can give rise to other health risks, as well. By restricting carbohydrates, all four diets inevitably lead to a lack of fiber, which can cause constipation and other gastrointestinal difficulties. In addition, the high amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat they prescribe increase the risk of heart disease and, possibly, some cancers. There is recent evidence that a diet featuring excessive protein may leach calcium from the bones (giving rise to osteoporosis).
  Of course it is so high in cholesterol and fat and total fat -- the opposite of what all the health organizations, from the American Heart Association to the American Dietetic Association, recommend. This is what I found disturbing. I was eating foods I would never eat ordinarily. The most disturbing part of the diet was this,  the diet is also low in fruits and vegetables and whole grains, foods with proven health benefits. It is also very low in fiber. I found constipation to be my daily friend.
And this my friends is why I really dislike the concentration camp diet; the Adkins Diet, I've lived it and suffered it's effects.

Lesson 4

Gooday and I wish you successful weight loss. I have a heart for people who are overweight because I was one for so long.
I recently read one of those internet adds, another diet. This one stated you would be certain to lose weight if you eliminated beef from your diet. Well, I don't eat beef but I skipped that point. I am not a fan of the eliminate one ingredient diet. They very seldom work. Usually all they do is eliminate some cash from your wallet and make someone else rich. So what is the difference between the no sugar diet and diets such as this?
The term no sugar is not just one ingredient. It covers many unhealthy foods. I'm not going to argue the health or lack of health of beef since I am a vegetarian. I am a vegetarian because I love animals so I am not debating nutrition. I am going to debate healthy vs unhealthy foods and balanced vs unbalanced diets. The "no sugar" diet covers many unhealthy foods that people eat each day. When you eat healthy foods it does so much more than lose weight. You gain energy, you ward off sickness and disease. You also improve your mental health. This is why I am so against one ingredient diets,they very seldom work.
I was on an extreme one ingredient diet many years ago. (I have been on all of them) I don't remember the name but it was very popular at the time. This was not eliminate one ingredient but rather, eliminate all ingredients but one. It was an entirely fruit diet. I was able to stay on it for about 3 days where upon I passed out at work.

Lesson 3

Myths go on and on forever about losing weight. As long as I can remember people have always told me that it's almost impossible to lose weight when you get over 40. I think that properly learning how to lose weight and exercise will take care of this one. Also, never give into negativity and there is nothing more negative than saying you can't do something. At 64 I'm learning I can do all kinds of things, I never say that I'm to old to do something.
I think weight and negativity and what you carry in your mind go hand in hand. The way you see yourself is important. Are you a wiiner or a loser in your mind? Or maybe even half and half. Some people dismiss this but you are a mirror. You draw into your life what you think in your mind. People who don't think they are winners tend to be heavy. Much of it may have come from the lonliness and self pity you feel in your life and so you eat to comfort yourself. Change your thoughts to being a winner...you will be surprised at what will happen.
I recently read an inspiring story of a woman who was severly overweight. Upon talking with a friend she revealed that she had always felt fat and ugly. Right there the friend told her to stop it. She instructed her to stand in front of a mear every morning and say aloud that she was beautiful and she was her perfect weight of 130 lbs. At first the woman thought that this was strange advice but she kept at it every day. Four months later she visited her friend and surprised her. She had lost 70 lbs and was on her way to being her perfect weight of 130 lbs. More importantly, she felt beautiful, she had never felt that way before.

Lesson 2

It turned out not to be another Adkins diet. It was a well thought out, well balanced diet. It is a very healthy diet. It basically eliminates sugar and, as science is now finding out,  sugar is not at all good for you. It has become a proven fact. Unfortunately, like most people, I am a sugar addict. So, while I was impressed by the diet, I was disappointed. Learning to get off sugar was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I feel for everyone who has a sweet tooth. When I get home from work I want to eat a huge bowl of ice cream and of course have some chocolate. I am so thankful for sugar free ice cream. I have been able to control this habit by relying on sugar free subsitutes.Unfortunately I cannot use chemical substitues, such as NutraSweet so this is very difficult. I am one of those people that has to have something sweet. And now I can do this. This was the biggest hurdle of diets and now that hurdle has been overcome.

Also, I've found the best way to avoid temptation is to have a huge desirable goal in mind that this sacrifice is dependent on. This is a great motivator. Have a goal that is dependent on your losing weight and work for that goal and it will help you to keep to your diet. Think about it daily and make it a big dream. Visualize yourself as the size you want to be. Speak out something like this, "I am my perfect weight of 130 lbs." This helps implant this thought into your subconcious. See yourself thin.

The Art of Losing Weight- Lesson 1

I understand heavy people very well and the pain that they endure on a daily basis. I have been heavy since I was 18. I am now 64. It has caused me lots of problems. Health and social problems.  I am not a believer in the theory of  "accept me as I am" because you can say that about anything. Accept me as I am because I'm a slob and I don't care about myself enough to improve myself.

So I decided after many painful experiences that I would lose weight. Lesson one, I decided to take action. I believe in belief but I also believe in action. You do not get anywhere without both of these components.  I started to study. For the next twenty years I was on every diet that had ever been created. I would sometimes lose weight and sometimes not. Sometimes I would become very ill and have to be hospitalized. Two diets did this. The first one was an all fruit diet. You ate fruit for days on end. I lasted 3 days...I passed out at work. The next one was the infamous Adkins diet. I lost weight successfully and very easily.  I had to be hospitalized after a few months. I had developed hypoglycemia and the doctor was convinced that it was the diet that did it to me. I still have low blood sugar technically and it is pretty well under control now I have no symptoms.

The diets went on and on. And in this society you can try another diet plan each week. So, I'm going to make it easy for you because I finally found something that works and works consistently.

 One day I saw a man on a TV show that I usually watch. He was hawking a new diet book. It was a no sugar diet but the way it was presented that day I thought it was a low carbohydrate diet.

"This is nothing but an Adkins diet," I said. Then I switched the channel.

Months later the man was back on the program. He explained his diet a little more thoroughly this time. It peaked my curiosity and so I bought his book and began my journey of successful weight loss...The book is From Fat to Skinny by Doug Varrieur and I lost over 60 lbs.