Hi Folks, I'm Frank Arnade going by cybername Skank, strange name but its an old high school sports nickname & I find when I go to register at any website (except porn sitesite's where I never ever go
) it's never taken enabling me to have same name all across the web. I am one of the many moderators here & work primarily in the Diabetic & Vita-Nutrient Forums. 1st here's a little of my story.
Skanks’ Journey
Born in 1949 I was a normal weight all my life. I was very active when I was young, competing in swimming, baseball, basketball, etc.all the normal stuff any young person back then did. Never had an extra pound anywhere. Then when I was twenty in 1969 I ended up on the 50 yard line of the Biafran War. You know, the one where millions starved to death (George Harrison had his famous Concert for Biafra to help all the starving people). To make a long story short I was stuck there without food myself.. My body literally started wasting away due to lack of food. It happens pretty fast if you’re not getting proper nutrition. Anybody here watch Survivor? Notice how much weight those people drop in that short period of time. Anyhow couple of guys who were stuck with me who shall remain nameless & I took to midnight raids & stealing what food we could get from the back of the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) Compound & just stuffing it in our mouth on the spot. We figured if we got caught in there with nothing on us being Americans we could lie our way out of it(sneaking out of someone's apt after hours or whatever). This pattern of waking up in the dead of night, gorging on food as quickly as possible & then going back to sleep as if nothing happened unfortunately stayed with me a long time. In the end by the time I was able to get out of there I was less than 100lbs on my full size frame (see shot below) & every bone in my body was clearly visible. It was one of those experiences you pray you’ll never have again as long you live.
So somehow this bizarre habit of waking up in the dead of night & eating uncontrollably stayed with me from then on. It was almost like sleepwalking except that in the morning I would have a clear memory of it but for some reason could not control it. I could watch my food consumption carefully all day, but would wakeup in the dead of night, run to the fridge, stuff food in my mouth & go right back to bed like I was in some kind of trance. Totally uncontrollable.
Well I was young & extremely active so nothing much happened till I turned thirty & then the weight started to slowly build. So much so that from the age of 30 years old starting at a healthy 145 lbs to the time I reached 53 years old 24 years later I had reached 230 lbs. Along the way I was afflicted with the classic Syndrome X set of conditions (Central Obesity, Type II Diabetes, High Blood Cholesterol, High Blood Sugar) & was starting to get skeletal problems (fallen arches on my feet from carrying the weight)
About 2&1/2 years ago I was diagnosed w/Type II Diabetes. Here in Singapore the doctor put me on a med from France called Diamicron & active ingredients were Diazide & Gliclazide (which I now know is a class of drug known as sulfonylureas & the exact opposiite of what I needed!). At that time I bought & read The Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Program: Break Your Carbo-Insulin Connection to Heart Disease by Rachael Heller (Author), Frederic Vagnini (Author), Richard Heller (Author) which has a lot of similar things to say about the relationship between Carb's & Diabetes that Atkins says. I recommend their book to all as it contains lot of useful information.
I watched my diet somewhat, took the med's & things got a bit better. Then I let things slide & my weight continued upward & I started to get some classic Diabetes degenerative symptoms (cracking feet,etc) also the Blood Cholesterol, Blood Pressure (all the classic Syndrome X conditions) were also not good, so much so, that in late May of last year my doctor wanted to put me on insulin & Blood pressure meds. He also told me if I didn't get this under control I would probably be dead within a decade. It was your classic case of '**** or get off the pot' as soon it would be too late to turn back & help myself. He was trying to scare some sense into me & he did
I told him to give me 2 months I had something I wanted to try 1st. He agreed. At that time I had a friend who had such great results w/Atkins that despite all my misgivings I was interested. I'm 54 years old now, the point in your life where you start losing people to death every year & I've started to be able to recognize that sickly pallor that people have when there are serious heallth issues from degenerative diseases. My friend was looking that way I was seriously worried about him. Then he started Atkins & 4 monthes later the guy not only had lost a lot of weight; in addition to having a really healthy 'glow' he literally looked 20 years younger. His transformation was amazing to me. That weekend I went out & bought the book(DANDR) & read it cover to cover.
On June 1 of 2003 I started Induction. 2 months later I went in to see my doctor, I had lost around 20lbs & my Blood Glucose, HBA1C, Blood Lipid levels, Blood Pressure had all improved significantly. I told the doctor my daily BG readings were getting so low I wanted to dump the med's. He agreed w/the caveat that I monitor them closely & if they went back up to resume the meds.
They did go back up slightly for a time but then started coming back down as I increased my exercise & started taking some Vita-Nutrients known to help Diabetics. Later I did my 6 month bloodwork. For all practical purposes it appeared the Diabetes was gone. My Blood Glucose levels are normal & the HBA1C (3 month average) is in the 'Nondiabetic' range. My blood pressure & cholesterol readings were all greatly improved once again.
I have a glucometer & test my BG levels sometimes several times a day. They are pretty steady within the 90-110 band now amost 100% of the time. Very few highs & lows either. At 1st glance is would appear my Diabetes is 'cured' however don't be fooled. Someone once posted a very good point although obesity & Type II Diabetes are closely linked, not all fat people are diabetic & not all diabetics are fat, some of us just have a genetic predispositon to the disease. That will not go away. However, if you follow the Atkins plan your Diabetes will go into complete remission, just don't fool yourself, if you go back to the old high carbohydrate way of eating it will come right back.
For people that want to lose weight Atkins is a great workable WOE, for us Diabetics it is a neccessity & a truly a lifesaver. My grandmother died a ugly death on diabetes losing limbs to amputation etc, if she had the info available to her that we all have now she would have had the option, like we do, of curing herself & staying alive much longer simply by changing her diet.
So now I can hardly recognize myself when compared to the person that started this WOL exactly 1 year ago. All my Syndrome X symptoms are GONE & will stay that way if I continue to follow this WOL. I can swim 1&1/2 Miles & run 5 more later on the same day & feel great. I weight 45 pound less & I’m sure I’ve lost a lot more fat than that as I’ve gained a lot muscle by exercising regularly the whole time. I have a completely new attitude towards life & it shows in every thing I do. Before I was getting where I could barely pick up my 4 year old son, now I can play with him till HE gets tired. New lease on life? You bet.
Do I still wake up in the middle of the night ravenous? Yes but I drink a small bottle of water & happily go right back to sleep!
Here is a short but important message for all you Inductioneers
Here are my Four Hardfast Rules/Tips for Guaranteed Success on Atkins
1)Water & Water & More Water
2)Exercise(Make it part of your life)
3)Eat a lot of Nutrient/Antioxidant Rich, Fibre dense Veggies
4)Nutritional Supplements Work (The older you are the more you need)
I) Water, drink as much as possible, cold is better, everytime I start to ‘stall’ if I analyze what I’m doing, I’ve let the water consumption drop. Keep it next to you at all times & keep it flowing. Like another poster once said, if the liquid coming out looks darker than the water going in, you’re not drinking enough. More crudely put drink water till your pee looks like water.
2) Like Atkins says Exercise is non-negotiable. It is a key part of the WOL, the more you exercise the better you’ll feel & the more you’ll lose. Make it part of daily routine. Start slow & build up as time goes on. You won’t regret it, as a matter of fact you’ll love it & how you feel after getting into it. I promise!.
3) Everyone knows about the high fat high protein part of the diet but many try to skip the veggies, let me tell you it won’t work. I’ve lived all over the world, trust me if you eat something regularly, even if you don’t ‘like it’ eventually over time you will like it. Fibre Dense, Nutrient & AntiOxidant Rich Veggies I absolutely guarantee you are huge part of any successful Atkineer’s daily diet. The greener the better
4)
Induction is a severe daily regimen designed to awaken & kickoff ketosis in your body, it is not however an optimal way to eat, Supplements are necessary during Induction & post Induction they help a lot. The older you are the more they help. I personally think that Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution is as revolutionary a book as DANDR & I believe in it time will also be seen as just as great & an even more significant piece of work. Most of us come to this WOL severly overweight & let's be honest coupled w/that weight there are almost always some degenerative health issues associated w/that that have started or set in. In his VitaNutrient Book Atkins sets forth various recommended cocktails of Supplements for various conditions. What he recommends is beyond most people’s budgets & almost impossible to physically ingest but I find if you cross reference the lists & do some trial & error you can find a supplement menu that helps tremendously. The problem here is there is not so much information as with the dietary part of the plan so you really have to work it out yourself or count on experienced friends/net research to help guide you.
So thats it condensed down to my four main rules. If you keep these in mind & follow them carefully you WILL succeed.
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