Second start after years

[crash]

Did Atkins a couple years ago in my mid to late teen years, very successful and got too cocky. Didn't take much notice when my clothes were getting tighter after letting the foot off the gas. But we were all young once, weren't we?

Oh well, i'm still young now (23), and i'm redoing it all again, this time without the book, but thanks to the power of the internet and my past experience, i got back on the train without too much fuss. I'm also going to ignore the numbers on the scale (don't have one anymore, anyways), and occasionally use the public one in the pharmacy, just for reference. I have always felt that weight is just a number anyways, it is by no means THE indicator for great fitness or health. My main goal is to go back down to 32" waist, started at 38 i believe, now at 36 and heading for 34 so i can at least fit into my old jeans again! I'm 5'10" btw.

I've "tried" low carbing on and off for months this year, let me tell you, it doesn't work. YOU HAVE TO DO IT BY THE BOOK. That means 20g carbs max during induction, NO sugars, no cheating. Technically I started somewhere Sept.25'ish, or somewhere at one week before the end of September anyways. Most difficult is changing your eating habits and maintaining discipline. I don't keep a notebook or records or anything, i've always been a bit unorganized and sometiems do things on a whim (think Zaphod Beeblebrox). But this time i'm serious and it shows, results are fairly quick to show. Starting weight was about 180ish, maybe even more on a bad day, weight right now is around 170 so that's not too bad after induction and extended induction. Fact is, i've gotten so used to no/low carbs, i've developed this addiction to salads. Seems like the body has once again shaken off its reliance on carbs.

One time a friend bought me a chicken sandwich from KFC. Not wanting to offend (no really, sounds stupid but at that time i thought i could get away with it), i ate it, but only one bun, so sort of like an open sandwich. Did some calculations in my head, i believe the total carbs of said sandwich is 45g or so, one bun less would be around 35-40. So total carb intake that day should be around 50-60'ish. Anyways, right after i ate it, i felt lethargic almost immediately. Thank goodness i didn't drop out of ketosis the next day and of course i went back on track. Took me about 3 days to digest and discharge the poison from my system, the reason i know is because on the third day i finally woke up with a burst of energy. Speaking of sleeping, has anyone noticed that you sleep so much better while in ketosis?! I mean really, i used to wake up at night once or twice, its annoying but luckily i fall asleep right after, but still annoying. Other times i don't sleep right away when i go to bed, sometimes i lay for an hour or two, really annoying. I have noticed that in the past week or two, not only do i never wake up at night, i also dream like 5-6 times in the early mornings just before i wake up. Maybe it's also because of the increased exercise and weight work i'm doing, primarily to maintain (and gain) lean muscle mass.

Just took a ketone strip test, i am producing ketones like a mother. The increased energy from ketosis is very welcome. The "traditional" diet of low calories, low fat, lots of aerobic exercise, the ol' burn more than you eat method, undoubtedly works, but not only is it SO much harder, when your body is unfit and overweight it makes everything like 10x harder. While i am currently no longer obese but more like unfit, everything seems easier and i have a much easier time gradually increasing intensity on workouts. It's really great.

Target final weight is around 150 lbs. From my experience, Atkins is fantastic for quick efficient weight loss and fat burning, but in the latter stages you want to "sculp" your body, ie hit the gym. I'm thinking of switching from low carb to slow carb, by then i'm hopefully fit enough to maintain the active lifestyle, visit the gym regularly, etc.

Oh, and all this while basically designing my own menus and i haven't even tried some of the fantastic recipes available here. Can't wait to try some of them out soon!!