Atkin's, Here I Come!

My mom has been a loyal advocate of the Atkin's Diet for years. When she came home a couple of years ago, she brought home Atkin's supplement pills for my use. Unfortunately, I was quite stubborn about my weight then so I ignored her advice and the pills.

Fastforward a couple of years later, I was sent an Atkin's Kit together with a book containing information and steps on how to start Atkin's. Since my future depends on me being healthy, I gave in and started to plan on how to do the diet.

I went through the book and the kit last week. It looked simple but reading the food that I can eat, it's not as simple as I thought. I need to do a lot of carbohydrates counting. It would also mean scrapping rice, pasta and bread from my diet. I was very sad at first since those three things are my favourites. I can do away with rice but pasta and bread?! But sacrifices need to be made.

I went cold turkey with my daily coffee fix last Monday. Am now caffeine-free for seven days now. As for rice, am now rice and pasta free for four days now. Unfortunately, am not too successful with bread yet. I have to have bread. So to feed my bread fix, I found low-carb bread in the supermarket which is even recommended by the book. It's kinda expensive though. 77 bucks for a small loaf!

Am eating more meat now and salad. Plus, I drink lots and lots of water! It gives my stomach an impression that am actually full with just a plate of salad. Am still weaning myself from ice cream and iced tea/juices. I bought a bottle of grapejuice which I can drink instead.

My goal is to lose 60 lbs. So far, I've lost four pounds in a week. Most of it is water probably. I saw my cardiologist last week and he's very much supportive of my decision. He even offered me diet pills (Reductil) but I haven't taken it yet. Am scared how it will affect me, now that am on a low-carb diet. He did advise me to walk more as it's the only form of exercise that I can tolerate right now. Fifteen minutes a day is about right and I can add more minutes as the weeks progress. How do I walk 15 minutes straight a day with my schedule? I decided to do this in the morning when I go to work. I can get off at Greenbelt and walk the rest of the way to the office. I timed it last Friday and it's more than fifteen minutes! Not bad! Although I have to make sure that I wear sandals or flats when I walk. I don't relish the thought of walking in my heels.

So here's hoping that I can stand by this and finish what I have started. I've already psyched myself to refuse carbs when offered and hopefully I have enough willpower to do so. Wish me luck!