Week 6 Weigh-in & Atkins Starts Today

No change again this week, though I reported a couple of days ago that I had lost a little under 1lb. Saturday night I went out for a meal and I knew I was starting super-strict Atkins today so I indulged completely – 3 courses including dessert! It was the most sugar I’d had in one go in the whole 6 weeks. When I went to bed my heart was racing. This is a symptom I used to experience on a regular basis, especially at night and I hate it but I never knew what it was and now I do!

Also yesterday I was eating up stuff in the house that are not permitted on Induction of Atkins so the last couple of days have undone the beginning of the week. I’m obviously quite sensitive to splurges – one or two meals can set me back a whole week and so I can easily go weeks without any change despite sticking to a diet ‘most of the time’. Obviously, most of the time is not good enough for me – I must be strict!

Primal Atkins Begins Today

I’m calling it ‘Primal Atkins’ because I’ll be following the Atkins plan but the foods I happen to eat will also make the diet Primal. The reason I say Primal and not Paleo is due to the inclusion of cheese. As far as I am aware I don’t have any kind of intolerance to cheese but we’ll see! The purpose of trying Atkins is to experiment. Obviously I am not somebody who loses weight easily but I want to know why. Is it simply that I am metabolically resistant? Or am I just sensitive to carbs or do I have some food intolerance that sabotages my progress without me knowing about it?

Atkins works in phases and after the induction phase which is the most strict, additional carbs and food groups are added back in very slowly just one at a time which will make it easy to pinpoint when problems occur. If I lose well in the induction phase then at least I know I am not intolerant to cheese!

Caffeine

One of the rules of Induction that worries me is to avoid caffeine. It can cause low blood sugar which can lead to sugar cravings (though I haven’t had any in weeks other than when I have eaten excess carbs!) and can increase insulin which of course will slow down weight loss. If I still drink caffeine I may not see the maximum potential results. I’ve had coffee every day of my life for as long as I can remember so I’m fairly sure I am dependent on it but to what degree I am not sure.

What I don’t want to do is go cold turkey and then experience all the withdrawl symptoms – headaches, fatigue, lack of concentration etc. I have some important work to do this week and I can’t afford to have these symptoms! So I’ll wean myself down like I have done with sugar (I gave up sugar in coffee when I was 13 simply by gradually reducing the dose). I have some decaff coffee so I will make my coffee with part caffeinated and part decaff. Hopefully I will not notice the difference and then I can gradually alter the ratios to favor the decaff.

Setting Myself Up to Win

Yesterday my partner had a long day at work and was not able to have any kind of break for lunch. Towards the end of the day she was obviously getting very hungry and with no food available she ordered a pizza which she later felt very guilty about eating. Trying to wing-it when it comes to food puts you up against hunger and cravings and these are two demons that I certainly cannot resist. I find that in order to have any chance of sticking to a diet such as this I have to set myself up to win.

I have meticulously planned my meals for the first 3 days and I have chosen some of my favourites. This is not the time to start experimenting with new vegetables! I’m having a cheese & ham scramble with fresh tomatoes for breakfast, a meatza with a large salad for lunch (I made this last night) and dinner is my all time favourite – steak, plus some sugar snap peas and an olive & avocado salad to start. I have a friend coming to dinner Friday so I have simply asked my partner to cook that night for herself and our guest and I can just stick to my thing. Usually I would also cater for guests of course but this week I simply don’t know how this diet is going to make me feel and I don’t want any additional food related stresses getting in the way!