Today's my second day of eating Atkins. I'm in what's known as the Induction Phase, which is an appropriate term, considering the overwhelming amount of protein and fat I'm encouraged to eat, I feel like I'm being inducted into a fraternity and this is all some sick prank. I'm still convinced at this point that Atkins really works by making you completely sick of eating for such a long time that you just give it up and go do something else that's interesting.
"Hey, I'm hungry. Let me check what I can have this week. Eggs? Eggs again? What the fuck. I'm going on a bike ride instead."
At least that's how it's been in my own head. I still have to go to Rite Aid and get some pee-strips to see if I'm in ketosis yet. That's another fun aspect of the diet. So why am I sticking with the diet if I'm bitching so much? Because I don't want to become a diabetic. I don't want to wake up at 40 and have my doctor tell me that I'll be dead in a year. I want to be able to ride roller coaster rides with my kids. I want to be able to run around with them, and coach them in sports. I want to look good again. I want to be healthy and live to see them have kids. I want to stop being embarrassed when I take my shirt off at the pool. I don't want my kids to call me fat any more. I don't want my kids to get teased about having a fat father, and I know it's going to happen.
So I'm weighing my food, reading labels, and eating heroic quantities of meat. I went to Giant today and tried to find a bunch of different ways to get protein in my diet and keep the carbs out. I waved good-bye to the naan and the pretzel bread. I promised the grapes and apples that I'd be back soon, and I even blew a kiss at the Oreos, because you know, we have this special relationship...
All in all, so far the hardest thing for me to adjust to has been cutting the milk from my coffee, and it hasn't been easy, but I didn't think it would be. It was easy to put the weight on, and it would be easy to continue doing nothing about it, at least for right now. I'm tired of easy. I want results. And I've already had them. I'm down three pounds so far, so I'm sticking with it.
[UPDATE]: As part of deeper research into ketosis, I came across a link on Wikipedia about Ketogenic Diets, which are a high-fat, high-protein diets used to control seizures, primarily in children. I'm on Trileptal for my seizures and it works really well, but it's nice to know that this diet can help add a layer of control.
If you're interested in tracking my progress, here's my food diary: http://www.thedailyplate.com/diary/who/MauriceReeves
