Some people have to try to make your life miserable, if you let them. It was obvious to everyone that I looked and felt better, but some people just have to try to spoil it. I was told: lots of people have died of kidney or liver failure after being on Atkins I read it in the newspaper; you will have a heart attack, it’s not natural; your cholesterol will climb sky high and you will need your toes amputated or you will have a stroke; it will affect your eyesight. All sorts of rubbish. So, I went to see my GP, who admitted that he did not know anything about the Atkins diet, but he also added that he had heard nothing bad about it either. He sent me for a series of tests at the hospital and the results were all satisfactory. He was happy that I’d lost 18 lbs and so was I. Six weeks later, I went for another cholesterol check-up, because of the high fat levels in the diet and, although my cholesterol level was up very slightly, the doctor said there was no cause for concern at all.
The Atkins diet book warns that you might develop bad breath (halitosis). I don’t know whether I did or not – no-one said anything, but I started brushing my teeth four-five times a day just in case. I guess that’s another benefit of following the Atkins diet: increased oral hygiene. It also warns of constipation. I didn’t get that either, although I didn’t give up black coffee, which has always had a laxative effect on me. But surely you can’t suffer from constipation if you’re allowed to eat well over 1lb of greens a day? I hadn’t been eating that well before the diet! So my two main concerns were nebulous.
After a couple of weeks I was getting bored. Not with the diet, but because I’m single and am used to going to the pub (and drinking beer). So, I decided to treat this scientifically. One day, after work, I had three pints of Guinness and felt great. Before the diet, I would have drunk five or six to feel the same. To my delight, the next morning the ketone sticks told me that I was still ‘on the diet’. Over the following weeks, I thoroughly enjoyed checking out what would ‘work’ and what would not. I found that cider is a complete no-no. Some beers and some lagers are OK. Red and white wine are OK. Consuming alcohol does not knock you off the diet, but it slows your rate of progress. But even slow progress is progress, I say. Better than giving up the diet.
Be very wary of people encouraging you to ‘just try a little bit’. They don’t understand or don’t want to understand the trouble they’re causing you. Your body can hold two days worth of carbohydrates. One chocolate, one slice of bread, a bowl of cornflakes or one sugar in your coffee will cost you TWO days to put right. Don’t let them do it to you. This is not a diet for the weekends, in fact I think that it probably could be dangerous to keep ‘falling off the wagon’, because of the high fat content of the diet, which is not dangerous if you stick to it, because you body devours fat and cholesterol in the absence of carbohydrates.
That is the story so far, with me having got down to under 16 stone and keeping it there until very recently when I moved to the Far East to live. The food is so different here, but once I get used to the food and have my own house and own kitchen, I will get down to 15 stone, I’m sure I will ” without any real effort.
Anyway, thank you, Mr. Blackwell, wherever you are, you changed my life and my understanding of food and thank you, Mr. Atkins too.
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