Bye-Bye C-A-R-B-S Again

Back about mid-June I realized that in the three years since I had moved to Lancaster County I had put on some 40 pounds. It was pretty evident. In fact, more than one person in the church expressed their concern to me about my health due to my weight gain. I guess that profile view on the screens while I preach on Sunday mornings gave me no way to hide that I had gotten up to the 235 pound range, which for a guy my height (5’8”) is more than just being a bit on the heavy side.

I knew it was time to take action when I got down to just one pair of dress pants that fit and that was just barely. My blood pressure was up. My energy level was down. I wasn’t sleeping well and my snoring was even waking myself up several times a night. So, I welcomed the Atkins Diet back into my life. I had gone on the Atkins Diet before I came to Lititz and had lost about 30 pounds but Lancaster County eating along with stress eating from the move and starting a new ministry took its toll. So last June I went back on the Atkins Diet and in the past 6 months I have lost nearly 40 pounds, putting me right about back where I was when I first moved to Lititz three years ago.

I really don’t mind the Atkins Diet because it’s one of those eating plans where you can really eat as much as you want as long as you only eat the no carb or low carb foods. So that means that I can basically have all the meat and eggs that I want as well as most cheeses. Moderate amounts of salad and low carb vegetable also are permitted. And in today’s world there is also low carb pasta, low carb tortillas and low carb ice cream which tastes just as good as those with all the carbs in it. There is also a myriad of low carb recipes on the internet as well as on televisions shows such as Blaine’s Low Carb Kitchen seen on Fit TV.

So now I am slimming down and most all my pants fit again and the ones that don’t are due to their being too big, not too small. Even most of my shirts and sweaters look baggy on me now. My blood pressure is back down. My energy level is up and I am sleeping better than ever with very few incidents of snoring. I just feel better. But the key to the Atkins Diet is to stay with it and not just use it as a temporary weight loss plan. To go off of this diet results in putting back on the recently lost pounds in short order.

But every once in a while, a break from any diet can be good, don’t you think? So the week before Christmas I went off the Atkins wagon, and though I am not gorging, I am eating some foods that I have not had in six months such as pizza, chocolate chip cookies and potatoes. But this was just a break for the holidays. As soon as New Year's Day is over, I will be officially back on the “Atkins Plan.” I will be very strict for a week or two to get my body back into fat burning mode (known as “ketosis”) and then I will keep dining with the low carb plan. My ultimate goal is to get down to 185. Before going off the diet the week before Christmas, I had made it down to 196…just 11 pounds away. Hopefully by Spring I will have reached my goal…we’ll see! But for now, Bye-Bye again Pizza! Bye-Bye again Potatoes! Bye-Bye again Chocolate Chip Cookies! Bye-Bye agaon C-A-R-B-O-H-Y-D-R-A-T-E-S!