Lately I find myself posting a lot of messages that talk about the transformation--epiphany if you will--when the "Atkins diet" becomes a way of life. This is a situation we hear about and aim for, but when already??

For me, it looks like this:
--At least two years of practice, with stops and starts along the way.
--Reaching maintenance or thereabouts.
--A repertoire of new food preferences as a routine.

Granted, maintenance for many may seem a long way off. Still, that's the point where all your weight-loss efforts pay off. You've got what you wanted, and keeping it becomes a treasure.

I'd like to say I had a "maintenance attitude" during a couple of long plateaus, but that isn't true. Plateaus are frustrating, and only served as a test for my resolve, and a trial period for new techniques and tweaks.

Now, however...the sense of being different from "normal" people, of having to strive all the time, is fading away. This is simply the way I eat.

If only I could bottle that feeling, wouldn't it be worth a fortune?? Well, you'll get it for free. Just hang in there.

Best wishes.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Because we can eat those other foods that we choose not to eat, it almost always seems like a "diet". I have noticed a few people at work that have severe food allergies... they know that eating those foods will cause them problems, and they make it a point to not eat those things....

I am trying to adopt a similar head set, eating flour, sugar, potatoes, corn, etc. al will cause me problems (i don't know how to stop eating those things once I start)... those problems are just as viable to me as it is to them .... and if I begin realizing that I have an allergy to those foods... eat what I know works for me, then it starts becoming a way of life/way of eating instead of feeling like I am "dieting".... I have started saying I don't eat that, or can't eat that instead of having to make other excuses....

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http://www.youravon.com/cnorulak
carolyn in texas
started 8/11/03 327/268/177
5/20/08/ - 348
onward thru the fog

When we frequent restaurants that cater to our woe, substituting fresh veggies for the potatoes, not bringing bread to the table, offering Splenda for our coffee and tea, we really need to let management know how much we appreciate them. We aren't dieting, we just have a different eating style. More restaurants are offering alternatives, and those that don't should seriously start thinking about it.

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Nita

It ceased to be a "diet" for me when I decided to start this WOE. Before deciding to start the Atkins eating approach, I read DANDR. I also surfed the web and various bulletin boards to get as much information as I could. From that research I concluded that if the controlled carbohydrate WOE worked for me (and I was skeptical that it would work when I started), it would have to be something I did for the rest of my life as one thing was painfully clear from the research and testamonials I saw. If you did not keep following the plan, the weight would come back. This conclusion led me to find many l/c recipes for things I liked as well as substitutes for things I used to eat. Even during 9 months of Induction level carbs, I still had enough variety to avoid boredom at meal time. I think the mindset that it was a lifestyle and not a diet also helped me when I encountered a stall because I recognized that stalls were just a part of the WOE and that as long as I was not gaining weight and eating food that I liked, I was making progress and there was no reason to abandon the WOE. What also appealed to me about the Atkins approach was that it was the first eating regimen I had seen that had what I characterized as a "seamless transition" from weight loss to weight maintenance. That perception of transition from weight loss to weight maintenance also helped reinforce the lifestyle mindset.

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Henry

Henry, you took the words right out of my mouth!!!! After I read DANDR and thousands of pages from their website, It clicked with me. I will be doing this the rest of my life. I DO, on occasion, have a little off-plan foods on special occasions. But I am ultra-conscious when doing this that I am only having a teeny taste and control how much I eat. I also do extra workouts when this happens to work off the damage. When this happens, I know what I'm doing, stay conscious of it and keep it under control. And fortunately, it doesn't send me into a tailspin of thinking, "Oh well, I blew it, why stop now?"

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Thanks for the inspiring words. Hope a few "newbies" are tuning in as well.

Most people who know me now--at work, at church--have never seen me at my heaviest weight. Or they've forgotten. I'm sure they assume I'm one of those lucky, "normal" people who never has to worry about what she eats. Hah!

That's one reason I hang out here all the time. I need somebody to talk to along the way. I enjoy your company.

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Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

For me, it was when I realized that I wasn't searching for substitutes for "regular" foods all the time. Now I really do prefer the meals that I make that aren't substitutes more than the ones that are.

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Katie
275/238/150
Restarted 01/08/2007
37 pounds lost!
http://justanotherfatgirl.blogspot.com

I think what drives me crazy about the diet mentality is the counting of "carbs", points blah blah...

When it changed to a lifestyle for me is when I no longer had to count... I had learned what I could and could not eat to be in weight loss mode vs holding steady mode... or god forbid gaining mode. Sometimes I need to just go up to the holding steady mode for a while to keep going... I dont bash myself for that any more.

Also it changed when I realized that a special occasion was just that a birth"day" not a birth week or birth month.
If I eat off plan for some "reason" then I am just right back on the plan for the next snack or meal. This keeps me in fat burning mode longer...

One last thought... It changed for me also when I realized just how good I feel while eating this way... I feel awful when I am not... so plateaus or weight fluctuations dont matter as long as I still feel good....

Thanks for this post it really made me think,
Heidi

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Heidi
171/163/150

Visit my Journal!

Heidi, I can so relate.

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For me it was an evolution. I started this WOE as a diet. Soon after, maybe several months, I had lost the taste for many of those things that I once craved. Heck, I'm Italian! I was raised on Pasta! Now I really have no taste for it. It is now very natural for me to ask for veggies instead of pasta, at any resturant. As many of you know, my one weakness is gut bomb burritos. And most of the time I will open them up and eat the middle only.
On a whole I guess I made the decision to say "I can have that (insert bad carb food) but I CHOOSE not to" And that is what I say to all those that bug me to eat stuff. Here at work, donuts are all over the place, at any time of the day. I haven't had, nor even want one for over 3 years now. Heck that even saves me money, cuz my team doesn't expect me to bring any in for meetings or such. hehe.

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To think is to create!
So What? Now What?
Tom
Restart LC 7/05/08