From the time I was a little girl, through my glorious 20s (thankfully behind me, no pun intended) and early 30s (before I had my son), maintaining my weight was never an issue. I always trusted the fact that by watching what I ate, if my weight increased, a little non-stressful exercise would be all I needed to get me back to my ideal weight.

meta things change

After the birth of my son (and gaining 60 pounds during the pregnancy), my thyroid, which was always difficult, more or less decided to give up the ghost. Actually, when she was about 21 years old, it was discovered that she had a problem with hypothyroidism (which is where she gains weight most easily and other unpleasant symptoms). I had been religiously doing my annual blood tests and taking the little pill every day. However, even that changed after giving birth. A normal thyroid ranges from 0.4-0.6, mine was 10.0, a sure indication that it had sunk and is no longer regulating my body effectively.

So get on the diet cycle

Even at the age of 16, obsessed with maintaining a trim figure, I would “invent” my own diets. I remember one was nothing more than boiled eggs, toast and something to drink. And I lost 18 pounds in two weeks doing it (eggs are the secret).

Later in life, I followed the Scarsdale Diet. I can tell you that it really works, but over time you start to really hate tomatoes. Meat is definitely on the Scarsdale menu, along with plenty of vegetables and even fruit. It really is balanced. You just don’t get a lick of anything that smells “sweet”. Oh, and I can’t stand black coffee.

He then moved on to “diet in a box” variations. Sure they work, but after a week or so, the cardboard box smell along with the food dampens your appetite anyway… maybe that’s why it works. And yes, combining the right amounts of carbs, protein, and fat is the real secret.

Which led me to… the Atkins diet.

I didn’t jump into Atkins. I read the book cover to cover and did some research on my own. Good, solid scientific data, along with an eye-opening look at the lobbyist telling us what’s good to eat and what’s not (read those high-sugar cereal manufacturers who threaten us that eggs aren’t good for us, just their products are the best.

Okay, with the research behind me and my robust Atkins diet in hand, I purged my kitchen of all the nasty (but wonderful) goodies and started on the 14-day portion of the diet.

Sure enough, the scale did (and still does) move, but more importantly and almost immediately, my clothes start to “feel right” again.

You stay on the 14-day induction diet for (duh) 14 days. However, if you are really overweight, you can stick with less than 20 grams of carbs for longer. And yes, if you are seriously overweight, you are still healthy.

I am not going to go into detail about the various stages of this “lifetime change in eating habits” diet. It’s all in the book, and I suggest you read it. A lot of people I know tell me, “Oh, but that’s not a good diet. You eat too much ___ or ____. And that’s not healthy.”

My first question to people who make negative comments is: “Have you read the book?”

The answer, when something truly ridiculous is thrown at me, is a resounding… no. Yet they maintain with an air of dodgy authority that they are right. I just smile and keep moving. I’m skinny, most of the time (and I don’t mean this harshly), they need some serious weight maintenance.

To give you a clue about Atkins, I started back (yes, I know it’s supposed to be a way of eating for life, but when have we, the American public, ever done anything fully committed?) late last year (around August 2005) I had an unfortunate 30 pounds sitting on my butt that needed to be removed before it became 50 or more. Pretzels and high carb snacks (where you just grab a quick handful) are my downfall.

By February 2006, I had lost (and still haven’t lost) 33 pounds. That’s seven months of eating the right combinations of protein, fat, and carbohydrates as outlined in the Atkins diet plan. Averaging just under 5 pounds a month or 1.25 pounds a week (give or take), this is a healthy approach to losing weight while keeping it off.

I even made my own smoothie that works wonders. Ice, Carb Hood Chocolate drink (of course chocolate), some Splenda and/or Torani Sugar Free Hazelnut, and a can of Atkin’s Chocolate Royale. It fills you up, it’s loaded with vitamins and minerals, and best of all it works wonders as you lose weight.

So now you know my story about losing weight and losing weight. But before I go, I would also like to bring your mind to this lovely reality.

Why are tons of “order our diet in a box” commercials popping up all of a sudden? What is the first thing they tell you? All about the glycemic ratio, of course, and, if done in the right proportions for you, “the pounds melt away in no time!”

Yes, they are right. But these same people, along with all the wonder-pill makers and the “health-conscious” community, were until recently the very ones yelling at you that the Atkins diet was unhealthy.

Duh… Atkins wrote and implemented the correct mixed carbohydrate diet decades ago. He at least he has decades of research and true stories to back up what he has said all along.

Combine the right foods for any individual and anyone can lose weight. Add in a little walking to get your butt off the couch and moving, and you’ve got a surefire recipe for losing weight and keeping it off for the rest of your life.

Find out what works for you, do it, stick with it, and you can be as healthy and fit as is natural to YOU.

(c) Theresa Cahill 2006 – All rights reserved