Bill's Comment Page

Atkins Low Carbohydrate Diet - Week 20

This was the first full week since I moved from 'Induction' to 'Ongoing Weight Loss' and even with the potential for slippage, as I was away for the weekend, I had a pretty good result whilst still on step 1 of the OWL carb ladder as I lost a further 0.6kg (1.4lb) in the past week and my weight is now (as at Sunday 2nd November) 71.4kg, a reduction of 26.6kg since I began (or 58.7lb) - I now have 6.4kg (14.1lb) to reach my target of 65kg. Once again, measurement indicators for the week show moderate, but steady, reductions:
- waist down a further 0.2 inches to 33.3 inches (total reduction so far 11.7 inches);
- hips down 0.3 inches to 40.5 inches (total reduction so far 8.0 inches);
- thighs down 0.1 inches to 23.2 inches (total reduction so far 5.3 inches).

As I have been on OWL step 1 (max. 25g carb a day), I have been enjoying some of the cooked vegetables I haven't been able to have for several months (broccoli, asparagus, French beans, etc), and even a medium tomato every couple of days, plus small additional amounts of salads. I’ve decided to proceed in the coming week to step 2 (fresh cheeses, such as cottage cheese and mozzarella for example), beginning 3 November, with a max. of 30g carb a day, rather than by-passing that for nuts, which is stage 3 of the ladder. I’ll reserve that treat for the following week!

It remains my target to move to 'Pre-Maintenance' by mid-December, when I hope to have only 7-8lb left to lose, and the remaining target loss over the following 3 1/2 months to about end-March 2004, when I’ll enter the ‘Lifetime Maintenance’ phase.

As well as posting a weekly summary of my progress on ‘Atkins’ here, I also post a more detailed diary in the Atkins Bulletin Board, usually on a weekly basis as well , which gives sample daily menus and this may dispel some of the myths about this diet. If you scroll right down to the bottom of the page there you’ll see a before/after picture which shows the dramatic physical changes I’ve experienced – the ‘after’ picture was taken toward the end of September so there has obviously been some more change since then, although I’ll be updating this photograph again shortly.

I’m looking forward to watching the programme this evening on BBC2 at 7.30pm – I’ll probably be having my Atkins-style dinner whilst watching it!