Atkins Low Carbohydrate Diet - Weeks 88 to 139

It is almost a year since I last wrote here about my experiences on 'Atkins'. This does not mean in any way that I have somehow stopped following the 'Atkins' way of eating; far from it. It is simply that it is now so much a part of my way of life that I no longer think about it much, so have missed several of the '12-week' cycles I had chosen to follow to write about it here previously. However, I have just recently passed another quite significant 'milestone', so I thought it was a good idea to mention how I am getting on and, most of all, to give encouragement that if I, a lifelong 'fattie' can do it, then so very probably can you. The milestone is that on 12th February this year it is two years since I reached 'Target' on Atkins on 12FEB04.

For most of the time since last writing here, last year, I have remained below my target weight of 65 Kg, but I must confess that around October/November last year I did allow my weight to creep up to around 67 Kg, managing more or less to get back below target just before Christmas. Since then I have been hovering just above or below target, and am currently about 64.8 Kg. Exactly the same, in fact, as when I reached target two years ago! However, it is my aim to lose a little more so that I am hovering between roughly 63 Kg and 64 Kg - this is when I felt most comfortable and was in this range for most of the period from APR04 to MAY05.

My overall weight loss since I started this 'way of eating' on 15th June 2003 is 33.2 Kg (73.2 Lb) - somewhat over 5 stones. Measurement indicators since I last wrote here:
- waist up 0.7 inches at 31.0 inches (total reduction 14.0 inches);
- hips up 1.0 inches at 38.6 inches (total reduction 9.9 inches);
- thighs up 0.4 inches at 21.8 inches (total reduction 6.7 inches).

The 'positive' aspect of the slight increase in both weight and measurements since I last wrote is that this is probably at least partially (if not wholly) due to the fact that for about a year I have been going regularly to the gym, so there is rather more muscle on my much better-toned upper body - and muscle fibre weighs more than fat. You can read an expanded version of this entry here. Or click on the permanent link under 'Atkins Diet' in the column to the right, to read the full story.