Ernesto says: " When I was tempted to cheat, Donna helped me stay strong. And when she was tempted, I ' d help her. As they were slimming down, they started taking martial arts classes together, and this brought them even closer. After two months doing Atkins, they had each dropped 30 pounds. It took about eight months for Donna to reach 147 and Ernesto to get down to 182. I ' ve seen pictures of them training in jujitsu, and they look like a pretty trim couple to me. Incidentally, Donna lowered her LDL cholesterol from 189 to 137 and raised her HDL from 58 to 74. And Ernesto lowered his LDL from 159 to 126 and raised his HDL from 42 to 62. No cardiologist could ask for anything more.
It is often easier to try something new if you have a partner to share your experience with. If you don ' t have one, come to our website at www. atkinscenter. com. We ' ll serve as your surrogate partner and help reinforce that your efforts will provide you with a healthier life. Or find a friend or co-worker to support each other ' s efforts. =====================================================================
A Matter of Morale
Psychologically, have you made a firm commitment? Don ' t start something this important with the shallow notion of " Oh well, I ' ll give it a whirl." At the least, you should have decided that you ' re going to commit two weeks of your life-without deviation or compromise-to doing Atkins.
If you can commit yourself to that, I expect great things for you. By the end of two weeks, you ' ll be walking with new energy, getting out of bed in the morning with new zest and joyously anticipating your encounters with the bathroom scale. You ' ll be so impressed with how you look and feel, continuing with the program for life will be a foregone conclusion!
A note about that new energy and zest: Are you ready to increase your current level of physical activity? Another important step in getting ready is to read Chapter 22 and have your exercise plan in place.( You may not want to implement this plan, however, until after the first two days on Atkins. In that forty-eight-hour period, you may feel tired and a bit off-kilter as your body makes its conversion from burning glucose to burning fat as its primary fuel.)
KEY POINTS!
• Over-the-counter and certain prescription drugs can interfere with weight loss.
• Get a medical checkup to determine your overall physical health and have blood and other tests done that will serve as a baseline for comparison later.
• A five-hour glucose-tolerance test with insulin levels will evaluate the degree of stress on your glucoseinsulin-regulating mechanism before you begin Atkins.
• Typically, after six weeks doing Atkins, you can expect to see improvement in virtually all health indicators.
• Practical and psychological preparation is also key to success on Atkins.
A FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION:
My cholesterol has gone up since I started doing Atkins. What can I do about it? Examine the foods you ' ve been eating. Have you been doing Atkins correctly? If you are just starting, be sure you follow the Rules of Induction( see Chapter 11). You may also want to consider a couple of other things that could be happening. First, the increase might be temporary.
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