5. Measurements I hope you ' ve followed my suggestion to measure your chest, waist, hips, upper arms and thighs with a tape measure. The loss of inches is an indication of real success and sometimes occurs when weight loss is only marginal. Also, your weight can fluctuate from day to day, even from hour to hour, depending upon fluid balance, hormonal cycles, and the effects of medications, to name a few things. And exercise, if you go at it vigorously-and I hope you are following my advice to get moving-can cause some weight gain because it increases muscle mass, and muscle is denser than the fat it displaces. This is a good thing.
Even if these various factors cause you to lose pounds more slowly than you want, your tape measure will reveal that you are slimming down all over. Your loss of inches is of fundamental importance, for it represents real fat loss-the emptying of your fat cells. And I never underestimate the psychological importance of knowing one has made progress. But as with the scale, do not become obsessed with the tape measure either. You ' ll know the inches are disappearing because of the way your clothes fit. Pick an outfit that you can barely get into because it is so tight, then try it on every week and see if it doesn ' t start to feel more comfortable.
6. Food Preferences Fortunately, most people enjoy protein food. If you are a strict vegetarian, you really can ' t do the Induction phase.( The three later phases could be managed but the food selections on a regimen that restricts carbohydrate and simultaneously excludes animal foods are limited.) In general, I ' ve found that a person who will not eat any animal foods will not do Atkins permanently. They find it too boring. But if you are willing to eat fish and chicken, plus eggs and cheese, you can certainly do Atkins without eating red meat.
The rest of you can enjoy a delicious and satisfying way of eating. That is not to say that many people don ' t miss pasta and bread, as well as fruit and juice, the first two weeks. Soon enough in the later phases you will be able to add back fruit and even special controlled carb baked goods.
So why are people willing to do without foods that used to be so important to them to continue on Atkins? Simply this: The upside is so much larger than the downside. Weight loss, of course, but feeling physically better and in control of your eating are also paramount issues. I challenge you to tell me honestly that you do not feel better now than you did two weeks ago. And this is just the beginning.
7. Feeling Good Now I want you to retake the test on pages 150-151 that you originally took in Chapter 10. If you have experienced improvements in some of these areas, this exercise will help motivate you to continue to do Atkins.
If you ' ve been overweight for a long time, you will almost certainly have suffered some of the symptoms in this test. No doubt you thought them a normal part of aging. Isn ' t it wonderful to see that you can make them go away simply by changing the way you eat?
Doing Atkins, you ' ll find that you ' re cleaning out a lot of metabolic garbage from your life, in addition to excess pounds and junk food. Many of my patients have discovered that instead of a weight loss program, this is for them a rejuvenation program. Now take the test, and see if I ' m right!
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