One day a representative of some legal or accounting firm came in for an appointment, and, while we were awaiting the other directors, we got to talking about office life and its tendency to make one put on weight. He said that he had had the same problem before his new, more mobile, job, but that now he made sure he got out of the office regularly and walked everywhere he could if he had the time. He also said that he'd read a good book on dieting while on holiday in the USA and that he would send me a copy. I didn't think anything more of it and never saw the man again. I think his name was Mr. Blackwell.
One day the book arrived out of the blue, but it remained on my desk unread for months and months, until one day, I had a dentist's appointment. I had forgotten to take a book to work to read while I was waiting " something I nearly always did/do because the magazines are always so old and boring. Anyway, I read 50 or so pages that day and I was really impressed. I had never been on a 'proper' diet before and I thought I should give it a a go. I had stopped eating pastry, cakes and chocolate months ago, but it hadn't had much effect and my weight was still on the up, albeit slightly more slowly.
It occurred to me that the Atkins diet was a 'thinking person's' diet There is a vast amount of scope for individual tastes and lifestyles and the usual problem of self-discipline did not seem to be much of a problem because for that reason. The book warned of addictions and fads and how best to overcome or prevent them. These did not seem to be an issue for me either - I liked coffee, but could take it or leave it and I had already given up chocolate. I knew that maybe beer and bread would be my biggest problem. The only rule in the induction phase is to eat not more than 20 grams of carbohydrate per day.
The book had a clear list of most foods and their carbohydrate content. I thought it was really easy. In fact, I started eating more healthily in the induction stage than I had been eating before it! I bought a tube of Ketone sticks to check whether it was working and found that I was in ketosis on the third day. It was a very satisfying experience to know that I would be losing weight whatever I did and wherever I was now twenty-four hours a day! I gave up bread (and Guinness!) for a fortnight and felt great. I actually felt 'springy' or 'bouncy' like a martial artistr in the ring before a fight.
I had no bother whatsoever staying within the 20 gram limit, although I did miss some fruits more than I'd expected. But I found ways to get around any 'problem' that cropped up. There are hundreds of recipes and recommendations in the book so there's no need to go into them here. I started eating breakfast before I went to work and dinner in the evenings regularly.
I really enjoyed taking care over preparing lunch for work the next day, usually consisting of a salad, some cheese and various nuts to snack on. You can even eat a few strawberries too. In the evening, I would cook up something like a curry (no flour) eating it with green beans instead of rice; or a traditional British meal without potatoes followed by cheese and strawberries and cream. I lost 18 pounds in two weeks and felt better than I had for a decade.
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