I'm a 41 year old male.  I'm approx. 5'6" in height and while on
vacation last August and on my 3rd soda of the day I asked myself
"What am I doing?"  The next day I weighed myself and had finally gone
over the 200 lb mark.  I had always told myself that I'd never reach
that point - NO WAY - not me!

I had never dieted in my life and exercise had been hit and miss
(mostly miss)for my adult life.  I knew I had to do something but
didn't know what.

When I got back from vacation and went to work I spoke with a co
worker who had been having major hip problems and was supposed to have
surgery.  Short of it is that he was told by his doctor that before
he'd do the surgery he'd have to lose 40 lbs and recommended Atkins.
So, my kind friend told me all about it and it sounded like something
I could do and NEEDED TO DO!

I promptly went home and announced to my wife that I wanted to do the
"Atkins" diet.  She promptly went out and bought me the book.
(Another story is how opposed my wife was to this Atkins thing - she
is a nurse BUT she did not stop me and even agreed to help me do it).

I was a total junk food junky.  I had in the last few years be
consuming so much sugar that I felt I was putting myself on the road
to diabetes for sure.  I still remember my last little 80+ carb
brownie from the vending machine.  I decided to read most of the book
before starting.  It took me about a week and then I was finally
ready.

Just cutting out the soda's and limiting the amount of junk while
finishing my vacation and eating a little better during the week I was
reading the book I weighed in at 198 lbs. to start.

The first day was fine.  The second day I felt I some cravings for
something sweet but held on.  By about the 3rd or 4th day I made some
sugar free Jell-O and it tasted so heavenly (prior to this I had NEVER
done anything "Sugar Free").  I continued on with induction and the
first week I lost 8 lbs and the 2nd week I lost 3 lbs.

It was hard for me to give up breads, pasta and sweets of all kinds in
the beginning but my immediate success gave me the motivation I needed
to continue on.

Anyway, I had lost about 25 lbs by Thanksgiving.  Oh, yeah, I had a
normal TG meal but just ate the high carbs foods in moderation.

Up to this point my schedule was such that I was not able to exercise.
I finally during the two week Christmas break began a workout program
at home and have been doing it faithfully since.

The funny thing is I have NOT lost much more weight (about 3 lbs).
But after I had been exercising for about a month I started getting a
lot more compliments from people.  I know that I'm now replacing fat
with muscle and that muscle is heavier than fat so I'm not too
concerned about this plateau I've hit.  I'm still keeping my carbs low
but do have some fruit and starchy vegetables now and then.

Before I started I had such horrible pain in my shoulders every day
and had been taking Advil for quite some time.  I don't have that pain
anymore, I sleep better and I'm more productive at home and work and
the mid afternoon lows (where I just wanted to crawl under my desk and
sleep for an hour) are not near as bad or low.

My typical meal for a day is as follows:

Breakfast: 1 egg on a low carb bun with sausage patty, cheese and mayo
and usually either a low carb Atkins shake or an Atkins apple or
cinnamon morning start bar  (lately - although when I started Omelets
were my staple and I'll sometimes do 2 eggs with a couple slices of
low carb bread with sugar free jam from Steel's)

Snack:  1 string cheese

Lunch:  Salad with mayo and various meets (Chicken, turkey, shrimp,
tuna, ham and I've even enjoyed hot dog salads!)

Snack: Sugar free Jell-O, 1 Atkins Endulge Peanut Butter Wafer bars (4
carbs) and 1 string cheese

Dinner:  Various meats and vegetables

Snack: Peanut Butter Wafers or I really like the Odyssey Protein bars
(7-9 net carbs) but I try not to do those every day, had low carb
chocolate moose the other day and it was pretty good.

The main benefit in my view is that I'm not so lazy when it comes to
fixing my meals.  I don't really consider this a diet but as so many
others have stated for me it really is a life style change.

I've still got about 20 lbs to go and I know I'll get there
eventually.  I feel in control (although, really I've never been a
binge type eater-except maybe on vacations) and on the right track.

I'm sure others would have suggestions for me but I'm not really
looking for any.  My goal I told my wife the other day is to out grow
the shirt I was wearing (in the sleeves part that is!).  She just
laughed.  I've also on occasion caught my wife doing some low carb
eating of her own!

BTW, my co worker friend lost the weight, had the surgery and is doing
well.

JB