Almost everybody knows the name "atkins". We all know people who have tried the diet, maybe even lost weight on the diet. Well, I bought two of his books, "New Diet Revolution" and "Atkins For Life" and I believe this is really the plan I have been needing.

Twice in my adult life I have weighed for brief periods at a weight I was personally happy with. Right around 135. I even almost had my coveted abs. Right now I weigh about 150 and I feel like --- well, like the marshmellow man. I know that people would look at me like I'm crazy because I don't look fat. But that extra 15 pounds to me is the difference between feeling full of life and amazing and having very little self-confidence at all.

This is not about if you think 134 is too skinny. This is about me. I love to exercise and lift weights. I have twice done very well on low-carb diets. The reason why I like Atkins so much is it sets you up as a sort of lab experiment. You get to progress so that you know EXACTLY how many carbs you can eat and not gain weight. That would be invaluable.

Since I am very active and I am only looking to lose between 15 and 20 pounds, I have decided to start induction tomorrow, Christmas Day! at a level of 30g of carbs. ATKINS suggests 20g in his book. But I am not some 250 pound desk clerk trying to stave off a heart attack. I am looking to become lean with abs.

Another great benefit (to me) about ATKINS is, once I am past the first three phases, it will not be hard to figure out how many carbs I can eat to slowly put on muscle mass. I am not a hardcore bodybuilder looking into a lifestyle of "bulking" and "cutting". I am someone who wants to put on 2-5 pounds a year maybe and watch my strength improve, etc. ATKINS is perfectly suited for this type of lifestyle.

ATKINS (hopefully) will provide another benefit I am looking for desperately, and that is a release from this addiction I have to sugar. I plan to avoid all sweet flavors including sugar free gums, candies, diet sodas, etc... during two week induction. It will be difficult but I believe, after reading ATKINS and another book entitled The Sugar ADDICTS workbook, that my body does indeed have a strong reaction to sweets, sugar free or sugar filled. Apparently even if your insulin levels are unaffected by sugar free products, the sweet flavors may cause a rise in other hormone levels, setting off cravings. The only two remotely sweet things I will be having is the ATKINS SHAKE and my morning PURE PROTEIN shake.

I have had a very difficult time pulling out of this spiral I have been in for the past month or so. The Sugar Addict book gave me some insight as to why. It seems that if you do go "sugar-free" as I had managed to do from AUG-NOV your body readjusts itself and if you fall off your body's reaction to sugar is even more powerful than before. I have NEVER had this much trouble controlling myself. Just this evening I ate about 10 cookies and then a bowl of cereal AFTER a dinner of beef, broccoli and salad. It is hard for me to believe my body was actually hungry but they were here and I just HAD to have them. This, of course, MUST END.

I am also going to try and change some of my eating habits. Sometimes I eat my dinner in front of the television and I believe this is a bad habit not contributing to a healthy life. I eat too fast and not only is this not a good habit but when I eat out with others I am done way before they are even close to being finished, so I get bored, and then usually eat more than I need to alleviate my boredom.

If there is any saving grace, it is that I am willing to take action NOW, a mere 15-20 pounds above my personal ideal weight, rather than 50,60 or 100 pounds.

I was considering waiting to post this until after I finish two days worth of ATKINS, first because even though I am determined, I am scared what if I fail I'll have this stupid article staring me in the face reminding me of my failure to stick to my plan --- I mean, I keep trying to "eat right" day after day and every single day for about a month now I have failed EVERY DAY. It is a crushing blow to fail 30 days or more straight in a row. Also ATKINS can be controversial. Body builders prefer a straight-on CKD diet, "carbing-up" on the weekends. Some people are successful on diets without such an extreme as "induction" like ATKINS has. In truth, I know, having done "low-carb" before that I could "lose weight" without going as low as 30g of carbs for two weeks. BUT I believe I would be setting myself up for failure, as I would still crave sweets and carbs and I do believe the strictness of induction WILL give me my self-control back.

So I've decided my determination is greater than any detractors. I will plan to post daily updates on my progress and I'll go ahead and post this now, perhaps somebody else out there is wanting to start up on ATKINS and this blog might give them the extra push to start and my personal experience might provide some support to people doing ATKINS or considering it.

If you are wanting more specifics, see my earlier article about my weight battle. Up and down and up and down and it's my own private world. People only notice if I get up to 160 or so or down to 134 or so. I do believe I could maintain low130s if I would just keep in mind how great I feel at the moment and the compliments I receive. But I'm stupid all it takes is one person to go "you're TOO skinny" or something dumb and then you see the big bodybuilders and next thing you know you're carbing it up like a pig.

So I'm slow to learn, I AM HAPPY being lean and thin, I don't have to look like ARNOLD I want to look like me, a me I am happy with, a me with abs.

---I.W.A.