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"One Golden
Shot"
(or
"Ode to a Fudge Cake"...)
A
frequent topic in letters we receive at
Low Carb Luxury deals in some form or
another with results from multiple
attempts at low-carbing. A typical
letter goes something like this one I
received this week: "About ten
years ago, after the birth of my first
son, I went on the Atkins Diet for the
first time. It was really pretty easy
and I dropped the weight quickly and
felt very good. Unfortunately, I went
back to my old ways and gained it back.
By then the thing was "low
fat" and friends warned me off of
Atkins so I tried it "their
way" and lost a few pounds, but
felt terrible and starved. I finally
ended up quitting dieting altogether as
I was crabby, weak, and HUNGRY all the
time.
So,
here I am ten years later, now needing
to lose 50 pounds instead of the 15-20 I
wanted to lose in the first place. I am
back to Atkins and once again a
believer, but this time around, I am not
getting the results I did before. The
weight is coming off MUCH more slowly
and I find I need to stay at a lower
carb level to stay in ketosis than I did
the first time around. What am I doing
wrong this time?" The answer is
that this writer is probably not doing
ANYTHING wrong. She simply missed her
"one golden shot".
What
"Golden
Shot", you ask? It's a
phenomenon we hear about over, and over
again.
You
can count on it being a part of at least
*one* letter we get every day, so I can
assure you it's not an aberration. For
whatever reason -- and there are many
theories -- we all (especially females)
seem to have this One Golden Shot. The
first time we *ever* embark on a
low-carb eating plan *if* we do it RIGHT
and *if* we don't cheat, we get some
really amazing results without
appreciable sacrifice or difficulty. I
often see people who lose quickly and
effortlessly while taking in around
35-55 grams of carbs per day and staying
in ketosis.
But
should you falter and leave the diet for
an appreciable amount of time --
especially long enough to gain all or
much of the weight back -- the next time
around takes more effort, weight loss is
slower, and it takes more carb
restriction to get results. Indeed, once
an individual has played this hand
*multiple* times, it can take great
effort to get the desired results. I can
attest to this as I am a many-time diet
failure. My "Golden
Shot" was in the 70's. In a
short amount of time I lost 68 pounds
and felt terrific. There were no
low-carb "specialty" foods,
and no access to special ingredients to
make my own. There was no internet
support, and indeed I was living in a
tenuous situation, so stress was high.
But I still managed to do well and to do
so with little effort.
Then,
one hot fudge cake in a Big Boy
Restaurant with a friend undid all that.
I'd mentioned to the waitress that I had
not had a piece of bread, a bowl of
cereal, a glass of milk, or a slice of
cake in an entire year. She told me I'd
surely EARNED a piece of that fudge cake
for all my hard work. And that was that.
I
never managed to scramble back on the
low-carb wagon. At least not for years.
The next time I tried it, I had more
difficulty and I could not get those
rapid results. The effort it took to get
to that ketosis-comfort-zone was
considerably more. And like the writers
of my letters, I was being warned
against the dangers of Atkins. So I'd
abandoned it again. Years of yo-yo
dieting ensued and each time
strengthened my body's resolve to put up
one hell of a fight against losing an
ounce. Two years ago I made the decision
-- this was it. I HAD to succeed this
time, or I was going to have surgery
instead. I was scared to death of the
idea of a gastric bypass, but I could
not -- and WOULD NOT -- continue to live
my life as a fat girl. I was sick and
getting sicker. I knew I would not be
living a long life and every bite of
sugar robbed me of another day.
And
so I began. What a struggle. This time
around was the hardest. My body fought
me tooth and nail. I had to get down to
as little as 5 grams of carbs a day in
the beginning to lose. I learned what
stalled me and what my triggers were.
The internet was a Godsend.
I
read everything I could get my hands on.
I searched out reports and studies that
hadn't made the mainstream dogmatic
press. I started a library that now
fills many shelves in my office. In
short, this time I had to give this
endeavor my heart and soul. My
"easy path" was long since
spent. I can now look back and know I am
a success. I can say it with pride, with
joy, and with a knowledge that my life
has been given back to me. But I also am
acutely aware that this was probably my
*last stand*.
Success
was my only option
-- look at what the alternative would
have been. One hundred and six pounds
later, I am blessed to be able to write
to others, help where I can, and offer a
bit of advice learned the hard way. If
you are low-carbing for the first time,
please understand that *this* is YOUR
"Golden Shot". The others will
be harder fought. If you feel you are
struggling now, it's because (and pardon
my bluntness) you don't know what
struggling *is*. Run with this
opportunity -- don't squander it. And
don't look back. If, on the other hand,
you're one of the millions relating to
this story with a "been there, done
that" feeling, remember, there *is*
a light at the end of the tunnel, and
success is still waiting for you. There
are just more curves in the road on the
way. Things that may have caused no
problems your first time around may
prove problematic now.
For
us second (third, forth) timers, we
probably have to avoid all trans fats
(no margarine, no shortening.) We can be
triggered easily by a few drops of high
fructose corn syrup, or sodas containing
aspartame. We have a greater need for
supplements that go beyond a good
multivitamin. For us, CoEnzyme Q-10, L-Carnitine,
Chromium, Taurine, Magnesium, and more
may be what makes all the difference. We
must be that much more religious about
drinking our water every day. We all
started out with the *dream* we could
succeed. Faltering doesn't mean we need
to wake up from that dream. In the words
of Henry David Thoreau: "If you
have built castles in the air, your work
need not be lost; there is where they
should be. Now put foundations under
them." – Lora
From
Low Carb Luxury Newsletter - Lora's
Column Volume II - Issue 4
www.lowcarbluxury.com
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