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Well the Atkins threads around that time made me give it (the diet) a second look. I normally shy away from any of these "diets" that fill our bookstores and supermarket tabloids. I am very cynical about them. Still, I have issues with the Atkins diet. I believe it is not balanced enough and too extreme with its anti-carb agenda. But I have adopted about 70% of it - and I am pleased to say that in conjunction with my walking program of 6-8 miles a day, it works...well it works for me.

With the exception of rice and cous-cous, I pretty much have cut out most of the high-carb foods in my regular diet. No more pies, cakes, candy, packaged snack foods, chips, etc. Since cutting this stuff out and doing my walking every day, my hunger for these foods have disappeared. I used to crave stuff like those peanut butter and cracker sandwiches that you see in the vending machines. I also craved things like those Goldfish snack crackers and Fig Newtons (thinking they were somewhat healthy). All those cravings have disappeared. Now I have just a banana for breakfast and a tin of sardines (or small bag of peanuts) for lunch on most days and I am not even hungry. In fact, I have to sometimes force myself to have that banana in the morning because I know I need to put something in my system after doing my 5AM walk. I'm just not hungry at all. It amazes me that I have cut my food intake (as measured in calories) by half while walking 6-8 miles per day.

I don't bother counting calories but I estimate I do not go very much over 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day (including the beer and coffee I drink) since starting the "modified" Atkins plan (along with the walking program). I walk three miles in the morning and about 4 miles at lunch.

I have been eating much healthier for about two full years now and my weight gain had stopped. But it wasn't until I cut carbs significantly that I started losing the weight. Now I am losing it rather rapidly.

Well the Atkins threads around that time made me give it (the diet) a second look. I normally shy away from any of these "diets" that fill our bookstores and supermarket tabloids.

Understandable, but I'm glad you gave it that second look.

Still, I have issues with the Atkins diet. I believe it is not balanced enough and too extreme with its anti-carb agenda.

Well, let's see - I eat meat (beef, lamb, chicken, fish, etc.). I eat fresh non-starchy vegetables. I eat nuts. I occasionally eat some berries (especially during strawberry season). I drink lots of water. How unbalanced is that?

The truth is - low carb varies from about 20 grams a day to 100. If you eat 100 grams of carbs a day, that's 400 calories' worth - which is plenty. There's nothing unbalanced about it.

Now I have just a banana for breakfast and a tin of sardines (or small bag of peanuts) for lunch on most days and I am not even hungry. In fact, I have to sometimes force myself to have that banana in the morning because I know I need to put something in my system after doing my 5AM walk.

A banana is too carby for me, but it's doable on a 100-gram plan. Also, if you're doing some intensive exercise, that's the time to eat your carbs, as your body will use them for energy instead of converting them to fat.

I don't bother counting calories but I estimate I do not go very much over 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day (including the beer and coffee I drink) since starting the "modified" Atkins plan (along with the walking program).

If you want to see how many calories you're eating - and how they're broken down into macronutrients, there's a great website for that: http://www.fitday.com. It's absolutely free.

Maven