Weigh-In

175.5. Down 6 pounds from my initial Atkins weigh-in.

6 pounds in 10 days, I will happily take. I finally got into the mid-170s, which I've been struggling to do for months now. I feel great, not at all deprived, and I find I'm much more disciplined at this "diet" than any thus far (though really, I still feel like I'm cheating).

It is probably just my imagination, but my clothes seem to be fitting slightly better too. Skirts that were too snug around my waist just a month ago now fit perfectly. I will have to take my measurements, perhaps for next week, to see if there is real change or not.

I also have to say, it really helps that my boyfriend is so enthusiastic about this and is doing it with me. When I was on the GI diet or the general low-fat, low-calorie one, he would kind of eat the meals if I would cook for him, but he never really wanted to get involved, which meant I didn't have any help with it. Because he has previously lost 40 pounds doing Atkins, he has all kinds of tips for making it more successful, and he's all too happy to put together a tasty meal or snack. That, combined with the fact that he's no longer eating normal food while I suffer through a lousy meal, makes a huge difference in fighting temptation and sticking to a dieting approach.

I know there is usually an initial burst of weight loss when starting a new diet, but I hope that I can continue losing at this rate - or even faster - because I now have less than a month before leaving for Italy. I am also a bit worried that as soon as I go back to eating carbs while there, I will gain back anything I lose plus some, so I am already thinking about dieting and exercising strategies among all my other concerns for living in a foreign country. I have a (perhaps not unrealistic) fantasy that I will be able to continue losing weight while there and come back to the states way thinner and in better shape than when I left. That would be really, really nice.