New Year. New You.
Reaching your goal weight is not—or should not be—about dieting. It's about changing your body, and your mind-set, permanently and for the better. It is—or should be—actually just the opposite of the start-and-stop process that most people consider a diet. I tell people that they should plan not just on losing weight, but also on restoring energy and feeling their physical best. All they have to do is keep active, start an intelligent nutritional supplementation plan and eat the healthiest foods imaginable. Sound like a lot? Hardly. In fact, it sounds like a cinch.
On the other hand, anyone who “diets” in the sense that the word has been used in this country for almost a century is clearly not seeking a permanent eating plan. Such folks bought their ticket on the diet bus for a little quick fat removal, and once that's accomplished, they get off at the first available stop and go back to foods that fundamentally make them feel awful.
Then six or ten or whatever months later, they say, "Oops, time for another diet." Such a yo-yo approach is not only an ineffective way to produce a great-looking body, but it could damage your health. And it makes your body progressively resistant to weight loss.
Don’t be like that. If you eat healthy foods—think caveman fundamentals: fish, fowl, meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries and, as you approach your goal weight, some low-glycemic fruit, legumes and whole grains—and avoid refined, sugar-laden junk food, then, you’ll be halfway home. Needless to say, you’ll get a lot closer to your desired weight; you can hardly help it!
But let's not pretend eating right is everything. It's just the first thing. Doing Atkins properly is doing yourself a favor up and down the line. It's a sort of conversion. You were issued a body at birth, and chances are it was a pretty functional one. Like most of us, you probably messed around with it and didn't treat it right. Here’s your chance to reacquaint yourself with it and to give it the loving care that will make it hum.
By doing Atkins (and I think this approach is the most carefully worked out form of healthy caveman eating) you'll make it possible for your body to function at its highest level—for a lifetime! Which makes a lot of other things possible in life. Like having fun, working hard, getting a good night's sleep, pursuing that perfect romance. . .or playing with the kids, or even the grandkids.
I hope I've convinced you. If I have, you won't ever want to stop doing Atkins once you start. Forget about dieting; this will be a whole new way of life. And take my word for it: The difference between just living and living when you're really on your game is dramatic.
Do you really think that your body was designed to recline in front of a desk or a television set in determined avoidance of all exercise? You know it wasn’t. Do you think that in this era of nutrient-depleted soils your body can function at its best without vitamin and mineral supplements? You know that can’t be the case. Do you really believe that your body wants to be filled with unnatural and inappropriate foods like refined flour and sugar that layer on fat and lead to metabolic exhaustion? Of course not.
Instead, why not form a new partnership with your body? If it could talk, it would say: Treat me right, and I'll treat you right. Now that's reciprocity.