Atkins Diabetes Revolution (32 page)

3. Which vegetable is
not
on the low-carb,low GI/GL list:

1. Brussels sprouts
   
2. broccoli
   
3. potato
   
4. salad greens
   
5. cabbage
   

4. The top five vegetables for antioxidant power are:

1. zucchini
   
2. cabbage
   
3. garlic
   
4. leaf lettuce
   
5. onions
   
6. string beans
   
7. kale
   
8. cauliflower
   
9. spinach
   
10. carrots
    

Answers 1.Trick question—c (American units) and d (metric units) are both

correct.2.e.3.c.4.c,d,e,g,i.

MAN ON A MISSION

Since childhood, Steve Horstman battled futilely to lose weight. Once he realized he was a carb addict and well on his way to diabetes, he took the steps necessary to win back his life.

I started doing Atkins on April 28, 1999. I’ll never forget that date—for me, it has the same importance as the days your kids are born. I’d carried extra weight even as a child and had tried every diet in the world.
But I’d always lose/regain, lose/regain. In the late eighties, I actually had the most success. I got myself down to 200 pounds by starving myself. Looking back, I was also eliminating carbs without knowing it. But
I was so hungry all the time I just couldn’t stick to it. I became a cynic about all diets.

One day I noticed that my wife,
Melissa, had bought
Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution
and put it on top of my dresser without saying anything.Well, it just sat there for two days. I happened to be home on a day off having lunch, which I remember was six hot dogs with buns and two cans of Coke. I like to read while I’m eating, so I decided to take a look at the book. When I finished the chapter “Is This You?” I said, “Wow! That
is
me.” By 6:30 that evening I had read the entire book twice and started it a third time when I called my wife at work. “We are going to try this diet.” She splurged and brought home steaks and lobster tails for our first Atkins dinner.

The next day I weighed myself at a local store in our town of Burlington, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati, which had an old-fashioned grain scale. I already knew that conventional scales don’t exceed 300 pounds, so this was my only option. I thought I’d weigh in a little over 400 pounds. The scale read 571 pounds. I also had a 70-inch waist and had begun to develop all the signs of Type 2 diabetes.

BEFORE AFTER

N
AME
: Steve Horstman

Age: 37

Height: 6 feet 1 inch

Weight Before: 571 pounds

Weight Now: 250 pounds

Total Cholesterol Before

(6 months in): 230

Total Cholesterol Now: 151

LDL Now: 85

HDL Now: 66

Triglycerides Now: 132

Blood Pressure

(6 months in): 140/90; resting heart rate: 88

Blood Pressure Now:

115/65; resting heart rate: 56

Even though I was still very skeptical about the program, I decided to give it a try, staying at or under 20 grams of Net Carbs per day as required in the Induction phase. Weighing in on the same scale nine days later, I realized I had lost 30 pounds. “Okay, that’s it; I’m hooked,” I said.

Then I found an electronic scale that could handle my weight at a GNC store. I went there every day to track my progress. Within the first two months, I had lost 100 pounds. That’s when I started exercising by walking to the end of my block and back, stopping to rest halfway each way. The first year, I stayed on Induction for the entire time and lost 273 pounds. I’ve been watching carbs at the Ongoing Weight Loss level since then and have lost an additional 48 pounds. I still have 25 pounds to go to reach my goal weight of 225.

It amazes me now to think about what I used to eat. I skipped breakfast, but for lunch I’d go to a fast-food restaurant and consume four sandwiches, two large fries, and a large Coke. Then I’d go to another fast-food restaurant,eat three or four more sandwiches,maybe a bag of onion rings, and another large Coke. I made two stops because I was embarrassed by the amount I was eating and I was looking for taste variety, too. I would down four or five peanut-butter-and jelly sandwiches or a bag of Doritos while waiting for the lasagna and garlic bread I would have for dinner to be ready. I probably drank the equivalent of 12 large Cokes per day.

Now I’ve really developed a taste for veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, as-paragus, spinach, mixed greens—these are all new foods for me. Even though I hate the cold days in winter, I continue to walk with my wife, Melissa, who has lost about 100 pounds herself on Atkins, with 35 more pounds to go. We shoot for three to four miles, five to six days per week. I know I need to add some more aerobic activity to get my heart rate up, and I plan to do so.

It is absolutely fun to go shopping for clothes now. I used to have to get everything by mail order. It was a pretty big day for me when I finally shopped at a regular department store and bought a real pair of blue jeans without an elastic waistband. My waist is now 38 inches. I’ve gone from a 6X to an extra-large shirt. My shoe size has dropped from a 14 to an 11
½.
And my ring size has gone from a 14 to an 11
½
. I had been wearing my wedding ring on my thumb!

I’ve been working in restaurant management for most of my career. Recently, a young lady came in to apply for a job at my location. “Do you know who I am?” I asked. “You worked for me for four years,” I said. I showed her my ID and she was so happy about how I looked she started crying and gave me a big hug.

I’ve actually become a bit of a celebrity, appearing on the
Today
show and the area news.About a week after I appeared locally,I was shopping for groceries and bought a lot of Atkins products. I started talking to the manager, who happened to be at the register, and I asked her if low-carb products were selling. “Can’t keep it on the shelves since that guy from around here was on TV.”“I’m that guy,”I said,and she asked me for my autograph!

I have helped counsel about 100 people through the approach. Everybody who does Atkins—and does it right—loses weight. I’ve turned into a walking carb-counter. I help other people find the hidden carbs in what they have been eating.“You can lie to everybody, but you can’t lie to yourself,” I tell them. My three kids are really proud of me.When my youngest, a nine-year-old, sees an old picture of me, she can’t remember that I looked so fat. Diabetes, heart attack, stroke—I might not be here for my kids today if it wasn’t for Atkins.

Note: Your individual results may vary from those reported here. As stated previously, Atkins recommends initial laboratory evaluation and subsequent follow-up in conjunction with your health care provider.

Chapter 17

CONTROLLING YOUR CARBS— AND LIKING IT

All carbohydrates are most definitely not created equal. The right carbohydrates in moderate amounts can help you stabilize your blood sugar and may even help prevent diabetes; the wrong carbs (particularly when consumed in excess) can send your insulin and blood sugar levels soaring out of control.

We can look at carbs in a number of different ways. The traditional nutritional division is simple and complex carbohydrates. But as we’ve said, these terms are misleading. For example, berries are classi- fied as simple carbohydrates, because fructose, the sugar in fruit, breaks down easily. Meanwhile, a high-carbohydrate granola bar full of added sugar is regarded as a complex carbohydrate because it contains whole grains, which don’t break down as quickly. In this case, the nutritional recommendation to eat more complex carbohydrates would mean eating more of some pretty unhealthy foods and less of some very healthy ones.

GOOD CARBS, BAD CARBS

As you learned about the Atkins Glycemic Ranking (AGR) in Chapter 14, the glycemic load (GL) and glycemic index (GI) are a much more helpful way to look at the carbohydrates in your diet. Now let’s take a closer look at carbohydrates to better understand why we suggest eating some carbs on a regular basis, others in moderation, and certain carbs rarely or never. Whichever carbs you eat on any given day, you must keep your Net Carb count within your personal threshold.

We have talked a lot in this book about how carbs can raise your blood sugar; but that does not mean that all carbs are bad. The ones that raise your blood sugar too quickly and too high are high-GI foods that also have a high GL. These are mainly foods that are highly re- fined, highly processed, and low in fiber: white rice, bread made with bleached white flour, pasta, French fries, grits, and so on. But we also have to be aware of unrefined carbs that have a high GI, such as wild rice and millet. While those are inherently good foods, it’s important for people with blood sugar problems to choose unrefined, high-fiber, low-GI/low-GL carbs—the ones that end up having a low AGR. Lots of unrefined, delicious carbs can be found on the AGR “Eat regularly” and “Eat in moderation” lists (see Appendix 4, page 467)—acorn squash, lentils, peanuts, and nectarines, for instance.

ADD CARBS WITH CAUTION

All carbs always count, however, and even large portions of low-AGR foods could cause an undesirable jump in your blood sugar. To moderate the impact,add small portions of low- and moderate-AGR foods back into your diet as part of a meal that also contains protein, fat, and dietary fiber. As you do so, keep an eye on your weight, blood sugar, triglycerides,symptoms,and appetite control.If weight loss stops suddenly or you regain weight, if you get jittery and hungry, or if your blood sugar or triglyceride levels go up, cut back on your servings of these carb foods. On the other hand, if these indicators remain stable, go ahead and have an occasional serving. Be extremely aware of portion size, however. The standard portion of, say, cooked acorn squash is only ½ cup. If you’re very carb-sensitive, you may have to limit even that amount to just a few times a week. For ideas on how to use small amounts of higher-carb veggies, legumes (beans), and even grains, check out the meal plans and recipes in Chapters 26 and 27.

CARB CRAVINGS: HOW TO FIGHT BACK

For some people, eating even a small portion of a high-quality carbohydrate such as brown rice is very difficult—it triggers their carbohydrate cravings. This can lead to a serious detour off the ABSCP and back onto the blood sugar roller coaster.What happens then? Rapid changes in insulin and blood sugar levels, mood swings, weight gain, gas and bloat- ing,preoccupation with food—in short,eating those carbs could trigger your addiction (let’s call a spade a spade) and cancel out all the health gains you have made.

When carbohydrates beckon,fight back with some simple strategies:

• Admit that you’re tempted and then consciously remind yourself of how much better you feel when you limit the carbs in your diet.Say it out loud if that helps.
  
• Eat a snack containing protein and fat.Your cravings could be coming from low blood sugar; the snack will stabilize it.
  
• Consider eating frequent, smaller meals including protein, fat, and fiber on a regular schedule. Don’t ever let yourself get too hungry.
  
• Substitute a low-carb food for the food you crave. If you must have chocolate,try a low-carb bar or a chocolate shake.
  

Once the craving is past, understanding what set it off can help you avoid it next time.Did you go too long without eating,triggering a drop in blood sugar? Try not to go more than four waking hours without a meal or a protein snack—a slice of turkey, a chicken drumstick, or a small piece of cheese,for instance.Did you eat because of stress or anxiety, not hunger? Simply being aware of why you’re eating can help here. And if you find yourself eating because you’re stressed, again, choose a high-protein food to snack on—this helps stop stress-related cravings. Did you let someone pressure you into eating? You’ve probably heard this all too often:“Go ahead,a little bit won’t hurt you.”You know a little bit
can
hurt you, so simply say,“I’m being more careful about what I eat these days.”