My Typical Diet – After Atkins

My typical diet includes olive oil and vinegar homemade salad dressing, as I have many food sensitivities, bordering on allergies.  Canola oil, the protein in milk,  as opposed to the sugar (lactose) in milk, and yeast are my primary food foes.  Of course, I LOVE bread! 

My husband is the cook in the family, and he primarily grills everything on a charcoal grill and it is so wonderful!  We regularly eat grilled, marinated chicken, lean ground beef, bison, and turkey.  Occasionally we have steak, ham and bacon, although my husband eats more of those than I do.  He makes a mean pot of 3 day beans, and we make a rice cooker full of brown and wild rice mix that we can re-heat during the week.  Fresh romaine lettuce, zucchini and Roma tomatoes are also on the menu.  I detest fish and my husband is allergic, so there are no conflicts there.

We started eating this way about 6 years ago, when I went on the Atkins diet.  In total, I lost 15 pounds in 6 months, being extremely diligent in my approach.  It was discouraging in the sense that other people reported more rapid weight loss, but at least I was losing!  I usually can’t lose much, even with a lot of effort.  By “a lot” of effort, I mean 4 days in the gym, approximately 45 minutes on the elliptical, stretching and abdominal work,  and at least an hour of weight training each session.  I am no stranger to the gym!

Overall I felt better on the Atkins diet, and I mean the approach that Dr. Atkins had of eating lean meats, low carb fruits and veggies.  Don’t get me started on those people who only ate bacon and cheese and then complained that their health was ruined by the Atkins diet!  My naturopath wanted me to get a blood test for food sensitivities and allergies, and I then went on a month long cleanse, which I dubbed “getting to have water with my water”.  It was a gluten free diet, and I lost 10 pounds in that month!

Eventually, I got my thyroid medicine adjusted to a higher dose, and that helped my efforts.  In 2005 I switched to Armour thyroid medicine.  I’m on a very high dose and would really like to see if i can do anything to help myself get on a lower dose.