100% Commitment Needed

My friends and family always insist they were making Dr. Atkins' book or some other popular diet book their bible, and not giving up on the diet no matter how many times they went off plan. However there is also a lot of dishonesty and secrecy regarding what they are eating away from home, while vacationing, visiting their relatives, (high-carb toast with their ham and egg breakfast, and pizza calzones), in addition to the bags of pork rinds, fruit, Blue-Bunny ice cream bars, Russel Stover chocolates, and corn on the cob they were eating openly.

Their justification Well, the average person eats 300 carbs a day according to the book, and we are still eating way less than that (????).

Needless to say, my hope for them achieving even partial success with this woe has now faded completely. Especially since they were unable to stay on plan even for a single day.
Now such food-obsessive behavoir is quite common, according to Dr. Atkins, who says these kinds of cases where folks are consistently binging, fantasizing, and living for food, can be most difficult to cure. And that in extreme cases like many of my friends, due to their bodies' response to carbs, it can even be IMPOSSIBLE to overcome because they truly do have a very real, physical need to eat. Besides, when they eat the food they are craving, they actually feel better because their carb metabolism is out of whack.

One of the most interesting points that Dr. Atkins continuously makes in his writings is that with his diet he isn't trying to take away our emotional need for food. He isn't chaining up the refrigerator, like low-calorie diets do, nor telling us we are not really hungry when we are. But he's trying to teach us how to make wiser, better choices, when those stressful, hungry times arise. Like reaching for a scoop of chicken salad or left-over pot roast, rather than something that contains carbs. Promising us that if we do that, eventually our compulsions will fade.
Which makes the key to overcoming this problem, wanting to overcome it so badly that we are willing to make whatever sacrifices are required to get there. Putting Dr. Atkins' promises to the test. Reaching for the cold chicken, rather than giving in to our desire for instant gratification and going out for that pizza calzone. Not bringing home foods like plums and corn, that aren't a part of our plan. And most definitely, not lieing to ourselves or others about what we are actually putting into our mouths.

Because if we aren't willing to commit ourselves 100% NOW to making this way of eating a permanent lifestyle change, permanent weight loss will never be ours.