Kenneth J. Nowicki on fri 12 dec 03
First let me also congratulate our esteemed Mayor on his progress in
health... way to go Mel!!!
Let me offer my congrats to John Rogers as well... for he has made great
strides in regaining his health and controlling his diabetes as well... Good going
John!!!
> Atkins was right on, it appears. I have lost 85 lbs on his program.<>
I am in TOTAL agreement. I'll try not to step up on my Atkins "soapbox" here,
but I just have to comment on similar results.
About 5 years ago... I tried the Atkins diet. Read his book. Opened my eyes
to a lot of things... made sense to me. I was on it for approx. 12 weeks. I was
having great success... I had lost about 46 pounds... my doctor had told me
during a routine physical that my triglicerides and cholesterol numbers all
looked good.
It can be a strict diet, especially in the initial "induction" phase. It's
quite an adjustment for someone who is used to consuming a lot of carbs.
Then... we went on a 2 week vacation... and I let things slip... never got
back on track. We stayed at a relative's lakeside cabin in the Sierras... kindly
woman... mothering type... woke up to French toast, Dutch babies, and other
sinful breakfasts every morning... temptation was too much I guess. I should've
stuck with it, but I didn't. When we returned I eventually went back to
eating too many carbohydrates again... big mistake.
Fast forward a few years. Had kids. Life gets busier than ever. More
complicated. Less time to take care of myself, more time taking care of family. I'd
gained about 30 of those 46 pounds back.
Fast forward another year or two. Made the big move to the East coast from
Southern California... less time spent in a car driving... more time spent
walking... live in small town near a "Main Street"... nearly everything within
walking distance... add to that the 3 flights of stairs we have in our new home...
an old Victorian lady from the 1890s... and within 18 months... I've dropped
45 pounds. Things were looking better I think... right? Wrong.
I go to my Dr. last October for an annual physical... only to find out later
that I have adult onset diabetes (type ll). Boy... talk about a wake up call!
Fortunately, it was caught early and it looks promising to be able to reverse
the effects by controlled diet and exercise. My a1c test came back high too,
something similar to John's. My blood glucose levels were hovering right around
350. Dr. put me on Lipitor and Glucophage to help control my diabetes. My
goal is to be off these meds within 6 months.
The very next day I began the Atkins diet again. You know why? I understood
Atkins philosophy to achieving medical health... and I knew from experience
before... it worked... only now... this was serious sh*t to me! I'm taking this
diabetes thing very serious because I know how dangerous it can be, and I've
got two little boys who need a healthy Dad to grow up with... and it's gonna be
me!
Dr. recommends a consult from a licensed nutritionist. So happens my
chiropractor is also a licensed and board certified nutritionist as well as
acupuncturist. My chiropractor starts monitoring my diet... big time. He too believes
that lowering the carbohydrates is urgently important, but he's strict (more so
than Atkins is) on allowing fat content in the diet as well. So I've adjusted.
He makes me write down every single morsel if food I put in my mouth every
day, and each week he reviews it. It's a pain in the butt, but I HAVE to do it.
In addition, he's having me take a whole host of nutritional supplements to
help balance my diet and keep me healthy as well as lower my blood sugars. He is
also proud of my continued success, and that support really helps me keep on
track. Just last week I began a regular exercise program too. Fast walking 4
miles for an hour each morning on the treadmill. It's a start anyway. I hope to
increase this routine to include more exercise as I continue.
A lot of people (especially in years past) in the medical community as well
as in general "pooh poohed" the Atkins diet. Only in recent years has the
medical community began to realize that the age old method of controlling people's
diets by limiting fat intake and counting calories is only making Americans
fatter, and that controlling and lowering the carbohydrates we eat it the key to
a healthier lifestyle. I can see that I am not alone anymore on this diet
like I felt I was 5 years ago... everywhere I look I'm seeing more and more
products with "low-carb" dieters in mind... even on menus in restaurants... this is
all fine by me. The less carbs we all consume, the better as far as I'm
concerned... and the carbs we do consume should come from fruits and vegetables...
not from over processed bleached white grains and flours, cereals, and
pastas... and God forbid all the sugar we Americans eat... way too much. Atkins
summed it up nicely once... "if you take the American Food Pyramid and chopped off
the bottom third, THAT is the food pyramid we should be following... the
Mediterranean Food Pyramid"
Makes sense to me. The numbers don't lie.
In the last 6 weeks since being diagnosed with diabetes... and since being on
the Atkins diet... I too have had some great success in regaining my health.
My glucose levels have dropped dramatically... and now average in-between 90
and 125 and are still improving. I don't have my latest a1c test score, but the
nurse called recently to tell me that the doctor was very pleased with my
last round of tests and that my "numbers were much improved". The numbers don't
lie.
Before I saw my doctor for my physical, I was thirsty all the time, and was
drinking fluids constantly (worse, I was drinking more and more soda pop than I
ever had), I also had developed an "urgency" to relieve myself...and
frequently too... not being able to sleep through the night without having to get up
and go to the bathroom 2-3 times a night... and I'd had troubles with heartburn
for years. Within 10 days of beginning this Atkins diet... ALL of those
symptoms have disappeared! All of them! I am sleeping through the night, my
plumbing seems to have completely returned to normal, and I haven't had to reach for
a Tums, Zantac, or Pepsid AC even once in the last 6 weeks. I too have lost
most desires for something sweet... in fact... Diet sodas taste way too sweet
for me now, and I am drinking more plain water than ever before.
I've lost pounds and inches too! Thus far I've lost 12 pounds in 6 weeks.
I've gone from a size 44 waist to a size 40 (and still shrinking!). I've gone
from a size 52 jacket to a size 48. I'm feeling better than I ever had in years.
More energy too.
This is not a diet for me anymore, it is a lifestyle change... something I'll
have to live with the rest of my life... and knowing that... I think that has
made all the difference in how I'm approaching this low-carbohydrate
lifestyle rather than my first attempt at Atkins 5 years ago. In a way, I'm glad I've
had this "wake-up" call... as it has made a huge difference in my life.
Please forgive me if I came across like some sort of an "evangelist" here for
the Atkins diet. It's just that it so exciting to hear what is has done for
others here, and know that I share in that success as well. When you find out
something that works so well, you want to share it with others you care
about... you know? Tell us about your experiences on a low-carb diet... has it worked
for you too?
Here's to continued health for all! Yay!
Best regards,
Ken
Kenneth J. Nowicki
Port Washington, NY
RakuArtist@aol.com
John Rodgers on fri 12 dec 03
Kenneth,
I am glad you stepped up on the soap box. I realize this is not about
clay, but I will bet my boots there are a bunch of middle age, fat clay
persons out there, and WE, myself included are (and as I said, I am) a
target for diabetes.
I agree with all of what you have said, and won't rehash it all, except
for a few points.
For a very long time, I had a Pepsi IV plugged into my arm
.......essentially! You never saw me without something to drink in hand
that was not loaded with sugar. Soft drinks, sweet tea, milk shakes,
etc. In addition, there were always the snacks..........corn curls,
potato chips, cheese puffs, you name it. Everything under the sun that
would convert directly to glucose ..................or blood sugar. Then
there were the barbecued ribs with the sorghum syrup (sugar) based
barbecue sauce, big potato or the fries or the steak with the fries or
the baked potato, with all the butter, chives, sour cream, etc, etc,
etc. And the baked beans with their molasses sauce or what have you.
SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR!!!
It all converts to sugar. There is refined sugar itself, then there are
all the lessor sugars, like fructose, and corn syrups, and on and on.
Ant there are the starches - refined flours, then any of the ground
grains, whether refined or not. Then there are the pastas, etc, and then
the potatoes, and the beans, and the corn, and, and, and on infinitum.
My point is they all convert to sugar in the blood almost before they
get to the stomach for digestion.
I recall a little experiment in high school biology--- chew a saltine
cracker, the teacher said, chew, chew, chew, but do not swallow until it
is almost liquid in the mouth. Notice how sweet it is getting as it
approaches complete mastication. That is because starches begin
converting to sugar in your mouth. Well, surprise, surprise. A further
test is to place the tiniest amount of iodine( I think it was iodine)
on the gooey mess, and it will turn blue. A true test of the presence of
the sugar.
So to my main point about this sugar thing. If you list out a column of
the truly basic foods there are three. Fats, Proteins (meats of every
sort) and Carbohydrates. Now, fats are fats, both plant and animal.
However, something to remember......if it walks, crawls, slithers,
swims, flies, or otherwise moves by muscular contraction it is a
protein. If it grows in the ground, it is a carbohydrate.
If it is a carbohydrate, it will become sugar at some point in
digestion. And there in lies the problem. Our bodies are designed to run
on sugar - blood glucose - as fuel. If something goes wrong with that
system we are in trouble. If the body cannot utilize the glucose for
fuel, the cells starve. This is why often with the onset of diabetes,
there is an unexplained weight loss. The cell walls do not open to let
the glucose enter, and the cell goes hungry and begins to starve. It
looks elsewhere for fuel. So now what?
The body begins to burn the body fat for fuel. Result, production of
water, carbon dioxide and ketones.....loads and loads of ketones. Now
the blood is loaded with blood sugar with no where to go, except to the
kidneys. So now the diabetic begins to pee all the time getting rid of
all that water being created from fat metabolism, and at the same time
dumping all that sugar out of the body in the urine via the kidneys
......and dumping the ketones. And all those excessive ketones are
damaging the kidneys. And now the diabetic, often, comes down with a
case of urinary yeast infection, because of all the blood sugar passing
through. Woe, misery, and agony!!! And added to that is the diabetic
begins to smell bad. All those ketones at work. Permanent B.O. All of
this is corrected given proper medical treatment. People who have
diabetes are carbohydrate sensitive, whether their pancreas has just
shut down and refuses to produce insulin, or whether - like me - they
produce insulin but have developed a resistance to their own insulin
due to the continual overload of insulin flooding the body for years due
to the high sugar intake. So, what to do?
If you make a list of all carbohydrate foods, beginning with the refined
stuff like pure sugar at the top, and fresh leafy greens at the bottom,
you will realize that every single item converts to sugar. But the
catch is that the refined stuff at the top goes almost direct to blood
sugar (glucose) with little effort and in a very short time. But the
leafy stuff at the bottom of the list requires the body to work at it to
get the components of the carbs out of the leafy fiber in order to make
the blood glucose. That is the key. The pure carbs digest fastest, and
cause a big sugar spike followed by a sugar drop. Result, you get the
sleepy eye after a big plate of spaghetti when the bottom drops out. But
with a steak, and a green leafy salad, and maybe a small crook neck
squash, digestion produces a very slow blood sugar rise over time, and
you never get that sugar spike that pulls the plug on you and makes you
sleepy.
The Atkins diet makes the most sense of any diet I have ever seen. My
brother and I have often pondered together why it was that all those
things that tasted good -- that is the good foods, not the junk foods,
were not supposed to be good for you. Why skim milk rather than whole
milk for example. And why was it that the fats which contain the
flavinoids that give foods the best taste, were considered to be bad for
you. None of it made any sense at all. We knew that for eons the human
body had evolved eating all those things that tasted good .... wild game
- including the fats - nuts, seeds, greens and now elements of those
were considered not healthy. An I personally have seen the old Eskimos
dip a stick of a green plant (much like celery, but it grows on the
tundra) into pure seal oil and eat it with gusto, licking fingers and
lips in delight. And those same old eskimos - when surgery was required
at the USPH hospital where I worked - had arteries like babies. Yet the
younger generation, raised on the high carb diets, had arterial disease
by the time they were in their teens. We know there was something wrong
with the picture, but didn't know what. Then came Atkins, and we knew he
was right.
A very major part of diabetes control is exercise. I had to come to
terms with this and it was hard. But I finally got it through my head.
But I will tell you, making the exercise right next to breathing, was a
difficult take. I had to completely rethink my priorities. Now
absolutely nothing gets in the way of my walking workout. I must walk to
live. I was grumbling a bit about trying to work in an exercise program,
and I also wanted to try and get off some of the blood pressure meds I
was on. My pressures were good. He told me "Have a seat, I have
something I want to say. He said " You WILL exercise, Mr. Rodgers. You
will WALK, Mr. Rodgers, or I will cut your legs off!" I new exactly
what he was talking about. He didn't have to go beyond that. It was
crystal clear. Exercise and breathing were to be equal!!!! Nothing else
on earth was going to be more important to me personally. And I walk.
Next he said, " You are a diabetic, and as such you are at risk for
heart failure, kidney failure, stroke. The meds you are on are
synergistic, and they provide you with additional protection for those
organs, whether or not you can stand getting off of them for blood
pressure purposes. I want you to stay on them" I did. I corroborated his
comments with my niece who holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology. She stood with
my doctor. I'm happy.
Except for my cold, I feel really good these days. I have bought myself
a lot of new clothes. I no longer have to pay more money for the "fat
man" clothes a the local fat man store. I have more endurance, The
exercise has firmed me up, and the weight loss has allowed me to display
a bit more muscle definition. I got a big bang out of a recent even when
I was out walking. I overheard a sweet young thing say to her fried '
Look at that old guy going there, he's got "Arnold Legs". I almost
laughed out loud. "Arnold Legs" indeed!!! It was funny, but I'm not sure
about whether the comparison was a good one or not. Besides, I'm not so
sure Schwartzeneggers legs are ones I would want to emulate.
To live disease free::
Eat well and healthy (Atkins)
Lose Weight
Cut the refined and high carbs from your diet,
Exercise Daily
I promise not to bring this up again.
I will all good health.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
Kenneth J. Nowicki wrote:
>First let me also congratulate our esteemed Mayor on his progress in
>health... way to go Mel!!!
>
>Let me offer my congrats to John Rogers as well... for he has made great
>strides in regaining his health and controlling his diabetes as well... Good going
>John!!!
>
>
>
>> Atkins was right on, it appears. I have lost 85 lbs on his program.<>
>>
>>
>
>I am in TOTAL agreement.
>
>
Jeremy McLeod on sat 13 dec 03
On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:02:44 EST, Kenneth J. Nowicki wrote:
>> Atkins was right on, it appears. I have lost 85 lbs on his program.<>>
It would seem that corners of the medical world are suggesting that our
"recent" love affair with low fat, high carb diets have only exacerbated the
obesity epidemic.
My doc tells me that a recent conference dealing with diabetes has endorsed
the principles in the Atkins approach but indicates preference for the
slightly modified version known as The South Beach diet. The modifications
move the approach toward something one can live with more readily.
Jeremy McLeod
Gene and Dolita Dohrman on mon 15 dec 03
So John, are you AND Mel going to show up at NCECA in a speedo???
Congratulations are in order for your spectacular progress. Thank you for
the detailed information in your post. We all need to not just listen, but
DO!
Sounds like you are heading into a great year. Happy Holidays!
Dolita
dohrman@insightbb.com
Louisville, KY
> To live disease free::
>
> Eat well and healthy (Atkins)
> Lose Weight
> Cut the refined and high carbs from your diet,
> Exercise Daily
>
> I promise not to bring this up again.
>
> I will all good health.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> Chelsea, AL
>
>
>
>
> Kenneth J. Nowicki wrote:
>
> >First let me also congratulate our esteemed Mayor on his progress in
> >health... way to go Mel!!!
> >
> >Let me offer my congrats to John Rogers as well... for he has made great
> >strides in regaining his health and controlling his diabetes as well...
Good going
> >John!!!
> >
> >
> >
> >> Atkins was right on, it appears. I have lost 85 lbs on his
program.<>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >I am in TOTAL agreement.
> >
> >
>
>
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wayneinkeywest on mon 15 dec 03
> So John, are you AND Mel going to show up at NCECA in a speedo???
Dolita
Hmmm...$825 for the airfare, another couple hundred for the hotel, admission
fees, meals, gallons of coffee for Gail, a couple grand for pots..."ding"
total about $4K.
Well worth it to see the Mayor AND John in the same speedo.
Gotta remember to bring the camera...gonna be one of them there "Kodack"
moments :>)
Wayne Seidl
iandol on wed 17 dec 03
Dolita asks <speedo???>>
Now there is a wonderful opportunity for ceramic design. So much space =
to draw on and paint. Could even do it in Black Light Paint to mimic =
fluoro glazes or lustres.
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
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