Chicken And Cheese

So last week -- Thursday, I think it was -- I decided to start doing Atkins again. Yes, the very thing that kick-started my massive weight loss regime back around this time in 2003, and I'm currently enduring the initial first week of "sugar purging", where I eat nothing but meat and cheese and wash my system clean of sugary toxins. And although I have not forgotten how difficult the first 10 days of this were back in 2003, I sure am not pleased to revisit it again like this in 2007. Every fibre of my being is screaming for sugary texture. And I'm doing exactly what I did that first year every time the urge for sugar becomes too great; eat more meat. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Doesn't help the sugar fix, but it tends to trick my body into thinking I'm giving it something. Dieting is all about tricking anyway, I suppose.

I diverged from the diet slightly this weekend. This past Tuesday my friend Mike's mother passed away and a bunch of the gang went over to his house to help clean up for the funeral this coming Tuesday, and afterwards Joe and I went out with Hunter and her boyfriend David to Kim's Chinese Buffet in Norfolk and I had some lo mein noodles with sushi and a single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. I did good Saturday, and Sunday with the breakfast club I did have toast and grits with my bacon and cheese omelet. But that's been it as far as carbs. And tomorrow's funeral is going to be another daunting challenge at the reception in the church parish. But I had decided that, unlike last time, I will allow myself one day a week of indulgence, if I have to, since as we all know life doesn't always accommodate our dietary needs. Weight Watchers suggests the same thing as well, in their "flex points" program, for the very same reasons that I just mentioned. But I've been an amazingly good girl this weekend, I like to think, even though I haven't been as tight in my regime as I was years ago. In 2003 I would not have had lo mein noodles and ice cream one day, or toast and grits two days later. Although I went to a party Saturday night and didn't imbibe once. Well, that's no biggie for me anyway, since I really don't drink. But in the past I would have accepted a glass of sangria or something and just nurse it all night to keep the hostess from drunkenly pouring more into my glass, worrying to death that I'm not drinking anything (I've had years of practice in hiding drinks at parties, surreptitiously pouring them into various potted plants or half-empty Coke bottles) but Saturday all I drank was water which was perfectly fine with me seeing as how eating this much salty meats and sharp cheeses keeps me perpetually parched.

I just know that after the tenth day or so of carb negation I'll wake up one morning and not have the sugar shakes, and feel fine and healthy and my skin will take one the most amazingly soft texture I have ever know it to have since maybe I was only a few months old in my brand new skin. I remember touching myself all over, running my hands over my face and arms and thighs and marveling at the bizarre silkiness I've adapted on the all protein diet. More importantly (more important than having an impossible silky smooth bod-day?) I have more energy and feel less compelled to pass out wherever I stand when I'm not mobile due to my insulin resistance. In my case, less sugar means more energy, or at least no need to take three naps a day on my day's off. Maybe I can sit through a movie or two for the first time in a year without zonking out on the couch before the opening credits finish. Maybe I can finally write some movie reviews again, like in olden tymes!

Anyway, wish me luck and all that. I'm going to go buy some whipped cream.