Atkins Diet

At this point I’ve been on the Atkins diet for a month, and I’ve lost ten pounds. I know it’s fairly controversial amongst some medical circles, but it seems to work pretty well for me, which is cool.

I got started on it when I arrived in San Antonio for Usenix, and realized that I had very cleverly forgotten to bring any of my diabetic medications. Since I had managed to go off the meds for half a week without ill effects back in January when I had similarly forgotten to pack them when visiting Israel, and since I had been meaning to try out the Atkins diet anyway, I figured this was a good time to try it out.

When I came back home two weeks later, I was pleased to find that (a) I had lost five pounds, and (b) despite having been off the medications for two weeks, my morning fasting blood sugar was normal and under control.

I went back on the meds when I got back home; no sense stressing my pancreas. But I figure that when I get to my ideal weight, I’ll try to go off the medications long term, and then try a glucose tolerance test with insulin levels, to see how healthy my blood sugar response really is. (The latest research seems to show that it may be possible for the pancreatic cells to regenerate, with appropriate support — which includes diet, exercise, and drugs.)

There may be hope for me getting a private pilot’s license yet!