foods, perhaps to a shelter for the homeless or a food bank. As a last resort, just toss them. Alter your mental picture-for you, these foods no longer exist. In addition to stocking up on the right foods, you'll want to purchase a good supply of the nutritional supplements I recommend and lipolysis testing strips, all of which you will learn about in Chapter 11. You'll also want to stock up on the wide variety of controlled carbohydrate foods available in your local health food store, drugstore or in most supermarkets. GET YOUR LOVED ONES ON YOUR TEAM If you don't live alone, prepare the people who live with you for the "shock" of your new eating style. Actually, unless your nearest and dearest are vegetarians, it shouldn't be too shocking. You will be eating things you've always eaten, but passing up the dishes and items full of carbohydrates. If you are the chief cook and bottle washer, unless you can convince the other members of your household to share the Atkins experience with you, you'll simply have to cook for yourself and prepare a few additions for them. If they want bread, potatoes and dessert, you may have to suffer a little temptation, but if you really want to lose weight you'll bite the bullet and not the breadstick. Keep this comforting thought in mind: Human beings are remarkably adaptable, and, in as little as a week, your tastes will start to change. Soon you'll find that sugar and refined carbohydrates don't tempt you as much as they used to. Your other great ally will be the appetite suppression that I've told you is a natural consequence of this nutritional plan. If, for the first few days, you find it a downer watching other folks eating foods that you're fond of and can't touch, remind yourself that right now weight loss is your destiny. These moments of temptation are fleeting. Tell family members that you need a strong show of support and understanding. You certainly don't want them tempting you with illicit food and saying such inappropriate things as "Don't worry, this tiny piece of cake won't hurt you." It will! Tell people in advance that you take Atkins seriously and that you'd appreciate their doing the same. We all know what a tricky, emotion-laden business food is. It's not uncommon for families to have issues surrounding food. I understand that the other people in your house may not be entranced with your new eating regimen. In the nicest possible way, tell them it's your lifestyle, not theirs. All they need to do is show respect for the major decision you've made. You're about to lose a lot of weight and gain a lot of health. After you've done Atkins, you won't need to request respect for it; the results will speak for themselves.
===================================================================== That's What Friends Are For Some people are lucky-they don't do Atkins alone. Ernesto and Donna Santiago had the perfect buddy system: The two both wanted to lose weight. Ernesto is a construction worker, and, at five feet eleven inches and 258 pounds, this 42-year-old was definitely hefty. At five feet nine inches tall Donna weighed 210. One day this 36-year-old saw pictures of herself on videotape and broke down in tears. The two of them decided to come to the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine and soon began doing Atkins.
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