Two summers ago I decided to give Atkins diet a try and to see if it really works. It did, but there is more to it… Although I was over weight from a young age and people constantly gave me various names because of my figure, it never really bothered me as I was used to the name calling such as ‘fat boy’, ‘yokozuna’, and list goes on. I never felt I was a victim of being bullied or harassed and actually found it quite funny myself. Even after my dramatic weight lost I was still called fat boy. I signed up with the local leisure centre and started going to the gym three times per week. By then I had no intension of going on the Atkins, just wanted to go gym and lose weight that way. Confidence was low and I was not motivated enough to go and give it my all each time I had a session in the gym. I started to miss days of going to the gym and my routine was all in a mess. I needed someone to be there to encourage me and get me going and to give me that belief that I can do this. A few of my friends started to come along, I started to build my confidence again and with the soundtrack of Rocky pumping in my ears I was running on that treadmill not wanting it to stop each time pressing the speed level up. A week later from going to the gym I started my Atkins diet where at first it was very strange just to have tea with no milk, no sugar or just to have  a few eggs mixed to mayonnaise for breakfast. The first three weeks was the toughest of my two months diet as I had to adjust to the food and be extremely strict and control myself not to eat even just a tiny bit of something that is not allow during the Atkins. It was hard when I use to see people eating chocolate bars or even chips for lunch and I was having just tuna mixed with mayo, it was horrible at times but had to eat it and get used to it. My regular intake of food on a daily basis was 3 boiled eggs mixed in mayonnaise and a cup of tea with no sugar and milk, for lunch it was tuna with mayonnaise, and during dinner I had chicken pieces from my mother’s curry. It was hard to believe that I went 8 weeks without having rice, chocolate, and cereal. In 7 weeks I managed to lose over 4 stones, people who did not see me during the time of my diet and visits to the gym were astonished to see me and did not believe what they were seeing. Some thought I was ill, some said I was on drugs! Now that I lost the weight I was able to buy clothes of medium size and even small size. Waist dropped to 32 from 38, I was able to fit in 30 in jeans size. Two years on, I am still going to the gym although I had a break from it last year for about two months and then also stopped completely December last year. Having gained back a stone and a half, people are now persistently telling me that I have gained a lot of weight. I am concerned about how to stay healthy rather than being bothered in the sense of people calling me names again as that will exist even if I become a size zero!