Thinking of Atkins, but like idea of eating everything!

billsrule2015

Hello all-

Having lost 80lbs on Atkins before, I am a believer. I am also apprehensive that I won't stick with it long-term, and fall off the wagon and gain all the weight back. With that being said, I am also not a firm believer that all calories are equal, and calories in vs calories out is essential for weight loss. I am stuck and confused, and could use some motivation to figure out what can realistically be the best long-term way to lose weight, keep it off, and not be hungry all the time?

Thanks!

sijomial

Are all joules equal?
Are all watts equal?

Would seem that successful maintenance is harder for you than weight loss - that's what you need to think about.

Tweaking_Time

I did Atkins - lost 30 pounds
I did WW - lost 20 more
Then I did MFP - lost the rest and kept it off because it is not a diet and it is sustainable

Diet and Exercise - That fad will never catch on

JaneSnowe

All calories absolutely are equal in terms of energy. If you liked Atkins but don't want to follow such a limited plan, why not set your macros to a lower percentage of carbohydrates (I understand that Atkins focuses mainly on carbs, no?). That will leave you room for foods you love without making them off-limits and you'll still stay within your calorie goal.

MelaniaTrump

I'm older and spent a lifetime on diets.
Finally, MFP donked on my head.
Eat healthy foods and stay within your calories.
NO DIETS.
And I enjoy lots of carbs - yes carbs.
Lentils, quinoa, barley, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, beans, chickpeas, etc.
I leave garbage carbs (carbage) alone.
* working on my chocolate habit.

lc355

Why is cabbage garbage?
Genuinely interested, I half expected you to say 'white bread/pasta/rice' there.
I don't eat much cabbage but never had it down as someone else's crap.

RodaRose

Do a modified version of Atkins that will work for you -- more carbs than Atkins but still low-ish compared to other plans.
Remember that Atkins increases fat In order to make up for the lowered carbs-- bacon, sausage, butter,cheese, eggs, avocados, tofu, dark meat chicken

kimmcmahon28

'Carbage' not 'cabbage'!

ilex70

So what worked for you on Atkins?

Did you have less hunger/better satiety?

Or did you just eat less because you were bored and unhappy with the food you were eating because you cut out a lot of fun stuff and/or eliminated trigger foods that lead you to binge?

You might find a happy medium setting your protein higher than the pre-set and having protein at every meal if possible. One general rule of thumb is .8 grams of protein for every pound of lean body mass. Fiddle with the macro percentages to hit that. The rest will likely work itself out.

And avoid foods that you have trouble eating in moderation; at least to start...not forever.

emmadonaldson95

billsrule2015 wrote: »

Hello all-

Having lost 80lbs on Atkins before, I am a believer. I am also apprehensive that I won't stick with it long-term, and fall off the wagon and gain all the weight back. With that being said, I am also not a firm believer that all calories are equal, and calories in vs calories out is essential for weight loss. I am stuck and confused, and could use some motivation to figure out what can realistically be the best long-term way to lose weight, keep it off, and not be hungry all the time?

Thanks!

I think you'd find calorie counting and exercise on MFP to be more sustainable and better at keeping weight off because you can essential eat what you like within your calorie limits.
It also helps highlight good choices and bad choicws which you can take forward what you learn when you hit your goal to help avoid gaining again. It's more of a lifestyle change than a diet. The problem with atkins is it's a diet and you wont want to continue with that diet when you hit your goal.
Also doing diets such as atkins tends to cost more than just counting calories.

ReaderGirl3

I think I was a bit harsh to you in the other thread, but it always makes me sad when someone keeps failing because they're making this whole thing more complicated than it needs to be. There's nothing more freeing than that moment where you realize that you don't have to cut out a bunch of foods you enjoy, or follow a complicated plan full of rules and restrictions.

Instead of making drastic and unrealistic changes to what you eat, just focus on continuing to eat all the foods you enjoy, but in quantities that fit in with your weight loss goals. Weight loss comes down to calories (which is a unit of energy). To lose weight you simply need to eat at the correct calorie deficit for you weight loss goals. Accurately follow portion sizes (food scale set to grams). Log your food so you know how many calories you're consuming. And stay within your calorie deficit.

That's it.

I'm on the other side of things now, and in my own experience the weight loss phase was the easiest part. It's maintenance where you really have to work. Since I'm looking at probably 40+ years of maintenance ahead of me yet, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that I'm part of the very small percentage of people who actually succeed at maintenance long term. My biggest strategy is to continue eating all the foods I like, because that goes a long way for making my plan sustainable. If I had boxed myself in with a bunch of arbitrary rules and restrictions back in my weight loss phase, there's no way I'd be where I am at today. I'm the only one in my family who isn't a yo-yo dieter. I'm the only one in my family who hasn't jumped from one fad diet to the next. And I'm the only one in my family who has beat type 2 diabetes, while so many of my relatives have continued gaining weight and have destroyed their health because of it. There is nothing worse than being at a funeral for a grandparent who died due to complications from a disease that he could have prevented, if only he had lost the extra weight in a sustainable way.

So, think long term and be honest with yourself. What can you realistically do for the rest of your life. What can you do, that won't cause you to get into the pattern of yo-yo dieting? What can you do to actually succeed at this whole thing? Use your past failures as a learning tool, assess what didn't work before, and then move forward and do what will work!

vingogly

My rules are: if something helps me discipline myself to stick with my program, I do it. If it makes me resent what I'm doing and feel deprived, I don't do it. If I don't think I can stick with a discipline for the rest of my life, it's not worth pursuing for more than a few weeks -- if at all.

What have I found of value in Atkins and South Beach? I know that if I eat simple sugars and refined carbs with low fiber and low protein for half my daily calories I'm not going to feel satisfied, I'm going to get hungry, and I won't feel energetic. If on the other hand I eat complex carbs, plenty of vegetables, protein, good fats rather than the simple sugars and refined carbs, I'll feel satisfied, won't be hungry, and will feel more energetic.

What have I found not helpful in all "diet" programs I've looked at? The our way or the highway mentality. You can incorporate elements of something like South Beach or Atkins without buying the whole package -- as long as you stay within your calories, log your food, and be on the watch for the kind of "stinkin' thinking" that will sabotage your efforts.

ReaderGirl3

vingogly wrote: »

My rules are: if something helps me discipline myself to stick with my program, I do it. If it makes me resent what I'm doing and feel deprived, I don't do it. If I don't think I can stick with a discipline for the rest of my life, it's not worth pursuing for more than a few weeks -- if at all.

What have I found of value in Atkins and South Beach? I know that if I eat simple sugars and refined carbs with low fiber and low protein for half my daily calories I'm not going to feel satisfied, I'm going to get hungry, and I won't feel energetic. If on the other hand I eat complex carbs, plenty of vegetables, protein, good fats rather than the simple sugars and refined carbs, I'll feel satisfied, won't be hungry, and will feel more energetic.

What have I found not helpful in all "diet" programs I've looked at? The our way or the highway mentality. You can incorporate elements of something like South Beach or Atkins without buying the whole package -- as long as you stay within your calories, log your food, and be on the watch for the kind of "stinkin' thinking" that will sabotage your efforts.

Really great point! OP, if there's parts of Atkins that did work you you (for example the emphasis on veggies for satiety), then definitely incorporate that into your plan going forward. But it's the 'all or nothing' mentality that these diet plans push, that sets people up for failure.

fangedneko

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