transitioning from Atkins to calorie deficit ..

collingmommy

I have a friend that is Debating about on transitioning from Adkins low carb diet to the regular calorie deficit. I would like to give her some information and possibly get her to mfp because she had platued and even gained weight in the past 2 months. I'm no stranger to deficit, and she's excited to know that she could eat regular food instead of processed frozen meals and protein. Should she look for newbie gains? That I'm not familiar with. Any advice is welcome

Sarahliquid

I did that back in September. At first I still felt really wrong eating carbs, but I integrated "rules" slowly to help me mentally transition. For example at first I only had carbs at breakfast and lunch. I only had complex carbs with lots of fiber, etc. Slowly I've gotten used to eating them and I'm meeting all of my goals, including increasing my daily calories by 1000 and still losing weight.

Carnivor0us

Whoa, whoa, she's doing a low carb diet on processed foods? Drop the processed stuff and cook real foods, you can do that on any version of a low carb diet.

ProgressNotPerfection32

After 2 yrs and a 10 month plateau on Atkins phase 1, I VERY slowly increased carbs. 20 up to 30. 30 to 40. It took a lot of mental effort to add carbs back in. I still only consume, on average, 50-75 carbs per day. I guess what I learned the most from atkins was that I needed to eat better. I still don't eat breads and pastas. I splurge on sweets once in awhile but 90% of my carbs come from fruits and veggies. Your friend may gain 5 lbs at first, but it's a replenishment of glycogen stores in the muscles and the gain will be temporary. After doing this, I've lost an additional 20 lbs since August 2013

collingmommy

OK, so the processed food I was talking about is the meals and bars by atkins. U know the one, low carbs loaded with salt, so the gains? Should she look for a few pounds or immediately loss?

yarwell

She could do Atkins without any bars, packaged / frozen meals etc. The vast majority do just that so if "she's excited to know that she could eat regular food" just tell her to crack on and do it on Atkins ;-)

You haven't really said what she is going to eat. If she eats a load of carbs then her glycogen stores will be increased and she'll retain more sodium, so a few pounds of extra water gain is inevitable.

Some post-Atkins dieters overeat because they've become accustomed to eating quite a bit of fat and having their appetite suppressed, switching to something else is likely to increase hunger and reduce fullness.

ProgressNotPerfection32

OK, so the processed food I was talking about is the meals and bars by atkins. U know the one, low carbs loaded with salt, so the gains? Should she look for a few pounds or immediately loss?

Those meals and bars are ok once in awhile, but I ALWAYS gained when I went overboard on the bars. Also, I have issues, no matter the diet, when I have too much artificial sweeteners. I shall when I drink crystal light on a regular basis.

fitness_faeiry

Atkins diet? Thought people stopped following that diet after Dr. Atkins died of a coronary....

just saying.

erickirb

She will probably gain water weight initially as adding carbs back in will increase the glycogen stores, and glycogen retains water.

tigersword

Atkins diet? Thought people stopped following that diet after Dr. Atkins died of a coronary....

just saying.

Atkins died from a head injury due to a fall.

Just saying.

SingingSingleTracker

I have a friend that is Debating about on transitioning from Adkins low carb diet to the regular calorie deficit. I would like to give her some information and possibly get her to mfp because she had platued and even gained weight in the past 2 months. I'm no stranger to deficit, and she's excited to know that she could eat regular food instead of processed frozen meals and protein. Should she look for newbie gains? That I'm not familiar with. Any advice is welcome

As others have mentioned, she could have been making all of her food all along rather than purchasing the very expensive packaged "Atkins" product line. Oh well...

The Atkins diet works, not because it is "low carb", but because you eat less calories. The "Atkins" diet was based on the research of physician Alfred Pennington who worked for the Du Pont Chemical Company in the 1940's. Ten years after Pennington published his studies, a young physician named Robert Atkins in 1963 found himself overweight and read Pennington's studies about the tests he had performed on Du Pont employees where they were fed a low carb diet. Atkins tried it, and lost weight. Presto - he publishes a book in 1972 and well - that was the that.

Research has shown that the weight loss attributed to Atkins (or low carb) diets has little to do with ketones, insulin, and cravings. The real reason people lose weight on the Atkins diet and other lower carb diets is that they simply eat fewer calories. So after all the research has been conducted, the end result is that the low carb diet is about as effective as any other "diet" that reduces one's calorie intake.

So your friend will simply be rotating from one "diet" to another "diet" - both that will be based on reducing caloric intake. The transition should not be difficult at all as long as the caloric deficit is maintained. And it sounds like your friend lost sight of that and was eating too many calories in the Atkins plan, hence her stagnation at the same weight.

The good news is she can immediately start saving money by halting her purchases of expensive branded products that are not necessary to be buying.

There's no free ticket, folks. Losing weight is a total lifestyle change that involves eating a caloric deficit and exercising. I would suggest your friend bump up her exercise and help create an even larger caloric deficit no matter what "diet" she is on - Atkins or using MFP tracking her calories based on her current age, weight, lifestyle (sedentary, active, etc...). Or, even if she remained with her "Atkins" approach, she can use MFP to track the calories and see exactly why she stagnated and stopped losing weight. I'd bet money on it being that she is eating too many calories. ;-)