Atkins anyone?

lilmommy

I'm just looking for peoples personal experiences using the Atkins diet? Results, overall satisfaction with the allowed foods? I am very aware that it is not a diet it's a lifestyle I have read the book. Just looking for people input any recipes you enjoyed, just anything Atkins!!
Thanks and hope your all having a wonderful Saturday!!

logannwood

I lost a lot of weight with atkins but it was not a diet I could stay on. I just never felt good. Good luck.

Losing2Live69

Tried it once. It caused kidney damage. I just eat healthy now and stick to 120-150 carbs a day...I can't do super low carbs. My blood sugar bottoms out.

Caper88

I have been trying to stick closely to South Beach. It is my first week trying it. I have PCOS and high carb amounts are apparently bad for you if you have it. I am unsure how its going to work since I did not do a weigh in yet. So far I have found no breads and pastas hard.

TLC1975

I did Atkins 7 yrs ago, after 6 yrs of trying everything i knew, and seeing a nutritionist. Its not for everyone, but it did work for me, I lost the weight and discovered which foods my body could handle and which foods it couldn't. At the time it wasn't as popular and there was no recipes or products available in my area, so I made some of my own. I however now wouldn't recommend it to people, it has flaws, but it also has some benefits. I found it hard at first but after 6 weeks, it was a breeze...I have learned a lot about diet over the years...and if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't do it.
Many people do not follow it properly and don't change their lifestyle, many start and stop and start again...this can be damaging. Not to mention the processed foods the Atkins company now puts out as "acceptable" food..If it's manufactured you shouldn't eat it.
I now eat clean and well balanced meals with no sugar, no dairy and little to no alcohol, I don't eat fast food or junk. All fresh or frozen foods with one ingredient and lots of water. After 4 weeks of clean eating I have lost nearly 8 lbs of fat and 4 inches.

Good Luck!

lilmommy

Thanks for your input It's very much appreciated.

blackj

Atkins (and all low-carb diets in general) don't fly too well with some people. Like doctors and such.

Short version is, the jury's still out on whether it is SAFE, and even after loosing weight, good luck maintaining it - it's not an easy lifestyle.

I know this probably is not what you want to hear, and very different what atkins fans spout constantly (that would be junk science).

I always refer people who want to start on some low-fat experiment (atkins, Tim Ferris 4-hour body, slow-carb, etc.) to this page for a very neutral perspective:
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/atkins_diet/atkins.htm


My opinion: good old calorie counting + drinking enough water is probably the best way to change your weight and your lifestyle. Good luck with whatever you choose.

auntiebabs

My mom had been on it many years ago. She'd been sick the whole time.

You do lose weight, but it also increases your risk for a lot of health problems, which is why most folk want to lose to begin with.

BELOW IS SOME OF WHAT WEBMD HAS TO SAY:
Robert H. Eckel, MD, director of the general clinical research center at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, agrees. He tells WebMD, "Our worries over the Atkins diet go way past the question of whether it is effective for losing weight or even for keeping weight off. We worry that the diet promotes heart disease. ... We have concerns over whether this is a healthy diet for preventing heart disease, stroke, and cancer. There is also potential loss of bone, and the potential for people with liver and kidney problems to have trouble with the high amounts of protein in these diets."

The American Dietetic Association also has concerns about the Atkins diet. Gail Frank, PhD, "The body needs a minimum of carbohydrates for efficient and healthy functioning -- about 150 grams daily." Below that, normal metabolic activity is disrupted.

"The brain needs glucose to function efficiently, and it takes a long time to break down fat and protein to get to the brain," says Frank. Carbohydrates, especially in the form of vegetables, grains, and fruits, are more efficiently converted to glucose. And this more efficient use of glucose has developed over a long period of time, according to Frank

Volumetrics author Barbara Rolls, PhD, who holds the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State University, offers this: "No one has shown, in any studies, that anything magical is going on with Atkins other than calorie restriction. The diet is very prescriptive, very restrictive, and limits half of the foods we normally eat," she says. "In the end it's not fat, it's not protein, it's not carbs, it's calories. You can lose weight on anything that helps you to eat less, but that doesn't mean it's good for you."

lilmommy

Thanks and I appreciate any input be it good or bad!! Like I said I read the book now I'm looking for any additional info I can get so thanks

sweet_lotus

I tried it when it was really big (about 8 years ago?)

I lost weight quickly but I didn't feel very well on it, I really felt deprived and missed stuff like fruit and bagels. It became obvious that it wasn't something I could sustain. Friends tried it and almost all of them broke down and started eating carbs again. I had a friend who got really into it and used those ketosis urine test strips and his breath smelled and everything but I'm not sure if he still does it, haven't seen him in a while.

MakingAChoice

I lost quite a bit on Atkins only to see it all come back and more because it is not a lifestyle you can maintain. I also found that my brain would feel foggy a lot. Not something I need working in a high tech field, I have to be quick thinking. The lack of even good carbs was the problem I found. I now keep a balanced diet and count calories here and it is working even better than Atkins because I am not hungry and don't feel foggy. Plus I can maintain what I am doing here forever.