Atkins for Life Here

LaJauna

I have tried to post on several threads about my journey with Atkins. All I have encountered is hostility and conflict. I joined this site because I really love the food diary and how easy it is to modify to my specific needs and how great the recipe input is. I am saddened that the forums are not helpful to a wider audience and encouraging to all who are on the path to losing their excess weight as needed and then heading onto good health and fitness. Not everyone is a low fat/calorie follower. I choose to eat low carb under my doctors care. ( I don't eat salads and fruits because I don't like them!) This is what my doctor prescribed for me and I am very discouraged that I am not receiving more words of encouragement and so much almost hateful words! I guess I just won't get involved in any of the forums. Thanks for listening. Hope this helps future newbies.

amaymorrison

Well, sounds like you/ve been doing well on it. Keep it up!!

amaymorrison

I am interested in learning more about ATIKINS, Dont worry no negativity here

ybroussard

Dont pay attention to mean people...thats why you have the option to choose who you want as your pal on here
Keep up the good work :flowerforyou:

Caper88

I have been noticing the same thing. I think it is because of the average person it is not something that can be maintained for the rest of their life. Once you stop the program you normally gain it all back. What I don't think some people realize that not everyone loses and keeps weight off the same way. I have PCOS so staying carb is a good option for me no matter how many people say I should not. The normal high carb diet just isn't going to hell me at all; studies have show that low carb is actually the key for me. I could never stay as strict as it is required in the first week of Atkins but I do need to cut my carbs back. I did a week to get my carb eating under control and lost 6lbs. Good luck for you and your choice, I wish you luck with losing the weight.

th1nkth1nmama

if it's working for you and you are being monitored by your doctor then I don't see a problem. I did atkins a few years ago and lost 20+ lbs but gained it all back. I try to do a low carb diet, I'm trying to stay at 100 or under.

LaJauna

My goal is to continue on my journey into maintenance phase and then find my critical carb limit. I know I can never go back to "normal" eating. My normal is eating low carb. If I eat high carb junk I binge and gain. I am a carb addict. I know it. I am the only one who really matters on this journey. Support me or get out of my way. Nuff said.

luv2ash

My goal is to continue on my journey into maintenance phase and then find my critical carb limit. I know I can never go back to "normal" eating. My normal is eating low carb. If I eat high carb junk I binge and gain. I am a carb addict. I know it. I am the only one who really matters on this journey. Support me or get out of my way. Nuff said.

Lajauna, I can totally relate---I am on a special program too that is low carb, and I found out immediately that this is what I need to lose the weight. The weight is falling off me IN fact, I don't even crave that stuff anymore which is amazing. Once I hit my goal, i will slowly add more carbs in like a piece of fruit, or whole grain pasta/beans, but none of that processed crap that I now know I don't need in my life because it was the cause of my obesity to begin with.

Good luck to you hun---

dronette

I'm a strong believer in Atkins!!!! My goal for the past year has been to stick to a low carb, higher protein and fat diet. I do try to eat lots of salads (because I love them).

Caper88

How do yous manage to curb your carb craving? I find once I start eating them I can't stop eating bread, pasta, sweet and much more.

th1nkth1nmama

How do yous manage to curb your carb craving? I find once I start eating them I can't stop eating bread, pasta, sweet and much more.

I have the same problem... I try eating a piece of gum or drinking a bottle of water! doesn't always work but it helps

LaJauna

I have found that I cannot eat one bite of certain high carb foods: any food with wheat, rice, potato, sugars of any kind. I have learned to substitute other low carb versions that satisfy me. I cannot go back to eating those foods if I want to maintain my good health and slimmer body. It is called self-control for a higher cause...health and fitness. If an alcoholic can abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages, then I am able to abstain from my addictive trigger foods. It is doable.

ybroussard

I have been noticing the same thing. I think it is because of the average person it is not something that can be maintained for the rest of their life. Once you stop the program you normally gain it all back. What I don't think some people realize that not everyone loses and keeps weight off the same way. I have PCOS so staying carb is a good option for me no matter how many people say I should not. The normal high carb diet just isn't going to hell me at all; studies have show that low carb is actually the key for me. I could never stay as strict as it is required in the first week of Atkins but I do need to cut my carbs back. I did a week to get my carb eating under control and lost 6lbs. Good luck for you and your choice, I wish you luck with losing the weight.

ybroussard

My bad I am new...I meant to ask what is PCOS?

FearAnLoathing

It seems some people on here feel that it is their way or no way. And that they are so much better because they are doing it in what the feel is the "right" way.
try not to let it get to you
F em

Jade_Butterfly

Hi there People should not be harsh, and the good Lord calls us not to judge others, but to try to be helpful.

I personally did Atkins for a little bit. Then I learned a few thinks taking health and nutrition classes in college that made me change my diet. It will work in losing weight. I dropped 20lbs on it. And in the short term it can be okay for a boost, but in the long haul it is really damaging to your body. Organs, muscles, etc. Your brain essentially runs on complex carbs as do your muscles. So just be very cautious okay. I am glad that you are under a doctors care. That is a good thing.

So I say good luck and God bless in your journey to lose weight. :bigsmile:

rcrea

I say BRAVO for utilizing the plan that is right for you. You are under a doctor's care, and this is what he is prescribing for you. None of us can top that advice! And you are exactly right, addictions in all form, are ceased with support and self-control. Keep up the fight. You win each day you stay in the game.

shaunshaikh

I have never met someone who lost a lot of weight on Atkins and kept it off. I know that there are probably some out there, but it just doesn't seem practical to cut a whole macronutrient out of your diet, which you admit you enjoy, for the rest of your life. I have no doubt that the pounds will come off and you will lose the weight -- just worried about what happens when you get there. I know people on low carb diets can gain pounds simply by eating a few cookies or a couple slices of pizza because of how their body reacts.

Good luck to you and I hope you do everything right, but please don't get upset when people are trying to look out for you. If they didn't care, they wouldn't speak up and say anything.

LaJauna

Thank you for your concern. I have many friends on another support site who have lost 100+ pounds and have kept it off for years. They are healthy and fit. I have chosen this path because I researched many different diets (WW etc...) and have found with my food addictions and food preferences, low carb eating is going to be my daily way of life. I know that if I give into my cravings and eat the foods that set me on a binge I can gain all my weight back and more. It is a daily choice. I, for now, am choosing to eat a healthy, controlled carb lifestyle.

wriglucy

The reason people are probably negative to you on here is because atkins is not safe.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/wheres-the-beef-wheres-the-health-benefit

Written by a registered dietician, they have more nutrition training than most doctors.

Also, most people lose weight by going to atkins because they cut out the cookies and donuts and the junk food. You can get the same results just by cutting that stuff out, and eating healthy, and safely.

LizzetteRamirez

Hey keep the good work and dont listen to negative people. Im interested in knowing more about atkins diet.

Marll

I find the hate for the Atkins approach generally misguided, and not a single person that has big issues with it has ever even read his book, at least not 99% of the people I have met personally or talked to. Most only know what the media has told them. I also think that people with a few nutrition classes under their belts can be critical, but mostly because they are taught the old school stuff that's been around forever and yet American society in particular is fatter than ever...doesn't seem to be working to me.

Another group that is annoying is the "It didn't work for me" or "I GAINED weight on it!". These again are people that didn't read the book and just got the media message of "Eat tons of meat and cheese and loose weight!". Never mind that Atkins encourages the consumption of GOOD carbs, and plenty of veggies. People focus on Induction as the entire thing, when there are several well planned phases that get you to make better choices for you, and add carbs back in, some people that become more active to the tune of perhaps 100g or more a day, that doesn't seem like a huge carb defecit to me.

Furthermore when people say "When you go off of it you'll gain it all back" is a stupid argument. Sure if you go away from the principals of staying away from foods that make you gain weight and binging and gorging yourself on processed crap you're going to gain weight. I imagine that if you went off of a low fat diet and started eating tons of fried chicken, or went off of a calorie controlled diet and starting eating 4000+ calories a day of processed crap you'd gain weight too.

I'm personally back on the diet bandwagon because I was an idiot. I started reaching for horrible junk food, which produced cravings for more of it. I also have an issue with portion control, so the issue was compounded. If I'd just made better choices in what I ate I'd have maintained the weight loss longer than 2.5 years. Atkins is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, and one that I really think I want to get back to. Never felt or ate better in my life to be completely honest.

TripleJ3

My goal is to continue on my journey into maintenance phase and then find my critical carb limit. I know I can never go back to "normal" eating. My normal is eating low carb. If I eat high carb junk I binge and gain. I am a carb addict. I know it. I am the only one who really matters on this journey. Support me or get out of my way. Nuff said.

Whats *normal*?

What ever way of eating thats healthy and working for you, is normal. Everyones normal is different. You're never going to have everyone on board with what you are doing. Lots of people have never looked into Atkins so they just hear the phase one part.
Personally I view it as something I would try before a beach vacation, but for me he list of veggies I'd have to limit/eliminate isn't for me. Acorn squash and brussel sprouts are staples to me!

I fear I'd just gain it all back since theres no medical reason for me to be on that plan. Just keep doing whats working for you, and as in RL ignore the negative people!

Marll

The reason people are probably negative to you on here is because atkins is not safe.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/wheres-the-beef-wheres-the-health-benefit

Written by a registered dietician, they have more nutrition training than most doctors.

Also, most people lose weight by going to atkins because they cut out the cookies and donuts and the junk food. You can get the same results just by cutting that stuff out, and eating healthy, and safely.

Read that article and it sounds like they haven't even studied the diet they are bashing. Several of the statements about low carb fly directly in the face of what Atkins talks about...again it's NOT ALL MEAT AND CHEESE!

All these doctors that rail against the diet are morons to be blunt, I asked a few doctors in my time about their dislike of the diet and they admitted THEY hadn't even read the book, or liturature, but surely it couldn't be good....2 of those were dieticians. Also, surely doctors can admit that not everyone is the same, with the same issues and chemistry and eating low fat is not good for everyone. Been there and done that with each type of diet and low fat has to be the most miserable to be on, easiest to slip out of and easiest to gain back from in my opinion. Plus the food all tastes like crap and is loaded with sugar in a poor attempt to make it more palletable.

Take that for what you will, but I generally detest doctors now after years of misdiagnosis, unwillingness to listen and the complete disregard for anything that the patient has to say (about things other than, but also including weight loss).

LorinaLynn

As I said on a friend's status earlier today, "You can't please everyone... so you gotta please yourself."

If it's working for you, that's fantastic! Tune out the nay-sayers. I do a lot of things that some would poo-poo. I love pizza and eat it about once a week. I'm not going to give up diet soda. I'm going to have a candy bar from time to time. I'm going to enjoy alcohol once in a while. But most of all, I'm going to do what's right for me, and not give a rat's bummy if someone doesn't agree.

anna_b1

In my mind, there isn't any room for negativity or hositility on a site that is supposed to breed support.

I was successful losing weight using Atkins and I did read Dr. Atkins' books (including the "Atkins Diet: New Diet Revolution"). His approach does work and, as I said, I lost almost 40 pds, but this wasn't a way of eating I could commit to for longer than 19 months. It got to a point where if I ate one more cheeseburger pie or cauliflower crust pizza, I would get sick. However, as the OP mentions, I belonged to another forum where people live this way and continue to be successful.

Bottom line is just because it didn't work for me doesn't put me in a position to judge someone else's choices particularly if that someone is being monitored by his/her doctor who is of course more cognizant of this person's health than we are.

Good luck OP.

LaJauna

Whats *normal*?

What ever way of eating thats healthy and working for you, is normal. Everyones normal is different. You're never going to have everyone on board with what you are doing. Lots of people have never looked into Atkins so they just hear the phase one part.
Personally I view it as something I would try before a beach vacation, but for me he list of veggies I'd have to limit/eliminate isn't for me. Acorn squash and brussel sprouts are staples to me!
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I eat both of those veggies. I can't think of one veggie or fruit that is completely off limits at some point of eating low carb.

hellospf50

this is day 2 for me on this website I have a confession I have a addiction I "my body" loves carbs, I want and need them when i put a fry in my mouth i'm thinking should i make more?? I am unable to have one or two portions of bread, rice, pasta, ..........

I have turned to the new Atkins life style I am learning how to eat, what to eat, and yes when to eat!! I have done many other diets and gained more back.

with atkins you realy lose your cravings for sweets, chips, high carb foods with atkins I do not lay in bed thinking what and when will i eat, my tummy is not hungry, I'm full my doctor has given me a go-a-head.

it my family that is having a problem they think that if i have just one or cut back and I could lose my weight, But if I have one chip well I'm going to have one more, than well just a few... .... . . . . . . . . . . . ..... then the bag will be gone I'm not good with just having one dip of ice cream.

I need to stay away from carbs I like them to much!!! luckly for me going low carb has taken my cravings away. I still have a long way to go!!!! that is why I have joined this site, I can track in carb intake and I hope I will have friend that are doing the same thing "atkins" that will help me and maybe help them with a kind word of two

hellospf50

what ever you need to do to lose weight keep it up, it's your body, your life!!!

5grn9

If it works for you thats all that matters, I just wanted to add that the Atkins Diet was THE ONLY diet that made my mother's cholesterol levels go down to NORMAL!! No one believed her "There's no way you could be on the Atkin's diet and lower your cholesterol" well hers did go down!! She went off the diet, gained most of her weight back and her cholesterol went through the roof. It is the only diet that she lost weight on as well (especially her mid section) so needless to say she is back on the Atkins

2bfitforever

You have to make the best choice for you based on what you can live with. I have read the Atkins book but never done it. I did South Beach many years ago and found that once I fell off the wagon, I was done for. Anyway, the thing I love about Atkins is that it talks you through the process of adding carbs back into your diet one at a time to see what your threshold is. Once you hit a level -- whether it is 50 g or 150 g -- that you start to gain weight, you need to back off alittle until you are either back to maintaining or losing again. THAT is the key to the diet. It really is not about the induction phase except to rid your body of the carbs so you can find your right level of carbs. People need to think of it like treating food allergies. When you have an allergic reaction to food, you eliminate the possible sources and then add each food one at time back to see what set you off. Once you find you, you know what to avoid. One person can each fruit with no problem but cannot have pasta. Another can have fruit and pasta but no bread. And so on and so on.