Atkins for me

Atkins is bad in my opinion , I had a teacher do it once he lost amazing weight but the moment he stopped every single pound lost was gained right back and fast, if you want a better longer lasting safer version of low, no carbs check out the Primal Blueprint its more a lifestyle change not a diet persay.

Everyone that I know that had successful weight loss on it gained it back when they stopped eating no carb. Even those who then went to staying within their reasonable caloric goal. It was like their body no longer knew how to process carbs.

Im living a low carb lifestyle (modified Atkins) now and still in the losing phase, I will do a modified Mediterranean diet once I am at goal, which is fairly low carb. I feel better than ever.. Do what works for you. My diet and exercise program was designed for me by me physician and a nutritionist..

Atkins is not about NO carb its about re-introducing carbs. from my expierience, You go NO carb for 2 weeks and ONLY 2 weeks. THEN you bring carbs back in little by little. The problem is that most people see how much they lose in those 2 weeks and try to stay carb free for life, and its just not possible.

This is accurate (working carbs back in little by little) but some people have a very low tolerance like I did - I had to stop at 25g net carbs/day or I would gain back weight.

Everyone that I know that had successful weight loss on it gained it back when they stopped eating no carb. Even those who then went to staying within their reasonable caloric goal. It was like their body no longer knew how to process carbs.

Or their body didn't know how to process carbs in the first place which is why they had weight to lose in the first place.

Atkins is not a way to lose weight quickly so you can get back to eating sugar. It's a way of eating that you follow for the rest of your life. I don't understand why people are shocked that limiting carbs causes weight loss and adding carbs causes weight gain.

I lost about 75 lbs on it a few years back, then I got pregnant..lol.

Good luck to you! It is not a no carb diet. You just slowly introduce them back into your diet and see what your body responds best to as far as carb level goes. I did great with lots of protein, veggies, some fruits, and nuts, but your milage may vary.

Atkins is not about NO carb its about re-introducing carbs. from my expierience, You go NO carb for 2 weeks and ONLY 2 weeks. THEN you bring carbs back in little by little. The problem is that most people see how much they lose in those 2 weeks and try to stay carb free for life, and its just not possible.

Ok, time to clear up stuff

The Induction period places your body in a state of ketosis (not to be confused with ketoacidosis, which is life threatening) where your body burns fat instead of glycogen (since you're not having any glycogen stores due to a low carb intake). It's not NO carb, it's more very low carb (under 20g a day). It's NOT a miracle diet in the sense that you can eat whatever you want (bacon all day omg!) and lose weight. At the end of the day, you still have to follow the calories in vs. calories out rule. Eating 10,000 calories of cheese and bacon in one day because they don't have carbs will not help you lose weight.

I've been in ketosis (basically, Induction) since May 29, and while I have lost almost 40 pounds since then, I've done it by watching my intake and moving more while staying UNDER mfp's calorie guideline. I haven't died, I haven't had a heart attack, and I haven't developed any cholesterol problems. I have been following a 65/30/5 (fat/protein/carb) macro setup, and have consumed most of my carbohydrates from yummy, healthy veggies. Once again, the weight loss is from a calorie deficit, but since I'm eating healthy fats and protein rich foods, I don't feel hungry as often, so it's the easiest way for me to stick to a caloric target.

And about gaining weight back when you stop? OF COURSE YOU WILL! If you stop counting calories, the same will happen! I went into this diet not to just lose weight, but to end my addiction of sugar, pasta, and breads. After the first two weeks, which were riddled with cravings, I realized I didn't need that stuff anymore. Will I give it up forever? Most likely. I've taken bites of cake, nibbles of pasta, and it just doesn't seem appetizing to me anymore.

What happens when I reach my goal weight? I will SLOOOOWLY raise my carb allowance to fit more fruits, some starchy veggies (like sweet potatoes), and maybe whole grains. Evenings of Olive Garden or Pizza Hut are gone to me, and to be honest, I won't miss them.

DO NOT go into this diet just to lose the weight. Please PLEASE make sure you're going to sustain these changes for the rest of your life. If diabetes runs in your family, or if one bite of refined carbs will send you on a binge, maybe this lifestyle change is for you. These are my reasons for this change, so it might not be for everyone. It may seem like a quick fix, but once you revert to your old habits, you will put on the pounds.

I did Atkins. Works very well, you tend to gain the "water" weight back when you start to up your carbs after induction.

Also, it's difficult to exercise on it. But yeah, you will only gain the weight back if you go back to the way of eating that made you gain weight in the first place.

if you follow the phases it works very well.

It's gotten a lot of flack from lots of dieters as being unhealthy, but I've never eaten more whole foods in my life! Could I have done that on just plain calorie restriction? Maybe, but for now it's easier for me to keep my good habits with low carb.

There's TONS of science behind it, and I enjoy learning how my body works when fueled with different things. I feel like a walking experiment!

I did Akins and lost, then gained, then did it again and lost, then gained, then again.

Personally I think you are better off just sticking to a calorie budget. After 15 years of yo-yo dieting simply eating less worked for me. But I think it helped that I cut out sugar years ago for health reasons, and when I was losing weight I ate one serving of carbs a day, two at the most on occasion. It worked.

The problem with any of those diets is that they are not sustainable, you suddenly go crazy craving what you have restricted yourself from. That is the problem with restrictive diets and why people lose than gain.

Anyway I found what worked for me was separating out the two things:

Eat less to lose weight
Exercise to maintain or build lean body mass
end of story.

Well, it did work for me. I am the fittest, leanest, strongest, and most muscular I've ever been in my life at age 51 and I'm healthy and don't get sick and have long endurance.

I've done Atkins several times to lose weight fast. You can lose weight in one week and gain it back plus some the next! So, try it and if it works for you then hooray! :-) I'd rather do Weight Watchers and/or stick to MFP. WW worked very well as I lost 43 lbs in about 6 months and it took me years to gain back 20 of those...now, MFP is working just as nicely!