Adkins help!!

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taylorkost
taylorkost Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all!! So, I need help and I don't know exactly where to go to ask so I thought I'd try here. I'm a 20 year old female and I've been dieting since I was in middle school and have always had a hard time accepting my body. I'm 5'9 and 155 lbs, so I look healthy but I'm not. I went on the Adkins diet because ive had family that have done well on it and was kind of stuck in a rut of not knowing what to feed myself to both lose weight and to just feel good. So now I am 3 months in and am still in I guess you would call it induction, but really I'm just not eating carbs at all. I've only lost about 5 lbs but I have toned up, but I want to be able to get off the diet and just be healthy, which for me just means adding fruits and nuts into my current protein and veggie only diet but I have heard that if I just start eating fruits, since they are so high in natural sugars, that I will gain weight since fruits aren't introduced until the third stage of the Adkins and also that it can damage my liver since my body is now use to not having to digest these foods. I really want to get off the dieting track and really start to just be healthy but I don't know if I can do that without damaging my body and gaining weight. Any advice?

Replies

  • fresh_start59
    fresh_start59 Posts: 590 Member
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    I'm going to give you my motherly advice, which you can take or leave as you wish.

    1) Do not do any "DIET" that you cannot sustain for the long haul (ie: for the rest of your life).
    2) Watch your calorie intake, always eat above your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and, if you want to lose weight, below your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).
    3) Evaluate if you really need to lose weight or if you just need to tone up the pounds you currently carry, or both.
    4) Check out all the other gals here who "lift heavy" and consider following a book titled, "New Rules of Lifting for Women".

    I'm of absolutely no help with number 4 because I'm too out of shape to follow a heavy lifting program. But if you do a little research on these boards, you'll find lots of gals have lifted their way into beautiful FEMININE sculpted bodies.
  • escapeartist90210
    escapeartist90210 Posts: 56 Member
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    Getting off Adkins can blow trust me. However, I wasn't able to last on it for 3 months because I felt like crap with all the fat I ate. Anyways, I'd say expect a water weight gain when you break the diet but the weight should leave in a week or less from my experience but of course it can differ for you. All in all, extra carbs can make you fat but that's no way to live. So my advice is ditch it quick and stay away from the scale for a little. Don't "diet", it's simply calories in and out. Eat healthy, etc.

    Funny thing, I was on a roller coaster with diets this year. Adkins than transitioned to low fat high carb (oats,fruits,etc) and wasn't worried about calories as much because I was obsessed with macros. The result I gained a pounds which I lost this week alone from doing the old fashioned calories in and out method. It's super simple but we always complicate it and let's just quit all of that and enjoy life. Look at calories as a weekly goal so you can eat a little more some days and less on others. You manage to be under 3500 that week, then a pound of fat will be gone but of course stuff like meds, hormones, etc could cause water weight. Yea, just keeping logging in calories and make sure you have a good deficit. It sucks I hate it but the way I see it is, suffer now and ride out small wins till you're done and reached goal weight because you would have to eat 3500 more a week above maintenance to gain weight, which won't be likely. Life will get easier and you can drive your energy towards other aspects of life.
  • kbeech06
    kbeech06 Posts: 328 Member
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    Sorry but this drives me crazy...its ATKINS...with a T.
  • virgolee
    virgolee Posts: 9
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    I am not totally for the Atkins diet plan yes its great to cut out the bread but the red meat and greasy foods to me is a big no no. I didn't know if I could have fruit on it or not. So I am doing a little Atkin's with a little weight watchers guidelines;
    white meat baked, red meat 1x a week baked only if I chose hamburger meat doing just ground chuck. Good white meat; non breaded fish, chicken baked or grilled, lots of vegetables, green are best. Fruit is good but where I am diabetic watch the sugar intake on those. If you get it prepackaged get it in natural juices and not heavy syrup. Watch ythe carbs on bread and fat free chips. Its best to do fat free or low fat, stay awa
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    I'm going to give you my motherly advice, which you can take or leave as you wish.

    1) Do not do any "DIET" that you cannot sustain for the long haul (ie: for the rest of your life).
    2) Watch your calorie intake, always eat above your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and, if you want to lose weight, below your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).
    3) Evaluate if you really need to lose weight or if you just need to tone up the pounds you currently carry, or both.
    4) Check out all the other gals here who "lift heavy" and consider following a book titled, "New Rules of Lifting for Women".

    I'm of absolutely no help with number 4 because I'm too out of shape to follow a heavy lifting program. But if you do a little research on these boards, you'll find lots of gals have lifted their way into beautiful FEMININE sculpted bodies.

    Yep she said.

    Adkins is a marketing tool designed to keep you on Adkins.

    Find a more sustainable life long approach to weight loss.

    It's the only permanent move.
  • Aleta7
    Aleta7 Posts: 92
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    I was on Atkins for two years..stayed at 1500 calories. Lost about a pound a week. then I switched to a regular diet of 1500 calories a day for another two years and still lost a pound a week. I felt better being able to eat anything I wanted on the latter. Atkins made me feel cold all the time. I think you need carbs just to keep warm. Either way it seems calories in calories out is basic to all the diets.
  • virgolee
    virgolee Posts: 9
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    If you're a diabetic like me Atkin's protein shakes chocolate and vanilla are just 1 gram of sugar and great meal replacements. I was so excited to find these at shopko. I am using some Atkins guidelines and weight watcherEs guidelines. here are some things you might find helpful. Eat bread wheat preferably low calorie if possible.If you eat meat like I do do baked or grilled. White meat is best like I do eat tuna in water, non-breaded fish grilled or baked. Non-breaded chicken is also good and turkey. The more grilled or baked the better. Use good oils like canola or vegetable. Frying is a big no no. Watch your carbs on fat free chips and pasta. If you can stand it get wheat pasta for like spaghetti. The more fat free and low fat the better. Get fat free salad dressings because any other is high in calories. Veggies are great especially the green kind. Fruit is super, if you are diabetic like me watch the sugar intake when you are getting prepackaged fruit in cups or cans. look for in natural juices and not heavy syrup. Fill your body up on protein like meat, beans, and nuts. Almonds are the best source of protein. Protein will help you get full and your stomach will say thank you for feeling much fuller. Great snacks fruit, sugar free puddings, sugar free fudgesicles/popsicles, sugar free cookies, and sugar free jello. Hope you find this information helpful as i did pass it on to someone else who could use it also.
    Virgolee
  • escapeartist90210
    escapeartist90210 Posts: 56 Member
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    Sorry but this drives me crazy...its ATKINS...with a T.
    Crap just noticed
  • taylorkost
    taylorkost Posts: 3
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    Thank you all for your advice I appreciate it!! I also want to add though that I'm not really doing the traditional aTkins, because I really only eat lean white meat and veggies, the fats I do eat are in salad dressings and small amounts of cheese. I still stay under 1500 cals a day and usually i am a considerable amount under. And I would also like to note that i am not a fad dieter, I've been 'dieting' for over 5 years, staying under 1500 calories a day. I just cut out all carbs 3 months ago because I stopped losing weight and needed to try something. Again thank you for all the advice it's much appreciated!!
  • verdemujer
    verdemujer Posts: 1,397 Member
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    We are doing Atkins as a family because our doctor wants us to do it. We are in our first week of induction - induction is really only suppose to last for 2 weeks. It can go longer if you are happy there but it shouldn't be going for your whole life. It's not sustainable. We will only be doing 2 weeks. In Phase 3, you add actually very few foods - cottage cheese, mozarella, lots of various nuts and seeds, blueberries, strawberries, limes and lemons, cantaloupe. By Phase 4, you can start adding some of the more starchy veggies like sweet potatoes and some more fruits. And at Phase 5, you have some basic carbs like rice and whole wheat pasta.

    I am NOT buying any of the Atkins products. I'm not doing to this to support someone's bank account. I'm doing it to be healthy and to help my family make the transition off the extreme sugar addiction we had going on. So, all our food is cooked by us and is only whole, fresh/frozen foods. No boxes of any kind of processed food.

    The biggest thing is that we are all over the 'fat' guilt trip now. We :heart: :heart: :heart: cheese so it makes us all very happy to have cheese, and avocados. We love bacon and pork. Most low fat foods have sugar added to them - read the labels, their carbs are way higher than they need to be. Trying to find low sugar, low sodium lunch meats has proven to be the toughest thing. I can't cook roast beef to save my life so I'm buying it. And we love ham but so much of it has tons of sugar and extra sodium. Both are perservation items. It's all about reading the labels and making wise choices.

    The biggest key for us - it's still moderation. Even on Atkins, a person can still cycle into a binge. Know your triggers and how to meet a craving without 'falling off the wagon.' And if you are ready to move into a different phase, then do it. I know we aren't going to stay at induction beyond 2 weeks. It's not sustainable for us. And this isn't a diet - its a lifestyle change for long term health. In other parts of the world they call it low-glycemic. Here, Paleo is also very similar. I figure, if we keep most of the processed carbs (bread, cereal, cookies, cake, sugar in all its forms, and amazingly enough, milk) away, we'll still be losing.

    Good Luck!
  • taylorkost
    taylorkost Posts: 3
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    And I'd like to add that I am a runner, and with no carbs I've noticed I get tired through my runs way sooner than before. I think just getting fruits back in my diet with help with this, I'm just afraid of gaining weight because I ate a dang apple or something haha! :)
  • escapeartist90210
    escapeartist90210 Posts: 56 Member
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    No problem and no worries, everyone has their preferences in what they eat and yea, fruits should make you feel better and they're great for your health at least in my opinion.
  • kariannmbc
    kariannmbc Posts: 144
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    if you're worried about adding fruit back in, add it gradually. Start out with half a serving every other day, and it a week, go to either half a serving every day or a whole serving every other day. And then a serving a day. I did Atkins a while ago, and I had to ease back into fruit.
  • TigressPat
    TigressPat Posts: 722
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    Sorry but this drives me crazy...its ATKINS...with a T.
    :drinker:

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