ATKINS starting it... anyone done it?

Yes, and I was fairly successful for a year (lost 45 pounds) but didn't find it sustainable. i went on vacation and found it very difficult to stay on the diet and when the vacation was over, I just couldn't bring myself to go back on it and I started slowly regaining the weight. You're right, it can give you quick loss results but if you're not careful, you can also quickly regain.

Seems to me if your doctor doesn't approve of the diet, there's probably a good reason for it. However, if you insist on doing it anyway, I would VERY STRONGLY urge you to follow the diet exactly. Meaning, buy the book, read it cover to cover and follow exactly what it says. There can be some health consequences with low carb, high protein diets so if you're going to do one, you need to make sure you do it right.

You need to get a lipid panel test when doing this diet to make sure it's okay for you. My cholesterol went above 300 on the ATKINS diet even though I was losing weight. I was down 20 pounds and it was above 300, very shocking. It's fine for most people but there is a small group of people who's cholesterol will continue to rise on this type of diet. The lipid panel test is to see if you fall into the group that can have an adverse reaction to a diet high in fats.

I see, did your doctor asked you to do one before you started the diet?
What type of meat do you eat? I was thinking of restricting to turkey and chicken..... staying away from fattier stuff like pork sausages and pies, beef and lamb.

Are you asking me? My doctor told me to do a low fat diet but i went ahead and did the ATKINS diet anyway. I was eating 15 whole eggs every other week and and 1 pound of steak every week. On top of that I'd also eat bacon. I had good sources of fat every day that included salmon, chicken, and olive oil. That was daily on top of the eggs, red meat, and bacon. Atkins diet is a high fat diet. If you stick to just turkey, grilled chicken, and vegetables than you should be fine but you should still get a lipid panel test once a month after a diet change like this to see how good it is for you. There are some places that allow you to get a lipid panel test without having to see the doctor at only 40$. Seeing the doctor is the most expensive part of the visit, at least for me it is.


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I did Atkins years ago, and had great success with it. If I recall... and the book, and groups here will correct me if I'm wrong... but the Atkins plan, includes a maintenance plan for life. So, if you're gonna get with the Atkins program, you should be prepared to adapt the low-carb lifestyle forever.

OR...... have some kind of a transition / exit plan to get back to eating whatever kind of lifetime diet you plan to adopt. After I'd lost the weight with Atkins, I slowly transitioned back to a more 'traditional, healthy' diet.... with the help of a nutritionist. I maintained the really great health I'd gained for quite awhile... before I let ridiculous circumstances completely derail what I'd accomplished.

So now, I'm at MFP, logging and sweating, and doing it differently this time.

:laugh:

Oh, and what i really loved about Atkins was.... eating all that MEAT, and fat, and mmmmmm good tasting stuff.... and the sugar alcohol sweetened Atkins chocolate stuff..... and losing weight while doing it.

I'm not gonna comment on whether or not it's a sensible or healthy diet.... or sustainable for the long term.... that's for you to decide.

I did Adkins for a little while and was very successful short-term. However, I realized that part of the reason it worked so well was that I WAS cutting calories. Not on purpose, but there's only so much meat I could stand without feeling full. I don't know if this is true for other people, but I think it only worked because it tricked my brain. The problem was that it tricked it too much and I felt like crap all the time. Then I realized I was only putting in about 900 cal a day.

I had much more long-term success with a no-grains/refined sugar diet. I didn't eat any bread, pasta, or rice, but I still ate carb-heavy foods like bananas and beans.

Has anyone out there tried the ATKINS diet? Do you have any tips for me?

Been there, done that. Both Atkins Classic and it's more recent "Paleo" and "Primal" variants.

Unsustainable for me, led to a bunch of negative issues.

However, it may be enough to kickstart the process of closely paying attention to what is being eaten, and that can be a positive no matter what happens otherwise.

Good luck!

I also did Atkins several years ago and much like most people who do it, I gained all the weight back. I would say the "downside" to Atkins is it isn't really sustainable in the "long run" and yes it can help to shed a few pounds short term but who really wants "short term" weight loss? After trying pretty much every "diet" out there I have now come to the realization that the only way to really lose weight for good is to consume less calories than you burn off and move you a**! LOL...best of luck to you on whatever path you take...this isn't easy