YOUR ATKINS EXPIERENCE
gbreault87
Posts: 18
So I'm back on Atkins...its the best diet for me. Plain and simple. Its worked for me in the past but i end up eating a bunch of cookies or a bag of chips like a month into the diet and then its game over. But I want to know who has had success on it and who has not and why. Also what foods helped your weight loss progress and what slowed it down i.e. diet soda, chewing gum, cheese, pepperoni..... Been on it for almost a week now and i feel great. Weigh myself tomorrow morning or sunday morning (need to look at my calender.) Im looking forawrd to loosing.
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I lost a good 20 pounds on Atkins in the past. I found it was easy...except for when it wasn't, like when I wanted a burger, a sandwich, a piece of pizza. It was fun experimenting with low carb dough's and stuff like that to make alternates to the stuff I liked, but in the end it was unsustainable for me. I find that intermittent fasting works better for me as far as daily energy goes, and being able to get away with eating 90% good whole foods, without sacrificing results.
One thing I will say that does help is to stay away from artificial sweeteners. I felt that always made me crave carbs, even though I hadn't had any. Even now on IF I drink my coffee black, and tea is unsweetened.0 -
Hey! i personally love the plan. I was absolutely addicted to carbs so to start off at such a low level was necessary for me to kind of 'break the cycle'.
After the initial burst of weight loss, mostly from water and general carb bloat i began to lose slowly. Now even slower, about a pound a week.
I find the only way I stop myself falling off the healthy way of life and into a spiral of weight gain is to allow an OCCASIONAL binge. and then the next day get straight back on the plans and be extra good for a few days. For example once a week or once every couple of weeks I will have a few drinks or a nice meal and dessert. It does slow my weight loss down but i am happy at this pace and if you know its not all doom and gloom then you feel like you can maintain it. I have gradually increased my carb intake to include starchy veg and grains and so I find its totally do-able!
I also found that common sense is key- there is no emphasis on counting calories with this way of life as you know but when I ate too much cheese or something too high in calories I found it difficult to lose!
Keep it simple and clean and allow the odd treat but get STRAIGHT BACK ON IT! hope that helps, good luck in your weigh in!!
Laura0 -
I normally do a lifestyle that is basically Atkins induction phase permanently. Pregnant now so having to take a break. But I love it! It gets easier most of the time. For me though I definitely agree with ryox82 about the artificial sweeteners. I can't eat them but I have researched them a lot and found that for a lot of people, including my husband at times, they trigger carb cravings. My favorite trick is to change my cravings. I will pick one high fat thing that I love (bacon for me) and when ever I crave the carbs, I eat that snack instead. After about 2 weeks I start to crave the bacon rather than the carbs. Usually high fat products help more than anything else with cravings. If you give in, the cravings will only get worse.
It is difficult but I know based on the way I feel when I am able to stay with this lifestyle, I don't ever want to go back.0 -
STOP YELLING AT ME0
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I do a bit of a combination. I count calories, but I also keep my net cabs below 80. It has worked for me. Been doing that since May, 2013. I probably could have lost the same amount of weight just counting calories, but I don't have the acid reflux when I keep my carb intake low. For me that is worth it.0
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STOP YELLING AT ME
huh?0 -
Spent about a year doing Atkins/VLC. Ended up with crazy cravings, poor endurance, and significant loss of lean mass.
And at the end of it, also discovered that it's easy to gain weight eating that way. Imagine that, calories really do matter...
Never again.0 -
There's no reason you can't have cookies or chips or other things you want once you are rolling along with the plan. Just fit it into your carb count and don't binge on them. I had enough carbs left over yesterday that I was able to have some ice cream as a treat. One 6oz container, fit right into my carb count for the day.0
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I am doing an Atkins-based approach, as well.
My senior year of high school (10 years ago...) I did my senior project on the Atkins diet as it was a huge fad then. During induction, I lost 15 lbs. I had headaches, cramps from constipation, and was horribly irritable. After induction, I didn't really get headaches or have any of those bad feelings. Everything kind of evened out. I attributed it to the fact that I had A LOT of sugar to get out of my system.
I did Atkins for a total of 3 months (when my project was due), and by the time I wrote my final paper I had lost 40 lbs.
I kept it off for about 3 months until...COLLEGE! Binge drinking, sorority parties, eating out constantly. Yeah, it was bad. No wonder I gained the weight back!
I had my daughter in March and have lost almost 50 lbs using the low calorie approach, but I've kind of stalled out now so I decided to try low carb again. Since starting, I've lost 4 lbs.
Feel free to add me if you wish!0 -
I've lost weight on Atkins several times. Usually a significant amount. But....I HATE it. The first few days, all I think about is strawberry shortcake and chocolate. If I make it through that, I get to a month in and then I just want to boycott animals forever. But man I lose weight like CRAZY on that diet. I just like bread and pasta way too much to stick to it long term.0
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I did the Atkins diet as my New Year's resolution last year & lost a TON of weight by that summer. 70 pounds to be exact. I used to rave about it to my co-workers, family, and friends. They jumped on the bandwagon too when they saw my results. Once I stopped the diet, it took a good couple months before I started packing on the pounds again & it just went out of control from there. I would never recommend doing this diet, especially a second time, unless you plan on sticking with it your entire life.
I think it's great for a short term cure, but for me, I could never live without bread or pizza every once in a while. That was the problem with Atkin's. Once you ate something you shouldn't, your body starts all over again. Headaches from sugar withdrawals were the worst & every time I cheated, which was RARELY, I would immediately get a headache when returning to the diet.
I found the diet to be VERY limited. I no longer enjoy bacon like I once did. The thought of hamburgers without buns makes me a little nauseous now.
At the time I was on my diet, I didn't have temptations and barriers that might set me back. I was living at home, working and going to school full time, so I rarely had time for social situations, like dining out. I quit my job to finish up the rest of my degree & now live with my boyfriend, so I can't afford buying meats all the time anymore. Atkin's was a huge expense for me, so you have to consider this. This was actually the reason I quit the diet the 2nd time around.
In the end, I feel I lost the majority of my weight simply because I was reducing my calorie intake from never being hungry. So, if I can eat foods I want in moderation and stay within my calorie limits, it's a win-win for me.0 -
Not my experience, but my husband's experience, was that it was very effective in terms of taking off the weight initially.
Before I met him, he was around/over 300 pounds. He lost about 70 doing Atkins.
Then after meeting me and being together awhile, he went off of it and tried to do a variety of low calorie/vegetarian things. He went back up to 250. He tried to get back on Atkins but it never really worked for him as well as it did when he wanted to lose that big chunk of weight---in fact, he never really started to lose weight and couldn't get past that one number on Atkins. In retrospect, he thinks it was a great way to get going because he was so overweight but after awhile it stopped working for him. The limitations never really bothered him (he was really great at staying on track) but they oddly bothered me.
Now, we've been doing 5:2 since July. He was very skeptical at first and thought it would be impossible but he was willing to try it with me. He actually really likes it, though his weight loss is painfully slow. (I've actually lost more weight, which I find odd considering he goes to the gym and is actually overweight, whereas I am not.)0 -
Lost weight
Missed carbs
Ate carbs
Re-gained weight0 -
I have been on it 3 or 4 times over the past 15 years or so. It always works like a charm the first 4 to 6 weeks until I go into a feeding frenzy on carbs. I then gained back everything I lost and then some almost overnight. I am sure some people can do it long term but I need variety in my food choices and I like fruit and grains and potatoes way more than I like meat. So for me it is not sustainable. The only thing that works for me is just counting calories and not worrying where they come from.0
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I lost 130lbs doing atkins and I would recommend the diet to anyone! The reason for that is because after about the third week of induction (yes I did induction the entire time), you really don't get hungry at all. I'm serious when I say that I could eat at 9am and not be hungry when dinner rolls around at about six. Again you really wont get hungry with a low carb diet. I wasn't constantly thinking of my next meal, what I could or couldn't eat, no nothing. In the past food would consume my every thought, but now, all of that is gone. In truth, I like to describe a low card diet as a freedom from food.
What helped me keep on the diet was to not have any cheat days at all, and a ton of diet soda! hahaha! And yeah I know that some people can't have diet soda on the diet. Everyone is different. But for me it helped greatly!0 -
Lost 60 lbs. Keeping carby things out of the house helps. Love your fats and moderate your protein. Don't get hungry.0
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Thanks AcXis... Very very motivating0
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That is the idea of Atkins. you are supposed to stay on it all your life. Thats why phase 4 is the "life time" phase. Any diet is supposed to be a life change. You have to make changes to keep the weight off. Even someone who is thin and healthy and eats right all thier life will gain weight if they start eating potato chips and cake all the time. If you stop eating cake or french fries you will lose weight , if you start eating it again ur weight will come back. There isnt some little creature in your body that will gobble up all the fat you take in. If you want to keep the weight off you must NOT got back to eating the things that made you fat in the 1st place. Stop blaming the diet. Blame yourself for eating unhealthy.
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I Lost 15 lbs. My friend lost 60! (shes been on it longer--like 5 years) We dont eat any bread. We have pasta/cake on occasion. Just eat a cheeseburger with all the fixin's. Just eliminate the bun and use a knife and fork! Culvers is delicious. Its not that hard because of the bacon, sausage, cheese and steak you can have. Screw the bread! Com'on you can do it. Just remember to drink water. And most importantly...STAY IN YOUR PHASE! Be careful when looking up recipes. Make sure they are for your Proper phase. If you are in Phase 1 PLEASE be sure you aren’t eating from Phase 4. Thats a big no no!0
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You can have a burger...just not the bread. Eat it with a fork and knife,,,,its just as satisfying0
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Might I make an observation?
Any diet that is not sustainable LONG TERM is not going to give you long term success. You lost weight on Atkins, then gained it back when you binged on chips. If you cannot commit to it for the rest of your life, it's probably a bad idea.
If you eat at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight, and still be able to eat things you love. Just a thought.0 -
this ^Lost weight
Missed carbs
Ate carbs
Re-gained weight0
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