Calorie counting vs atkins

You love exercise, which the diet plan you are following tells you to stay away from. Eating the foods on that diet plan has left you feeling sick all week. I don’t see why there’s a question, when you own body is screaming the answer at you. The choice you are making right now isn’t working. When something isn’t working, it’s best to find something else that does.

Here's my thing with Atkins....that is a "diet"...you can't live that way forever. Once you are off it, the pounds will come back. I think healthy eating and watching what you eat is a much better plan. Everything in moderation. And any plan that tells you not to exercise is not healthy in my opinion. You don't have to count calories forever either, but entering everything in MFP makes you accountable and teaches you what is in your food.

Ditch the Atkins and keep counting calories and working out, it is a lot healthier way to loos weight. If you are working out regularly you will need keep protien in your diet (approximately 40 to 60 grams depending on your weight) to feed the lean muscle you are building.

Keep up the good fight.

Calorie Counting.

There isn't even a question worth asking or a discussion worth having.
Atkins is a fad diet. It always has been. It has no basis in science.

They tell you not to work out much because of the low carbs. Carbs are energy for our muscles and we need more of them when we exercise (and protein too). If we exercise on a low carb diet it can really wear the body down and that can slow your metabolism and stall your weight loss efforts (The body recognized diet and exercise as stress and proceeds to protect it from that stress the best it can).

There is one line is this short article that mentions extreme carbohydrate restriction:

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html

The law of unintended consequences

Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.

This is from the link I posted before.

You love exercise, which the diet plan you are following tells you to stay away from. Eating the foods on that diet plan has left you feeling sick all week. I don’t see why there’s a question, when you own body is screaming the answer at you. The choice you are making right now isn’t working. When something isn’t working, it’s best to find something else that does.

I'd go with calorie counting and exercise all the way - it may take longer, but changing your mindset in to making healthier choices will help you keep the weight off long term.

Very good advice in both cases. Calories in and out works... always (taking into account nutritional value of those calories)

Atkins tells you not to exercise because the diet cause your body to aggressively eat your muscles. Your heart is a muscle. If you do Atkins AND exercise you could have a heart-attack. I suggest you exercise and count calories for all the reasons listed above.

I do not believe in "diets" that deny you of major things. Your body NEEDS carbs. Maybe not as much as many people eat, but definitely not as limited at Atkins.

I also don't trust a diet that says you can have a plate of bacon but not an apple. Just sounds stupid to me.

I recommend counting calories in the fashion that you can LIVE BY that way you won't gain weight back when you start eating "normal" again. Maybe people lose great on Atkins and then gain it all back plus some when they start eating normal.

Atkins is not a lifelong supportable lifestyle. I have done it and lost a lot of weight on it that came right back when I went off it. The only way to be successful is through a balance of good foods. Not through gimmicks like any diet program out there today. Whole grains, fruits, veggies and lean protein are the way to success.

Well, I guess I'll put in my 2 cents in quasi-support of Atkins, although I don't really "do" Atkins. I eat Primal / Paleo (you can find more info if you're interested in www.marksdailyapple.com) - but I do eat pretty low carb, high protein, and high fat. My totals for about 1400 calories are roughly 70 g carbs, 70 g fat, and 120 g protein. I don't eat any sugar or flour (or gluten) - carbs come strictly from veggies, fruit (1-2 a day), and greek yogurt.

There is a LOT of research out there that supports a higher fat, high protein, low carb diet, especially for obese people (which I was, and as of yesterday, am no longer). Gary Taubes has a great book called "Why We Get Fat" that addresses the myth of low-fat, higher-carb (even "good" carbs like whole wheat) diets.

As for limiting an entire "food group" - meh. For me, carbs are trigger foods. I can't just eat one Girl Scout cookie and be ok - I needed the entire box. Now that I simply don't eat them anymore, I don't want them anymore. And oddly enough - now I CAN eat just one, because they're just not as tasty anymore! Yes, the first few weeks were hard and I felt pretty blah. Now though - I have more energy than I have in the past 10 years. Seriously. I've lost over 50 lbs eating this way. I don't see a reason to go back. Why woud I? Cookies and cakes and buns and bread provide nothing, nutritionally speaking, that I'm not already getting. My bloodwork is excellent - cholesterol HDL 43, LDL 101, triglycerides - 49.

As for exercising - I exercise plenty, and while I'm sure that more carbs would probably give me more energy in the gym, I'm more focused on weight loss right now. Once I'm closer to my goal weight I'll look at increasing my carbs more (not with grains - probably just add more fruit).

Links for more reading, in case you're interested:
Gary Taubes article in NYT about Atkins and the fat "myth" - What If Its All Been a Big Fat Lie? http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html

And his blog - he was just on Dr. Oz and wrote a good summary / rebuttal here:
http://www.garytaubes.com/blog/

From Mark's Daily Apple: Why Grains are Unhealthy
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-grains-are-unhealthy/

Edited to add: in true Primal fashion (striving for about 80% perfection), I am not perfect! I have a little honey with my greek yogurt, and I don't panic about accidentally ingesting a crouton in my caesar salad! I might have a bite of dessert if it's a special occasion (my mom's 70th bday was last week for example). But I don't order or intentionally eat bread / tortillas / rice / chips / crackers / desserts.