ATKINS DIET

Any one tried atkins diet before ? I've been considering it for a while and might try it this week.

I did back in 1998. Stayed on it for six weeks and a few days before going off it in utter disgust. I don't advise it.

Your breath is going to stink wretchedly. You will have a headache almost all the time during the first week or more, plus you'll be dizzy and disoriented. I nearly had a wreck one day from the disorientation. I felt like I wanted to faint all the time, and I've never felt that way. Your sugar cravings will be so bad that you'll be miserable and cheat just to keep your sanity. I remember polishing off a whole container of buttercream frosting to satiate myself. Other than that, I did it faithfully. And despite it all, I didn't lose but 3 pounds! Its cousin, Paleo, is not much better.

I do better on high carb, but if you are looking for a system that won't allow you to jeopardize yourself by "falling off" that proverbial wagon, one-meal-a-day is the best all-round option, and you aren't giving up anything you know and love. I lost all my weight on OMAD and I still do it just to make sure I never gain it back, but I have upped my calories, of course. It changes and simplifies your life. I feel great. Isn't that hard, either.

But yeah, big thumbs down for all the low carb diets from me, though. Big thumbs down.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/5268-atkins-support-group

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-group

These are links to two groups on this site, one is Atkins, the other is low carb in general. Might help to ask questions and read threads there. You'll get a lot of hate in the general forums over Atkins.

I did low carb for almost a year, I lost a lot of weight on it. Then I got to my first goal weight and I got impatient and tried other methods to lose weight faster and maintain easier and yes, have breaded treats, but nothing worked. So I am starting back to low carb again myself. Sadly, it isn't a cure all, just like everything else, there are upsides and downsides. But for some of us, it does work better and/or is more sustainable than other methods.

Great advice! I am doing LCHF, mostly due to sustainability for me, as well as going gluten-free due to a sensitivity. It works, but do your research first, it's not as simple and clear cut as it sounds

I've done herbalife before, that didn't do much for me so I'm trying to find something that actually works for me. I'm kind of tired trying all these diets and not getting the results I'm working so hard for

Then stop looking for diets...they are temporary eating for temporary weight loss and when you stop you gain the weight back.

Eat at a reasonable calorie deficet and you will lose weight.

I wouldn't want to die of heart disease like Robert Atkins did.

Atkins didn't die of heart disease, jeez. How do people still believe this rumour?? He slipped on the ice and hit his head.

OP, I agree that a lifestyle change is needed but some people find low carb to be a good way of eating in general and not just for weight loss. In all honesty I don't think that being as low carb as Atkins suggests is necessary for weight loss as many studies have shown and comparisons of different diets have also shown elevated cortisol in people doing Atkins over long periods. It works for many people, but it's really not about the carbs. I am carb sensitive and I gained weight on less than 20g of carbs a day because I was not getting full on fat and was eating far too many calories. People who do best on low carb diets are people who are quite sedentary or those who have hormonal disorders such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

It works well for many at blunting hunger and once you're adapted to low carb many people report improvements in health and energy levels, but the fact is that if you go low carb just to lose weight and then go back to your regular eating habits you WILL gain the weight back. This has been shown to be the case time and time again with low carb diets and in fact the weight comes back on faster than with other diets. So if you want to go low carb then you gotta make it a lifestyle choice and I don't think it's a bad lifestyle choice at all to cut down on processed, refined carbohydrates. Sticking with fruits and veggies for your carbs is absolutely not a bad thing at all!

I wouldn't want to die of heart disease like Robert Atkins did.

Then be careful of viruses that harm the heart, not to mention slipping and falling on ice and hitting your head. Those were the two true contributors to his 'early' death at age 72, although it's possible, since he responded well to treatment, that the virus wouldn't have killed him without the fall.

Here is what his cardiologist said about Atkins's 2002 heart attack and after his death:

“I was his attending cardiologist at that time. And I made the statement… When we did his angiogram, I mean, the doctor who performed it, said it's pristine for someone that eats his kind of diet… Pristine, meaning these are very clean arteries. I didn't want people to think that his diet caused his heart muscle – it was definitely a documented viral infection.”
...
“The man slipped on the ice and had a head injury, so he died. Don't blame his diet.”

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4327741/ns/dateline_nbc/t/defending-dr-atkins/#.UzqTh_ldVsM


Could his doctor have been lying or simply mistaken? Of course. But is a recent study on low carb diets:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/heart/articles/2011/06/02/low-carb-high-fat-diets-may-not-pose-risk-to-arteries

But as the article points out, long term studies are still needed.


Here is an interesting list of study conclusions. The curious should of course trace back to the actual studies, these are just blurbs:

http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/


In any case, you picks your way to lose your weight, or you stay fat, and either way, you takes your chances. But the careful will calculate their odds before picking a method. As best one can, anyway, given that much of the research of diet and health is contradictory, incomplete, underfunded or funded by those with profit motives, affected by the politics of feeding workers cheap, unhealthy, palatable foods that make a lot of profit for industrial producers, and in general is not nearly as well understood as it should be.

I've done herbalife before, that didn't do much for me so I'm trying to find something that actually works for me. I'm kind of tired trying all these diets and not getting the results I'm working so hard for

Then stop looking for diets...they are temporary eating for temporary weight loss and when you stop you gain the weight back.

Eat at a reasonable calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

I agree with Jestinia on this one. I have been on a low calorie life change for 205 days now and have lost a bit of weight. I say diet when I am asked by people, but low calorie is not a true diet. It is more of a life alteration. Not saying that in a bad way. Altering the way you eat and your eating habits is the key to losing weight. As long as you are truthful completely on the items you enter into MFP being what was truly eaten and not leaving anything out, you will lose weight.

Just be sure to stay on the diet and don't give yourself those "treats" that everyone says you deserve when you lose 10 to 15 pounds every few months. There are low calorie snacks and low calorie treats that you can have and still stick with the plan.

A good exercise plan is also a great help. I walk a treadmill everyday. Keeps me motivated and feeling good (after I am done walking I don't think so, but the burn subsides eventually)

My husband lost 45 pounds on Atkins and kept it off. I lost 15 pounds during the same period (not fair). We both found it easy after the initial adjustment, but my weightloss stalled at 15. I switched to the South Beach approach, which is less restrictive in regards to carbs and lower in fat, and reached my goal (I needed to lose 20 or so). This was 10 years ago and I've had no real problem maintaining by cutting down on carbs for a few weeks if my weight creeps up. This mostly involves eliminating bread for me, as I very rarely eat sweets. With the exception of dark chocolate which I love and eat several times a week!


I think it is important to realize that, like any other approach to losing weight, it has to be a lifestyle change, not something you do temporarily until you reach your goal and then go back to your old eating habits. I am perfectly happy getting my carbs from veggies, fruit and chocolate and have no cravings for other types of carbs, like bread. If you love bread and pasta, and feel deprived without it, low carb is probably not for you!

Then stop looking for diets...they are temporary eating for temporary weight loss and when you stop you gain the weight back.

Eat at a reasonable calorie deficet and you will lose weight.

I have been eating 'clean' since december, having no more than 1500 calories per day and been going to the gym 3-4 times a week (at least 35min cardio and 30 min weights) since 15th january so far I've lost 7 KG. That's not very rewarding. I realise that I should be happy with what I've lost so far but I'm tired of putting in so much effort and not seeing the results.

7 kilograms; that's like 16 lbs. What do you mean no results? That's great! Look, it's not going to come off in buckets. You have to put a lot of effort into it. December is almost 4 months ago; you've lost 16 lbs, you are on the right track.

This isn't something you do for a few months and then stop. If you want STAY fit you have to KEEP working, forever! FOREVER. The rest of your life. When you start to realize that and accept that and take it seriously, you will be patient, keep doing what your are doing and let the magic happen in it's own pace, not the pace YOU want it to happen.

I mean, jeez, for example, you can lost a ton of weight vomiting, but do you want to do that? You can lose a ton of weight from surgery, but do you want to do that?

Gah, why do I bother......

Then stop looking for diets...they are temporary eating for temporary weight loss and when you stop you gain the weight back.

Eat at a reasonable calorie deficet and you will lose weight.

I have been eating 'clean' since december, having no more than 1500 calories per day and been going to the gym 3-4 times a week (at least 35min cardio and 30 min weights) since 15th january so far I've lost 7 KG. That's not very rewarding. I realise that I should be happy with what I've lost so far but I'm tired of putting in so much effort and not seeing the results.

7KGS? Or 7lbs? Because 7kgs is a lot to lose in 2.5 months. You have absolutely no idea how lucky you are - most people cannot lose 2lbs a week every week unless they happen to be morbidly obese. You have to remember that losing weight too quickly is a good way to ensure you regain all the lost weight plus more. Time and time again studies have shown that people who lose weight at a slow and steady pace are the ones who keep it off.

The key is not to making losing weight such hard work that you become frustrated when you don't lose 5lbs a week because you will be sorely disappointed. You make sustainable changes for you that are manageable and do not cause you too much stress and accept that weight loss is not linear. That's just the reality of the situation and there is no one eating plan that is going to make the pounds come off at the rate you want it to. It's about a diet and lifestyle that you can maintain for the long term. If what you're doing now is not working for you in terms of being manageable then you do need to change it up, but you have to accept that our bodies are very good at fighting our efforts to lose weight and the more you lose the slower it comes off. Accept that the rate at which you have lost is above average for the great majority of people and harder you fight to get the pounds off, the harder your body will fight back.

I'm trying low carb because I haven't found the moderation diet to be sustainable for me. I've been doing deficit diets by cutting calories for 10 years...and it doesn't stick for me. Eventually I go back into the way I've always ate and gain it all back plus more. 'The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting different results'....so I'm trying something different.

I've been doing low carb since the end of February. I still track my calories, still stay under my calorie goal. I just have an easier time staying under my calorie goals this way. I'm not craving the sugar and the carbs anymore. I found out that I like some vegetables...before I was too busy stuffing my face with bread to even look at a vegetable.

I don't think I'm necessarily follow the 'Atkins' diet...if I am, I skipped the induction phase. I keep it to about 40 - 50 grams a day. I did a moderation diet in January...I didn't lose anymore on the Atkins diet than I did on the moderation diet, but it was easier for me to do.

Is it sustainable? I don't know...but neither was eating in moderation, so we'll see.

As for the low carb haters, I'm going to ignore them, state my opinion, and go on...I've seen some nasty fights on here between the groups. It's working for me, and that's all I care about.

(and 'diet' is just an easy word to use to explain what you're doing...I plan on this being a lifestyle change, but diet is easier to type...and 'Atkins lifestyle change' just doesn't sound right)

(Someone said that Robert Atkins died of heart disease...that's a myth, he slipped on the ice and died of a head injury. He did have a heart attack at the age of 71...the doctors said that it was not because of his diet. Could be a cover up of course. I could just as easily have a heart attack because I'm overweight so I'll take my chances)

Then stop looking for diets...they are temporary eating for temporary weight loss and when you stop you gain the weight back.

Eat at a reasonable calorie deficet and you will lose weight.

I have been eating 'clean' since december, having no more than 1500 calories per day and been going to the gym 3-4 times a week (at least 35min cardio and 30 min weights) since 15th january so far I've lost 7 KG. That's not very rewarding. I realise that I should be happy with what I've lost so far but I'm tired of putting in so much effort and not seeing the results.

7 kilograms; that's like 16 lbs. What do you mean no results? That's great! Look, it's not going to come off in buckets. You have to put a lot of effort into it. December is almost 4 months ago; you've lost 16 lbs, you are on the right track.

This isn't something you do for a few months and then stop. If you want STAY fit you have to KEEP working, forever! FOREVER. The rest of your life. When you start to realize that and accept that and take it seriously, you will be patient, keep doing what your are doing and let the magic happen in it's own pace, not the pace YOU want it to happen.

I mean, jeez, for example, you can lost a ton of weight vomiting, but do you want to do that? You can lose a ton of weight from surgery, but do you want to do that?

Gah, why do I bother......

First of all I never said that I see this as 'a quick fix' I've always been overweight but I was very athletic, played sports all my life so I managed to maintain a nice posture. Since the past 2 years I've gained so much and it doesn't seem like its going down. I'm aiming to be healthy primarily, but it will keep me motivated if I lose more weight at least the first few months.
It's kind of disappointing to see how some people just easily assume things when they know nothing about me ! I take my weight loss and health very seriously ! I'm in my second year of uni, I'm spending more time on going to the gym, cooking healthy meals than anything else ! and it's very frustrating if I'm spending so much time and effort and it's not going as how I would have liked.

I appreciate all comments and tips etc. But if you haven't got anything positive to say or something that's actually useful and I can work with instead of having a perception of some sort and criticizing me than just dont bother commenting.

Thanks

Yeah, but it IS working. You are losing. Giving up is not going to help either. So, you know what to do, according to what you just wrote. That's great.

Then why are you asking about Atkins? See, THAT's where the question lies.

Gah!