ATKINS DIET

Dieting is hard enough, so why make it harder on yourself by following diets that restrict what you can eat? These diets are nothing more than extreme food guidelines that put you in a caloric deficit. If you're on the ATKINS or any Keto diet the basic principle of losing weight and thermodynamics still applies! You need to be at a caloric deficit. Giving up the majority of a large food group is unnecessary for weight loss, but hey do what you think will help you succeed. Meanwhile, I will keep eating my ice-cream, pancakes, rice, pastas, drinking my alcohol while still getting lean as ever.

I don't like rice at all, and pasta is not high on my list of favorite foods either. Wine is low carb...and I like that better than any of the other alcohols anyway. Breyer's Smart Carbs ice cream is pretty good...usually make some kind of milk shake out of them if I just have to have ice cream, actually don't do that very often. I make really good vegan banana pancakes that are at 14 grams a serving with Ihop or Maple Groves sugar free syrup and coconut butter (I'd suggest finding the Maple Groves syrup...it's better than Ihop's sugar free.)

So I don't think I'm missing anything. And if I do, occasionally I raise my carbs a bit. Tonight we're going to McAlister's Deli to celebrate something so I'm going to go up to 80 carbs for today instead of my usual 45....a glass of sweet tea, half of a French Dip, and half size garden salad. 80 carbs is still fairly low carb.

So I'm good with this...

Dieting is hard enough, so why make it harder on yourself by following diets that restrict what you can eat? These diets are nothing more than extreme food guidelines that put you in a caloric deficit. If you're on the ATKINS or any Keto diet the basic principle of losing weight and thermodynamics still applies! You need to be at a caloric deficit. Giving up the majority of a large food group is unnecessary for weight loss, but hey do what you think will help you succeed. Meanwhile, I will keep eating my ice-cream, pancakes, rice, pastas, drinking my alcohol while still getting lean as ever.

I probably don't feel like I will be missing out on much since I dont eat ice cream at all, last time i had pancakes were 5 years ago and I'm not really a fan of pasta and I dont drink alcohol. I love rice but I would normally not have more than 2 cups per day

As long as you can see yourself eating low carb as a lifestyle (but why?) then do it. My whole point is that there is no reason why carbs should be treated as the enemy - they're good for you. And limiting your intake will not change the fact that you will still need to hit a caloric deficit to see weight loss. If you're hitting the same calories and losing weight as you are now with carbs, you will lose the same amount of weight at the same rate, if you were on Atkins. The only downfall now is that you are far more restricted and have to be far more conscious on your food choices.

Atkins will cause weight loss because it mostly eliminate carbs for the first two weeks then gradually add a little every week until you have reached your weight goal. However, your contniued success is highly dependent on you buying their products long term. The downside of programs like that is it doesn't teach you the science behind healthy weight loss and maintenance. This is the reason when many people stop the program the weight come back with a vengence.

Have you calculated your BMR and TDEE and tracked all of your activities?

This is good reading:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

I'm not hungry on low-carb, although your food choices are much more limited than on Weight Watchers.

That sums it up nicely. People love to come screaming "BUT it's restrictive and not IIFYM!" but this ignores the benefits of an Atkins-style diet. While it's more restrictive, it's commonly thought of as more satiating as well. I could probably count on one hand the number of times someone has told me they're going hungry while eating a low carb diet, yet I see people posting they're hungry following MFP's recommendations on a regular basis. That's not to say it's a great idea for everyone, because it most certainly is more restrictive in what you can eat; rather, I'm just saying there are benefits to such a diet that can potentially offset the cons for some people.

Edit to add: If you're going to spend money on this diet, buy his book rather than the pre-packaged meals and snacks.

YES. Please don't buy the junky Atkins "products!"

Also, for me, I did low carb for five years. I went from being pre-diabetic to NOT, and I went from having high triglycerides to NOT. Most people who are against "low carb" are people who have read and still buy into old and disproven nutritional information.

Eh, false. You don't HAVE to buy the products to do Atkins. Seriously. It's not written anywhere in the books that you have to buy them. It's better if you don't, actually.

I didn't state that at all. No, you don't have to buy the product but they still bank on the fact that people will buy their products which are very restrictive. Otherwise, why would they have their products in all of their advertisements? They sure aren't pushing for people to learn the science behind healthy weight loss and maintenace in my opinion.

YES. Please don't buy the junky Atkins "products!"

Also, for me, I did low carb for five years. I went from being pre-diabetic to NOT, and I went from having high triglycerides to NOT. Most people who are against "low carb" are people who have read and still buy into old and disproven nutritional information.

Think about how you stopped being pre-diabetic. . So was that the result being on a low carb diet or just a byproduct of making better and healthier choices with the food you ate because you had to? You were essentially making more conscious choices in your food in an effort to stick to the diet plan.

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!

I'm asking about Atkins because I've heard it gives great results. And I was wondering what people's opinion about it was.

GAH!

There are a couple things you have to understand. First, atkins like every other diet works off the premise of calories in vs out. It's the laws of thermodynamics. Switching from a program that is working (what you are doing now) to a program like atkins, will not improve results. If you find yourself hungry more often than not, then it's time to evaluate your macronutrient composition (ie - more fats and proteins vs carbs). If you maintain caloires (what you are doing now vs Atkins), there will be ZERO benefit in terms of weight loss. If you find the food or program more palatable, then you should do it. But fat loss occurs when you create a deficit. How you create that deficit, is up to you.

My wife has to go low carb due to a medical issue, so it's not a choice. But when I go low carb, (less than 200g a day) then my workouts struggle. So instead of doing atkins, why not change your macros to around 20% carbs, 30% protein and 50% fats and try it for a month. Please understand and try not to get too excited, but the large losses upfront. When you drop carbs, your body will store less glycogen and water. This is why it's very common for Aktins style diets to advertise 5lbs+ losses in the first few weeks. They realize post induction it will level out.

BTW, do you have a food scale?

it isn't sustainable long term because it is quite restrictive.

^^

I lost 83 pounds on the Atkins diet (and I mean I followed it rigorously) in a very short time frame, but then continuing to eat that way forever made me sad. I'm sure there are those who can stick to it, but if you're the kind of person who ... oh, say...gets fed up with things, then you are probably not going to stay on this diet.

I would say pick something that doesn't make you feel like you're dieting, then you can stick to it easier.

YES. Please don't buy the junky Atkins "products!"

Also, for me, I did low carb for five years. I went from being pre-diabetic to NOT, and I went from having high triglycerides to NOT. Most people who are against "low carb" are people who have read and still buy into old and disproven nutritional information.

Think about how you stopped being pre-diabetic. . So was that the result being on a low carb diet or just a byproduct of making better and healthier choices with the food you ate because you had to? You were essentially making more conscious choices in your food in an effort to stick to the diet plan.

Pretty sure it was the low carb, as I was no stranger to diets before that. Also, pretty much ANY diet that restricts your refined sugars is, by definition, low carb.... and that's pretty much every diet.

Also, my periods came back (they were once every 3 months at best before). Sorry, but low carb IS the way to go for some people. Maybe not you. But definitely me.

Do a search for Keto groups on here. you'll get the support you want/need from others who enjoy a LCHF lifestyle.

Here is an e-book that gives more information about why low carbohydrate diets (like the Atkins diet) is a sensible, healthy way of eating, and a good lifestyle.

"The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living"

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Living-ebook/dp/B005CVV2AE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1396382416&sr=1-1&keywords=the+art+and+science+of+low+carbohydrate+living