Atkins diet

My mother has had huge success on Atkins. Her whole life she was overweight so in 2005 she decided to try Atkins. She lost 50 pounds and has kept it off for the last 11 years.

I personally tried it and I couldn't handle it. I was an emotional mess and with my lifestyle, I couldn't keep it up.

The Atkins diet varies quite a bit based upon what year the plan you are thinking of came out. Atkins of yesteryear had almost no carbs at all in the induction phase. Today it has been modified to include more carbs (20g? 30?) and the later phases are more carb "heavy" too.

I like the science behind Atkins. I am a big believer in the insulin-obesity hypothesis as a contributor to obesity. Eating fewer carbs makes sense. They are not needed by the body and they tend to help those who are carb sensitive/insulin insensitive to lose weight.

The appetite suppressing and carb craving reducing properties of this diet can be a bonus for some of us too.

I have basically been doing the Induction phase (but including full fat, lactose free dairy) of Atkins for over 8 months. I lost very quickly to get to the mid range of a normal BMI, and am still enjoying the positive effects of the diet on my blood glucose many months later. I foresee no reason to stop because the health benefits have been too good to walk away from.

The only down side is a lack of convenience, but as a celiac I was used to this already. I bring my own low carb desserts and treats when we go out - it is a bit of extra work.

Tried it and lost over 40 lbs but after about a year I grew tired of the restrictions and gained it all back. The rest of my family wasn't on this diet so that meant I always had to make my own "special food" for every meal. Family gatherings and meeting up with friends was likewise always a problem. About 95% of everything on a restaurant menu is off limits as is 85% of everything at the grocery store. You tend to find yourself cooking a lot of the same few things over and and over. I'm an OK cook but it's hard to be enthusiastic about it when you're only cooking for yourself. And when I fell off the wagon, it was back to the dreaded Induction Phase for a couple weeks. Very harsh. I just couldn't see myself living that way for the rest of my life. Also, I swore if I ate one more egg I was going to start sprouting feathers and begin clucking.

Now I just count calories with MFP. I can eat anything. I just have to eat less than I used to. If I fall off the wagon and go over, I can simply make it up with a calorie deficit over the next couple of days. Much easier and far more flexible. I'm on my 3rd year of maintenance this way.

I probably don't know all the "ins and outs" of the Atkins diet in particular; my understanding is that the initial phase is very low carb (less than 20g/day) and eventually you add some carbs back in until you find a good maintenance level.

I have found low-carb (under 75g/day usually) eating works well for me because I'm more satisfied with less food. I can do under 20 but I get bored and it's just not sustainable in the long-term for me. The first time I attempted a low-carb diet I lost about 40 pounds without counting calories.

I don't do hungry. Like sure, I can do hungry for a couple weeks or a month or two, and lose weight and be all happy, but hungry always wins out in the end. I have zero willpower so I need to eat in a way that I can eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm satisfied.

I eat LOTS of vegetables, lots of meat, some dairy/nuts/berries. And a little wine & dark chocolate.

I have recently started following the Adkins Diet. Today is day 4 and I'm down 6 pounds already. I'm sure 90 percent of that is water, but I'll take it! So far, I haven't been bored or hungry! I am eating turkey, cheese, burgers, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, sour cream, salsa, pork, bacon, turkey sausage....
What types of foods do you find helpful?

I'm not into low carb for me, but for a low carb diet Adkins seems a reasonable approach and worth it for some to try if simply cutting calories or increasing healthfulness is not working.

rachelrussell792197 wrote: »

Some don't agree with this diet and believe it's not healthy and people eat a pound of bacon a day!

The Atkins diet doesn't say anything anywhere about eating a pound of bacon a day, in fact the man himself was always negative about bacon on account of nitr!tes.

In the US there are plans that start at 20 and 40 grams a day of net carbs, www.atkins.com lays it all out and has support forum etc.

Many like the fact that they can naturally limit food intake due to hunger suppression, reduced food choices or whatever and don't need to look weird measuring every single thing they eat.