Low Carbers Only

I do a modified Atkins. My "good" cholesterol is too low (other one is fine) but I don't want to go too strict. I'll feel like its a punishment and quit. But my 2-3 weeks so far has been very helpful. I've lost 14 pounds, I'm eating better,my engery level is better and my horrible stomach issues (lactose intolerance) has almost 100% disappeared -- i'm eating cheese!!! I keep my carbs between 50-100. It makes me pay more attention to what I do choose to eat plus allows me to keep enough stuff that makes me feel better (small amounts of chocolate, fruit, ect as long as I hold true to the 100 or less). My hubby is following even less of one - he eats what i do, but is allowed breads (whole grain), cereals & oatmeal, and other healthy grains because his chol isn't good. I've dropped almost all added sugars, breads, oatmeal, rice and for now the beans, although I will still eat small amount of these.

Thanks to everyone for your input! Hubby and I are headed for a major shopping spree today. Going to stock up on our low carb food and snacks. We are going to do this together, each at our own pace. I need it for my health and we both need it for weight loss! We dont plan for this to be a diet that we will go off of when we lose weight, rather a lifestyle change for the family.

Hopefully, you have read the book and follow the instructions. It's tempting not to. Good luck to you and your husband!
Edit: Also, be darned sure you use the keto stix, because if there's something you don't understand about carbs, you can easily pack on some pounds before you know what hit you.

It works, but it doesn't stay off if you don't stick to it. He should get his cholesterol checked first, because it can cause cholesterol to raise. As long as his cholesterol is fine, then he should go for it. His energy level is going to be really low for the first couple of weeks (if he is strict about Atkins).

if he is thinking about doing a modified, low carb diet, he should look into the Cave Man Diet or other low carb options that do allow for fruit and nuts and whole grains. this will keep his energy up and probably help him stay on longer.

Most people arent disciplined enough to commit to Atkins long term.

My aunt lost like 80lbs on Atkins but put it all back on when she started eating carbs again. It just depends on his discipline level.

Not true. Cholesterol levels raise because of inflammation in the body which is caused by eat the wrong foods....foods like breads, sugars, oatmeal, seed oils, etc. "Atkins diet" and other low carb diets actually LOWER cholesterol. Please don't spread false information.

Here's a fail story. I did Atkins back in 2003 to lose weight for my wedding. I lost about 50 pounds and I felt great. After the wedding I went back to eating like I used to and not only gained it all back but added a ton more on top of it. In fact, I ended up weighing 73 pounds heavier than my starting weight (so gained 123 pounds). I gained back the 58 lbs within about a year and half. And then it just kept coming.

I didn't exercise though when I was losing and I was in complete denial when the weight started to return.

If you felt great and lost the weight you wanted to lose, why did you start eating the way that made you 50lbs over weight in the first place? I don't think the diet failed... I think that is a personal failure.........

::::applause:::

After a few weeks, I could have killed for bread. No cravings for sweets, but longed for a nice crusty dinner roll or fresh-out-of-the-oven bread of any kind. Yum.

My boss lost 15 lbs of vanity weight in 2 months doing atkins and weight training. My father lost 60 lbs doing the original south beach diet and martial arts twice a week

Edit: I also ate carbs only on sunday for 3 months and lost a ridiculous amount. Wouldn't recommend that, though.

Bump to read later

Bump

You're probably getting the message already, but Atkins is really hard to stick with. I remember once sitting on my kitchen floor crying in frustration because I didn't want meat & dairy and didn't have any other choices. The awesome thing about low carb dieting is that the quick and consistent weight loss can be really motivating.

I'm a fan of the Lean for Life book which is also used at the Lindora clinics. This a low carb ketogenic diet that allows you to eat certain fruit and veggies and still lose weight. Every few weeks you alter your diet to add the carbs back in slowly then go go back to the low carb plan. One thing that sets this book apart from most others is that it deals with the issues in your mind. There are daily readings and exercises to help you understand how you got here and how to think differently. It's a good motivator.

Personally, I can only do low carb for a few weeks at a time. I'd recommend starting out low carb and committing to stick with it for 6 weeks then deciding to stay with low carb or move over to the more standard weight loss plan here on myfitness pal.

To conquer that tough transition period into a ketogenic state, I'd recommend doing as much exercise as possible until you cross over. It makes the period of cravings and lethargy much shorter.

Good Luck!

I know someone at my gym who went on a lower carb diet (not a no carb diet) and lost over 120lbs. She basically cut her carbs in half and tried not to eat them at night. Lower carbs, a balanced diet and exercise is what worked for her. She is tiny now, like a size 4-6 when she was a size 22 before. Just amazing.

You would figure I would use my own advice but I have also had great results with eating low carb dinners. I think I just slipped into old habits and never returned to doing it. I think I might have try that again.
I am not a big fan of the "all or nothing" attitude of adkins though. I just don't think that cutting out any food group is healthy. I do however think cutting them down to reasonable portions is a great idea.

I have tried every diet on the planet it seems like. I have done HMR, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, among others. I have found through personal trial and error that the low-carb lifestyle works for me. The weight loss you see in my signature is for two weeks worth as of this posting. I have a lot more energy, my hunger is down, and I feel great. I'm going to go to the doctor in a couple of weeks to have my blood drawn but I've been a lucky fat guy as far as not suffering from high cholesterol or diabetes, not even close. Don't listen to these folks that say once you come off you'll gain it all back. The people that do that go from atkins induction level carbs to eating regularly again and fail to go through the transitions. Some of my friends are examples of that. They hit their target and go back to what they were doing and balloon right back up. Keep in mind I am not staying below 20g/day. I set my sights at <40g/day and have noticed tremendous progress. My bane is sweet baked goods so I have a friend of mine who has a custom cake business baking me custom deserts with no more than 6g/serving of carbs. As a sidenote the Cheesecake Factory sells a cheesecake with 6g/slice if you don't feel like making any yourself or if you don't know a bakery wizard of your own. Good luck to you and press forward!

No offense to most of you who are against Atkins, but did any of you read the book? It seems that a lot of people think it's a "no carb" diet, when that's not at all what it is. Please read the book and get educated before condemning something you know nothing about.

FYI, if your friend or whoever, just ate meat and cheese while doing Atkins then they were not doing Atkins, they created their own diet. This is why Atkins has a bad rap because people claim they are doing it but are NOT.

Bumped to read later as I have to low carb for health now

It works, but it doesn't stay off if you don't stick to it. He should get his cholesterol checked first, because it can cause cholesterol to raise. As long as his cholesterol is fine, then he should go for it. His energy level is going to be really low for the first couple of weeks (if he is strict about Atkins).

My mother and I both did this diet. We both lost a ton of weight. She has managed to keep it all off but only by sticking to it and tracking everything so she knows what she has taken in carb wise. I was not so lucky...I fell off the wagon so to speak about a year after I had started it and never really got back to it. This time around I am focusing less on low carb and more on overall diet to help build my awareness of nutrition so I can stay on track.

I would have to second the zero energy part. the first day was a breeze and I did not understand why people were warning me about being weak. By day two I knew exactly what they were taking about. For this reason if he is working I would suggest he start it on a Friday because day two and three were the worst days by day four while I still felt very weak I noticed that it was starting to level off a little.