Confused about Atkins

If you have health issues that would caution limiting your protein, (kidney stones perhaps) then it may not be for you.

I did have to change my macro percentages to be more realistic for "how I eat" not that I follow atkins or anything but it did take 35% protein to get to a level that works for me.

I'm doing a cross between South Beach and Perfect 10 no processed meat like bacon and pretty clean eating. It mainly makes me feel better no PMS, cramps or migraines. Good luck to you!

The amount of weight you may or may not lose is completely dependent on your body type. My doctor has put me on a strict low carb diet because I have insulin resistance and am unable to properly process sugars in my body. Atkins is the perfect diet for me. If you follow Atkins properly and slowly add back the carbs at a rate that works for you then back off when you begin to gain, you can and will lose and keep your weight off. Bottom line it is a lifestyle change and not a diet. For us to succeed at any “diet” we must remember that.

Google the primal blueprint (mark's daily apple) instead. You can still have carbs- try to keep it under 100/day.
You can also have :
dairy- cottage cheese, greek yogurt plain, real butter, cheese, heavy whipping cream
fruits- just limit to a small amount each day. berries are the best/lowest carbs
veggies- as much as you want
protein- yes, eggs/bacon,chicken,fish,meat etc
carbs- you are gettting them in your other foods. I also occassionally have .5 Ezekial english muffin, organic red quinoa, quick oats or steel cut oats.

I love eating this way and it helped me lose the last 10lbs. I'm wearing a 0/2 and I keep telling people to up their protein to 100grams/day (it should be 1.1x your lean body mass) and decrease their carbs(most people eat over 200/day). good luck I hope you try it- you will love it.

It's only a health risk if you use the Atkins diet guidelines as a way to kid yourself into believing that a diet of nothing but bacon, eggs, ribeye, and cream cheese is good for you. You still have to eat responsibly. I am on a generic low-carb diet, and while I do eat bacon, eggs, ribeye, and cream cheese...I also make sure my diet is balanced with plenty of green vegetables. I also still monitor my calories, and try to eat as close as to my macros as possible. If you've read the Atkins book, and feel like it's too restrictive you might look into other plans like South Beach or Primal Blueprint. If you can give up dairy, I think Primal Blueprint is a very healthy way of eating.

I can say that if you lose a ton of weight on any low-carb diet, and don't reintroduce carbs back into your diet in a slow and methodical manner, you will gain weight back at an alarming rate. It's much more beneficial to look at low-carb as a lifestyle change, and not just a method of weight loss that you will discontinue once you reach your goal weight. That's true for most diets though, isn't it?

I used the Atkins and lost 50 lbs and havent gained it back. read the book though, because most people don't understand what it actually is or how to do the diet. it works on the science that carbs are the main cause of weight gain. i wont go into that but study's have been proving that for sometime, but its been ignored. the health risk are from people who do the diet wrong and eat nothing but red meat and cheese, turns out that leads to heart attacks. I would suggest giving it a try and seeing if it works for you. after all every person's body works different for them. mind you that like any diet if you go back to eating poorly you will gain the weight back.

I do a modified version as I don't think the unlimited idea of Atkins works. I count my calories here and watch my carbs. My carbs only come from fruit and veggies mainly. I also count my calories to stay within perameters.

Once withdrawl from carbs is over you don't crave them at all. The only time you will crave them again is if you have some and have to start withdrawl over again.

I have PCOS so it's the only way I have found to get my body to shed fat. Plus I feel great when I don't have refined carbs in my body. It's great not getting sleepy an hour after eating all the time!

Feel free to add me as a friend if you like.

This!!

The new Atkins plan allows you to introduce good carbs (like wheat bread, tortillas, brown rice, fruit etc) slowly back into your diet. Yes, the first two weeks of the Induction plan is strictly vegetables, meat, dairy and no more than 20-25 carbs a day. After that, you begin to increase the carbs 5 grams at a time until the weight loss ceases. Once that happens, you know what your limit is. But white flour/foods are pretty much off-limits or only an occasional treat. Also, Atkins now wants you to track calories, not like the old days when there was no limit.

I am down 77 pounds on a low-carb diet. I know that I cannot eat white pasta, rice, and bread without getting addicted again, so I just quit altogether.

I felt horrible on this diet, just terrible. Drained, lethargic, irritable, headachey and constantly exhausted. Trying to stick to 20 grams of carbs per day for the "induction phase" is brutal and I would never ever do it again.

IMHO, it might be a better option to try cutting your carbs to a more reasonable level (say 100-150grams) and trying to get them from filling whole grains, veggies and fruits before you go all out Atkins.