I feel you. Someone brought in Krispy Kreme doughnuts this morning. :( But I prevailed and didn't have any! :D

My stomach is really starting to hurt... is this normal?

Girl, it made my stomach hurt when I tried the Atkins diet about 2 years ago. I only did it for 2 1/2 weeks and I didn't like the way I felt even though I did drop some pounds.

I don't know about that. I never had stomach trouble...lovelyivy, why don't you step in on this one!

I am not an Atkins-eater. I can think of some reasons why your stomach might hurt on that fiet but I can't know too much without knowing exactly what you are eating.

But pain is generally a bad thing. Maybe you could talk to a doctor? That would be my best advice.

Atkins is a great WOE for some people. But for others it is not a viable permanent eating plan- and if you want the weight to stay off the changes you make DO have to be permanent.

I hope everybody doing it has really evaluated not only their goals, but what they're honestly capable of putting up with.

The stomach pains are over...I think my body was in shcok because I was a huge carbo eater and then one day I just stopped. Since I'm in Korea right now, the Atkins diet seems weird. Rice is like the main staple in food here. I get weird looks from people when we go out to eat because I won't eat rice.

It's really hard to stay away from the sweets, but I have managed for 5 days now. I told my parents to go ahead and buy snacks for themselves, I can control my urges and I don't want them to suffer because of me. Sweets were my downfall, but now I can control myself!

All I've been eating is chicken breasts, tuna, spinach salads, veggies, steak, eggs with bacon, and other high protein meals. I think I miss chocolate the most though... Snickers Ice Cream bars to be exact.

I think I have lost about 3 pounds so far. Hopefully, I can keep it up. I just want to lost like 10 more pounds anyway.

I didn't read through the entire thread but I am interested (slightly) in the diet. Is there a generalized tell-all book to go by?? A website?? I'm interested.

Dr. Atkins has written several editions of his book, I'm not sure when the most recent one came out. It is HIGHLY recommended that you read the book before you start the diet. If you don't want to buy it you can at least check it out from the library. Looking around at websites will help, but any websites with information are generally written by people who have already done the diet and it's not the best idea just to take some stranger's advice. The Atkins website obviously doesn't have all the info you need to do the diet, because they want you to buy the book.

You have to buy the book. Trying to do low-carb without a very well thought out plan can be disastrous for your health. Both Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles carry the latest edition.

They ususally have GREAT deals on used books too. :)

I have 5 days to go. Can't wait. I was about to give up because living on meat and cheese is getting to be a little rough. I cheated a little today. I had a veggie burger for lunch. I put cheese on it ,but I ate the bun and the chips that came with it. To me that's like going to McDonald's and ordering a Big Mac,Supersize fries, an apple pie, with a diet coke.:D

I weight in Thursday. Crossing fingers and toes

OK....many of you will obviously disagree with me...

But I personally think the Atkins diet is the most unhealthy thing I have ever heard of!!

I lost weight about 2 years ago. I did it by following a modified version of the diabetic diet, which is just a basic balanced diet that cuts out sugar, and limits refined carbs. I lost 50 pounds and have kept it off.

On Atkins, you tend to lose quite a bit of weight, but it is unhealthy to lose more than 2 pounds per week because if you lose more than that, you're burning MUSCLE, not fat.

Besides, who wants to cut out carbs? I certainly don't. Good carbs (wheat/whole grain breads, crackers, brown rice, etc) are good for you! You need them for energy.

IMO, it's better to simply learn to make better food choices, reduce how much you eat, and work out at least 3 times a week. I did this and lost 1-2 pounds per week until I reached my goal weight.

I agree, but whatever works for anybody that dosen't drive them crazy or put their overall health at risk, hey go for it.

I agree. My friend's doctor has put her on the South Beach diet which is Atkins but low fat. She did low carbs/ low fat for two weeks and could then begin adding back in more good carbs. The high fat nature of Atkins is why her doc does not recommend it, especially for a sustained way of eating.

Just thought I'd mention....I went to fat camp when I was 16 (oy vey!!!) and they made it very clear that the people that lose upwards of 6 lbs per week (there were a lot of us) aren't doing too much harm SO LONG AS WE HAVE THAT MUCH TO LOSE. Comparitvely speaking, a person that is 100 lbs overweight can handle losing 8 lbs in a week moreso than someone that is only packing 20 extra lbs. So, depending on how big you are, losing more than 2 lbs per week woudln't be that big a deal, for a while.

ttt

OK well I've been on it for 2 weeks...and as I expected alcohol has been a problem. When I went out last weekend I drank mostly rum and diet cokes which is better than beer, but alcohol is forbidden when you're on induction. I had a few beers while watching basketball a few days ago. So it's pretty safe to assume I'm not in ketosis. I need to get some of those strips so I can tell. I've been doing well with the food though. I just need to get some self control and not drink if I go out.

Atkins and restaraunts
 

Have you noticed the popularity of Atkins is causing restaurant to add new items on their menus. I am sure you have seen/heard the subway commercials. Fridays now has an Atkins friendly menu and burger king announced today they will be selling a bunless whopper soon to be combined with a side salad instead of fires and bottled water instead of a soda.

Re: Atkins and restaraunts
 

I noticed that as well. Hardee's has an Atkins meal now, and Ruby Tuesday also features regular menu items that are Atkins friendly. I had one of the Subway wraps...it was pretty good, but a bit small. The woman in front of me got one too, but then she got a bag of Baked Lays to go with it. Totally missing the point...

But to me, losing muscle IS putting your health at risk. You need muscle.

Patience is the real key to weight loss. And the more quickly you lose weight, the more quickly you will be likely to gain it back.

I can understand that, but even at my heaviest, my doctor told me you should never ever lose more than 2 pounds per week to avoid buring muscle.

I still have a week to go... and I've lost a few pounds already but it's not physically noticable.

But I cheated a little, well sort of. I used 1000 Island Dressing in a salad, I made Chicken Parmasagna from Spaghetti sauce and that has sugar in it, and I popped a piece of gum in my mouth (totally forgetting) and spit it right out when I remembered. I still crave comfort foods, but that is totally mind over matter. I need to learn to not turn to food when I get emotional.

But other than that, I've been reall good about the food I eat. I eat three good meals a day and I drink lots and lots of water. Tuna is my best friend now! It's so hard when my dad is eating an ice cream cone and asks me if I'm sure I dont want one in a taunting voice.

And I do plan on making this a life commitment. I have a problem with reaching for juck food whenever I have issues. With the Atkins, I dont reach anymore. Now, I have to deal with my issues instead of reaching for chocolate.

I've been doing bad.:o There were donuts at work today and I had 3. The good news is I didn't gain any weight. I didn't lose any either. I've been totall pmsing so that kind of screwed things up. I'm going to start again Monday

Thanks for the updates.

I met a couple of people who have tried the Southwest Diet and feel that it's more effective than Atkins because you can eventually bring fruit into the picture. Also, you can eat as much vegetables that you want (whereas with Atkins, only two cups of veggies). I'm in a wedding in THREE WEEKS! I think I'm going to incorporate some of their guidelines into my diet to see if I can drop a quick five pounds. Not that it would help, but it would boost my self esteem! :)

Continue to keep us posted!

WOW!

The information from this thread has been so overwhelming! I have decided that I will go to buy the book again today. I had actually tried Atkins several years ago, but failed miserably! I have made many changes in my eating since then...so maybe this time I will be successful. I was addicted to juice & fast food. I think I will start Feb 1... any one want to start with me? Wish me luck!

Has anyone heard the "new" news about the Atkins? Evidently they are saying that people have misunderstood the fat issue and that you still need to keep your fat under 20 grams or something like that. I've been looking for an article.

__________________

Meanwhile, I kinda started the South Beach diet on Wednesday or Thursday, but got SERIOUS on Friday. My sister and her kids were visiting this weekend and I told them to clean out my pantry of all the "bad" stuff. They took chips, cake mix, icing, pudding, oranges, apples, potatoes, grits and even my canister of sugar!

I loaded up on the stuff that I can eat and was very successful this weekend--even though I ate out 3 times! I took my little baggie of snacks (sugar free pudding, cherry tomatoes and celery, hummas (sp?), low fat string cheese, etc. ) to the hospital when I went to visit my mommy (she's doing better--I need to do a update) so I wouldn't be tempted by the snack machines. I have been drinking a boat load of water and have been going to the bathroom like no body's business! I haven't really been hungry, except for the time I forgot my snack, but I refused to buy "bad" stuff, so I just chewed a stick of sugar free gum.

I've also tried to exercise more--just walking a bit but I am pretty much a couch potatoe! If I can't walk during the day/early evening, I climb the stairs in my house (there are 17 of them suckers!) for about 15 minutes. More than that and my legs turn to jelly! :D I'm also lifting weights a bit. I want Angela Bassett's arms!

I hope this works for me. I have not succesfully followed a diet and exercise plan since college (and my metabolism was much higher then) so I am really trying to stick with it.

Oh yeah, I just successfully passed a 'test'. We had a little party for a temp who got married over the weekend. There was cake (which smelled sooooo goood!!), honey roasted nuts, these little cheese cracker things, some cute little chocolate mint petit fores (is that how you spell it?), and lemonade. I resisted it all and just calmly sipped my water, even as my supposed "diet partner" had a piece of cake! :D

Nice work Eclipsse, on resisting "the near ocassion of sin".

I'm not doing Atkins, but for the 1st time I am actually paying attention to my carbs, not just my overall calories. I find that the hardest thing for me is the workplace yummies. Last week someone brought in Ms. Fields nibblers, before that it was fudge!

Update
 

As of last Thursday (about 6 days on the diet) I had lost about 4 lbs! One thing I like about South Beach is that you see the weight come off right away! I was doing pretty good (absolutely NO cheating) until last Saturday. I took my neices to Olive Garden to celebrate one of their birthdays and while I could have had the salmon in lemon butter sauce and the grilled veggies I had lasagna. It was so good I thought I was going to...well I won't tell you what I thought ;) Suffice it to say, it was good! :D I did moderate though and did not eat the entire thing. I ate about half of it and had a bit today and will probably have the rest tomorrow.

Other than that I been pretty good. Since I was having house guests I bought some apple and orange juice and successfully resisted that temptation. Tonight I had a low carb burger from Hardees (I think they are only in the south) although I am sure the south beach would frown on the fat content.

I bought some Crystal Light Strawberry Kiwi juice on Friday and it is the BOMB! Helps me say no to fruit juice.

One thing that I hope is going to help me is that me and several coworkers are dieting together (different programs) and the one who does the best will recieve $150 (we're all putting $25 in the pot)!! That sound like my new skinny outfit money!! :D

go 'head Eclipse!

You sound like you're doing great!

I'm going to pick up the South Beach book tomorrow- it sounds really interesting, I want to read up on it.

Thanks! :D Check out their website at ww.southbeachdiet.com first. It gives you the basics, although I've found the book to be very helpful. There are recipes in the back. I've tried a few and some of them are actually quite good.

Re: Update
 

I am on email all day at work, and I have two friends at other jobs who are trying to lose weight. Having their email support helps get me through the day. Also, by making your goal public [at least for me] it stirs up my competitive spirit and my pride.


Congrats on your progress!:D

Excellent Eclipse! Keep up the great work! I'm checking out the South Beach diet for real today! I started this thread and I ain't doing right! :confused: :eek: :mad: :(

TMI, but
 

I had to stop the Atkins diet. :( Although I did feel like I was losing pounds, I was just not comfortable with all the meat and no veggies. Plus, i think I was in developing gout. :(

Someone else mentioned The South Beach diet. Stating that it was similiar to Atkins, but it introduced veggies and fruits WAY sooner, so I may try it.

Re: TMI, but
 

What's gout? :confused: I remember my Big Mama and her Sr. Citizen friends talking about "the gout" as in "You know Deacon Jackson got the gout." "Chile, hush yo' mouf!" LOL I thought it was only for old people

I'm not that up on Atkins, but on Southbeach you can start introducing fruit like apples, blueberries and (I think) strawberries to your diet after the 2nd week. Southbeach does not ask you to count carbs, they just divide things into good carbs and bad carbs as well as good fat and bad fat. For instance, nuts like peanuts and almonds have good fat, so you can have them in phase 1 (the strictest) although they do restrict the number that you can have. Regarding veggies, I know you can have green beans, asparagus, squash, zuccunni (I know I jacked that up!), broccoli, califlower, all kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, lima beans, black beans and mushrooms. I can't remember what else is on the "o.k. to eat" list. You cannot have carrots or corn or beets (big lost there! LOL) and of course stuff like potatoes. This is only for the first 2 weeks, then you start reintroducing these into your diet,although potatoes, watermelon and pineapple (some of my favorites) stay on the "eat sparingly, if at all" list.

Update on my lasanga: My dad, who is staying with me while my mom is in the hospital ate my leftovers. :( I 'bout jacked him up about that!! I was toooo :mad: :mad:

Re: TMI, but
 

I stopped to. Eating just meat and cheese was making me way to crabby for my own good. I might check out this Southbeach diet you all speak of. One of my co-workers is doing it now and seems to be doing well on it.

Re: Re: TMI, but
 

Its basically a swelling of the joints due to consumption of too much meat (organ meat like liver and fish).

Gout

Who know, my body may just not like Atkins.

I fell off the Atkins wagon over the weekend. I had been going out drinking like 4 times a week for the past few weeks and wasn't making any progress, and then we went out for a company lunch on Friday and I just said "F it" and cheated. I started back up today though (and I even went to the gym!), and I'm going to try to stay off the bottle for a month. We'll see...

How are you guys doing? I'm still doing SouthBeach and wanted to know how everyone else was progressing with the low carb thing...

LIL Hannah, that was my downfall as well. When I started back up the last time, my husband birthday came around, and of course I wanted something to drink. Atkins has a list of alcoholic beverages that has little or no carbs, but they are only allowed only after you come off the induction. I am going to start back up on tomorrow, and for Valentine's Day, I am going to opt for one of those beverages. I know it will slow my process down for three days, but what the hey.

Where are all my weight lost partners???

I'm in my 3rd week of SouthBeach and have done pretty well. Still drinking a boat load of water. No major cravings, but when I do want something sweet I just eat a sugar free jello. I've started back introducing bread--the multigrain kind--slowly, don't want to sabatog things for me. I am getting tired of salads, which is what I have almost every day for lunch, although I did find a no sugar added Ranch dressing that is pretty good. I did cheat on Sunday though. I had pizza. The first 2 slices I just ate the toppings, but the last one I ate it crust and all!!

Several coworkers have asked me if I was losing weight and all I could do was :D

Now if I would only exercise on a consistent basis I would be o.k..... By the time I get home at night (usually about 10 or 11) I don't feel like doing anything!