Low Carb Anyone?
 

Is anyone else here on a low carb food plan? I know they aren't the easiest to follow, but I've found some REALLY great products that taste just as good and are just as (and sometimes more) filling as the regular foods. Anyone else an Atkins/Zone follower?

How many carbs are you allowed to have on a low carb diet?

I started the Atkins diet a week ago. During that first week, not even 10 minutes after I ate lunch/dinner, my body was hungry, but I had just eaten and knew I wasn't hungry. (if you can understand that) I'm guess it was my body wanting sugars I had eliminated from my diet. It was a weird feeling.

But anyway, yep, I'm on the Atkins. I've never dieted before, but working 70 hrs a week has left me no time to watch what I eat. I needed to do something.

i think you can have, like, 20-22 grams of carbs per day. i did atkins for a minute, and i lost 8 lbs the first week. it was the BEST thing ever!!!! it wasn't that hard for me to stick with, but every now and then you just want a sandwich. i ate all the meat and cheese stuff that i wanted, drank LOTS of water...for my carbs i ate small portions of green veggies. but if you're hungry....eat. that's the beauty of this diet....you can have as much protein as you want. two of my guys friends were on this and i'm not kidding lost 17lbs in two wks....each!!!! it was ridiculous. i lost about 12 in two wks....but my 2nd week i wasn't as good with the water thing, so i think that had something to do with it. take a multi-vitamin with it, too...but read the label on it.

it's a good program for quick weight-loss, but not for the long term....you gradually have to put carbs back into your system....just not in the form of a billion grams of carbs. i liked this diet (as i sit here and munch on jelly beans.....:rolleyes: ) b/c it seems like everything else you do takes forever to see results.

good luck!---sigmagrrl, what foods are you talking about? thinking about starting it up again......

Those diets are so bad for you.

The best diet for EVERYONE is a diet that matches equal parts carbs and protein.

But to each their own, I guess.

I'm not a huge fan of those diets. I don't eat a TON of carbs anyways, but most of the carbs i get are from stuff like fruit, wheat bread, stuff like that - not exactly bad carbs.

I just watch what I eat, excercise as much as I can, and I've been able to keep my weight at a good level.

Collin

So far, I've found the best bread to be the Atkins Country white.

*warning: this is a biit graphic*

Because of my surgery, I don't absorb protein and fat, so I can eat all I want and still lose weight, but carbs have always been my downfall. When I eat them, w/in 1-2 hours, I'm in the bathroom. All night long, I'm gassy and bloated, and within hours of waking up, I'm back in the bathroom. It was getting to be dire and too frequent. I was eating too many carbs.

So, I tried the bread last night! It was very tasty! I had it toasted with cream cheese (1g of carbs), with bacon and eggs (basically1-3 carbs). Total for dinner was 11 carbs! I'm allowed 30 per day.

We also found these brownies that are DELICIOUS! Now, for me to say this, they have to be damm good b/c I am a dessert afficianado and expert: I know my baked goods. They come in 5 flavors: Dark Chocolate, Classic Chocolate, Coconut, Raspberry, and Cherry Cordial (my fave)!

I'm going to stick with this, purely out of the need for comfort and also to see what sort of weight loss I yield. I've plateau'd again, despite the 3 hrs per day of exercise I was up to!!!!

I agree. Sure, you may lose weight now, but I bet in a few years many people on these "high protein" diets are going to be having heart attacks left and right.

They just did a head to head study with two groups. One was on the Atkins diet and the other was on a standard diet.

The atkins group lost more body fat and their health indicators improved. The group on the conventional diet actually had their health indicators get worse.

I am not sure this is a belief system argument. ITs been pretty well established that a lot of procesed carbs are bad for you.

Its also been pretty wel establishe that the glycemic index of foods have a lot to do with the way your body puts out insulin. Which in turn has alot to do with your general health ad weight.

The "Atkins" diet, which was around many years before him, is initially a very low carb diet that can either stay that way, or can gradually evolve into a low glycemc diet. For example, a red potato is better for you than a white one. A white potato has the same glycemc number as table sugar.

Over how much time was the study conducted? Months? Years?

I'm saying that 20 or 30 years down the road is when we're going to see problems.

I agree that processed carbs are bad. However, I think it's not wise to elimintate ALL carbs -- like complex carbs.

Granted, I've never really learned about these high protein diets because it's not something that interests me. However, I've heard people talking about how they won't eat FRUIT because of carbs. IMHO, that's just sheer stupidity. These same people say they can eat as much meat and fat as they want...and I think that's stupid, and not just because I'm a vegetarian. ;) Where will these people be in 30 years?

CALP
 

I agree, no-carbs is not healthy. Atkins, Carb-Addicts, and others ARE NOT NO-CARB PLANS. They are low-carb plans.

I have been on the Carbohydrate Addict's Lifespan Plan for a year now, have lost 25 pounds, and have kept it off. My blood work comes back MEGA improved. I have lost the cravings for sugary foods, no longer eat out of control, can make it from one meal to the next without feeling that I am starving, no longer need a nap or a snack halfway through the afternoon.......And I continue my normal exercise plan, without having to exercise like a fiend.

My problem is that I make too much insulin, so any time I ate a high glycemic food (dessert, fruit, white bread, pasta, potato) my insulin would skyrocket and remove all blood sugar from my blood, leaving me feel as if I had not eaten in days. I would then be cranky, tired, and shaky. One doctor said these were the symptoms of being hypoglycemic. Following the eating plan as if I were hypoglycemic made things worse. My current doctor said, "Let's find out what is causing this to happen instead of treating only the symptoms." He found the last clue in my mother. She became a Type II diabetic after years of feeling jsut like me. She made too much insulin for years, became resistant to it, and now has diabetes. He suggested a low-glycemic diet similar to what diabetics use. If I keep the insulin from going out of control, I can hopefully avoid becoming diabetic. After looking at all of the available eating plans out there, I started the CALP.

I eat a lot of carbs (but only during one meal a day) and NEVER EVER COUNT CARBS. It's easy for me, works great, and I can stay on it forever. And there are no health risks involved with lowering the levels of processed sugars, flours, and other high-glycemic foods. These can easily be substituted with low-glycemic, healthy foods.

CALP is NOT A HIGH-PROTEIN DIET. It is low-carb (NOT NO-CARB).
I did not raise the amount of proteins I ate, I simply substituted low-glycemic foods for high-glycemic foods that I normally ate.

Sorry so long.

Well . . . let me ask for a suspension of disbelief and leave you with two thoughts and a correction.

One of the reasons that lower carb diets were initially investigaged was because certain cultures that ate low carb diets didn't have a lot of the common health problems that we find to be common.

So in that case we have low carb diets being followed for generations without apparent harm.

The second thing I would like you to consider is the use of a low carb or "ketogenic" diet to treat epileptic children.

These children aren't put on just a low carb diet. They are put on an extremely restricted low carb diet. Even their water intake is kept lower because they need to keep circulating ketones high.

Ketones are fractured fat bodies that your body makes for energy as it adapts to less carbs.

These children are kept in deep ketosis for years to control their seizures. Much deeper than you or I would be in ketosis.

No harmful side-effects reported and children are even more suscpetible than adults to damage.

Oh, there isa misconception that the atkins diet is a high protein diet. It really isn't. The fundamental point of the atkins program is to substitute fat calories for carbohydrate calories.

Yeah, I was about to say that. I read an article about it, but I can't seem to find it.

Like I had stated earlier, my body has been "redesigned" so I don't absorb fat and protein into my body. So, I don't have cholesterol or blood pressure issues! WOOHOO for fatty cuts of meat!!LOL

James is right to some extent. Listen there are problems with all diets - the low carb diets do have their problems as well. Generally a lot of people that do the Atkins diet progress through phases where they increase their carb intake with carbs that ae better for you I think.

I've done so many different versions of the low carb diet and almost all have worked well for me. The reason I like it is that when combined with certain supplements I don't lose a lot of muscle mass - which is pretty important to me.

-Rudey

For those of you who have done low carb seriously---

I've done it for about 3 years now. I've noticed that when I do it, the weight goes away really quickly. Then, I can eat whatever I want (I'm a total McDonald's junkie, I'll admit it) and don't gain anything back. (1-2 lbs, not the 10 I lost, if anything).

Anyone else experiencing this??? One more reason I love this diet. I feel like I can do it gradually- the weight loss isn't gradual but whenever I feel like picking it up again I can.

I don't think anybody can dispute the fact that low-carb diets work in the short term. And studies are mixed as to whether it harms your heart significantly in the long run. But something I would be concerned about: if you're cutting out too many fruits and veggies because of their carb content, you're substantially increasing your risk for about a thousand kinds of cancer.

I don't know much about ketones and whatever else the Atkins diet claims makes you lose weight, but the main reason (not necessarily the only one) that people on low-carb diets lose weight is because they're eating fewer calories than before, and they just don't realize it. If you normally eat 2500 calories a day, and you cut back to 1500 a day, you're going to lose weight -- regardless of whether those 1500 calories come from chocolate, hamburgers, apples or bread. People like low-carb diets because the rules are pretty simple as to what you can and can't eat.

Some of the weight loss in the primary stages of the Atkins diet is water weight, as well -- you cut back on fruits and vegetables, you're not going to get as much water as you normally do and you're going to think you've lost weight when really you're just dehydrated.

There's nothing wrong with cutting back on simple sugars and stuff like that, but I think the possible side effects of the Atkins diet are just not worth it . . . I find it's a lot easier (and it'll probably be a lot healthier in the long run) just to eat healthy and go running a couple days a week.

I have been on and off the Atkins diet. I've found that the Atkins diet works for me in terms of weight loss, when I follow it strictly. After a while, though, I found that I desperately missed my bread and rice (not so much the soda and ice cream, interestingly).

So I'm currently following a "lowish-carb" diet. I eat complex carbs but not simple sugars, and I eat far less than the 300g/day the US government recommends, but not as little as the 20g/day the Atkins diet calls for. This allows me to maintain my weight, and that's fine with me :)

I'm currently learning more about the Atkins program, because my father was recently placed on it by his doctor when he found out he was diabetic.

I have done a NO carb diet. Basicly 8 g of carbs or less a day with glycogen depletion workouts, and a re-feed (carb up) period that usually is 24-48 hours.

This lasted 2 weeks, because I had a scare with a panic attack. But let me tell you in those two weeks I lost 15 pounds. Just getting through the first day was rough with all that added fat.

I'm going to do the Atkins program with my dad when I'm at home so he has a "buddy" persay and because it wouldn't hurt mr to lose a few pounds ;) I do have a pagent in June.

From the Atkins website. http://atkinscenter.com/howto/index.html

Phase 1: Induction limits carb intake to 20 grams per day which can be eaten as either 3 cups of salad or 2 cups of salad and one cup of approved vegetables. You must eliminate all bread, rice, potatoes, sugars, and fruit so it is quite restrictive. You follow this phase for at least two weeks until you are within 10 to 15 pounds of your goal weight.

Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) Slowly increase your carb intake 5 grams each week. First week on OWL eat 25 grams, second week 30 grams. You can add a cup of vegetables, salad, and berries. You still lose weight on this phase of the diet, just at a slower pace.

Check out the website for phases 3 and 4. I need to eat dinner now. :)

(James waves)

Can we forget a little about what we "believe" to be true and look at some data lol?

As far as heart problems . . . well basically what critics say is this: The atkins diet works in the short term and doesn't have any health conflicts. And we haven't seen any health conflicts to date but . . . we full expect them to deveolop later . . . sometime! :D lol

James, I agree with you. The recent data seems to support a low carb diet. There is a lot of speculation with very little evidence that Atkins Diet can lead to heart and kidney disease.

Personally, I found phase one of ATKINS very difficult since there is no fruit. Phase two was much better. I am now on maintenance which is phase four. I just limit my carbs to well under 100 grams usually under 60. I am off soda and candy and junk. Once or twice a week I will have a snack. The next day I eat less carbs. I still have not had white bread this year. My carbs come from fruit, salad, and vegetables at this phase.

I'd like to try low carb, but I'd probably murder someone.

I'm a carb junkie. A slice of bread (even whole wheat bread) can send me from bitch to angel in no time.

Carbs are my crack.

LMAO!

ME TOO!

I completely feel ya! I just started an Atkins-like "diet" plan and I feel the same way. I am the pickiest eater, I hate veggies, and most of the foods I like are carbs, so this is killin' me!

What I wouldn't give for a pizza right now! :o

Eventually you will be able to eat the pizza toppings only. :D

I had a lot of crack today. I mean carbs. lol! :p

No "crack" for me...

My dad brought home fresh bagels this morning and I stared at them with longing :(

Good job. :)

Thanks, SATX, I need the encouragement! ;)

Oh girl, I'll be needing it in a week or so. I'll be counting on you. :p

*munches on a whole wheat bagel*

It's just not worth it for me!

I am going to start Atkins again. I gained weight this week. I was working too hard and long so I had to eat whatever was there.

Entering week two...
I have unfortunately only lost two pounds; however, everyone has told me that they have noticed the difference. I have definitely noticed that my face looks slimmer, and I think that's more important than what the scale says. Starting monday I will begin a workout schedule.

While on the Atkins diet you can't eat fruit, but what kind of vegetables are you told not to eat while on the atkins?

That was why I got on Atkins too. I've lost about 10 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks. Like Leslie, I can definitely see a change in my face. We went out to the club on Saturday night and there I was, drinking diet coke and bacardi. :D

From what I know, at the beginning, green veggies is all you can eat.

I didn't really expect to loose a lot of weight right away like some people do (because I've been stuck at home, inactive, for two weeks), but I had such terrible eating habits that I thought this would be the best way to start eating less and more healthy. And I think some people that try to loose weight take on too much right away. I wanted to cut the carbs and sugar first, start drinking more water, and THEN start daily exercise. When you try to change everything at once, you wear yourself out in a short period of time.