Atkins Diet
 

Two months ago yesterday, I looked like I was 5 months pregnant... and I'm a guy! That was it. I was up to 216 pounds. I went on the Atkins Diet, and I now weigh 194 pounds.

It hasn't been easy. No one ever told me that eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a bag of Terra Blue chips after 10:00 pm 2-3 nights a week would cause me to gain weight. I live in Manhattan and this makes it easier and harder. There are sooooo many good restaurants around. The Mr. Softee ice cream truck is always on the street, as are hot dog vendors, falafel stands, etc. And no more pizza. It wouldn't be a big deal if I was living back in Florida, but the pizza in NYC is really good. And I see people walking on the streets eating slices all the time. No more Cantonese won ton soup with egg noodles; my all time favorite food when done right. You can only get this quality of won ton soup in the US in two cities, NYC and SF. And I live a 10 minute walk from Chinatown.:(

The up side is that I feel better. Those periods of fatigue that I would get in the late afternoon are gone. I can function better on less sleep if I have to, but I still need my sleep. And best of all, my clothes have begun to fit me properly. :)

I'm going to bring my weight down, all the way down to my fighting weight of 160 pounds.;)

The best part of the Atkins Diet is that, at my current rate of weight loss, I'll be able to float in 19 months.:D

My mom and aunt are both on the Adkins diet and say its hard work but they feel better. The only downside my mom says is that she so craves sugar now lol. the carbs she can do without but the sugar she just cant live without. Shes just hoping for the day when she can really incorporate it back into her diet lol

Nichole

Congratulations on your success.

I found that my greatest craving was for chocolate. I tried many sugar free chocolates, most terrible, and finally found one that is quite good: La Nouba

My Dad has lost so much weight on this diet!! He used to have a very definite "beer" belly that hung out far over his pants...he now has gotten rid of that and looks soooo good! I am sooo proud of him!!!

hersheys has a line of sugar free chocolate - regular milk chocolate, milk w/almonds, special dark and reeces peanutbutter cups that are really good..

Sugar free Reeces peanutbutter cups? If this is true, I love you.

lol.. its true..they are really good too..

Yes, Reece's peanut butter cups-- they are good too. Russell Stovers makes really good sugar free candy too.
I will assume, since you are Atkins, you know about the sugar alcohols--but just in case.... The packaging on the sugar free candy will list carbs (usually a lot of them)--then it will list sugar alcohol or miatol (sp?) --this negates the carbs!!! So the candy is virtually carb free!!

Good luck on Atkins-- I did it for 3 weeks earlier this summer and lost 15lbs. It is a great diet if you can get over those first few days of cravings.

-wendi

xok85xo for Miss America!!!
 

Be Careful!!!
 

The chocolates are good! Taste like the real thing. But because they are made with the sugar alcohol, they can cause some stomach problems.

I know someone has a great story about eating a whole bunch of candy before a Chemistry exam... Sitting next to cute boy... Her stomach made so much noise for the whole hour she was so embarrassed.

I have had milder side affects. Just cautioning everyone to just eat one or two. ;)

Re: Be Careful!!!
 

Oh yeah--- be careful with these!!! They make my mom and my boss sick, if they eat more than one or two.

Re: Be Careful!!!
 

I can't eat just one or two. My supermarket sells sugar free cookies, but the nutritional serving size is for two cookies. My serving size is a sleeve of cookies. When I figure out the real carb count for a cookie snack, I realize that it is way too high. I pass on the cookies.

This Hershey's stuff, however, looks promising.

my grocery store has started carrying low carb bread and low carb ice cream in addition to the Atkins bars and shakes. My roommate and I are both doing it, but we're having trouble not cheating. I'm trying to wean myself off of the treats, but it's really convenient to be able to just pack a sandwich for lunch rather than making a burger or something.

I tried the Hershey stuff and ignored the caution in this thread. Bad idea.

Anyways, I've been sort of bad on the diet over the last few weeks, got up to 197 pounds, got good again, and I'm now at 191 pounds - the lowest that I've been since 2000.

Ok, so I'm officially starting the Atkins diet. And I've spent like $100 dollars on low-carb food/meat in the past week. This diet has already made me lose mucho mucho money, hopefully it will make me lose mucho mucho weight!!

My mom and aunt tried the Mayo Clinic diet, which is even more stringent than the Atkins. It did work but there's no way I could ever have done it. Bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast (gag), any sort of meat you want, limited fruits, certain veggies are off limits, no sugar, no caffeine. No potatoes? No pasta? Hell no! It's the diet that they put people on who desperately need heart surgery but are too fat to go thru with it. I just think a little moderation in everything is all it takes. Maybe not for some people. "There are no bad foods, just bad quantities."

My girlfriend went on the Atkins. Dropped several inches. If you're planning on doing it, I'd recommend reading a lot beforehand. It's more complicated than you'd think.

Last summer I dropped 30 pounds just by eating healthy and excercise (which I've continued). Either way works.

I know!! I just got home and read up on it, and it turns out half of the low carb food I bought I can't have for two weeks! ARGH!!! Now I have to go spend more money on eggs, cheese, and stuff

AND I just found out I can't have gum!!! (I go through a 15 piece pack a day right now) AND ALCOHOL!!! AHHHHH What am I going to do!!!! THIS REALLY SUCKS!!! Bye bye plans for getting drunk this weekend....

I haven't had alcohol for months, and I can't say that I miss it.

...wait a minute Rachel, aren't you under 21? No alcohol for you either way!

The Atkins diet may be helping you lose weight but any diet can be dangerous...and the atkins is particulalry notable in a biochemical sense.

From my biochemistry text book:

"This so called diet appears to work at first because a low-carb diet results in an initial water loss. This occurs because glycogen reserves are depleted by the diet and because about 3 grams of water of hydration are lost for every gram of glycogen. However, the long term results are usually dissappointing for several reasons. First, ketone body excretion by the human body usually does not exceed 20 grams per day (this is the scientific premise of the atkins diet: dietary fat goes through the Krebs cycle and are converted to ketone bodies). Second amino acids can replace carbohydrates in supplying the neccessary Kreb's Cycle intermediates, making the lack of carbs irrelevant. Finally a high fat diet is a high risk factor for artherosclerosis and coronoary artery disease.

There are also a lot of issues in getting the correct vitamins through the atkin's diet. A multivitamin certainly is necessary to go along with the diet.

Also the book points out that the diet gets old quickly and is thus another reason why it's hard to maintain.

Yeah whatever happened to just moving your azz and not noshing like a pig?

what is really annoying is making drinks at starbucks for customers who are on the atkins diet. so detailed:mad:

Rachel, good luck with Atkins. :) Stay clear of the low-carb treats during induction, and you'll be fine. There is sugar-free gum out there (I'm not a gum chewer, so I can't tell you where - I know, I'm so helpful ;) )

You can have alcohol on Atkins, as long as you watch what you drink. Hard liquor (gin, vodka, whiskey, etc) is zero carbs; dry wine is 2-3 carbs per glass. Beer is right out. Your body will burn alcohol first though, even before carbs, so proceed with caution, and no booze during induction.

"Moving your azz and not noshing like a pig" is a good thing for everyone, and if you only have 5-10 lbs to lose, I'd start with that and see where it takes you. If you have more than that to lose, you have to decide for yourself what to do - whether it's low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, whatever.

I've lost 25 pounds, 31 to go!

T.G.I. Friday's
 

They are advertising an Atkins approved menu:
http://www.fridays.com/menu/healthymenu.htm

Re: T.G.I. Friday's
 

Thanks for posting that! I am not an Atkins eater, but I still try to avoid simple carbs. That menu looks amaaaaazing.

It's 9:30 am, but I am so ready for a steak, lol.

Will you marry me? I have been preaching this for 2 years now...

this has always worked me..

moderation.. exercise.. no soft drinks except everyonce in a while i treat myself..

i just dont see how any diet that says that you cant have veggies and fruits can be good for you.. i mean i dont know tons about this but i have a few friends who are on this.. seeing what they eat everyday just doesnt make sense..

i eat foods i like, but i just watch how much i eat when i do.. plus i try to eat lots of smaller meals throughout the day.. not just three big ones.. plus i try not to eat too late.. but if i do.. i eat an apple or something along those lines..

speaking from experience.. my mom tried all these fad diets but not until she was cutting out all junk, drinking large amounts of water, exercising everyday, watching what she ate.. did somethign stick.. she lost over 100 pounds and has kept it off.. plus she is very healthy now..

Okay, I could marry you as well.

I think it is really dependant on how you live day to day. If you sit around like a lazy piece of garbage, you will get fat. If you get a proper amount of exercise, you will stay fit. You need to focus on the activity level, not the eating aspect.

Also, look at this from an american perspective, we are the only culture that has the privilege to worry about this type of thing. That should tell you that our portions are out of control. Eat what you want, as long as it is in moderation. A piece of bread will not make you fat. Sitting on your lazy butt will make you fat. Those that cannot exercise should do what they can to reduce caloric intake, but fad diets will screw you up in the long run. Yo Yo's always end up fat....

Soft drinks are okay from time to time, or enjoy diet drinks, instead of full calorie. common sense.

I think that no one really understands the extent that which alot of americans are addicted to carbs. maybe not you, but I know for me, that I can't just have one cookie. Or any other high carb item. Self-control is great if you have it. I personally don't have much...in many areas of my life. I know plenty of people who are able to be on low-calorie balanced diets. But I also know plenty of people for whom it doesnt work. I know I have lost the weight eating that way, but I ALWAYS gain it back. I've had years of dieting, gaining the weight, losing the weight, and the cycle repeated. I have had enough. So I decided to try Atkins. I personally don't eat much fat because it makes me sick, but I stay away from the carbs and hopefully, I'm going to lose the weight.

Just because you don't think Atkins makes sense, theres no need to bash it. And before you bash, do a little research. Thanks.

Heh. Everyone is so militant when they're on Atkins. When they have a minor slip up and the weight comes back faster than it came off, its not so gung ho.

Yes, it works short term. But you have to be willing to live like that for life.

I agree - there are no bad foods, just bad quantities

You are wrong. You should research Atkins. Leaving Atkins does result in some weight gain, but never more than 10 pounds. For someone like me who gained a lot of weight due to a combination of breaking up with a girlfriend at a time when my metabolism was slowing, Atkins is the best solution. I was 216 pounds and I'm trying to get to 160 pounds. I currently weigh 191. Atkins also has benefits that many people don't discuss, like lower cholesterol, and breaking the sugar habit. When I get to, or below my goal weight, I will probably resume a normal diet, but without low-value carbs like bread, pasta, and sugar that do little good for you.

random news about the Atkins
 

TGI Friday's has announced with the help of some Atkin's diet gurus, they are going to be adding menu items for those on the Atkin's diet. The menu additions should be expected around January, which is usually a really big diet month.

Re: random news about the Atkins
 

if you scroll up like 4 or 5 posts this is already posted, with a link to the menu :)

how does atkins lower cholestrol when it promotes eating things like red meat, cheese, butter, and eggs? they all may be high in protein but they are also very high in fat and cholestrol..

Re: Re: random news about the Atkins
 

I don't know how, but it does. There was a recent government study that backed these claims up too.

Discussing Atkins is like discussing politics, lol.

In the end you just have to agree to disagree.

What burns many Atkins dieters IMO is the way they are questioned. SOME people are using it like a fad diet, but that doesn't mean that Atkins is flawed. And it doesn't mean that everyone on Atkins is ill-informed or misguided.

An adult who has done the research and made the commitment to eating this way is at the end of the day an ADULT, not a child, and not someone whose experiences can be judged by those who have never done research into the diet past watching a bit on the evening news.

I don't do Atkins but I have seen it work. It doesn't work for everyone by a long shot- not everyone does well on low carb, or such a restricted way of eating- but I give anyone who can commit themselves to it credit for willpower. And I think that unless you have done ACTUAL RESEARCH on it past listening to what people say about it you should shut up and let people do what works for them.

*stepping off my soapbox*

Re: Re: Re: random news about the Atkins
 

I've seen those studies. If I have time when I get home from work I will post a link.

Here's an USA Today article on a study about Atkins:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...8-adkins_x.htm

Trust me, I dont have as much self-control as I would like.. I like cookies.. cupcakes.. any kinds of sweets.. just as much as the next person.. but to avoid this.. i just dont buy them..


if i am craving them usually i will eat something else healthier instead bc its not available.. if i keep craving it after a few days.. which is rare i will eat something sweet.. but if you eliminate buying these things you wont eat them.. after awhile you wont really crave them..

for me after giving up soft drinks i craved them so much.. now when i have one it actually tastes wierd..


i know not everyone is the same.. i just said that this is what works for me..