Atkins Diet?

[hotbarbiedoll]

So many people I have spoke to have tried this and lost a lot of weight. Anyone recently or currently on it? What are some tips or meals that you have prepared?

[skince55]

Originally posted by hotbarbiedoll

So many people I have spoke to have tried this and lost a lot of weight. Anyone recently or currently on it? What are some tips or meals that you have prepared?

My father just did it for about a month and it worked really good for him. He has been back eating normal food again for two weeks and hasn't gained a pound.

As far as meals go, I know there are alot of products like low carb pasta, pancakes, icecream, candy bars.

[sunnyhost]

Most of the people that I have known to have tried have done great on it, but then went ahead and started eating eaten a carbs again and gained weight w/the first pretzel they went 4 =/

[elementx]

IF YOU CARE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE. IT EXPLAINS 99% OF THE ATKINS DIET IN A NUT SHELL...

HERE YOU GO...

What It Is

Steak with Bearnaise sauce, eggs, and bacon; cheddar cheese omelets -- don't hold the yolks; Roquefort dressing and silky smooth avocado cream soup made with real cream? These rich foods are allowed as part of the controversial diet described in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, a phenomenal best seller, and several follow-up books.

The Atkins diet promises that not only will you lose weight -- and not be hungry -- with a low-carbohydrate diet, but you'll also be on the road to better heart health and memory function, as well as other wellness benefits.

The diet is based on the theory that overweight people eat too many carbohydrates. Our bodies burn both fat and carbohydrates for energy, but carbs are used first. By drastically reducing carbs and eating more protein and fat, our bodies naturally lose weight by burning stored body fat more efficiently.

Although it's undoubtedly the weight-loss claims -- and noted success stories -- that are selling the books, the Center for Complementary Medicine in New York (which Atkins founded) claims that most people follow the Atkins diet for weight maintenance, good health, and disease prevention.

What You Can Eat

The plan allows you to eat foods that many dieters have only dreamed about. The diet is said to work even if other diets have left you feeling depressed and deprived. The Atkins diet at a glance:

Sets few limits on the amount of food you eat but instead severely restricts the kinds of food allowed on your plate: no refined sugar, milk, white rice, or white flour

Allows you to eat foods traditionally regarded as "rich": meat, eggs, cheese, and more

Claims to reduce your appetite in the process.

On the Atkins diet, you're eating almost pure protein and fat. You can consume red meat, fish (including shellfish), fowl, and regular cheese (not "diet" cheese, cheese spreads, or whey cheeses). You can cook with butter, have mayo with your tuna, and put olive oil on your salads.

On the other hand, carbs are severely restricted (less than 20 grams per day) in the first two weeks, which translates to no more than three cups of loosely packed salad or two cups of salad with two-thirds cup of certain cooked vegetables each day.

There are no exceptions to these rules during the first two weeks because low-carb consumption (no fruits and only a few leafy green vegetables) is supposed to jump-start the weight-loss biochemical activity of the diet. You're not counting calories (in fact, you may be eating more calories than you were before).

Later, the carb allowance is increased in the form of fiber-rich foods, but you do not return to eating refined sugar (by the teaspoonful or in desserts), milk, white rice, white bread, white potatoes or pasta made with the dreaded white flour. Those remain on a lifelong list of forbidden pleasures.

The diet does allow for adding fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods after the two-week induction period.

Then, over time, the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance is made by gradually increasing carbs so long as gradual weight loss is maintained.

How It Works

By restricting carbohydrates drastically to a mere fraction of that found in the typical American diet, the body goes into a state of ketosis, which means it burns its own fat for fuel. A person in ketosis is getting energy from ketones, little carbon fragments that are the fuel created by the breakdown of fat stores. When the body is in ketosis, you tend to feel less hungry, and thus you're likely to eat less than you might otherwise. However, ketosis can also cause a variety of unpleasant effects (such as unusual breath odor and constipation) in a small number of people.

As a result, your body changes from a carbohydrate-burning engine into a fat-burning engine. So instead of relying on the carbohydrate-rich items you might typically consume for energy, and leaving your fat stores just where they were before (alas, the hips, belly, and thunder thighs are popular fat-gathering spots), your fat stores become a primary energy source. The purported result: weight loss.

In slightly more detail, consider what happens when you eat a high-carbohydrate meal. Sugar from the carbohydrate quickly enters the bloodstream. To keep the blood sugar from rising too high, the body secretes insulin. Insulin allows the extra sugar to be stored in the liver and muscle as glycogen, but these stores are rapidly filled to capacity. The insulin then converts any extra sugar to fat -- the stuff we're trying so hard to get rid of.

According to the Atkins theory, if the body keeps on making "too much" insulin -- as it tries to deal with the "excess" sugar -- it may become less responsive to insulin and eventually may develop the metabolic disorder, diabetes. The Atkins theory states that this should properly be called "unstable blood sugar" since the blood sugar level rises and then drops quickly.

This "first step in an unhealthy metabolic path" leads to "the early stages of diabetes." However, a body in ketosis burns up excess fat, and in time -- according to the Atkins theory -- returns to normal metabolic function. Though all the fat in this diet may temporarily spike someone's cholesterol level, this is usually short lived and soon rights itself with a lower cholesterol and triglyceride level as weight loss occurs -- at least, that's the theory.

For most people, the carb consumption must be no more than 40 grams a day for this biochemical mechanism to occur. Although exercise isn't stressed, the Atkins theory holds that some people will need to add physical activity for ketosis to kick in. People are urged to supplement with vitamins, since they won't be getting them from sources such as vegetables and fruits.

What the Experts Say

Both in the U.S. and abroad, the Atkins diet remains highly controversial.

"The Atkins diet is a viable option that requires more testing," Gary D. Foster, PhD, clinical director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania, tells WebMD. "The Atkins diet works at producing weight loss. If you are looking for weight loss, yes, it works. If you are looking for improvement in triglycerides and HDL cholesterol, yes, it works. "

But Foster, like other experts, remains concerned about the long-term safety of the diet.

Robert H. Eckel, MD, director of the general clinical research center at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver agrees. He tells WebMD, "Our worries over the Atkins diet go way past the question of whether it is effective for losing weight or even for keeping weight off. We worry that the diet promotes heart disease. ... We have concerns over whether this is a healthy diet for preventing heart disease, stroke, and cancer. There is also potential loss of bone, and the potential for people with liver and kidney problems to have trouble with the high amounts of protein in these diets."

The American Dietetic Association also has concerns about the Atkins diet. Gail Frank, PhD, spokeswoman for the organization and professor of nutrition at California State University in Long Beach, says, "The body needs a minimum of carbohydrates for efficient and healthy functioning -- about 150 grams daily." Below that, normal metabolic activity is disrupted.

"The brain needs glucose to function efficiently, and it takes a long time to break down fat and protein to get to the brain," says Frank. Carbohydrates, especially in the form of vegetables, grains, and fruits, are more efficiently converted to glucose. And this more efficient use of glucose has developed over a long period of time, according to Frank. "Fruits and berries are much more indicative of early man's eating pattern than eating only protein, and we haven't changed all that much physiologically."

Volumetrics author Barbara Rolls, PhD, who holds the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State University, offers this: "No one has shown, in any studies, that anything magical is going on with Atkins other than calorie restriction. The diet is very prescriptive, very restrictive, and limits half of the foods we normally eat," she says. "In the end it's not fat, it's not protein, it's not carbs, it's calories. You can lose weight on anything that helps you to eat less, but that doesn't mean it's good for you."

Food for Thought

The Atkins theories remain unproven, and most experts are concerned that a high-protein, high-fat diet can cause a host of problems, particularly for the large segment of the population that is at risk for heart disease. What's more, the plan doesn't permit a high intake of fruits and vegetables, recommended by most nutrition experts because of the numerous documented health benefits from these foods.

[lizard23]

I lasted all of 4 days on it - it made me feel very weak and tired and I had a dull headache the entire time too. You need carbohydrates - they give you energy. If you want to cut back, don't eat carbs at dinner and make sure that the ones you do eat are whole grain and hearty (pasta, bread, rice, etc.) Good luck!

[elementx]

Originally posted by lizard23

I lasted all of 4 days on it - it made me feel very weak and tired and I had a dull headache the entire time too. You need carbohydrates - they give you energy. If you want to cut back, don't eat carbs at dinner and make sure that the ones you do eat are whole grain and hearty (pasta, bread, rice, etc.) Good luck!

Supposedly you feel that way for the first week or 2 until your body starts burning the fat as energy and you start to feel better...

[wideskies]

i would think that any very low-carb diet wouldn't be something you would want to do in the long run, because the lack of fruit/veggies can be a good way to put you at risk for various type of cancer (lack of fiber = colon cancer, for one).

i've never done low-carb stuff successfully... i find it very difficult! the times in which i've THOUGHT i've stuck to a low-carb eating plan, it turns out i was still getting a goodly portion of my calories from carbs.

*shrugs*

[lizard23]

Originally posted by elementx

Supposedly you feel that way for the first week or 2 until your body starts burning the fat as energy and you start to feel better...

I couldn't take feeling like that anymore, so I added carbs back in at breakfast (whole wheat/grain toast with natural peanut butter)and lunch (sandwich on whole wheat/grain bread) and I don't eat any with dinner. When you look at nutrition facts, everything has carbohydrates in it - fruits, veggie, dairy, etc., so it's impossible to completely rid your diet of them anyways.

[rackham]

I haven't tried Atkins, but I know people who have and it was basically like a crash diet. Cutting out an entire food group causes a HUGE calorie deficit -- so they lost a lot of weight... and then gained it right back (and then some) when they went off Atkins!

I'm pretty good at losing weight just by counting calories. I lose about 2lbs a week by eating around 12x my bodyweight every day. I don't starve myself, no headaches or fatigue, and the pounds are much more likely to stay off...

[dani672]

its a good diet if you follow it correctly... however if you dont it can be really bad for you..

but i have heard of people tht have lost alot of weight on it..

this dumb girl at my work was on it.. couldn't figure out why it wasn't working... i was like.. well when you are on atkins and you drink a bottle of wine a night.. what do you expect!!! hahah

seriously though if you are on atkins and you drink your body cant do what its supposed to to loose weight.. so if you really want to do it dont drink!

[lizard23]

Originally posted by dani672

its a good diet if you follow it correctly... however if you dont it can be really bad for you..

but i have heard of people tht have lost alot of weight on it..

this dumb girl at my work was on it.. couldn't figure out why it wasn't working... i was like.. well when you are on atkins and you drink a bottle of wine a night.. what do you expect!!! hahah

seriously though if you are on atkins and you drink your body cant do what its supposed to to loose weight.. so if you really want to do it dont drink!

Cutting drinking out of any diet will help you lose weight, but it's so hard (and unenjoyable) to do! If I could quit drinking for 2 months and continue to eat how I eat now, I could probably lose 10-15 pounds.

[dani672]

me too i dont drink alot.... but i drink like one or two drinks 3 times a week!

[lizard23]

Oh, see I drink like 5-10 drinks 2 nights a week (work hard and play hard.)

[xmeisax]

hmm i was thinking about going on it...if you want more information go to atkins information here the url link (if you click on it) will take you to atkins.com...they have meal plans and everything..

basically the diet is cutting out carbs entirely and focusing on things with protein and fruits and vegetables...its actually a lot more complex than what i said above but i think im just going to run it my own way and eat fruits and vegetables and protein and cut out the carbs in general...the complicated stuff get really confusing if you read to deeply into it on the site..

besides..its probably safer if you do it your way cos of all the potential health risks in the future..

[frank4g63]

my mother lost a ton of weight on Atkins, it seemed to work well for her..as far as drinking goes - i used to drink like a fish, then quit for a year after it got too expensive (and started gettin me in trouble, doh!)..

I haven't noticed any difference in body weight or body fat from going full bore party animal to a dead stop (i have my body fat measured every 6 mos or so), so personally it didn't affect me much, if at all. I will say I feel a lot better though, and so does my bank account

[siceone]

putting your body in ketosis for an extended period of time will shut down your thyroid which regulates your metablism.

[incredulous]

I personally think that this is the WORST DIET ever. (only exception is if you want to lose the weight in 2 weeks, but only for about 2 weeks) this is more of a fascade then anything IMO the reason you lose weight is because you are not holding water. each g of carb holds onto 2 g of water, so if you are not eating carbs then you are not holding on to water. Once you get off of it, you gain water weight back even if you eat healthy. its good if you are going away and have to lose weight fast. its really unhealthy. carbs has alot of vit and min that your body NEEDS. and the diet is also very high in colest. but thats just my opinion