Atkins Diet

[Jettin' Fool]

For those of you that hate diets(who dosent!)
I have used a great diet that sheds wieght fast and is the easiest diet to stay on. The Atkins(Low Carb) diet is awesome. How does a steak, shrimp, a salad covered in blue cheese, and a couple of Michelob Ultra's sound?? Thats right, thats a diet :shocked: Cut out all the carbs(stay below 20 g per day) and you can lose up to 30lb in a month and eat like a king. I use it off and on because its hard to stay on it for a long legnth of time. It works

Anybody else try this diet??

Fool

[ 02-06-2003, 06:14 PM: Message edited by: Jett'in Fool ]

[1pump]

I've heard of it, but don't know anything about it. How did you come across it? Book? 'Net? Doctor? I have zero will power when it comes to food, and I'm a carb freak. Got to change my evil ways.

[The Fishing Geek]

If I remember correctly Thumper lost a lot of weight on Atkins.

[Silver Hilton]

I have, and several of my friends have lost significant amounts of weight easily on this diet. Get the book.

[Mad Mikey]

I was 250lbs in November, man it piled on fast last year. Even though I'm 6'1" that was way too big.
I understood the basic idea behind it and tried it. Currently I'm 210 and feeling great, pants are loose and the river doesn't go up 6 inches when I get in the boat.
I don't really know for sure if it was just the diet because I also quit beer and most junk food. I was a chip/cracker/bread junkie too and cut most of that out also. Add running 4 miles a day four to five times a week and it's no real mystery to me why I lost the weight.
A friend of mine who knows his nutrition suggested that you keep the carbs low, I am about 60g a day and try to get them consumed breakfast and/or lunch. Don't eat more than 30g four hours before bed times either.
If I am on the sticks all day I don't really worry about my food that much, I also try to drink water and stay away from sodas, gatorade has a ton of carbs in it too.
I would recommend some decent cardio on a regular basis, it intensifies the weight loss and keeps you in shape.
Sometime in the Spring I ought to be where I should, I'll post some before and after pix. The old one is pretty scary, I keep it in the bathroom where I can see if every morning.
If anything sticks out the most in my mind it's NOT the rate at which you drop the pounds, put that on the back burner. Find something that you can live with and stick to it so you don't end up yo-yo ing.

good luck to my fellow chunksters!!!

[ 02-06-2003, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: Mad Mikey ]

[RvW]

Both my father and aunt used this diet and it does work.

However, one thing people seem to overlook is cholesterol. Dr Atkins doesnt seem to confront the issue. I always got after my father for eating about a loaf of bread a day, all the oysters and real butter he could get his hands on, carbs you say? duh.

EAT FISH!

[GutshotApe]

I dropped 40+ lbs on the Atkins diet 30 years ago - and kept it off for the next 25 yrs. Started gaining some back lately so am thinking about going back on the diet for a couple months.

You can't start at the drop of a hat - it takes a few days or a week for ketosis to kick in. But if you keep the carbs below about 60 gm/day the blubber melts off fast. And, yes, it helps to get physical exercise - strenuous, several time a week - but may not be necessary. I've heard that this diet causes muscle loss as well as fat loss so exercise may be needed to counteract that. Once you lose the weight you can't go back to couch potato status and pizza, ice cream, bread, etc. or you will blimp out again.

I heard that when your body is in ketosis it can handle lots of cholesterol.......

You will find that it is nearly impossible to eat in restaurants and stay on the diet.......and, the diet gives you Iguana breath.........a small price to pay!

[Tilla]

For many of you that are or you don't know that you are diabetics, it is worth looking at.

[Robert]

Whats ketosis and whys it take so long to get to it?

[GutshotApe]

Robt - Its been a while since I read about it, but. after a few days of no or hardly any carbohydrates your body metabolism changes. You will start, somehow, directly burning stored fat thru a process called ketosis. You can get little paper strips (ketosis strips) at the pharmacy that when exposed to urine will change color if you're in ketosis - although you can tell without the strips just from how you feel. Seems like it took 2 or 3 days for it to start.

The best thing about this diet is you can snack anlytime and not gain weight - as long as you keep total daily carbohydrates under 60 gm. The new food labels make it easy to track. The bad thing is a high protein diet isn't cheap......but it definitely works.

[Joe Schwab]

I tried Atkins, loved it but it was extremely hard to stay on. Went to Weight Watchers 4 weeks ago and have lost 28 lbs. And I feel great. Get plenty to eat if you eat the right stuff. Only 50 lbs to go to reach my fighting weight.

[Cohodependent]

There is a great book out there that we recommend to our patients and it is called, "Protein Power". It will explain all about ketosis and metabolism. The Protein diet is what Atkins is all about. We as humans are designed to be hunter gatherers. We are not designed to eat all of the carbs that are in our modern diet. The low fat diet is not healthy in the long term. If you go on a protein based diet your cholesterol levels will drop. I know it is hard to belive, but yes you can eat all of the meat and cheese you want and still maintain normal cholesterol levels. I have had patients get off of their oral glucose meds along with their blood pressure and cholesterol meds after a few months on a protein based diet. It is not for every one. Folks with kidney problems should not go on it due to the increase of protein in the urine....

[Thumper]

"Protein Power" is the bible, but it is really another view of the basic Atkins diet first published more than 30 years ago.

I lost 65 pounds 5 years ago. Still down 62. I find the Atkin's diet to be easy to stay on. I lost an average of 1/2 pound a day on it, keeping carbs at or below 20 grams a day. In four months I was at my target weight (178 pounds, 6 feet even). Now I eat about 50 grams of carbs a day and maintain just fine. I will never go off this diet, ever, ever, ever.

During the weight loss period forget all the tables and recipes. Here's the trick ...... read labels. If the food has more than 2-3 grams of carbs per serving just don't eat it. The weight will just melt away.

I also weighed every other day and plotted my results during the four months. That is a great motivator, watching the straight line loss day after day.

The results are not just related to weight. My blood pressure went from 145/90 to 120/65. Cholesterol from 240 to 165. Triglycerides from 770 (!!!) to 75. HDL went up too.

I drink plenty of bourbon (0 carbs) and Miller Lite (3 grams). The new Michelob Ultra is only 2.5 grams.

I follow the medical literature fairly closely. No study has identified any negative effects from following the Atkins diet. There are several reports of problems with high-protein diets, but in every case carbs were not as severely restricted as they are on the Atkins diet.

Atkins rules!

[O'City Fisherman]

Thanks for all the helpfull hints on this.. I too am looking into the atkins diet along with working out daily.

I really need it. 33 years of age 6'2" and around 375-400lbs.. 12 years ago I was around 225-235. That is where I would love to get down to again and I will within time.

Another quick question: Is fruit involved in the diet????

[ 02-12-2003, 06:19 AM: Message edited by: O'City Fisherman ]

[The Fishing Geek]

Oh yes, plenty of fruits and veggies. Whole grains are cool, too. I've been picking up kamut over at Bob's Red Mill lately and steaming it in the rice steamer for an hour and a half. Cup of kamut, cup and a half of water. Once it's done, heat up some olive oil in a frypan or wok and fry that kamut up for a few minutes. Adds a really good nutty flavor to it. I even spoon in some minced garlic because I'm both Italian and deathly afraid of vampires. So far, so good.

This from someone who is a really picky eater. Good stuff, I tell ya.

[Thumper]

Be a little careful about fruits and veggies. Pick up a good food values counter and live by that. Keep the net (total minus fiber grams) of carbs below 20 or 25 per day and you will lose weight, day after day after day.

And you will eat like a king. Bacon or sausage and eggs for breakfast. My favorite lunch is 4 or 5 Whoppers or Big'N'Tastys, no buns (99 cents each), with a huge salad (ranch dressing) for dinner. Many Macadamia nuts, almonds, loads of cheeses and such for snacks all day, beer and bourbon (usually both) in the evening, etc. Tough life!

It also helps to exercise. I walk about 3 miles each morning on a treadmill at a leisurely pace (3.5-4.0 mph, zero grade). For me that burns off about 300 calories a day, or about 1,800 per 6-day week. That is 1,800 X 52 weeks or 93,600 extra calories burned per year. Figuring 3,500 calories per pound, I am burning off 27 pounds each year before I even start! That's a lot of Miller Lite!

Treadmills are deadly boring for me, so I use one that has an upright reading surface. I read two daily newspapers each morning while walking. When I'm done with the newspapers, I'm done exercising. Simple. Easy. And that is the key for me.

[ 02-12-2003, 07:54 AM: Message edited by: Thumper ]

[Bait O' Eggs]

As I was eating my fried eggs and bacon this morning I see an Atkins thread on ifish :grin:

Another quick question: Is fruit involved in the diet????

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">You really need to get a carb counting book so you become educated. Read the Atkins book, very enlightening.

Atkins is not a diet, it is a way of life. And I have become to believe that statement. You switch your body over to eating different foods plain and simple. No reason to be hungry, just avoid all the processed sugars on the shelves today. Thumper tells it like it is. :smile:

I have dabbled with Atkins for the last couple of years. I go on it for a few weeks lose a bunch of weight, then reward myself with the food I have been avoiding (That doesnt work by the way)

About Thanksgiving I got quite a bit more serious about it and have been staying between 20 and 30 grams of carbs per day about 6 days a week, and usually one day a week I get up as high as 60 carbs/day. I am down between 25 and 30lbs and still in keytosis.

The more I read about it the better I think it is for our health in the long run. I hear some people stating that it is hard on your kidneys etc.... What they say is hard on your kidneys is the keytones being present in your urine. It is my understanding that when your body burns fat the by-product is keytones, your body has 2 ways to expell keytones, your breathe and your urine. hence the typical bad breathe and the claim that it is hard on your kidneys. If anybody is losing weight by getting rid of fat, they have to be producing keytones. If a person spends a few months up to a year getting rid of a lot of extra weight, it has to be better for the body to not pack around that weight for a lifetime than any health hazard that may or may not exist from keytones in your kidneys while you are in the weight loss mode.

Once your target weight is met, keep adding carbs to your diet until you no longer are in keytosis, hence you are no longer buring fat. Pee on the stick and track how many carbs your body burns in a day and that is how many you can eat in a day and maintain a weight. I believe my body burns around 75 carbs per day with my normal activity level, if I eat more than that I tend to gain weight, if I eat less I lose weight. I am looking forward to a constant diet of 75 carbs at my target weight, I could eat more if I upped my exercise level.

I think I am in for the long run this time. I only really miss toast and peanut butter for breakfast

The entire low fat diet is a scam by those that are saying to eat 7 to 10 servings of their food per day. The food pyramid is upside down.

I work with a guy who has a health degree, he tells me for him to accept Atkins he has to accept everything he learned at college is wrong and was a waste of time and money, pretty tough to do for some. I think the same is true for most working nutrionist.

[Thumper]

To understand the criticism of Atkins in some circles just follow the money. Billions of dollars have been invested by the food industry in developing and promoting low fat food products. Those folks have a huge stake in killing the Atkins concept. Low fat diets don't work in the long run as they are just too hard for most people to stay on. As evidence just look around you. The beauty of the Atkins diet is that it becomes a way of life and is blissfully easy to stay on for the rest of your life.

You don't have to be fat. Spend some time reading three books and you will never go back. The books I recommend are the original "Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution", "Protein Power", and the new "Atkins For Life".

Man, to have a body like BOE is my dream!!!

[O'City Fisherman]

Thumper and BOE,
Thanks for everything.. I am going to go out and get the books. I will also agree that this is not a diet but a way of life..

Like everything else you have to want to do it before you actually do it..

Thanks again guys.

[Jettin' Fool]

FYI:

There is a Low Carb store on 39th just north of Division. They have tons of low carb stuff and they carry several kinds of bread that is 2-3 gms of carbs per slice. Its sure nice to add toast in the AM and to make a killer turkey,bacon sandwich for lunch! I also bought some batter mix to make deep fried fish and stuff. This is the only diet I can stay on and losing so much weight so fast is definatley a motivating factor. Dont forget to stock up on Michelob Ultra!

Fool

[Cool Texan]

Just dont ask my wife about this diet...she'll talk your ear off. As she puts it, these diets work short term, but are not healthy diets, as they are not how your body is intended to be fueled (these are my words, not hers). Her big thing is that the diet is easy...you balance it, avoid the foods you know you should avoid (or at least be sensible with them) and exercise so that your burned calories exceed your consumed calories. Pretty simple.

And yes, she is a registered dietician (and skinny too, so I guess she knows what she's talking about). :grin:

[RogueFishr]

CT, I would have to agree with your wife. Me and 2 buddies all began a diet last year. We all could stand to lose 20+ pounds. All we did was to eat sensibly and get some excercise. We didn't cut out anything we liked (like pizza), we just appraoched everything in moderation. Instead of splitting a large pizza for lunch, we had the mini size with a salad. Instead of fast food burgers, we had a turkey or roast beef sandwich. Cut back on soft drinks, eat breakfast, and don't make dinner the largest meal of the day. All stuff that just seems logical to lose weight. We never counted calories, fat, or carbs. And our excercise consisted of riding bikes at lunch, at least 3 days a week. The rides started out short (about 15 - 20 minutes) but worked up into 10-15 miles. All of us dropped at least 20 pounds. The hardest part of the whole thing was just getting started.
From what I have read, I am not convinced the low-carb diet is the end-all to dieting. There are many muscles that function great under ketosis (the heart being one), but the brain does not. I read one report (I will try to find the link) that showed brain activity was slowed under ketosis. There are epilepsy patients that are put on low carb diets specifically for this reason. I would be interested in hearing any doctors or nutritionists view on this.


RF

[Beer Waggin]

Horse pucky!
As an informed fat person, I can tell you, exercise is the key. Loosing 30 pounds in a months time is not healthy for you and if your not drinking lots of water, 10 punds of what you lost is water weight. Expect to see most of that weight come back.
I'm not blessed with a high metabolism, but you can control your metabolism by eating smaller meals more frequently.
I too, was once a fat boy. It wasn't the Aktins diet for me, it was exercise and eating healthy. No beer, pizza or fast food for a very long time and I stayed away from fat, mostly saturated fat, whenever possible. When I'm in shape, I can drink or eat what ever I want and it stays off as long as I get to the gym five days a week. Of course a trip to the gym for me is about a two hour workout (see no wife and kids to get home to).
The biggest problem people have with dieting is planning. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! Pack your lunches, plan your suppers and buy only what's on the grocery list. If the craving isn't in front of you, you won't eat it, and I know this is hard for those of you who have kids.

BOE- I eat peanut butter every day and will until the day I die! It's actually a very good source of protein. Very little saturated fat in Adam's P-butter. Stay away from the really good tasting Jiff and Skippy stuff. My breakfast every morning consists of three big spoon fulls of Adam's and about three glasses of milk, one glass per spoon full. :grin:

[Cool Texan]

The Atkins diet only serves two purposes:

1) To make you miserable
2) To make Mr. Atkins rich

It aint rocket science folks...magical diets are about one thing, and one thing ONLY. Selling books!!! If God had intended you to maintain your body by screwing around with odd food intake choices, he would have given you the book or better metabolisms. Instead...what did he do?? He created animals that will chase us and try to kill us, thus making us RUN. Its all in the exercise

NorRiv....how are things at the shop?

[GutshotApe]

Cool Tex - I didn't buy the book (except for a 25 cent pocket carb counter) and I lost 40 lbs on the low carb diet...in about 6 months. Then kept it off for the next 25 yrs by staying on a modified low-carb diet.....really just eating in moderation. Exercise helps but I don't think it is essential.

I think the low-carb, high protein diet more closely resembles the diet humans evolved eating than the modern cereal- and sugar-based diet eaten by most Americans. Neanderthals and other early humans ate a lot more mastodon meat than refined sugars and starches.

[Beer Waggin]

Cool- things are too good.

GSA- You don't think exercise is essential? Good luck crawling to the phone when your heart gives out. It's just like any other muscle, if you don't keep it fit and trim, it goes down the toilet. Research proves it!

[Tilla]

I don't believe it, I actually agree with GSA . Except I feel that the exercise is a key component to the formula. Everytime I start jogging something happens inside me that makes me feel great and determined. I just started again this week after stopping last Thanksgiving. It just makes a huge difference. It also controls what I eat, I don't want to carry that extra around with me for those 2+ miles so I think before I eat something.
Since I now have to pay attention to Blood sugar levels, the amount of refined sugar that surrounds our daily lives is appalling. I have a friend who eats those 'health bars". They are the worst!

[GutshotApe]

Well, of course some exercise is necessary.....I just meant I believe you can lose weight on a low-carb regimine without a special exercise program.

When I lost my 40 lbs. I was riding a bicycle 5 days/week three miles down hill in the mornings and then three miles back up the hill in evening (300-400' elev gain). Tried jogging but it was too hard on my knees. Maybe the daily evening workout I got going back up the hill was essential to the diet working - I don't know.....but work it did.

[Thumper]

Wow Tilla, if you agree with GSA on this matter then you must agree with me too!!! What an honor. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

You'll need to lose a bunch more weight to float that Big Bazooba Boat on our special river this summer. :grin:

[Bait O' Eggs]

I wont engage in an arguement on this thread. I will tell you the results I have seen. :grin:

I will agree with GSA, humans for centuries have eaten the foods that closely resemble high protein and low sugars and were not over weight as a whole. In the last century the food americans have been eating is high sugar, refined, processed carbs. And in the last century Americans have become rounder and rounder, just look around you. Our diets have gone to processed carbs and we sit on our butt in front of computers for work. Not a good combo.

I have paid no money to Atkins except a $5 carb counter book, I borrowed his original book from a friend and read it. I refuse to pay $3 for a low carb candy bar. I dont think I made Dr. Atkins rich by any means. If anything I am supporting the ranchers in America that produce beef, pork, eggs, cheese and chicken.

We all have different bodies, I got a buddy who can eat 3 or 4 big macs for lunch everyday and that is his small meal of the day. Yet he is thin as a rail. He does not exercise and does not gain weight. I get far more exercise than he ever thought of. Life is not fair, we all know that person who eats like a pig and doesnt gain any weight. I am not one of them. :depressed:

I believe a lot of people cannot process the food on the grocery store shelves like others do without gaining weight. High protein diets are filling, and allow some people (myself including) to lose weight. For those that think my 30 lbs since Thanksgiving (that is about 10lbs per month) is water weight, can look at the 2 notches on my belt that are not being used now. I dont think anybody retains that much water. I am currently drinking so much water it is rediculous, I spend a lot of time tinkling. I have more than doubled my water intake, so I keep the keytones diluted and flushed from my system (an Atkins suggestion).

20 more pounds over the next few months and I will add carbs back to the diet until I am no longer in keytosis. Pretty plain and simple. I feel better than I have in a long time.

If you think it is bad for you, dont do it. If you got a weight problem, I assure you, if you follow the plan you will lose weight. I would rather have keytones in my system for 6 months than pack 50 extra pounds to my grave. I spent a lot of years doing the low fat diets, and assure they did not work for me, period.

I eat exactly opposite of what the american heart association tells me to eat, and my blood looks better than it has in many years. My cholesteral numbers are down. My blood pressure is down also but that doesnt surprise me packing less weight.

If what you are doing isnt working a low carb diet may surprise you. I can no more lose weight eating low fat diets, than I can grow more in height by eating any combo of food. All of our bodies react differently to the same foods. I have found what works for me and some others. If you dont believe it, fine, if you do, welcome.

Well maybe I did engage in this arguement, or as I would rather call it discussion.

[ 02-14-2003, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

[Jettin' Fool]

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Tilla]

It's good that people are paying attention to this stuff.
Thumpster- That did it, it's now going up to 4 miles a day and taking a planer to my keel.
I was watching a special on WWII on PBS that was on color film the other night. I was amazed at the fact that there was no overweight men or women in the film. They all were quite fit. This includes the civilians too.
BOE- The unvoluntary thirst/tinkling sent me to the doc. :whazzup: Have you had your blood sugar level tested?

[Bait O' Eggs]

Tilla - I have had it tested, thank you. Thirst is not the reason for my drinking. Currently forcing myself to drink large quantities of water. Gotta keep the keytones diluted and moving. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]