The Atkin's Diet

Thundernotes said:
1. The only things that are restricted on Atkins are refined flour, refined sugar, and hydrogenated oils.
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My chiropractor is a total health-food nut too. He tells me that "beer belly" is essentially 27 feet of swollen intestine caused by these three things. It's closely related to the glycemic index/insulin spike. His advice is to eat better carbs in the form of whole grains and natural unprocessed sugars, and to use natural oils.

Great discussion here...
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I used to see a chiropracter/endocrine specialist type in NOVA who believes that beer belly is a result of a liver disfunction - it literally sweats fluid (a condition call ascites) which accummulates in the abdomen. His dietary recommendations for that condition involve heavy doses of cruciferous veggies, to clease the liver and achieve mass fluid loss.

 
edgar_allan_poe said:
Most people would never dream of trying to get a recovering alcoholic to drink a beer, but people don't hesitate to offer me a slice of cheesecake. LOL!!!!!
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Well you'd think so... and you'd be wrong. There's nothing more destructive then jealous friends/family/co-workers. My buddy here is a non-drinking alcoholic and he comes in every week with another story of someone saying "You haven't had a drink is HOW many years... oh come on then, have a drink on me, you deserve it!"

Same with chubby people offering cheese cake, or telling you to take a day off when they're unemployed...

You'd think friends would help to hold you up, but many times they want to bring you down to their level so they don't look bad.

 
A very similar program is Sugar Busters. I did that a few years ago and lost 60 pounds over the course of 8 months. It was recommended by my doctor. My cholesterol dropped as did my triglycerides and blood pressure. I got off of it on a vacation to Ireland and I am getting back on it ASAP.

 
Armitage said:
edgar_allan_poe said:
Most people would never dream of trying to get a recovering alcoholic to drink a beer, but people don't hesitate to offer me a slice of cheesecake. LOL!!!!!
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Well you'd think so... and you'd be wrong. There's nothing more destructive then jealous friends/family/co-workers. My buddy here is a non-drinking alcoholic and he comes in every week with another story of someone saying "You haven't had a drink is HOW many years... oh come on then, have a drink on me, you deserve it!"

Same with chubby people offering cheese cake, or telling you to take a day off when they're unemployed...

You'd think friends would help to hold you up, but many times they want to bring you down to their level so they don't look bad.
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My wife was a vegetarian for many years, and her mom was always trying to slip little pieces of meat into her food, saying "c'mon, you'll still be a vegetarian." It reminds me of the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur asks the crowd (at the witch trial) what things float. And someone answers, "very small rocks?" As if, if it's small enough, it loses its basic characteristics.

 
Frank said:
A very similar program is Sugar Busters. I did that a few years ago and lost 60 pounds over the course of 8 months. It was recommended by my doctor. My cholesterol dropped as did my triglycerides and blood pressure. I got off of it on a vacation to Ireland and I am getting back on it ASAP.
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I tried one that cut out all flour and sugar but it did absolutely nothing for me. Different people respond to different things I guess.

 
HamerHokie said:
Frank said:
A very similar program is Sugar Busters. I did that a few years ago and lost 60 pounds over the course of 8 months. It was recommended by my doctor. My cholesterol dropped as did my triglycerides and blood pressure. I got off of it on a vacation to Ireland and I am getting back on it ASAP.
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I tried one that cut out all flour and sugar but it did absolutely nothing for me. Different people respond to different things I guess.
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I've seen a bunch of different plans, and that seems to be the reason for them. People have differing levels of metabolic resistance, liver function, and other factors that might help or ruin a diet's chance of success. The Atkins book has a whole section on metabolic resistance, and some of the factors that cause it. IIRC, his solution involved nutritional supplements to break through those pesky plateaus.

One that I read was called "Eat Right for Your Blood-Type". One thing they mentioned is that the older "caveman" blood-type was Type-O, and (not surprisingly to the author), people of that type responded best to the Atkins or other low-carb plans.

 
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I'm not type O - I'm AB positive. Sugar Busters worked so well for me that I got to drop my high blood pressure meds.

 
While the Atkins plan seems to work, let me warn anyone considering such a plan to look up something called "Atkins induction flu". That's a euphemism for the carb-withdrawal crash your body can sometimes go through around day 4 or 5. I just came out of it. I felt sick as a dog, with nausea, leg cramps, cold extremities, etc. They don't mention a word of it in the older Atkins book I have (the bastids!).

I survived a bout of this condition Sunday and Monday, and as of this morning, I'm down 15lbs since starting a little over a week ago. So far so good. If I can avoid bad carbs through this season, I can do it any time.... or that's my thinking.

 
I just came off it last week as my wife is doing another program and it just made things less chaotic around meals to switch to her plan. I lost 35lbs on Atkins in 2001 but it seemed to be a lot easier back then to find specialty low carb foods as it was the hot fad. I gained all that weight back eventually and more which is my fault not the diet's. One caution though (if it hasn't already been noted) is that water intake is really critical while your on this plan in terms of both health and weight loss so make sure you pay attention to that part of the book.

 
I just came off it last week as my wife is doing another program and it just made things less chaotic around meals to switch to her plan. I lost 35lbs on Atkins in 2001 but it seemed to be a lot easier back then to find specialty low carb foods as it was the hot fad. I gained all that weight back eventually and more which is my fault not the diet's. One caution though (if it hasn't already been noted) is that water intake is really critical while your on this plan in terms of both health and weight loss so make sure you pay attention to that part of the book.
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+1 on all of this. I used to have a choice from several low carb breads and sadly that is no longer the case. Now I am limited to one. Luckily I have a wife who makes her own home made bread and is willing to make me some with a low carb recipe I found online.

Water intake is critical.

 
edgar_allan_poe said:
I just came off it last week as my wife is doing another program and it just made things less chaotic around meals to switch to her plan. I lost 35lbs on Atkins in 2001 but it seemed to be a lot easier back then to find specialty low carb foods as it was the hot fad. I gained all that weight back eventually and more which is my fault not the diet's. One caution though (if it hasn't already been noted) is that water intake is really critical while your on this plan in terms of both health and weight loss so make sure you pay attention to that part of the book.
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+1 on all of this. I used to have a choice from several low carb breads and sadly that is no longer the case. Now I am limited to one. Luckily I have a wife who makes her own home made bread and is willing to make me some with a low carb recipe I found online.

Water intake is critical.
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One thing I wasn't ever able to find good substitutes for was quickbreads - muffins, biscuits, etc. Very hard for me to give up those long term. The low carb pancake mixes were bland, and sugar free syrup was awful.

I was able to find decent lo-carb breads, tortillas, not sure what else. Recent found a flax-based flatbread called lavash bread that is pretty good, very tortilla like.

Also, to get at a different point made earlier - low glycemic and low carb aren't necessarily the same. Barley is low glycemic but not low carb. So are certain whole grain breads, oat porridge, rice, milk, lots of fruits, some pastas, and even certain candy bars. Lo carb is a subset of low GI. You can still gain copious weight eating low GI.

 
I hear people say "I just go out and have a steak and steamed veggies!"

Anyone ever look at restaurant nutritional papers?

The Keg Steak House

New York 10 oz - 1202.0 cal 89.3 carbs <<<<<<< WTF! I've just written them asking about this.

Baked Potato - 363.0 cal 78.3 carbs

Cheesecake - 623.0 cal 80.0 carbs

http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/nutritiona...eaks-prime-rib/

Roadhouse Grill

16 oz T Bone - 1080 cal 0 carbs

Baton Rouge Steaks and Ribs

New York StripLoin 10 oz - 580 cal 0 carbs

http://www.batonrougerestaurants.com/DATA/..._Infos_en_4.pdf

McDonalds

Quarter Pounder® with Cheese - 510 cal 40 carbs

Big Mac - 540 cal 45 carbs

Premium Crispy Chicken Classic Sandwich - 530 cal 59 carbs

Medium French Fries - 380 cal 48 carbs

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionex...ritionfacts.pdf

East Side Mario's

Veal Parmigiana - 371 cal 42 carbs

1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - 473 cal 4 carbs

New Yorker Pizza small slice - 81 cal 21 carbs

http://www.eastsidemarios.com/pdfs/EastSid...ritionGuide.pdf

Swiss Chalet

Roasted Double Chicken Legs - 630 cal 4 carbs

http://www.swisschalet.com/nutritionals.php

K.F.C.

Original Chicken Breast - 360 cal 11 carbs

Original Chicken Leg - 120 cal 3 carbs

http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf

Pizza Hut

Personal Peperoni Lovers Pan Pizza 240 cal 70 carbs

http://www.pizzahut.ca/nutrition.htm

 
Here's my fave - Outback Cheese Fries:

2,900 calories

182 g fat

240 g carbs

Armitage said:
I hear people say "I just go out and have a steak and steamed veggies!"

Anyone ever look at restaurant nutritional papers?

The Keg Steak House

New York 10 oz - 1202.0 cal 89.3 carbs <<<<<<< WTF! I've just written them asking about this.

Baked Potato - 363.0 cal 78.3 carbs

Cheesecake - 623.0 cal 80.0 carbs

http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/nutritiona...eaks-prime-rib/

Roadhouse Grill

16 oz T Bone - 1080 cal 0 carbs

Baton Rouge Steaks and Ribs

New York StripLoin 10 oz - 580 cal 0 carbs

http://www.batonrougerestaurants.com/DATA/..._Infos_en_4.pdf

McDonalds

Quarter Pounder® with Cheese - 510 cal 40 carbs

Big Mac - 540 cal 45 carbs

Premium Crispy Chicken Classic Sandwich - 530 cal 59 carbs

Medium French Fries - 380 cal 48 carbs

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionex...ritionfacts.pdf

East Side Mario's

Veal Parmigiana - 371 cal 42 carbs

1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - 473 cal 4 carbs

New Yorker Pizza small slice - 81 cal 21 carbs

http://www.eastsidemarios.com/pdfs/EastSid...ritionGuide.pdf

Swiss Chalet

Roasted Double Chicken Legs - 630 cal 4 carbs

http://www.swisschalet.com/nutritionals.php

K.F.C.

Original Chicken Breast - 360 cal 11 carbs

Original Chicken Leg - 120 cal 3 carbs

http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf

Pizza Hut

Personal Peperoni Lovers Pan Pizza 240 cal 70 carbs

http://www.pizzahut.ca/nutrition.htm
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HFC-er's:

I recently read a book by Timothy Ferris entitled: The 4 Hour Body. Get your hands on a copy and read it. It makes sense and has elements from Atkins which makes it easily adapted for those of us who have or are doing Atkins.

 
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