The Atkin's Diet

[Armitage]

Welcome to being mid 50s and overweight... I'm just over 190lbs and want to go down to 175 and stay there. I've been looking at The Atkin's Diet as it seems to suit what I already tend to eat, to limit the suffering and all. The real trick is being happy on it, to keep the weight off.

So I was wondering if any of you guys had tried it?

[Armitage]

For every chubby guy, eating to not gain weight IS a life style change.

[Thundernotes]

1. The only things that are restricted on Atkins are refined flour, refined sugar, and hydrogenated oils.

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...

[Armitage]

When you're at the maintenance phase of Atkin's, can you have carbs i.e. pizza, once and a while? Or does it throw the whole system out the window?

[Thundernotes]

Once in a while, having a piece of cake or pizza is no problem when you're in that phase. It's only during induction where you're trying to establish the ketosis that a blast of carbs will mess it up. My recollection is that it's the sheer volume of bad carbs we consume that's causing all the trouble.

[edgar_allan_poe]

When you're at the maintenance phase of Atkin's, can you have carbs i.e. pizza, once and a while?

Yes...no problem.

[Siaip Ciuvas]

To me, the biggest obstacle to a successful Atkins diet is the rest of the world.

I don't want to sound like a communist on drugs, but its not the world, its the food industry trying all sorts of things to get us eat more and more. And much more than we actually need. Sometimes I use to joke, that in desperation they could launch a campaign "get two pounds of steak and a free pack of digestion ferment capsules". This is how I see it.

I've been on a diet due to my health condition, combining it with some sort of meditation/relaxation techniques. Its a hard work, but I plan to get back on it, as I felt a difference - lighter, clear head, fantastic productivity, etc. Even if this is a hard work and the rest of the world together with food and beverages industries do whatever it takes to get me into overcunsumption

[edgar_allan_poe]

I don't want to sound like a communist on drugs, but its not the world, its the food industry trying all sorts of things to get us eat more and more.

I don't think that sounds crazy at all. I would actually agree with this. I'll also add that it isn't a coincidence that companies target that garbage food directly at kids. Get them hooked on garbage food early and they learn bad habits.

Christ, it wouldn't surprise me if the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry are in collusion.

[hectorp]

To me, the biggest obstacle to a successful Atkins diet is the rest of the world. Everybody I know eats pasta, potatoes, and bread in copious quantities. Then there's beer. Personally, I can fill my fridge and cabinets with the whole Atkins plan, but if I go anywhere it becomes more complicated. It truly is a lifestyle change that is hard to incorporate socially until you've reached the "South Beach" stages.

That said, I'm considering Atkins for myself again. Any suggestions on overcoming the family and friend pressures? Is the holiday season just a bad time to try the induction process?

The biggest obstacle is the rest of the world. I love that...

[edgar_allan_poe]

The biggest obstacle is the rest of the world. I love that...

LOL!! I hear ya...but it is really hard to sit around people eating big plates of pasta and not partake. I equate it to a person with a substance abuse issue hanging around at bars.

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!!!!!

[SteveB]

Food industry mostly wants to sell food and make a profit. There is no profit in selling eggplants or cucumbers, so they make highly processed "foods" out of cheapo ingredients.

The best piece of general advice about food shopping is to just stay at the outer perimeter of the market and avoid all the crap in the middle.

[JohnnyB]

Food industry mostly wants to sell food and make a profit. There is no profit in selling eggplants or cucumbers, so they make highly processed "foods" out of cheapo ingredients.

I did some volunteer work at a food bank, distributing food to clients as they came through the line. Racks of day-old handmade multigrain bread (donated by a local boutique bakery) just sat there while people clamored for the vacuous mass-produced white bread. Russian clients accustomed to their high fat diets visibly sneered and turned up their noses at water-packed tuna in favor of oil packed. Not a lot of traffic in fresh fruits and vegetables except maybe apples and oranges.

My wife was the on-site volunteer nurse, checking over people with various chronic conditions, infections, and physical complaints. There were significant amounts of high blood pressure, arrhythmia, diabetes, and obesity. It's a big mistake to equate underweight with malnutrition. It's way too easy in America to be obese and malnourished at the same time.

[moozak]

Christ, it wouldn't surprise me if the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry are in collusion.

it wouldn't surprise me either!

[HSB0531]

To me, the biggest obstacle to a successful Atkins diet is the rest of the world.

The biggest obstacle is the rest of the world. I love that...

So true for so many areas of life.

[HamerHokie]

1. The only things that are restricted on Atkins are refined flour, refined sugar, and hydrogenated oils.

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...

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.

[Armitage]

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!!!!!

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.

[Frank]

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.

[JohnnyB]

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!!!!!

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.

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.

[HamerHokie]

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.

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.

[Thundernotes]

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.

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.

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.

[Frank]

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.

[Thundernotes]

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.

[Armitage]

A lot of diets can give you severe leg cramps... potassium helps...

[edgar_allan_poe]

A lot of diets can give you severe leg cramps... potassium helps...

+1 It is one of the reasons that a multi-vite is absolutely essential when you start.

[grahams98]

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.

[edgar_allan_poe]

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.

+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.