Low carb diet

[roy_miami]

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the whole atkins thing is BS. people are stupid and believe it for some reason.

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There is absolutely no question in my mind that the Akins diet works. Both my dad and my brother in law have been doing it on and off for the past 3 years. My dad lost close to 20 pounds the first 2 weeks and my brother in law loses weight fast every time he does it.

I watched an hour long special on the Atkins diet (aired on the National Geographic channel I believe) where they tried to prove (or disprove) all the scientific reasons for why the Atkins seems to work so well. The ketone theory was debunked as was the theory that the body works harder to burn protein, a few other theories were tested and debunked as well.

Towards the end of the special they had a challenge between the Atkins and a low calorie diet. They both pretty much had the same results. The guys eating as much bacon, hamburgers, nuts, eggs as they wanted lost as much or more weight as the guys following a strict low calorie diet. When they looked deeper into the study they found that even though the Atkin dieters could eat as much as they wanted, calorie wise they weren't eating any more than the low-calorie dieters. The conclusion of the study was eating only protein reduces your appetite and this is why the diet works.


They also studied cholesterol levels, which they figured would be through the roof, but were surprised to find it was actually reduced. Dad had his tested and his bad cholesterol was lower after a year on the diet.

At the end of the episode a Doctor said even though the diet seems to work and the short term benefits are good, he wouldn't recommend it because there are no long term studies to prove its safe. He was especially worried about colon types of problems due to the lack of fiber.

[DarkForceRising]

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I've never been a fan of low carb diets. Carbohydrates are good for you, as long as they're complex carbs (oatmeal, brown rice, etc.). I went from 320 lbs to 180 lbs with a 40/40/20 protein/carbs/fat diet. You don't have to eliminate carbs to lose weight. In the end, it all comes down to cals in vs. cals out.

And I doubt Atkins had anything to do with your dad not eating for two days. That sounds like anorexia.

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Plus, Ketogenic diets give you horrible breath and make you feel like [censored]. Also, if you lift, you don't get much of a pump.

[rocketlaunch]

Yeah, I have to agree with most of the people who have already replied. Atkins is questionable. Of the people I've known who went on it, most couldn't get past a few weeks, and the one guy who did lose a lot of weight, being on the diet affected his mood so much he spent the entire time walking around like he was on his way to the electric chair. And as soon as he went off it, he gained all the weight right back within about two months.

I lost 55lbs eating mostly carbs. I just limited my calories to 2000/day (I'm 5'11, was 220+) and made sure to get daily exercise for at least 30 mins, 5-6 times a week, building up slowly. I started out barely able to jog 1/2 a mile and ended up running 5 miles at a pretty good pace. I'd lift weights, play football/basketball/racquetball with friends, go bike-riding, etc.

Make sure the food you eat is healthy, not junk. Lots of whole grains, veggies, fruits. I lived on cereal, pasta, veggies and fruit. I drank one glass of milk and one glass of OJ a day, otherwise it was all water. And unlike my atkins friend, my mood improved the longer I was on the diet.

Atkins is just a way to trick yourself into eating less (I mean, gee, cut out bread, beer, chips and candy from people's diets, and what's left??). You should eat less, but there are much healthier ways to do it.

I also agree with the guy who suggested 6 meals a day. That's what I did and it worked great. Each day, I had two larger meals of 500-600 calories and four smaller meals of 200-250 calories, and that worked great. I'd be much less hungry than if I had two or three 700-1000 calorie meals with hours and hours between them.

Edit: forgot to mention, it took me eight months to lose the weight.

[SoCalRugger]

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There is absolutely no question in my mind that the Akins diet works. Both my dad and my brother in law have been doing it on and off for the past 3 years. My dad lost close to 20 pounds the first 2 weeks and my brother in law loses weight fast every time he does it.

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If you're losing more than 10 lbs/month, you're doing something wrong and are probably losing more muscle than bodyfat (unless you're REALLY obese). Throwing out the 20 lbs in two weeks stat is either a lie or a massive loss of water weight that happens at the beginning of most diets when you up your water intake, and definitely shouldn't be used to say Atkins works.

[chesspain]

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I'm gonna try the Atkins diet or some variation of a low carb diet after the Super Bowl.

About me: I'm fat, lazy, love to eat sweets, chips, pop, fast food, basically everything that tastes good and is bad for you. At least 2 of my meals a day consist of junk food or sweets. This is gonna be an extremely tough challenge for me.

Do you guys have any favorite low carb meals or snacks you can recommend?

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You don't need to go on a low-carb diet. Just stop eating crap.

[RacersEdge]

I've done Atkins 3-4 times - never to lose masive weight, but to lose about 10 lbs. I do the hardcore 20 gms of carbs a day and lose about 10 over the 2 weeks.

The key is to be prepared with the no-carb food. Buy some steaks, chicken, cheese, zero calorie jello, diet drinks, low carb bars, bacon, eggs, whipped cream etc. Have it ready when you are hungry. One thing I liked was the Atkins ice cream

1 pint heavy whipping cream
5 egg whites
6 packs of nutrasweet
1/4 cup water
tsp vanilla

Freeze it and it tastes great. About 3K calories - but your body is in ketosis, so it doesn't matter.

A lot of people miss the point that with thw AD, you only go hardcore low carbs for 2 weeks. It's not a permanent phase. After that, you add on until you get to the maintenance part of about 100 g per day.

The hardest thing for me was breakfast becasue I hate eggs. But like I said, just be prepared with other stuff.

[Cosimo]

Don't try to do everything all at once. Diets are foolish. Instead, change your life.

Start with one thing, like not drinking soda, or fewer fast food meals, or no fries, or nothing fried, etc. My first change was not drinking soda. The negative health benefits of artificial sweeteners are debateable, but I'm on the very side, so I just drink water or milk 95% of the time. Tea is OK, but it's also a diuretic. Drinking lots of water means I don't suffer from chronic dehydration, and I don't need to pee every hour any more.

I also suggest one cheat day a week. You're going to cheat on any diet or change; everyone does. It's human nature. Save up those cheat urges for one day. I think I got this idea from <u>Body for Life</u>, tho there are a few other Atkins-like diet &amp; exercise plans out there that suggest something similar.

Go from there. Even one change a month, and in a year you'll have great habits, and they'll be habits.

[Banks2334]

Very simple, ditch the junk food and get off your ass. You'll be surprised how much weight you'll lose and how much better you will feel.

[comix]

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Plus, Ketogenic diets give you horrible breath and make you feel like [censored]. Also, if you lift, you don't get much of a pump.

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I did a version of Atkins for a few months a while back, and had the opposite reaction - I felt [censored] GREAT. Better than I've ever felt, physically, and my typical mood also improved. I also dropped a lot of weight and eventually started getting into exercise.

Then again, who's to say that I wouldn't have had the same reaction if I'd just cut out the sugar and useless starches and eaten "healthy"? As long as there is such a thing as garlic cheese bread, I'll never know from experience. [Censored] those tasty carbs.

[ChipWrecked]

I am currently in the induction phase of low carb diet myself. Have done it before and lost 30 lbs. Kept it off for years but blew up again after the birth of our child and the lifestyle disruptions that caused.

Yes, the main reason one loses weight is that in ketosis the appetite diminishes. It's important to eat anyway to keep the system from going into 'starvation mode' and thus wrecking the metabolism.

Children with epilepsy are kept on ketobolic diets for years on end with no ill effects.

I feel miserable for three days getting into ketosis, then pretty good. However my activity level right now is pretty low as I'm not biking much since it's raining so heavily in NorCal. I will up the carb intake for more energy when I get back into a riding schedule.

Competition bodybuilders use ketobolic diets with periodic carb blasts for training. Google 'power protein'.

I rely on sugarless jello for the sweet tooth. I make it with sugarless Kool Aid, plain gelatin and splenda. Gives a little variety, and it's cheaper.

Good luck.