Atkins Diet - Lets Discuss Pros/Cons/Experiences

[skunkworks]

Like others have mentioned, Atkins is for shedding pounds, not for shedding body fat and retaining muscle mass. I would listen to tdarko's advice and work a bit more on nutrient timing. Go back to running at a mild caloric defecit and work on limiting carb intake to breakfast and pre/during/post workout. Depending on how severe your caloric defecit is, you may need to tolerate a certain amount of lean mass and strength loss. At the very least, it will fare better than Atkins.

[guids]

I dont know exactly how atkins works, or what it reccomends, but I know about ketosis and such, it works GREAT for dropping body fat. when I cut, I do a modified atkins I guess, no carbs, a lot of fats, meat, and greens, and on workout days a post workout shake, if you work out hard enough you can still get into ketosis (there are little strips you piss on to tell you if you are in it). I respond very well to this diet, the first day on, Im fine, 2nd day, Im a little sluggish, usually the 3rd and 4th days Im a zombie and have to power through, but the 5th or 6th day its like a miracle and I just have more energy etc that when Im eating carbs. Usually my workouts are savage too, I dont know why or what it is, my guess is increased testosterone levels, etc, but it works great imo.


edit: this is why I like biotests post workout shake, it forces you to go to the gym because when you are eating no carbs, and want something sweet its like a treat.

[Thremp]

tdarko,

Simple sugars are a must in any diet with anyone who is weight training. Its not really debatable either. Complex carbs PWO (and pre) are inferior to dextrose.

guids,

I think there is a name for the kick up in the workout after a certain point, but you go back to feeling like crap soon after. I think this is directly related to the ketosis effect... I think. You'll have to dig through some of the Velocity Diet stuff or something similar for a better explanation.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
tdarko,

Simple sugars are a must in any diet with anyone who is weight training. Its not really debatable either. Complex carbs PWO (and pre) are inferior to dextrose.

guids,

I think there is a name for the kick up in the workout after a certain point, but you go back to feeling like crap soon after. I think this is directly related to the ketosis effect... I think. You'll have to dig through some of the Velocity Diet stuff or something similar for a better explanation.

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I dont go back to feeling like crap though, once my body adjusts I dont crave carbs, I have tons of energy etc. If I do eat carbs though, the whole week long process starts over, but when I get going, I like it so much I dont eat the carbs, the PWO carbs really dont do much though as far as making me crash either.

[Thremp]

guids,

I've heard the same stuff about PWO carbs and pre workout not affecting people like a bowl of oatmeal in the morning. I think you might be a sound example of someone who responds differently than everyone else though. Most people just feel terrible in ketosis.

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
guids,

I've heard the same stuff about PWO carbs and pre workout not affecting people like a bowl of oatmeal in the morning. I think you might be a sound example of someone who responds differently than everyone else though. Most people just feel terrible in ketosis.

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I dunno, I think people should at least try it out, my experience has been great. The first week sucks really really bad, and for a couple of days I feel like I want to die/and kill every living thing around me, but once you get passed it, its gravy. id bet a lot of people dont get passed that initial [censored] feeling and just go back to carbs, which is why a lot of people give this type of eating low marks.

[thirddan]

im with guids here...having done the really low carb thing, you just have to give it some time for your body to adjust...most people will do a couple days or a week and then give up cuz they don't like it, but they never gave themselves a chance...

[surfinillini]

Yea...I agree that not getting enough protein while on low cal was my fault, but this way I'm getting plenty of protein (150g/day) and am able to shed bf while getting semi-descent workouts in with some cardio...and I don't feel nearly as hungry and lethargic as I did.

its almost been a week, its still tough but not as tough as it was the first 2 or 3 days. Once I hit a week or two I think I should be fine until mid-june.

Then like others say I will begin to integrate healthy complex carbs back into my diet (oatmeal, wheat, sweet potatoes) and then I should be good from there.

[thirddan]

good luck surf...

just take it slow adding the carbs back in...im not sure of the atkins protocol, but after coming off a super low diet i started by adding in veggies, then after a couple days started adding in a piece of fruit, then slowly started adding things like oatmeal into the postworkout meal...

[jah7_fsu1]

I'll just comment on random things.

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Simple sugars are a must in any diet with anyone who is weight training. Its not really debatable either. Complex carbs PWO (and pre) are inferior to dextrose.

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Actually I'd say the opposite or at least a mix if one was on a low carb diet. I'd say we want to avoid an insulin spike here to try and keep blood sugar balanced (assuming we want to minimize fat gain). I'd also use something like frutcose and not dextrose to minimize the spike. I've already said in another thread how I believe a lot of supplement manufacturers are going to start using more of a mix of slow and fast carbs postworkout. Designer Supp's newest postworkout shake comes to mind. A whole bunch of dextrose is an unneccessary risk when trying to minimze fat gain IMO.

Let's keep in mind we are extremely insulin sensitive after lifting. Also if your doing a low carb diet I wouldn't think someone is going to go really high on the training volume. Weight training is not a significantly glycogen depleting thing. I'd say a mix or slower would be the way to go on a diet like this. I'm not entirely convinced about the need for a huge insulin spike postworkout based on numerous studies I've read which show no real difference.

If anything I'd say maybe we need a spike, but I can definitely find evidence to say a HUGE spike is not neccessary.


[ QUOTE ]
Tipton, K., Ferrando, A., Phillips, S., Doyle, D. & Wolfe, R. (1999). Postexercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. The American Journal of Physiology, 276(4), E628-E634.

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6.) Carbohydrate nutrition before, during, and after exercise.

Costill DL.

The role of dietary carbohydrates (CHO) in the resynthesis of muscle and liver glycogen after prolonged, exhaustive exercise has been clearly demonstrated. The mechanisms responsible for optimal glycogen storage are linked to the activation of glycogen synthetase by depletion of glycogen and the subsequent intake of CHO. Although diets rich in CHO may increase the muscle glycogen stores and enhance endurance exercise performance when consumed in the days before the activity, they also increase the rate of CHO oxidation and the use of muscle glycogen. When consumed in the last hour before exercise, the insulin stimulated-uptake of glucose from blood often results in hypoglycemia, greater dependence on muscle glycogen, and an earlier onset of exhaustion than when no CHO is fed. Ingesting CHO during exercise appears to be of minimal value to performance except in events lasting 2 h or longer. The form of CHO (i.e., glucose, fructose, sucrose) ingested may produce different blood glucose and insulin responses, but the rate of muscle glycogen resynthesis is about the same regardless of the structure.

PMID: 3967778 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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