Maximus, question about Atkins

E

elaineyue

Cathlete
Hi Maximus!
I'm new to the forums, but I've been following your posts about Atkins. I was wondering if you just stay away from breads, pastas, sugars, etc, and still eat veggies. Or do you try to stay away from certain veggies, too? It's not as unhealthy as the media makes it out to be, is it? It's not like you have to eat bacon all day, every day. Also, do you just eat 3 meals a day, or do you eat more often? Finally, do you think it's Atkins or your workouts that have made you so slim? I'd love your input!

Elaine
 
Hi Elaine - I'm not Maximus, but I've lost over 50 pounds on Atkins, so I think I can speak to some of your questions. First of all, to do Atkins correctly you should read the book. It really explains how to do it and why you should eat certain foods and not others. If done correctly, Atkins is not unhealthy.

Atkins is broken down into four stages: induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and maintenance. During induction you eat only 3 cups of veggies per day (non-starcy veggies, not potatoes or corn) and no fruit. During OWL (ongoing weight loss) you add more veggies and some low-glycemic fruit. As you move through each stage of the diet you add more good carbs until you figure out how many grams of carb you can eat each day without gaining weight. By the time you get to maintenance, the only foods you are not allowed to eat are white sugar and white flour.

The media often portrays Atkins as a very high-fat, bacon and steak diet, but to do it right you must eat veggies. Atkins also requires you drink lots of water and exercise regularly. The Atkins website is also a good resource for more information: www.atkins.com

Good luck!
Julia
 
Hi Elaine! I think Julia covered most everything. I did want to stress her point about reading the book--it's very helpful & motivating, and it explains why the diet works.

No you don't have to eat bacon every day (although I wouldn't mind! :9 ). You can sub fish & chicken for red meat. Eventually knowing what you can & can't eat becomes like second nature & you won't have to read labels anymore.

The best thing about Atkins is you're never hungry, which makes it fairly easy as far as diets go. There's a wide variety of snacks like cheese, pepperoni, nuts, etc. that you can eat in between meals.

Usually I have a light breakfast, like a few hardboiled eggs, then a very large lunch like a chef's salad, then a medium sized dinner like a meat & veggie. I do snack in the evenings, usually some kind of nuts or once in a while even some ice cream (ice cream is fairly low carb, believe it or not).

After I reached my goal weight I started binging once or twice a month. Everyone needs something to look forward to! ;-)

Best of luck to you--just remember to stick w/it through the first two weeks to get all the addictions out of your system. After that you'll stick w/it b/c of the amazing results!
 
I am another Atkins success story. I lost about 30 pounds in 5 months with Atkins and the Firm. Now I'm moving on to Cathe to get some more muscle development. I just wanted to agree with what was said-the media portrays Atkins as "the meat diet" but it's not true at all. Yes, I do eat more meat than I did before, but I also eat a heck of a lot more vegetables too! It really works if you stick with it for more than a few days; I finally am not addicted to sugar for the first time in my adult life!
 
Did you guys find it difficult at first to not eat carbs? How long did it take before you got over your sugar cravings? That would be the hardest part for me. Also, I find that when I don't eat some kind of bread, potato, or pasta with my meal, I get hungry a lot faster. Maybe it's psychological, since I grew up on rice!
 
Elaine, if you are interested, I would suggest getting the Atkins For Life book from your library. It explains everything. There are also a couple of websites I frequent that are helpful: lowcarbfriends.com and beyondlowcarb.com. You can ask questions and get lots of answers.

In my personal experience, it was about 3 days of hell at the beginning lol. All I thought about was how I couldn't eat what I wanted to eat-cookies, donuts, ice cream, candy.....total sweet tooth. Amazingly, after the first few days, the desire for those things just went away. Julia explained about the four phases-if you follow them properly you will be successful. And now I do enjoy those things like ice cream. But small portions and only infrequently. I just don't feel I "need" them anymore. There are some really good low carb breads out there, and I love Skippy lc peanut butter. I have a sandwich almost every day for lunch. Just watch out for all of the sugar alcohols-that is what the brands replace real sugar with to make it "low carb". Eat too many and you will be in the bathroom all day!
 
Yep, it was hard at first. But anything worthwhile usually is! I really missed soda a lot, but I've adjusted to diet.

I have to admit, I miss pizza the most. I still crave it on an almost daily basis. x(
 
Hi Maximus:

Have you tried the Atkins Retail Brand of frozen pizza? Actually it isn't bad!

While I don't follow Atkins, I do try to look for higher protein, higher fiber foods. This fits the bill for me... I have had the pepperoni one and also the "supreme" version one and they were both pretty decent (for frozen pizza).. Best of all they are single serving pizzas, so your portion is monitored.

I think the nutritionals are around 450 calories, 35 gms of protein and 11 grams of fiber... not bad for pizza!

Take care, Lynn M.
 
Really? Thanks, I'll have to give it a try. But living in Jersey I'm kind of a pizza snob--Philly & NY pizza has really spoiled me!:D
 
I know what you mean!! My job has taken me to the Philly area and I have eaten Philly pizza.. it IS awesome.

And nope, this will only be good for when you need a fix but its a "non binge" day!! :)

Lynn M.
 
Hi Maximus

Im not sure if yourve answered this question before, but WHY Atkins?

I was just wondering if you had tried all the others as in WW JC etc but chose Atkins

Thanks
Marion
:)
 
Marion, I know you didn't ask me, but I have done everything! Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, pills of all kinds, and all the dumb diets (cabbage etc..) and NOTHING worked like Atkins.
 
elaine.. why don't you also check out south beach.. it's not a low carb diet.. but a GOOD carb diet and also GOOD/reduced fats (no bacon on south beach.. well.. turkey bacon if you want it!)

you get to eat unlimited veggies during phase 1 on south beach.. then in phase 2 you add back fruits and GOOD low-glycemic carbs (whole wheat pasta/bread, brown rice). south beach was not originally made to be a weight loss diet.. but a HEART diet.. with weight loss as a side-effect.. so it's VERY healthy for you!

just a thought!
 
You know, I avoided Atkins until I had no choice. I did low fat dieting pretty much all my life & it was pretty effective. But when I turned 30 something changed, I don't know if it was metabolism or something else but I kept gaining weight no matter how much I worked out & how much I stayed away from fat.

So, when I hit 140 lbs (I'm 5'3") I said that's it, I'm trying low carb. I was really surprised at how fast the weight came off & how easy it's been to keep it off.
 
Marion I wish I knew! I'm 38 and maybe I just decided it was enough of being overweight. I'm not sure. Or maybe it's because I never walk around being HUNGRY all the time like on a low fat diet!
 
It's really not that bad if you do it right. Like, you can eat mostly chicken, fish & pork instead of beef. I have my cholestoral checked regularly & the levels are perfect for someone my age.

Atkins can be modified according to lifestyle. It can be done in a healthy manner or an unhealthy one, it just depends on taste & priorities.
 
Max is totally right. It's all in what you choose. Nowhere does Dr. Atkins say "eat all the red meat you can". I eat more veggies and fish now than ever before. I eat red meat (steak or ground beef) once a week if that. Lots of chicken fish and port in our house.

As for my arteries, I just had my full bloodwork done in August and my doctor was very pleased. My cholesterol (overall) was 168. :)
 
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