Maximus re: Atkins

[haydee]

I ask you these questions b/c you are on Atkins.

Q. For the first two weeks of the diet you cannot have carbs, right, but after that you can start to incorporate some carbs in your diet or am I wrong?

Do you or did you crave anything not recommended on the diet after the 2 weeks or did your taste buds change?

Have you tried other Atkins products such as the pancakes, etc.? I want to know before I purchase it.

To me the cereal was horrible.

I love the Atkins shakes except the chocolate. I also love the Atkins milk. I'm thinking of trying this diet--I could care less about giving up white rice, but damn give up bread shucks man that's hard.

Haydee

 

[Deann]

DeannMomofThree

I did the induction phase of Atkins successfully for three months to lose 23 pounds before getting pregnant with my third child (he's now 14 months). I did NOT gain it all back by eating normally during pregnancy. I gained the normal recommended amount for a healthy pregnancy. Since his birth, I eat low carb, but haven't restricted my diet as severely as I did when in induction. My weight is now less than my pre-pregnancy (post Atkins) weight, and think that low carb is truly the answer to the malady of health problems in America---provided you substitute healthy fruits and veggies for bread/rice, and don't go wild on the saturated fat (like the wackos that think it's all meat, eggs and cheese!). You really have to use common sense and make fish, chicken, or other healthy protein sources the bulk of your fat intake. I eat way more healthly veggies now, but I found that I missed popcorn and 'real' pizza most. Amazingly, I don't miss the bread so much! If anything, it is simply inconvenient to eliminate white bread because most 'fast' food restaurants rely on it. Even salads are served with breadsticks or croutons. (Thank goodness for Subway's low carb wraps--awesome!)

As for products, I love the chocolate decadence breasfast bars and chocolate chip muffin/bread mix. Remember, you don't have to give up ALL bread. The Atkins mixes for cornbread, various muffins, etc. are all pretty good. Some are better than others, but it's really a matter of personal taste for the chosen flavor, not the product. Keto brand makes low carb products for bread crumbs, fruit spread and such, but I find Atkins products the best tasting. Never tried the cereal--I'll avoid it! Didn't care for the crunchers chips either. Just try it and see how you do.

Good Luck!

 

[Maximus]

For the first two weeks (induction phase) you can only eat >20 grams per day--this gets you into ketosis phase (BTW all that stuff about "net" carbs is BS unless you're actually already in ketosis).

I went off induction after about a month. I wanted to wait until I got close to my goal weight. If I remember correctly phase 2 is >50 carbs & the maintenance phase is >100 carbs. Which really isn't so bad--one slice of bread is about 15-20 carbs, so you can still have sandwiches & stuff. A bowl of pasta is about 35 carbs. Personally I try to stick to around 50 carbs a day.

I've tried some Atkins products & most of them taste like crap. x( But after a while you really get used to what you can & can't eat & it starts to be second nature. My taste buds definitely changed--like before I went on the diet I couldn't stand the taste of diet drinks. Now I don't like the taste of regular drinks. I guess you adjust to spenda/equal instead of real sugar. Real sugar actually is physically addictive & I think is the hardest thing to kick on Atkins.

Also once every week or two I'll have a binge day & eat whatever I want. I do crave pizza & french fries frequently b/c they're like my 2 favorite foods. But they're pretty damaging (one slice of pizza = 35 carbs!) so it's enough incentive to avoid them.

I would recommend reading the book. It was very helpful & inspiring for me. It explained how/why the diet worked & helped me understand which foods to stay away from & which were OK to eat. Now I don't even have to look at nutrition labels, I just check ingredients.

Hope this is helpful.........