Worrying side affects of my atkins diet

barbaraw19

Here is my problem. I'm 19, 5 ft 3 and 7 st 12 lbs. I've been on the Atkins induction stage for 3 months now and have lost 2 stone. My skin has improved greatly, I look and feel great. But I haven't menstruated in 3 months. I don't want this diet to affect my fertility, but I've never looked better. I am confused, I was convinced that atkins is a safe regime, I'm eating 1,200 calories a day? I thought that kinda thing only happens to emaciated ppl. Can any shed some light on why this would happen? Should I stop???

Colm_OReilly

I'll start with the caveat that I'm not a doctor.

BUT, if you're not menstrating I'd go see one.

For a more natural/healthier diet check out the paleo diet or the zone diet.

Colm

Gaz

I dont think your eating enough, actually i would go as far to say that your starving yourself. Read the stickies and work out what your calorie maintenance is and see if its anywhere near 1200.

Also i recommend ditching the "diet" , diets are a load of crap , you are better of just improving your lifestyle and making healthy choices. You need carbs to fuel your body.

The right amount of carbs , protein, fat and regular exercise is all you need to reach any goal.

Good luck !

davyjose

barbaraw19 wrote:

I was convinced that atkins is a safe regime

TBH, I was convinced otherwise. As Colm said see a doctor - he'll probably tell you that it's your diet. Maybe when you start eating fresh fruit and veg again, your body will stop ringing alarm-bells.

g'em

Hey OP, well like the others have said this isn't a medical forum so there's a limit as to how much advice can be given, but I've been in your situation and I know how distressing it can be when your periods stop for no clear reason.

I would certainly recommend going to a doctor incase there's a more serious reason for this, but certainly diets and stress can play a huge part in oligomenorrhea (the fancy term for irregular periods!!).

At your current height and weight 1200cals a day actually sounds just right, and a huge congratulations for losing 2 stone so far, that's fantastic progress.

Low-carb diets are an extremely effective way of losing weight, but just make sure that your protein sources are lean and varied, get your fish in. And with the fats to the best of your ability keep them from plant/ nut and seed sources as much as possible, and keep the animal derived fats down.

You might want to look into taking a vitamin B complex - we get a lot of our B vitmains from grains and cereals, but of course if you're low-carbing you may not be getting as much as you need. The Vit B complexes acts a bit like a stress reliever and may help your body deal with the changes that the new diet is resulting in.

But honestly, going to a doc is a certainty, if only to put your mind at rest Good luck!

Edit: I just noticecd you said you've been on the induction phase for three months - you should have come off induction and moved into teh ongoing weight loss phase. During induction your carbs are kept <20g and which means you're more than likely not eating anywhere near enough vegetables (and therefore fibre) in your diet.

I have no issues with the Atkins Diet when it's done correctly. By continuing the induction phase for so long you may be putting unnecessary stress on your body and sabotaging your weight loss efforst in teh long run. Your body can't maintain the induction phase hormonal profile for that length of time, and it will backlash.

crotalus667

g'em wrote:

I have no issues with the Atkins Diet when it's done correctly
.

Correct me if Im wrong g'em (I most likely am:D ) isn’t the Atkins diet a less effective/strict version of the anabolic or Keto diet ???

g'em

crotalus667 wrote:

Correct me if Im wrong g'em (I most likely am:D ) isn’t the Atkins diet a less effective/strict version of the anabolic or Keto diet ???

lol, no you're not wrong at all!! The Atkins Diet was the first 'mainstream' low-carb diet popularised by the media, but keto diets originated as a side-effect of epilepsy seizure treatments and diabetes management diets. The primary goal wasn't weight loss, but many people who were put on these regimes did in fact notice a massive amount of weight loss, and more specifically fat loss. They were designed so that the body would derive virtually all its energy from fats and not carbs.

You need to bare in mind though, that in the case of diabetes management, many of those undergoing treatment were severely overweight in the first place so any major change for the positive in the diet would have dramatic results... :rolleyes:

Atkins, South-Beach, the Keto-Diet, the Anabolic Diet, the Paleo Diet, the Triglyceride diet and others are all just variations on the same theme - low-carb diets. Without going hugely into the science of them, they're all loosely based on one premise: maniplation of the hormone insulin to encourage the body to burn stored fat for energy.

If you take a balanced, informed approach to the diets they can work very well - some people are genuinely more 'carb-sensitive' than others and find low-carbing easy and even preferable. But these diets (because you often need to restrict veg/ fruit intake) can lead to far too little fibre being consumed, so it's certainly something you need to be wary of.

Personally I'm not madly in favour of any 'diet' that hugely restricts any of the major food groups and diets that advocate eating extremely specific % of certain foods/ macronutrient groups because they usually lead to obsessing over your eating habits. But if you can adapt a 'diet' as a lifestyle change, if you know what you're doing and why you're doing it and you can do it while keeping the body's basic needs met then they're often a very positive thing.

rubadub

Are you doing exercise as well? in which case 1200kcal might not be enough. If you are not exercising I would recommend it -as it will help in the long term.

g'em

For weight loss 1200 cals/day @ 110lb bw is fine, but long-term it's a little low. In fact any further weight loss probably isn't a good idea and the OP could definitely look at increasing her calories slightly. Lots of people on low-carb diets find it very easy to stick to low calories though as teh high protein/ fat diet keeps you satiated all day.

As much as I hate using it, but as we only have limited info about the situation, the OP's BMI now stands at 19.5, and going any lower is probably not the best idea in the world. Like I said before, the induction phase is only temporary then you need to start re-introducing foods to help you maintain a balanced healthy diet.