Atkins

valpuk

Hi girls

Has anyone ever tried Atkins?

I have been exercising (severely) for last 2 months and have seen dramatic toning on my chest and arms and stomach but i still havent lost a huge amount of weight. i have still been eating the wrong foods while doin this exercising thing so i wanna change my lifestyle altogether,

i tried the slender xcellerate tablets but i am no good for takin tablets so i cannot give judgement on whether they work or not.

i would rather not spend money on supplements like these, would rather just continue with the exercising and try atkins

just wanna kno anyone experience with this particular diet please.

Thanks

BlackandGold

I'm hardly one to give nutritional advice if you've read many of my other posts, but why Atkins? If it's a lifestyle and diet change you want to make I don't know if Atkins is going to help??

If you are exercising [not too severely I hope!] then eating a balanced diet should help you see results. By balanced I mean something like porridge and a piece of fruit for breakfast, or chopped fruits with yogurt, or even an omelette [made with the whites I think is healthier] and some tomato, lunch - ryvita with cottage cheese/tomato/salmon, and dinner - a small piece of lean meat, boiled veg and small portion of potatoes or rice?

Snack on carrot sticks/a piece of fruit/a few nuts [Try and stick to the 3 meals].

Someone else may be able to offer you better/more correct advice, but something like a diet, be it Atkins or Catkins or whatever it's called, is not advisable/suitable for someone wanting to make a lifelong change. They're only short fixes.

Professey Chin

As BlackandGold said these diets are only short term fixes and dont give your body what it actually needs.If you want to change your eating habits youd be better off seeing a nutritionist who can actually tell you what your eating right/wrong and the correct times etc etc etc.
These diets act like theyre going to make your dreams come true but really they just make you starve yourself to an extent(and your body consumes muscle not fat in these cases) and when you come back off it, your body doesnt know whats happening and you just put on the weight again.
As for those slimming tablets, id stay away from those too.
If you go to a nutritionest, spend about 5 days beforehand making a food diary showing exactly what your eating and be honest about it. No cheating :P
The Nutrition fourm on here can provide some good advice too

jdivision

valpuk wrote: »

I have been exercising (severely) for last 2 months and have seen dramatic toning on my chest and arms and stomach but i still havent lost a huge amount of weight. i have still been eating the wrong foods while doin this exercising thing so i wanna change my lifestyle altogether,

The reason you've not lost much weight is you've put on muscle and lost fat and that's something to be admired and well done on it. The muscle weighs more so you shouldn't be focusing on your weight, you should look at pictures of you before and now and you'll see the difference the toning makes. The other good thing is muscle burns more calories naturally so you'll lose weight naturally as you continue exercising over the next few months.

Don't diet in the conventional sense, they don't work. Eat properly - this can require a lot of changes - and exercise (which you're doing), use the stickies on the nutrition and fitness forum. You'll learn a lot about what you think is low fat and is actually awful for you. You should post up there what you usually eat (a few days worth is good) and how much you exercise and you'll get loads of help.

The key thing is to take it slow, don't look for instant results or you'll just end up back at square one. I lost 70lbs in 14 months using the above.
Best of luck.

Dudess

Why pay attention to the scales? What matters is whether your clothes are getting looser/you're losing inches, and it seems these things are happening. I wouldn't bother with the scales at all - things like drinking lots of water can cause your weight to change temporarily.
Also, why do you need to be on a "diet"? Just eat healthily and don't over-do the carbs. Jeez, you're better off keeping away from that pill sh1te.

Wibbs

The diet and nutrition forum and the fitness forum would be a better place to ask questions like this.

g'em

moved to N&D

fatmammycat

jdivision wrote: »

The reason you've not lost much weight is you've put on muscle and lost fat and that's something to be admired and well done on it. The muscle weighs more so you shouldn't be focusing on your weight, you should look at pictures of you before and now and you'll see the difference the toning makes. The other good thing is muscle burns more calories naturally so you'll lose weight naturally as you continue exercising over the next few months.

Don't diet in the conventional sense, they don't work. Eat properly - this can require a lot of changes - and exercise (which you're doing), use the stickies on the nutrition and fitness forum. You'll learn a lot about what you think is low fat and is actually awful for you. You should post up there what you usually eat (a few days worth is good) and how much you exercise and you'll get loads of help.

The key thing is to take it slow, don't look for instant results or you'll just end up back at square one. I lost 70lbs in 14 months using the above.
Best of luck.

First off OP, well done on getting into shape. Personally I think Atkins is quite severe as a diet to follow, but cutting back on empty carbs, like white bread, pasta and so on will hep a great deal with weight loss.
Second of all, I do wish people would stop saying muscle weighs more than fat. It does not. A pound of fat is equal weight to a pound of muscle. The difference is muscle is more dense and takes up less space-that is probably why you look more 'toned'. You are probably carrying less fat-also as stated, muscle uses more energy thus burns more calories even when you're resting.
Keep up the exercise, take it slow as this poster I quote says and watch what you eat and you will get there. Quality food over quantity for the win.

dioltas

I think that's what people mean generally, that muscle is more dense. It's like if I said steel weighs more than wood. I wouldn't mean that 1kg of steel weighs more than a kg of wood! What they mean is that the same volume of muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat.

Youe dead right in what your saying, but I think people generally mean muscle is denser..

fatmammycat

Actually I think a lot of people DO think muscle is heavier that fat. That's why they say it.
Anyway, regardless, good luck OP, there is plenty of good advice on the stickies here and over in fitness. Very much worth having a read.

crazyy

Atkins is a terrible diet, don't do it!!
If you want liver failure, go for it, but the only way to successfully lose weight (in my opinion ) is forget about shortcuts.
What the Atkins diet does, as far as I know, it get rid of carbohydrates and increase protein to be used for energy instead. Correct me if I'm wrong on any on this btw, but I'm fairly sure of what I'm saying.
If you've ever seen a food pyramid, carboydrates is at the bottom, meaning you need most of this type of food.
So consider that when choosing a diet that wants to abolish this food.
Also, using protein for all your energy needs is NOT good!
Protein's primary functions are for growth and repair. Only excess proteins are used for energy. They are deaminated in the liver.
Which basically means putting unneccesary pressure on the liver as it has to work really hard, to fulfil your energy needs from a food that shouldn't be solely providing your energy.
Hope that makes sense. Pretty much, it's not the way to go.

jdivision

Too many carbs is how you get fat crazzy. The food pyramid is rubbish.

crazyy

Well obviously too much of anything is bad, if balanced with exercise, the food pyramid is a healthy thing to base your diet on. They don't just have if for no reason! Carbs only turn to fat when they're not used.

EileenG

Atkins is a perfectly good diet, and anyone who had actually read the books admits they are full of common sense.

The basic principle of Atkins is to cut out the refined carbs and processed fats (anyone want to try defending those?) and replace them with quality proteins, fats and green vegetables. There is an "induction phase" where you go cold turkey on non-veggie carbs for a couple of weeks, then you reintroduce clean healthy carbs. You'd be amazed how many people think that the induction phase is all there is to Atkins.

The longer you spend on Atkins, the more quality carbs you bring back into your diet, until you arrive at the point where you can eat for life. However, you will find that people on Atkins eat bucket loads of veg compared with someone on a "balanced" diet.

I've been on some version of Atkins for over 8 years now, and the worst thing my doctor can find is flat feet. I've cleared up a lot of minor health problems and lost a lot of weight. Of course, one case doesn't prove anything, but there are large numbers of studies out (some which set out to disprove Atkins) which show that it's a safe and effective diet.

<snip>

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

Atkins is a perfectly good diet, and anyone who had actually read the books admits they are full of common sense.

The basic principle of Atkins is to cut out the refined carbs and processed fats (anyone want to try defending those?) and replace them with quality proteins, fats and green vegetables. There is an "induction phase" where you go cold turkey on non-veggie carbs for a couple of weeks, then you reintroduce clean healthy carbs. You'd be amazed how many people think that the induction phase is all there is to Atkins.

The longer you spend on Atkins, the more quality carbs you bring back into your diet, until you arrive at the point where you can eat for life. However, you will find that people on Atkins eat bucket loads of veg compared with someone on a "balanced" diet.

I've been on some version of Atkins for over 8 years now, and the worst thing my doctor can find is flat feet. I've cleared up a lot of minor health problems and lost a lot of weight. Of course, one case doesn't prove anything, but there are large numbers of studies out (some which set out to disprove Atkins) which show that it's a safe and effective diet.

IMO that is a very rose tinted repressentation of atkins. I would agree with a lot of the principals but I dont see the point of "induction" as such ... The main issue with atkins is that it tends to demonise a lot of good carbs like fruit and whole grains .. There is NO DOUBT that processed carbs are bad news, the same way trans fats are, but lots of people stay fit and healthy on diets which comprise a lot of fruits and whole grain carb sources ... A lot of people are also obsessed with cutting certain carbs but dont realise the carbs they are taking in are far worse .. I know of one person who will eat 2 kitkats everyday but wont touch potato's (LOL!)
While green veg are great, there will be a point of deminishing return - you wouldnt eat scrambled egg or porridge 4 or 5 times per day?!

Most people would see great results by cutting out processed crap, be it fat or carbs ... I dont believe anyone ever gets seriously over weight because of porridge + bananas! in fact most overweight people i know have processed meats several times a day - sausages, poor quality ham .. etc. from personal experience, you can loose a serious ammount of BF by cutting soft drinks, sugar and anything white - bread, pasta, sugary cereals ...

EileenG

corkcomp wrote: »

... I dont believe anyone ever gets seriously over weight because of porridge + bananas

I did! I used to live according to the food pyramid, and I was 17 stone for most of my adult life. It was switching to a low carb diet that allowed me to lose weight.

Induction is not essential, it just makes it easier to make the switch to low carb. Otherwise, it's very tempting to think that if you just eat brown bread instead of white, that's all that's necessary.

If you read the book, you'll find that fruit and whole grains are exactly the sort of carb you bring back after induction. It's cake and biscuits that are out.

My typical day is something like: mushroom omlette or poached egg with spinach.
Lunch: fish and green veg or big salad.
Dinner: steak/chicken/stew/stirfry/casserole etc with piles of veg.
Stacks: cottage cheese, nuts, seeds, home-made bran muffins etc.

So far today, I have eaten cauliflower, sorrel, spinach, broccoli, rhubarb, kohlrabi and courgettes.

I've got children who whine "If I eat extra kale, do I have to eat my aubergine?" Of course, they still like their junk food, but they eat far less than their friends.

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

I did! I used to live according to the food pyramid, and I was 17 stone for most of my adult life. It was switching to a low carb diet that allowed me to lose weight.

Induction is not essential, it just makes it easier to make the switch to low carb. Otherwise, it's very tempting to think that if you just eat brown bread instead of white, that's all that's necessary.

If you read the book, you'll find that fruit and whole grains are exactly the sort of carb you bring back after induction. It's cake and biscuits that are out.

My typical day is something like: mushroom omlette or poached egg with spinach.
Lunch: fish and green veg or big salad.
Dinner: steak/chicken/stew/stirfry/casserole etc with piles of veg.
Stacks: cottage cheese, nuts, seeds, home-made bran muffins etc.

So far today, I have eaten cauliflower, sorrel, spinach, broccoli, rhubarb, kohlrabi and courgettes.

I've got children who whine "If I eat extra kale, do I have to eat my aubergine?" Of course, they still like their junk food, but they eat far less than their friends.

i guess the point i was trying to make is that there should be no need to cut out fruit + whole grains i.e. - induction phase.
TBH I have eatten more varieties of veg than that today but I also had porridge for breakfast - a brown scone with lunch and a baked potato for dinner - along with 3 pieces of fruit for breakfast - and no I am not carrying any excess body fat -
The potential issue with the food pyramid is that it doesnt really differentiate between whole grains and processed junk and there is a world of difference!

EileenG

I suspect you might be younger and probably a lot more muscular than me. There is an Atkins food pyramid, www.atkins.com/food-pyramid.html which increases bread and fruit etc according to exercise.

When I'm skiing all day, I can eat bread and rice. With the Irish weather keeping me off the bike most of the time, I give them a miss.

corkcomp

EileenG wrote: »

I suspect you might be younger and probably a lot more muscular than me. There is an Atkins food pyramid, www.atkins.com/food-pyramid.html which increases bread and fruit etc according to exercise.

When I'm skiing all day, I can eat bread and rice. With the Irish weather keeping me off the bike most of the time, I give them a miss.

LOL .. possibly younger but wasnt always muscular, in fact any excess weight I put on in the past was mostly fat .. I see your point though, the more active somebody is the more carbs they can eat ... I find that I dont have as much appetite for carbs on days I am not active though so it probably balances out ... Even very active people should probably stick with whole grain carb sources though ..

El_Dangeroso

I think the point of the induction period is like a sort of bootcamp for your tastebuds and your metabolism. For me, the health benefits were so drastic and immediate and being in ketosis is so appetite suppressing that for the first time in my life I felt weightloss was not only achievable but quick and not that hard.

I think I'm just the type of person who is especially suited to paleo/low carb because I love the food and then energy I get from being in ketosis. I think most people who start Atkins do it for the weightloss, but pretty much everyone who sticks with it does it because of the drastic improvement in their health, which is a far better motivation to eat better.

CathyMoran

EileenG wrote: »

<snip>

Actually a low Glycemic Index/Load diet does this, not atkins. OP, I would avoid atkins like the plague and if you want to loose weight and maintain a healthy weight over the long term try the low GI/GL diet which is very do able.

El_Dangeroso

CathyMoran wrote: »

Actually a low Glycemic Index/Load diet does this, not atkins. OP, I would avoid atkins like the plague and if you want to loose weight and maintain a healthy weight over the long term try the low GI/GL diet which is very do able.

Atkins has the lowest glycemic index and lowest glycemic load of any weight loss program. GI/GL was formulated in response to the great success of the Atkins diet.

CathyMoran

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Atkins has the lowest glycemic index and lowest glycemic load of any weight loss program. GI/GL was formulated in response to the great success of the Atkins diet.

That is because you are eating minimal sugar! The ideal situation is to have sugars that go into your blood stream over time so that you have a constant supply of energy, it also means that you are less hungry and less likely to snack (ie GI/GL diet).

g'em

CathyMoran wrote: »

The ideal situation is to have sugars that go into your blood stream over time so that you have a constant supply of energy, it also means that you are less hungry and less likely to snack (ie GI/GL diet).

Ideal according to who though? I'm neither 100% pro-Atkins or 100% pro-low GI/GL but I do believe there's no 'ideal' for everyone, it's very much down to the individual involved.

Some people are more carb-tolerant than others and can well afford to have a lot of them in their diet. Others are much less so, and find that an Atkins' style diet that minimises sugar consumption (and therefore retain better insulin control) is preferable.

As long term healthy eating plans go both Atkins and the Low GI/GL eating plans have numerous benefits, and I'd be slow to choose one over the other.

neuro-praxis

I knew Atkins wasn't for me when I read a recipe for "pizza" in one of the books that suggested making the base out of minced beef...

coillte

Hi all

Been low carbing since 2003 where I was 16st. I'm now 11st & have maintained my weight over the years, apart from a lifestyle change last year where I went up to 13 but have now lost that & am back to maintaining my norm. (I'm male BTW)

Tips for food ideas - Linda's Low Carb Menu & Recipes.
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/

The recipes are great.

Best of luck

corkcomp

the bottom line with either atkins or low GI is that you need to make it a permanent lifestyle - personally I wouldnt want to live by atkins principals because I love carbs .. Balanced diets are far more sustainable in the long term .. whatever diet / lifestyle you choose needs to be something you stick to for life and that doesnt deprive you of foods you like ...

rubadub

corkcomp wrote: »

Balanced diets are far more sustainable in the long term ..

I think so too, but you can cut down as most peoples are not balanced to begin with, i.e. too much carbs. I get comments all the time in work having lunch "wheres the bread?" as though it is essential to a lunch or something. I have had people ask if I am on Atkins in work too, and told them "No, sure I have ketchup on it", and got a blank look...

I try and cut down as much with my own food but always eat carbs when out, e.g. in a mates getting chinese or pizza, or at a wedding etc. If having carbs at home I try and wait till after a weights workout.

the books that suggested making the base out of minced beef

That sounds good to me!

neuro-praxis

It's basically just a giant burger lashed with Italian style tomato sauce and mounds of cheese...pizza it ain't!

EileenG

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I knew Atkins wasn't for me when I read a recipe for "pizza" in one of the books that suggested making the base out of minced beef...

I've got a good recipe somewhere where the base is based on flaxseed.

Personally, if I go out for pizza, I pretend I'm a kid again, and eat all the toppings and ignore the base.

neuro-praxis

See now...that's just no way to live!