imlach

OK, started to try Atkins on Thu teatime, so now 3 days into it.

All seems a bit too easy so far? Drinking loads (of water sadly!), not had had any sweet things or sugar, no coffee/tea (don't drink it anyway), no booze, and AFAIK, have stuck to my 20g of carbs per day (if that).

ie, today :
Breakfast : 2 eggs & 3 lean bacon rashers.
Lunch : Microwaved trout fillet with bit of mayo & pepper on top.
Tea : Chunks of lean beef cooked into a curry with some plum tomatoes (8g carb in tomatoes) and some mushrooms, with an italian herb salad (0g carb).

Had a mild headache yesterday, but 4Head on the forehead cured that.

All seems too easy!? Am I doing something wrong? Don't feel hungry, and don't crave sweets/rice/tatties/puddings/excess food.

Anyone any comments (aside from usual kidney comments!)

lightning101

Am still on it after 9 days - second atempt though.

Already lost nearly a stone - 7lbs of fluid. Have started to get a bit more creative with foods allowed.

Be warned though I lost 2 and half stones first time round and then put 2 stone back on in a matter of weeks.

Avoiding alchohol is the hardest bit.

imlach

lightning - did you put on the 2st again in a few weeks due to gorging on carbs again???

I'm trying to use it as a kickstart, and long term cutting down on carbs (love bread & tatties & rice too much!). Also, once into March, will be cycling a lot more again anyway....

bigsinky

if you were not a real sugar junkie then it should not be too hard, but if like me you are then after about a week it gets intolerable. i wasnt into veggies of any sort so i was left with the meat part of the diet. the caffeine thing killed me as well and i found my self in a bad way after a week or so.

so now i just try to eat sensibly and only eat about half of what is put in front of me. i also get some exercise now. i have been seeing a steady decrease in weight from 23 december when i started. needless to say it is too late for me coz my pancreas is well fcuked now and i have been diagnosed with diabetes

hope it goes well for you. i know quite a few ppls who have had alot of sucess on the Atkins.

cheers

"not so" big sinky

lightning101

Carbs - understatement of the year - surrounded by an Indian, and 3 chinese take-aways. Chinese is my downfall - 300grams of carbs at one sitting - including banana fritters in syrup.

If you do some serious exercise - you can lose weight at an unbeleivable rate. But will get weaker each time you lift heavy weights, rather than stronger and can get a bit dizzy after a set of reps. Atkins diet is no diffrent to bodybuilders high prtein strip-down diet before shows - and they suffer the same problems - light head, cramp etc. By the way snacking is a problem in the long term - but go online to find low carb chocolate bars, bread and cakes - very expensive but this will help immensely.

[Edited by lightning101 - 1/18/2004 8:07:38 PM]

lightning101

Please note I am 23.5 stone at the moment - ex powerlifter and bodybuilder - normal weight is about 18.5 stone.

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

It does work
My Girlfriend is on it. Once you have done the intial bit. It is just finding out how many/few carbs you can take in to maintain a stable weight afterwards. The hard bit.
Hope it goes well
Steve

paulr

Imlach,the only thing is wont that diet increase your cholestorol count.
Daily consumption should be 300mg.An egg is 266 and then you have meat as well.

imlach

The book seems to list several real world examples of people how have lowered their cholestrol by being on the diet....who knows!

However, I am conscious of the fat, and will be sticking to chicken, turkey, and fish (avoid pork & beef) if I can help it to minimise the cholestrol. Oh, and the eggs!

workshy_fopp

You should actually eat some fat on the atkins. Have you read the book? fat is not the enemy, sugar is.
Any fats you do consume will be better ones due to the diet, i.e. you won't be eating the hydrogenated vegetable oil gloop that makes up a mcdonalds milk shake, horrible stuff and full of sugar. But there's no harm in a bit of bacon fat It's not a low fat diet!

imlach

workshy - is my experience similar to yours?

Neverguess

I'm on it as well for a few weeks, seems to be doing the job so far. No cravings even though I have cut out bread and pasta, which is all I ever seemed to eat I now realise!

weight wise,people have noticed a difference in me in a week!

dead_neurons

Ive been on low-carb eating for almost 2 years. I was 18 stone, 40-42" waist, im now between 10.5 & 11 stone & 32" waist - I lost the weight within about 7 months, and have been the same ever since.
Fat is certainly NOT the enemy, your insulin response to sugar (any any form) is.
for those that pile the do pile the pounds back on, of course thats what will happen if you go back to eating what made you fat in the first place!

just finished tucking into bowl of strawberries and 250ml of whipped cream - that'll keep me going till morning

/2ob

imlach

Yeah, bread, rice, and tatties are my downfall. Could easily get through a good few hunks of homemade wholemeal bread before bed.

If I previously had rice or pasta for an evening meal, I'd have quite a big portion of pasta or rice.....

Baked potatoes - always ate my way through 2 medium sized ones....

I guess mistaken belief that rice, pasta, potatoes are all ok as not dripping in fat. They do taste nice too...

So, plan is to stick with this for the 2 weeks, then reintroduce the carbs on a minor basis at first. I hope once I am cycling 25 miles to/from work again, I'll probably need a few more carbs (or rather, cope with more).

I don't intend to follow the Atkins long-term plan of no bread, wild grain rice only, and no tatties. However, I will try and lower what was probably hundred of grams of carbs per day down to a more sensible level.

We shall see how it pans out......

Dicke C

I lost 2.5 stones last year, and managed to keep it off for about 6 months. I then started to have the odd fix of cornflakes, bread and the odd chocie biscuit. Before I knew it I had put over 1.5 stone back on
Starting again next week with lots more exercise, and the knowledge that I cannot go back to my old ways.
Its funny though, I only seem to put the weight on around my waist? I wouldn't mind but every one says its a beer belly I have, which annoys me as i hardly ever drink.
Off to stock up on eggs, cheese, chicken and a punture kit for the mountain bike.

StickyMicky

mmm i love eggs

the whole bacon and eggs breakfast thing sounds like heaven to me lol

jason4656

i am about 7 days into atkins style diet again, i have done it many times, I have in the past lost 10 stone however on a different style diet. I follow more body opus style than atkins as lyle mcd was around way before atkins also was dan duchaines original use of the diet, but this theory has been around forever now. Anyway people to scared of eating alot of fat should read up on lyle mcd, he states quite clearly and i know that if you dont get 70% or around that of your kals from fat, body will not convert to using ketones as energy, therefore burning protein (your muscle) as the main source of energy!! hence the people who do LOW CARB diets lose alot of muscle also. Hardly the right thing for someone into training and that, anyway i have read loads on it, studied it for a good few years and done it with success a few times, it is hard, but worth it trial and error teaches people how to do it properly.

wwp8

diets are the worse thing to do in the world.

DIE(T)

having tried nearly all the diets available. and nearly all the supplements in the market.

i have now started a new diet (my own made up one)
since 1/01/04 have lost 1 stone 1 pound

the problem with the atkins i believe is weight can drop very fast, which is not too good, (faster it drop faster it come back)

catalunya199

i did it last year being in the army lost some weight but i was so tired that i had to eat something with some energy in cause i found it nearly impossible to stay awake and getting out of bed was a nightmare

milo

YES! you're not taking in anywhere near enough fat to get into ketosis. buy yourself some ketosticks and prove it to yourself if you want. right now you are losing water and METABOLISING MUSCLE.

the bacon and meat should NOT be lean. the mayo should not be a "small amount".. it should be full fat, and a lot.

take in more meals.. 5 a day is better, with fewer calories in each. u should mostly be taking in fat. buy some flaxseed oil and drink a few tsps spread throughout the day.

consider ckd instead of atkins - it will preserve your muscle better although a lot of the concepts are the same.

VERY good to hear u are drinking lots of water tho.

LG John

I agree that you shouldn't be scared of fat - its your bodys new fuel You aren't doing anything wrong as such though. Some people get nailed by atkins at the start and others have an easier time. I was seriously tired and flue like for 3 days and then felt a million bucks. Just my experience

imlach

this just on the bbc news site today!

ozzy

Fat is by no means a new fuel source even to the unfittest person. The problem is Carbs just happen to be a more readily available source of fuel than fat. Fat can only metabolise into energy (ATP) in the prescence of oxygen. If you increase your physical activity sufficiently, then you have no choice but to burn carbs (well glucose) as an energy source.

The reason Atkins works is that it deprives the body of these readily available fuel sources and your body then adapts to burning fat as the fuel source. Burning fat yeilds more ATP molecules, but it's less efficient hence the reason your body will burn glucose first.

A high-carb diet does increase the production of fat-storing enzymes, so that's why our modern low-fat, high-carb diets generally make people store excess bodyfat.

Having said that, there are plenty of athletes who still eat high-carb diets. What they do though is eat the correct carbs (not cr@p containing sugar) and also keep an eye on their calorie intake and calorie expenditure through regular exercise.

My Gran always told me that she would cut out things like potatoes and bread if she wanted to lose weight, but then again she didn't run 6-miles per day either. Like everything in life there's more than one way to skin a cat. You can focus solely on diet to achieve weight loss or combine it with exercise. Both can achieve the same goals if done correctly.

The biggest issue with the modern diet is sugar-intake IMHO. People don't need to focus on low-fat or low-carbs, just focus on removing all the cr@ppy sugar-laddened processed foods and you would do yourself a huge favour IMHO.

Imlach, just how overweight are you if you don't mind me asking?

Stefan

imlach

Errr...a few stone, perhaps 4......

I am 6'3" nearly and quite well-built.

I should also add that I am exercising as well......



[Edited by imlach - 1/19/2004 3:19:27 PM]

Gastro

Atkins is utter rubbish - there is no medical evidence that it is a real alternative to any other diet out there - but there is growing evidence that it may be bad for you with worries that it may increase cardiovascular disease.

The long and short of any diet is less calories in than what you are burning. And preferably balanced dietary calories.

Good luck

Gastro

ozzy

I personally don't like any form of "packaged" diet. I don't need some bloke with a Doctorate telling me to eat like him in order to lose or add weight. I'd much rather read up on nutritional books or listen to advice from Sports men/women and then see what's right for me and my lifestyle.

If someone loses 4 stones in a few months on Atkins, then fair enough. I don't think proper research will come out until people have been independantly monitored whilst following the diet. So, I'm less likely to believe Atkins or these TV docs who are biased against it.

I'm certainly not ready to believe any one person that says it works or doesn't until I see some form of proof either way. And that doesn't just mean someone losing 4 stone in 8 weeks (or whatever). I could starve myself for 8 weeks and achieve the same results.

I'm not getting at you Imlach, but height's got absolutely nothing to do with being overweight. Tall people will obviously carry more weight than shorter people so weights will vary with height. If you're 4 stone overweight, it wouldn't matter if you were 8ft or 5ft. Your still overweight. The number of people on here when this subject comes up say oh, "I'm X stone overweight, but I'm 7ft tall"

Anyway, how the heck did you manage to put on 4 stone whilst exercising. You must eat like a shire horse

Stefan

imlach

I'm probably eating less saturated fat than I was before, so not too concerned right now.....been eating too much $hite really up until now.

Don't plan to do it long-term anyhow. Can't see any damage happening in a few weeks.....

You'll be glad to know that I do NOT have the support of the staff at the ERI though Gastro!



[Edited by imlach - 1/21/2004 5:57:52 PM]

Gastro

LOL - but then K was always a sensible no b*llsh*t person

For the record - I've stopped smoking - but hell - no ones every proved that smoking *alone* causes cardiovascular disease, cancer etc...

Gastro

imlach

Indeed.

K hates me doing it, but mainly cos of the smell of my meat (ooo-err).

I am fairly happy in myself with what I am doing, and my overall decision is that it isn't much worse than the $hite I put in my mouth before!

..and yes, smoking - at least I've never done that





[Edited by imlach - 1/21/2004 6:07:26 PM]

Gastro

So you've started smoking as well to combat the extra pounds ??
Never thought I'd see that.

Gastro