I have found Atkins very easy to stay on and not limiting at all. Lots of veggies, fish, chicken/turkey, cheese, meat and limiting my intake of starches... if I want pasta or bread or potatoes I eat a little bit and just count those carbs in my total carbs for the day. It unlike, the current food pyrmid, metaterian diet, Weight Watchers, 'eating sensibly,' etc is the only thing that has worked for me. 'Ultimately eating less?' Again not true for me, I eat what ever protein/fat/veggie whenever and usually how much I want. I did not hit a platau for at least 6 months and just hanging in there worked to get me to back on the right track. My doctor, who is an intergative medicine expert, was concerned about my colesterol (even though it remained in the upper end of average) and 'prescribed' the over the counter diet supplement, Policosanol... it works similar to the prescription drugs to lower colesterol but is easier on the liver.
Also remember that bigger muscles burn more calories so while you may not have seen a decrease in your weight you have probably replaced the fat with the heavier muscles.
Of course, if Atkins doesn't feel right for you, try everything until you find something that does feel right and works.
Atkins diet is not the best diet to be on long term.
Getting lots and lots of protein and not enough carbs over a proloned period of time (like a year or so) can damage your kidneys.
Zone is a relatively balanced diet. Not bad to check out and learn some nutrition basics from it.
Take your vitamins, watch your calorie intake. Also watch fats and refined sugars.
Figure out how many calories you need per day, then split it into roughly 45-50% protein, around 40% complex carbs and around 15% fat. There is a fait amount of hidden fats in protein and complex carbs, so if you are not fanatic about fat free, if you concentrate on healthy protein and healthy carbs, you'll end up ingesting between 10% and 20% of fat.
Avoid things that are soaked in grease.
The above will account for about the 90% of the effectiveness of your diet. Balance and calories.
When you eat what you eat, whaty you eat it with... will make some difference, but not more than 10% of the whole diet.
If you were a body builder, and worried about losing the very last ounce of fat before the competition, then those kinds of details would make a difference.
The thing with Diets, which includes Atkins diet too, many people when they get on just about any diet tens to lose some weight.
With dieting, think of it like filling up the gas tank in your car. 10 galons will take you a certain distance, let's say. 18-25 MPG.
Hard exercise would be like city driving. Being more sedentary would be like freeway driving. Car gas = calories. If you keep adding gas to your tank, without using it up, the tank (fat reserves, glycogen and other fuel sources in your body), will get bigger and bigger.
If you don't eat enough protein, your body will not be able to make new muscle. If you eat too little carbs, especially when you are exercising hard, you won't have the optimum glycogen levels in your blood, to fuel the exercise. Some fat is necessary, because it does help with the digestion.
It *is* possible to lose weight, even eating all fat, as long as you restrict the calories, but it is very unhealyhy, because, over a prolonged period of time will lead to imbalances in your body, and make you ill. Same goes with all carbs or all protein, or eliminating fat completely, or eliminating carbs or protein completely.
About 10 years ago, I weighed over 220 pounds, then went on Nutri-system, and lost 80 pounds. Kept most of it off ever since.
Calorie counting and balanced nutrition works the best for me over time.
Instead of the tptal poundage, I measure my 'weight' by lean body mass, fat % and dress sizes.
After I lost the 80+ lb, I was able to get down to about 14-16% body fat. I think I'm in hight 20%'s right now and on the way down.
hi again sorry not to get back sooner but i've been out flying my remote control caliber30 helicopter.
Back to the diet thing,conniecat i'm trying this diet for all the reasons,to shed a few pounds ,increase speed stay healthy and maybe even pick up a girlfriend along the way!!
maybe if i give it chance the atkins diet will do short term,but the carbs will have to increase in the long run,but i tend normally(when not on diet)to eat too many carbs.I enter my third week of the diet tommorrow so additional carbs are allowed then.Last Friday (day 12 of diet)i beat my fastest time at2500metres so i don't know if it was the diet or me trying harder,i did try lessening my strokes per length so it could be proof that works.
I have not seriously tried Atkins, but my sister did and had great luck. She has lost 30 pounds since June 13th. It has really be very easy for her. She is a police office and needs to stay in good shape. She doesn't swim for exercise, but runs instead.
While you are digging through the jungle of (conflicting) dietary reports, keep in mind that weight is not everything (as you noted, muscle mass or body fat?). You'll probably want a diet that won't sap your endurance while losing weight. From the 20-year old "Eat To Win", a blood test is a better indicator of your health. You don't want to be a lean athlete with high cholesterol...
I have done a lot of reading about diets, particularly the Atkins Diet, pro and con. This includes published medical reports. My position is that Atkins cannot be recommended, especially for athletes. The diet is nutritionally inadequate, the long term safety (still) has not been established, and besides: If you have the motivation and discipline to follow Atkins, then you might as well follow a nutritionally adequate, calorie controlled diet instead.
Atkins is particularly inappropriate for athletes, since the preferred energy source for muscles is fatty acids -- which can only be burned efficiently in the presence of carbs. Without carbs in the energy cycle, fats are burned incompletely, throwing off putrid products called ketones (think of a car that has smoky exhaust). This cannot be good for your body or your performance.
I've known more than a dozen people who have tried Atkins (several ladies at the office, plus church). This can be said of all of them: They all lost weight; they all cheated; they all gave up within a few months; they're all fat again. They claim that as soon as they're off the diet, the weight comes storming back with a vengeance. Sure, this isn't a scientific study, but it does not incline me to support Atkins.
Now, it is certainly true that the average American eats far too much carb. But we eat too much fat and too much protein, too.
With due respect to Laineybug, I do not believe that Atkins permits "unlimited veggies" -- you have probably ended up eating a fairly balanced and nutritionally adequate diet.
If your objective is to lose weight, you have to establish a calorie deficit, by eating less or exercising more (preferably both). There is really no other way (but there are good sensible strategies for making this easier).
You are probably right, what I am doing probably couldn't be called true Atkins since I eat 'unlimited veggies' and the red meats are my last protien choice. But, it does put me into ketosis. (which I don't find putrid at all).
As I stated before none of the traditional 'nutritionally adequate' calorie controled diets have worked for me, so the logical assumption for me would be that the deletion of carbohydrates from my diet was what has caused my body to start burning fat.
One thing that has worked well for me, and i'd higly recommend it is keeping a food diary. Write down what you eat, and how much you eat. Summarize it daily.
Yeah, you have to write down the cheats too. Not to worry, they happen.
Anyway, other than it being a little motivational mental game, it will really give you a good grasp about what you're really eating.
In mine, I write down what and when I eat, figure out the calories, and even try to put down the amount of carbs, protein and fat.
Having battled overeating my whole life, I've kept a food diary on and off for years, especially when trying to lose or maintain lower weight. I've gotten really good at 'guesstimating' calories and what the food contains too.
Over the years, I can tell that when I lose weight and stay healthy, what I eat is most resemblant of the traditional "healthy balanced diet" with emphasis on counting calories (not eating too much). The times I would get sick, or too weak, or hit a long plateau in weightloss or muscle growth would be when I would overdo something, or not do enough of something else.
Many examples over the last 15-16 years. One period of time, for a few months, I got on a fat-free kick, and I was worried that with too much protein, I would ingest too much fat, so I got concentrated on mostly carbs, nonfat or lowfat carbs. I'd get a lot of short term energy boosts, I would lose some weight (this was when I was around 16% bodyfat), I would lose 5 or so pounds but my bodyfat stayed the same. I worked out hard and harder, and wasn;t getting any stronger. And would get into eating frenzies, where I could literally inhale a whole box of 'special K' (no fat...) and still be hungry... Well, after few months I turned out my body was craving some fat, and that it needed it.
I relaxed the standard, started eating in a more balanced way, my weight went up 10 pounds, I dropped a dress size and the body fat went down to some 13 or 14%.
Cutting out carbs did not work for me at all. It would send me into a BIG overeating frenzy where I could literally 'inhale' 3000 calories and still feel hungry.
The times I would really gain weight is when I would relax, and eat what I feel like eating, and not exercising.
Right now, I'm exercising a lot (swim between 2000 and 3000M every day), and concentrating on keeping my calories between 1800 and 2500 a day (I'm 5-9, around 160lb), with emphasis of at least 50% protein. I want to build muscle.
Once I build more muscle, it will be rather easy to lose the last 15-20 pounds by cutting down the calories to about 1500-1800 for few weeks.
If I was sedentary, and wanted to lose weight, I'd cut my calories to 1000 or 1200 a day. The intensity of the workouts I do every day is about 700-1200 calories. Some strength building days, some cardio days, some fat burning days, some combination days. The thing is, with somewhat restricted calories, and a good amount of protein, my body is using up the fat, and even if not losing the significant weight, it is replacing the fat with the muscle. I can tell that is happening. In last 9 weeks I've gone down a full dress size and a little bit more, I'm seing muscles where tere were none (to see), and the thing that we girls dread, my boobs are getting smaller. I don't weigh myself, but I'll make a guess that I probably lost 10-15 pounds (of fat) since I started. I have no worries about getting too muscular.
Being a habitual carboloader, I find it little tough to eat enough protein every day, but I found this great protein bar that tastes like chocolate, and has 34g of protein. I try to have one of those within couple of hours after the swim practice.
Small sandwich for lunch, and a nice piece of meat or fish for early dinner (I hate chicken).
Well, anyway, hopefully the more detailed description of 'how I do it' gives some of you ideas about what may or may not work for you.
Oh, and Sparx35... (dating suggestions if I may) impress a girl with your brain and how nice you are, and not so much with your body. But if losing some weight will give you more confidence, that will reflect in your personality too. Us girls are a lot less visual when it comes to attraction then you guys are. For girls, balanced confidence in a guy is very attractive. (At least for nice girls)
May I ask how old you are and how much weight you're trying to lose?
Sparex,
After trying several diets--from Adkins, The Zone, to vegetarian, and even a bodybuilder type diet from Beverly International--I have realized that it's best to make good decisions, and eat clean.
The problem with Adkins, as you will soon find, if not already, that it is limiting. It is impossible to say--ok, bread is totally off limits, as is pasta and mashed potatos. Sure he says you can eat it later--but come on!
My new approach is to eat like the French. Great food, with smaller portions. They eat plenty of vegetables, fish, unsaturated fats, cheeses, and red wine. It has variety, and is enjoyable.
Personally, I naturally eat alot of fat and protein. However, I could still loose 15 pounds. The reason Adkins and the others work temporarily, is because a person eats less, period. If you stay on it, you will find that you will hit a plateau quickly. It might be a loss of 15 pounds or even 20. but eventually, you'll stop loosing, or go off the severly limiting diet.
The book I recommend is Dr. Phil's new book...he had a show on with Katie Curick the other night. While he can get on my nerves at times, he has great approaches to weight loss.
In reality, you know what to do. You know what foods are good for you--it's making that happen that's the hard part. Everyone I know that has done Adkins has stayed on for a little while--but inevitably falls off. It's so discouraging to have this happen.
So, eat clean--meaning, veggies and fruits--and limit foods that are fattening...eat one cookie instead of 6! And, make sure you eat 3-5 times a day. 3 meals, and 2 snacks. For snack, protein bars, and fruits are great. And most importantly, realize that weight loss takes time, and isn't easy.
It's not about 30 pounds off in 30 days...that's a set up for failure.
Good luck,
Jerrycat
PS, Buy Dr. Phil's new book!
