Atkins

My fiancee and I are thinking about trying the Atkins diet. She did it a few years ago and says she lost a good deal of weight, but it came back.

Has anyone tried it? It is good or just a lot of fail?

Any tips or recipes? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

If there's another thread with Atkins, I didn't find one.

 

My parents went on it a few years ago. My mom couldn't stick with it, but my dad did and lost a bunch of weight. They're off it now, and I'm sure the weight is back. I think that's one of those diets where you've got to be on it constantly, otherwise it won't do anything long-term.

Plus, and I'm no doctor and am only going on what I've heard, I don't think it's the healthiest of diets, either.

 

It works. It definitely works. Use it to lose a bunch of weight right off the bat, then start exercising and eating sensibly afterward and you should be good to go.

I always found it to be a great kickstart.

 

Atkins works if you want to take weight off (i.e., want to lose 10 pounds before the high school reunion). But I don't think you can really stay on it for long periods of time and once you go off, it is inevitable that there will be a carb binge in your future.

 

That's what happens to eveyone on Atkins. Eventually, you'll start eating carbs again, unless, that is, you want to kill yourself first. A "diet" without carbs is not healthy.

 

I did it for a couple months once, and lost a lot. It eventually all came back, but it took awhile. A year at least, and I didn't do anything to maintain it.

I agree with the "kick start" philosophy. I realize that to stay in shape long term, I'll have to eat better, work out more and can't rely on any gimmicks like Atkins. But it's a heck of a lot easier to get close to your ideal weight with something like Atkins, then try and maintain than it is to work down to that weight the long way.

 

Dieting shouldn’t be about simply losing weight. It should be about adjusting your lifestyle.

The Atkins diet is crap. Your body requires carbohydrates. If you don’t eat it, your body will starve on it and thus eats itself. That is the “weight loss.” It isn’t real loss since you are basically eating yourself in an unhealthy manner.

A proper diet is based on 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 20% fat (not the trans-fat, though). Your body needs this to function every day. How many calories you eat total is based on weight and the amount you exercise.

If you aren’t doing any exercise at all, then you are really just wasting your time.

 

Atkins is not about not eating any carbs, it's about eating as many as possible up to the point you're not gaining or losing. I've been at a plateau for a while, but I haven't gained back. PM for tips and such.

 

Lost 10 pounds a couple of months ago, most of its back -- damn sugar and starch. Still, I dropped 30 on it a few years ago.

 

And the theory behind the diet is, the body burns carbs before it burns fat. The fewer carbs it has to burn, the quicker it can get to the fat. From personal experience, eating carb-filled stuff makes you crave more carb-filled stuff. So it is a lifestyle change to limit carbs. I will be counting my intake for the rest of my life.

 

What do you know, dools, you're eating yourself?

 

Wouldn't quite say I'm eating myself. And Pall, you surely don't skimp on Old Style.