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They've not yet done any studies to show the effects over the long haul. However, most people on Atkins don't generally experience elevations in cholesterol or other blood lipids so it doesn't seem to have much of a negative impact in that regard. In fact, lower sugar consumption seems to reduce tri-glycerides. You can always have your blood tested if your'e worried about it though. However, yo yo dieting is never a good thing. The best course is just to watch your weight and regulate your carb intake if you see an increase in pounds.
My only real beef (no pun intended) with Atkins is that it is extremely hard to follow it as a lifestyle choice. Once you 'slip' and eat a few carbs it is almost impossible to reign yourself back in and thats why most people cannot do it for very long periods of time.
My only real beef (no pun intended) with Atkins is that it is extremely hard to follow it as a lifestyle choice. Once you 'slip' and eat a few carbs it is almost impossible to reign yourself back in and thats why most people cannot do it for very long periods of time.
Well it's not that hard to moderate your intake. Small things add up. For example, I eat more normally now but I still avoid old bad habits like putting sugar in my coffee, drinking soda, or eating processed cereal for breakfast. Also, if you stay active and work out after eating carbs you probably won't have much of a problem keeping the weight off. If you're doing triathlons you can probably eat whatever you want anywyay. Atkins wrote a pretty good book "Atkins for Life" that can help you over the long haul. He had no problem with you eating carbs, particularly complex ones, if you do it intelligently. It's not a "no-carb" but a "controlled carb" lifestyle you want to maintain.
My only real beef (no pun intended) with Atkins is that it is extremely hard to follow it as a lifestyle choice. Once you 'slip' and eat a few carbs it is almost impossible to reign yourself back in and thats why most people cannot do it for very long periods of time.
Agree with you. Even though, for me, it's one of the best plans by which I lose weight consistantly and following it keeps my blood pressure in check, I seem to not be able to maintain eating that way for too long. I wish I could because I get the best blood work results when I follow Atkins, but once I indulge in certain carbs, all cards fall off the table and I'm right back in a drunkin carb state. Like with most plans I would say it's the Akins plan that's the problem, because there seems to be quite a good number of people that do manage to eat that way for as long as need be and go into maintenance.
Plus, it's the beginnin stage that's the tough part, because Atkins in itself does incorporate carbs into it's plan, it just didn't plan for someone like me that has a real issue with carb addiction.
I did Atkins about 10 years ago and I understand it well. It takes a very long time to get to the part where you can add carbs in any significant way. Atkins also stated that if you varied from his diet in any way, shape or form you had to do the 'induction' all over again. So if you are doing the real Atkins plan it is very strict and very hard to stay on. If you have modified it in a way that works for you I say good for you. I just hope you are not eating all that crazy fat that he recommended.
Well it's not that hard to moderate your intake. Small things add up. For example, I eat more normally now but I still avoid old bad habits like putting sugar in my coffee, drinking soda, or eating processed cereal for breakfast. Also, if you stay active and work out after eating carbs you probably won't have much of a problem keeping the weight off. If you're doing triathlons you can probably eat whatever you want anywyay. Atkins wrote a pretty good book "Atkins for Life" that can help you over the long haul. He had no problem with you eating carbs, particularly complex ones, if you do it intelligently. It's not a "no-carb" but a "controlled carb" lifestyle you want to maintain.
That's one thing I kept from my long-ago attempt at Atkins. I used to drink coffee with sugar and milk. Now I use no sugar and use half-and-half instead of milk. Not a big soda drinker, either.
Sugar is my enemy. I LOOOOOVE candy and usually had some in the house, whether things like tootsie rolls or hard candy. I was reading about how bad sugar is for us and decided to stop buying the candy last summer. A few pounds came off right away just from giving up the sugar fix.
If you have modified it in a way that works for you I say good for you. I just hope you are not eating all that crazy fat that he recommended.
I hope he is. That's the key to the diet. You can't do Atkins low fat. If it makes people lose weight and doesn't negatively affect their blood lipid levels (which is almost always the case) why wouldn't they wouldn't they want to follow that part of it? What I'm hoping is that he doesn't eat all that crazy sugar that most people consume.
I did Atkins about 10 years ago and I understand it well. It takes a very long time to get to the part where you can add carbs in any significant way. Atkins also stated that if you varied from his diet in any way, shape or form you had to do the 'induction' all over again. So if you are doing the real Atkins plan it is very strict and very hard to stay on. If you have modified it in a way that works for you I say good for you. I just hope you are not eating all that crazy fat that he recommended.
What is the real Atkins way and what do you mean by adding carbs in any significant way? Everything at some point gets revised if there's new information to make more productive and so has the Atkins plan to some degree. My biggest problem is that, I'm not a big meat lover, otherwise, healthy carbs seem to be included in relatively adequate amounts within several weeks from the first start of the program. It does work wonders for those that don't have some sort of carb addiction like myself. I know it works, it worked when I followed a modified version of the plan some years ago. I lost 40 lbs in a few months. My problem is that I'm an emotional eater.
As a matter of fact, I'm going to give it another try, I just need to get visions of sweet-potato pie, potato chips and double chocolate layered cake out of my mind.
Anyone interested in any type of lowcarbing take a look at this site to get a better picture. Too much misinformation floating about when it comes to eating low carb. I'm not advocating it as the way to go for anyone else, just say, it works for some of us when followed properly. Healthy carbs are very much incorporated into the program, lots and lots of veggies are allowed, whole grains and so forth.
When I was a kid, "carbs" were known as "sugar" and "starch" and they were considered very much a problem. They were called "poor people food" and at least I was told by adults that they were what made you fat. Meat and vegetables were considered respectable food and fruit a more desirable dessert. It wasn't until I was a bit older that the "low fat" craze took over, at about the same time processed foods exploded. You were then encouraged to eat the "low fat" processed stuff rather than fresh meat and vegetables prepared from scratch. Shortly after that home pizza delivery got big, as did Americans' waistlines. The high carb way of eating is really a more recent phenomenon. Perhaps some on here haven't been on the planet long enough to realize it.
Once again stigmatizing sugar and starches would probably be a healthy thing for society to do.
All low carb diets do is restrict calories by way of food choice rather than portion control. Different method for achieving the same resulting calorie deficit.
Wrong. A low-carb food plan, followed sensibly, makes it easier for many to practice portion control.
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Originally Posted by CAVA1990
I will say it's a lot easier to go low carb than low fat.
Ditto. I've followed the low-carb WOL for 12 years.
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Originally Posted by tvdxer
In fact, you were allowed to eat them in pretty much any quantity (or so the populace thought).
That's because the populace never bothered to read and understand the program. Kind of like how other people on low-fat programs think they can eat pretty much anything that isn't fat -- including sugars and refined carbs.
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The Atkins diet seemed to fade away around 2005, especially with the controversial death of its founder,
He slipped on the ice and hit his head.
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Originally Posted by Luckyd609
Once you 'slip' and eat a few carbs it is almost impossible to reign yourself back in and thats why most people cannot do it for very long periods of time.
Where on earth did you get that idea? First of all, you're allowed more than a "few carbs" (and your proliferation of this misinterpretation of the WOL is really pathetic); I've followed this WOL for 12 years, and have had plenty of times when I've overloaded on carbs for a day or two. I've never had a problem getting back on the wagon, and have maintained a 140-pound weight loss since 2003, thankyouverymuch.
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Originally Posted by Luckyd609
It takes a very long time to get to the part where you can add carbs in any significant way.
Two weeks?
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Atkins also stated that if you varied from his diet in any way, shape or form you had to do the 'induction' all over again.
Bullcrap. Stop posting about low-carb if you know nothing about it.
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He slipped on the ice and hit his head. 
