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curious about Atkins? Here's how I do it
- Thread starter straydog1980
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I'd be curious to hear other things you guys eat. Chicken wings can be wonderful, provided you either make them yourself or get them from a place you know doesn't load up their wing sauce or blue cheese with sugar (and thankfully most places don't). By the way, a handy trick for testing out foods (especially liquidy once, since it's easier), is to use these:
They're reagent strips for urinalysis to test for glucose in the urine, but more importantly they can test for glucose in anything (e.g., restaurant food, sauces, etc.).
They're reagent strips for urinalysis to test for glucose in the urine, but more importantly they can test for glucose in anything (e.g., restaurant food, sauces, etc.).
The only people I've known to place any real faith in Atkin's are those that are are a) too lazy to exercise and b) too impatient and crave a short term fix.
The great irony is that the discipline that the Atkin's diet requires could be so much better applied to a balanced diet which would achieve far more consistent and sustainable results.
The great irony is that the discipline that the Atkin's diet requires could be so much better applied to a balanced diet which would achieve far more consistent and sustainable results.
AstroLad said:
What? I've read the thread: most people aside from you and the OP are in agreeance that Atkin's is a crock of shit. Any diet that forces your body into a state of starvation obviously is! And clearly the OP has had problems maintaining his weight over long periods of time so it's probably about time people pointed out the inherit negatives associated with this dangerous and futile diet.
AstroLad said:
His reading comprehension is quite poor, because if he had read the entire thread, most people are favorable to the tenants of a low-carb lifestyle and the science behind it. I suppose a lot of people shrug it off because it means they can't continue to eat all of the processed garbage they're prone to eating. *shrugs*
calibre said:
He probably shits normally, and the only 'perpetually moody cunt' in this thread is yourself. Too much sugar rushing to your head, perhaps?
straydog1980
Banned
djkimothy said:
actually, and this is kind of gross, but it's been quite the opposite.
For the last 6 months I have been struggling with my digestive system. For some reason I had found that I was having loose and or liquid poops twice a week or more. I also found that I would eat something and then immediately (like 20-30 minutes later) have to go to the bathroom. Like, RUN.
I've been feeling generally unhealthy, so in early December I decided to start eating a "healthy" diet. Not wanting to go back to Atkins, even though I knew it worked for me, I went the health nut route first. Everything was low fat, low caloric intake, lots of vitamins and nutrients and in general I was eating what most people would consider healthy foods. I tried this for over 1 month, not only did I not lose ANY weight, but my digestive problems persisted.
Fastforward to Atkins time; I've been doing the diet for 6 days now, I've lost 2 more pounds (219 now :lol ), AND my digestive problems are gone. Eradicated. I'm not constipated either, I'm back to regular healthy bombs (light floaters = healthy poop) once in the morning and once at night. I'm not nearly as gassy as in general I feel 150% healthier. On top of all of this, I have more energy, I'm in a better mood, and I'M LOSING WEIGHT!
tell me again why I shouldn't continue this?
straydog1980
Banned
Kintaco said:
good luck mang. Just remember this, you WILL NOT SUCCEED if you are not diligent!! You absolutely have to cut your carb intake to 20 or less for the first couple of weeks. Stick with it, and you will see results inside a week (usually).
P.S. if you're a drinker;
Gin + Diet Tonic + RealLime juice = win
Miller Lite is actually the lowest carb beer that has any flavor. 3.2g Carb per beer.
In general though I recommend cutting alcohol intake to a minimum as it has shown to slow down my metabolism in the past.
onemic said:
i did the diet for about 60 days. I started 2 months before my wedding. In that time I lost more than 40 pounds.
straydog1980
Banned
onemic said:
i exercised but not religiously. For example I would go to the gym in my apartment complex maybe twice a week, or three times and workout for maybe 30 minutes tops. Add a few crunches, a few pushups, and a few wall pushups every morning and I was surprised at how much of an impact it had.
I'm doing much more this time around because I don't just simply want to lose weight. I'm going through a mid-late 20's crisis and need women to double take at me on the street again.
lol
straydog1980
Banned
Mato said:
many would argue that the diet i'm following IS a good lifestlye. And my goal this time around is to stay on a relatively low carb / low sugar diet. No I will not be staying sub-20g of carbs a day forever, but I will stay on a "low carb" diet permanently this time around. Read the thread, and you will find posts from people much more knowledgeable than me explaining the science behind this diet and why the perceptions you have on it are not necessarily fact.
onemic said:
Not quite. Here is a rough guide from Dr. Bernstein. Just remember that he is a bit stricter than other low-carb diets (and actually almost all diets in general). Basically you stay away from the starchy vegetables (most notably carrots, potatoes, corn).
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/bernsteinsdiabetesdiet/a/bernsteinfoods.htm
straydog1980
Banned
onemic said:
oatmeal has to go. Basically look at the label on the food, if it has carbs listed you shouldn't eat it. At least not if it is LOTS of carbs.
And you can still have a kind of milk. At your local grocery store look for something near the milk in a half-gallon cardboard container called "calorie countdown". An 8-ounce service of this is only 5 carbs. They have regular and chocolate. If you ask me these taste better than whole milk. I love them, and it is a good substitute for milk.
onemic said:
Well, like I said some do it stricter or just have different rules than others. Bernstein is very big on staying away from all sugars, even small amounts of maltodextrin (no powdered sugar-free Jello WTF!!?) and even I don't follow him 100% (more like 98%). I do believe most of the low-carb approaches kind of discourage milk drinking though. As far as the oatmeal, in this case it probably depends on the type of oatmeal. If we're talking very high-fiber, no sugar, and you have a serving with ~10g carb I'm guessing it would be OK under most low-carb approaches. Best to pick a single approach, read up on it, and follow it for good. There are a lot of different plans (Atkins, Bernstein, Paleolithic (aka Caveman), CAD/CALP Protein Power, etc.) so I'm guessing it shouldn't be too hard to find one to suit your lifestyle--and then you just read up on it, keep a close eye on how it's working out for you and there you have it. Never been here but it seems to list many diets: http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-low-carb-plans/index.html.
Manmademan
Member
I thought the low carb thing was bullshit too until I actually tried it.
I'm not on atkins per se, but switching to a low carb diet has me down nearly 30 pounds since december 1st, and I feel great. It's amazing everyone doesn't do it.
I used to eat a lot of hoagies (I'm a philly GAFer) drink a lot of fruit juice, eat lots of pastas and drink a decent amount of beer.
december 1st I switched my diet to something more like:
-breakfast: couple of hard boiled eggs, maybe a half grapefruit
-lunch: greek salad with balsamic vinegar. (used to be a hoagie!) this is a couple blocks of feta cheese, three kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, olives, and a hard boiled egg in that..pretty big, surprisingly filling. sometimes I add grilled chicken on top of it.
-snack: usually no time for this, work is pretty fast paced but I'll drink a cup of green tea with splenda if I need a boost
-dinner: I'll go with either an omelette, a grilled chicken breast, or a couple of turkey sausages along with a decent serving of veggies. I'm partial to broccoli, but sometimes I'll whip up some asparagus instead.
so far the diet is easy to stick to, and as a side bonus learning to cook means I spend less money eating out all the time. I still drink, but less than I did and when I do it's either a glass or two of light beer, or a glass of the hard stuff on the rocks.
I'm not on atkins per se, but switching to a low carb diet has me down nearly 30 pounds since december 1st, and I feel great. It's amazing everyone doesn't do it.
I used to eat a lot of hoagies (I'm a philly GAFer) drink a lot of fruit juice, eat lots of pastas and drink a decent amount of beer.
december 1st I switched my diet to something more like:
-breakfast: couple of hard boiled eggs, maybe a half grapefruit
-lunch: greek salad with balsamic vinegar. (used to be a hoagie!) this is a couple blocks of feta cheese, three kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, olives, and a hard boiled egg in that..pretty big, surprisingly filling. sometimes I add grilled chicken on top of it.
-snack: usually no time for this, work is pretty fast paced but I'll drink a cup of green tea with splenda if I need a boost
-dinner: I'll go with either an omelette, a grilled chicken breast, or a couple of turkey sausages along with a decent serving of veggies. I'm partial to broccoli, but sometimes I'll whip up some asparagus instead.
so far the diet is easy to stick to, and as a side bonus learning to cook means I spend less money eating out all the time. I still drink, but less than I did and when I do it's either a glass or two of light beer, or a glass of the hard stuff on the rocks.
straydog1980
Banned
Manmademan said:
low carb beers = Miller Lite, Bud Select, and the Michelob Ultras (i hate these).
if I have to have a beer it'll be Miller Lite, only 3.2g carb
for liquor I prefer gin or vodka (0 calorie/carb) plus diet soda/tonic
Manmademan
Member
straydog1980 said:
have you ever had a brand of vodka called three olives? I tried it the other day and was really, really impressed. I could drink that shit straight all day long.
Oh, and I forgot to mention in my original post that I lost more weight in 60 days on this diet with low to moderate exercise (work involves some walking and some light lifting, but that's it) than I did on an ENTIRE SUMMER of running nearly 5 miles a day? I have some pretty impressive muscle definition also- I haven't seen my abs since college (2001 or so) but, here they are!
straydog1980
Banned
Manmademan said:
yes, three olives is very good but a bit expensive. Next time you're feeling squirelly try Olifant vodka. You can get a 1L bottle for less than 15 bucks and trust me, it's one of the finest vodkas i've ever had.
I'm going to start Atkins today, right now. I'm going to copy your meals OP. I'm over 300 lbs. and need to drop a lot of weight. How do you keep it off once you're done with Atkins, though? And what's a good stopping point so you don't just keep losing weight and become unhealthy?
straydog1980
Banned
scitek said:
your weight loss will start to slow on it's own. At this point you can increase the amount of carbs you are eating but not dramatically. A long term low carb approach would be sub 150g of carbs a day. Which is still pretty limiting. Just be sure not to go on a fat spree! You can't eat bacon all day every day. My meals are a good starting point but if you really want to learn about the lifestyle, Astrolad provided lots of really good examples and websites for you to explore.
DONT GIVE UP! Remain diligent through the first week, don't give in to cravings and i promise it gets better after that!
oh and you keep the weight off by not returning to your previous eating habits. That doesn't mean you have to remain on Atkins, but just adopt a healthier lifestyle. Obviously my eating habits got me to 225-230 and yours probably got you over 300. Exercise and healthier eating/living.
Unfortunately this isn't true. Eating "healthy" and exercising will get you healthy and into decent to good shape, but depending on what you want to do with your body (lose a certain amount of fat, build a certain amount of muscle), you need to engineer your diet in ways that go against the typical mainstream "healthy diet", which isn't necessarily the healthiest diet you can have anyway. Getting the body you want is not always as simple as "Eat your wheaties, have six servings of fruits and veggies, avoid red meat, and eat enough dairy and grain like that food pyramidy thingy says". It's bullshit.Mato said:
straydog1980
Banned
look at the back of the box. Take the carbohydrates and subtract the dietary fiber from it. the resulting number is the carb impact of the item, according to the Atkins diet.
scitek said:
You're going to feel like crap for three days. This is NORMAL.
Your Pancreas is used to producing a set amount of insulin based on your diet(in your case, probably a lot). It takes a week for your Pancreas to fully adjust. What this means is that you will be eating 20 grams of carbs or less per day, but your Pancreas will be putting out enough insulin to deal with your old diet. Essentially, you will have the same reaction as a Diabetic with low blood sugar. You will feel sluggish and thickheaded. This is normal and will pass.
You will also suffer a period of irregularity, which differs depending on what you ate before, and what you are eating now. This too will pass after a week or two.
I talk to so many numbskulls who say they couldn't handle the diet, and most of them quit after a week, due to normal symptoms they didn't understand because they didn't bother to do any research beyond "lol eat bacon and cheese lol".
Good luck.
onemic said:
Just go to the grocery store and comparison shop. With packaged meats you'll usually find that a couple varieties are great and the rest are (inexplicably) loaded with sugar. And by "loaded" I mean 4g+ per serving. To some this isn't a big deal, but to me it is, and imo if you're eating meat there's just no reason for it to have any significant amount of carbs. Save your carbs for good high-fiber stuff.
One caveat is that the majority of "low-fat"-labeled items will have twice the carbs/sugar of regular items. Basically they're trying to get the flavor lost by taking out the fat back in with sugar. Hooray food industry!
onemic said:
I don't really recommend smoked sausage. It seems to have some carbs (~7 g) per serving. When I am low-carbin' it, I prefer to have my carbs come from veggies rather than have it sneaking in as added sugar in a salted meat. Stick to turkey pepperoni if you must have some sort of salted meat/sausage like product. Otherwise, always choose lean beef, chicken, turkey, or fish for your main protein sources.
demon said:
The good thing is that after that break-in period, your energy is on a much more constant level - no major blood sugar swings during the day, so you feel great. At least, that was my experience with the diet.
Also, I found that a carb up day (low fat/protein high carbs) every week or two kept me sane. Although I guess that isn't really Atkins, more of a CKD, but I prefer that approach.
scitek said:
There is no stopping or you will just put the weight back on. You adjust your calories once you get your body you want. That is the problem with these trick diets is most can't live this way for the next 50 years. I just tell people to find foods that are half way decent for you that you don't mind and eat those. Count your calories, eat enough protein and work out 5 days a week.
The thing is there is no "trick" to it. People always saw "lolz, once you quit low-carb it doesn't even work!" Well no shit. Eating whole grains and exercising eight times a week doesn't work either once you stop doing it.
The big caveat about low-carb is that it is not a lifestyle that lends itself very well to cheating. I remember some people at my office years ago tried to get on it; they'd do it for a week and then they'd say "oh, I just feel like some fries today; I can cheat--I've been so good all week!" Yeah, no. That kind of behavior will completely wipe out all the benefits and possibly worse (fat+carbs=bad). Having a "cheating" meal loaded with carbs will set you back weeks.
The big caveat about low-carb is that it is not a lifestyle that lends itself very well to cheating. I remember some people at my office years ago tried to get on it; they'd do it for a week and then they'd say "oh, I just feel like some fries today; I can cheat--I've been so good all week!" Yeah, no. That kind of behavior will completely wipe out all the benefits and possibly worse (fat+carbs=bad). Having a "cheating" meal loaded with carbs will set you back weeks.
quest said:
Edit: Ok, I only partially disagree with what you said, just the bolded part. Oops.
This is not true. After you stop the diet, there will be a slight water weight increase. Some people see this and think they are gaining back all the weight, throw up their hands and give up. Obviously if you go back to your old diet habits, you will go back to your previous weight.
But, if you just calculate your maintenance calories, gradually phase in carbs until you get to a reasonable calorie percentage (30/30/40 or whatever) and stay at your maintenance calorie rate you are not going to gain back the weight. It is simple physics.
Just keep up with your calories coming out of the diet along with your weight and adjust weekly as necessary. It's not rocket science.
Dice Man said:
The problem is most who do the low carb did not learn how to do a balanced diet. So once off the low carb it is right back to the shit they ate before. That is why I always tell people a balanced diet from the start. That way they only have to worry about adjusting calories. Sure it might be slower but there is a much better chance they can keep it off long term.
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