DaDakota: Atkins

Mines going great. I only weigh myself once a month though. Actual pounds aren't a real reliable way of measuring your success. My clothes are looser, my face looks less chubby, much more energy, it's all good. I used to live on Rolaids. I haven't touched them in weeks.

Women at my office are starting to look at me. I even got a "double-take" today. Best feeling in the world!

 

Franchise3, buy the book Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution at your local book store and read it. It explains it all in very easy to understand but scientific terms. But to answer your question... you don't worry too much about the amout of fat in the early stages of the diet... it is the carbs and refined sugars and flours you cut out. That said, grilled chicken will always be a little healthier than red meat.

and to answer your other question, Yesterday I was down 10lbs for 2 weeks.

 

A high-carb/low fat diet will work if the caloric intake is right. It won't work as fast as Atkins will, however, because it doesn't invoke the state of ketosis. I think if you want to lose alot of weight in a few weeks...then Atkins will do that. But, once you stop and go back to your high carb intake...expect it to come back rather quickly unless your doing alot of exercise or restricting your calories. Keep in mind that some of that initial weight loss on Atkins is water weight.

A simple formula for figuring out or deciding on how many calories you might take in and how quick you may lose weight. Search the web and find the formula calculating your resting metabolic weight loss. In other words, this is how many calories you burn a day just sitting around doing nothing. For example, mine is about 1900 calories a day. I burn that many calories a day just by doing nothing. If I consume greater than 1900 calories a day, then I am actually accumulating calories and putting on weight. If I eat 2800 calories and burn 1900 resting, then I'm in the positive 900 calories for the day. Keep going on that per day and you gain weight. Those skinny little f-ers with the high metabolisms who can seemingly eat whatever they want burn plenty of calories doing nothing but still never gain weight. That is because their resting weight burn is really high from a high metabolism.

In order for myself to lose weight, then I need to take in less than that resting number. So, if I decided on a 1500 calorie a day diet, then I would burn 400 calories a day which would equate to 2800 calories a week lost. Keeping in mind that one must burn 3500 calories to lose one pound, that would take too long to get to my target weight IMHO.

So, then you throw in the exercise. Say I burn 200 calories in a 20 minute bike ride. I also lift weights which builds muscle and muscle is a natural fat burner. You put a caloric figure to your weight-lifting that is reasonable. For a 30 minute hard weight-lifting session, say I burn another 350 calories(accounting for during and after the workout). So, now my formula for weight loss is something like:

1900(resting weight loss) - 1500 calories intake/day = - 400 calories

-400 + -200(daily bike ride) + -350(daily weight-lifting) = -950

I'm now running a 950 calorie a day deficit...woohoo! In a week, I would lose 6650 calories which equates to about 1.9 pounds a week. Since weight-lifting requires days off, then that number will not always factor in daily. Also, that doesn't account for the other activities that account for exercise like walking and so forth which would bump the calories burned a little higher. Also, this is given a well proportioned diet. If your consuming 70% fat in your diet, then the weight loss may vary. But, your still in a caloric deficit so your still losing weight. I would apply this formulate to a 60/30/30(c/p/f) or a variation of that...maybe more protein and less carbs.

Since Atkins is all about burning fat stores because your not providing your body enough carbs to function(which your body would otherwise use the carbs first for energy and then turn to fat), that is why that works so well because it's burning fat directly.

Anyway, I did a 1500 calorie a day high carb/low fat diet with biking and weight-lifting for a year. In that time, I lost about 35 pounds while putting on several pounds of muscle. This formula is nothing new. It's prevalent on the web.

Just thought I would give you a measure of how fast you would lose weight and a pretty accurate calculation you can use. Atkins has its own rules so I wouldn't apply this formula with Atkins.

 

Kind of hard to say...but I would guess you may gain a few pounds and level off. Atkins is all about maintenance after the first two week period of < 10 grams carbs...known as induction phase. After that, the maintenance is finding the right balance of carb grams to where you will not gain weight and/or still lose weight albeit not nearly as fast as induction. That will vary depending on the person. This may be 50 carb grams a day as an example. It might be the equivalent of two slices of bread or so. But, everyone cheats every once in a while on Atkins. If not, then your doing really well. What people tend to do on Atkins is have an off-meal or day and they get in this cycle of going on and off induction phase versus just sticking to the maintenance. I've seen several people rotate in and out of the induction phase. I know a guy who has been in induction phase for 7 weeks now. I don't think being in induction that long is very healthy personally but who knows?

In summary, I think you may gain a few pounds back by just introducing carbs at a high level again. It's kind of a shock to the body. You will probably end up retaining more water and this will account for some of the weight gain. But, if your restricting calories you should be okay. I know when I was on Atkins I did really well for a month and then I went off. When I say went off, I literally went off...on a carb binge. I think I ended up gaining more weight than before. You don't crave carbs when your on it so much but once you get back into carbs...it can snowball on you. It's happened to many people on Atkins. I think if you added some daily exercise(say 3 to 5 times a week @ 30 minutes a day) you would have better chances of keeping your weight down post-diet.

 

Pork skins, taco salads without the taco shell/beans using ground turkey or ground lean beef, beef jerky(although watch out for the marinated jerky), nuts(has carbs but not too many if you eat an amount within reason), lots of water, fish(tuna/grilled), eggs, sausage, cheese, and chicken. That was just a sample of what I ate on it.

If your looking for a diet similar to Atkins in that it has an induction phase but it differs from Atkins in that it allows "good" carbs, such as whole grains, beans, etc. , look into the Miami South Beach Diet. They have a comprehensive website to assist in meal preparation, tracking your progress/stats, and talking with others. I'm sure that is nothing new as Atkins probably has websites like that, too.

What I would do on Atkins these days is splurge into some of their product lines, like frozen dinners, protein-based bread, ice cream, etc. . It's really expensive, though.

 

Atkins is okay if what you are aiming for is pure weight loss. But if you would like to muscle up and get in shape, it is a terrible idea. Ketosis will make you lose weight, no one will argue with that. But if you get into a nice, consistent, intense weight lifting routine with some high intensity cardio to go with it, you will lost weight no matter what you eat. Check out the book Power Eating by Susan Kleiner if you would like to educate yourself on nutrition.

 

I've lost about 42lbs on Atkins.

This diet rocks.

 

Does limiting carbohydrates have any effect on the ability to build muscle?

 

Well, it's a commonly known fact in the body building world that protein is essential to building muscle while carbs are essential to fueling your muscles. So, I would feel safe in saying that by limiting carbs you will be impacting your workouts. That doesn't mean you won't build muscle. But, I would venture a guess that it is going to affect the processes involved. I don't believe you would have the same quality work-outs on a strictly limited carb diet that you would have otherwise. That probably means you would tire out quicker and easier than you otherwise would have equating to less reps and/or less sets. To build muscle, you need to lift the heavy weights and without the carbs fueling your muscles I do believe your not proceeding the best way. But, I'm no doctor and that's only from what I've researched and read elsewhere.

Dada was last seen on a carb binge somewhere in La. proceeding to Miss. . LOL

 

Franchise3-
I'll tell you I've done the Atkins intro 2-3 times to cut weight fast, it does work. I don't like dieting full-time so I do it and then get off from it.
But I'll warn you if you are into lifting you may experience a loss of muscle during your initial period. I did the initial period (only meat and cheese, nothing else) for 2 weeks a couple of times and had no ill effects (well except for having constant **** pains for the first 3 days or so, then the inability to crap for the next week and a half) but my last experience I talked to a college trainer who said it was safe to do that for upto 3 weeks, assuming you were taking your supplement vitamin.
The third week for me took out alot of muscle. I was benching around 360 at the time and I lost 10-15 pounds of bench strength. It took me a dand long time to build it back (usually when I was doing my strength cyles I could add 5 pounds to my bench every 3 1/2 weeks). I stayed at 345-350 for a couple months.
So I would really advise if you do the intro only do it for 2 weeks, at least in my situation the third week took it's toll on me. I lost the majority of my weight (15 pounds or so in those couple week) in the 1st couple weeks anyways.
Plus as I stated I had a real hard time getting my strength back.

 

This is the view of Atkins from the Zone Diet. Now each diet has its own propoganda and I am not necessarily agreeing what is said here. But I think both diets have their own flaws.

The Atkins Diet
08/5/2003

As promised in my last article, here are my observations of the Atkins Diet.

In his Zone books Dr. Sears is critical of the Atkins Diet, claiming that it does not work, and in his books Dr. Atkins is critical of the Zone suggesting that it is very similar to the conventional high carbohydrate, low fat diet and that it won’t work. So where is the truth? Does the Zone work? I can confidently answer yes from my own personal experience, from observation of the dramatic benefits in our clients, and from enthusiastic e-mails that I receive from all around the world. Does Atkins work? I have never tried it myself but I have seen a number of people for whom it has worked and worked very well.

I would like to state that I have a great deal of respect for the late Dr. Robert Atkins. He was one of the pioneers in the concept of reducing carbohydrates for health and weight control. He stood firm against all the ridicule and abuse that the establishment heaped on him from when he first published his work in the 1970s. Despite his books becoming best sellers, it was regrettably only shortly before his death earlier this year that the medical world started to take him seriously. A number of recent scientific studies are confirming the benefits of his recommended diet when compared with the high carbohydrate, low fat diet favored by the American Heart Association, the New Zealand Heart Foundation , and all of the conventional “experts”. Furthermore, his book Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution has the best article I have seen on systemic yeast infection.

Having written these things, I would still favor the Zone as a choice of eating lifestyle. The Zone is a much gentler and easier diet that sits in the middle of the extremes of high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate Atkins and high carbohydrate, low fat AHA diet. I have worked with quite a lot of people who have tried Atkins but found that they could not tolerate it or could not sustain it. In some cases the delight of unlimited high fat, high protein meals rapidly turned to feeling sick at the thought of these foods, because of their excess consumption. In other cases, the severe restriction of fruit and vegetables became unbearable. I guess these problems again amount to over restriction of food choices such as I discussed in the Blood Group article.

Zone Nutrition is relaxed about eating the odd meal out of the Zone, but with Atkins this “failure” would result in having to go right back to the beginning and going through the induction diet again. This strictness is an incentive to give the whole thing away.

People who can tolerate Atkins will lose weight and improve their blood chemistry and blood pressure, but I have a number of reservations. Atkins seemed unconcerned about high intake of saturated fat. Many studies show that people who have a high intake of saturated fat have also have a high incidence of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Just the week before I wrote this article two separate studies reported in the Lancet and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed very significant increased risk of breast cancer in young women with a high intake of saturated fat.

Although it is fair to say that the severe restriction of carbohydrate is only for the Induction part of the diet, Atkins’ guidelines for finding ongoing levels of carbohydrate intake would still suggest fairly restricted carbohydrate intake. Fruits and vegetables are indeed carbohydrates, but they are also our main source of most vitamins and trace minerals as well as fiber. Removing these factors from one’s diet by following Atkins necessitates taking a large number of pills to compensate for the lost nutrients. Relying heavily on supplements for these essential micronutrients is not usually an ideal option because the best way to get them is in their natural form, where they occur in balance. In fact, artificial pills and potions can deliver micronutrients in a way that can be counter- productive.

In his book Atkins writes with some admiration about a man who reported eating a massive lunch of chicken legs. It is difficult to support encouragement of gluttony. All studies of longevity and good health universally show the powerful beneficial effects of low calorie intake provided nutritious food is chosen. One of the advantages of Zone Nutrition is that it actually gives you accurate guidelines for a healthy amount of food intake to fit your personal requirements. Although this amount of food represents a low calorie diet, you will not be hungry or crave food because of the hormonal balance achieved in your body by balancing your food in the Zone.

I welcome the e-mails of any Atkins fans out there, but please remember; I admire the man and his work and appreciate the fact that he has been misreported and misrepresented more than most in the nutrition world. It is just that I feel more comfortable with Zone Nutrition than with Atkins for my ongoing permanent eating lifestyle.

We will shortly be taking a break for a holiday in Vietnam. I hope on our return to bring you an account of our experiences of eating in the Zone in that beautiful country. Derek will be available back home to process your product orders.

Kind regards,
Kevin and Carol Bateman
ProZone

Zone Instruction and advice and suppliers of genuine ZonePerfect products for Australia and New Zealand

http://www.zoneperfect.com/Site/content/guest_detail.asp?ID=4802

 

The atkins diet is not going to rob you of any more muscle loss than you would incur from a caloric deficit diet. If you are after Muscle gains with fat loss you have to embark on a very strict and intense weight training program with some high intensity cardio and eat a well balanced diet as is laid out in Power Eating by Susan Kleiner. If you want a crash course on nutrition, read this book.

I am not knocking the Atkins as a pure weight loss tool, but it is not a diet for athletes, just for weight loss.

 

i don't know. when i started the atkins diet, my bench was around 650. after week 3, i was up to 665. so i guess it depends.




















obviously i'm just kidding.

















i was never on the atkins diet.

 

Hey guys,


Sorry for the delay in my response, but I am in England and not always available for the next week or so.

Atkins is working great.....and you are allowed to have good carbs, just after the induction phase.

I am still in Ketosis and had a great Curry last night with about a bottle of wine....so I am not suffereing too much.




DD

 

I have a friend on low carb and he drinks vodka, rum, gin, or whiskey straight up or with diet soda. If he drinks beer, he drinks Michelob Ultra Light, something like 2.6 carbs per serving.