Atkins update

[Bonegavel]

Well, I'm on day 9 of the diet and I've already lost 13 lbs. and I've never felt better in my life. I attribute the last comment mainly to the lack of caffeine and sugar, but who knows. My energy levels are huge.

And for the first time in years, I'm getting my ass (and the rest of me) into a gym where I will be sweating and stuff. No diet is complete without moving your cheeks around in an effort to stimulate the sweat glands into action.

YMMV, but so far I've been pleased. Just getting coffee/soda/beer (and all their evil friends like sugar and caffeine) out of my diet has been worth it. I do miss the liquid goodies, but when I add it back into my life I won't do it in the 55 gallon drums I once used. Moderation is the key.

[Franklinnoble]

Could have done without the "No diet is complete without moving your cheeks around in an effort to stimulate the sweat glands into action." comment, but otherwise, congratulations. ;)

[damnMikeBrown]

Congratulations! I myself am 3 1/2 weeks into it. I'm doing it to help my mother, who is on it. She has lost much less than you. Only 5-6 pounds, but she's lost 4 sizes on her pants, so hurrah for the both of you!

I have lost. . . . ZERO pounds. I've been lifting pretty heavy though, so I'm guessing I'm still putting on some lean bodyweight. I think I'm starting to see the signs of my 6-pack, but at this point, it's really only a deuce. I can see the outlines of the top 2, and a bit of striation down the side, but that's it.

[NevStar]

Good for you guys. Good luck.

[Swaggs]

Without any data to back it up, of all the males and females I have known to try Atkins, the males have had much greater weight loss.

[SackAttack]

My dad has dropped around 100 pounds on the Atkins diet in the last couple of years. My mom tried it for a while, didn't like the results, and stopped. My brother was on it for a day, and quit when he found out he couldn't eat bread.

[Shaun Sullivan]

I've lost 35 pounds so far. Back to my High School weight!

Shaun

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by SackAttack
My brother was on it for a day, and quit when he found out he couldn't eat bread.

One really shouldn't start upon a course of action without knowing the parameters first. "My brother went skydiving one day, but quit when he realized he had to wear a parachute. Unfortunately, he had already jumped..."

[Shkspr]

Originally posted by SackAttack
My brother was on it for a day, and quit when he found out he couldn't eat bread.

SO he wasn't so much dieting as just choosing to have a steak that day. :)

[Jets80]

Bone, Just wondering what do you eat?

Isn't the plan behind this diet to cut out sugar and carbs?... I was curious so looked at a few things I had in my closet and fridge and I must have like million carbs combined in my house..Just wondering what kind of foods you eat, I would love to drop about 15lbs and try regain the form of my early college days.

Also...grats on the 13 Lb's

[Bonegavel]

Originally posted by Jets80
Bone, Just wondering what do you eat?

Isn't the plan behind this diet to cut out sugar and carbs?... I was curious so looked at a few things I had in my closet and fridge and I must have like million carbs combined in my house..Just wondering what kind of foods you eat, I would love to drop about 15lbs and try regain the form of my early college days.

Also...grats on the 13 Lb's

thanks, and this diet surely isn't for everyone (bread comment as proof).

Breakfast:
3 eggs scrambled
3 pieces of bacon

Lunch:
Some sort of meat (e.g.'s, hot dogs, hamburgers - obviously no buns -, Fish, Steak)
Sometimes 1 cup of salad with 1/2 cup of raw broccolli. Some cheese sprinkled on and ham. Very, very low carb dressing and little of that (just for flavour)

Dinner:
Same as lunch and usually make extra to use in next day's lunch

Snacks: fat free jello with Real Whipped Cream from the can :-)

Drink: Water, decaf coffee, diet caffeine free cola or any no carb drink. It is important to shun caffeine.


During induction (first 2 weeks) you eat no more than 20g of carb per day. If you never kept track, you would be amazed at how many carbs you eat. A small bagel, for example, has about 30g of carbs. I added up my carb intake for a normal pre-atkins day and I counted almost 500g of carbs by lunch!

During induction (if you follow it religiously) brings you to ketosis (sp?) which is where your body begins to burn its fat stores for energy instead of using carbs.

In a super nutshell this diet works on this assumption: food is either a fat, protein, or carbohydrate. Protein is used for body stuff and fat (lipids) and carbs are for energy. The body uses the carbs first and the fat slinks to your nether regions. If you eat more carbs than you burn, they too turn to fat and join the others. It is much more complex than that, but that is the Readers Digest version.

It is mentioned over and over in the lit that white flour (pasta, bread, etc) is the anti-christ of foods.

The nicest thing about this diet is that it has taught me that I CAN control myself and that my eating habits (horrible as they were) were all in my head. I have gained a lot of self control using Atkins and when I eventually go off the diet, I know I can now sit down at a restaurant and eat 1 or 2 slices of pizza and drink water instead of the whole pie and a large pepsi. My whole problem was habit and lack of self control.

Also, the lit. mentions that eating lots of carbs makes you crave them even more. I believe that now because I no longer am dying to eat like I was before. I can simply eat and not be thinking about my next meal already.

Thanks for the kind words everyone.