Atkins diet? I HAZ QUESTIONS.

[ysabet]

RIGHT.  Question for y'all out there (and answer anonymously if you want, that's fine, or list your name with pride.)

Have any of y'all had experiences, good or bad, with the Atkins Diet?  'Cause I'm looking at it right now.  I need to get in better shape, in better health; I'm tired of being heavier than I ought to be, and I'm not so overweight

Comments

[ytak]

Random moment but Higgs icon FTW!

I am leary of those special diets. I know plenty of people who do quite well on Weight Watchers.

I didn't go on Weight Watchers but I had wanted to lose weight because I was at the point I needed to buy a bigger size in clothes. Being the cheapskate I am, I decided to lose weight, instead. XD I lost 25 lbs one year by walking 5-6 days a week (started in "winter" and walked all through summer) and eating a lot healthier. Nothing like eating a big salad with lots of veggies (and only a touch of dressing) with a little protein on the side, healthy snacks (fruit) and exercising before eating supper. By the time I was done walking, I didn't have much of an appetite. It worked, I'm still on it, more or less, and am keeping the weight off.

The exercise length is more important than how hard you exercise. A good paced hour long walk will do more for your body than running 15 minutes.

I don't know what you might want to do but you can obviously see there are options and opinions. :)

[katsudon]

I haven't done Atkins, and I've heard enough negative about it as far as long term weight maintenance (there are some good posts over at http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/ about it if you look around) that I never felt compelled to try it. I did do South Beach while the army guys were trying to get my weight down, and I lost weight all right... but I was also running 3-5 miles five times a week so that might have had something to do with it too. Ultimately, I felt like South Beach made me lose weight more because it controlled portions strictly rather than any kind of magical lack of carbs. (Since let's be honest, it's VERY easy to eat a shitton of calories with carbs and not notice how much you're taking in if you're not tracking

[katsudon]

Hm. Also, my mom's done weight watchers. I'm not interested in it because I don't cook that much and it sounds like a PITA if you don't cook, but that's also worked out for her really well. I think it just helps to have some kind of guide line about how much you're allowed to eat, since then when you hit your limit you can be like, "Well, that's it for today."

[canis_lupus03]

Atkins? Isn't that the low carb, so high fat + protein diet? I've not tried any diets, but I agree with those that are sceptical. I have had two years of classes on human nutrition in school, and what I've taken away from that is this: Specific diets aren't the way to go. There'll be a new one every moment, and about every five years the entire field seems to start saying the opposite of what they did before (fat is bad - no, proteins are bad - no, sugars are bad etc.). So, if you want to lose some weight and keep it off, here's my advice: (unless you just want a quick reduction and then it doesn't matter anymore if it comes back? Then ignore what I have to say, ^^) If you take in more energy than you expend during your day, you gain weight. Ergo, lower intake of animal products (they're usually fattier), and raise input of plant products (they have fiber- bulk without energy), the less processed the better. A great book I can recommend is Andrew Weil, "Eating Well for Optimum Health- The essential guide to food, diet and nutrition" I

[canis_lupus03]

Just re-read your post, and found something to add: If you've got problems with arthritis, I'd really stay away from a high-protein diet. I vaguely recall something about how when proteins get broken down by the body, there's nitrogen left over that might, if there's too much for it, end up accumulating in joints as some sort of acid (uric acid?), which causes pain.

[cailamaia]

I can't say I've tried this personally -- if I tried to cut much out of my diet calorie-wise, I'd never make it through the day -- but mom has done something similar. Not Atkins, but just cutting her carbs down to the minimum she can stand to. She still eats things like rice and pasta, but only in small amounts. And it's worked really well for her. Dunno just how much weight she managed to drop, but it was at least 5-7 pounds over the course of a few weeks. Slow progress, but quite noticeable by the end.