Atkins

Solac said:
IIRC Atkins isnt about calories, its about points
and u can have upto 20 points a day
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IIRC, points is weightwatchers? ;) :D (i think so anyway)

JasonO said:
It's neither about calories or points, and apples are a definate no....too much sugar in them.

The typical calorie intake for an adult male is in the region of 3000cals, on atkins you will use more calories digesting your food so you can get away with slightly more, maybe 3300.

This is the important difference with Atkins though, it not calorie controlled, it's burning fat which your body has stored away. The whole ketosis and introduction process is to start your body burning fat rather than sugar. All the carbohydrates are broken down by your body into sugars, what it doesn't need is deposited in store as fat for later use. If you eat no carbs, your body will burn this fat for energy. This is where the weight loss comes from, not from controlling your calorie intake.

There are two schools of thought on Atkins, one says the bruning of these fats leads to a lower cholesterol level, the other says the consumption of apparently fattier foods leads to higher cholesterol.......schools out on this as far as I'm concerned, make your own mind up from as much literature as you can find.
Now, stop being lazy Gangstah, and read that book all the way through, you'll actualy find soem really interesting dietary information in it describing how your body works.
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So you're saying eat around 3000 calories ?? I thought men was 2500 daily...?
I'll stick around that area as a guide line, although IMO wont that be pretty hard as stuff like bacon eggs and all that are quite high in calories so it wont take long to get near ~2500-3000 calories right??

:o Maybe im just over-worrying, lol :D

I'll be on it very very soon, will be doing all the 'taking pictures before' and measuring everywhere to (hopefully) love the new me :D


Thanks,

G
 
Gangster said:
So you're saying eat around 3000 calories ??
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Errr, nope. I'm not suggesting you control calorie intake at all. You'll likely find that your not as often hungry on Atkns as you wuld be on a calorie controlled diet.

So long as you avoid carbs, you can pretty much eat as much as you like so long as you're sensible....but you probably won't feel hungry anyway.

I can't say it enough, so I'll just re-inforce it again. On Atkins it's the carb content in food that's bad, not the calorie content. Thats not to say that you shoud be eating hugely fatty foods on an Atkins diet, that'd be just as bad for your heart regardless of what sort of dietary rooutine your following.

When I was following Atkins, my normal meals consisted of a meat or fish portion and a huge helping of salad or vegetables, basically a normal meal with no potatoes, rice or pasta. (My favourite was sliced steak, stirfried with greens. With some garlic and chilli or salt for seasoning.)

God damn, I'm hungry now. :D
 
I've done a low carb diet 3 times and all 3 times I've put my weight back on.
It does work and you lose weight very quickly and I've done marathons while being on a low carb diet.
However, if you don't stick to it and decide to steal the odd chip butty here and there, you will put it back on.

Its quite interesting that low carb diets have been given out by dieticians at hospitals for decades but you'll never hear the word Atkins mentioned.
 
dmpoole said:
Its quite interesting that low carb diets have been given out by dieticians at hospitals for decades but you'll never hear the word Atkins mentioned.
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Agreed, if you say Atkins then people run away all scared, but if you say lo-carb they want to know what it is. :)
 
If I got on Atkins starting next week how much weight could I stand to lose in 6 weeks? I run 3 or 4 miles most days, and do lots of calisthenics in prep for my training, but because I'm sat around a lot of the time I find it hard to eat properly as I get bored :D The whole messing the metabolism thing shouldn't matter with regards to putting on weight when I finish, I don't think it will be possible to put on weight during the 'beasting' phase of my training :D

Is it literally you can eat what you want (within reason - no tubs of lard) as long as there are no carbs?
 
I lost between half a stone and a stone in the first 2 weeks on the Atkins diet when i was on it. It then slows down after this and can be a 1-2lbs a week loss after that until you reach goal and have the carb level such that you maintain the weight you want to be at.

Also forgot to add drink lots of water on the diet as this helps the diet.

Another thing is you can be headachy for a few days while your body adjusts to the new low carb diet so expect this to possibly hit as well.

SCM
 
Half a stone in 2 weeks? Wow, then my combat trousers would fit me perfectly :D

I might look into doing it closer to the time then, I don't need to lose bundles of weight, and if I do it now I might just put it back on again.
 
I think the more overweight you are the more you lose in the 1st 2 weeks, but generally half a stone in 2 weeks is about right.

I would say if you want to lose weight and keep it off, use the diet as a tool to change and control your life (lol im a fine one to talk!) and add in exercise, as this lets you maintain muscle mass,lose weight quicker and it allows you to have a higher amount of carbs.

I have a sweet tooth and the atins reallyhelps me control my sugar intake, intially i went from 13 st to just under 11 st in 4 months, i have put a stone back on since, i was really strict tho as i wanted to reach my goal, i did the healthy version tho, i didnt rerally go for the fryups,i ended up eating a lot of fish and chicken, and loads of green veg, the only real high calorie/fat stuff i took was fresh cream in my coffee and on berries.

Id advise getting some splenda sugar which is great and is the best of the sweetners.

But exercise is a must, its pointless doing the diet without some form of cardio imho.

Edit : read this mate its a very good guide by gordy. http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17401146&page=1&pp=30
 
I wouldn't recommend the atkins diet especially as the guy who invented it died with coronory problems. But if it works for you go for it just be aware of the risks.
 
mcdermos said:
I wouldn't recommend the atkins diet especially as the guy who invented it died with coronory problems. But if it works for you go for it just be aware of the risks.
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He died of head injuries sustained in a fall

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/02/16/atkins.widow/

He did have a serious disease of the heart muscle called cardiomyopathy caused by a viral infection and he had a heart attack in the past due to this condition and nothing at all to do with his diet.

The ones trying to claim he died of a heart attack etc are ultra ultra vegetarians, rereading the report, as it is they who are claiming he died of a heart attack.

SCM
 
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mcdermos said:
I wouldn't recommend the atkins diet especially as the guy who invented it died with coronory problems. But if it works for you go for it just be aware of the risks.
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Even if he did die from a heart attack, remember he was aged 72.
 
mcdermos said:
I wouldn't recommend the atkins diet especially as the guy who invented it died with coronory problems. But if it works for you go for it just be aware of the risks.
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what difference would that make?

i know many mechanics whos cars are a state, many builders whos houses are always building sites but never anything complete.

knowing something and doing it is 2 different things
 
Apologies, I wasn't trying to infer that he died due to the coronary problems but he had coronary problems at the time of his death as he was being treated for the condition you stated. In fact that was damn sneaky if I was an ultra veggie (I write this after having a cheese and ham sandwich).

What I should have said was that I looked into the atkins a lot as I was interested in the diet but I decided against it. Theres no denying there is still a lot of contention surrounding the diet and its possible long term effects and for me I didn't want to take those risks.

Personally I started my own diet of 'Not Eating Crap and Cutting Back On Drinking Ale' diet which has been good for me.
 
the thing is, i cant see there being any long term damage if you follow it properly.

your not without any major substance for an extended period of time.
 
One of the things that the BBC found out when they did the extensive 18 month diet tests was that low carb diets lost more weight because you eat less. Because you eat more protein, protein fills you up more. They also found absolutely no proof in the ketosis part of Atkins because they tried it with identical twins (can't remember what they did but one was on it and the other did it different).

IIRC, Atkins himself was never on the diet because he liked his bread and potatoes too much.
 
mcdermos said:
Personally I started my own diet of 'Not Eating Crap and Cutting Back On Drinking Ale' diet which has been good for me.
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probably about 90% of the population would see improvements on that diet ;)
 
Ok ive been looking at the net carbs / carbs and im onyl allowed 20grams a day right, but how exactly am i supposed to - not count what im eating, just eat till full (as says in the book) if ive got to keep track of the carbs/net carbs??

Can someone clear that up for me? Its saying eat until your full, then it says control the amount of carbs you have and dont exceed 20g. :confused:
 
The whole idea is that you eat foods that don't contain carbs, there won't be anything to count.
 
You are allowed 20grams of carbs per day for the first 2 weeks (induction phase) Ive got the recipe book, but my point being you cant really eat until you are full (as i would nomally do) because there isnt really enough.

Im starting this tommorow, going to be hard work, but hey thats what dieting is all about. I'll post results next week so you guys can see how well im progressing on the atkins diet.

G
 
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