I am trying the Adkins! Help!?

Question

Anyone have any success or failure stories?

It's for my wedding and will only be on it for to months. I have been dieting the healthy way, and have lost 30 pound since Jan, 06. I just have hit a wall and need to break past that.

Answer 1

Why? There is a reason everyone quit doing it. Long term, it doesn't work. Just cut out sugar, eat more fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. If you need a plan, do the only one that has shown to work and has been supported by many independent studies: Weight Watchers. You can do it online.

Answer 2

I have had great success with the Atkins diet. As I approached my 40s and after having two children, I was about 20 lbs over my normal healthy weight. I was able to lose the 20 lbs and have kept it off for over two years.

The reason people fail on a low carb diet is because they do not stay with it. It is not just a diet, it is changing the way you eat for life. The first three to four weeks are hard because when you are used to eating a lot of carbs you crave them. Day 7 was the toughest for me. I felt very run down on that day, but I just ate some bread to get me through and took a nap. After that day it was much easier and the cravings began to go away.

The best thing about a low carb diet is that you never have to go hungry. You can eat as much as you want of meats, cheeses, eggs, green vegetables and other low or no carb foods.

There are many reports coming out on the news recently about the huge problem of obesity. These reports have stated that sugar and starches (carbohydrates) are the main culprits. The more you eat of them, the more you crave. Before my low carb lifestyle I was hungry all the time. I would eat something like rice or pasta and an hour later I was hungry again! Low carb foods satisfy you for a much longer time, so you eat less often.

The only unhealthy part is while you are losing the weight they tell you to not eat bread or fruit. But once you have lost weight you can begin to add these back into your diet. The only other problem I know of is that losing weight quickly (on any diet) can lead to gallstones. I have developed gallstones, but I took the herb hydrangea root for a week and have not had any symptoms since. Hydrangea root is said to dissolve gallstones.

The world is just beginning to understand that a diet high in carbohydrates leads to obesity and many other problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney failure. I encourage you to do the smart thing and stay with a low carb lifestyle.

PS: Dr. Atkins died because he slipped on ice and cracked his head on the sidewalk. He was very healthy until then.

Answer 3

I have serious reservations about the Atkins diet.

The thought behind this diet is that by totally avoiding dietary carbohydrate, the body will shift into a mode that involves using protein as an energy source along with fats. During this time, you would be replenishing the protein as fast as you use it up, therefore the stored fat in your body would be preferentially depleted. This is an example of a little bit of knowledge being worse than none at all!

Yes, the body can be put into a mode of metabolism that preferentially burns protein and fat as energy sources by avoiding carbohydrate. Is this healthy? NO!! Carbohydrates are the most basic energy source. Even when you eat none, the body is busily converting amino acids into sugars in order to make up the deficit. All the while, the dietary intake of fats and cholesterols that are associated with dense protein sources is markedly increased. This diet is BAD for your heart and BAD for your blood vessels.

Time and time again, large studies have shown that crash diets fail to yeild durable weight loss. There is no magic. If you do something that significantly changes your pattern of living life and eating, you will not be able to sustain the change, and you will bounce back. PERIOD.

Durable weight loss comes from sustainable life style changes. Small changes in diet, best implemented as small steps over time, accompanied by a meaningful committement to a program of exercise, is the ONLY WAY other than surgery, that people effectively put weight off and keep it off.

The single biggest contributor to overweight is failure of portion control. We, as Americans, do a lousy job of tracking how much we eat.

If you want to lose weight. Start by making an accurate assessment of what you eat, and how much. Work with a registered dietician to evaluate this and develop a plan for reducing your meal size to what is sensible and to control snacking.

Then, get to the gym!

Answer 4

Atkins (not Adkins) is not meant to be a crash diet, it is meant to be a way of life. If you treat it as a diet and "go off" or "finish" you will gain the weight back....just like every other "diet".

However, if you research, read the book and follow the plan as a lifestyle, you will lose weight and be healthier. It is not a NO carb plan, it is a LOW carb plan focusing on healthy, nutrient-dense carbs like vegetables and some fruits, nuts, and cheese.

Although a high-fat diet is dangerous in the context of high carbohydrate consumptions, studies have shown that in the absence of a high-carb intake a high-fat diet will not hurt you and may in fact be beneficial. I know many people on Atkins whose cholesterol and blood pressure have improved. I know people who, under their doctors' supervision, have been able to reduce or eliminate drugs for their cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes and other problems. Many were recommended the Atkins regime BY THEIR DOCTORS. Others found that their doctors were willing to review their negative opinions in light of the health improvements they were experiencing.

Oh yes, Dr Atkins IS dead (at the age of 72, as a result of complications from slipping on ice and hitting his head on the sidewalk). So is Nathan Pritikin (low-fat high-grain guru). No matter how we live, we will all die.......

Answer 5

I've heard of Adkins--isn't that the diet that prohibits carbs? Didn't Mr. Adkins die? The key to any diet is LIFESTYLE CHANGE! There's no pill or secret cure, just eat a balance of food in moderate portions & exercise (even if u can't physically exercise like an athlete, there r still exercise u can do) to help u get & stay healthy. That Adkins diet is dangerous, I've heard a lot of bad stories about it!

Answer 6

Atkins works great, but you need to get the book "Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution" and do it right.

Atkins recommends excercise, start that now.

There are a lot of people trashing it who don't know what the Atkins diet really is. You need the book.

BTW, Dr. Atkins death was due to a degenerative heart condition, not related to cholesterol.

Answer 7

I lost 23 ponds two years ago and managed to keep most of it off. I just got tired of eating mostly meats and veggies. Very good Diet

Answer 8

I hear people on the Adkins diet have bad breath.

Answer 9

Atkins
I ate only lean Beef (not potatoes or bread or veggies) and just had my vitamins and lost 10 lbs in a bout 3 weeks. Never went hungry.

Answer 10

atkins is bad for the heart and circulation.

you don't get fat from carbs... you don't get fat from fats... it's calories that make you larger.

you'll get sick from it. don't do it.. besides the weight loss rate is limited. you will only lose 40lbs at most.

stick with what works.. 5 fruits, 5 veggies a day (fresh) more water.. more fresh fruit juices.. lesser meats, way less junk food and junk snacks.

more exercise.

you'll feel better.. you'll look better and your heart and circulatory system will love you for it.

atkins is a death diet.

don't do it! don't! those who get on atkins risk high triglycerides, cholesterol and weakness in the muscles along with constipation.