Has anyone tried the Atkins diet, or a low carb diet and stuck to it? Does it work?

Question

If so, how long have you been on it and how much weight did you lose. Do you recommend trying it?

Answer 1

Atkins diet is an excellent diet if done for a short amount of time (no longer than 30 days). The south beach diet is an Atkins like life style change that slowly introduces selct carbs back into your diet but still minimizes most of them. No diet is ever long lasting without excersize.

But the Atkins works by depleting your body of glycogen stores (stored carbohydrates) Once these are gone, your body burns fat. your body never really burns fat until these stores are gone. which is why you need to wirk out vigorously for more than 20 minutes at a time to begin to burn fat stores. Without eating carbohydrates, the glycogen never really builds back up. but when the body uses only fat and protein for energy, ketone bodies build up in the blood and can cause an acidic blood condition.

my wife lost about 12 pounds in the month we did atkins before our wedding, and about 25 more the next six months on South beach. we are still doing south beach and excersizing regularly (3 days a week) and the weight is still off (3 years later)

Also, Atkins diet is not unhealthy if done as it was intended. A quick weight loss technique, which is then supplemented by altered eating habits and better lifestyle. Do not attempt atkins diet for longer than a month.

Answer 2

I did atkins and lost a lot of weight. I also became very sick.
The major difference between atkins, and watching how much, how often, and what you eat, is this.
If I was on atkins, and had too many cards today, it would throw your weight loss off by a week. It takes so many days for it to work, and if you add too many carbs back in, you have to get your body back into that atkins mode. If I cheat today, with the way my diet is now, it wont take a week to get back into weight loss, its just one day!! Plus, you honestly do get sick, and sick of eating fatty foods all the time.
If you eat more often, around 6 times a day, drink water, eat less each meal, and try to exercise, you actually will lose more.
As a nurse, I will tell you this, Atkins is a quick fix, but it can and usually does, leave you with all that extra cottage cheese skin, and you do not want all your hard work to go to waste. Exercise anyway you like, and eat sensibly...I lost 140lbs doing it that way, in less than a year~

Answer 3

It's quite possible that the Atkins bars and other low-carb substitute foods are the problem. I would try to stay away from them and other processed foods and just have fresh, whole foods. Atkins isn't about swapping crap for low-carb crap, it's about eating healthy, real food. You could try South Beach, but really Atkins induction only needs to last two weeks, then you can move up the carb ladder and slowly add back things like nuts to your diet (depending on how your body reacts). You really need to read the book to make sure you're doing it properly.

Answer 4

I did the South Beach diet for 2 years. It does work at first, and you lose a lot of weight in the first 2 months - but even if you stick to it for a long time the weight will slowly come back. It is a good diet for the short term, but not for the long term.

You are just better off dieting regularly and excercising.

Answer 5

We've done the low carb diet. It worked great for my hubby! He has kept most of the weight off for almost 2 years now, even after going back to our regualr diet. The best place I found for low carb recipes is the foodnetwork.com site,, they had a show called low carb and loving it, I got tons of good tasting reciepes in there. Good luck!

Answer 6

No, I don't recommend that you go on the Atkins diet. It isn't a very productive diet at all.. It made my dad gain weight, because he was eating so much meat. It upped his bad cholesteral to a dangerous rate. I wouldn't reccomend it at all. It didn't help one bit, after he stood with it for 6 months, he lost weight, but it came right back, with even more pounds... no. Don't do this diet.

Answer 7

It does work however if you do it I suggest that you do it the healthy way. Like instead of ground beef use ground turkey etc. I know alot of people including myself who had cholesterol problems after the diet and Dr Atkins himself died of an heart attack again do it healthy.

Answer 8

Atkins saved my life. Seriously and I am not joking. For 30 years I was bulemic and tried every diet on the planet and to lose one pound I would have to starve myself to 500 calories a day or puke all my food not as a benge as they say bulemia is but to try and lose weight or not gain it back. I am very short only 4'11 and to eat like a normal person I would gain so fast it wasn't funny as I had destroyed my metabolism.

2 1/2 years ago I thought about going on the Atkins as I wanted to lose weight fast. I got the book and began to read it. (The single most important thing before beginning any low carb program) Wow this made more sense than anything I have ever read. I realized that this couldn't be a diet for me but I had to change my way of eating for life.

My husband and I went on this together. I lost 50 pounds and he lost 80. This took rather very little time to lose it too. Yes right at first you do have goofy breath but it's ketosis where your body is actually burning the fat up. You lose fat on this way of eating more than muscle like you do when you starve yourself.

It isn't all about eating fat as many will try and tell you. It isn't unheathy either, isn't bad on your kidneys and Dr. Atkins did not die of a heart attack but from a fall on the ice on his head. He did not have high cholesterol and his company went bankrupt due to promoting high priced junk food he never agreed with but they put his name on. I have never eaten so healthy in my life or felt so wonderful. For 2 1/2 years I have never made myself vomit once or felt the need too. I can eat and eat as much as I want until I am comfortably full. I never have had to count calories, portions, eat only celery or salads, but real food!

To me if there could be a perfect way of eating this is it. But you have to decide before beginning this that those high carbs aren't worth it. If you approach this as your depriving yourself you will never stick with it. It's all about substitutions. I want a piece of cake, I make a cheesecake with walnuts for the crust instead of graham crackers and splenda in place of the sugar. Very legal on and I will not gain weight.

I have weighed 110 for over 2 years, a perfect weight in my mind for a 47 year old woman, never weigh myself but recently went to the Doctor because of a sinus infection and I haven't gain one pound and EAT! Let me tell you I eat! Yippee!
Source(s):

This is the site that made a difference in my life.

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com

Answer 9

In the mood for some sort of hot meal? Make a huge pot of veggie bean soup, divide into two-cup containers, and store in the freezer. Before bed, place a container within the fridge, then grab it before heading out the door each morning.

Answer 10

My best friend does Atkins...she'll lose about 15-20 pounds...fast, but once she goes off of it, she gains it ALL back, plus more!

Atkins is very unhealthy. Just eat what you normally do, just cut portions in half and work-out. You need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight.