How does the Atkins diet work, and has anybody had any success from it?

Answer 1

I do'nt really recommend it. I did it for a while and did loose weight but after about a stone, nothing else would come off. Now I can't eat "normally" as every time I have any carbs on pile the pounds! :o(
Take bmacs advice - it's sound.

Answer 2

Atkins works by limiting the carbohydrates which cause your insulin levels to spike.

It is not a NO carb lifestyle, it is LOW-carb. The carbs you do eat should be mostly vegetables, which have more vitamins, minerals and fibre than grains and starches anyways.

You really should read the book in it's entirety to see how it's done properly, a lot of the bad press comes from people putting themselves on a steak, bacon and butter diet and claiming they're doing Atkins.

It's not intended to be a "diet", it's meant to be a healthy lifestyle.

Some people have difficulty with it, being of the mindset that they "can't" live without bread or pasta, others find that they feel so much better, and enjoy the foods they CAN have so much, that they adapt to not having bread etc. I don't miss it at all.

You start out with the "Induction" stage, where carbs are limited to 20 NET grams (not counting fibre). If you are careful, you can easily fit the recommended 9 servings of veggies within this limit.

Once you are done with induction, you move into OWL or Ongoing Weight Loss. In this stage you gradually increase your carb intake until you find out how many/what kind of carbs you can eat and still lose weight. You stay in OWL until you are near your goal.

Next comes Pre-Maintenance, where you slightly increase your carbs again and work on establishing life-long eating habits.

Maintenance is the final phase, where you continue to eat in the way that you have found most beneficial for you.

I've done Atkins for 16 months so far, and lost 40 lbs.

Answer 3

Atkins diet works because it eliminates starch and sugars from the diet. My sister lost some weight with this and it worked very well for her.

The Atkins Nutritional Approach, popularly known as the Atkins Diet or just Atkins, is the most marketed and well-known of the low-carbohydrate diets. It was adopted by Dr. Robert Atkins (1930-2003) in the 1960s from a diet he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association and utilized to resolve his own overweight condition following medical school and graduate medical training. After successfully treating over ten thousand patients, he popularized the Atkins diet in a series of books, starting with Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in 1972. In his revised book, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, Atkins updated some of his ideas, but remained faithful to the original concepts.

According to Dr. Atkins the main cause of obesity is eating refined carbohydrates, particularly sugar, flour, and high-fructose corn syrups; and secondly, that saturated fat is overrated as a nutritional problem, and that only trans fats from sources such as hydrogenated oils need to be avoided.

Answer 4

I had a lot of success with the atkins diet; unfortunately i gained it all back. I was very unhealthy because of all the fatty meats that i would eat. Although there was no carbs, it still contain high fats. I call the Atkins Diet the Paradox Diet, because you eat no carbs and more fats, but you still lose weight. All you have to do is eat foods that contain no carbs and that will make you compliant to the rules of atkins. Good luck.

Answer 5

The Atkins diet works best when you are a bad swimmer. You go to a lake,pool, ocean or sea. Then you go out way over your head (not drowning distance please) and try to swim. During this time you will be taking in alot of water probably about 8 glasses. Then grab a towel and dry off. Do this exercise until you learn to swim better. When you are Marc Spitz try a new diet.

ps you do not eat or drink anything before or after your swim. I lost 5 pounds from this diet. Now I am in heaven.

Answer 6

Atkins works fine.because you limit your crrbs.(We feed carbs to the livestock to fatten them) It doesn't stop carbs.
It teaches one to not stuff yourself and stretch your stomach,
I did it so I wouldn't have to buy new jeans. It worked.
If you stick to the portion size and don't gorge yourself, the weight will stay off.

Answer 7

I was on it for about 6 months and lost about 30 pounds and 3 sizes....but once i went off i gained 40 back...it's too hard to eat mostly protein and very little carbs....it works for fast, short-term weight loss but no one can live like that forever....

Answer 8

No diet that tells you to cut out an entire food group is healthy. Just watch your portion size and eat healthy.