Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

ugh...I wish I could...I just love carbs...


I do make great mashed cauliflower (tastes so much like mashed potatoes) but it has so few carbs...

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

You just really need to adjust the way you think about what is 'proper' to eat at meals.. I've never really been a muffin/bagel girl since they give me heartburn.. but I usually eat a wasa cracker w/ egg salad, or cold cuts or hardboiled eggs and melon!

You pretty much want to stay away from white flour and sugar... The oatmeal would be out.

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

If anyone is interested, Kate and I are gonna start eating Atkins style hard-core on Monday- you can find us on Slim Down.. in the meantime, if you have any questions ask away...

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

I have a question: If my beloved oatmeal is out, and obviously bagels and muffins are out, what can I have for breakfast?

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

You can have anything else...
sometimes I have 2 hardboiled eggs. Sometimes I have 1/2 pound of turkey coldcut with 2 slices of cheese.. sometimes I eat an Atkins Bar (like a power bar). You can have melon & strawberries too.. you can eat anything you want- but you have to let go of the notion that certain foods are for certain times..

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

It is not a really heathy way to lose weight. They had studies that you do lose the weight, but it is not all that good for you.

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

Hey Ladies, work for Atkins!!!!
I am fully trained in the lifestyle so if any of you have any questions FM me, I will be happy to help with any of your questions.

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

Can you eat eggs & bacon for breakfast

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

I have a question for you - what do you say about all of the research which has proven that people who are on this diet for prolonged time - end up with permanent kidney and liver damage?

I was eating a modified plan for a short time Dr - gave me something like it - but to not monitor your carb in your veggies only to cut carb such as certain sugars, breads and the like. He told me to avoid the full plan b/c it is unhealthy to cut that low as it creates negative effects in your body (a nutrionist also gave me the same thing as well as an endo?) And both my mother, FH and drs have read numerous articles about cutting too much of your carbs as the atkins purports too can result in permanent liver and kidney damage.

The other - my friends were on the atkins and they followed it religiously but they found that they had NO energy - but regained their energy when they went back to eating proper proportions and watching calories?

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I hate that diet. For this specific reason. My BIL died after being on it for 2 months. Yes he lost weight, but he died of a heart issues, and he was only 30. So from my personal experience you couldn't pay me to be on that.

I just want everyone to know that everything has its risks, and the risk for that diet is too great for me.

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I've read the same things that Diane & Rob-loves-me have. I'm biased to begin with - I don't think diets are healthy but rather, changing habits & being aware of what you eat is best.

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Having never followed the Atkins diet myself I cannot speak from experience. I do know that Kelly, my friend, has been seeing her doctor regularly, has normal checkups and blood work and is extremely healthy now, after a year following this plan. As with anything, not everything works for everyone. You have to find what works for best for you.

I do know that there were recently 2 studies completed, both of which concluded that the Atkins diet does in fact work, and that contrary to popular belief, not only does it not raise your bad cholesterol, it actually lowers it. In addition it has been shown to increase the good cholestrol. These results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine. No I do not work for Atkins. I have been overweight for most of my life and as with many people I am searching for something that will finally work for me. I do my research before trying anything and this was something I researched a lot.

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What seems so contradictory within the studies - to me - is that animal products contain the 'bad' cholesterol and if the diet has you eating protein (which moost people equate protein with animal products) how can it LOWER the bad & increase the good? It just doesn't makse sense to me - I just haven't been able to grasp that reasoning. What am I missing?

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my sister lost 58 pounds on the atkins diet... but i dont like the idea of eating soo much meat.. i dont see it as being healthy for the arteries

however i have heard of people going on the diet... losing weight... then just eating healthily(not atkins style) and keeping the weight off

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

I believe that some of the concepts of Atkins are OK such as cutting out a lot of processed sugar and sweets, but eating almost all protien and fat is not healthy. We are not designed to primarly burn protien for energy, we are supposed to use carbs. Glucose (from carb and sugar sources) are what makes our bodies work, it feeds all our cells to keep us alive. If there is no glucose to break down, we use protien and fat to make energy either from our diet or our own muscles and organs. The byproducts of fat and protien breakdown include ketones, which Atkins says is a great thing to find in your urine. You know what a medical professional would think if they found ketones in your urine? We would think you were diabetic. By having that many ketones that they are spilling into your urine is a high amount, and is not safe. By 'inducting' yourself and using up all our glucose stores and breaking down fat and protien, you are making your blood into acid. Diabetics cannot use thier sugar because they lack or dont have enough insulin, and they make ketones, which eventually puts them into a coma or kills them. Someone on Atkins is intentionally doing this to themselves, and many people do not realize that if they have other health problems this diet can be a death sentence. You are taxing your kidneys, God didnt make your kidneys to filter all this protien, ask someone on dialysis how they like it. What about someone with kidney damage? High blood pressure? Heart disease? This diet could be the end of them. And nobody knows enough about it to say who is at higher risk than who, or who should absolutly not use this diet. What about the women who want to get pregnant? A diet like this lacks many vitamins and minerals that are present in breads, grains, fruit, ect that are needed to prepare for a maintain a healthy pregnancy, in particular folic acid. By the time you know you are pregnant the damage may already be done. Those first 8 weeks are the most important, and if you dont have any stores of these nutrients, your baby may have problems such as spina bifida, ect. Many women dont know they are pregnant until they are 6 weeks, so for that time period the baby was starved. If you want to lose weight sure it will work, but as far as using this diet for health benefits? No way.

Valerie

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

The true way to do Atkins is in 4 phases. It is not cutting out all carbs and eating all the read meat you want. There are restrictions.
On the lifestyle you need to stay away from nitrates(found in bacon, ham, sausage, peporni etc.). You should only be eating lean meat and no more then 24 oz of protein a day. You eat vegetables and later in the other phases fruits too.
What the lifestyle does, when done in the phases, is teach you how to take in the correct carbs for your body and how much of them you can have.
Now I don't personally do the diet because I can never find I can stick with it, I love my carbs, but it is totally not unhealthy. If it is done correctly as indicated you will see results and you will lower your cholestrol.
As far as the kindney thing there is no research any where, this is all myth, that indicates this. Visit the website and read more: www. atkinscenter.com
There is a whole section about the facts and myths of the atkins lifestyle.

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I do beg to differ with you - on the kidney liver problem - both my mother and FH worked for dr insurance companies and they had law suits were the dr's were putting patients on it and then not monitoring them properly and they ended up with permanent liver and kidney damage.

Sorry to that one thing I do disagree b/c I have actual and there are medical articles (I have not personally read but FH showed me one about 3 years ago) that read otherwise

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I can tell you when I was doing Atkins 'hard core' meaning less than 30 grams of carbs a day (one apple has mid-20s so you get an idea)... my percentage of fat in my body was dropping weekly.

I think when people hear Atkins they think that we walk around eating bacon, eggs and cheese up the wazoo! That's not true!!! Is it unhealthy to eat a piece of lean protein, a serving of fresh steamed veggies and a salad for dinner? NO! For anyone to say it's unhealthy would be nuts. Yes, Atkins eaters eat red meat and more protein than most other people, but I think that is more healthy... our insulin and glucose levels stay the level throughout the day, we never get hungry, we have more energy..

I just think there is a prejudice to Atkins.. I could be doing weight watchers and not eating any processed carbs, white flour or sugar- it's the SAME DIET... just a different name.

I don't know but I think people need to read the book to fully understand what Atkins is and the research behind it.. it's not a free-for-all egg/cheese/bacon diet.. I eat fresh spinach, broccoli, string beans, squash, fresh fish, chicken, beef, all sorts of seeds and nuts in moderation and fruit too- I am very conscious of the minerals and vitamins I consume and believe me, I get enough...

As far as ketosis- you need to do your research- there are 2 different types of ketosis- the type you get when you have diabetes and the Atkins type- they are two different types.... I have gone to the DR. with ketones in my urine and have had NO problems.

PLUS- the whole liver/kidney thing I don't think has been proved as a study- those people with the law suits could easily have had those problems before going on the diet- until they do a controlled study you would never know.

The bottom line is that we have been brainwashed by the FDA's food pyramid that was not even created with any SCIENCE in mind.. that's what is scary- we are all touting a eating methodology that isn't backed by science... it was just created in the 70s.. and the best part is that it was probably created to protect big business- do you think nabisco and kraft, ALL HUGE CORPORATIONS, want people to eat ATKINS??? NO WAY- b/c they would lose big $$$$..

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

Some people who use Atkins 'safely' (although I do not think this diet is safe, if they are eating enough carbs to function, i guess Atkins would call that safe) are able to use it without any complications. BUT there are some people with certain conditions such as kidney or liver disease who should NOT use this diet. It is a known medical fact that people with compromised kidneys and liver are severely restricted to how much protien they are allowed to eat, and it is possible to be walking around with a failing kidney(s) without even knowing it. I dont remember the exact #, but your kidney could be functioning at something like less than 30% before you will show symptoms. If someone like this used this diet, they would kill themselves. Although it *may* lower cholesterol, so what if you are damaging your kidneys? Youll die of kidney failure before your arteries will clog up. As far as the doctor saying that the urine was fine, if he/she knows that thier patient is on Atkins, they are not alarmed to find this out. If they didnt know they were on this diet, they would be alarmed. This doctor may be pro atkins, but there are many who are not. Ketosis no matter what type is NOT a normal condition for a human to be in. End of story. As far as research on the atkins website, you cant go by that. They are going to use findings on anything they find beneficial and not publish studies on anything that isnt. Most people do not know how to critique a research article anyway, so they would have no idea if a study was valid or not. To each his own and more power to anyone who wants to use this diet, I am NOT bashing USERS of this diet, just that I dont think this diet is safe. JMO

Re: The Atkins Diet Really Works

Just moderate your carb, intake, There are carbs that you need and thhat are good for you....all it is , is
MODERATION!!!!!