Low Carb Atkins Diet

[BeBobBox]

What do you guys think about the Atkins Low Carb diet??? Pros and Cons...

 

[Chris23]

I think the warrior diet is way better.

 

[9cyclops9]

Fad diets are no good. That's why they are FADS. People eventually realize it's no good and it "goes out of style."

 

[BeBobBox]

Ive met 3 people who have lost from 20-90 pounds from this diet...

 

[ctmwm]

3+ years ago I lost 48 lbs on it.

 

[Bigd5903]

how long have they been off the diet? Watch it come back when they stop. If they keep going they'll die of heart disease because fad diets are unhealthy.

 

[Dario]

Atkins works to lose weight. That said, one has to be aware of what they are substituting with the high carb foods that they will normally eat. Furthermore, weight will be gained back if the diet is not kept in moderation, once you are through.

Personally, I am very conscious of carbs - and more often than not - it is not elimination, but rather consolidation. I choose to eat healthy carbs in moderation. I've been able to keep and maintain the body I want for the past 3 years doing this. Though the food costs a bit more and I sometimes get ridiculed by friends (jokingly), it is worth it.

 

[Super]

Well you know How I feel about this subject

 

[BeBobBox]

???how do you you feel

 

[Super]

I hate those MF's diets! Eat all you want and workout hard core 5 days a week! That is all you have to do

 

[9cyclops9]

Ive met 3 people who have lost from 20-90 pounds from this diet...

So what? Who cares? That doesn't make it a good diet. That makes it a quick weight loss program. The bottom line is it is EXTREMELY bad for you. If people would just eat RIGHT in the first place, we wouldn't have this fat, lazy, sick, etc. population of people in the US. People are lazy and don't want to eat well, they just want McDonalds and 3 Musketeers. And they get what they deserve IMO. They're FAT and SICK. The best way to lose weight AND get healthy is simply to eat healthy food and exercise. Bottom line.

Sure if you want to lose weight and stay unhealthy, then yeah, Atkins diet is wonderful! Woohoo! You're skinny now, and just as unhealthy, or even more unhealthy than you were before. You've managed to live up to society's weight standard. Congrats. But I guarantee you'll be sick as a dog.

"Food" for thought.

 

[philadelph]

So what? Who cares? That doesn't make it a good diet. That makes it a quick weight loss program. The bottom line is it is EXTREMELY bad for you. If people would just eat RIGHT in the first place, we wouldn't have this fat, lazy, sick, etc. population of people in the US. People are lazy and don't want to eat well, they just want McDonalds and 3 Musketeers. And they get what they deserve IMO. They're FAT and SICK. The best way to lose weight AND get healthy is simply to eat healthy food and exercise. Bottom line.

Sure if you want to lose weight and stay unhealthy, then yeah, Atkins diet is wonderful! Woohoo! You're skinny now, and just as unhealthy, or even more unhealthy than you were before. You've managed to live up to society's weight standard. Congrats. But I guarantee you'll be sick as a dog.

"Food" for thought.

What exactly is so bad about the atkins diet?

 

[jGman]

What's bad about the Atkins diet is that it's a quick-fix for people who have been eating an unhealthy diet most of their lives. A diet is simply what you consume everyday. Everybody has a 'diet'. But diet has now become synonymous with weight loss, and less of a learning of the proper foods you should be eating for a life-time.

Carbs are just the newest boogie-man of the diet world. I would bet my house that I eat more carbs than anyone on this message board and have been for years. Yet, I'm about 120 lbs, 5'3", pretty much the same size for the past 25 years. However, along with those carbs, I eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, and very little, if any, meat. And the carbs I eat are whole-grain breads, rice, etc.

After you lose your 25-50 lbs on the Atkins, what have you learned about eating a healthy diet for the rest of your life? You'd be better off learning what to eat to keep you healthy for a life-time, than to lose some weight in the short term.

 

[Bigd5903]

The Atkins diet was also made for people who are too lazy to exercise.

 

[philadelph]

What's bad about the Atkins diet is that it's a quick-fix for people who have been eating an unhealthy diet most of their lives. A diet is simply what you consume everyday. Everybody has a 'diet'. But diet has now become synonymous with weight loss, and less of a learning of the proper foods you should be eating for a life-time.

Carbs are just the newest boogie-man of the diet world. I would bet my house that I eat more carbs than anyone on this message board and have been for years. Yet, I'm about 120 lbs, 5'3", pretty much the same size for the past 25 years. However, along with those carbs, I eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, and very little, if any, meat. And the carbs I eat are whole-grain breads, rice, etc.

After you lose your 25-50 lbs on the Atkins, what have you learned about eating a healthy diet for the rest of your life? You'd be better off learning what to eat to keep you healthy for a life-time, than to lose some weight in the short term.

The bottom line is how many calories you take in. However, if I were to suddenly start eating more carbs and less protein and fat in my diet, I would lose muscle.

The more muscle you have, the more you can eat without getting fat. You have a higher metabolic rate if you have a higher muscle mass.

Atkins doesn't condemn carbs, only carbs that produce a high insulin spike, which is not good for anyone.

Insulin does what? It drives glucose and needed nutrients into the
cells, including fat cells, AND it stops lipolysis (fat burning).

Oh, and white rice produces nearly the same insulin spike as pure sugar.

 

[Mercury]

I don't understand why there's a lot of anger with Atkins diet.
For some reason you don't get people getting angry about the general terrible diets in The UK and USA.

There's more deaths attributable to our conventional way of eating than anything else in the western world...yet people get angry with the Atkins diet.

It's not a fad, it's been around for 30 or 40 years. Before that low carb diets were even around at the start of the 20th century.

Why is it so bad?
What do you think people were eating before things like bread and sugar were discovered?
There was a time when most diets consisted of just meat, fruit, and the vegetables that were aroundavailable at the time.
In the 20th century we suddenly had mass production of all the processed carb foods that are a main factor to death in the western world.

So Atkins is a quick fix?....Good.
People can then just get rid of the fat they want, THEN concentrate on tailoring a good diet that is tailored to what they want to do.

There's not just Atkins, there's other low carb diets around, like Keto diets that are similar, and people may want to read about.
If people are concerned about putting too much fat into their bodies, then you can just make sure that thetype of fats you take in are of the healthy kind.
The Atkins diet is supposed to gradually introduce more healthy carbs into your diet as soon as you approach your goal weight.

The only reason why I don't want to go on Atkins diet is because a Keto diet sounds more useful to me, as I work out and want to preserve as much muscle mass as I can when I go on a cutting cycle for a few weeks.

There's so much scaremongering in the media about Atkins. But it's more based on people worrying about what MIGHT happen.
It's amazing that people don't get as worked up at putting all sorts of shite into their body by eating all sorts of junk that they don't even know what is doing to them.

If anything starts going wrong with Atkins, like you don't feel too good, or your cholestorol levels are too high,...you can always stop it. It's not going to kill you as soon as you start it.

 

[9cyclops9]

The bottom line is how many calories you take in. However, if I were to suddenly start eating more carbs and less protein and fat in my diet, I would lose muscle.

So are you telling me that a healthy way of eating is to eat all the meat and fat I want? Just because it promotes muscle gain does not mean it is a healthy way to eat.

Oh, and white rice produces nearly the same insulin spike as pure sugar.

Which is a good reason that when I eat rice, I eat organic unbleached brown rice. It tastes way better anyway.

I don't understand why there's a lot of anger with Atkins diet.
For some reason you don't get people getting angry about the general terrible diets in The UK and USA.

Says who? Did you read my post?

It's not a fad, it's been around for 30 or 40 years. Before that low carb diets were even around at the start of the 20th century.

It has only become popular recently. And I can guarantee you it will be thrown out fairly soon. It is a fad.

Why is it so bad?
What do you think people were eating before things like bread and sugar were discovered?
There was a time when most diets consisted of just meat, fruit, and the vegetables that were aroundavailable at the time.
In the 20th century we suddenly had mass production of all the processed carb foods that are a main factor to death in the western world.

Are you telling me that bread and sugar are recent discoveries? I think not. Bread has been around for a REALLY long time, and so has sugar. Maybe not refined sugar like you find in the stores, but sugar none the less. However, you did hit the key point. PROCESSED FOODS. That's the problem, not carbohydrates. There's so much trash in processed food and so little nutritional value left, no wonder we are such an obese society!

IMO, whole organic foods are the way to go.

So Atkins is a quick fix?....Good.

That's the lazy attitude I'm talking about. That's what our whole society is built on. Quick fixes, the easy way out, not working. LAZINESS!!

People can then just get rid of the fat they want, THEN concentrate on tailoring a good diet that is tailored to what they want to do.

How many people actually do that? Maybe if the person is extremely obese, Atkins diet might be a way to remedy that quickly and at least get the person's weight down to a tolerable level, and then start on a good diet. But this diet is NOT GOOD for the average or slightly overweight person. And the majority of people that get to their "goal weight" end up trashing themselves all over again because they go back to eating terribly.

If anything starts going wrong with Atkins, like you don't feel too good, or your cholestorol levels are too high,...you can always stop it. It's not going to kill you as soon as you start it.

I know DLD lost about 20 lbs on Atins diet, but he said he felt terrible, and he felt like the weight he lost was valuable weight, not just extra fat. He's now eating healthily and exercising (very important!) and he's lost an additional 19 lbs from that and he feels great! THAT is why Atkins diet is no good for you. You can eat healthily and feel a whole lot better, and still lose weight, and most importantly, you can actually be HEALTHY!!

 

[C-Guy]

9 Cyclops 9 I assume by reading your post that you are a doctor and you are qualified to make the statements that you are making? I have tried the low carb diet. It works fast and (for me) I do not feel that the weight lost was unhealthy at all. I never felt better when on the diet.

I have had malignant hypertension for several years and am currently on 5 perscription meds for it. However when i am low carbing my blood pressure comes down close to normal. So according to you I am killing myself for getting my blood pressure under control?

Some of us work more than one job and can not afford the time to work out at the gym. Try working some of my 18-20 hour days and then go "exercise". Watch who you call lazy dude. You do NOT know what goes on in other peoples lives. If the low carb is "bad " for you, fine , leave it alone, but quit knocking what works for others. Dr. Atkins was a cardiologist and developed the diet for people with hypertension. I have also listened to chemists that concur wholeheartedly that it is safe and effective.

 

[9cyclops9]

9 Cyclops 9 I assume by reading your post that you are a doctor and you are qualified to make the statements that you are making? I have tried the low carb diet. It works fast and (for me) I do not feel that the weight lost was unhealthy at all. I never felt better when on the diet.

I have had malignant hypertension for several years and am currently on 5 perscription meds for it. However when i am low carbing my blood pressure comes down close to normal. So according to you I am killing myself for getting my blood pressure under control?

Some of us work more than one job and can not afford the time to work out at the gym. Try working some of my 18-20 hour days and then go "exercise". Watch who you call lazy dude. You do NOT know what goes on in other peoples lives. If the low carb is "bad " for you, fine , leave it alone, but quit knocking what works for others. Dr. Atkins was a cardiologist and developed the diet for people with hypertension. I have also listened to chemists that concur wholeheartedly that it is safe and effective.

Ok, granted I made some blanket statements about people. I didn't mean everyone. I meant that the majority of Americans are lazy. And you know that's true. And no I'm not a doctor, but I do come from a medical family. My dad, two of his brothers, and my grandfather are all docs, my mom is a nurse, my soon to be father-in-law is a doctor, and his wife is a nurse. The unanimous opinion of all these medical professionals is that the Atkins diet is not a healthy diet. And granted, it is beneficial for people, such as yourself, who have malignant hypertension. But I don't think it should be THE definitive fat-loss program. Because not everyone who is overweight has malignant hypertension. If it helps that condition, the great, I support it. But I don't support it as the "lose weight to get in shape for summer FAST" type of diet.

And I also understand that not everyone can afford (or has time to) a gym membership. I'm one of those people too. Gyms in Boston ain't cheap and I'm a college student. I do bodyweight-only exercises in my apartment and I run in the evening. But I understand that still not everyone has the ability to do this, and I definitely respect you for working those long days and you aren't one of the people I'm calling lazy. But you have to admit most Americans really are lazy.

 

[BeBobBox]

This is turning into a heated subject

 

[C-Guy]

Well I apologize if I came off that way. But, as usual there are two side to most stories and both should be stated. Lots of people are fat for other reasons than being lazy. I agree that the majority of americans are fat and lazy although some are fat for other reasons.


My mom had hypertension and sugar diabeties. She was over weight because when she ate within 30 minutes she would fall asleep and be out for a couple of hours.The diabeties was always worse when she ate carbs...rice or potatoes were worse than sugar for her. She would walk and exercise as much as she could. Mom died last month from pancreatic cancer. She lost over a hundred pounds mostly from December until March 5. There was nothing left but skin draped over bones at the end. She fought to be healthy and still lost the battle.

Enough doom and gloom. There was a man in the town next to where I live that died a couple of years ago. He was in his 20's. He was sooo hughe that when he died they had to take a chainsaw and cut the wall off of his bedroom to take his body out of the house. He was over 700 pounds. He was a nice guy but could or would not try to control his eating habits and vertainly did not try to exercise.

One other thing before I stop babbling like a brook. When I am on the low carb I do NOT follow it to the tee. I eat huge amounts of veggies and some LEAN meat , but try to avoid most of the fat. I have to avoid sugar and bread.

 

[jGman]

C-Guy, sorry to hear about your mom. It sounds like she was a fantastic woman. She may have lost the battle, but she gave death a good ass-whooping.

 

[BeBobBox]

Yea, sorry to hear about your mom. Im going to start shopping for foods and getting recipes ready so that by monday I can start eating very little carbs. Hopefully I can lose some weight

 

[philadelph]

I don't see what could be healthier than eating lean meats, veggies, good fats, and low G.I. carbs. What you have here is essentially the Atkins.
I hate when people assume I am on the Atkins diet though.

I agree that when you tell fat people they can have all the cheese and bacon they want, things will get out of hand and it could become unhealthy.

There is nothing wrong about eating foods that keep your blood sugar levels stable. I feel much better and have more energy when I do this.

But we all should just stop arguing about this because everyone is different and there is not a diet that will make everyone feel good and lose weight.

 

[ctmwm]

C-guy,I'm sorry for your loss.

Well When I did the low carb thing I went the healthy way. I didnt do all the fats and the meats it just dosent seem healthy. I did all fish chicken turkey & salads and no caffiene. PLENTY of water and some Crystal light once in a while. I do think the key is to work out. Even if you just walk / jog for 30 min a day.

I took the best things on the diet and stayed with them. Shit you can loose weight on any diet as long as you do it healthily!! And workout!!

 

[C-Guy]

Thanks guys. Mom was a remarkable woman. If she instilled anything in me at all, it was to NEVER give up when you want something. I am working on some things as we speak that are literally changing my life. I WILL NEVER be the same anymore. Thank God!

 

[BeBobBox]

good luck man

 

[levista]

Wow, lot of passion on this thread. I just wanted to add some info that was found out about the Atkins in a UK study. A huge programme was embarked on by a TV show that ran all the diets against each other, eg Atkins vs Calorie Counting vs Weightwatchers vs etc etc

All said and done, the winner was the Atkins.

BUT...(and these are my recollections, i am no diet expert)

Some months after the show was finished (the show focused on the progress of a few minor celebrities) the 600 members of the public who were also doing it completed their cycle on the diets. After some study it became clear that basically the Atkins diet either creates a lot of protein (due to the fat?) or a lot of protein is taken in due to the type of food eaten. PROTEIN MAKES YOU FEEL FULL. So they looked at all the eating records and found the atkins folk were eating less than many of the other diets including restrictive ones like calorie counting.

They then looked into ketosis and proved it doesnt exist basically. You do get smelly breath etc but when they monitored the urine (cant remember why) it proved it wasnt happening. The reasoning in the Atkins books is wrong.

So basically, Atkins = more protein = feel full, eat less

The protein thing is well known especially in weightlifter circles.

Anyway it was an interesting documentary and I wanted to offer this info. I have never used Atkins etc so cant comment personally on it.

 

[philadelph]

Wow, lot of passion on this thread. I just wanted to add some info that was found out about the Atkins in a UK study. A huge programme was embarked on by a TV show that ran all the diets against each other, eg Atkins vs Calorie Counting vs Weightwatchers vs etc etc

All said and done, the winner was the Atkins.

BUT...(and these are my recollections, i am no diet expert)

Some months after the show was finished (the show focused on the progress of a few minor celebrities) the 600 members of the public who were also doing it completed their cycle on the diets. After some study it became clear that basically the Atkins diet either creates a lot of protein (due to the fat?) or a lot of protein is taken in due to the type of food eaten. PROTEIN MAKES YOU FEEL FULL. So they looked at all the eating records and found the atkins folk were eating less than many of the other diets including restrictive ones like calorie counting.

They then looked into ketosis and proved it doesnt exist basically. You do get smelly breath etc but when they monitored the urine (cant remember why) it proved it wasnt happening. The reasoning in the Atkins books is wrong.

So basically, Atkins = more protein = feel full, eat less

The protein thing is well known especially in weightlifter circles.

Anyway it was an interesting documentary and I wanted to offer this info. I have never used Atkins etc so cant comment personally on it.

That is interesting levista. For example, if I eat a grilled chicken breast which is ~130 calories, I am going to be more full than if I eat 130 calories worth of bread or rice.

 

[Mercury]

9cyclops9:It has only become popular recently. And I can guarantee you it will be thrown out fairly soon. It is a fad.

Just because something becomes popular doesn't suddenly make it a bad thing.
That's just people, it doesn't say anything about how good or bad a particular diet is.

Mercury:
"Why is it so bad?
What do you think people were eating before things like bread and sugar were discovered?
There was a time when most diets consisted of just meat, fruit, and the vegetables that were aroundavailable at the time.
In the 20th century we suddenly had mass production of all the processed carb foods that are a main factor to death in the western world".


9cyclops9: Are you telling me that bread and sugar are recent discoveries? I think not. Bread has been around for a REALLY long time, and so has sugar. Maybe not refined sugar like you find in the stores, but sugar none the less. However, you did hit the key point. PROCESSED FOODS. That's the problem, not carbohydrates. There's so much trash in processed food and so little nutritional value left, no wonder we are such an obese society!

I never told you that bread and sugar are recent dicoveries at all.

I'm saying our ancestors survived with limited carb intake.
I'm going way back, hundreds of years.
They had nothing like the mass marketed high carb foods of today.
Everywhere you go, they are in your face.
People survived without the vast array of sugary snack food that is around now, or the McDonalds, chocolate, pastrys, Coke, fizzy pop drinks etc.



Mercury:
So Atkins is a quick fix?....Good.


9cyclops9:That's the lazy attitude I'm talking about. That's what our whole society is built on. Quick fixes, the easy way out, not working. LAZINESS!!

That says nothing at all about having a lazy attitude.
You take my point out of context when you split my paragraph up. Directly after that sentence I said ...."People can then just get rid of the fat they want, THEN concentrate on tailoring a good diet that is tailored to what they want to do".

That's not lazy, that's just common sense.




9cyclops9:How many people actually do that? Maybe if the person is extremely obese, Atkins diet might be a way to remedy that quickly and at least get the person's weight down to a tolerable level, and then start on a good diet. But this diet is NOT GOOD for the average or slightly overweight person. And the majority of people that get to their "goal weight" end up trashing themselves all over again because they go back to eating terribly.

Well again, that's just people. It has nothing to do with the diet itself.
If people decide to pig out as soon as they reach their desired weight, that's their fault,..not the actual diet.
If people just want to lose weight for image reasons, then decide to trash themselves afterwards, that's entirely their own doing.
They would do that with any diet.
You can't blame a diet for what an individual decides to do afterwards.




9cyclops9:I know DLD lost about 20 lbs on Atins diet, but he said he felt terrible, and he felt like the weight he lost was valuable weight, not just extra fat. He's now eating healthily and exercising (very important!) and he's lost an additional 19 lbs from that and he feels great! THAT is why Atkins diet is no good for you. You can eat healthily and feel a whole lot better, and still lose weight, and most importantly, you can actually be HEALTHY!!

Well obviously the Atkins diet isn't suited to DLD.
People are different.
After most diets people say they feel lousy, that isn't exclusive to Atkins diet.
Some people pig out after deprivation type diets.
There's many ways to eat and be healthy. What works for one person, doesn't necessarily work for another person.
Some people stop the Atkins diet, some people continue with it year round. Some people who stop, decide to educate themselves and watch their calories,eat healthily and exercise,..other people pig out.

Again, you can't blame Atkins (or any diet) just because of people's different attitudes, and the way they choose to live their life.
What about the many people who have had much success with Atkins diet?
For some people it's been great, others don't feel the same.
But has it put them in any danger by trying it?

What is unhealthy about the Atkins diet?
You keep saying it's unhealthy, but why is it unhealthy?
Surely it's just another option that people can either choose or ignore.

I agree totally with your points about people being ignorant of what they do to their bodies with what they consume, and ignoring a healthy lifestyle until they get so unhealthy that they are forced to do something, or drop dead.
But I don't see why you are so against Atkins.
You just say it's unhealthy without really saying why.

Just because one way is healthy doesn't mean every other approach is not.
Everything has to be looked at on it's own merit.
You can't compare Atkins to another "fad" diet if they are both different from each other.
If someone suffers serious harmful effects from some "fad" diet that advocates eating onions all day, you can't just say that Atkins diet must ALSO bad because it's also a popular diet craze.

 

[levista]

That is interesting levista. For example, if I eat a grilled chicken breast which is ~130 calories, I am going to be more full than if I eat 130 calories worth of bread or rice.

Pretty much so. On a psychological level you would also feel like you had actually had a meal, and your appetite would be likely more quenched.

Bear in mind i dont recommend the Atkins in any way, i have no experience with it. I'm actually sitting here right now trying to build an eating programme for myself, and if i were to eat chicken I'd be looking to take all skin off it and take a small protein supplement during the day, but again, thats me and I'm looking to build muscle too. I dont feel I can say whats right for anyone else!

 

[Mercury]

I watched that documentary too levista.

I'm not sure how thorough an investigation it was, as it seemed to be asking some of the wrong questions.
My point is that all the questions it asked seemed to be from the perspective that the diet is all about WEIGHT LOSS.

It didn't seem to realise that the point of the Atkins diet isn't about weight loss in itself, it is about making the body burn body fat as it's primary fuel source.
It never even looked at this area, it was just focused on how Atkins works at making people lose WEIGHT.

It finished with the grand conclusion that Atkins works because protein suppresses appetite.
Well they may have felt they were really smart and clever, and that they revealed it as some sort of scam or something.....but they never really looked at Atkins from the standpoint that it is supposed to encourage FAT LOSS.

I mean that's the whole point about the Atkins diet isn't it?
That the body turns to body fat as it's primary fuel source?
They just didn't address that issue,..it seemed like they had their own agenda.

All diets which limit your calorie intake make you lose weight. There's no big discovery there.

By the way, I'm reading in this thread that Rice has a high glycemic index.
I never realised that. I eat plenty of it as well.
I don't eat pasta anymore as it bloats me up, as does bread (must be the wheat)
So is the only substitute left open to me just to eat potatoes as my main complex carbs?
I eat oatmeal for breakfast, but what can I replace my rice intake with?
Any suggestions?

Also, would I be right in thinking that caffeine creates an insulin spike?

 

[philadelph]

Caffeine does not create an insulin spike.

 

[Mercury]

Thanks Philadelph for the correction.

Been reading so much about food and hormones over the last week that I'm forgetting little things.

I got insulin spike mixed up with an adrenalin surge.
Caffeine releases adrenalin which is a fat burning hormone. (Or something along those lines)

Thanks,...my mistake.

 

[Mercury]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to be taking Glutamine while on an Atkins type diet?

Glutamine is a protein sparing amino acid, and is anti-catabolic.
So not only would you be encouraging fat loss, you would have Glutamine helping your body to resist breaking down muscle to use as an energy source.

Also it is supposed to stimulate a larger release of HGH which would also help burn fat.
If muscle is being prevented from being broken down as fuel, it may force the diet to burn even more fat than normal.

In theory, it looks like it could help in several ways.

Does anyone else think that Glutamine may be a good supplement to use alongside an Atkins/Keto diet?

 

[C-Guy]

Mercury I would suggest that you take Coral Calcium. It helps to stabalize the insulin levels, therefore helps to curb the carb cravings. People taking calcium are 10 times more likel;y to succeed on the diet.

When on any low carb diet if you want to measure how fast it is working just buy some keto sticks from any drug store. After about the second day on the diet your levels will begin to change. Dip the stick in urine. The darker the color becomes the more fat you are burning. People with a lot of fat have a huge fuel supply which seems to give them more energy.

Finally, when you lose the weight you want start adding a few carbs back into the diet (healthy ones). Keep adding a few each week until you begin to gain weight. That is probably the amount of carbs you will need to stay at to maintain the weight loss. Something most people don't realize is that when you count carbs you can subtract the amount of fibre therefore you are actually eating more. Try to pick veggies that contain a lot of fiber (which you need anyways), dried beans being an excellent source. The beans will also help to lower cholostrol.

A hint on the potatoes. When broken down in the body a baked potatoe is the equivelent of a half cup of sugar.

 

[Bigd5903]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to be taking Glutamine while on an Atkins type diet?

Glutamine is a protein sparing amino acid, and is anti-catabolic.
So not only would you be encouraging fat loss, you would have Glutamine helping your body to resist breaking down muscle to use as an energy source.

Also it is supposed to stimulate a larger release of HGH which would also help burn fat.
If muscle is being prevented from being broken down as fuel, it may force the diet to burn even more fat than normal.

In theory, it looks like it could help in several ways.

Does anyone else think that Glutamine may be a good supplement to use alongside an Atkins/Keto diet?

Glutamine is good for everything. 2/3 of the aminos in skeletal muscle is glutamine. It's also good for the immune system. I haven't even had a cold in almost a year

 

[philadelph]

Glutamine supplementation is totally bogus. I will post more on this at a latter date with a study. Basically free form l-glutamine is not bioavailable orally and you get as much as you need from your protein intake. Save your money.

 

[Bigd5903]

It seems to help me so I'm going to continue using it.

 

[randolf]

I think one factor most people forget is losing weight isn't everything.

For example you could drop 50 pounds of muscle and skeletal mass, and gain 10 pounds of fat. You'd step on the scale and be like YES I lost 40 pounds, great diet.

For example some vegans are very light, but they also are pinner weaklings.

What you want is a healthy bodyfat percentage for a man. About 15% or so.

My dad for example is 185 pounds right now and 20-21% bodyfat. He was talking about dropping 20 pounds or something. I pointed out that just dropping weight doesn't mean you will have a lower bodyfat percentage.

Usualy when people drop weight fast from calorie restriction their bodyfat percentage goes up.

I right now am in the process of losing fat. I'm about 265, and maybe 20% bodyfat. At first it seems like it would be a long road but think about it like this. Idealy I'd be about 15% bodyfat. That is the best range for adult men. So right now I have about 53 pounds of bodyfat. I'd have to lose 1/4th of that. So about 13 pounds of bodyfat.

I'm also working out so I am gaining muscle. So say over the next 6 months I went down to 255 or so but gained muscle, that would be a very big difference.

Remember fat is 9 times more volumus then muscle per pound so it would be a large visual change. And also my strategy is gradual, its mainly trying not to eat as many super sugary things, like trying to put in more fruits and slow digesting breads. But still trying to be full, because if you're hungry its not really nice and your metabolism just lowers to compensate anyway.

Also I'm working on going for hike type walks and more cardio things.

 

[Mercury]

I agree with you completely randolf.

EVERYTHING we see, adverts for diets, diet supplements, government health guidelines, nearly every single thing we see that advocates a healthy diet in the media and advertising,.....the wording used 99.9 % of the time is WEIGHT LOSS.

Hardly ever is it described as FAT loss.

And they wonder why so many of the population is so uninformed when it comes to having a healthy lifestyle.

Fat in itself is much harder to shift than actual weight. You need some sort of strategy.

Most people are taught that if you restrict your calories you lose weight....And they think it's as simple as that and the problem is solved.
As though that's all you need to know to be healthy.

I've spoken to people who when the issue of dieting springs up, they talk about dieting exclusively to lose WEIGHT. As though weight is more important to lose than fat.
They aspire to look like a famous singer or actor who they admire the look of, and they really think that just losing WEIGHT is the route to take to get a great body.
I think it's the minority who understand that just losing weight isn't the answer to getting a shape they want.

Even with women, muscle goes a long way to define what shape you are.

You see many people who lose a load of weight after a diet,.....but they don't necessarily have the body of their dreams, they just look skinny. They don't necessarily look great from being thin.
You need to exercise in some way to get a good healthy body.

If I just lost 2 stone of weight, I think I would look worse than what I do now.
There can be a dramatic difference in the way a body would look from just losing a lot of weight fast, and a body that has lost fat gradually due to good diet and exercise.

I think our societies are obsessed with losing WEIGHT. It's as though many people think of it mainly for reasons of vanity, and ignore what that actually means.
I don't think it's necessarily about our cultures just being lazy about their bodies. I think it's more to do with society being ignorant about what really needs to be done. They just assume that eating less is the answer, and don't educate themselves further.
They just accept too readily what the soundbites coming from the media tell them without researching things for themselves. If they are told 99% of the time by their televisions that they just need to eat less calories, that's exactly what they'll do. If they don't look around for more information they'll be none the wiser.
I'm sure that many people think that you only have to diet down to get a body like Brad Pitt.
It just won't happen unless people realise that they have to focus on fat loss and not just weight loss.

 

[randolf]

I agree with you completely randolf.

EVERYTHING we see, adverts for diets, diet supplements, government health guidelines, nearly every single thing we see that advocates a healthy diet in the media and advertising,.....the wording used 99.9 % of the time is WEIGHT LOSS.

Hardly ever is it described as FAT loss.

And they wonder why so many of the population is so uninformed when it comes to having a healthy lifestyle.

Fat in itself is much harder to shift than actual weight. You need some sort of strategy.

Most people are taught that if you restrict your calories you lose weight....And they think it's as simple as that and the problem is solved.
As though that's all you need to know to be healthy.

I've spoken to people who when the issue of dieting springs up, they talk about dieting exclusively to lose WEIGHT. As though weight is more important to lose than fat.
They aspire to look like a famous singer or actor who they admire the look of, and they really think that just losing WEIGHT is the route to take to get a great body.
I think it's the minority who understand that just losing weight isn't the answer to getting a shape they want.

Even with women, muscle goes a long way to define what shape you are.

You see many people who lose a load of weight after a diet,.....but they don't necessarily have the body of their dreams, they just look skinny. They don't necessarily look great from being thin.
You need to exercise in some way to get a good healthy body.

If I just lost 2 stone of weight, I think I would look worse than what I do now.
There can be a dramatic difference in the way a body would look from just losing a lot of weight fast, and a body that has lost fat gradually due to good diet and exercise.

I think our societies are obsessed with losing WEIGHT. It's as though many people think of it mainly for reasons of vanity, and ignore what that actually means.
I don't think it's necessarily about our cultures just being lazy about their bodies. I think it's more to do with society being ignorant about what really needs to be done. They just assume that eating less is the answer, and don't educate themselves further.
They just accept too readily what the soundbites coming from the media tell them without researching things for themselves. If they are told 99% of the time by their televisions that they just need to eat less calories, that's exactly what they'll do. If they don't look around for more information they'll be none the wiser.
I'm sure that many people think that you only have to diet down to get a body like Brad Pitt.
It just won't happen unless people realise that they have to focus on fat loss and not just weight loss.

Yep its scary how powerful the repetitive sound bites in the media are on most people. Like my friend at the gym I was making big gains and getting compliments for how buff I was. I told him exactly what I was doing and how. And btw it was like the fourth iteration of diet I was on, each learning more and more.

I was eating a good amount of fat, because fat is so healthy for you. I was watching my sugar intake, but sometimes binging on it too. Anyway I clearly knew 100 times more then my friend, and the other guys at the gym were doing this kind of thing too. It was a hardcore gym.

Yet everytime he mentioned diet and himself he would be desperately trying to cut out fat. Nothing even in the face of blatant evidence could shock him out of the paradigm of accepted societal thinking.

That is why Penis Enlargement will never in a million years be mainstream. Most people will buy the tv lines, and they will never endorse it.

My father too, he is a professional engineer with many many books on diet. He has read tons and we have talked about the difference between fat and weight many times before. Yet everytime he feels self concious he immediately makes a low calorie diet and says he is going to lose weight.

99% of people are just incapable of having their paradigms changed. You realize after the first time they understand the scientific information yet still go back to the old thinking, its pointless to convince. People want the easy answer.

And you are so 100% right about the brad pitt observation. I thought this too when I was 16. I had put on some fat and I went on mass aerobics and dieting to get back to my former super lean self. After a few weeks I was very tired and was losing muscle. Then after a month or so I was feeling the fat and there was more yet I weighed less. At that point I changed to different strategies. Well actualy I gave up for a while first but hey.

Its amazing to me that people can continue to keep doing the same thing which is actualy being detrimental their whole lives and not try something else. Their belief and trust in what the authorities tell them is so strong.

I think I might have an advantage that I have always distrusted authority. Whether it is the media, or the pastor or the government minister of whatever. I assume they are lying for their own purposes.

And here is a revolutionary step most people dont' think of yet it is so obvious. Find someone at the gym who looks like Brad Pitt. And ask him what he eats, how many times a week he plays sports, what his workout is.

People will tell you everything they have spent so long learning, they love it when someone acknowledges their level of understanding.

Women are the worst to fall victim to the authority message. I dont' really know why but women are more susceptable to bow to authority. I think its probably a dominance thing. Women who cut calories generally turn into tired, flabbier and smaller versions of their old selves. And since they have less muscle that is burning calories off, when they eventualy succumb to their hunger drives they put on massive amounts of pure fat quickly.

Which then makes them more self-concious and restrict fat and calories more, leading to further muscle loss. It is a viscious cycle. Women are scared of getting too bulky which is idiotic. The hottest women I've seen ever hit the weights hard. Doing tons of big leg lifts and so on. They get sexily strong but they dont' hulk out, because they simply don't have the hormonal makeup to do it.

 

[9cyclops9]

The hottest women I've seen ever hit the weights hard. Doing tons of big leg lifts and so on. They get sexily strong but they dont' hulk out, because they simply don't have the hormonal makeup to do it.

Like this chick?

 

[BeBobBox]

muscles on chicks turn me off- like the chick above in the photo

 

[randolf]

Like this chick?

Ya that is likely some level of steroids she has taken. Or cutting hormones for a competition. They try to scare women away from gyms with pictures of hulked out steroided women. But all those women you see at extremes of muscle are taking exogeneous hormones.

Its like me saying too much sugar is bad, and having some transvestive who has breasts from female hormone therapy, as an example.

When women get that low on bodyfat they stop menstrating. At about 21% bodyfat is the lowest women can go and still menstrate.

Its impossible for them to do it without complete starvation, and even then their body will slow down their metabolism and feed off their muscles first.

Trust me the hottest chicks you have ever seen, are my cousin and his friends girlfriends. They are goddesses, and they all worked out with heavy weights. Of course they were mainly going lower body training but still they had great toned arms.

 

[Godsize]

The Atkins Diet is considered a "fad" diet because of the way it's "sold" to the public.

It's actually a very good diet. Modified versions of it are by far the best diets for fat loss. I've lost over 20 lbs. on the Atkins diet a few years ago and I never gained it back, even after going back to "normal" eating.

I haven't done it lately even though I should. The thing is is that it's so damn hard to stick to. When you're starvin' at 3am, you can't exactly find a piece of meat to eat... but there's plenty of donuts around.

It's so ironic that the whole Atkins thing is really taking off now that Dr. Atkins himself is DEAD. I predict that America will get even fatter now with this new trend, mostly because most people are fucking stupid and should be killed.

But ketogenic diets are the best diets, hands down.

You can even cycle this diet. Do it for three or four days, then "carb up" for a day. Make sure you lift weights too. I wouldn't recommend doing aerobics on a low/no carb diet... that may result in choking someone to death.

 

[Mercury]

Can anybody tell me what a good objective would be to aim for?

What I mean is that we know that losing say X number of pounds a week doesn't mean a lot in real terms.
So, what is a realistic amount of inches to lose from your waistline in a given number of weeks?

I never hear the question put like that, but that is what I am more interested in rather than simply weight lost.

For example, is a 2 inch decrease from your waistline every week something to aim for, or can you lose more?

 

[esteban]

Without bothering to read everything, let me just say that its bad for you, plain and simple. Sure, you'll lose weight while on it, but you'll wreck your metabolism, and most likely clog your arteries. Not good for Penis Enlargement.