89 replies to this topic

[Bill Nesbitt]

I just started the Atkins diet yesterday. Is anybody on it? How did it work? It is very low carb. All the meat, eggs and cheese you want. No bread or milk. Or Mountain Dew.

So far it is OK. I wondered because many of the tips about keeping energized for a match stress carbs.

I am 5'7" and 190#. I want to become a lean, mean shootin' machine.

Bill Nesbitt

[SiG Lady]

I've seen several people in my circle (including both owners of the local range) really lose lots of weight quixkly with this regimen. It worked for THEM. (I don't dare go on it at 5'4" and 100# -- I would disappear in about two weeks....)

[BigDave]

My dad has been on it for over a year. Although not completely hardcore, zero carbs, he is about as Atkins as is practical. He did drop about 50 lbs over the course of about 6-8 months.

However, I attribute the majority of his weight maintainance (ability to keep it off) to bike riding. He pedals about 10-20 miles 3-5 times a week, maybe more.

Not that you asked, but I'd recommend introducing some type of exercise along with your diet. I have managed to (1) go on a diet (not Atkins), (2) quit smoking and (3) loose weight all within the last 2 mos. or so and have managed to drop about 25 lbs.

[3quartertime]

Dave,

Wow,,, So there won't be anymore crusty comments about my RO smoking a cig...

Too cool.

I'm getting close to 40 down. Let's see how fast we can be!!!

[Jeeper]

Bill,

There are soooooooo many places to get low carb stuff now that you woulndt even believe it. Atkins site sells a lot of stuff also. THere is a lot of stuff that you can have that you wouldnt ever think of. THere is low carb ice cream, pancakes, syrub, bread etc. Depending on where you live there are even "Low carb Malls" Do some searches and you will be amazed.

[BigDave]

3QT - yeah, no more smoking comments (except for my shooting, yeah right...) but I might be a bit more moody than I already am. But I am lighter!!! Dude, we sooooooo need to practice when I get back in town.

[donaflor]

I lost 90 pounds on Atkins. I've felt really good, had more energy, could concentrate, etc. I've kept on low carbs and have maintained the loss for over a year now, still feeling good.

You can purchase Atkins' stuff (foods, vitamins, etc) at Vitamin Shoppe (dot com); it's a bit cheaper than anywhere else I've found.

One big caution:

If you stay at or close to zero carbs, you run a huge risk of developing kidney stones. This, my friend, is very, very bad. Comparatively speaking, it makes childbirth look like a day at the spa.

Being a total over-achiever, I stayed at practically zero carbs for several months. This, my friend, is also very, very bad. There is a reason Atkins says to stay at zero for only two weeks.

feel free to email me... I don't want to blather on and on about this...

Jeri

[Steve Anderson]

lowcarbfriends.com is an enosverse for atkins dieters.

Down 25 lbs since Last December, cheating a little now...

SA

[Sam]

Bill, I didn't technically go on the Adkins diet, but after hearing about it I did decide to cut my carb intake by about 70%. In about 6 months, I lost 25 pounds and have kept it off for almost a year. It was the easiest thing I ever did! I didn't really like soda pop and twinkies anyway. All the meat, cheese, and green veggies I want??? Hooray!
When you get back to the point where you want to eat bread again, eat whole wheat breads exclusively. The more coarse the flour, the better.
Do it man, it is so easy to lose weight that it's amazing!

The food pyramid, HA! Another dismal failure of the American educational system. Hmm, now I'm wondering if Maslow had it screwed up too?

[Jeeper]

The food pyramid, HA! Another dismal failure of the American educational system. Hmm, now I'm wondering if Maslow had it screwed up too?

I couldnt agree more.

Look at when the "low fat" diet craze started. Then compare that to the obesity rate in america. The number of obese americans has gone through the roof since people started to say that low fat was good for you. Of course it was also about the same time that fast food became a staple.

[BrianH]

Just got back from visiting my brother and sister-in-law and they're doing great on it, esp. my S-I-L. She was having serious weight issues after the kids, and has done tremendous.

[Nik Habicht]

I dropped sixty pounds on a modified atkins diet a few years ago --- and I need to start again. After talking with my doctor, the modifications were to not go hog wild on the fat --- lots of lean meats, green veggies especially salads, very little cheese, and no fruit, bread or sugar for the first two weeks. Then I started adding in the occasional tomato, ear of corn, piece of fruit, barbecue sauce for chicken breast, etc.

[TDean]

My wife just put me on the "South Beach Diet". No carbs or sugar for 2 weeks, then reintroduce whole-wheat breads and good stuff like that in moderation. This sounds like the Adkins....

2 days now, feel normal.....
I'm 255 now and my attitude is as long as you can bench-press your body weight, you're not fat. I'm mostly doing it for my health, rather than vanity. Also, dropping 30# could only help my shooting game.....

[Jake Di Vita]

Honestly, I don't really agree with a 0 carb diet. While I firmly believe that getting in shape is at least 60% nutrition, you can't do it without exercise.

I don't know much about the Atkins diet (going to do a little research now) but I firmly believe that if one will eat right, be committed and exercise (I like 6 days a week) you can make a total change in your physique is less than half a year.

I could go into it deeper, but I'm sure other people here know much more on the subject than I. I know one thing for sure, I wouldn't mess with FLEXmoney.

[diehli]

My dad and step-mom have done well on it, particularly my step-mom (dad's a runner, so he'll do well however he changes his diet as he's always running to some extent).

Personally, I can't do it. My body won't let me. I had my gallbladder removed about a year ago and now when I get any excessive amount of fat in me, I need to spend a good portion of the rest of the day, and possibly the following day, near a bathroom. Bile is nasty stuff when it's working against you.

Fad dieting is bad, Atkins or otherwise. If you're going for a healthy lifestyle, and think you can live with Atkins (or a reasonable facsimile) for the rest of you life, go for it.

I haven't found something that flat-out works for me purely because I slip... and slip... and slip-- I just don't dedicate myself well enough. That being said, what's worked for me best was to cut back on portions and processed foods and, of course, maintain a relatively high level of activity.

Speaking of overall wellness, the thing that's helped the most was getting rid of the pseudo-addictions, particularly caffeine. Headaches are so much fewer and further between... and, yeah, I had about a month in there that SUCKED ASS.

Anyhoo, don't go with something that someone else says will work, you really need to dedicate yourself fully to it. I think the reason that Atkins works so well for so many people is that it's full of absolutes: if you do this, these will be the results you get. Whereas in most other diets, there're more guidelines than absolutes (eat less this, more this, etc.... exercise, etc.... hope it works).

Go for it. If you can play by the rules, it should work. Once you've hit a goal weight, though, I'd think you'd want to adjust it (which is something I'm sure Dr. Atkins has taken into account and has suggestions for).

[BDH]

It's amazing what you can find in BE land!! A thread on Atkins........

I decided that I HAD to do something to bring my weight back down. Those of you that know me, know I am a big dude, but 320# on a 47 year old 6'4" frame is taking it's toll. Pain down the legs from the low back, and now starting to have some knee and foot problems. I've watched so many people have success on Atkins that I finally picked up the book and started reading it just a few days (read that as actually have not started the diet yet). Anyhow, I have a science background, and everything he is saying about why this works makes perfect sense to me. I'm kind of anxious to actually get going on this, and to hopefully, start feeling AND shooting better.

For those of you that have commented that ZERO carbs are bad, unless I missed something, I haven't seen him recommend no carbs (I'm also only a quarter of the way through the book). The starting phase appears to be a maximum of 20 grams of carbs/per day. Still that would be a huge reduction for me since every morning I have a bowl of Crispix cereal, with milk and a banana on top. It looks like that combo in itself is about twice what the starting recommended max number of carbs is. Sure gonna miss stuff like a lot of my favorite fruits, big baked potatoes, and BEER though!!

Congrats to those of you that have beaten back your increasing waistlines. I hope to join you soon.

[Steve Anderson]

Some things to know:

Avoid the "low carb" treats til you reach most of your goal, they can cause stalls.
Caffiene can slow the weight loss in some people.
Sugar Free Jello is 10 calories, no sugar and tastes great.
Your energy will skyrocket.

Gotta go...breakfast is sausage links w/ cheese.

SA

[donaflor]

For those of you that have commented that ZERO carbs are bad, unless I missed something, I haven't seen him recommend no carbs (I'm also only a quarter of the way through the book).

That's true in the current Atkins' books.
I first did the diet almost 20 years ago when it first came out. In it, it said to stay as close to zero, or at least under 10, as possible.
(I was hoping to avoid this -- I lost around 90 lbs then but slipped off the wagon, obviously.) When I went back on it last year, my thinking was: if two weeks is good, then indefinitely is better.

Now I totally stay away from white foods --- wheat flour (I'm allergic), sugar, anything with yeast in it. This pretty much elminates anything that's highly processed and packed with carbs anyway.

I read that he changed the beginning routine because of the kidney stone issue.

[dminor]

Brian,

This diet is how Arnie got rid of his *little* extra. There are some low carb beers out there. I bet Little Huggy Deb will like being able to put her arms all the way around you. Go for it!!!

[Quixote]

The food pyramid, HA! Another dismal failure of the American educational system.  Hmm, now I'm wondering if Maslow had it screwed up too?

Maslow Wrong?!?

Why I can feel myself self-actualizing as I type!

[snokid]

http://www.healthete...balancelog.html

Well I found a thread that effects me pretty hard.

back in May I was 290lbs, well I knew I was fat, and watching my shooting buddies running from box to box and knowing I was waddling from box to box, I had to loose some weight.

well I spent about a week reading just about every diet sight online and I came to the conclusion that

1. you have to decrease your calorie intake
2. you have to burn calories

well I found the above program, so I went out and bought a Palm Pilot and the software...

next I went to my local walmart and bought a weight machine.

now I set some goals

here's how it works, at least for me

an average person burns about 2500 calories a day just sitting on their rear end.
1#=3500 calories

ok so knowing those above numbers

if you eat 1500 calories a day and don't exersize you would loose 1 pound about every 3 days.

if you exersize then it's quicker.

well I have lost about 90# just doing this.

The best part I feel is that you don't really have to change anything after you get to your goal weight, just eat a little more.

keeping track of your calories really makes you think do I really need that extra pop, doughnut, or what ever.

Has this helped my shooting? LOL not really I'm spending too much time weight lifting and not enough time practicing...But I sure do feel better after a match.

Bob

[Jake Di Vita]

Way to go Bob, keep crankin.

[Loves2Shoot]

I'm with Bob and couple years ago I realized I was fat and wanted to lose the extra pounds I put on going through ending a bad marriage. I thought about the whole "diet" thing and decided whatever I did I would have to do it for the rest of my life, so I decided against a "diet." Over 1 year I lost the 50 lbs. I wanted to lose simply by eating less and exercising more (I strated by just walking a bit everyday.) I also started to eat more "real" food (not processed.) I decreased my portions slowly and over time. 2 years later I am in good shape, feel great, and food isn't a big deal anymore, I try to eat "real" food, but am not afraid to eat anything or calculate calories. I force myself to step on the scale every morning as a reminder that it is what you do everyday that really counts when it come to your overall health.

[Flexmoney]

I try to avoid the fitness threads...I fear I would type 3 pages.

I will say a couple of quick things...

When I hear people talk about losing "weight", to me, that is like hearing "double-tap". Losing "weight" is like shooting a hoper.

Fat loss needs to be the goal.


Exercise is vital. Impossible to be healthy without it.

[Jake Di Vita]

Big ditto to Kyle's post.