Ketosis?

Has anyone ever heard of putting your body into a ketosis stage by eating macadamia nuts and a brick of cream cheese and nothing else for one day? My Mom said that if you do that it is supposed to kick start the weight loss for the Atkins diet by putting your body into a fat burning stage called Ketosis. Has anyone ever heard of this before or done this before? I just got done eating the macadamia nuts and figured out the calories and it was 1260 for the bottle, plus I need to still eat the cream cheese!! I hope I'm not just doing this and then going to gain weight as an outcome!! I'm scared!! Any thoughts?

And I don't believe you can lose 4.6 lbs with 5 hours of exercise and not eating and keep it off, in 2 days.  It's much more likely that you've been dieting for a while and just had a sudden drop.  That happened to me a couple days ago - I think my plateau finally broke, and i'm 4 lbs lighter than normal.  As much as I'd like to attribute a 4 lbs lose to the slice of extra cheese pizza, garlic bread and cake  I had 2 nights ago, I really can't do that.

Original Post by fluffydragon:

And I don't believe you can lose 4.6 lbs with 5 hours of exercise and not eating and keep it off, in 2 days.  It's much more likely that you've been dieting for a while and just had a sudden drop.  That happened to me a couple days ago - I think my plateau finally broke, and i'm 4 lbs lighter than normal.  As much as I'd like to attribute a 4 lbs lose to the slice of extra cheese pizza, garlic bread and cake  I had 2 nights ago, I really can't do that.

 exactly.

and if you want to call water fluctuation losing weight, by all means be my guest. but by saying I lost 4.6lbs, most of us on CC would assume you mean fat. Because water weight is...ummm pretty much irrelevant to body weight considering the average person fluctuates 3-5 lbs from water.

Also, shaye I'd like to point out that this is your forum post about how you want to lose weight through some radical diet, so I'm sure "it is still off".

I usually dont get snappy but--use some common sense. if you have none, use the tools they give you here.

Here's the problem with you morons. YOU WENT OFF THE DIET. I started Atkins in 2002 and went from 305 down to 180 and have kept it off ever since. If you read his book, its a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. Not a fad diet. You never should have went on it in the first place if you planned on going off of it.

And by the way, the Atkins diet is not all about eating high fats. That is only the initial phase and the ongoing weightloss phases rely in principles based upon the low glycemic diet. You people that criticize the diet really need to read the book; the whole book and not just the 2 week start up part. Feel free to email me at donnyjd2002@aol.com for any questions comments criticisms or wise retorts. I guarantee I'll set you straight.

P.S. I don't care that your Uncle's cousin's step sister's brother had kidney failure or headaches from the diet.

Just throwing my $0.02 in.

I got married about a month ago. The month before I got married, I cut out carbs (except the trivial amounts in chicken, eggs, tuna, mayo, cheese, turkey bacon, etc) and lost 20 lbs. Yes, I lost "20 lbs" in one month. 10 of that was mostly water and food weight and the other 10 was most likely a combo of muscle and fat. I was desperate to shed some more pounds since I was getting married. On our honeymoon, I ate whatever I wanted (including lots of carbs) and actually have gained 25 lbs back. Now what does that say? Yikes. Lost 20, gained 25, I'm 5 ft lbs heavier now than before! but the wedding pics looked good!

It's definitely not a sustainable weight loss solution (well, unless you are djd2008 - see above post). Most people I know who either did Atkins or knew someone who did it, gained all the weight back THEN some. Unless you're trying to fit in a smaller dress size- it's not worth it. Just eat better :P

The key here is one thing. Dedication. You will gain weight on every single fad diet if you fall off the wagon. That includes Atkins, South Beach, TKD etc. Every diet is a lifestyle change. You can't just magically cut out a certain food for a while and then expect to go back to it and eat like you normally did. Its not just people who tried the Atkins, everyone who diets for the short term without committing themselves to a lifestyle of change will gain it all back. I too, know people who tried Atkins as a quick fix and gained the weight back. I too, also know people who tried a low fat moderate carb regimine and also gained the weight back once they fell off of the wagon.

Change your lifestyle, dedicate yourself to whatever meal plan you choose and stick with it. It's not dieting if you incorporate it into the rest of your life. I haven't had a piece of bread since 2002 and I don't miss it. For those of you who feel sorry for me not wanting to or being able to eat bread, come check my before and after pics out. I'll stick with my size 32's and skip the bread. :) And I'm more than happy to pound down 8 double cheeseburgers without the bun while you skimp on a salad with fat free dressing. haha.

I have tried Atkins before, and came back to the diet simply because it is a better way of eating.

Aside from all of the hype about induction. Which includes a fair amount of vegetables and salads. The increase protein actually helps your body retain lean muscle mass. More so, I just like it as a diet. I know the highs and lows of sugar rushes caused by candy bars, french fries and soda.

Personally I think Americans in general would be all better with a slightly moderate carbohydrate diet some where between 70 to 150 carbs a day.

At the very least that is enough carbs with two slices of bread for a sandwich and 1 cup of whole grain rice (roughly 70 carbs)

Processed Junk is what is destroying the American diet and personally I think that the idea of eating whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and meats is a very good diet.

Original Post by killerqueen215:

I tried the Adkins diet...ugh.

First of all, from what I read, it may take more than one day for your body to reach ketosis.  So you may have to severely cut carbs for a couple days to see results (ketosis).

That being said...

The Adkins diet seriously wrecked my ****.  I was on my feet all day at work, eating less than 20 grams of carbs a day, then hitting the gym to run three or four miles.  I was exhausted, no matter how much I slept, and ravenously hungry, despite shoveling in vegetables and chicken and stuff.

I asked my dietitian about the Adkins diet, and she said it was most useful for people severely overweight, especially if they need to lose weight for surgery or something.  She said it was not for someone young and active (like myself).  You'll probably hate it, but hey, I'm not an expert.  Good luck with whatever you choose!

 Sounds like you were maybe dehydrated.  I think dehydration causes you to feel tired like that.

Personally, I'm skeptical of the overall health benefit of a diet that encourages someone to eat cream cheese and macadamia nuts as part of an "emergency" plan, but won't allow for fresh fruit. 

While I certainly agree, there carbohydrate-rich diets to be avoided, the most important thing is a healthy balance, which will not only keep your body up to speed, but will keep you happier.  No one likes to feel deprived.  I know I personally would cry if I was told all I could eat was a steak . . . and nothing else.  Gross!

Just be careful.  I don't know much about ketosis, but there have been several posts here admonishing against it.  Don't mistake the number on the scale to mean you're healthy, either.  I know I haven't lost very much weight in terms of pounds, but I can feel muscles developing where there weren't any before and I can run 7 miles without stopping where as I used to barely be able to make it around the block. 

Keep yourself healthy.  That's all you can really hold yourself accountable to in the long run.  Atkins wreaks havoc on your body, and any diet that does that much longterm damage is something that needs to be reexamined.  While I understand that the social understanding of Atkins is different than what his book says, I think Atkins' own lifestyle and his death are pretty indicative of what could happen to his followers in the long run. 

Weight loss is not something that happens overnight and no significant number can happen even in a few days.  Your body will jump start itself and will adapt to the diet you're giving it.  Just be patient and diligent and you will triumph.  :o)

"Personally, I'm skeptical of the overall health benefit of a diet that encourages someone to eat cream cheese and macadamia nuts as part of an "emergency" plan, but won't allow for fresh fruit. "

That's entirely because you, like most people who have posted here, really don't understand the mechanisms of your body.  Cream cheese and macadamia nuts contain many nutrients as does fresh fruit.  With that said, only one of those drives up your insulin levels in any significant amounts.  The two others provide a long term sustaining source of energy.

I'm not sure if you read the late Dr. Atkins' book, but he didn't recommend eating only steak.  In fact, there are a whole world of things that you can eat besides steak.  Avoiding 'white' foods like refined grains has been part of the traditional 'diet' plans that people have had since well we've been prosperous enough to be able to afford enough food for the masses for people to get fat.  The anti-regime is a new things.

To clear things up for all of you.  Take some time to look at peer reviewed double blind studies comparing various weight loss methods.  Those people who use a low carb methodology can eat more calories and still lose the same amount of weight as other methods.  These people also benefit by having their blood pressure, bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels fall more than those on what are more currently mainstream regimens.

Dr. Atkins program, to be actually followed, has a short term phase where you avoid almost all carbohyrates.  It then has a maintenance phase where basically you slowly add them in until you have an equilibrium.  You're expected to exercise the whole time. 

You do have people here lumping in any low carb regimen with Dr. Atkins' plan.  That's akin to saying that everyone who drives a car drives a Chevrolet.  There are plenty of ideas and plans out there.  With that said, most people who 'lose a bunch of weight on low carb and put it back on' didn't make a permanent change in their life.  They used it as a way to lose weight in the short term and then went back to their lazy overeating ways.  It's not the fault of Dr. Atkins' if someone only follows his advice for a short period of time.

Low carb regimens let you eat a wealth of foods.  What they cut out are things that raise blood sugar.  This does include potato, fruits, rice, etc.  Truth be told, a potato has a higher glycemic index than sugar.  That means that a potato will raise your blood sugar level a lot faster than actual table sugar.  Also, giving up fruit is not such a big deal.  On a low carb diet, you tend to eat a LOT more vegetables.  They have the same nutrients as fruit (more in most cases), but they have only a fraction of the sugar.  Most people don't want to give up fruit, because they're still hooked on it.  It's the closest thing they have to candy.

Best of luck with just counting calories.  Someone on a low carb diet eating the same amount of calories would lose more or they could eat more and lose the same.  They would also end up with lower triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels.  That is not to mention that they are full all day and they don't have their insulin level flying around like a yo yo.

How much sugar you eat and what combination of foods you eat really matter.  Things like counting calories are put forward by people who want to create something simple.  Most of the population, for many reasons, won't really work to understand their bodies and the complex systems they represent.  Counting calories is simple, but it completely ignores your body and its hormone levels.

I am new to this site, but have some experience with the Atkins diet. The reference to the Macadamia Nuts and Cream Cheese is for people on the Atkins diet that are having problems getting into ketosis with the normal restricted induction diet of 20 carbs per day.  It is only to be used in rare cases, where a person is metabolically resistant to the diet.  By slamming the body with nothing but this high fat diet for several days, you can induce ketosis.  It actually isn't even an Atkins original, but comes from some other Doctor I believe to be from Germany but don't quote me on that.

As for Atkins itself, I have had good luck with it in the past, but eventually gave up on it and ended up putting the weight back on. But I wouldn't be so foolish as to blame the Atkins Diet for that weight gain, it was me stuffing my face with all the wrong foods.

I am beginning the diet again, which is what brought me here as I wanted to "brush up" on the Mac & Cheese portion of the diet to get a quick send off.

For me, the diet is easy as a "starter" simply because there is no hunger. You can eat till your heart is content.  When your body no longer has any sugars left in it, you will start to convert the fat to glucose to burn. 

The high concentration of fats you are eating on the diet, are more difficult for your body to convert to sugar than processed white bread and raw sugar. In other words, you use more energy to convert the calories to burnable glycosides. So one calorie from a slice of white bread as an example, will be converted into one burnable calorie. However, one calorie from meat, because the body uses more energy to convert it to glycosides becomes 1/2 of a burnable calorie, the other have being used up to convert the fat.  I know these numbers are incorrect, it is the process or idea I want to put across. Hence, although you consume more calories on the Atkins Diet, you will still lose weight.

Ideally, for myself, the Atkins Diet clears my system of it's cravings for carbs. Takes a couple weeks for me.  The next couple weeks you can increase the carb intake, but only a fraction. And, if you stick with it, the diet becomes very boring and you notice that you get to the point where food isn't appealing as much and start eating less.  It is also a good diet for avoiding binges after the first two weeks.  After all, you can eat pretty much what ever it takes you to feel full to begin with.  And, as most would agree, fat is much more filling that carbs.

However, I intend to do it differently this trip:)  After the first four weeks, I will also start restricting calorie intake.  A bit more difficult on this diet as everything you are eating is high in calories. But by the end of the forth week you are usually bored enough with food that it should be easier, and I am hopeful that the combination will help me change my eating habits, which is the key to long term weight loss.

Don't rule out the diet, everyone I have ever known that went on it and stayed with it, lost weight, and very quickly compared to any other diet I have heard of. But, as with anything, it is you that are in control and if you come off any diet and return to stuffing your face the way you did before, you can expect to pack it back on.

Just my 2 cents worth:)

It is true,   people are so afraid of Atkins.    You will find criticism comes from people voicing their personal   opinion  not  true  knowledge   or expertise on the diet.  It is funny if you think about what we ate that put the 100 lbs. on us.  Some of us are on our death bed,  diabetes, high blood pressure,  clogged arteries.  We lived through that tragic lifestyle abuse.   And for years we kept up that eating abuse.   So if you go on a diet that tells you not to eat rice , pasta ,  sugar,  bread.  by all means relax.......  you will be fine.    Always get a routine blood test,  let your doctor know.  Atkins is never a good thing for thin athletes.  Atkins is for people who need to lose over 70lbs.   As you lose all your fat.  you need carbs for energy.  That is why Atkins adds more carbs the thinner you get.  But,  they teach you what carbs to eat and what carbs to never eat again.  With any diet that you lose weight on,  if you stop and go back to eating the way you did when you were fat.....  well if you always do what you have allways done,  you will always get what you have always gotten.   All diets work!   The trick is to pick which one you will closely follow for the rest of your life.    This is definitely a hot topic  I am a emotional binger,   so Atkins works very well for me.  I crave nothing I have no slip ups.  because, I am satisfied.  I am a cyclist and I did a 85 mile ride (hills and flats) on Atkins and I felt like a million bucks.  I was about a month into the diet.  My trainer that day said you have made me a believer.  I will never say another bad thing again about Atkins.  He saw me having no trouble with energy and my emotions and mood were happy and hyper.  Atkins is not for everyone,   but,  their are a lot of people it is a wonderful solution. 
 All diets teach you what makes you fat.  So if you stop Atkins or cc or anything else that was making you thin,  well you are going to put the weight on.  You are not going to get a different result trying your old food diet.    If you think about what ever diet food routine you have tried in the past,  when you stumbled and cheated and went off your routine,  you saw it quickly on the scale.   Blood tests , your complexion,  just plain how you feel will tell you if the routine is right for you.  Counting calories is a form of diet also.  you can sure screw that up just like any diet.  Not getting your proper nutrients, not eating enough calories. eating to many and still gaining.  Opinions are like as~holes we all have one.  Especially when it comes to what diet is right for someone else.

yes everyone... look it up on wikipedia 

or maybe do some ACTUAL research on what ketosis is and does. It is not harmful.