Questions about Low Carb/Atkins

Hey

I was wondering if anyone had any information or experience with low carb/atkins style dieting? I'm a female, I'm 5'5, and I have about 20 lbs to lose. I've done the calorie counting thing for a year now, and at first it was extremely sucessful, but I haven't lost a single pound in months. It's getting very frustrating, and I'm interested in trying something new. It sounds strange but the reason I'm looking towards low carb...is my body is continuously telling me it wants fat and protein, nuts and cheeses and foods I normally stay away from because they're high in calories.

as an added complication, I'm a vegetarian, and don't eat any meat or eggs :) haha...so how does one do atkins without eating meat or eggs? 

Hiya - I did Atkins a few years ago, and dropped 40 lbs in about 3 months.  It seemed like the perfect diet for me, as I'm gluten-intolerant.  Then I got sick, and the holidays came...and those 40 lbs were back in a FLASH...plus an extra 20 lbs.!

So yeah - I don't recommend Atkins.

I started walking a couple times a week, and since August have dropped the 20 extra lbs..  Now I'm adding calorie counting and serious workouts, and have lost another 6 lbs. in 2 weeks.  I think this is just how it has to be done, if you want to KEEP it off.

Hope this helps.

Here is the general problem with fad diets (well, in my opinion).

Yes, you will lose initial weight.  Is it healthy? no.  Your body requires various nutrients to run at its optimum level.

The main issue is that they are TELLING you what to do.  Eat this, don't eat that, follow this plan for a week.  You don't actually learn how to eat healthy and properly.

So when comes time to be off of this plan (as you can't live your life on them), you will probably not have learned enough to keep the weight off.  This is where yo-yo dieting comes in.  You lose, then you gain, then you lose, then you gain.  The issue is that you are losing (alot of times) more muscle mass than fat.  Then when you start gaining again, you are gaining almost purely fat.  So you just spent time seeing the number drop and fitting into those jeans, but you lost mainly muscle.

Which is why it is highly recommended to have a balanced health plan which includes portion control, healthy foods and exercise.

Weight Watchers can work for the food part, as it is more of a calorie counting system.  You are able to see portions and learn what is high calories, high fat, and so on. 

But the others?  Not recommended if you plan on losing it in a healthy way keeping the weight off. 

Tha atkins diet is o.k. for the short term but you are a veggan so forget about it!

If you are eating properly try and increase your excercise intensity that will cause an increase in calorie burn.

Whenever you crave something your brain is sending a signal that you need one of those nutrients. for example if your blood sugar is low you will crave sweets. eat a balanced diet it is always healthier in the long run.

I do not reccommend doing atkins/low carb.  I did it on and off for 2 straight years.. sure the weight comes off "quickly", but I gained it all back plus more.. over and over again....and it was just a repeating cycle of losing/gaining.. My metabolism got so screwed up, that I am just now getting it back in shape.  I'm doing it all right this time (healthy), so if it takes longer to lose the weight I want, I'd rather deal with that, then to go on an up and down rollercoaster with atkins.. Oh ya, and you are sooooo limited on your foods with atkins. I personally got so sick of cheese, eggs, bacon, and meats.. You don't get to eat very many fruits and veges...

I had the same experience as hairgurl32.

If your body is craving protein, feed it more protein. Just don't totally cut out the fruits, veggies and whole grains.

you could try a good carb/good fat/good protein diet, like south beach. it stresses using glycemic index foods.

after two weeks of no weight loss and staying at around 750 below expenditure, i'm going to start paying more attention. i lost 65 pounds doing south beach, but did not count calories and exercise. if you pick up the book, it's a good read. it makes you think about how your body processes food, and the affects of sugar on your insulin, and fats on your cholesterol. plus, it's a better option than atkins for vegetarians.

I did atkins a few years back, and like the others, got really sick. My doctor told me that a diet high in protein (like atkins) is really bad for your kidneys. It's hard on them to have to process all that meat all the time. Also, with atkins, you don't necessarily watch things like cholesterol, fat and sodium - all things that are important factors in long term health. I wouldn't recommend it....everything in moderation.....

Don't do it unless you plan on making the diet your permanent diet...I'm not doing atkins, but the paleolithic diet which i've had a lot of success with-35 lbs pounds of success so far :)-but its a very restrictive diet, and it eliminates about 60% of the items in the normal american diet. I feel great on it and would like to make it my permanent diet. I don't know much about atkins or the like, but what i do know is that if you put yourself on a diet, lose weight and for some reason think you can go back to the old way of eating without gaining....then well...just....duh.

You can do a low carb diet and still be vegetarian..it's just different kinds of protein that you have to choose instead of the meat. If you like faux meats, or at least can tolerate them, try some Yves veggie sausages for breakfast or maybe a tofu scramble with mushrooms and red pepper.

You could have salad with nuts in it for lunch and then maybe vegetarian chili with beans for dinner.

I couldn't follow Atkins because of the meat and I don't eat eggs either but I found by choosing lower glycemic index foods and not eating anything that was white (ie rice, bread, potatoes), I lost weight yet still ate healthily.

Abby's right, the "no white food" rule works quite well - I know a woman who lost 96 lbs., and has kept it off for over 10 years, and she her husband both swear that all she did was cut out all white foods - no dairy, no white bread, no sugar, no white rice, no potatoes.  I could never live that way, but if you can, you should see results.

A few years ago I went on the Atkins diet ( 100% by the book mind you, as many do it half assed). In 6 months I lost 75 lbs. This was also in conjunction with  high level daily physical activity as I was in the military. I was very happy with the weight loss. When I was where I wanted to be weight wise, I slipped a little on the diet for the first time. Even with maintaining the same level of physical activity my weight shot up over the next year and ended up slightly higher than in the begining. I actually found it harder to lose weight after that. I never had any adverse health effects from the diet... i.e. cholesterol or bp too high, but know of a couple of people who couldn't do the diet to some issues.  

Now 1 year after leaving the military it's time to get right and get healthy for myself.  I have just finished my first week of actually counting calories/weighing portions and so forth.....

I have very large weight loss goal for myself over a long period of time 1-2 years. It is large, but realistic none the less. The reason I choose this route vice Atkins this time around is that this, to me is more of a healthy, long term lifestyle change rather than a diet. With Atkins the weight comes off fast but, it seemed as if the rebound up was just around the corner.

Sorry I got long winded....

I completely agree with you chromegorilla.  I'd rather eat healthy and get in a routine of doing that then to be on a "diet".  With CC, I don't feel like I'm dieting at all.  In fact, because I am eating so healthy and getting in the proper %'s of protein, fat, and carbohydrates, I actually don't crave food and sometimes find it difficult to get in my full calories for the day.  I started on Jan 11, 2007 at 185.  As of today I weigh 177.6. ( i had no weight loss the second week).  And this is with minimal excercise.  I began CC without doing any fitness excercise and just began the third week of (slowly) incorporating a couple days of 30 min workouts and so far, its working great......  I loved Atkins when I did it, but I hated it if I ate carbs one weekend and it would shoot me up a few pounds.. Like the book says, one taste of "this" is "the kiss of death".  So cheating on that diet is not an option... 

I think lowering your carb intake is an effective way to get over a plateau.  A low carb tortilla will make a great quesadilla.  I put low calorie cheese, bell pepper, jalapenos and salsa on one and it is a delicious meal that is pretty low in carbs.  Health food stores also sell low carb pancakes and cake that are low in calories as well.