Atkins Diet

[whirlpool]

I read a letter in our local paper where someone was justifying /defending the atkins diet, saying they had lost 20kg's in two months and now were in "maintenance" mode. i did not see the first letter but i assume it did not have anything good to say about it, this person said to read the book as it tells you how to do it without danger. I have had two families of friends - in different countries - thus independant of each other - also lose spectacular weight on this diet just by cutting out refined starch.

i personaly am scared of it, but i would like to hear other perspectives to this diet

[rlsuth]

Originally posted by whirlpool
I read a letter in our local paper where someone was justifying /defending the atkins diet, saying they had lost 20kg's in two months and now were in "maintenance" mode. i did not see the first letter but i assume it did not have anything good to say about it, this person said to read the book as it tells you how to do it without danger. I have had two families of friends - in different countries - thus independant of each other - also lose spectacular weight on this diet just by cutting out refined starch.

i personaly am scared of it, but i would like to hear other perspectives to this diet

I'm on a similar diet, but one recommended by my doctor, who doesn't think the Atkins diet is safe, called "The South Beach diet". I've lost 10 pounds in 11 days so far.

[whirlpool]

Originally posted by webtalk2003
Surely a lot of that is water?

Are you terribly overweight? (don't answer if you don't want to)

I am overweight, but for me it was being unfit that was the killer as I found I had no endurance to do anything vaguely strenuous. I suppose if dieting would speed up the process I might be tempted to do both. Right now I have to watch what I am eating and try have fewer smaller and healthier meals daily – but to break a 20 yr habit of little or no breakfast , sandwich or similar for early lunch; biscuit or something around 4 and then a snack or so before a large late meal.
and then there is the odd beer occasionallyÂ…

[dudette]

Originally posted by rlsuth
I'm on a similar diet, but one recommended by my doctor, who doesn't think the Atkins diet is safe, called "The South Beach diet". I've lost 10 pounds in 11 days so far.

Leonardo DiCaprio did something similar - does wonders for one's ratings...

[spam]

The Atkins diet if followed properly is fine. It is only the first 2 weeks where you have a massive cut back on starch. Thereafter everything is reintroduced in MODERATION. Where the Atkins diet falls flat is that the first 2 weeks give such good results, the dietary requirements are prolonged to gain ever greater losses and then cause problems.
Having said that, no diet is good for you, as they all deprive you of certain elements. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is a total liufe style change....a well balanced diet, calorie intake commiserate with your activity levels and regular exercise.
As to those that knock these diets, I remember how everybody was saying how bad butter was for you and that margerine is better...seems like that has been disproven.

[Ruhanv]

I have two main problems with the Atkins diet. Firstly if you plan to incorporate any type of Gym workout into your approach to fitness then you will struggle. The reason for this is that your body initially burns carbs for fuel when you start working out and many people that have gone onto Atkins have said that their workouts struggled on it. You simply don't have the same amount of energy. Your body is also forced to burn up the protein instead which causes a further problem in that your muscles require that burned up protein to recover and build themselves up after the workout.

As such a lot of the weight lost is actually muscle and not fat (muscle weighs a lot more than fat) which is also counter productive in that the more muscle you carry, the more calories are burnt by your body to maintain the muscle. The less muscle you have the less calories are required and any excess calories thus go to your hips/stomach.

The 2nd problem with it is the high amount of fact that can lead to dangerously high levels of cholesterol. Most GPs will confirm this about the Atkins and if you are deadset about using this type of diet, use the South Beach one which can give you better long term result. If anything, stick to a long term approach losing about 1KG per week max, as you will be guaranteed to minimise muscle loss as well and it will also take longer to pick it up again.

[nataliiie]

Low Carbohydrate Diets Made Easy

[Joan]

Have you all forgotten the headlines not so long ago............why Dr Atkins died and the size of him???????


Moderation and balance. In everthing ..............eish..........



"Thanks to his death certificate (as displayed at The Smoking Gun), we know Atkins was 258 pounds at the time of his death."

[whirlpool]

Thanks for the replies :thumbs:

Atkins at 117kgs

I must agree that moderation and balance; with the quest for a lifestyle change, is the way to go. from past experience diets are hard to keep up and invariably the person who lapses winds up larger than before. Ruh makes some interesting comments about muscle wastage. my gut feeling (hence my doing exercise ) is that this diet is not healthy in the long term, but at the same time all the refined starch that we eat is probably just as bad.

i find that the time that exercising takes up, cuts deaply into an already very busy day, but at the same point it does offer up an opportunity to think, so long as the blasted kids leave you in peace
:wall:

[silversurfer]

Originally posted by Joan
Have you all forgotten the headlines not so long ago............why Dr Atkins died and the size of him???????

"Thanks to hficate (as displayed at The Smoking Gun), we know Atkins was 258 pounds at the time of his death."

Rather print the truth.

The Truth About Dr. AtkinsÂ’ Weight

By Stuart Trager, M.D.

At the time of his injury at the age of 72, after years of following the Atkins Nutritional ApproachTM, Dr. AtkinsÂ’ recorded height was 6 feet and his recorded weight was 195 pounds.

In today's Wall Street Journal a grossly distorted story on the health of Dr. Robert C. Atkins reported that he weighed 258 pounds at the time of his death, making him obese. In fact, the day after his fall, Dr. Atkins' weight was recorded as195 pounds, 63 pounds less than reported at his death! Based on the body mass index (BMI), a desirable range for people over the age of 65, is 24 to 29. At a height of 6 feet, Dr. AtkinsÂ’ BMI was 26.4, putting him squarely in the normal range for his age.

The Journal article was based on incomplete and inaccurate personal medical information that was released in violation of federal law. Furthermore, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), which, despite its name is a group of animal rights activists, illegally delivered these documents to the newspaper.


Dr. Atkins' weight was consistently and frequently documented in the years and months prior to his fall; as he was suffering from cardiomyopathy, his health was monitored closely. Despite this, he regularly played tennis, his favorite sport. His weight at his death was a result of water retention. During his coma, as he deteriorated and his major organs failed, fluid retention and bloating dramatically distorted his body.

Any implication that Dr. Atkins was obese prior to his accident shows a blatant disregard, or even worse, a twisting of medical facts surrounding this case to suit an agenda. One would also expect knowledgeable physicians to have a better understanding of the physiology of severe heart failure and the degree of fluid retention that occurred during this hospitalization for severe brain trauma. None of us would expect the physicians at PCRM to reveal any of this in light of their past and current motivation—but surely as medical professionals they understood that this weight gain was not due to obesity.

Stuart Lawrence Trager, M.D. is chairperson of the Atkins Physicians Council, a practicing physician and a triathlete.