I agree with most of what you say, except this part. I counted my calories and my caloric intake was quite a bit higher on the Atkins diet. Fat contains the most calories out of any food, and eating a meal that is high in fat instead of high in carbs will contain more calories.
Lithium381
Lifer
- May 12, 2001
- 12,455
- 5
- 81
yeah, my teacher is on it, says it's pretty sweet, lost i think 20 lbs in 2 months
then my boss's mom was on it i think.....
Any calorie restricted diet will work, but I don't recommend the atkins diet. Partially because SO many people have misconceptions about dieting...first of all, calories STILL COUNT! There are so many morons on atkins that eat heaps of bacon and sausage all day and think they can lose weight...WRONG! Not only is all that trans-fat bad for you, but ultimately no matter what type of macronutrient you eat..if you eat it in excess and exceed your calorie limitations, it will turn to fat. Low carbohydrate diets also dehydrate your body very severely (after entering ketosis) and some people see that they're 10 pounds lighter on the scale within 2 weeks...well...guess what, its not fat. Its water, low carb diets drastically lower water retention. Some people just cannot understand this. In addition, low carb diets for a prolonged period will lower thyroid output and metabolic rate, so the resumption of "normal" eating will likely lead to a HUGE rebound in fat gain.
Besides, if you watch what *type* of carbs you eat, you shouldn't have a problem - everyone should avoid carbohydrates that are processed and contain sugar/starch. But nobody ever got fat from eating regular oats and green brocolli.
Besides, if you watch what *type* of carbs you eat, you shouldn't have a problem - everyone should avoid carbohydrates that are processed and contain sugar/starch. But nobody ever got fat from eating regular oats and green brocolli.
Siddhartha
Lifer
- Oct 17, 1999
- 12,505
- 3
- 81
Another thing: the 2 premises of any diet are insulin elevation control and calorie restriction. Any time you eat a food high in sugar, it will cause your pancreas to release insulin, therefore halting lipolysis (fat burning). So while I don't recommend eliminating carbs, (AGAIN) you should watch what type you eat - stick to green veggies, brown rice, plain oatmeal, whole wheat bread with no sugar and you should have no problems. But eliminating carbohydrates altogether seems to be too drastic to me, and dealing with the rebound is a pain in the ass.
15 pounds of that is most likely water. Jesus, people need to stop looking at the freakin' weight scale
when dieting and start getting hydrostatic bodyfat percentage testing done.
I've been on it for 3 weeks now. I have lost 14 pounds and feel great. Good energy levels, no cravings.
I'm very happy with it so far.
I'm very happy with it so far.
Again, that is not 14 pounds of fat, its mostly water. If you had bodyfat percentage testing done before and after, this fact would be confirmed....
Thats the problem with being in ketosis: there is no way to judge what TYPE of weight you are losing. A great deal of it is muscle and water, not all fat.
I highly doubt it is mostly water. I have increased my water intake 3-fold and I lift weights 4 times a week. So I doubt I have much muscle loss. If anything my lean muscle mass has increased.
Look, do some research on ketosis. KETOSIS DRASTICALLY LOWERS WATER RETENTION, THIS IS A FACT. When I flirted with a low carb diet I lost about 10 pounds in about a week, and gained that 10 pounds back when I resumed normal eating. I was eating at my maintenance level of calories so I lost no fat.
Also, you cannot gain lean body mass in the absence of insulin....so its doubtful that you have gained lean body mass. Insulin is required to shuttle nutrients to muscle and fat cells in the body, and without it you cannot gain lean mass. This is why all bodybuilders and powerlifters either eat a good portion of simple carbs with a protein source post workout or take a MRP....to get a quick insulin rush to feed the muscle post workout.
You seem clueless on this issue. I don't even know where to start. Not all calories are the same. Some are not digested and pass through you. Like I have stated numerous time (with morons not seeing it) is that my caloric intake was HIGHER on the atkins diet, yet I lost 50-60 lbs.
But according to you, I didn't lose fat, so I must have lost 50-60 lbs of water. That's strange, I don't feel thirsty...
You're right, not all calories are the same...but they still count no matter what kind of diet you're on.
I'm glad the atkins diet worked for you - I just don't think its the optimal diet since in the long term it will cause a metabolic and thyroid slowdown, which may hinder your goals in the future.
I'm glad the atkins diet worked for you - I just don't think its the optimal diet since in the long term it will cause a metabolic and thyroid slowdown, which may hinder your goals in the future.
My wife's a nutritionist, so I get lectured on this thing every time it's mentioned in the news. The atkins diet works, at least theoretically and by its results probably actually, by putting your into body into ketosis - a metabolic state where your body will burn its own fat for its fuel. This leads to a couple of problems - the first, which is low risk, is a risk of kidney failure as too much protein causes strain to the kidneys. The second is more real - the diet is dependent on your body being in a ketotic state, which also causes metabolic acidosis - a diminishing in your body's ability to neutralize acids. Metabolic acidosis will cause weakness, malaise, and headaches initially and will eventually lead to a coma and or death.
In other words - the atkins diet can help you lose weight, but getting a tapeworm will help you lose a lot of weight too. Doesn't mean either is a good idea.
In other words - the atkins diet can help you lose weight, but getting a tapeworm will help you lose a lot of weight too. Doesn't mean either is a good idea.
Well, water retention wouldnt be responsible for the gut I had prior to starting the diet. My pants now fit very nicely and I look a hell of a lot better. Hmm, I am also able to to lift heavier than before and my muscles are definitely larger than they were when I started.
Most importantly I don't crave junk foods anymore and I feel healthier.
There's a lot of misconceptions about the diet, misconceptions that are only made worse by people who start eating grease and bacon and proclaim that they're on the Atkins diet.
If you read the book that I have, you'd see that much of what he's saying is the same as what you're saying. He does not advocate eating grease and bacon all the time. Sure, you could probably lose weigh that way but it's not healthy at all.
After a 2 week induction phase and ongoing weight loss, he recommends slowly adding carbs back into your diet to see how much you can take without gaining weight back. And he's very specific about the kind of carbs that you should be taking in, many of which you have mentioned. Mostly greens and whole grains. Simple sugars and processed breads are off-limits.
Do some research on the effects of insulin on muscle cells. Namely, you can't enlarge your muscle cells without insulin - and of course while in ketosis insulin doesn't exist. You may be able to retain current lean body mass in a ketonic state, but you cannot gain it.
If you don't think some of that weight is water, eat alot of clean low-GI carbs for one day but stay below your maintenance level of calories. I guarantee you'll gain most of that weight back.
I wouldn't suggest that all of that weight is water, but the 10 pounds you lost in the initial month was most definitely water. Water is the first thing that goes when doing a carbohydrate restricted diet.
I agree with this part. Much of the weight that you lose during the first 2 weeks is water weight. It's the weight that's lost after that which is what I was concerned with.
The Atkins diet is not as far out there as some people think it is. The media really has blown this whole thing up and publicised and dramaticized the debate. I hear some people call it quackery, then they proceed to say what they think would be more healthy- which often is exactly what the Atkins book says in the first place.
The Atkins diet is not about eating grease and lard and eat no carbs. It's about eating less of them, and the ones you do eat should be the right ones.
I probably lost 10 lbs in the first week, most of which was water. In the first month I lost about 20 lbs, the following month about 20, then 10 and then almost 10. By that point I didn't want to lose any more, so I reintroduced some carbs into my diet.
I also had a real hard time building muscle while I was losing weight. So I started eating more carbs and I started packing muscle back on and making gains in lifting.
I can believe that... I also had a lot of trouble making any gains while I was losing weight. In fact, I hear if you're losing fat on any diet you're hard pressed to build muscle.
That's why I lost the weight first, and put on the muscle later.
When I was on it, my caloric intake was lower. Not because I wasn't eating fatty---I was. But because the main premise of the diet (reducing carbs and sugars) helped me drastically cut down on my snack cravings. At night---instead of craving chips or crackers----if I did get hungry, I'd eat some cheese or some pepporoni.
I'm 6'4 and right now about 50lbs overweight @ 290. My running weight is 240 (at least it was in school). When I was on the Atkins diet---my caloric intake was probably 30% lower then my hog stuffing normal diet. I can't attribute it all to snacks---but for me the best part of high protein was no longer feeling hungry all the time. My caloric intake was in the 2000 range.
Another big upper for me on the Atkins diet was the complete removal of Coke and Sugar from my diet. So add the lack of snacking and removal of coke and sugar, and it's easy to see for me how my caloric intake was lower.l
That being said---I shouldn't have generalized my comments----and in most cases your case is probably a little more accurate then mine. My wife had the same result as me----as did my father----but all of us are big sugar/bread eaters----so it's easy to see how an Atkins diet removing sugar and bread (and other carbs) can result (at least for us) in a reduced caloric intake, whilst still eating fully.
Also---I agree with most educated posts about keytosis above here. My father in law is diabetic and on dialysis now. He fought high levels of keytons for over a year b4 dialysis started----and he enjoyed eating meats even though his doctor told him not to. His still eating a relatively small amount of protein was what the doctor blamed him having to start dialysis a year earlier then the doctor projected. Granted----that's a very extreme example, as his kidney function was already dimished---but the point remaines. Keytones----are a toxin in your system. Atkins Diet raises keytonic levels, thus causing more work for the kidneys---and for people with kidney problems in their family or a history of diabetes---the high protein, keytone raising diet, is defititely a health risk when taken over the long term.
I thought the Atkins diet was prescribed to treat some diabetes cases? It is supposed to be beneficial to diabetics.
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