Starting the Atkins program tommorow and I have a few questions

[Arkitech]

Well starting tomorrow I'm going to attempt to follow the Atkins low carb diet. My goal is to stick with veggies and lean meats (no fried stuff) but I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to cook my meals. I need some good recipes to season chicken and beef without adding carbs. Anyone have some suggestions?

A few more questions:

Is it ok to drink red grapefruit juice on the induction phase of the Atkins diet?

Is cheese allowable or does it contain a lot of carbs?

What kind of meals have you prepared while on Atkins? (in particular breakfast)



Thanks for any helpful suggestions

 

[Joyride]

Sorry no answers here but good luck

I have thought about doing this myself

 

[mflacy]

Enjoy the frequent constipation.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Arkitech
Well starting tomorrow I'm going to attempt to follow the Atkins low carb diet. My goal is to stick with veggies and lean meats (no fried stuff) but I'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to cook my meals. I need some good recipes to season chicken and beef without adding carbs. Anyone have some suggestions?

A few more questions:

Is it ok to drink red grapefruit juice on the induction phase of the Atkins diet?

Is cheese allowable or does it contain a lot of carbs?

What kind of meals have you prepared while on Atkins? (in particular breakfast)

Thanks for any helpful suggestions

1. No.

2. Cheese in moderate amounts is fine.

3. I like cheese, mushroom, and bacon omelets. You can also have green pepper, etc. Basically any egg dish without sugar is fine - just no toast.

We used to have an Atkins private topic here, but well, go figure. Check out Jugernot's message board for some more informed opinions (unlike, say, mflacy's.)

 

[LeeTJ]

cheese is good.

Grapefruit juice NOT good.

as to breakfasts, i did steamed veggies and ranch dressing.

 

[Schadenfroh]

when i was on atkins, i used the EAS low carb bars for breakfast almost exclusivly. only7 or so carbs and have loads of viatamins. in about week 3 you are going to never want to eat red meat or salads again.

Schadenfroh <- 6 feet all, went from 205 to 160 in less than 2 months

 

[Crazymofo]

Originally posted by: mflacy
Enjoy the frequent constipation.

6 weeks and counting and haven't been yet!

Atkins.com has a menu program and a list of acceptable foods for induction.

 

[KingNothing]

What's wrong with grapefruit juice?

 

[Joyride]

If someone goes on the diet and looses all that weight how tough is it to keep it off down the road?

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: KingNothing
What's wrong with grapefruit juice?

It has sugar.

Originally posted by: Joyride
If someone goes on the diet and looses all that weight how tough is it to keep it off down the road?

Not difficult at all, if you avoid the same type of eating habits that got you overweight in the first place - IE, sugar.

 

[Lager]

You can drink plenty of diet soda if you're thirsty, even though it has aspartame, I believe it has little effect.

 

[KingNothing]

Originally posted by: X-Man

Originally posted by: KingNothing
What's wrong with grapefruit juice?

It has sugar.

Seriously? Sure doesn't taste like it.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: KingNothing

Originally posted by: X-Man

Originally posted by: KingNothing
What's wrong with grapefruit juice?

It has sugar.

Seriously? Sure doesn't taste like it.

Well, carboyhydrates. 1 cup of unsweetened grapefruit juice has 22g of carbohydrate. In the induction phase of Atkins you're only allowed 20g a day total. So he theoretically could have it, so long as he limited himself to one cup, and ate no other carbohydrates the rest of the day.

 

[Wingznut]

I've been doing Atkins for ~12 weeks now and have lost almost 30 lbs.

The best advice I can give is RTFM. Get the book and read it. And then read it again. Changing your nutritional plan WITHOUT doing the proper research is a recipe for failure.

And yeah, check out Jugernot's message board. (Link is in my sig.)

 

[venk]

EAT FAT!!!

I cannot stress this enough to people who do Atkins. The reason people get tired and lose all concentration on the Atkins diet is because they try to do the "lean" version of it. You need something to replace those Carbs your giving up and Protein is a VERY poor source of energy.

I eat more grams of fat in a day than I eat protein, but I still keep my total calories around 2000, therfore I still lose weight.

 

[anandfan]

Good luck with the diet. I've lost 30 pounds since April following it. If you're serious about the diet, you must buy his paperback book "Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution". It gives you the the theory behind the diet and specifies which foods you can eat and how much. Basically, you do not have to measure portions. You eat a reasonable amount of the allowed foods (meat, fish, eggs, some leafy vegetables) and almost none of the restricted items (bread, rice, potatoes, fruit). You can do your shopping at the grocery, but if you like, you can buy special low-carb bread and tortillas, shakes, bars at some Health Food markets and some major chains with health food depts. I recommend the Atkins chocalate shakes (4 for $8) and bars for snacks. Breakfast is usually egg omelet with cheese and bacon or ham. Lunch is deli meat with cheese rolled in a tortilla, dinner is steak, chicken, pork loins, etc. Snacks include the shakes, bars, sugar-free jello with whipped cream, fried pork rinds, diet sodas. Since I've been on the diet for so long, I've added some carbs mostly in the form of fresh produce from my garden or fruit from the store.

The Atkins books (paperback and hardback "Diet for Like") have many good recipes. I like the stuffed chicken breast, meat balls, etc.

The first week is the hardest. Drink ice-water to help with any hunger pains and eat snacks very sparingly. After a few days, your metabolism adapts to life without carbs and you will (at least I did) feel great. I exercise a lot (martial arts and mountain hiking) and do just fine with very few carbs. I also need 3 hours less sleep a night because my energy levels are so much higher.

I won't claim the diet is for everyone, but this is the first diet I've been able to stick with any time. Low-fat/restricted calorie diets were too difficult for me. It helps if you have a roommate or spouse doing the diet with you.

 

[anandfan]

If someone goes on the diet and looses all that weight how tough is it to keep it off down the road?

Ask me in a year...

Like XMan said, eating habits need to change. I'll add more carbs down the road, but I will never again stock the kitchen with cookies, sugar sodas, chips, etc. My habits had been really bad, and I was trapped in a self-defeating spiral. This diet snapped me out of it (I hope) and I don't intend to go back to my old ways. Also, I think the emphasis on low-fat dining is the wrong way to go. For me, the more low-fat items I switched to, the hungrier I got and the more carbs I ate!

 

[Wingznut]

Both posts are VERY well-said, anandfan... And I couldn't agree more, on every single point you made.

 

[Ns1]

good luck, but it is my personal belief that any diet would work if you're willing to stick to it

 

[Arkitech]

Thanks for the advice guys. I bought the book about a year ago but I need to read through it again. One thing I'm determined to do while on the Atkins diet is work out constantly. In fact I've managed to work out everyday for the past 10 days so far, I've been mainly concentrating on cardio but this evening I'm heading out to the gym to do some weight lifting.

What kind of supplements do you guys take? I read somewhere that the right supplements can make a huge difference in weight loss.

 

[conjur]

Just use the SEARCH feature. There have been probably a dozen threads in the last month or two...filled advice.

yeah...and just reread that book.

 

[Triumph]

I have no idea what to eat for breakfast that is Atkins-compatible. My breakfasts usually consist of cereal. On weekends I'll eat eggs & sausage, but it seems like doing this every day would be unhealthy since eggs are incredibly high in cholesterol. Advice?

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Triumph
I have no idea what to eat for breakfast that is Atkins-compatible. My breakfasts usually consist of cereal. On weekends I'll eat eggs & sausage, but it seems like doing this every day would be unhealthy since eggs are incredibly high in cholesterol. Advice?

Eggs are fine for breakfast every day. Your body actually produces cholesterol when you consume excess carbohydrates. My cholesterol has actually dropped on Atkins, and I've been eating eggs like they're going out of style.

 

[HobbesAB]

You could always try milk substitute (soy milk) and get Keto Crisp.

 

[SandLizard]

never did the atkins thing here, the subway 'jerod' diet worked wonders for me...

i lost almost 70 lbs in about 8 months or so. (270 to now 202)

and i never stopped drinking beer either.

of course, most people don't like eating the same thing every day, but hell, it's just food, eat it and get done with it, there's better things to do.

of course, i was eating on average of 600 calories a day for about 6 months, and that's not healthy, but dammit, i felt so much better with all that weight off, and i've moved my caloric intake up since then to increase my metabolism back to more healthy levels.

as for working out, i suggest just loads of situps and pushups, don't pay for any gym time (unless it's free w/ school).