Atkins Diet followers ... and receipe tips, or favorites you want to share.

[lopxtc]

Okay decided that I need to get back down to 175-185 ... so I need to lose about 30 pounds. After looking at what I eat over a one month period I realized that I take in well over %200 carbs a day. I dont eat allot, only three meals and those are usually small meals. I tend to make allot of pasta and rice dishes, and drink way to much Mountain Dew.

So I figured I would check out the Atkins diet as a way of getting back down in my weight ...

Anyone here on this diet plan and have any suggestions/tips or receipes for favorite meals that you want to share.


Thanks,

Aaron

[darklord]

Not trying to knock the diet, but I would think it would increase your risk for heart problems, with all those meats and fatty foods... how old are you, man? Cutting back on your food intake (portions wise) and simple exercise (start by walking a mile-2 miles a day) will help you lose weight. Lose the Mountain Dew, too. Switch to water. If you can't make that drastic of a change, just limit yourself to a glass of MD per day, then decrease from there. Seriously, continuous exercise and eating right+less is the key to success.

[lopxtc]

Actually there have been several studies that have confirmed no added health risks, that was always the mantra of the anti-atkins crowd but has been recently shown not to be true.

Also you dont need to eat red meat ... I myself prefer fish and chicken to red meat. On average I eat red meat usually only one day out of a week; the rest are fish, chicken (baked, not fried), or veggies (typically grilled or steamed). Which was why for the longest time I couldnt figure out why I gaining weight, in the six years after I left the Marines I went from 185 to 215 ... way too heavy for my tastes ... and my meals didnt change. I took in a ton of carbs a day in the Marines, but would always expend them without trouble. I continue to take in the carbs, but dont have the same level of activity that I did before hand.

Mind you also I am not doing this a quick solution weight lose program, at the moment its one of the few that actually focuses on cutting out carbs.

Aaron

Originally posted by darklord
Not trying to knock the diet, but I would think it would increase your risk for heart problems, with all those meats and fatty foods...

[irbodden]

If you plan on just loosing weight, Atkins works and is *healthy*.

However, on the this diet, your muscles will be the first to go. I am not sure if this concerns you or not...

If it does, cut calories, but maintain an equal balance of carbs, protein and fat. Alot of the carbs you were getting were from Mountain Dew, etc. it sounds like which are pretty useless but your body does need carbs...

[Collegeboy]

The problem I have with the Atkins diet is it promotes an unhealthy eating habit. It doesn't create a healthy eating habit. Once you go off the diet, you will have to find another sort of diet to stay the weight you are at. I was on the Atkins diet for 3 months, lost about 40 pounds, then got off of it and it came right back (and I didn't start pigging out), I picked my carb count up a little, and that is all ti took.

Last summer I create my own diet on the inspection of my doctor. It is basically falls on the idea that I need to burn my calories then I eat. My diet is I eat at 1 and 7, I will eat no more then 1000 calories a day, no more then 100 of which can be from fat. No cheese, not alot of meat, no milk, for all of those are high in calories. I got on this last summer, and lost 60 pounds in a month and a half, I got off of it while I was at college, and didn't gain a single pound back. In fact I lost about 10. Now I am back on it, and am losing more. I run about a mile and a half a day and play basketball all the time. (now that my knee is good enough, i have started this back up)

IMO, I would do as irbodden said, count your calories, and create a healthy eating plan that you can follow even when you loose enough weight.

[Star_Base_CGI]

Originally posted by darklord
Not trying to knock the diet, but I would think it would increase your risk for heart problems, with all those meats and fatty foods... how old are you, man? Cutting back on your food intake (portions wise) and simple exercise (start by walking a mile-2 miles a day) will help you lose weight. Lose the Mountain Dew, too. Switch to water. If you can't make that drastic of a change, just limit yourself to a glass of MD per day, then decrease from there. Seriously, continuous exercise and eating right+less is the key to success.

Dr Adkins died this year of a heart attack.

I recommend everything Darklord said.

I have been doing all these things and lost 41 pounds over the period of a year.

I was having trouble with the caffine. Swith to decafinated sodas and than it will be easier to switch to water. Keep cold water in the fridge and you will be able to drink 4 - 8 glasses a day easy.

Subsitute foods, fruit or dried fruit for candy. Popcorn and rice cakes for chips. Have nuts for a snack.

Make little changes until they add up.

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by Star_Base_CGI

Dr Adkins died this year of a heart attack.

I think you might want to do a little research on that first.

JDub

[Kai]

The Atkins diet should only be used in extreme cases, where fast weight loss is needed. (someone at high risk of heart attack, etc...) Because you are starving your body of carb's, the body has to resort to burning its secondary energy source: Fat. This is why you lose weight. Your body is burning up all that stored fat. This is fine, for SHORT periods of time. Eventually, as the fat reserves drop, your body is forced to find alternative means of energy. These alternative means cause amonia build ups, which are very unhealthy. Amonia = poisonous.

Long story short: If at all possible, avoid Atkins. If you DO decide to go on it, don't do it for extended periods of time.

[banzaimf]

died of a heart attack?

The type caused when you take a header onto an ice encrusted sidewalk?

Anyways, Fat UNIX Geeks Unite! We shall start FUGU. At Fugu we will recommend little things like trying splenda instead of sugar. Diet sodas, Diet Dr. Pepper tastes less like butt than most. Some recommend even taking a touch of the normal soda and mixing it with the diet sodas. 1/10th works well enough with Dr. Pepper (which I used to drink around 72 to 100 ounces of a day, i.e. 6 or more cans). Add some exercise, even if it's parking the car out in BFE in the parking lot. If stuck at work, use the farthest vending machine away from you if you can't help it. Acknowledge that you may need to cheat. just work on keeping it to a minimum. Add in some spice. Maybe a little Habenero jelly to liven up your food. Some people I know have started using Carb Blockers as well. I don't know, I haven't tried them.

[irbodden]

Are you guys kidding me?

First thing to do is get rid of ALL sodas.

Drink 16+ glasses of water a day.

Eat 6 small meals a day.

etc.

If you actually want to change your lifestyle, switching to Diet Pepsi isn't going to help

[banzaimf]

Congrats, that works for you. Most people will have success through a variety of weight loss plans. and oddly, some of the most popular programs do include a lowering of carb count as part of the plan. If somone has the will power to change their way of eating from 1 to 2 large meals a day with a ton of soda (Me for instance) to eating 6 small meals and drinking nothing but water. Then go for it. If you find that you are unable or even unwilling to do that. Take steps to the better lifestyle.

[dmonahan]

Aaron,

Well I know your on older side of life like me.(30+) And I had the same problem. Things tend to slow down but your intake remains the same. You need to cut back on the carbs and up your cardio. I went from 190lbs back down to 170.

There are no miracle diets. I do at least 45 min of cardio 3 times a week and just watch what I eat. When I cut my carb intake in half the weight just dropped off.

Yes I know it suck to get old but thereis no greater pleasure than bunkering a snot nosed 16 year old.

Take care

Darren

[irbodden]

Originally posted by banzaimf
Congrats, that works for you. Most people will have success through a variety of weight loss plans. and oddly, some of the most popular programs do include a lowering of carb count as part of the plan. If somone has the will power to change their way of eating from 1 to 2 large meals a day with a ton of soda (Me for instance) to eating 6 small meals and drinking nothing but water. Then go for it. If you find that you are unable or even unwilling to do that. Take steps to the better lifestyle.

Bottemline:

Geting in shape takes commitement. If you are going to halfass it (... espically from the start) don't expect to make any large long terms changes.

You ever see those "Fat Reduced" cookies in the Super Market? Ever see who is buying them? Fat middle-aged women who use the "well if I am going to eat cookies, atleast they are better for me.." attitude. In the long term, you are just wasting your time as you aren't going to get there.

And you're right, what works for me might not work for you. But commitement is needed for ANY program.

[ZAust]

actally ive had a ton of success with the twinkies and coke diet!!! ive gained 20 pounds in 2 weeks!

no, in all seriousness i dont think the adkins diet is that great of an idea. it can help to lose weight quickly, but once you are off it youll still want to pig out on fatty meats while throwing all those carbs back in as well. my recommendations: try and get a at least little exercise during the day. instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs! when you get home, take your dog for a walk! also, you dont need to cut carbs out completely, just try to avoid foods with high amounts of carbs and fat. (i.e. pizza, fries, etc.) eat plenty of fruits and veggies as well. also drink a lot of water. not only does it make you feel less hungry, it also keeps your internal water-processing system doohickeys going, which will burn more calories as well.

[lopxtc]

Thanks for the good advice ... amazing how in the tech world it seems the more your salary goes up, the same goes to weight LOL ...

I am trying it out to see how it works, what blows is the fact that I am a damn good stir-fry, and pasta cook ... I love rice and pasta ... my god is it hard thinking about giving it up LOL ...

Exercise is something I used to do allot (given my past with the Marines), but time is unfortuantely something that I am lacking ... I wake at 5am to get my boys ready for the day, leave for day-care drop off and work at 7am. 8am till 5pm is work, then I dont get home till about 630pm. That gives me from 630pm till 830pm to feed my boys, bath them, and play with them. Unfortunately since the wife works usually till 10-11pm I am left with no real time to get exercise in. Thankfully with summer coming I can get out and walk with them, but other then that.


Aaron