I've been eating low-carb for a year now. And contrary to popular belief, I am not dead, dehydrated or constipated, and my boyfriend still hugs me, so I can only presume I don't smell too bad. However, I am five and a half stone lighter - and I lost the weight at the safe rate of 1-2lbs per week.
It upsets me to see my mother taking diarrhea -inducing diet pills, and it upsets me to think I took two stone off my body in my teens by resorting to anorexia. I thought I had no chance of changing the way I looked, so I lived with it. If only I had found out about Atkins sooner.
Before I begin, let me tackle some the top-ten myths about low-carb and Atkins specifically.
1. Low carb is unhealthy. Absolutely incorrect. Low-carb dieters consistently lower their cholesterol, lower stress levels, lose phenominal amounts of weight and keep that weight off indefinitely. Most report increased energy levels, clearer skin and scalp, and symptoms of illnesses can disappear overnight. In my case, irregular and non-existant periods that had bothered me for 10+ years became regular within a week of cutting back on my carbs. I thought I had a lifetime of infertility to look forward to.
It is worth remembering that it is impossible to go under a healthy weight while eating low-carb. If you are already at your ideal weight, you will not lose. If you are underweight, you will actually gain until you reach your ideal weight. There's nothing unhealthy about that!
2.Atkins dieters don't eat carbohydrate. Incorrect. Atkins is like a food tolerance test. You raise your level of carbs from 20g to 25g to 30g and so on, until you reach a level where your weight loss stops. Then you drop back to the previous level. Some people can eat 60g of carbohydrate a day - about six slices of toast! - and still lose weight safely and steadily. If you decide to adapt Atkins to your own lifestyle,
you can eat whatever you like, as long as you keep eating plenty of veg and don't exceed your daily carb limit.
3. Atkins is just a 'quick fix' or crash/fad diet. Incorrect. Dr Atkins designed his plan as a lifetime Way of Eating. The fourth phase, Maintenance, allows you to fit low-carb in with high-carb foods while maintaining your weight loss. There are people out there who have lost 5, 6, 7 or even 10 stone eating low-carb and now enjoy only a slightly adapted diet. Atkins is perfect for safe, permanent weight loss. In fact, it often does not give the same results when attempted the second or third time.
4. Low carb makes you lethargic, sick, achey, or generally ill. Incorrect. The first two weeks of Atkins involve cutting back carboydrate intake to 20g per day. For a body used to taking in closer to 100g per day, it is normal to have some reaction, and this is especially true because we are switching the body's fuel supply from carb to fat. The lethargy experienced in the first few days is due to carbohydrate withdrawal - as carbohydrates can be addictive (beautifully illustrated by the 'Oh, just one moreHob Nob' scenario we've all been through). After around 72 hours the switch is complete and you will find yourself noticeably less bloated after meals and with considerably increased energy levels.
The most important part of low-carb- which Atkins fails to emphasise - is to drink, drink, drink. Gulp down as much water as you can - 3-4litres is ideal - eat until you are full, stick to your limits and don't switch back to high carb foods, and you will never feel ill. In fact, if you are tempted by high carb foods, you will find yourself bloated, tired and riddled with crippling stomach pains. It's enough to convince you that white flour, starch and sugary junk really ARE bad for you.
5. High protein diets are not healthy. Correct. But Atkins is not a high protein diet. In fact, excess protein is treated as carbohydrate by the body, so it is not in anyone's interest to eat a huge amount of protein - and your kidneys wouldn't thank you for it either. Low carb works because it kickstarts a fat-burning process in the body. So we need to convince the body to use fat for fuel - fat you eat and fat you carry on your hips, either will do!
6. High fat diets are not healthy. Incorrect. The fat we eat has NOTHING to do with the fat stores we have on our bodies. A quick search though Google will bring up hundreds of studies to support this fact. Fat-free and low-fat food loses its taste, and food without fat cannot fill you, so although you'll lose weight on less calories, you won't stick with low-fat food for long. Twenty years of a low-fat industry trying to fill your trolley with expensive starchy sugary 'low fat' junk may have brainwashed you, but there are an awful lot of scientific studies that prove low-fat dieting has only CONTRIBUTED to obesity.
7. Atkins dieters don't eat vegetables or fruit. Absolutely, totally incorrect. Quite the opposite in fact. While Rosemary Conley is selling you sugary breakfast bars and snacks, Dr Atkins INSISTS you eat salad and green vegetables daily, from day one. Pre-low carb I ate barely any veg. Now I eat five portions and more. And I eat strawberries, cherries, raspberries and blueberries a few times a day, usually with cream. I never ate fruit before I started low carb.
8. Atkins dieters are always constipated. Incorrect. If you're constipated you're obviously not doing it right. Veg contains enough fibre to keep you regular!!
9. Low-carb means bad nutrition and expensive vitamin supplements. Incorrect. During Induction, the first 2-week phase, your diet is restricted specifically because you need to go 'cold turkey' on the foods that are causing your weight to rocket. A cheap multivitamin supplement and some fish oil capsules are all you need, and will cost only a few pence a day. There is no need to buy any of the expensive Atkins-branded supplements.
10. You'll soon be limited by expensive food. Incorrect. Nobody lives on pasta, pizza and bread and nobody needs those foods for good nutrition. Carby food is cheap, yes, but while low-carbing your appetite will decrease naturally and you won't be popping to the shop for chocolate and crisps. I barely eat the same meal twice in a week and there are thousands of websites with delicious low carb recipe ideas. You can also get low-carb bread, cereal, pancakes and tortillas online.
I hope that answers a few questions you may have about low-carb. Remember, this is all from my own experience and research as a lifetime convert to low-carb - I don't have any vested interests and I'm committed to putting across a TRUE picture of this Way of Eating (WOE - I refuse to call it a diet, because I do not consider myself to be 'dieting' - I have changed what I eat for life).
So let me tell you a bit more about the Atkins book, and my own experiences.
I bought the Atkins book and read it in one evening. I was disappointed with it. It is a must-have for beginners, but then again, if you do good research via the Atkins website you can find most of the useful information without paying £4-£6 for the manual. Much of the book is taken up with Dr Atkins' history and his justification of the WOE. There are alternative books on low-carb, such as CarbWiser, Schwarzbein, Zone, Paleo and Neanderthin - and very good UK support websites where you can find out the basics and work out which one is right for you.
The basic principle is to switch the body from burning carbs to burning fat. Burning fat is called 'Ketosis' - a scary word, but a harmless state where fat is being excreted in the urine. It should not be confused with Ketoacidosis which IS extremely dangerous. The two are not the same.
In order to burn fat, you need to cut out any food that can be 'read' as sugar by the body. This includes starchy foods, white flour and all sugars. Small amounts are acceptable but you need to check out all food packaging when you begin, and make sure the carb count per serving will fit into your daily carb limit.
After reading the book, I did a total clear-out of my cupboards, removing all temptation. I then bought in plenty of the low-carb vegetables and fruits, plus burgers, sausages, bacon, chicken and dairy products. It's important to check with the Atkins book - or a carb counter book - to find out what you can fit into your initial allowance of 20g. If you're careful and pick sausages and burgers without rusk fillers, you can easily get three meals a day from the allowance without any hunger or deprivation.
At first, low-carb is hard... like any addiction, you need a bit of willpower at first. You need to glide past the bread, pizzas, rice, potatoes and other starchy and sugary foods. Chocolate and cakes are easy to compensate for - via Boots/Thorntons sugar-free ranges, or by making your own buns, biscuits, cheesecakes and chocolate puddings. Recipes are simple and cheap, and only usually require one or two special ingredients, such as sweeteners or almond flour.
Over time your tastes will change and you will find even some vegetables (such as green peppers) become very sweet to the taste. I was amazed, as a chocoholic, to find myself perfectly satisfied with my own home-made chocolate creations. I barely feel tempted by a Dairy Milk and have not bought any chocolate (except the aforementioned sugar free products) since I began.
And what of the results?
I now go by my own an adaptd version of Atkins. Bear in mind I eat KFCs occasionally, without the bread of course... I drink lattes, and eat sugar free chocolate. But the results still speak for themselves.
11th December 2002: 17st 10, or 248 lbs. 3rd December 2003: 12st 4, or 172lbs.
I still have a long way to go, but consider myself past the half-way point, as my BMI has dropped from 40 to 27 - right in the middle of the 'overweight' range, and not far off 'normal' for the first time EVER! I am now a comfy size 16 in jeans, instead of wearing mens' 44" waist just to get them over my hips. I have more freedom when buying clothes. My boyfriend - who never complained about the way I looked - now can't stop hugging me, holding me round the waist and picking me up. My parents and friends have noticed a change in my face and body and I get compliments all the time from acquantences who don't see me often. Even my Dad, who was sceptical, has fully accepted how low-carb has benefitted my health. I also suffer from crippling phobias and anxiety which have greatly improved. My self esteem and energy levels have rocketed and all problems I had with my menstrual cycle have disappeared.
I really cannot think of a down-side to low-carb, except for all the people who try it for a week and then come here to criticise it. If you are SERIOUS about losing weight - PERMANENTLY - I can only say - TRY IT. Stick with it, be committed, be ready to give up the toast and claggy doughy food forever. If you have a serious weight problem, as I had, I can practically guarantee you success with this WOE.
And don't listen to what the journalists tell you!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
your review was well written my oh still thinks low carbing is a big NO NO but he wont let me tell him the facts of it i will make him read this review .
When people usally start this diet they jump in withpour researching and thats what I did and ended up ill for the 1st few weeks but once I realised the proper way of eating on atkins I lost 2 stone (then i fell preggers ) so once again I am going back on atkins because I fell so much healthier .....my oh wont let me start until after i have had a op that I have been waiting on but after that well I will be fully low carbing again....once again great review
jellibaby 03.09.2004 21:18
thank you - a great read ...................
lizzielou16 07.08.2004 13:04
Well done on your weight loos, I'm really happy that you're happy! I've neevr had to lose weight, so I can't imagine what it's like. And Atkins sounds so horrible to me. But if it works, then go for it.
Advantages: Provides a natural appetite supressant, and constant weight loss. Disadvantages: Bad breath,lethergy,headaches,cramp,spots,greasy hair,etc etc
lizbizi 24.08.2003 (24.08.2003)
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