Atkins - good or bad?

by zenpunk 19 Replies latest social physical

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  archangel01

  Its bad if you have a bad health history.DON'T DO IT.If you have diabetes that is NOT the diet for you.You see people with diabetes NEED SOME SUGAR or else they will get dizzy and fall into a coma. The Atkins diet isn't good because it is not balance when it comes to food.A diet of 800-1000 cal. or less a day will result in fast weight lost. About 1200-1500 cal. a day is a good start then again only you know how or what works for you.Try to eat 4 little meals through out the day. Don't eat to much fresh fruit because the sugars will slow your metabolism down.So eat fresh fruit right BEFORE you work out.You need to work out but not hard in the beginning because you want to tone up and slim down at the same time.So do light weights and about 30-45mins of running on a tread mill or fast walking.Once you reach you goal and are toned up then you can use heavy weights and powder drinks to get more muscle mass for the men and a more toned look for the ladies.There is know right way you just have to shop around and see what works and what don't, but working out is the KEY never the less.

  Edited by - archangel01 on 23 December 2002 0:35:35
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  ITguy
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  Liberty

  I think the primary message of the Atkins diet, limiting processed sugars and starchy foods, is a good one. For millions of years our ancestors were hunter/gatherers and the only sugar they came across was a little honey and a few fruits as most of their dailey calories came from animal protiens and fats (consider the diet of the pre-Columbian plains tribes of Native Americans). This early lifestyle molded our evolution and shaped our bodies so that we effeciantly converted the small amounts of natural sugars and starches we got into fats for future use in stressful situations. Agriculture is very new, perhaps 10,000 years at the earliest (and even then many cultures never developed agriculture until these products were introduced by modern trade very recently) so we have not had time to evolve effective biological coping mechanisms for the high carb diet resulting from agricultural production.

  Processed sugar is a poison made possible by refining plant sugars into nutritionless and addictive toxins which we consume in unnaturally large amounts every day which was simply not possible even a few hundred years ago. Sugar is killing us because our bodies are not built for this type of fuel. Atkins simply advocates returning to a more natural balance of plant carbs and animal fats and protiens without the processed sugar because our ancestors evolved to eat such a diet and never came in contact with the processed sugars that are killing us. You only severly cut back on all carbs at the beginning of the diet in order to loose fat. After you have your weight under control you can return to small amounts of naturally occuring carbs with reasonable and natural amounts of animal protien and fats returning our bodies to the type of foods it evolved to eat.

  Small amounts of seeds, whole grains, nuts, green veggies, and fruit are part of a natural human diet as is animal protien and fats. Cutting back on the unnatural high carb diet the wacko vegitarian/animal rights propaganda pushes will lead to better health because a vegitarian lifestyle was simply not possible for the majority of pre-agricultural cultures from which we developed over millions of years. Despite the politcally correct utopian myths about our past the vast majority of humanity had only one dependable source of food for millions of years, and that primary food was the flesh and fat of other animals which had evolved to effeciently digest plant nutrients at a level far beyond human capabilities. This is why Atkins makes sense.

  Edited by - Liberty on 26 December 2002 10:8:27
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  Robdar

  A couple of years ago, I wanted to lose 5 to 10 pounds before I went on vacation. I chose the Atkins diet. I felt sick and was short tempered but I did lose weight. However, I was hungry all the time. I finally cut the diet in half. Instead of following it strictly, I only cut half the carbs. It worked out great and I lost weight. I gained it all back and then some when I went off the diet.

  Robyn

  Edited by - robdar on 26 December 2002 10:38:11
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  FrankyFourVests

  The key is not to limit carbs, but to limit the types of carbs you take in. Anytime you go the extreme the body will compensate for your lunacy. Hence the gaining weight back plus a few pounds syndrome. Try to have a balanced healtyw ay of eating instead of jumping on whatever fad diet is being promoted this month.
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  D8TA

  Try to have a balanced healtyw ay of eating instead of jumping on whatever fad diet is being promoted this month.

  He is blind...trust me. Not only did a drunk juggler (with years of experience in acid drop practice) in a seedy third world bar diagnose the entire world as to being blind, but this poster as being blind too. Just a word of warning...this poster is BLIND...and if all of you can't see it, then you're blind also!

  (edited for spelling and grammar due to Franky's blinding blind post which contributed to my blindness.)

  Edited by - D8TA on 26 December 2002 11:5:7
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  TheStar

  Thank you for that Liberty!

  I have been on Atkins since about April/May and have lost over 60 pounds. My cholesterol level has dropped and I feel better than I have in a long time. I definitely have more energy, though the first two weeks (as with any change) were tough. Restricting your carbs to 20 grams a weeks should only be done for 2 weeks and should not be done more than that unless your body is really sensitive to carbs. I have slowly increased my carbs and my daily carb intake is usually made up of whole grains, vegetables and nuts. I do not intake any more protein than I would have normally done before, the only thing I've done is eliminated the processed, starchy, refined foods that are the real killers.

  I started exercising about a month after I started on Atkins and now it has become a habit I cannot live without. I exercise 3-5 times a week combining aerobics with weight and strength training. When I miss a day I don't beat myself over it, I just remember to get back on track the rest of the week.

  I am almost at my goal weight and now I allow myself to cheat ever so often (on the weekends for example) moderately taking in a little refined sugar or white flour just so that I don't feel deprived. Instead of eating 4 slices of pizza or more like I used to, I allow myself to have 1 slice, instead of having bags of chips and cookies etc every week, I have 1 cookie once or twice a month and I tell myself that I've gotten what I wanted and that is enough. I monitor myself and don't allow myself to go back to my old ways knowing that if I'm going to get to my goal weight and stay there I must make healthy eating and exercise a way of life.

  Done correctly and combined with exercise and sensibleness, this diet can be a very healthy way of living.

  TH is right though, everyone has find what is right for them The bottom line is to eat healthier and expend more calories through exercise than you take in.

  For those wanting to do the Atkins diet please read the book carefully and completely, you should not restrict yourself to protein completely, that can be very dangerous and is NOT how the diet was intended to be done or should be done.

  BTW Fish oil is good fat that is good to incorporate into any diet. Read up on the benefits.
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  xenawarrior

  ((((((((((((Star))))))))))))) Good for you hon!!!!!!

  I went on the Atkins Diet about 3 years ago and lost 52 pounds and have kept it off ever since. I restrict my intake of carbs on a daily basis now but I've been doing it for long enough that it's a way of eating for me now.

  I have a friend who went on the diet and had no success with it at all. She didn't like the way it made her feel within the first week. It actually made her feel sick. I think the reason it works for some and not others is that some folks don't have as much of a problem with carbs as others do. Obviously that was a problem for me and I now watch my carb intake.

  One good thing about this diet is that if it works for you, it works well and it works quickly. The weight comes off rapidly and that spurred me on to continue forward. But it is not for everyone.

  STAR- YOU GO GIRL!!!! BTW- your hard work has paid off!----You look BEAUTIFUL !!!!

  XW
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  JLOB

  Star

  The Atkins diet can be very dangerous. My Mother went on the diet and followed it very closely. She ended up in the hospital. Everyone needs Carbs. Carbs are the building blocks to muscles. Your brain is a muscle that needs Carbs. This whole Idea that if you strave your body of needed Carbs your body will then choose to burn fat is insane. Why not just reduce the fat intake? My neighbor and I went on a deit at the same time. He lost over 50 pounds on the Atkins diet. I lost over 75 pounds on a low fat diet. My neighbor is always tired and fatigued. He gets sick often. If challenged he could not run to the end of our street (about 100 yards). I on the other hand am exremely healthy I will run a marathon in 2 weeks. I am smaller, lighter and stronger than I was when we both started our diet. My neighbor is smaller, lighter and weaker. He is weaker because he deprived his body of what it needed- CARBS. I am stronger because I only deprived my body of what it did not need alot of- FAT. A low fat diet combined with regular excercise will out perform any weight loss program out there. There is no short and easy way to loose weight and get healthy. The only way to do it is the old fashion way of eating less and exercising more. Do not fall for another dead end diet program that may cause you health problems. Instead do your homework learn the truth about health and nutrution and exercise more. That is the only way to get where you want to be.

  PS: Xenawarrior I do not mean to step on your toes. I am glad the deit worked for you, but like you mentioned it is not for everyone......Love Always JLOB
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  Trauma_Hound

  Your brain is not a muscle, your brain needs Essential Fatty Acids (Omega-3, basically fish oil, salmon being the best source of this), not carbs. Carbs are bad for the brain. Let me refrase that, not all carbs are good for the brain, you need to stay away from processed junk food, fruits and vegitables are ok, however not all carbs are good. The processed carbs, are the most harmful. ?

  Edited by - Trauma_Hound on 5 January 2003 2:7:42