Atkins Anyone?

[GuitarMyFriend]

I've been a meat and potatoes kinda guy all my life. I'd much rather have a good piece of poultry than a piece of cake. My girlfriend and I are doing it together, and she's being a trooper!
We weighed in today and I've lost 16, and she's lost 13.
What I'm getting at is;
Who's done this, and who has great ideas for snacks and meals? I know the frozen whipped cream trick replacing ice cream, and I know the mashed cauliflower replacing mashed potatoes.
What I'm looking for, is no-carb to low-carb ideas for desserts for my lady, (she loves her dessert), and snacks for me. One can only eat beef jerky and string cheese for so long.
Thanks!

 

[puros_bran]

Breath mints... No, not for the flavor, for how nasty your breath gets on Atkins. Anything that rots your innards that bad is not good for you.

Just a piece of advise from your old uncle PB.

 

[Dutch]

Zach, the Atkins diet works great, as long as you keep your carb intake to around 20 grams per day, in order to keep your body in ketosis. Doing this, you can expect to consistently lose 3 pounds of pure body fat per week.

As for PeeBee's statements, you won't be on the diet long enough for it to do you any harm, and the health benefits of losing all that body fat will be tremendous.

When I am using a low carb diet, I always keep a large batch of tuna salad in the fridge, but be sparing with the use of relish. I like to put my tuna salad in a low carb wrap, and eat it like a burrito for convenience.

I also enjoy low carb chocolate milk. It tastes almost like dessert, once your palate is accustomed to not ingesting any sugar.

Microwaved broccoli with low carb cheese sprinkled on top is another favorite for convenience. Also, spinach salads with oil and vinegar dressing are great to keep handy in the fridge.

A word of caution about beef jerky and bacon. These highly processed meats are full of nitrates, and nitrates have an adverse affect on a low carb regimen.

When nitrates and nitrites come under intense heat in the curing process, they are transformed into what is called nitrosamines. This problem extends to some other meats as well like sausage, ham, lunch meats and smoked fish, although it is most common in bacon.

Not only do low carb diets work well, but once you have learned to eat low carb, you will never forget what processed sugar actually does to your body. Having educated yourself, is the first step to changing the way you eat from now on and forever.

If a year or two down the road you have added a few pounds, you can simply go back on the low carb regimen, and keep your weight in check before it climbs too high, and becomes harder to manage.

For me, aerobic exercise is impossible, due to the fact that there are no carbs stored in the muscles in reserve, while using a low carb diet. I can easily manage the energy to lift weights, but once I go on a low carb regimen, the treadmill and stairmaster are not part of my regular routine.

Good luck to you and your girl. I know you will be successful, if you keep those carbs down to 20 per day and stay focused!

 

[Zeno Marx]

A dangerous diet if used for too long, but a lot to learn from it as well. Not many people can hack it longterm, so it isn't usually a problem. Good thing. I watched someone use this diet, and like most diets, it worked. My lesson was how much carbs affect the body. I wasn't much mindful of carbs and sugar, but I was aware enough of the idea of balance to know there was some concern. I watch what I eat. Common sense, right? Well, I reckon it is to some people. Lots of common sense gets ignored until presented in just the right way for it to click. I would never do Atkins, but I was glad to watch it. I guess what I'm saying is when you see how basically the elimination of carbs does its thing, you realize how much you eat them and how much you probably want to curb their intake. I wasn't on the diet, but I eat a lot less of them now.

 

[Slide]

The mistake people make, some critics included, is thinking that the induction diet is meant to be done long term. It's not.

You are supposed to gradually add carbs back.

I do not digest certain carbs well. So for me it is a perfect diet, when I follow it. Unfortunately the carbs I don't digest well I love...

I should eat lean protein with plenty of fibrous carbs. No bread and a couple other things.

Everyone is different. Some people don't digest protein well. I am very efficent with protein. Less so with carbs.

Some people can get to single digit body fat by eating a carb heavy diet. Some people can do it with protein.

As far as it being a dangerous diet my blood work says otherwise. But that's me and my digestive system. Everyone is different. Find out what works for you.

 

[the rev]

couple of things, look into the paleo diet, I actually think it is much healthier option, still carb depletion, but allows natural carbs like fruits, gets rid of all processed foods

If you want to still with Atkins, which is a good diet as well, I just don't like it as much as the paleo, dark chocolate is your friend, really dark, 85 percent if you can get it. You can also make nice desserty stuff using mashed cashews, macadamia nuts and almonds mixed with a tiny bit of honey. And if you are really strict with your carbs for the rest of the day you can "cheat" a little bit and still be under your allowed carbs.

Bottom line however losing weight is mathmatics. You burn more calories than you take in you lose weight. I am saying this as a former fighter that had to cut weight all the time. I usually used the atkins type diets because I wanted to cling to as much muscle as I could when I was cutting weight. But if you increase your physical activity that will do a world of good for you, as well as allow you a bit more "room" with your calories.

rev