Atkins diet experience (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

negative on the meyers, I'll check super target though, perhaps they'll have it

I guess I wasn't clear, or I edited it out

I didn't have any dressing on hand to make a salad. While not ideal, I'm within tolerances, so that's A-OK in my book.

was meant to imply I understand the carbs should come from salad/veggies, but that was not possible with the food on hand. Poor writing on my part

 

[Randy Tennison]

Just an update for everyone. I have now lost 38 pounds, am down below 270 (268 making me 2 pounds lighter than my driver license), and am wearing jeans from the back of my closet that I have not worn in 4 years (size 42, down from size 48).

So, all I can say is Debate-Shmebate. This diet works for me!

 

[MickeS]

Congratulations, Randy! I lost around 40 lbs too, last year (not on the Atkins diet though), and whenever I go and buy 20 lb bags of cat food, it amazes me how much 40 lbs really is...

Keep up the good work.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Amazing to see so many success stories.

I have been on the Atkins Diet for more than three years now. My weight had always fluctuated since College.

I went from 207 pounds to 170 pounds in about four months. Successful? Yes!

But here is the best part. Although I have gained about 8 pounds back, I have kept the rest of the weight off for more than three years! I am on Atkins "Maintenance Plan", and I have around 60-80 carbs per day.

I have had my cholesterol checked and it was very low. My doctor was impressed, and said there was no reason to consider going off the diet.

Like others have said, my energy level is much higher than it use to be, and I don't feel like going to sleep at work after eating lunch anymore.

The Atkins diet has definitely become a way of life for me.

Thank you Doctor Atkins!

 

[Jon_Are]

Like others have said, my energy level is much higher than it use to be, and I don't feel like going to sleep at work after eating lunch anymore.

Exactly! I've lost weight before, but I've never felt so good as I do now doing Atkins. There's often a freakin' bounce in my step at work.

As for the Ditka barbecue sauce, bad news: I returned to Meijer's to buy more and noticed that they had re-stocked the shelf. The labels now read 10 calories per serving, whereas the old ones read zero. And that's ten grams of carbs per tablespoon! I had gone through four bottles of the mis-labeled stuff.

Way to go, Randy! 38 lbs. is damn impressive. I always think of weight lost (or gained, for that matter) in terms of bowling balls. If you lose 32 lbs., that's like setting down two bowling balls that you'd been totin' around for a long, long time.

Jon

 

[Philip_G]

damn, that sucks.

are there any other steak type suaces people are using?? I need something bad

atkins sells ketchup (1 net carb)
and BBQ (2 net carbs)
I wonder if they're any good.

 

[Jon_Are]

I haven't seen the Atkins stuff. Fortunately, I like Hot Sauce (zero carbs).

Also, you could try salsa, which is fairly low.

Jon

 

[Zane Charron]

One thing that's really good on all kinds of meat and has very little or no carbs is herb butter.

Here are a few recipes:

http://www.foodtv.com/foodtv/recipe/...,17117,FF.html

http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/p...0086_rec01.asp

http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/faqs/...-5-butter.html

Of course, make sure you use real butter. You can also buy it in the store, I'm sure, just make certain it has little or no carbs. Herb butter is often served on steak and chicken here in Germany and it's delicious.

 

[Randy Tennison]

Congrats to everyone on their weight loss!

I found a cheaper alternative to the Atkins Candy Snacks. Russell Stovers makes Sugar Free caramels, truffels and peanut butter cups. They are very good, and the caramels and truffels are less than 1 gram of carb each. The peanut butter cups are a little higher, but are very good. You can get a whole bag of these at Osco or Walgreens for $1.69, rather that $2.00 per w/ Atkins. Just one caution: Don't over-endulge. The Malitol has a little "laxitive" effect with over consumption.

In place of steak sauce, I have been making a red wine reduction sauce. We had it on our Disney Cruise, and it was delicious!

Pan fry the steaks in butter, garlic and red wine. After the steaks are done, remove them, and pour about a cup more red wine into the pan, along with a little beef stock. Scrape around to get all the good "drippings", and boil it down until it's a thicker consistancy. You can also deglaze the pan by adding a little white wine to it as well for a sweeter flavor.

It's very yummy!

 

[Philip_G]

I'll try that tonight randy

 

[Patrick_M]

Well, I am one of those who has tried the adtkins diet, and not done as well. I lost a fair amount of weight, my problem was staying on the diet. I have found that I am a pasta and pizza and bread kind of guy. So my main problem was transferring from the induction phase to the losing weight phase. When I started adding a little carbs back to the diet, it seems like the flood gates open and I wind up with a pepporoni pizza.

My doctor is on me to lose some weight (I am at about 285, he would like me to lose 50 to a hundred pounds!!) and I want to lose weight, but I am the first to admit that I have bad willpower.

My personal view of the induction period is that the Ketosis is used to jump start your body into burning fat, the idea being that once it is off and running, a more balanced diet can be used.

I don't really know what to do. I have bought books, tried different things, but even though I want to do it, I lack something. I have plenty of good reasons to motivate me to diet and exercise, but I just can't seem to do it.

Congrats to those who have had success, and keep those tips coming, because they are a help to folks like me who are struggling to get off the ground.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Hey Patrick - you just demonstrated why people cannot cheat on the Atkin's diet. Very unforgiving....

Good luck in your quest.

 

[MickeS]

Patrick_M, have you tried Weight Watchers? I assume you have, but if not, give it a shot. I lost 40 lbs on it (all I needed to lose to reach my goal weight), and like you I'm a pasta, pizza and bread kind of guy.

/Mike

 

[Patrick Sun]

Just keep telling yourself:

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."

 

[Patrick_M]

Thanks for the encouragement...

"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels"

I dont know, pepperoni pizza tastes awfully good.

Thin better feel pretty good....having never truly been think I don't know, but since it takes so much hard work to get there, it had better feel good

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Patrick:

Here are some of the good and bad points to Atkin's diet:

Good:

1)The food you get to eat is much better than that on most diets. Most people will look at you funny if you are having a nice steak for dinner and tell them you are on a strict diet.

2) It works well for most people.

3) It is easier to stay on than most diets. I have been on it for more than three years. One of the reasons it is easier to stay on is that once you have been on it for about four or five weeks, you actually lose your cravings for carbo rich foods like pizza. I sure did.

Bad:

1) You can't cheat. This is true of most diets, but it is especially true of Atkins. Dr. Atkins says that many people on diets have the attitude that "one bite can't hurt". He says that one bite can be the kiss of death on his diet. Not because one bite of pizza or ice cream will make you gain a ton of weight, but because it will lead to the carb cravings coming back, which leads to more cheating!

My advice is to stay on the diet as strictly as possible for those first 4 or 5 weeks. You may still have some cravings during that period, but if you make it through, you should notice that those cravings have subsided considerably!

Oh, and make sure you drink a lot of water. This is true throughout the time you are on the Atkins diet, which should be the rest of your life!

Good luck!

 

[Jon_Are]

Rob's observations about the cravings disappearing are totally accurate for me. Not only am I a pasta, pizza, and bread kinda guy, I'm also a doughnut/potato chip/chocolate kinda guy.

I lost my cravings somewhere in the second week, and they have not reappeared (I started Atkins Jan 1.). Today and yesterday at work, for example, we were treated to a non-stop barrage of large quantities of very nice looking cookies by management. They were on platters the size of a satellite dish and looked gourmet-ish. Co-workers teased me about not being able to have them, but, honest to gosh, I was not tempted at all. I had no desire whatsoever to have even a taste.

One key that has not been mentioned much here is exercise. I haven't yet missed a day on the treadmill (though I often do as little as ten minutes). I think that helps a lot with regard to my general feeling of well-being.

Jon

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Very good point regarding the exercise Jon! Dr. Atkins highly recommends exercise in his book. Of course, this was about the only thing in his book that wasn't controversial, so people tend to overlook it!

Exercise will help jump start ketosis, too!

 

[Philip_G]

I dont know, pepperoni pizza tastes awfully good.

well, pepperoni has 0 carbs, you could cheat a little and buy a bag, just have raw pepperoni or even cook it for that greasy crispy flavor. Just a thought, it's cheating but not cheating TOO bad.

I'm still doing alright, i really don't crave much I guess. the scale is showing about -5 pounds, I know it's all water at this point, but it still feels good

 

[Randy Tennison]

My first taste of pizza was recently during a photo shoot. They ordered pizza for lunch, during the 8 hour shoot. If I didn't eat it, I wasn't going to eat all day. So, I simply ate the toppings off the pizza, and left the crust. Cheese (ok), Pepperoni (ok), Sausage (ok) and some sauce (a little bad, but not horrible).

I was really surprized that, while the pizza was good, I didn't have an "Oh My God, I've Missed That" reaction.

Patrick, being a former pizza, bread, pasta, cookies, desert, chocolate, etc. kinda guy, please know that it can be done. You just have to want to lose the weight more than you want to eat the pizza. What did it for me was seeing the photos from my last Disney cruise. I was fat! (306 pounds). I was going up another pants size (to 48 waist), and was miserable. Now, I'm back down to 44 (some 42's), and feel great.

You can do it, my friend. Trust me, you can do it. Make the committment to yourself!