cait987

I know there was a post a bit ago about how people follow the crowd but is anyone else being driven mad by the fact that one diet is successful and now almost every restraunt commerical is advertising "X product is Atkins aproved with only X amount of carbs".

You know its cool that your trying to improve carb count to get sales however guess what, You can make something low on carbs but that doesnt make it good for you...

So am I the only one being really annoyed by the fact that restaraunts are going so low as to say "this food is aproved by this diet and only has a few carbs". I dont know if people realize this but carbs WONT kill you, everything has carbs and you need carbs to keep moving carbs = energy, all your getting if you eat a 6 carb sandwitch is more fat, and less energy due to the lack of sugar.

For example Ive seen 7 commercials in the last hour about how some random new food is aproved by the Atkins diet, now one or two places are cool however, Burger king, subway, TGI fridays, pizza hut, almost every single fast food place is saying "this thing is good for you because we can remove the sugar from it and make it just raw fat/protein (mostly fat since raw protein doesnt taste to amazing.

If im totally biased towards these commericals please tell me but honestly this is getting pretty frustrating.

forseti-6

I'm lucky, I don't have a Tv, so I don't have to see all those commercials. To be honest, I think it's just a fad that will fade away. I love going to lunch with a "low-carb co-worker" and ordering pasta and beer. Simply put, if you exercise and watch how you eat, who cares if you splurge now and then? The problem is, the vast majority of people on Atkins either splurges too much, or doesn't exercise much or at all. It's just a sign of how our society has progressed - people that work too many hours, eat crap and don't exercise. It's sad, we're victims of our own success.

But back to your original question, I'm sure there are a lot of people in good health (and especially health gurus) that are sick of all this low-carb stuff.

Personally, I have no problem with the Atkins, I have a problem with the perception created that carbs are bad. They always forget one key word - EXCESSIVE!

__________________
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss

Boo

Please become informed.

http://atkins.com/science/index.html

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/index.php

Read those until you understand the diet, then read the success stories. While being overweight may not be an issue for you now, you may have friends or family that need your support.

When you read a menu at one of these fine establishments and you see an Atkins reference and it annoys you, pretend you are here and hit the "BACK BUTTON" if you don't want to see it. I always figured that they would find a way to make money from Atkins. I am glad now that I can actually have a meal without doing dishes.

I have more energy after day 3 of induction (less than 20 G of carbs) than after a week of carbs. Its NOT an energy issue. I don't need carbs for energy at this point in time. I can burn all those carbs that I ate in 2000 when I stopped smoking. Its called ketosis. Its a tool to lower your weight. After hitting your target weight if you forget to exercise or have too happy of a holiday you use it to return to your target weight.

Carbs won't kill you BUT BEING OVERWEIGHT WILL. All the processed foods that we eat today are causing Americans to be overweight. High levels of cholesterol and triglycerides cause stroke and heart desease. Most people on Atkins LOWER their weight, cholesterol and tryglycerides. I also urge you to read about what all those sugars are doing to Americas insulin levels. You don't have to be fat to enjoy diabetes.

Word of the day:
Remember that the worst thing about a stroke is your penis might not work afterword!

Zegel

I dont know, these new fast food things seem pretty shady to me. Maybe Atkins is a good diet.....

But I'm not quite convinced that a Six Dollar Burger from Carl's Jr. is good for me just because its wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. I mean.. come on.

cait987

Sorry Boo, you are right, and yes I have had weight problems before and until not long ago I was dangerously overweight but have lost 65 pounds never counting any carbs, people need carbs maybe not to survive but in general they do, the problem honestly is the fact that Atkins has turned carbs from something people need into "X food is bad because it has alot of carbs" For example, bananas have 18 - 20 carbs yet you will never gain a pound eating them or have health issues... Carbs are perceived as bad honestly, because the foods that have massive carbs often are pretty terrible for you without carbs.

Sorry I did not mean to offend you but what I hate is the fact that people think that since something has low carbs its good for you, when I look at these low carb foods, I think one thing, Low Carbs + fast food = massive fat, for example I just saw the sub-way Atkins sandwitch commerical, 6 carbs but guess what, it also has 3 slices of bacon and quite a bit of meat/dough (whatever a taco wrap is made out of), even though it has low carbs does that make it good for you?

Also, I know Atkins and my mom uses It, Do I complain about it? No, because honestly different people have more success with different things, I found that hard work can accomplish things just as well as a low carb diet, and honestly, I know Atkins works but only if you eat foods that have low carbs but are also good for you, for example fruit/meats, but pretty much what these fast food places are trying to get the point across as is, a big mac is good for you because it only has 10 carbs, I and many other people probaly know this isnt true but fast food is doing this just to make money off people who beleive this, now it may work but I guess im just prejudiced against fast food places who advertise low carb meals..

Boo

Cait987 congrats on your weight loss. You didn't offend me. I just want you to understand the diet so you can make informed comments.

The whole diet is not bacon and eggs. I believe that Subway and others are catering to what they believe people will buy and not what is the best for them. I would build a wrap with lean ham or roast beef, cheese, mustard/mayo, sweet onions, lettuce, green pepper, cucumber, black olives, and black pepper. Yummy!

IMO - Atkins is here to help 4 groups of people.

1. The ones that want/need to lose weight but cannot exercise (disabled, old, or other health issues) and "limited calorie" diets don't work. As in your statement that to lose weight you must burn more calories than you take in.

2. People that can exercise but either can't, don't or won't put in the time working out, but still want to lose weight.

3. The folks (my group) that will workout a bit to help take off the pounds FASTER that a balanced diet will and will use the diet to maintain a specific weight range.

4. People that have insulin and other illnesses/conditions that benefit from an Atkins menu. If you read the Atkins book, your diet may be what ails you. Food allergies are very easy to find if you are on induction and eat something that dis agrees with you.

I like it because I am slightly sugar sensitive and don't get the highs and lows. I don't have an insulin crash if I don't intake the sugars. Unfortunatley my body will no longer tolerate donuts in the AM and my mocha makes me crash after it burns off.

Remember that Atkins followers can choose to move up the CARB ladder and intake more carbs in increments until they stop losing weight. Some people actually lose more weight after getting more carbs.

I love my fruit, and right now between my 2 week inductions I enjoy apples and oranges (bananas and grapes are out of season here), oatmeal, lean meats, real subway sandwiches (thanks for lunch Fishking) and other low fat items.

__________________
Back button again, I must be getting old.

Bowlcut

thank you boo.... im yet another atkins person here also. i started 3 months ago actualy. im the smallest ive ever been while going down. ive never lost weight down to this point. it works cause it is metobolicy correct. it makes your body do stuff its ment to do as a life saving control...which to me it is.

i reciently started working out as well, and its falling faster. i hope to loose 200lbs....yes 200lbs. thats a whole nother person. im seriously obese, i did think about gastic bypass until i read the info from the doctors. i wasnt ready for that. i was a strong atkins critic for a long time. but i didnt know much about it at the time. i started reading up on it, how it works, who's done it, and how long its been around. it impressed me and also tickled my intelectual side on how it works. so i decided it couldnt hurt. i did low fat diets in college and while it did drop some pounds, it never did it this quickly or in this conroled of a fashion. i can really control how much i loose daily if i want.

i too am fearful of sugars. many many people in my family died of heart failure and of those...all were dieabtic. so i know its here waiting on me at anytime. so this was a great idea.

and to everyone that think's its a fad...it sorta is. the thing is, the Atkins way of eating has been around for 30+ years now. Its just kinda come and gone though the years. Now its really picking up with all the media exposure. there has been millions that have lost significant ammounts of weight with it. some say its only for the fat...well sorta. i wouldnt recomend it to someone as a way to drop 10 lbs cause once you go off it you will likely gain it back, and these are the people that wont stick with it. once you start the Atkins way of eating, you will not stop...if you want to keep the weight off. the diet is totaly customized to you tho. once you get to where you want to go, you add carbs to get you to your Critical Carb Level of weight loss. you find out where if you eat anymore you will gain, if you dont you will stay the same. so after you drop your weight you might be eating 50-80 carbs a day who knows what your body can handle.

the main think about Atkins and its leasons, is dont eat so much processed foods. Sugar is an over processed food. White flour, over processed. by the end and in matience you can eat such things as whole wheat stuffs. the processed foods is one ongoing point in the book.

i just hate people that were like me...uninformed on the subject.

__________________
Remember, my opinion is as irrelevant as yours.....

StephenSa

Yup I'm an Atkins person too. I lost fifty two pounds in ten weeks on Atkins and exercise two years ago and have been able to keep it off. Atkins works but the mistake most people make is not getting informed about it. Bowlcut you're absolutely right about that. They either assume ALL carbs are bad (they're not) or that you just eat fatty, greasy meats and garbage (you don't). Admittedly Atkins isn't for everyone. My fiance' is trying it but she's really struggling not to cheat. Her diet before was all pastas, breads, pizza, fast food and tv dinners. Atkins is a big change for her and she may have to go with something else but shes giving it a shot. Another key ingredient is to get moving! Walking is a great start, even if its just parking further out in the lot when shopping and walking further to the store. It all adds up!
Congratulations on starting a weight loss program Bowlcuts, I wish you the best.

__________________
Thousands of Monkeys, all screaming at once. Pulling God's finger.

cait987

Very nice to see all the success stories, honestly, I have always been sort of against a set diet, but if all you have had such success with the diet I congradulate you, losing weight feels really nice being able to run faster, go up stairs without panting, and anything in general, it makes everything better.

And some advice to Bowlcuts: When I started dieting I weighed 270 pounds, quite a bit of muscle but still alot of fat that I wanted to cut off and honestly, the best thing I can say is, finish those last few steps... The biggest problem I notice dieting people have is when they are almost ready to finish they just stop, I can say I used to do the same however, I discovered if I pushed myself to the limit I had much better results, why? because in order to stay alive the body uses lactic acid respiration where in an emergency the body digests all the fat it can get ahold of to keep you alive. This is the biggest reason why things like cardio / dancing / swimming / aerobics are so good, because the body cant keep up with the pace you are moving so it uses fat to stop you from collapsing until you can catch up on breathing.

I am however pretty young I know that as you age your heart rate has to stay below a certain number or you could be risking health issues but honestly, the best thing to do is push yourself to the limit if you want maximum results, because just burning raw calories goes very slow when you need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound, When I pushed myself as hard as I could I would lose probaly a pound a day with only about 45 minutes of intense walking however, I never stopped even when I wanted to, When you are walking at your limit its a very odd feeling, you want to stop but the thing is you have plenty of energy left the body just doesnt seem to realize it, I get the desire to stop after 5 minutes of walking but I can go for a good 20 before Im going to collapse.

Overall, I wish you luck and hope some of my advice can help you, just remember keep sight of your goals and work hard at them, losing weight isnt really as hard as people make it sound as long as you dont stop on the 5 yard line because your bored/uncomfortable/whatever.