# Atkins Easy? My arse! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 19, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328 "2005-03-19T17:17:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/21 "2005-03-21T17:38:30Z")
Some background: I was thin and tall right up until about 2000. Then I and a friend got into a habit of having large amounts of take-away food twice a week. In just a few years I put loads of weight on. This was around the time I was trying to get through University which was a highly stressful, Highly depressing period of my life. After passing I moved to the Isle of Man, which put an end to the wreckless weekend eating. But I still had the weight. Between then and now the weight hasn’t increased at all. It’s just stabilised. For the past 4 or 5 weeks I’ve been being conscious about how much I eat, and in the past week or so I’ve been following the low carb route. My intention is to take the weight off, and then use the knowledge and habits I’ve aquired in these past few weeks, to regulate my diet for the rest of my life. I think I gan do that. There are many bad habit which I have already put past me to the point where I won’t fall back into them even if I lose the weight. So once the weight is off, the cessation of the wreckless period combined with the knowledge gained from dieting should be enough to keep my weight stable. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/22 "2005-03-21T18:57:24Z")
Isle of Man, eh? “This week I have mainly been eating…smoked kippers!” Getting a hot meal at work seems to be the root of the problem. I got to really enjoy different kinds of sausages while I was on hardcore Atkins. Not the “chipolata” type with carby fillers, but German/Polish/Ukranian deli-type sausage. I could fire these up in the microwave at work pretty quickly, and have with a salad at lunch. You must be able to get some pretty decent French cheeses, too, for a bit of variety. I mean, isn’t this what the UK joined the EU for?? A couple of other suggestions to add to the earlier poster’s fine info: I craved crunchiness, so would have several washed celery stalks, with liver pate spread in the “hollow” bit, which made them both crunchy and filling. For breakfast or lunch, you could have one with peanut butter (not the high-sugar name brands, though). You can do a fairly decent “steamed egg” in a micro (although it’s better on a stovetop); take 3 eggs, beat, add salt, pepper, onion, etc to taste; add a small dash of cream (you’re on Atkins–go full fat cream), put into a buttered covered pyrex saucepan, and nuke for 4 or 5 minutes (depending on the micro–you might need to experiment and cook longer). DON’T remove the lid while cooking, or checking, as this lets all the steam out, which cooks the egg more thoroughly. Very satisfying morning or evening. You can add chopped ham, if you like–but not cheese, as it goes all runny and oily, and the eggs don’t rise properly (the finished product is sort of akin to a souffle–but much more substantial). Oh, and the tuna–make sure it’s the really good white albacore stuff, in water. As good as chicken. Unless you prefer the more fishy type (which, given that you like kippers, is a strong possibility). I just found the white, chickeny type more versatile as an ingredient. Good luck; I dropped a much- needed 130 pounds in about 12 months on (very hardcore) Atkins. I’ve put 25 of it back on, but hey–I’m still pretty damn happy. I still have to be very, very careful with the carbs, though. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/23 "2005-03-22T01:03:46Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > **Lobsang** , do you like tuna? I ate a lot of tuna and eggs and small amounts of nuts when I was doing South Beach. Hubby frequently made massive quantities of chili on the weekend to eat during the week. Another staple of our diet was grilled chicken, which requires little time to prepare. > > I’m not familiar with all the details of Atkins, but South Beach becomes far less restrictive after the initial two weeks and gets so much easier. You can do it! Perricone was hard for the first week, but now I find it pretty easy to follow. There’s no red meat on the menu, nor coffee nor starch, but I do cheat now and then to have a few crackers or part of a bun. What the heck, I’ve lost a dress size! I have a lot of eggs, feta cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts and seeds, fish and shellfish, chicken and turkey, Canadian bacon. Also brightly colored fruits, and oatmeal, barley, and buckwheat. There’s more. It’s not so bad once you get used to it, and the slow-digesting foods and protein keep you satisfied for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/24 "2005-03-22T16:54:49Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > The crunchy bit was ok, but inside, it’s soft, moist, eugh. Had to throw the packet away. You bought the wrong kind. There are two types, the most popular is dry is dust through and through. The other kind is more popular with fat lovers like me, and is hard and crunchy wih a layer of soft fat on one side. Baken-ets are the most popular national brand that you should find tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/25 "2005-03-22T18:04:00Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > You bought the wrong kind. There are two types, the most popular is dry is dust through and through. The other kind is more popular with fat lovers like me, and is hard and crunchy wih a layer of soft fat on one side. I think I’ve been psychologically damaged by the ones I had. I might not be able to bring myself to try another brand (if I can find one) Is it basically real pork rinds in a packet?? not processed or fake? That I could stomach. I’ve been eating peperami hot sausage sticks (peperami is a brand name) with like half a gram of carbs per sausage. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/26 "2005-03-22T18:31:46Z")
They are not fake, they are real. They are just the kind that is all dry and fluffy and crunchy. You can tell by looking, really. The ones you bought were probably small and dark, and you could actually see the two layers. Baken-ets and other brands are obviously dry, and they appear almost translucent, while still being puffy. They are also usually much larger pieces than the other kind. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/27 "2005-03-22T20:31:05Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > They are not fake, they are real. They are just the kind that is all dry and fluffy and crunchy. > > You can tell by looking, really. The ones you bought were probably small and dark, and you could actually see the two layers. Baken-ets and other brands are obviously dry, and they appear almost translucent, while still being puffy. They are also usually much larger pieces than the other kind. Actually, the real ones [in the US, southern and midwestern areas called ‘cracklings’] are seriously yummy, and pretty much impossible to find here in the north east [boo, pout, pout, pout] but the dry puffy ones [also called chiccharrones] are also good, but not alone - with some sort of dip [like guacamole, or a sour cream/cream cheese based low carb dip.] A fun [?] thing to do is make cheese crisps [grate cheese, lay out on a silpat mat and broil under a salamander/broiler until crispy and the oil is sort of forced out of the cheese] or pepperoni slice crisps [more or less do the same] \ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328/28 "2005-03-23T14:57:59Z")
> [@Chotii](#): > > My husband is doing a sort of …well, it’s not Atkins, or South Park, but it reminds me of them to some degree Cool, a South Park diet! What is it, lots of Snacky Cakes and Cheesy Poofs? “Beefcake! BEEFCAAAKE!!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atkins-easy-my-arse/295328.md?page=1)