I have to watch out because a few times (pretty much on accident) I’ve made myself ketoacidotic in part from having too few carbohydrates. Some days I would eat essentially no carbohydrates, and wonder why my insulin requirements were going up, and up, and up…
I’ve never been on a true Atkins diet, but lowering carb intake is a large part of why I was able to lose and keep off nearly 60 pounds.
Don’t blame me, blame California. Great tacos, but no decent BBQ that I’ve found. It’s making me all weird.
She’s confused, but it sounds like she had a book like Atkins, where you are counting the amounts of carbohydrate even in the green vegetables you consume–which, yes, is a small amount, but it matters during the first stages of the Atkins diet.
I’ll say this… I was a vegetarian for 6 years (through high school and college), and honestly, I eat more vegetables now than I did back then. How is that possible, you ask? Because when I was a vegetarian, I lived off of macaroni and cheese, spaghetti marinara, peanut butter sandwiches, and beans & rice. I perhaps ate a serving or two of fruit and vegetables, but chances were it was fruit.
Today, I eat several servings of vegetables and (some) fruit daily–sliced tomatoes or half an avocado with my eggs in the morning; a large salad with turkey/tuna/chicken for lunch; and steamed/sauteed green veggies like broccoli or zucchini with my fish/chicken/beef. I might add half a grapefruit or a small bowl of strawberries with a little Splenda if I’m craving something sweet (and I’ve been to the gym that day).
If a person is following Atkins properly, chances are they will be eating more vegetables than they have in their lives.
I like the advertisement for No carb Vodka. I say it everytime I pour it!
My in-laws jumped on the Atkins bandwagon.
Watching them eat at Christmas time was painful…they’ve got the low-carbs thing down, but apparently missed the memo about eating a reasonable amount of fat. My father in-law makes himself popsicles, with Splenda, frozen berries and a litre of whipping cream - then eats six in a sitting.
Oy.
And I didn’t like the nasty cauliflower trick they pulled - crushed up cauliflower and pretended it was rice. They did the same thing to some of the other kids, only told them it was mashed potatos. Ick.
I have no doubt that Atkins can work, and can be healthy. What I fear is that too many people will take the easy way, and eliminate the evil carbs and just replace it with fat. That’s not good either.
I have to second what JavaMaven1 said.
I’m also an Aktins dieter, and I also eat more veggies now than I ever have before.
Atkins is not all bacon and bunless burgers, nor is it ready-made “Lo-Carb” shakes and snack foods and sugar-free candy bars. It’s whole foods, fresh foods and plenty of vegetables.
What she described as her menu for today? Take out the avocado, and it could be the same thing I plan on eating today.
Well, as a homebrewer, I know that you can - I swear to God - use Beano (yeah, the anti-flatulence tablets) to make low-carb homebrewed beer. I read about it in an issue of Brew Your Own magazine last year. The enzyme breaks down more of the carbohydrates that are usually left over in beer, the yeast processes them, and your beer comes out lower in carbohydrates, and with a drier taste and slightly higher alcohol content.
I don’t see how it’d be possible. Most of the protein sources that I use (whole grains, beans) seem to count as “carbs” from what I’ve been able to tell from my reading on the subject - at the very least I’d be screwed for the induction period.
From what I can tell, South Beach would be easier to fit around a vegetarian diet. And yes, I do agree that folks who are following Atkins/South Beach properly (rather than trying to stick with induction too long, etc.) should be eating a lot more vegetables; I’m not denying that. It’s the protein sources where you run into conflict.
That sounds like what some people do with the Healthy Choice low-fat products. They’ll eat a whole box of cookies, and justify it by saying, “But it’s okay! They’re low-fat!” :rolleyes:
Yeah, you still have to show a little restraint.
Well, as I said in my earlier post, Atkins isn’t all bacon and bunless burgers. I eat lots of chicken and fish. Yes, I eat red meat, but not to excess. I’ve hit a plateau, so now I’m really watching the fat, too.
I do agree with the OP, this current “Carb-Free” and “Lo-Carb” craze is really out of control (Oh, how I hate when it’s spelled ‘Lo’ but that’s another rant).
I think a lot of people have just jumped on the low carb bandwagon and are eating nothing but the low-carb shakes and protein bars and soy snacks and then wonder why they aren’t losing weight.
Well hell. For the past six months, I’ve eaten a Health Choice mixed grill for lunch at work every day. Unfortunately I haven’t been losing weight fast enough, so to speed up the process, I’ve switched to eating five or six per lunch. I figure if one helps you lose weight, more will speed it up!
I have found this to be absolutely true - every fucking person I know who has gone on Atkins has been acting like they’ve just found God. It’s really annoying - I will slap someone if I hear another person squeal “Oh, I wish I could eat bread! You know, Dr. Atkins’ diet doesn’t include bread. It contains carbs in it, which are toxic.” What the fuck are you talking about? First of all, vegetables are carbs, fruits are carbs, so’s bread, so’s pretty much everything that’s not meat or dairy. I’m sick to death of people calling bread carbs when those precious spinach leaves they’re eating are carbs, too - they’re just complex carbs. Secondly, “toxic?” What type of “toxins” are in this bread? Are they the same toxins that I’m supposed to be flushing out with an unnecessary colonic? And third, stop eyeing my plate - if you want some bread, eat some damn bread, but don’t point out over and over again that I’m eating horrible, villanous, toxic carbs.
For those who spout the, “I can’t eat that because I’m on (insert type of diet here),” the proper response is, “No, you can eat it; you just choose not to.” Unless the diet involves security consultants and lots of weaponry between you and the refrigerator, you’re not being forced into not eating anything.
I’m an Atkins dieter.
I think your friend was confused, too; however, she is partially correct - green vegetables are carbs. Yes, they contain a lot of cellulose and few actual grams of carbohydrates, but they are, in fact, still carbohydrates. Check out this
link. All vegetables, fruits, breads, pastas and the like fall under the umbrella of carbohydrates. To say that green vegetables are not carbohydrates would be inaccurate.
All plan material is carbs. Think about it for a second - refined flour comes from wheat, a plant which in its natural form is a complex carbohydrate. Through the refining process, all its nutrients are stripped away, along with the cellulose and gums, leaving a refined, or simple, carb. This refined carb is mixed with yeast, milk, eggs and can make bread and pasta. That’s why bread is a carb. That’s also why pasta is a carb. Both are ultimately derived from plant material. Rice is from a plant. It’s a carb. More or less everything is a carb or contains carbs unless it’s meat.
Actually, I’ve been assuming that the next media blitz will be something bad about vegetables – too much bioaccumulation of heavy metals from the soil, or something. Fats, carbs, and dairy have been done – what’s left but veg & fruits for the next “Panic Diet Trend”?
Personally, I’m developing a “saute everything in olive oil” diet. May not be the best for me, but I use heavy duty aluminum skillets, so pretty soon I won’t be able to remember how unhealthy I am… 
:rolleyes: There’s always a few overzealous nuts that give the rest of us recent converts a bad name. No, I don’t walk around acting as if I just found God (He’s hiding behind the couch, BTW).
I eat bread, occasionally. Not every meal, every day, like I used to. That low-carb bread is nasty, IMO, so I just eat bread sparingly. My local grocery store sells low-carb tortilla wraps and I prefer those to bread for sandwichs now, anyway.
I have croutons on salads, too.
I think there are a lot of people who think they’re doing Atkins, but haven’t read the book. They just cut out bread and potatoes and pasta, and then walk around criticizing others for eating bread. As with any diet, you have to read the book.
I have read the book, and, as much as it pains me to say so, I have to admit that, once you’ve gotten past induction, Atkins can be a reasonable, healthy diet. I guess it just depends upon what you eat. I’m no doctor, but I think anything that encourages people to replace junk with vegetables is a good idea. I did try South Beach for a couple of days once (I figure that I don’t have the moral highground to complain about a low-carb diet unless I’ve actually learned about it and tried it), but I was just so exhausted and bitchy for four days that my fiance was almost on his knees begging me to go off it. I just wish the food police would stop patrolling me - they’re crazy - crazy, I tell ya! 
This thread needs to be merged with the on-going thread “Fuck you ya fat bitch”
IMO.
Yeah, I tried to do a vegetarian version of the South Beach diet. Tough to make good meals (and I actually eat tuna and eggs so I’m less restricted than many). Plus, I’m really active and the lack of carbs made me feel horrible and weak. I’m now just trying to avoid foods made with either corn syrup or white flour (ingredients in 99% of the crap food out there) and double my vegetable intake. THe one good thing about the Atkins fad is it got me out of the mindset that I couldn’t eat vegetables unless they were steamed or raw (no added fat at all). Veggies are much tastier with some added oils…
It seems to me the low carb craze is exactly like the low fat fad of a few years ago. The general idea is good (more whole foods) but quickly becomes completely perverted by the food industry who markets all sort of “fake” foods comprised of the the very ingrediants the original diet was trying to get you to avoid…
A while ago I was surfing the net and found a site that sold “low-carb” flour that was sold in a (swear to God) “low-carb cardboard box”. :rolleyes:
There is a perk to the fad though. I’ve been an Atkins dieter for years, and I’m tickled that I can now find LC items in the grocery store instead of ordering online. I went without ketchup for 2 years but now I can go to the supermarket and find several different brands on the shelf.