There are a thousand dozen Atkins threads, but most of them have a dozen thousand posts each and I didn’t want to scroll through them all to see if this has been asked, so I hope you’ll forgive my laziness.
My doctor suggested that I use the Atkins Diet or the South Beach Diet for a month or two to take off some weight, then switch to a moderate regular diet (i.e. low fat but with carbs and fruits, etc.). I have always heard that Atkins, like most diets, is one that when you stop and resume eating carbs back other than in the extreme moderation it allows, you put the weight back on.
Has anybody here tried Atkins for quick weight loss and then gone to a carbs-allowed sensible diet? Did you gain the weight back? (My doctor doesn’t like the prospect of Atkins for a lifelong plan but recommends it to people as a “getting started” measure because they find its fast results encouraging.)
Actually that is called… Atkins Maintenence Phase (or Phase 4).
When you are not actively losing weight, whole grains, legumes and fruits are allowed on Atkins. Actually some fruits are allowed in Phase 2, like berries and melons. Induction – Phase 1 – which should generally last 2 weeks is the only part of Atkins in which fruits are disallowed.
He does suggest more or less giving up white sugar and white flour forever, however.
You can learn all you need to know to get started here: atkins.com
It bugs me that there is no official source of info on SBD that you don’t have to pay for.
The same pretty much goes for South Beach. There are two weeks of the most restrictive phase, followed by a second phase where good carbs (fruit, whole grains, sweet potatoes, etc.) are reintroduced and then a maintenance phase which pretty much amounts to a commonsense “healthy” diet. After the first two weeks you are supposed to adjust the amount of carbs you add back according to whether you are still losing weight at a reasonable rate (1-2 pounds per week).
Generally people will lose pretty rapidly in the first two weeks, depending on individual differences like starting weight, sex, age, etc. When you reintroduce carbs it is not uncommon to gain back a little, but it shouldn’t all come back.
You can learn as much as you really need to know about South Beach at the Prevention Magazine site. They have a South Beach message board where people experienced with the diet can answer any questions. I’ve read the book and people on the MB generally know what they are talking about.
If you mean go on induction phase for two weeks, lose the 10-20 pounds, and keep them off forever, the answer is NO–the induction phase is all water loss.
It’s only the gradual weight loss that you get on the post-induction phase that you keep off. Also Atkins keeps your water level artifically low as carbs retain water. So, when you get off Atkins, plan on gaining 15 or so pounds–in fact, plan on gaining whatever you lost in the induction phase.
There’s no magical diet that will allow you to lose so much weight in a short time and keep it off after going back to a normal diet, sorry.
AFAIK, South Beach is a more low-fat version of low carb with more low-glycemic fruits as you progress. If your doctor’s telling you to go low carb for a short while then “switch” to low fat, you can just continue on for life following South Beach and never switch off anything.
That is, as long as you don’t re-introduce snack cakes, chips and sodas into your regemin once you have lost your goal amount
If you mean go on induction phase for two weeks, lose the 10-20 pounds, and keep them off forever, the answer is NO–the induction phase is all water loss.
It’s amazing how many people think the Atkins diet is bad, because if you go off it you gain back the weight.
Think about it:
You go on a weight-reduction diet.
As a result of the diet, you lose weight.
You go back to eating the crap you ate before.
You gain back the weight.
And this makes it a bad diet?
The best thing about Atkins, is that over time, you moderate your intake of carbs, and find the level that maintains your ideal weight. You don’t simply “go off” the diet.
South Beach is low fat compared to Atkins, but not compared to most other diets. You are supposed to avoid full-fat dairy products, transfats, and fatty cuts of meat, but pretty generous amounts of cooking oil, salad dressings and nuts are encouraged.
