I’ve been on the Dr. Atkins low carb/no carb diet now for 4 weeks. It has been working out OK for me-I’ve lost 18 lbs. so far. Yesterday I cheated a bit-I ate around 12 cookies at lunchtime. I figured it was OK to cheat a bit, as I have eaten NO SUGAR, bread, pasta, or any carbs so far. Anyway, last night I had really vivid dreams-they seemed to go on all night! I wonder if the flood of sugar has confused my brain. Has anybody had similar experience with this diet? Please let me know how long you have to stay on the “no-carbohydrate” regimen-it is getting rather boring!
It used to be that, sometimes after eating unusual foods, I’d also have unusual dreams.
But I do have a question for you…
After eating no carbs and your body goes into ketosis, do you notice that your body has an unusual odor?
I just read another report about deleterious side effects from the Atkins diet and the other protein diets. I’m not going to argue about it again since I had a lengthy argument recently here. But eating ** 12 COOKIES ** is not cheating a little.
I did the ATkins diet once, and I DID lose a lot of weight in a fairly short time. However (and this is a BIG “however”), in my case, it turned out to be a very bad idea. My cholesterol levels shot through the roof!
I won’t tell you to get off the ATkins plan. It MAY work for you. But if you stay on it, be sure to see a doctor and have your cholesterol checked regularly. There’s no real point in losing 20 pounds if your cholesterol level if 300!
Unless you just want to leave a skinny corpse after your heart attack.
I have lost 18 pounds recently too - and I have about 25 pounds more to go. What did I eat? Whatever the heck I wanted - just with careful planning. The Atkins diet does not sound healthy to me - we all need to have the right balance of proteins and carbohydrates in our lives to have a healthy life. I am on Weight Watchers - that is how I lost - and I eat bread and cereals, as well as meats and pastas - I just keep an eye on my points, and the weight drops off.
You have to ask yourself this question - if you are trying to lose weight, it must be in part to have a healthy life (although appearance may contribute to it). Does excluding a large part of the food pyramid sound healthy? I don’t think so. Also - after you lose this weight - what then? You go off the diet - do you think it will not creep back on? WW is a lifestyle plan - I know that I need to have some guidelines in my life, so I don’t get back to where I was before, but they are healthy guidelines - so I can get to a healthy weight, and a healthy lifestyle.
Susan
I’ve lost 60 pounds on the Atkins diet since late March, so I’ll share my experiences.
First, I have found that if I eat a bunch of sugar, I will feel light-headed and disoriented very soon afterwards. I’ve not had weird dreams, though.
How long do you have to stay on the “no-carbohydrate” diet? Past the first two weeks of the diet, you’re supposed to start taking in more carbohydrates. But you should avoid sugars, starches and grains. I eat meats, eggs, and cheeses. I also eat broccoli, asparagus, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, mushrooms, olives, and several fruits. But I keep my carbohydrate count below 40 grams a day. I don’t look at this as a diet, this is simply the way I eat now.
My cholesterol has gone down; it was 280 last February, and is 220 as of last month.
My wife hasn’t noticed any peculiar body odor while I have been in ketosis, but she has reported bad breath on occasion.
I must warn you to drink TONS of water on this diet. The first time I tried Atkins was 3 years ago; my doctor didn’t think I was losing weight fast enough, so he put me on phentermine, too. That killed my appetite for food, but as a result, I rarely drank water. I ended up with gout in a month and then uric acid kidney stones about 6 weeks after that. These are experiences I wouldn’t wish on anyone. So I have been drinking 1 to 1.5 gallons of water every day since I went back on Atkins this year.
I have found that it’s pretty easy to stick to this regimen. Since my fat intake isn’t restricted, I don’t often get hungry. And I don’t get “stress-munchies” like I used to. But this plan isn’t for everyone. If you have a hard time sticking to it and can lose weight on a different diet, you might want to switch.
So far the diet has been good for me too. I am actually eating LESS meat than before! I am eating mostly eggs, vegetables, and cheese. But the temptation is always there…I love pasta and pizza. The cookie-wolfing episode is behind me now…I think I’ll have a nice fat staek!
and eating things that are highly processed and stripped of their natural nutrents just to be digestable does (grains, bread, pasta, sugar) - and make this the largest part of your diet? There are 2 sides to this coin. If you think as to how man ate before he discovered how to make such foods it is very close to the lowcarb diets.
My cholestrol when down on atkins and my good C. when up a lot. You reading of 300 even though seems very high what was your C. ratio before and after atkins (and yoru pre atkins C.?
Atkins depends on ketosis and depleted glycogen stores. eating 12 cookies basically fills up the glycogen and you will have to redo induction to get back.
Atkins, weightwatchers, whatever diet will NOT work unless you make it a lifestile change. You can’t be on atkins until you reach your goal - just like you can’t be on weightwatchers just until your goal. Every diet I’ve ever heard of (including lyposuction) requires a lifestile diet change.
Holy shit.
That’s twenty-four 8oz glasses of water per day. Do you sip constantly?
My ‘Dr. Atkins’ diet experience: I stayed strictly on the diet, lost 50 lbs. Went fairly quickly. But the longer I was on it, the worse I felt. Physically I was in great shape, but mentally it began to wear me down. Several people at work that were on it stated the same thing. They just didn’t feel good after about the first month.
One thing about this diet, as stated before, it’s not a diet. You have to eat this way the rest of your life. I did as the diet instructed, started adding carbs after the first two weeks, tried to keep it under 26 carbs a day. But once I started not being as strict, the weight loss stopped, and it wasn’t long before the pounds began to creep back on. I’ve met a few people that have kept the weight off, but more that haven’t.
January of this year I found out that I’m diabetic. Now that will shake your world. I was sent to a dietician. That was my biggest help. Now I eat normal, regular food from all the groups, and I’ve lost about 40 lbs. No hunger to speak of, healthy, and more engery.
The worst part of the Atkins diet is the damage it does to your kidneys. And since diabetics tend to have kidney problems I wouldn’t go back on it, can’t go back on it actually.
I would say in response to the caveman/low carb statement, what did the caveman eat before he found meat? Mostly plants, nuts, and fruits. I would think.
I’ve heard the kidney damage thing but diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure - a low carb diet manages diabetes w/o medication (no glucose = no insulin = no problem - oversimplification i know). Basically I’ve heard that a low carb diet does work your kidneys more, they can easilly handle the extra work - if your kidneys are damaged it could be a problem.
I like to think of it as a big V8 engine in a car. On a low fat diet the engine is going 20-30 mph - no prob. On a low carb diet it gets up to 50 - 60 mph also no prob for such a big engine BUT if some cylinders are not firing (kidney damage) the car might not be able to keep up at 50-60 mph while it might be able to handle 20-30 mph w/o trouble. Again that’s my analogy.
Before he found meat? Maybe, the meat found them.
My experience on the Atkins diet has been entirely positive. I lost about 30 pounds in a couple of months, and my cholesterol went from 230 to about 180. It also balanced out my hypoglycemia quiet nicely. I did have a persistantly dry mouth, which led to drinking a lot of water.
From the experience of my family and friends who have tried it, your chances of success are greatly increased if (1) you are male, and (2) if you are 50+ pounds overweight.
Just out of curiousity (I’m slightly under average weight for my height, so I really have little interest in dieting):
Is there a version of the Atkin’s Diet for vegetarians? I’m a lacto-veggie, and since plant foods are either very low in everything except for fibre, or very high in carbohydrates and plant fats. If I ate nothing but cheese and milk, I’d be a methanogen (I drank a glass of milk and ate some cheese earlier today, and I’m still sputtering like a Model T…).
Kidneys that are failing have a hard time with too much protein. Diabetes is hard on the kidneys—the tiny blood vessels get damaged in the presence of too much blood sugar.
If you have questions about low carb diets the best place to get answers is here http://www.atkinsfriends.com/ The page has a message board full of low carbers. It offers great support and plenty of tips.
Sigh. Please provide a cite. And get ready to go to Great Debates, most likely, which is where weight-loss threads really belong, IMO.
I’m not a doctor, nor do I know a lot about Atkins’ diet, but I do have one question and I hope it’s not too graphic. How do you guys shit? DOn’t you need carbs and fiber and stuff to poop?
This thread is more of a poll than a General Question.
Off to IMHO.
DrMatrix - General Questions Moderator
Sorry guys. I don’t have a cite on the kidney thing, but I have the doctor’s name and number that is handling my diabetics and I know that if you wanted to give her a call she’d be more than happy to discuss it with you. Please email me if you are interested. I did the whole research thing on the diet before I ever started it. At that time I was unaware that I was diabetic (just found out this January). As stated before it works wonders to begin with, but I don’t know about the lifetime thing. I seem to be doing better with the road I am taking. That doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be good for you. I just know that this particular diet does cause protein in the kidneys and right now even a trace of protein in my urine specimen sends the doctor into fits. Not something pleasant to see and something that I’d rather avoid. Seems I’ve found what works for me and maybe the Atkins diet will work for you. Because of health reasons I have to have something that I can commit to a lifetime and that won’t throw me off skelter. Good luck!