I’m starting the Atkins diet tomorrow. The wife has wanted to start if for two months, and I figured that there’s no better time than now. It should be a lot easier to modify both our diets at the same time. Neither one of us has told the other one a target weight. Supposedly, the results start to show pretty quickly.
Yes, I, the skeptic, am on the Chet Atkins diet. I have to listen to country music whenever I eat. It’s supposed to affect my appetite.
Isn’t that the same one you mean?
Abe.
Do I have to take you out behind the wood shed and whip some sense into you?
Don’t go bringing down Chet Atkins. Such things can get one into trouble…if you know what I mean.
Don’t make me come over there.
My husband and I decided to start Atkins after Christmas. We were going to ease into Induction, but I don’t know if we actually will. We started Dec. 26. Every food we buy is on the Atkin’s Induction plan, but we haven’t really been strictly counting carbs. And we had/have some high carb foods we needed/need to get rid of, but neither of us is inclined to waste food.
We eat meat, eggs, cheese and veggies exclusively, except for sugar-free candies that have a low/zero net carb count. (Atkin’s Endulge, Russell Stover (these are really yummy), etc.)
I’ve lost 5lb in the last 10 days. He’s lost 8. Of course, we recognize that some of that is water loss, but I’m truly impressed. I’m never hungry. Ever. I drink plenty of water. I have even more energy for my workout (6 hours/week including 1 hour of weight lifting) than ever before. I don’t crave breads or pastas (and I started a thread here once on how much I LOVE yeast bread/rolls). My sweet cravings are satisified with very little candy or a diet Ice Botanical (Botanical Ice?),a Splenda-sweetened drink that tastes like Kool-Aid.
I’m trying to lose 45 lbs. to start. That’s still 25lb more than the day I got married at 20, but I didn’t weight train then. I have quite a bit of muscle that I’m dying to get a look at. Then I’ll reevaluate and see if I need to lose more. Estimating 5lb the first and second weeks, and two pounds each week after that, I should reach my target weight around May.
The only problem I have is that I feel like I must be doing something wrong because I’m not suffering.
Ugh, I realize that sounds like an Atkin’s testimonial, but I’m not trying to talk anyone into anything. We haven’t even bought his book. We’re going strictly by his website.
Didn’t make a New Year’s resolution on this … I started a strict reducing diet back on November 1st, and have, so far, pretty much stuck to it.
I haven’t actually worked out how much I have to lose - I’m just going to keep it up until I’m some sort of normal shape. However, a check over Christmas reveals that I’ve successfully got down to 300 pounds … so, still a little way to go.
(And, so far in my life, I’ve had no negative health consequences worth speaking of - blood pressure normal, no problems with joints, nothing. But that can’t go on indefinitely, and if I don’t lose the excess now, it’ll only get harder to do it in the future. So I’m doing it now.)
Deadly Accurate, as per my previous posts, I’m unable to fully do Atkins, because of my kidney stone condition. However, I agree with much of what you have to say. I’m not counting carbs much at all, but totally avoiding refined carbs. I almost never feel hungry between meals, and then, even when I sit down to eat, I’ll fill my plate with as much food as I think I’ll eat, and end up not finishing it! This is definitely a first for me! I’d like to get down to about 200 pounds, which is about 20 pounds less than I weighed when I got married. I’m 5’8", and got down to 200 once before, regularly working out, pretty much toned, a size 18, and I looked good! I started the plan New Year’s Day and so far am down 4 pounds! Yay!
BTW, anyone who wants to know if they’re metabolising fat can buy something in the diet section of Wal-Mart (and presumably any other grocery/department store) called Thinz Metabostix (I think that’s the name). It’s a urine test that detects the presence of ketones. It’s for anyone on any diet. They’re rather expensive: $13 for 25 test sticks, but as long as you don’t use them every day like they recommend (probably twice a week is plenty), they should last a few months. I think that other companies make similar test sticks, but I don’t know the names of those.
Losing weight has been on my “to-do” list for several years. And I’ve never paid much attention to it.
This year, I have a firm goal. The national tae kwon do tournament is in six months. The break point between middleweight and heavyweight is 175 lbs. To make this target, I need to shed 30 pounds by May and keep it off through the tournament.
So I need to push the fruits, do a light workout every morning, and get some exercise equipment to start doing cardio training.
What HASN’T been said yet is: Never start any diet/weight training program without consulting your doctor first. A lot of these recommendations are good ones if your body doesn’t have an underlying reason why it can’t shed weight.
I’m a little concerned about diets that alter the body’s metabolism artificially. Things like ephedra boost the heart rate and blood pressure to get the body to burn calories without working. It’s hard on the kidneys, and if you happen to want to excercise while on it, it add another level of stress to the system. (Which is why you occasionally hear about military personnell and professional athletes having problems with using it.)
Good advice, sniglet.
Chet Atkins diet. snort I love it!
Signed up 21 people at my Weight Watcher meeting yesterday. And I noticed a few more people at the gym this morning (though not as many as I expected). We can at least revel in the fact that as we try to mend our ways, we’re certainly not alone in trying it!
Here’s to hoping that by March we can still say we’re doing it!
I started Atkins induction on Jan. 1. I’m in ketosis, but I’m not getting the hunger-suppression that I did last time I did this. (I lost 40 lbs on Atkins a year and a half ago, but my “occasional” sweet treat turned into everyday, and I gained 15 back over the holidays. So I’m trying to turn that around, and get back into a good maintenance mode).
I’m intrigued by Atkins, and particularly by some of the people who’ve posted about their results with the diet. Around July I cut white rice, potatoes, and white bread out of my diet and switched to brown rice, whole wheat pastas, and brown bread, while eating a lot more salads and vegetables. I always ate enough meat. I seem to have lost a dress size and am visibly thinner to friends and family. 
I have not, however, been exercising, and so my resolution is to start back doing daily yoga again. For me, adjusting both diet and exercise at the same time have always been rough, so I opted to settle into one and then pick up the other.
There were a bunch of people at the “new members” talk at WW on Saturday (it was the last one of the week, there were a bunch of returning members as well - place was full). And the gym was incredibly populated on New Years Day.
(However, there was nearly no one at my swim class this morning, but I think that has something to do with the teacher)