Low Carb fad

[AnemoneJane]

My wife and I statred on Atkins 6 months ago, I've lost 60 lbs and she's los 53!...

I am now on an 1800 calorie diet at 60% protein, 20 % carbs and 20% fat. It's not easy getting all of that protein in a day and some days I don't...

The main point with dropping carbs, for me, has been cutting out refined sugar and flour and NOT eating a butt-ton of food.

First of all, congratulations on the weight loss! You and I differ on our percentage of nutrients, but we both have had success! What works for one person is NOT the same as what works for another, eh?

I lost lots of weight on Weight Watchers early this year and suffered through the inevitable slow-down of the pounds I lost each week as my weight approached normal. With that said, I looked at my "balance" of carbs/fat/protein, and discovered I was eating about 70% of my Weight Watchers POINTS from carbs (treats like "skinny cow" ice cream, fat free cookies, etc). I had the lightbulb moment of realizing that whats INSIDE those points(calories) really does matter! :eat:

I added BACK into my diet some low-fat, dairy foods, like 2% cheese (not fat free), 1% milk (not skim), etc. I also started snacking on NUTS due to their healthy fat.

Turns out that eating about 30% of my diet from healthy fat, and 25% from protein RESTARTED my weight loss. I limit carb intake to under 50% of my diet now (certainly not Atkins).

I now count CALORIES instead of Weight Watcher's POINTS with a program called FitDay PC (downloadable from www.fitday.com for $19,95). This program tracks my percentage of fat/carbs/protein, and I can tweak it to my own balance. I'm still losing weight, but slowly and healthy with no deprivation.

If you're looking for a great way to track your intake, give it a try :wavey:

(PS I don't work for FitDay)

 

[mako25]

Hey AnemoneJane,

Check out http://www.calorieking.com/foods/

it's a great site for counting cals and under 'tools' has a calorie burning calculator as well.

Keep up the good work.

 

[headhunter]

My wife and I statred on Atkins 6 months ago, I've lost 60 lbs and she's los 53!

Congratulations on your weight loss!

I lost my goal of 40 pounds in 6 months from January to June. As I posted previously in this thread, I went from doing quite a bit of excercise before going on the diet to doing no exercise while on the diet. This was by design due to time constraints as I've explained in my previous post.

I'm sure that some of my weight loss was muscle mass, but I'm not worried about it now that I'm going to get back to excercising. I'm getting started again a little later than I expected, but still hope to get back in good enough shape to backback up Mt. Whitney in September with a 60 pound pack. We'll see. A friend of mine has the permits to enter the area and has left it open for me to go with his group if I'm ready.

I felt great throughout the 6 months that I was on the diet and still feel great now at the end of month 7. I've had no trouble keeping control of my new found weight and have absolutely no regrets about using the Atkins diet to jump start the process of eliminating my pot belly.

Again, congrats to both you and your wife!

Christian

 

[gt2003]

Oh my, I can't argue with less sugar, more whole fiber foods and a reduced calorie diet along with exercise. But, I,....nevermind. I'm not going to get pulled into this atkins arguement again. I just think its hard to believe that the man was more than 75 pounds overweight, had congestive heart failure and high blood pressure. All of this from a virus? Consult your local cardiologist, please!

 

[mccabejc]

From personal experience, the Atkins definintely works. Lost 15 in a few weeks. Though it appears it doesn't work as well for women for some reason. Though I did notice, and others have concurred, a marked decrease in energy during the time I was on it. Could have been coincidental with something else going on, though. Who knows. Also a side benefit was a cessation (meaning it stopped) of my IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Someone else I know had the same experience. Maybe from the processed sugars or whatever. Who knows?

Anyway, I dont' think you'll find many folks claiming it doesn't work, only questioning the side effects.

 

[AnemoneJane]

Hey AnemoneJane,

Check out http://www.calorieking.com/foods/

it's a great site for counting cals and under 'tools' has a calorie burning calculator as well.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks, Mako25...I'll add that to my arsenol of tracking sites!

 

[debdiver]

This is an interesting site with more info than just about the death of Atkins:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/doctor/atkins.asp

His weight upon admission to the hospital was 195 lbs... for a 6 ft (or was it 6ft one?) man, age 70-something... that isn't too bad. I also found it interesting, and have read this before, that it was a group that advocates vegetarianism that leaked medical information to the press. (how did they get that info? was it real??) Again, it's against the Law for the ME's office to publish such info.

 

[mako25]

I had the hardest time in my nutrition class in college, due to these two facts;
1. I was a powerlifter at the time and ate everything in sight...especially meat!
2. The professor and all of her TAs were vegetarians.

Needless to say, we argued a lot. Yet, I could do my weight training and then go for a 3-5 mile run with my ROTC unit, and still be able to function and they always complained that they didn't have any energy or couldn't workout very hard.
And they always looked like the zombies from Resident Evil. ( which is a bit odd, since the zombies ate meat...sort of... yuck!)