NO MORE ATKINS, SOUTH BEACH INSTEAD!!!!!

Yes, my Mom just got back from the doctor who, coincidentally, is her OBGYN. He was looking over her charts and asked about her cholesterol and why it seemed so high. She said that she was on Atkins and was told by her regular doctor that her cholesterol was OK. He said that he couldn't believe that her doctor told her that her cholesterol was good. He asked how long she'd been on Atkins which she replied a year and a half. He asked if she noticed any weight loss within the past few months explaining that the majority of people on Atkins for a long amount of time STOPPED losing weight because your blood chemistry gets used to it. You actually end up taking in all that saturated fat and storing it. She hasn't been able to lose any weight for awhile now and actually gained 10 pounds or so eating the Atkins way. She hardly ever went off the diet. She had lost 25 pounds in the beginning. The doctor told her to get off Atkins and go with a lower fat kind of approach. She came into work awhile ago (we work together) and she sounds like she's switching to SB! Now it's just the dreaded switch from the real butter to the fake stuff (she LOVES her butter)! I'm going to tell her all about the board and try to get her on here!

I can't tell you how good I feel right now on SB. I'm on day 2 of the second week of P1. I lost 7 pounds last week and haven't noticed being too tired. I did strength training last week and have added in cardio this week.
I'm finding this to be pretty easy on P1 so I can't wait for P2!

That's great news!! I'm so glad for your MOM!
I know it's a touchy subject, but I just CRINGE when people tell me they're on Atkins. To me, it seems such an unhealthy lifestyle.

I also cringe when people compare Atkins to SB! I go into a tyraid about how they are NOT the same or even close!

Yeah, we were in Costco awhile ago and there were a couple of people looking at this huge display of Atkins books - DH went over to them and recommended the South Beach Diet Book saying it was easier to follow, more food choices and several people we knew had lost on the plan, including us. They looked at him like he was nuts but I did notice them looking at the SBD book later on

I haven't lost a ton of weight but I had already been on WW so I didn't have much left to go. I certainly feel much healthier on the SBD good carb diet

It’s really tough when people you care about are on Atkins and, like me, you feel it is a very unhealthy lifestyle. Many of my loved-ones-on-Atkins are totally brainwashed in my opinion, and even discussing different options with them becomes a useless debate that leaves them angry. They are deeply offended that I would even suggest they try something different.

I’m currently trying to gently and slyly convince my best friend to switch to South Beach. I slip into our conversations little tidbits about my experience with the diet. When I first started talking about it she said - “Gee I don’t know, you have to eat a lot of vegetables on that diet...” I bet if she went and got her cholesterol tested it would be a big wake up call.

I tried Atkins two years ago at her beckoning and remember feeling so greasy and lethargic I couldn’t stand it. I found out I was pregnant my 3rd week into Atkins and stopped immediately, but worried the whole time that my baby might somehow be harmed by what I had been eating those first weeks. She wasn’t, but I was glad I found out early.

I was also glad when they made the state of Dr. Atkins health public after he passed. I feel the only reason everyone in the Atkins community was crying “invasion of privacy” about it was because he was obviously so unhealthy. If it were the other way around they would have been celebrating the info’s release.

Anyway, that’s my Atkins rant. Thanks for listening!

I am so happy for you... It is great that your mom is taking a second look at the Atkens plan.

I can remember in the '70s when Atkens was the new fad diet on the market. I had just had my first baby and needed to lose 35 pounds after her birth. Atkens looked like it was a quick and easy solution to the weight problem. I bought the book and religiously followed the program. I realized that, after a week that it did not seem to be healthy. Although I enjoy high fat and high protein, and can live without carbs, I knew that I did not feel right. I abandoned the diet on that basis. As more information has come to light about cholesteral and healthy eating, I am glad that I made that decision at the time.

One of my good friends in on Atkins and I cringe at the things she tells me she eats. I also question a diet that says I can eat a pound of butter but not an apple?!!!

CJ...I hope your Mom goes on this with you. I think she will be pleasantly surprised.

Oh...my doctor's Physician's Asst. actually recommended Atkins to me when I first got put on a statin drug for my high cholesterol. I declined, I told her I just didn't think it was healthy. She said, " Well, it works, don't ask me how but it does". I'm so glad I'm not one of those who blindly does what my doctor's office says without question. There is not telling what that might've done to my health.

Lisa

Congrats, Kissyjoy on your feeling healthy and on your mom possibly joining you! I'd love to get my mom to join me, but she's afraid of adding carbs. She's on a super low carb diet from her nutritionist (she's Type 2), but she doesn't eat much fat and does eat a lot of veggies. But she cheats a lot because she feels deprived. I think on this she would not cheat as much.

My doctor said that she had read a lot about Atkins and in many studies, it strangely showed to reduce cholesterol. But she said many people have a very hard time maintaining it for life, and since that's what she wants me doing, she recommended SBD, which I am thrilled about!