[spaghetticat]

Hi all! I have some questions.. I have been reading around- mainly on here and on the atkins site. I have not yet purchased the 2002 atkins book however I might today. Anyways I was just wondering if anyone has had success switching from a lower calorie/low carb* prepackaged plan to atkins?

I am just wanting to slowly move away from shakes and bars and eat more "real" food if that makes sense? I am already trying to sub in different foods- I am not really sure if it is good or bad though as I am unsure where I should be keeping my calories and fat and protein levels at.

Currently I am down over 30 pounds since I started low carbing. I started on Medifast then switched to wonderslim- both have similar ideas- medifast is low carb low calorie low(ish) fat. Wonderslim is also low carb, but allows more calories and fruit.

I am considering starting in the OWL phase since I have already been LCing for a while- I am not sure if that is a silly idea or not. I have been reading through the induction and OWL information- trying to figure out which fruits and veggies and meats and other fit into the plan- still a lot more reading to do.

Anyways back to the mian question:
Has anyone successfully switched over? What was transition like (from prepackaged to Atkins)
any pros or cons??

Thanks so much!

[spaghetticat]

ETA bought the book so I am reviewing it.

[pferde01]

My only input is going from mostly processed low calorie, low fat foods when i was counting calories my body was a LOT happier on Atkins. I didn't do the bars/shakes/etc or any pre-packaged meals though. I was able to lose weight on both plans when done properly. I had a lot of digestive issues with all the processed foods.

I might suggest tracking your food intake on something like The Daily Plate for a few weeks on your current plan and if you switch so you can see a detailed breakdown. Hopefully others have more first hand advice, but at least that way you can see how your body is handling each plan and what exactly your body is getting that works or doesnt work.

[spaghetticat]

Thank you so much for your advice pferde01! I log in on ************- but I am going to look to see if there are other more customizable sites (like fitday as my daily percentage goals are a bit off)
I will be extra careful to log everything. I have a feeling my body will be much happier eating whole, real food as well. I have been having not *huge* issues, but wanting to switch to mainly hormone free and antibiotic free food and things I feel good about nurturing my body with ykwim?

Thanks again!! Going to look into fit day some more

[spaghetticat]

Bumping this!

[mizski]

Hi spaghetticat...love that name. The spaghetti cat picture would make a perfect avatar for you!

Anyways, I did Medifast and then switched over to mostly diet direct items (same products as wonderslim and new lifestyle diet). I had to stop using most MF meals after developing a severe soy sensitivity. I've been following Atkins DANDR 2002 for a while now and have been very successful with it.

A few things come to mind:

Buy an Atkins book. You will need it for reference and to explain how to do Atkins correctly. I prefer Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, 2002 ed. (DANDR 2002). Many people like the new Atkins book, New Atkins for a New You (NANY 2010).

Hopefully you have been logging your meals either over on the MF site or someplace like Fitday or Fatsecret. Look at your recent logs and see how many carbs/day you are currently consuming. Atkins uses NET carbs so that would be carbs-fiber=net carbs. This would give you a ball park idea of where in OWL to start.

However, Atkins follows a very systematic plan to add groups of foods after Induction. My suggestion based on your post would be to start with DANDR OWL 1 (more veg) OR NANY Induction (12-15g net veggie carbs). Either would put you at ~25g net carbs/day for the first two weeks. Then you could move up the OWL rungs in the order recommended.

Both Medifast and Wonderslim are low calorie, low fat and lower total carb diets. Atkins is a high fat, low carb diet. Getting used to full fat dairy, salad dressings and cheeses as well as poultry with skin on (if you like that) and fattier cuts of meat may take a conscious effort as you are used to non-fat or low-fat selections.

I had better stop now before I write a book. I think you will love eating real food again. I'll try to answer any other questions you may have.

[spaghetticat]

Wow, you could be my twin! I was on medifast, then switched to wonderslim and now am looking at Atkins. i did buy the 2002 version as suggested somewhere by Jersey girl and have been reading it.

I have not read the whole book yet so i think that will answer a lot of my questions. I do record my food- I use my fitness pal but I am transitioning over to fitday because you can choose your exact goals and minimums.

I am def. eating way more than 25 net carbs a day- I have been reading about the different phases (kinda flipping through them here and there)
I need to look back in the book to see if I understand what the owl (on going weight loss right?) first step is. It will be a pretty drastic reduction in carbs.. I am currently enjoying berries and nuts- do you know what rung that is in? Actually I just jogged my own memory and remember seeing a ladder of some sort lol.

I guess maybe I should bring it back to the beginning until I am much more aware of what foods do what to me, as suggested in the book. I suppose I should work on lowering my variety until I have discovered my CLL right?

Thanks so much, and congratulations on your weight loss!

[mizski]

Originally Posted by spaghetticat

I am currently enjoying berries and nuts- do you know what rung that is in? Actually I just jogged my own memory and remember seeing a ladder of some sort lol.

DANDR 2002 initial OWL rungs:

1. more Induction veggies (additional 5g net carbs)
2. Dairy
3. Nuts/Seeds
4. Berries/Melon (except watermelon)

I just noticed that you are ~30#s from goal so perhaps you could start in OWL on Rung 4 (berries/melon). I would stay on that for a few weeks anyways to let your body become accustomed to Atkins.

The problem with starting in OWL is that you will not know if any of these particular foods are problems for you. That may not be an issue for you though if you are already eating berries and nuts and losing weight.

Please be aware that your weight may stall or even show a slight gain as you switch from Wonderslim to Atkins. Give it some time for your body to acclimate.

[spaghetticat]

Thanks! I have decided to do a *slightly* modified induction of one week, just to cut out extras so that i can add things in and see how they work. I might tack on some more weight to lose, I could go as low as 125 so we will see, more focused on how I look and feel other than a specific number