I've noticed on other message boards and in real life, the response I get to me mentioning I am limiting my carbs is one of horror and usually they sniff and say, "Well, when I'm dieting, I want to do it in a way that is healthy..." They are implying this way is NOT healthy.

Why all the Atkins hate? Anyone know?

Also, what kind of lame-brained responses have you guys gotten about low-carbing/Atkins?

Just kind of curious now.

Also it seems like the official stance of the medical community and all dieticians is to push low-fat and high carb. Wonder why, when this seems to work so much better???

yes they believe that all you eat is meat, cheese, and eggs......they probably have never read the book and they hate the thought of giving up their carbs. The fat we get from the meat and not eating tons of carbs speeds up our metabolisms and helps us lose weight. I have two uncles who decreased their cholesterol points significantly by just following Atkins......one couldn't exercise due to a very bad back and he lost a lot of weight and lowered his cholesterol levels! This site is good for support...but also LowCarbFriends is a great site and pretty active! Some forums here dont like to hear about low carb....maybe they have tried it and they hate to give up their addiction to carbs idk...but I know I feel tremendously better and I am glad I found my way back to this WOE!

Oh, thanks, I will look for that site!

I'm really glad we both found this WOE too.

Boy, I tried Susan Powter's Stop the Insanity diet in the 90's Do you remember her, with the really short white-blonde hair?

She said you could eat pancakes with syrup (no butter) and orange juice and toast with honey (but no butter) and you would lose weight.

So I tried it. Ate that meal. A little bit later, ravenously, insanely hungry (insulin dump?) so I ate that meal again. Imagine someone eating about ten to twelve of those meals until their stomachs almost burst. That was me.

Hmm...diet didn't help me lose weight...wonder why, LOL?

Anyway this WOE is a miracle for me so far and I can't help but look at all the people out there with diabetes and pre-diabetes and I am thinking this would help them.

I wonder, do the dieticians push that low-fat, high-carb crap diet at diabetics, too, or do they grudgingly allow reduced carbs for the diabetics, LOL?

This is the first diet I have felt well on, and have not had hunger on. This is the first diet I can succeed at.

I feel sorry there is so much misinformation out there because it means a lot of people who could have a happier life, won't now because they will think this is dangerous and bad.

I totally agree. I've been following low carb for about 3 months now and a friend kept telling me how unhealthy I was going to become. I saw her this past weekend and her jaw dropped when she saw me 26 pounds lighter... now all of a sudden she is quizzing me on everything I eat bc she wants to give it a go. Hypocrite!

I've tried diet after diet and all they did was make me miserable. I haven't felt this great in years!!

I agree that most people are misinformed and don't understand Atkins. Personally, I ignore people who are negative as I know what's good for me and that's about losing the weight (I lost over 13 pounds so far), not becoming diabetic, and feeling good! If people have a problem with that, it's their problem, not mine.

Toby

I actually had two doctors suggest I follow a low-carb plan so I do believe some doctors are coming around to it. It's also a great plan for people who are unable to exercise as you lose weight without exercise. I have rheumatoid arthritis so I'm really only able to walk and swim (no pool close ) so I can't do the strenuous jogging that I would love to do but with this diet I can still lose weight which is fantastic! I'm gonna start beginner's yoga soon too so that will help my muscle strength! This WOE has me wanting to do more and more!

Lori, have you been here long enough to receive IMs?

Walking is great exercise! So is swimming! Jogging admittedly is good for burning calories and revving up the metabolism, but the risks of injury...ugh....speaking from personal experience. I was a runner for decades, until I hit 40 and all of a sudden couldn't hardly walk down the stairs, and a doctor told me I had chondromalacia (runner's knees) because my knees are double-jointed (ligaments and tendons too lose and not holding the knee in place to track properly as I move) and I didn't know to keep my quadriceps extra-strong to compensate for my weak ligaments and tendons.

My nurse practitioner pretty much recommended Atkins to me, though she thinks "Atkins is too extreme."

Her diet plan: Lean meats, low-carb vegs, olive oil, some nuts, and one serving of grains (1 slice multi-grain bread, or 1/2 cup brown rice/whole grain pasta) a day.

I'm skipping the grains, and not really sweating the meat fat aspect ;-)

Chiming is as an outsider ...

I read the book a very long time ago. Probably have forgotten more than I ever knew However ...

I've been hanging around with a wide variety of dieters and losers for many years now and here's what I've observed with regard to any any reduced carb plan.

A lot of folks don't really "get" the basic macronutrients. "Right, what's a protein?"
A lot of folks don't realise how many carbs they do eat that have absolutely no nutritional value. In fact they probably don't know how many carbs they eat at all ... what a huge percentage of their total intake.
I don't understand the difference between reduced carb and low carb etc. How low is low? Is it relative? In which case most calorie counters are probably low carbing it?
Too many people simply imagine their foodlife as it is but without carbs (or what they imagine carbs to be). Ya know? patty, no bun. steak, no fries. slice o'bologna, no bread.
Many, many, many of us would have a chicken breast with a lovely salad, yet deny low carbing.

Yer basic fella off the street it woefully lacking in nutrition ed., sadly. There's waaaay too much bad information from waaaay too many bad sources. A dreadful, harmful combination.

SusanB, you can't just cut out the carbs, you have to replace them with fat - or else what you're doing is (1) very low calorie (not replacing the carbs with anything), or (2) very high protein (replacing the carbs with protein). I suppose neither are strictly incompatible with low carb, but they're really not the same thing as most low carb plans. High fat is considered pretty essential by most.

Sorry to crash your thread, but I thought it was interesting. I think people are going to b**ch at you and tell you that you're doing it wrong no matter what. I'm on WW and I always get people telling me "don't eat that! It has CARBS!!!!" Who cares? I don't count carbs! (Although in counting calories/points you kind of naturally lower your intake some of the big carbs like pasta, some breads, and white rice because they're a lot of points too).

Aclai, you're right, the fundamental problem is that people ignore how rude it is to criticize anyone's food.

I think so much of it has to do with our genetics and individual metabolisms, and probably some psychology too. I mean, it seems like different diets work for different people. I know people who can eat pancakes with syrup for breakfast and a big glass of orange juice, and stay satisfied for hours. But with my body, my insulin doesn't behave very well, and I get this huge hunger (like starving!) and cravings that I quite literally can not say "no" to. So a diet that includes any carbs that set off that response in me, won't work for me because once I feel that hungry, I'm gonna eat, that's all there is to it.

But, for the people who don't get that blood sugar low/weird insulin response that I get, reduced calorie diets like WW work great. They get to eat measured portions of all the foods they love, without having to really give up any one category. They don't feel too much hunger, because they don't have the weird insulin problem I have, and it pleases them psychologically because they would prefer not to give up any certain category of food.

So, I just think....whatever works for you, that's the right diet for you.

But for just about all my life, eating right always meant, low-fat, high-carb. Always. And if you walk in the store, almost all the items you see are low-fat ones, the diet items I mean, and it's pretty near impossible to find low-carb items, except for of course the meat and dairy aisle and the lone little tiny diabetic aisle.

So in our culture, it's really been ingrained that eating right means low-fat but all the carbs you want. Toast with honey but no butter. That sort of thing.

So I found this other way of eating, that works best for my particular body, where diabetes runs in my family. I am sort of predisposed to diabetes, if you will.

But everyone thinks I'm doing something bad for me and unhealthy, because of the prevailing beliefs of the culture. And sometimes it just feels like hitting your head against a brick wall, trying to explain about how the other types of diets just didn't work for me in the past.

I just wish there was more information out there, good information, about how bodies in general work and how different people have different responses to different foods. I wish we all could understand that each of us is going to have to figure out what is best for our body, and do that.

I think what I will do from now on, if asked, is say I'm eating the way a diabetic eats. Because it's pretty much true. A bit more restricted just at the present time, but I will be adding back more complex carbs as time goes on, just not the sugar and white flour and white rice.