I had been losing weight dieting and exercising and had sort of plateaued - last few days I have been doing low carb - upped my protein and made the carbs much lower - and my weight is dropping fast! I know it could be just water weight but I had already lost quite a bit - so I am surprised that it has been so effective. And I have not been hungry at all.

Does the weight loss normally take off so fast when you do low carb?? I'm very excited!! I realized I had not been eating enough protein at all and way too many carbs, even on my diet I'd love to hear from anyone with an opinion!

Thanks!

Yup. Most people lose a bit of weight right away with low carb. How much is "dropping fast"??? WTG on your weight loss! You're doing EXCELLENT!!

About 5 pounds in the last 3 days!

sounds totally normal for induction Be sure to get those vitamins and water in and CONGRATS!!!!

After the first few weeks it does slow down to a regular drop a few lbs a week but the energy stays. but please do not forget your vits esp the potassium and possible mag. esp with a fast wt loss you are lossing lots of potassium wiht the water drop. and could throw your body with cramps and restless legs at night. (mag too)

After a lot of reservations, I decided to give Atkins a go.

I'm not strictly counting my carbs but am making a conscious effort to eat high protein food. I'm still nervous about eating high fat food though...and I am still watching the calories.

My main gripe is that if Atkins is so great, why do people keep falling off it and having to go back on it again. I constantly read about people starting the Induction phase again. But nonetheless, I'm willing to lower my carb intake because that makes some logical scientific sense to me.

I have a question though... I read about people's amazing weight loss when they start Atkins but so far, these reviews are by people who were very obese and overweight. I'm within the healthy BMI range but would like to lose about 10-20 pounds to feel more comfortable. Does the Atkins work as well for someone who's already within the BMI range?

Renee Zellweger managed to lose weight on Atkins but I do wonder who long she was on the Induction phase....hmmm...

Anyway, would be glad to hear others' thoughts...

People fall of the "other" diets just as easy. so it is the same people are fast to criticize atkins of other low carb plans.

but the answer is simple. people are addidcted to foods they shouldnot eat. different people have their triggers. mine id after many years of trying is carbs with loads of grease in them if I cut the carbs I cut the grease as well. And sugar/ sweets. I

As people are addicted if you think about it you do not allow alcoholics or coke addicts to have just one it can destroy all they have worked for they do not know how to stop at just one. Eating addictions are worse as you can stay away from the drugs (most of the time depending on where you live) and say out of the bars, you can not stay away from foods. So what happens you get tempted everyt day every one says well just one piece of cake will not hurt you you are doing so good just reward your self with a cake or icecrream or one of your fav foods. do drugg addicts reward them selves with just one hit???? no we are a bit dense with that one. we set the rewards with food that we should stay away from there for we are setting that food up for cheating. food should not be used as a reward. but I digress. The point I am trying to make is that dieting is hard no matter what diet we use. and every body fall soff there is no right way to do this do what works. and stay true they all work but there is one that works better for you and stick with it!!


no matter what it is!!

*ditto!*

etcetc:

I guess the reason that it 'looks' like more overweight people are on atkins than people who need to lose only 10 some pounds is because the people that only need to lose a little don't need the massive support that it takes to lose 30-50-100+ pounds. just my opinion of course. Jennifer Aniston has also been reported to have lost weight on Atkins.

ETA: If you're choosing atkins then an awesome thing to do would be to read his book. The induction phase does require counting carbs to stay under 20.

Hope you find the plan that works for you

Lacey

Atkins isn't something you can do to get into shape, then go back to eating the way you used to. I can't speak for everyone, but the reason I'VE slid back is because it IS hard to have food that puts weight on ME in the house (my daughters are skinny minnies and need the fruits,veggies, pasta, and sometimes snacks that aren't good for ME) without me WANTING it. People that say "oh, it just takes self control" aren't addicted to food or have a very high self control ability. I'm on Atkins because it IS so strict, and it DOES work. And I know it works for me. I just haven't gotten the addiction licked. As Susan stated---it's not so easy when it comes to food. We DO reward ourselves. And it IS much easier just grabbing some type of granola bar or junk food when we're on the go and don't have time to cook something healthy. You could say it's a TOTAL life change that takes just as long to re-learn this stuff as it did to get into the shape we're currently in!! Good luck!!!

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Today I went for an hour walk and then hit the bike for about 25mins. I wanted to hit 30min but I started getting very nauseous and HAD to get off the bike.

I kept telling myself - it's all because my body is changing and burning protein. But another part of me is saying "COME ON!!! You never felt this way when you were exercising with Weetbix and cereal as part of your diet"

Still, like I said, I am going to continue with Atkins cos I'm stubborn and I want to prove to myself that carbs are my downfall.

I love that explanation that we don't reward druggies with a hit. That clicked with me.

I'm Chinese by the way, so while I was never fat when I was young girl, I lost control around the age of 16 and could not understand why I kept eating more rice and was never satisfied. I then started to crave for sugary SWEET food (which was strange to me cos I have always been more inclined towards the savoury foods laden with salt).

The other day, someone asked me which foods I crave or love the most, and images of cakes, doughnuts, icecream, banana and walnut bread, raisin toast flashed and discoed in my head! Before I used to say Smoked salmon or even bacon double cheeseburger...now it's all these sinful sinful desserts. I knew something was not right.

My role model is Jennifer Aniston - i think she's fabulous! I guess I'm about her Pre-Zone "I'm-greek" size and I hope to be her current size. Courtney Cox way too skinny for me.

So I'm gonna stick to my low-carb diet and do more exercises (we can call it Atkins, or even Etcetering) and i Hope to report good news soon! Thanks again for ur support.

Yup, and that's why I'm going back to Atkins woe because it is so effective.

Ect as your body gets used to useing diferent fuel you will find some adjustments to your exercise routine. but that lasts only for a week or 2 but if you feel like you want to go and your legs just do not them make sure you get your potassium and your mag. very important.

and easy fall down with low carb is you start teating much under your mnimum daily cal load and you start to not lose weight just please make sure you eat enough cals to mantain your BMI. so it can continue to burn cals as you get your exercise in.

Carbs seem to make you want MORE carbs. That is true for me anyway. They seem to create cravings, create hunger. They run your blood sugar high, cause it to drop and then you are hungry again. Mean time your excess carb calories went to storage in your fat cells.

What I like about Atkins is that I'm never hungry on it really. Not like I am when I eat carbs. Problem with Atkins is that I'm never hungry (or can ignore the hunger) and I think that lowers my metabolic rate.

With extreme exercise? You really can't do it on Atkins at least not at induction levels. Why? Because ketones are a "slow" energy source. They aren't like glycogen. Glycogen is blood sugar, it can be burned for fuel to do a workout quickly. Ketones take a little longer and so when you are trying an extreme workout you can't hope to do it at induction level carbs.

I was trying (some time back) to do Body for Life exercises and also eat Atkins induction level carbs. I was exhausted. There just wasn't enough energy there to do it. I did lose weight (to my lowest ever, well not "ever" but lowest in a very long time), but the weight didn't stay off, because I couldn't sustain that level of work and eating.

Ketones are actually a by product of burning fat, ( the reason it shows up when you are in the "fat burning zone", and why diabetics when they are out of control they can go in ketoacidosis, and have ketones in their urine) that is a slow energy source. well I was pumping iron for an hour daily and did great with an intake of about 50 carbs you just need to read your body and listen to it.