Don't you just hate that? When someone has a major prejudice against our way of dieting? I have heard SO many people put down low carb dieting as though it is so "unhealthy". It really frustrates me sometimes.

It can be hard to stick to. I will admit that. For those of us who really need it (low carb), our favorite foods have often been those that are high in carbs. So yeah, sometimes we have to give them up in order to get what we really want. Which is to be thin again.

It feels (sometimes) like an alcoholic who has to recognize about themselves that yeah, they love alcohol, but it doesn't "love" them back. Giving up starchy and sweet foods isn't easy. But it works. It helps us to get back our thinner bodies.

But then you have people telling you how "unhealthy" it is. Yeah. Like it is unhealthy for an alcoholic to give up alcohol!!!!

My mom in December said something that really bugged me. She was in the car with my sister and me. My sister went on Atkins after she saw how much weight I lost a few years back. And she looks really good. Better than I've seen her look in years. I, in the meantime, was giving up and gaining a lot of weight back. But not all of it. I still had over 20 pounds to gain to be back where I was even at my worst.

Anyway my mom in the car with her two daughters, both of whom have lost a lot on Atkins, made the statement "The thing I don't like about Atkins is that everyone I've ever known who has been on it has gained all of their weight back and then some."... GRRRRRRRRRR

Fighting words. And how could she say that? Sitting there with two people who had NOT gained "all of their weight back" and especially not "and then some!"

Partly this is what motivated me back on to my plan. The anger I felt at that statement. NO way is it true, and it isn't going to be true of me either not EVER.

So maybe that "prejudice" people have creates some benefit after all!

I used to lament that unlike most "addictions" you can't just give up food cold turkey. You have to eat. With Atkins though, you can give up the foods that cause the most problems with gaining weight and you have the best of "fasting" with none of the drawbacks.

I have fasted before. It works too. It works rapidly. It works very similar to the way that Atkins works. You draw on your fat stores. Go into ketosis and start burning your fat as fuel. It is kind of extreme, but it has the same effect (somewhat) as Atkins does. You tend to feel weaker on a fasting diet, but you lose your hunger very rapidly. After the first day you really aren't hungry anymore, until it is time that you need to eat. Then you start to feel hungry again. Of course, I've never lasted that long on a fast. I went once 8 days on a fast. But that isn't extreme. Jesus once went 40 days on a fast, and Daniel in the Bible went 3 weeks. 8 days is nothing comparatively.

I could have continued too, but my mom talked me out of it. She was worried sick about me.

But one thing I've noticed about Atkins that is similar to fasting is that you can get that same "cold" and unable to get warm feeling on both diets. I think that cold feeling only comes with deep ketosis. Maybe some of you have felt it, maybe not.

Anyway I think Atkins is great because it works almost as rapidly as a fast, and it doesn't require that you eat nothing.

Well, and the little fact that it is a wee bit more healthy than a fast, ya think?

Well there are people that will tell you that fasting is very healthy. That it cleanses your body, that it gives your organs a rest. People have fasted religiously for ages. It gives a certain clarity of mind that you don't get under ordinary conditions. I'm not at all convinced that fasting is unhealthy. I do think it slows your metabolism and that isn't my goal, but I suspect that there are some serious benefits to fasting. Not that I can tell you what they are! Still the fact that people have done them for ages, indicates to me that there must be a value they get from them.

Many people are firm believers in high colonic enemas (if done correctly you are flushed and purged untill clear water runs out from your enitre colon) That too can have some health benifits but I would think the sore butt would out weigh them

But I too have done a fasting just before doing the PP WOE which is similar to atkins. I went almost 30 days eating just enough in that whole time to equal 1 days worth of food like a hot dog a day nothing more. and when i did that within 1 hour I was pooping it out. skin and chunks and all. I lost only 15 lbs that month, and it was in protest to MY SH well it did not get what I wanted done and i did feel weak and crabby all the time. But It did get me thinking of how to to it more healthy, and well I went bacl to low carb which is where i felt the energy and health and all in one good for you diet.

You can not say atkins is bad for you when done right
First even with WW and low fat if people do not stick to their woe then yes they will gain it back and more if not careful (Me for prime example) and how many over the years do other diets and gain it all back???

Have you check your cholesterol lately???? I know when I did low carb I was amazing with mine. it was text book perfect!!! not low carbing and eating less meats was i need medicine it was so bad. I could go on but....

HHHMMM How many girls here exercise??? Ok were you exercising before starting this WOE??? I thought not, did you have the energy??? Me neither, so where can this go wrong???

Ok I will step down and let others tell theirs. I just brush the non believers off. My parents for the first time seeing my brother do so well on south beach actually now think some thing may be right they just do not want to give up carbs and will not read any thing just listen to the bad things so I go thorough the same thing, when i lost so much weight and was so healthy it still was a bad thing. so I do not tell them.

I'll stick to steaks, fish, salads & cheesecakes to keep my insides healthy thankyouverymuch.

OK...completely O/T, but your post reminded me of this show on TLC called "You Are What You Eat" - has anyone ever seen it? They SHOW you on TV someone getting their bowels emptied. Ewwwwwwwwww - I just about died the 1st time I ever saw the show

I look at it this way when people say that (and I've told people this as well). I'm eating salads, meat, cheese. I USED to eat french fries almost daily. And chocolate. So to make a choice of eating healthier THEIR way or eating healthier on a HEALTHY scale..I'll choose Atkins. I have also told them, if I was allergic to these foods a doctor would recommend me not eating them--and my body fat is saying I'm allergic.
And yes, I exercise more--which I'd not done before. So Atkins, to me, is a win-win situation

Well, I do understand there is some value in doing a body flush and/or a 1-2 day fast. Heck, our bodies ask for it themselves when we are sick and just can't get a thing down or don't feel like eating. Whose to say that isn't what helps us get over the illness? BUT, that said, I've been around these boards for a long time and we are all about advocating good, healthy eating habits and practices. It is pure proven science that the body needs healthy fuel to function properly and if the healthy fuel isn't provided the body will start breaking down muscle mass & organ matter to run. It will use some stored fats also but our bodies are smart machines and if it thinks for a minute that healthy fuel is in danger of not coming along, it will go into starvation mode and hold on to those stored fats for long term use.

These boards have many, many lurkers. People who are at their wits end to do something, ANYTHING, to change their bodies. I just worry when things are posted about potentially harmful practices like longterm fasting, etc.

Kel

What Kind of carb amounts are we talkin' with Atkins or other low carb diets anyway? Lot's of folks lower carbs for calorie counting. %'s or grams???

Sherry, I understand what you are saying. My husband and I go through this all the time. We have put up with comments about our Atkins' low carb life style for over five years. And to these people I have become a broken record by telling them the exact same thing each time...to read the book so they know what they are talking about, and then I will discuss it with them, that everyone has different needs, that they are not like me, on and on. And this leads them to say, "You've said that already." Then I remind them I've only said it when they bring up MY low carb diet and how bad it it. I've had it bad with people right in my face (my dad and his wife), pointing their finger on my nose saying, "and that diet you're on!!!!..." And the funny thing is, it's always the very same people (again, mainly my dad and his wife) who have pointed out I am fat...now they pick on my diet. I really don't have patience for rude, annoying comments like that anymore. I have become known as "stubborn" now and told so, so I just laugh out loud everytime those two tell me this. They don't like that I difuse their calling me a name either. It only makes me tougher, less tolerant and it strengthens me to continue, especially when we are around them. Yep, they fuel my fire, and I'm going to stay low carb all week now. Keep up your good work and what works for you.

That's probably what bothers me the most. All the experts of the LC WOL and they've yet to read any of the books. I have a friend that's constantly in my face about it being unhealthy (this is someone who drinks a cup of coffee with 3-4 heaping tsps of sugar, eats 5 or more packages of Reese's PB cups for breakfast, etc & oh, is a 2 pack a day (at least) smoker) and I ask him what specifically is so darn unhealthy about my WOL or the food I eat. The exercise?? The salads, the meats, the veggies, nuts, seeds, flax???? He can never give me an answer, but he keeps throwing it out there. Drives me nuts!

Kel I agree it is safe to say that fasting in not healthy. the body does it's own cleaning. i did not mean to say that the fast that I did was healthy infact it was thw worst thing I could have done. I was NOT absorbing any nutrients, and could have destroyed my kidneys by not feeding them and metabolizing the fat and i slowed my metabolism down so slow where I should have lost about 20 to 25 in the first month (water including) i only lost 15 and did not lose any thing the next month as my body was just horading all the food it put in not to mention the sore butt from the loose stools.

I guess I work and live in a more tolerable place. My friends all are supportive sort of. they still offer me cake and ice cream (like friday and I said NO!!) but then in the next breath they say you are being so good.

Well I'm not saying fasting is healthy. There are a lot of people who believe it is though. I used to know a family who would fast regularly. They felt it was good for their bodies, they swore up and down by it. Said that their "breath didn't stink" and they didn't have and body odor because they regularly fasted. I figure there may be some benefits to it. But I certainly wasn't advocating it.

For myself, I think fasting is one of the reasons why I managed to slow down my metabolism so that it doesn't function as well as it used to. On the other hand I really loved the weight loss parts of it! (A LONG time ago). Haven't done it in years. I do think that a one day fast just before starting Atkins is a quick way to jumpstart ketosis though.

Hi everyone. I'm new -- been here 5 days now. I too have run into people who tell me low carb is bad for you. Well, I have Celiac disease, so carbs in the form of wheat, oats, barley and rye could kill me. I'll take salads, meats and cheeses any day. And it's usually someone who has a lot of weight to lose themselves.

I started doing Atkins in May 2001 and have lost and kept off 136 lbs so far. I do a modified version now because I do eat fruit more than I probably should.

Have any of you tried the Atkins fat fast that's described in the book? I have done it and have lost 8-10 lbs in the 3 days. Although it doesn't taste that great, it does work.

Susan - wow, 136lbs. That is awesome . My hat is off to you...celiac disease has to be one of the toughest as far as finding foods you can eat. I've been trying to get my youngest on a GF diet for a while now, but simply can't afford all the special products. (he has autism and there have been some studies that show some kids with autism react to gluten in much the same way as one with C.D. would & by putting them on a GF diet, it can reduce if not completely eliminate the autism).

I was going to try the fast, but when I quickly glanced over it and saw macadamia's (sp?) and caviar - I didn't look into it any further. Sounded expensive . I recently came across an article in which the woman (an editor for carbsmart if I remember correctly) who does the fat fast regularily has revised Dr. A's list to provide more options. I seem to recall her saying it didn't quite meet the % of fat Atkins recommended, but it still worked. She had quite the variety of stuff on the list and made it seem more do-able.

Stacie,

I did the macadamia nuts, but I buy them at Sam's Club and I eat them anyway. I also did the deviled eggs, the chicken salad with lots of mayo and the egg yolks with mayo. I tried the heavy cream with syrup but didn't like it as well.

I have to admit to skipping the avocado - I don't like it.