Hi, my name is Joyce. I've read quite a few tips you give and congrats on your success on Atkins. I, myself, have had much success on Atkins over the past few years. However, one thing that you say concerns me...and that's the health issue of your diet. You say fruits are out, mostly meats, veggies, salads...however, without sounding like a doctor, one thing that I do know is that fruit provides so much for our bodies, active enzymes, antioxidants, etc. that help our bodies defend against a variety of diseases. I am concerned that your diet seems to lack that.

Here's the short and skinny of my personal findings with Atkins. I believe Atkins was designed to help people control their eating habits. When you are on Atkins, you will eat less calories!...bottom line! I do Atkins, but the "MY WAY Atkins"...which is, I listen to my body...if I feel I need beans, I have beans (small portion), if I feel like a fruit, I keep it down to a lo-cal, fiberous fruit such as a lemon, orange, strawberry. In my 40+ yrs of life, I have never known anyone to get fat eating legumes, nuts and fruit! It's all the fat, carbs and sugars combined that does the trick. You see, I believe that Atkins could not leave it up to the masses to figure out how to listen to their bodies, so he had to set a strict standard...that's why he recommends in his book a "maintenance" program that adds these food items.

If you just stick to induction forever, you and rendering your body virtually defenseless against a multitude of preventable diseases and I don't care how many pills you can take, they just do not have the same effect on the body as vitamins/minerals, etc. derived from non-processed foods!...Just something to consider...good luck and stay with this thing....it's good...and yes I LOVE MEAT....signed...carnivore Joyce.

That is really not true for everyone. I have friends on Atkins eating 3,000 calories a day and still are losing weight! It works for them, because they aren't hungry, don't feel deprived and can eat out anywhere!

Well, nice to meet ya! I got to over 300 pounds on a whole foods, healthy vegan diet! I just ate too many calories of the "right" foods and moved too little (I had some health issues that contributed too, but still! A 300 pound VEGAN? Unheard of!).

Sweetie, come over to the vegetarian/vegan forum on this board and prepare for a shock! There are many people who eat "healthy" but get fat doing so.

Thanks Jerseygyrl for clearing that up. As an alumni "Atkins" person, I'm not overweight because I don't know that using the Atkins program can keep the weight off, but other reasons. So, as you are problably one of the most encouraging success stories on this forum, I just did not want people to mistake looking at your pics and thinking that for years all you did was stick to the induction part of the diet. When, in fact, you follow all "four phases". This is important that people know that health should always come before physical appearance.

Thanks to SoulBliss for enlightening me on the fruits/legumes and veggies thing. I honestly didn't think it was possible to eat whole fruits and veggies and gain excess weight. When we eat foods in their natural form, nature has a way to properly dispose of excess within the food without storing it....that's why animals eat all day in the wild and do not suffer with obesity. They generally get that when they find a human owner that feeds them table food/dog food, etc.

But I do think, again, that people can always modify Atkins (as Atkins is a good base for any diet plan) to fit their body types and matabolisms. Some people can eat fruits plentiful and stay in ketosis, some people can stick strictly to induction and it still take them a week to go into ketosis. It's about finding your metobolic levels and gradually doing things to naturally increase your own matabolism such as cardio exercise, deep breathing (oxygen works great to burn fat), etc. Thanks for responding and look foward to hearing more success stories. It keeps me motivated. Hope this info may have helped someone. Much success....Joyce

AnnaHope - You should probably buy Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. Even though you should be able to find the book in your library, if you own it you can make notes and highlight things that are important to you. Another awesome book is Living the Low Carb Life by Jonny Bowden.

Being in ketosis means your body is burning fat instead of carbs for fuel. This is the purpose of low carb eating. Induction level carbs kicks off the fat burning. The ketosis strips only test for one type of ketone. Your body produces three. This is why you can be in ketosis and the strips stay just as tan as can be. This happened to me last May. I had started Atkins again and I was losing weight but my strips would not change color. I decided that I would not use the strips [more money in my pocket]. I lost 38 lb in 4 months getting 30-35 net carbs a day. Your weight loss if the proof of ketosis.

You can stay with induction level carbs for longer than 2 weeks without any ill effects. If you start to feel like you are not getting enough, you should start to add 5 grams net carbs a week but only add foods that are in the acceptable list for induction. Make sure you are adding only veggies, not bars or shakes or low carb products. Those low carb products and sugar-free bars and shakes can cause cravings to return. If you want nuts make sure you watch how you react. Nuts are one of those hand-to-mouth foods that can get out of control and stall your weight loss.

Also, you are eating fruit every time you eat tomatoes with your salad. As mentioned in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, veggies have more antioxidant value than fruits. Tomatoes have more vitamin c than oranges. But berries are the next best fruit you can eat. Once again, I say to watch how your body reacts to the addition of new foods, like berries.

I started Atkins again this January and have lost 12 pounds in three weeks eating 25-35 net carbs of acceptable list foods a day. This way of life works and costs nothing more that the food you need to eat.

Niklwis - ketosis does not cause headaches. If part of your new diet is that you quit coffee or sodas with caffeine, those headaches, chills, and even nausea are the result of caffeine withdrawal. I seriously feel for you. And it will get better. Pay attention to Puncezilla and drink lots of water.

Joyce - You are right that if we ate and lived the way herbivores eat and live in nature, we wouldn't get fat. But human vegetarians get the bulk of their calories from processed grains, not legumes, veggies and fruits. The human body has only had ten thousand years to adapt to eating grains. This is not enough time to change our physiology. Hence, we are fat and disease ridden now.

Wow! Sylvia...you really are a piece of work!!! But I do admire your intensity and your passion. Perhaps it is a little motivating to me even though I disagree with alot of the things to post...here's to staying motivated...whatever your beliefs are....Joyce

how do u not go crazy on atkins. i get so mean on it???????

I went crazy trying to count weight watchers points - I was SO hungry all the time. I get mean when I'm hungry, and I felt hungry and deprived and cranky. Atkins is sooo good after fooling around with a low-calorie, low-fat diet for two weeks and losing ONE pound and being miserable. Is the crazy extra energy? Are you drinking enough water? Taking a little walk every day? Doing things you like instead of obsessing about what you're eating / not eating? If you're angry because you can't eat what you want to and lose weight, you don't HAVE to follow Atkins. It's a choice. Be nice...pretend you're not mean, til you're not mean?

You ROCK!!! Amazing!