TXMary2 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Today was my first day on Atkins. I was just wondering if anyone here has had success with the program. I like how easy it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlmiraGulch Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I'm hoping to have one very soon. My husband and I both start Phase 1 tomorrow. I will say that when I keep my carbs low, I do drop weight fairly quickly. The problem is that i've never paid enough attention to determine what my personal threshold is, so I just gain it all back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Today was my first day on Atkins. I was just wondering if anyone here has had success with the program. I like how easy it seems. I eat low carb high fat, which is basically Atkins. I'll have been LCHF for one year next Wednesday. I lost about 40 lbs in the first 6 months, and I feel fantastic. My hunger has completely changed. Eating like a normal person, I felt like I was starving 99% of the time... including when I was stuffed full after Thanksgiving dinner. Now sometimes I feel like I should eat, but I rarely feel like I need to. I eat 2-3 meals per day, sometimes a snack. Oh, I was also diagnosed as diabetic last summer. I found this way of eating by checking my blood sugar often, and changing my diet to only foods that don't make my blood sugar spike. I am no longer diabetic, according to my doctor. I find a lot of recipes online by googling Paleo + whatever I want to cook. Just did paleo chicken liver recipe yesterday, and I made some pâté. It was amazing! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I will say that when I keep my carbs low, I do drop weight fairly quickly. The problem is that i've never paid enough attention to determine what my personal threshold is, so I just gain it all back. I hear ya. My personal threshold is about 75 grams per day. Good thing I like the way I'm eating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunflowerlady Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Ack ! I keep typing my Atkins story and I keep losing it somehow.:glare: I started Atkins in June of 2008 and ended up losing 34 pounds. I did not intend to lose that much and I really did not need to lose that much, but Atkins is very efficient. As I went through the levels, including premaintenance and maintenance I still lost some weight. I have gained some of it back, but definitely not all of it. I think part of my issues is hormones. I am not using that as an excuse, but I think it is a factor. Also, I admit I did not stay on plan after a couple of years like I should have. A little something off plan here and there and it adds up. Anyway , I am starting back at induction level now to lose some of what I have gained. I am not even going to try to get to the lowest weight I had been. A few people, dh included either outright told me or implied that I was too thin at that time. Maybe I was but I am not sure. I will say that I felt great. As long as I eat low carb, I feel so much better. :D I love the Atkins plan.:) I hope you have great success and that you will keep us posted on your progress. If you want to PM me , that would be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I think for most people, especially if they were previously overweight and especially as they age, maintenance of a reduced weight requires long term vigilance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 I eat low carb high fat, which is basically Atkins. I'll have been LCHF for one year next Wednesday. I lost about 40 lbs in the first 6 months, and I feel fantastic. My hunger has completely changed. Eating like a normal person, I felt like I was starving 99% of the time... including when I was stuffed full after Thanksgiving dinner. Now sometimes I feel like I should eat, but I rarely feel like I need to. I eat 2-3 meals per day, sometimes a snack. Oh, I was also diagnosed as diabetic last summer. I found this way of eating by checking my blood sugar often, and changing my diet to only foods that don't make my blood sugar spike. I am no longer diabetic, according to my doctor. I find a lot of recipes online by googling Paleo + whatever I want to cook. Just did paleo chicken liver recipe yesterday, and I made some pâté. It was amazing! Good luck! I am Type 2 Diabetes, and one of my motivations is to get off Metformin. In 2010 I lost 44 pounds, but gained it all back in the last year. I was only about half way to my goal, and I already felt 1000 times better. Plus my Metformin got reduced. I want to find my way back to that and then some. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 I lost 20 lbs in about 2 1/2 months with it. Unfortunately, it is something you pretty much have to maintain or it is easy to gain the weight back. So, do you all think Atkins is a quicker way to lose weight or about the same as any other diet? I plan on being mostly sugar free and low carb for the res of my life. I don't like feeling fatigued and yucky from the sugar/carb addiction. I truly think I am addicted because I literally sometimes physically feel like I migh go crazy if I don' get carbs or sweets. I want that to go away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatMomof3 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Kind of, I went on a NO sugar/flour diet about 6 weeks ago. SO far I have lost 10 lbs BUT 7" around my stomach. My stomach doesn't go past my bOOks :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunflowerlady Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I think for most people, especially if they were previously overweight and especially as they age, maintenance of a reduced weight requires long term vigilance. I agree. Atkins has a maintenance phase that is specific and different to each person. Gaining weight back if you go off plan happens regardless of the plan. Same thing would happen with counting calories., low fat , Weight Watchers etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) I eat low carb high fat, which is basically Atkins. I'll have been LCHF for one year next Wednesday. I lost about 40 lbs in the first 6 months, and I feel fantastic. My hunger has completely changed. Eating like a normal person, I felt like I was starving 99% of the time... including when I was stuffed full after Thanksgiving dinner. Now sometimes I feel like I should eat, but I rarely feel like I need to. I eat 2-3 meals per day, sometimes a snack. Oh, I was also diagnosed as diabetic last summer. I found this way of eating by checking my blood sugar often, and changing my diet to only foods that don't make my blood sugar spike. I am no longer diabetic, according to my doctor. I find a lot of recipes online by googling Paleo + whatever I want to cook. Just did paleo chicken liver recipe yesterday, and I made some pâté. It was amazing! Good luck! :thumbup: I'm more Paleo, but I started to control my blood sugar which was spiraling out of control (hypoglycemic). I was having big crashes twice a week and smaller ones almost every day-even WITH my beloved vitamin B. I was afraid to go out between meals, and my whole life was starting to center around when I had to eat. I *couldn't* let myself get the *least* bit hungry, because hunger would rush up on me and I'd crash without even a tummy rumble. I've been Paleo for 15 days and I haven't crashed once. And, lately I've been pushing it, fasting half the day and just for fun seeing how long I can go without eating. Sounds crazy, but I feel totally empowered to know that I can feel hungry for most of the day and not crash. I am not afraid of going out all day and even exerting myself while I do it. I've lost 13 pounds so far, too. I didn't have to, but it's nice. This is a lifestyle now, for me. I'm sure I'll eat stuffing on T day, and some NYC bread with butter when I get the chance, but I feel so good that on most days I don't miss it. I'm eating protein, veggies and fermented dairy. When the kids make brownies, I eat a small piece of 70% cocoa chocolate. Edited July 14, 2012 by justamouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 I am on Day 6 of Atkins Induction and have lost 7.6 pounds so far. I know it is water, but I am happy anyway. I am not feeling hungry, but I do notice that I find myself wandering in and out of the kitchen. I think because I had a habit of eating - mostly carbs - all day long. I am getting full from what I am eating and for the most part feel satisfied. I don't have any bad withdrawls, but I do find myself fantasizing about sweets that I feel I might somehow miss out on. Will I ever be able to have a cookie again? I am not sure. I feel like an alcoholic, where if I have one, it will all go down hill fast. I guess I am mourning dessert as I have known it. I did find a flourless brownie recipe, but I am not going to try it until after Induction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momof3littles Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I don't follow Atkins per se but am pretty close. I lose a few lbs when I stick to induction or quite LC, but I'm not overweight and am still nursing, so I don't really lose more than that. What I can thank that WOE for is that I had two children after going through infertility treatments to conceive my DS1. DD and DS2 are due to LCing and metformin (which I take for PCOS). I couldn't ovulate or get a period in the 9 months we went through before starting infertility meds. 2 years after my eldest was born, I was pg again, and 2 years later pg yet again. I'm very thankful to LC :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiveOaksAcademy Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I am on Day 6 of Atkins Induction and have lost 7.6 pounds so far. I know it is water, but I am happy anyway. I am not feeling hungry, but I do notice that I find myself wandering in and out of the kitchen. I think because I had a habit of eating - mostly carbs - all day long. I am getting full from what I am eating and for the most part feel satisfied. I don't have any bad withdrawls, but I do find myself fantasizing about sweets that I feel I might somehow miss out on. Will I ever be able to have a cookie again? I am not sure. I feel like an alcoholic, where if I have one, it will all go down hill fast. I guess I am mourning dessert as I have known it. I did find a flourless brownie recipe, but I am not going to try it until after Induction. Here is my success/failure story (it is really more a success story, the failure was my fault): :D About 11 or 12 years ago, I did Atkins, basically before it was considered okay to do it. I kept hearing how bad it was for you, etc. etc. All I knew is that I could eat chips and bread all day and just want to continue and that I had physical highs and lows in my day and felt the need for a change. Anyway, I did Atkins and probably lost a total of 20 lbs. I remember feeling amazing, lots of energy, no need to pig out, the ability to eat to live rather than live to eat. Like justamouse said, I didn't feel that high/low thing. It was one of those things I had to experience to believe. Somehow I crashed and went back to my old way, then I started believing the hype that it wasn't good for me and didn't do it again. Those cravings for sweets WILL leave you. You will feel like a cookie/brownie/whatever would taste good but that you could live with or without it. Also, I became a pro at making sugar-free, high-protein desserts that made things more enjoyable. I have begun again now and am already feeling good after only a couple of days. I often fast for prayer purposes. It is usually a struggle for me. I did it yesterday and never felt the desperate need to eat. I felt good all day, was ready to eat by night time but wasn't so starving that I just shoveled food down like I used to do. So it is already helping some of the binge-type eating that I sometimes have issues with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I am on Day 6 of Atkins Induction and have lost 7.6 pounds so far. I know it is water, but I am happy anyway. I am not feeling hungry, but I do notice that I find myself wandering in and out of the kitchen. I think because I had a habit of eating - mostly carbs - all day long. I am getting full from what I am eating and for the most part feel satisfied. I don't have any bad withdrawls, but I do find myself fantasizing about sweets that I feel I might somehow miss out on. Will I ever be able to have a cookie again? I am not sure. I feel like an alcoholic, where if I have one, it will all go down hill fast. I guess I am mourning dessert as I have known it. I did find a flourless brownie recipe, but I am not going to try it until after Induction. The other day I got about 3 hours sleep, and let me tell you, I could have eaten a bakery's worth of carbs. That lack of sleep stress *really* wore on me hard all day for craving carbs. The next day I slept for about 10 hours, and didn't crave a carb all day, so it comes and goes. But be prepared on those days when you're beat to crave carbs more. I hope to add some things back, but if I'm never able to, I'm ok with that. And the part I'm kicking myself about is that I *knew* I had to do this. I just put it off so long because I had really started to believe that fat was bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I don't follow Atkins per se but am pretty close. I lose a few lbs when I stick to induction or quite LC, but I'm not overweight and am still nursing, so I don't really lose more than that. What I can thank that WOE for is that I had two children after going through infertility treatments to conceive my DS1. DD and DS2 are due to LCing and metformin (which I take for PCOS). I couldn't ovulate or get a period in the 9 months we went through before starting infertility meds. 2 years after my eldest was born, I was pg again, and 2 years later pg yet again. I'm very thankful to LC :) I know *SO* Many people that have PCOS. I hope they all have the success with LC that you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyeska Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Several years ago I lost 38 pounds in 6 months doing atkins. I went from a size 14/16 to a size 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I do LCHF. I've yo-yo dieted all through my 30's and early 40's. I've never been seriously overweight, just 20-25 pounds or so. I began LCHF 6 months ago and have never felt better. I dropped 22 pounds in my first 6 weeks. Basically, I maintain now. I have amazing energy and no cravings. I can eat about 40 grams of carb per day with no gain. My dh who was never over weight but chose to reduce his carb intake just the same eats about 80 grams of carb daily. :grouphug: to all you just starting out. I eat low carb high fat, which is basically Atkins. I'll have been LCHF for one year next Wednesday. I lost about 40 lbs in the first 6 months, and I feel fantastic. My hunger has completely changed. Eating like a normal person, I felt like I was starving 99% of the time... including when I was stuffed full after Thanksgiving dinner. Now sometimes I feel like I should eat, but I rarely feel like I need to. I eat 2-3 meals per day, sometimes a snack. Oh, I was also diagnosed as diabetic last summer. I found this way of eating by checking my blood sugar often, and changing my diet to only foods that don't make my blood sugar spike. I am no longer diabetic, according to my doctor. I find a lot of recipes online by googling Paleo + whatever I want to cook. Just did paleo chicken liver recipe yesterday, and I made some pâté. It was amazing! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 SO Hows the diet going TEXAsmary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 When my dh strictly follows atkins he does great. Drops weight and looks and feels great. Inevitably he will fall off the wagon and then end up heavier then when he started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Not strictly Atkins, but low sugar/starch. Works well for us! Not hard way to live, generally speaking. I followed Suzanne Somers' plan when I first started, 15 years ago. She allows more carbs than Atkins - unlimited low carb veggies and moderate fruit. Stay away from all sugar and wheat and eat root veggies, whole grains in moderation and you'll do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 SO Hows the diet going TEXAsmary I have lost 32 pounds since July. I have been at the same weight the last couple of weeks. This is my second "stall" but I will get through it. I absolutely LOVE being free of the addiction to carbs and sugar. I get a little bored with the food sometimes, but I'd rather deal with that than feeling hungry all the time. Thanks for checking in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unscripted Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I am more paleo/LCHF than Atkins. I made the lifestyle change a year ago this week, and am 60 pounds lighter. I would like to lose another 5-10, but am more concerned with performance goals that the numbers on the scale at this point. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) I tried it three times - each time after several months I just couldn't keep it up and all the weight I lost came back. Finally I realized I simply had to do what I do now - exercise, eat lots of veggies and some fruit, and stop eating sweets, white flour etc. as much as possible. I don't count calories - I watch portions and pay attention to what I eat. I am down over 40 pounds in one year. :-) Now - for some folks Atkins MIGHT work better than it did for me - I found I could not have more than FIVE carbs "points" a day w/o getting the boot out of ketosis or whatever you call it, and having to go through the three-day headaches of getting back on track. I could not even eat a small salad! And living off fat and protein is just too hard for me. I still eat a lot of protein each day - my weight-training for woman book tells me to do so - and with all the salads, steamed veggies, whole gran bread, almonds, etc. I eat each day I rarely if ever feel hungry and deprived. And am eating a far wider ranged of flavors and textures than I could on Atkins. Plus, if I do have a bit of dessert or white rice, I do not have to deal with getting back in ketosis now ;-) I can add that I have reached the point where if I do have a bit of dessert, sneak a Butterfinger from the kid's Halloween stash - I get a headache and fell a bit crappy from the sugar rush. So - I am less likely to get into the sugar now as I don't like how it makes me feel. Just like how I gave up all wine, etc. over a year ago - the empty calories weren't worth the resultant sleepiness and headache I got shortly after a glass of wine. Edited November 12, 2012 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Thanks, everyone. I'm giving Atkins a try. Today is my 1st day and so far so good. I told everyone I could lose 40 lbs by Christmas. So far I am down 8 with out diet and exercise. So I started Atkins and TURbo FIre. I might not make it to 40lbs but I will give my all trying. In total I want to lose 90lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Thanks, everyone. I'm giving Atkins a try. Today is my 1st day and so far so good. I told everyone I could lose 40 lbs by Christmas. So far I am down 8 with out diet and exercise. So I started Atkins and TURbo FIre. I might not make it to 40lbs but I will give my all trying. In total I want to lose 90lbs. Go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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