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Summary: Read this book!
Review: I am 27 years old and was raised in a low fat, no pain no gain world. Explain then, how I continued to gain weight? Low fat/no fat diets do not work for 90% of people because they are too restrictive. They preach deprivation and in this day and age that is not an acceptable way of life for most Americans.The Atkins book tells you, in detail, the hows and whys of a low carbohydrate way of eating. Contrary to the name, this is NOT a diet. The goal of the book is to teach you a new way to eat that you can live with for the rest of your life. I will admit that the first two weeks of the program are very restrictive, and for most people, a good portion of the weight lost then will be water weight. But stick with it, Atkins teaches how to add carbs back into your diet until you find a level that your own body can handle. You learn how much you can indulge before you pack on the pounds again. Read the book and then make up your own mind. Blood tests for thousands of people show that this way of eating can also lower cholesterol (from losing weight), normalize blood sugars especially in people with pre-diabetic conditions and get triglyceride levels back to normal. If you want a satisying way to lose weight, improve mental clarity (many people think more clearly on a low carb diet), increase your energy and improve your health dramatically, then give Atkins a try.
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Summary: Worked for me.
Review: I lost 40 pounds over about 4 months. It's clearly not for everyone but it helped me get to where I wanted to be quickly and easily. Not suggested for vegetarians though. Also, not what everyone thinks it is... it's NOT all meat, fat, eggs, bacon, etc. The book tells you to eat veggies and exercise. It doesn't tell you to eat as much fat and meat as you want. I do suggest you read it cover to cover. There's a lot of information in there.
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Summary: I did the Suzanne Somers Diet! It's better!
Review: I did the Suzanne Somers diet - Eat, Cheat and Melt the Fat Away. I had a hard time with not eatting any fruit (like on the Atkins diet) and Suzanne suggests to eat it in the morning by it self. It digests better. Suzanne's book is based on a low carb diet too. I even cheated ocassionally and had a beer once in a while. I lost 15 pounds last fall. Here is how I felt: Less Bloated, more energy, and for you women out there, my menstrual cycle was better. Before the diet I couldn't leave the house for the first two days of my menstrual cycle because it was soooo heavy. While on the diet it became light/moderate flow. My cramping was less also. This past month I decided to try and incorporate more Carbs in my diet. The result: my menstrual cycle went back to the original flow - very heavy. My daughter and I had to cut short our "girls night out" because I ran out of "supplies". I have decided to go back on the low carb diet. I will still cheat once in a while and have my fruit in the morning. I just have to stay away from white flour and potatoes. Suzanne teaches you (on her maintenance program) how to incorporate carbs back into your diet. I would suggest you read her book. I do believe that our body needs carbs but the right carbs is the key. No refined flour or white potatoes in my diet any longer! I feel like a balloon when I eat that stuff. Hope this message is helpful.
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Summary: Read Dr. Atkin's Age-Defying Diet First
Review: I joined Weight Watchers 5 years ago, lost 37lbs. and have kept it off. Weight Watchers taught me how to make good low calorie choices.
I was struggling with my last 10 lbs. I visited the Library and did the research: I read The Zone, The Good Carbohydrate Diet and Sugar Busters.
I found Dr. Atkins has some good advice:
1. Reduce Sugar: Bread, pasta & white rice
2. Stop using margarine!
3. Eat more eggs and fish
4. Increase antioxidants in diet and with supplements
5. Increase vegetable fiber and whole grain fiber
6. Switch from Aspertine to Splenda (sucralose)
Get all the data and make your own choices. I still eat oranges and carrots!
I lost the last ten and feel informed about nutrition.
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Summary: Lost weight - but blood pressure went up!
Review: This book provides great background about the diet and why it works. I have been on the diet for 6 weeks and lost 16 pounds - however my blood pressure has shot through the roof. I am taking a few weeks off the diet to see if the two are related. I definitely encourage people to monitor their blood pressure while on this diet!! UPDATE:
After 4 weeks off the diet, my blood pressure is back to normal. The only thing I can think that may have caused the problems with my blood pressure is not getting enough water. I am going to reread the book and go back on the diet...more updates to come.
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Summary: A Fine Book, But Missing a Few Things
Review: As a practitioner, I can attest to the benefits of low-carb diets for heart disease (yes, you read that correctly!), T2 diabetes, weight gain, and other conditions. I had heard that the revised version of this book had lots of references from various medical journals to back up the claims--these things were lacking in previous editions. The references are there, which should answer the frequent (and untrue) objections that eating a high-fat/low carb diet will kill you (see some of the previous reviews). The shortcomings of the book are that it really does not give too much information on trans-fatty acids (only 1 1/2 pages) and how harmful they are, as opposed to naturally saturated fats which are good for us. Another shortcoming is it fails to adequately address some of the problems people experience in the beginning phases of the program like constipation, fatigue, etc. For better instructions on what to expect on a lower-carb diet (and what to do about the transient problems), skip this book and see Lutz and Allan's excellent LIFE WITHOUT BREAD, final chapter. Most of the criticisms of Atkins' approach are unfounded. When the diet is done the right way, it is healthy and will result in weight loss. It is also not dangerous as many so-called health professionals would have you believe.
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Summary: Lose Weight, Keep it Off, Be Healthy
Review: This book gets five stars because it is easy to read and the results are tremendous. Caution: As stated in this book, if you treat this plan as a fad diet you will have fad diet results. Losing weight on a low carbohydrate diet is easy. The foods are satisfying, unless you have a sweet tooth. As you approach your intended weight you begin to carefully add carbohydrates. What you end up with is a diet blue print for life. DO NOT RETURN TO YOUR OLD EATING HABITS! If you do your weight will balloon. The second time I went on this diet I learned my lesson. Being thin is arguably better than ice cream. Before you begin this diet know you are changing your eating habits for life. Your doctor and mirror will tell you your decision was a good one. I also recommend the Protein Power books by Michael R. and Mary Dan Eades. These books have more scientific evidence to backup the theories and explain what is actually happening to you. You can't have too much information. Especially when so many people condemn this eating philosophy. When you listen to the people that vilify this diet plan keep in mind the tremendous increase in obesity, heart disease, and drug controlled cholesterol patients among the folks that follow the food pyramid or American diet.
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Summary: TRIED 3 TIMES STILL GOT SICK
Review: I HAVE TRIED THIS DIET 3 TIMES NOW, THE FIRST TIME I LOST WEIGHT AT A CONSIDERABLE FAST RATE, BUT FELT WEAK AND NUASEOUS. I WON'T TRY IT AGAIN. I HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND THE DIET DID NOT LOWER IT IN FACT IT MADE ME FEEL WEAK AND DIZZY. I AM NOW READING A BOOK CALLED EATING DRINKING TO BE HEALTY IT MAKES MORE SENSE THAN THIS DIET EVER COULD. I COULD NOT GET USE TO ONLY MEAT CHEESE AND EGGS FOR FOURTEEN DAYS, I MISSED MY VEGGIES AND FRUIT TOO MUCH.
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Summary: IT WILL SEND YOU TO THE HOSPITAL!!! GUARANTEED!!
Review: I read this book about 1 year ago and decided to try the diet out. I was only interested in losing about 10 pounds and figured this would be a "safe" alternative to the other diets out there and being that I have no history of health problems at all, figured it would be OK. I did the diet for the period of time required and followed it to a T. I lost the pounds and was happy.......althought it was tough to only eat these types of foods, it worked. About a few months later I developed pains right below my ribcage on the right side. My first attack happend at night and it was bad enough to send me to the hospital. A few days later, after an ultrasound, I was diagnosed with Gall Bladder Disease. After reviewing my history of eating and health, the doctors did indicate that the high protein diet (Atkins) that I was on "most likely" played a large part in the problems I was having. Long story short, I had Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery about two weeks ago and as of today, I'm about 95% recovered. But between my 1st attack and surgery, I had many smaller attacks that prevented me from eating certain foods and produced much pain. I'm a very healthy person (at least in my eyes).......very active.......and have never had problems like this before. I can only attribute this to one thing that I've done differently over the years......this "fad" diet called ATKINS. If you want to end up in the hospital with SEVERE pains in your side, than go ahead and try Atkins.......I won't say it will happen to you, but the chances of it happening just went up by a ton if you do the diet. Do yourself a favor and save your money and DO NOT buy this book. Buy a bicycle and some walking shoes......excercise and eat a balanced diet. You'll be better off.
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Summary: Each Person's Body Is Different
Review: This program works great for me but I've noticed a few angry reviews. I suppose some people's bodies aren't meant for such restrictions and some are. I've had no trouble with it and found that it kicked out a lot of extra perservatives and basically deals with meat and vegetables. Carbs and no carbs. Meat which contains no carbs or very few carbs and vegetables which contain carbs, but both lack extra added perservatives. I purchase frozen vegetables mainly, and rarely canned vegetables with the exception of hominy. In my own viewpoint I haven't seen it as a threat at all. It's kind of basically a pure program. Makes you see how much junk is added in a lot of food. And sets you up with a lifestyle that doesn't include those things (extra perservatives). I do note that Dr. Atkins says that every persons body is different and that his diet or program may not be for you. We all try it and it doesn't work for some of us. I suppose the people it doesn't work for tend to get quite ill. Perhaps some people need more carbs than others. I don't know, because as you lose weight you are allowed to increase in carbs. I would just advise everyone to read carefully and not jump ahead without knowing about the program. I think it will make all of the difference. Just try and make sure it's right for you and make sure you have no health problems. I think Dr. Atkins is very honest from the beginning to the end.
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