Rating: 
Summary: Atkins is a healthy way to lose weight.
Review: Like most people, I was at first taken back by the high protein, high fat and what I assumed would also be high cholesterol in this program. I also unfortunately listed to some negative friends and even some professional who like most people, traditionally believe in. So I shied away from The Atkins Diet for a long time. My loss.A friend who I had not seen in a long time stopped over and I noticed that he was a lot thinner. In fact, I was to find out that he had lost over 50 lbs. I hardly recognized him untill he spoke. I thought he was his son. He looked great! Thinner and younger. His skin was tight and firm and had a glow to it. His hair looked shinnier too. He told me that he had been on Atkins. At that moment I decide to heck with all the naysayers, I'm going on it too. My weight had been steadily going up, and up and up. Ever been there? I needed help like yesterday. So my friend loaned me his copy of the Atkins Diet untill I bought my own. I didn't want to wait. I went out that night and bought the necesary foods and threw out all the junk that I was eating. The very next day I started the Atkins program. I had scrambled eggs, ham and bacon. No toast. No juice and some decaf coffee. For dinner I had roast beef, salad (no dressing) with hardboiled eggs sliced in to flavor. And for supper we had salmon with an appetizer of shrimp. No potatoes. That is how I started. Since then I have adjusted my program and followed the advice in the Atkins books. I lost over 30 lbs in my first month. My double chin went away. My waist got flatter instead of fatter as it had been. My skin became firm and smooth, a feeling that I hadn't had in God knows how long. I also had more energy and wasn't hungry. With previous diets, I was always tired, weak and hungry. When I went for regular physical, I found my cholesterol had dropped significantly. Blood pressure was lower and I feel better than I have in years. This is more than just a weight loss plan, it is a healthy plan.
I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The most successful program that I have ever used
Review: Prior to using the Atkins Diet, my favorite way to lose weight was Slim Fast. Then I found that was mostly low calorie sugar. I lost weight, but also lost muscle tone. I had a fat analysis done and found that my fat had increased while I had lost weight. I have also tried the grapefruit diet. Lost weight, had high energy and boils all o ver the place due to the high acid content. I tried dietician and nutritionist recommend prpgrams but always felt tired and hungry and as with the other programs, lost more muscle than fat. I also tried jogging, but due to my overweight condition, had knee, lower back and other pains that caused me to stop after a few days. Besides, I was so out of shape that jogging was very difficult and could not be sustained long enough to generate fat loss or any real level of conditioning. I tried Atkins and for the first time, lost fat only, kept the muscle and felt and looked great. My whole body toned up while I lost fat. That never happened before. While I had only lost 10 lbs iitially, I had appeared to have lost much more. Most of the inch loss was around majot fat accumulation areas like the waist, lower abdomen, chest and thighs. And I never felt hungry. The meals are very satisfying. Cholesterol level dropped. Although in my 50's, I looked like I took 10 years off my age and many people guess me to be inmy late 30's or early 40's at best. That was a welcome and unexpected bonus to say the least! Atkins works. It's worth your time to try it.
Rating:
Summary: Worked for me
Review: There's a debate about whether the Atkins diet works because of the way Dr. Atkins describes, or because it concentrates the person on dieting. Regardless the reason, it worked for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Lower weight, but watch the cholesterol!
Review: I was on this diet before. After my mother's doctor put her on it and told her it would lower her cholesterol and help her to lose weight, I figured it was the diet for me. I did lose weight, 20 pounds in approx. 6 weeks. But my cholesterol sky rocketed to 438. That was a few years ago. I have since gained 10 pounds of my weight back. I have decided to try the diet again, this time sticking to low fat proteins. I know the diet works, and I should be able to lose 10 pounds rather quickly, but I'm certainly going to keep an eye on my cholesterol at the same time. I don't feel like this is a diet for long time dieters, mainly just a jump start to lose the weight quickly, then a different diet for maintenance. Believe it or not, you CAN get tired of meat and cheese! If you decide to use Atkin's plan for weight loss, do yourself and loved ones a favor and watch your cholesterol levels!
Rating: 
Summary: A new take on an old problem...
Review: A low carb, high protein diet sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Living on a diet of meat, cheese, eggs AND veggies [which ARE allowed and certainly encouraged] is a lot more comfortable than brown rice and solely "rabbit food" as recommended by low fat dieters. But, naturally, people worry "will it work?" This book is interesting as it is a complete u-turn on the "high carb, low fat" take that has been around since the '70's. It can be challenging to redefine everything you've ever heard about dieting and "healthy" foods, but the science makes sense. Read this book for nothing else other than to get a different perspective on food in the modern world - particularly enjoyable was the section on "food history" and why we currently eat the way we do. Structurally, this book has a lot going for it. Insted of diving in and announcing "This is how you do Atkins: do A, B, C...", the Doctor takes 11 chapters describing to you what the entire process is all about - ELEVEN chapters! Talk about keeping you informed, have you seen that elsewhere in a diet book? Does the diet work? I don't know, I, for one, have such bad withdrawl symptoms from tea [blurry vision, high temperature, lethargy, crankiness, weakness] that I don't think I could do Induction to the level that I'd like. But the book certainly puts up a plausible argument for its claims. As with everything, it's best to be informed, so read other literature as well on obesity and weight loss before you "dive in". I recommend the book "Fat Land" to give you some idea of the nutritional state of the Developed World before reading Atkins and making up YOUR OWN MIND. The two tie in well together. Good luck with your diets!
- A.
Rating:
Summary: LIBERATING! LIBERATING! Can I say it again, LIBERATING!
Review: I went into this because I had to lose post-baby weight (after I quit the year+ of nursing) and didn't want to feel starved and cranky so I could be as happy and patient with my baby as much as a sleep deprived person can. I am also a vegetarian (and maybe a compulsive/emotional eater too)... this was still the easiest DIET I have ever been on and what it did for me besides take the pounds off easily is it let me feel like I could go 4 or more hours without eating and without a headache from not eating. It was liberating to find that I could also NOT have to eat at dinners out... I could have a glass of reallly good wine and a little something and just enjoy the conversation or taking care of the baby. The big reason I never went off this is while I was on it is because if you mess up once it's like wasting 3 days because it takes that long for the body to get back into the swing of things. No piece of bread, fruit or whatever is worth it!
The other reason I never went off it is because of the Endulge chocolate bars that gave me my chocolate fix when I needed it. You need to try those! Also, I realllly need my cup of joe in the morning so I did not quit caffienne but just made my own concoction of heated Atkins Vanilla Shake plus instant coffee for breakfast. The weeks go by and you don't even notice that you're on a diet until you step on a scale and have that happy, "Wow! I lost 2 lbs this week!" feeling. Since going off it I have been lifting weights and just trying be super-healthy, anti-oxident, fresh OJ, vegetable girl... but the spring board was the Atkins diet. I thank you Atkins.
Rating: 
Summary: This is disgusting
Review: This was written by someone who cared nothing about long term effects, or overall health---just in how fat his pocketbook became.
I'm appalled over how popular this has become--You can't go anywhere without seeing Adkins propaganda. Sure, people lose weight while they're on this, but they're so unhealthy. People who are on this "diet" for extended periods of time look sick. They're all red, and their blood pressure must be through the roof.
I can't wait until this ends, like all of the other fad diets.
Rating:
Summary: Surprsingly Balanced!!
Review: A lot of myths are out there about the Atkins diet, however after reading this book and using the diet plan - I now see how balanced the Atkins diet is. The only things Atkins dieters take out of their diets are sugars, breads, pasta, rice and potatoes. Since low carbing, I have lost 60 lbs in 4 months. My blood levels are normal. My blood pressure is 118/78. I am full of energy. I am never hungry! I eat eggs, meat, poultry, fish, cheese and a TON of veggies!! I also eat some fruits as well. I have cut out pop and drink mainly water and juices now. My life is changed and I have Dr. Atkins to thank for it. Do not believe the rumors about people "dying" from this diet. It is simply not true! It is possible to eat low carb for life. There are 4 stages of the diet - induction (1st two weeks), ongoing weight loss, pre-mainteance and maintenance. Maintenance is what your family can eat while you are doing induction or O.W.L. It's a wonderful way of eating! It's a lot healthier than you think!
Rating:
Summary: How long does it work?
Review: In my early 20's my son was born and I stayed home to take care of him for two years, at the expense of 60 pounds. I went on the Atkins diet (first publication) and into maintenance for the next 31 years, maintaining a great weight for me and felt powerful, physically. Last year stresses were causing me to cheat a little too often and my cholesterol shot up. (First time) My doctors put me on a high fiber diet and I've gained 25 pounds in one year. My new doctor has just suggested that I go on the Atkins diet, if I thought I could do it, because not only would it get/keep my cholesterol low, but I'd melt off the excess pounds. HALLELUJAH!!!! Gonna buy two books tonight. One for me and one for a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Atkins vs. South Beach Diet
Review: Reviewer: Sbrobin from Columbia, SC USA
So you're considering a low carb diet and can't decide between Atkins and South Beach? Hopefully I can describe some of the differences for you:
The South Beach Diet (SBD) is virtually identical to the Atkins diet with a few exceptions. You're allowed more carbs than Atkins, you're allowed to occasionally cheat with sweets, and you're allowed more vegetables and whole grains. Atkins is more stricter, but you will lose weight more effectively. Both are good diets, but should be geared to different people. If you have a lot of weight to lose (40+ pounds), I would recommend Atkins over SBD. If you have more willpower, I would recommend Atkins. There is zero allowance for cheating on the Atkins plan, unlike SBD. But that is one of the main reasons you will lose more weight. Even if you're thinking of starting the SBD, get this book in addition to it and read it. Atkins writes a very thorough book with great recipes and a very good explanation of why many carbs are bad and how the whole fat-burning process works. This was lacking severely in SBD. This book is filled with well documented research and examples of why this program works, and why the critics are wrong. I've lost 50 pounds on Atkins in 4 months. If you're worried about how all the eggs and meats will effect your cholesterol, it will decrease. Studies have proven that all forms of cholesterol except LDL drop significantly on Atkins when compared to low fat diets. My cholesterol improved by 40%. I do have a few problems with the book. A few things are unclear by Atkins in terms of the rules of the program. He states that controlled carb products with sugar alcohols (food made by Atkins Nutritionals Inc) are acceptable on the program, but doesn't state why. He should have spent more time discussing sugar alcohols. He also spends very little time discussing saturated fats, and only a few paragraphs on the importance of exercise. These points should have been brought out more. Regardless of which diet you're thinking about doing, I would recommend reading this book anyway as it is an invaluable resource for ANY restricted-carb diet. Ultimately, do not listen to the critics, because there is way too much inaccurate and misguided information out there. Do your own research, and you will see what is true, and what is fabricated. Unlike what the media portrays it as, Atkins diet is not a diet where you "can eat bacon and eggs all day." It encourages a diet with a generous amount of complex carbohydrates (vegetables), exercise, and lots of healthy fats. One thing is true however. If you do this diet exactly as stated by the book, you WILL lose a lot of weight, and will lose it fast. I have seen thousands of testaments over the various message boards, and very few instances where people failed on this diet when following it to the letter.
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