Rating: 
Summary: 2 Week Induction really worked, but had downside for me
Review: My husband & I followed the 2 week Induction portion of the diet religiously, and had amazing results. I lost over a pound per day, he lost nearly 2 pounds per day! We're fairly big meat-eaters anyway, so it wasn't horribly difficult for us. But I can see how it might be for those who don't normally eat a lot of meat. During the 2 weeks, my appetite dropped off markedly by about the 3rd or 4th day, while my energy level went up. I included lots of walking and exercise with the diet, and sometimes found myself working out before AND after work!Now the downside... I have always had a fairly high metabolism, and I found that the 2 week Induction phase slowed my metabolism markedly. I didn't care for the way my body felt after about the third week, and so went off the carb restriction diet. The diet did serve to kickstart my weight loss, and was very beneficial for psyching me up right off the bat to stick with my exercise. The weight loss was very inspiring -- made me see I could do it. And the diet at least made me much more conscious of what I had been eating. Now when I have a sandwich, I no longer opt for the white bread, but try to choose a whole grain; things like that. And I find myself snacking on celery instead of chips. So while it really served to kick off something I had been procrastinating for a long time, in the end I pretty much adhered to the Induction phase, then went on to basically eating more healthily, and exercising more. And that is the age-old formula for healthy weight loss and better health anyway, isn't it?
Rating: 
Summary: Lose weight now!
Review: It was March 1, 2001 I was 29 years old. 229 lbs. Tired all the time. I was determined to lose 30 lbs. Now it is May 30th - I have lost 34 lbs. I have changed my goal to 40 lbs. - I should be done before the end of June. Read this Book - learn how to live healthy and lose weight. Try it for 3 months - be disciplined - lose weight - feel better. Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: This is the perfect diet for the obese
Review: As a follow-up post, I would like you all to know that I am still on the diet, over a year now, and have lost close to 100 pounds on it. As before, my bloodvalues all changed for the better and are still excellent. Bloodpressure normal, triglycerides normal, HDL and LDL ratio is excellent, and the total is low overall. Very good. I love this diet and will stay on it for life. After trying every other diet known to man, "healhty" diet guidelines like the Gov't pyramid, and exercising like a demon and not losing a bit, I started the Atkins diet roughly one year ago. Without any excercise, but following it to the letter and drinking LOTS of water. Now, almost a 100 pounds lighter, in excellent health and ABLE to excercise (most dieticians forget that excercise is do-able and nice for people of normal weight) I feel like I was 18 again. And that is absolutely wonderful at age 42, let me assure you. Don't believe all the nonsense you hear about this diet. It isn't a health risk - it is the exact opposite, a genuine lifesaver. Follow the diet closely, READ THE BOOK from COVER TO COVER at least twice and you will have the key to a long and healthy life. And keep checking the book as a reference. It's excellent. Maybe this diet is not for everybody, no diet is, but I have seen incredible results in myself and others - while keeping the weight off and dramatically improving theirs and my own health. Sorry to disappoint all the critics, but I hardly think losing 100 pounds is all water weight, or unhealthy. And I have the bloodwork to prove it! My nose did not fall off, my kidney did not explode, the calcium did not vanish from my bones, my heartmuscle did not disappear, my arteries did not clog up, I did not get any heartattacks, this is NOT a "fad" diet (in fact it's ancient and proven) et cetera. All the unfounded, unscientific nonsense you hear about this diet is really incredible. Get used to it guys, dr. Atkins proved you WRONG on all counts! I wonder what argument the critics will come up with next. Maybe they will say that you will grow a second nose on your forehead, who knows! YES, I can hear you think: But what about this wonderfully balanced food pyramid? Well, what can I say... you really think Gov't has anything to gain from us getting old? They would not lie to us, now would they? Keep this FACT in mind: Gov't is advised by the same people that critize Atkins, the same guys that keep igoring and rediculing his success AND the scientific facts in the peer-reviewed literature! Being a scientist myself, I read that literature very carefully - and let me assure you, the good doctor Atkins is just plain right. He proves it conclusively in his book, and the effectiviness of this diet (and others similar to it) proves it over and over again. Believe what you want, but I know for a (documented) fact that this diet not only works, it is healthy, easy and highly effective. You will have more energy, more stamina and feel years younger. Don't take my word for it, but just try it. You won't regret it, and neither will your body. Good health to you all.
Rating: 
Summary: The diet gets 5 stars but the book gets 3: here is why:
Review: I begun learning about this diet over two years ago. I was only 18 then, and didnt really take this book as seriously as i should because it wasnt very clear to me. But I did the diet after reading the first few chapters I thought I had all the info. i needed. Well, i ended up going off the diet and can now say its not the diet it was the book . I eventaully went back to the books, but not the NEW diet revolution, the first diet revolution he wrote back in the 70's. This is where i found more info regarding how/why he discovered this diet, its more personal and should definatly be read as well as the new one. It has great recipes, and somewhat outdated advice, but he still bascially preeches what he discovered then in the New book. They should BOTH be read. I am now back on the diet and eat omlette and bacon for breakfast with coffee and heavy cream to fill me up then eat a Wendys chicken sandwich (toss the bun) with a Chicken Ceaser Pita (i use the pita as a plate then toss:) I eat 1/2 cup canned green beans w/ lots of butter sauce salt and pepper for and microwave chicken legs (or Boston market with 1/2 chicken w/ green beans as a side) for dinner and my own cheese cake for dessert. If im still hungry I have pepperonie slices with Brie cheese spread on them. If you need help with this diet i can help you and have lost 15 pnds. in only a few weeks and my Aunt (40yrs.old) has never been overweight and is georgous as well as my inspiration but she does this diet and looks and feels amazing. So, she is my inspiration. I will be on this for ever and when people critisize it, I will discuss it with them for hours on end because I listen to his radio station in NY which doesnt even discuss the diet so much, but helps sick people with problems who usually end up going to his Center.. I dont want to end up like those people and use the station as inspiration. (Go to Atkinsdiet.com and then go to Calander for his radio times and station 1050am). This is the way to go for a long healthy life.. You MUST know all about it first, dont be foolish or else youll be constipated and up all night with leg cramps!!! He isnt out just for you r money either people he doesnt even invent the foods, his team does and there the ones who are amazing. Im pretty sure the proceeds go towards the atkins center where they do numberous amounts of reserach on human health in many ways. You must be committed or it will not work. Our bodies need to be consistantly treated well or else they will cry out with heart disease, cholesterol, blood pressure and overweight!! like i said you must be committed and stop critising and listing to what the latest "fad" is, you know what works fo r you so just do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Rating: 
Summary: A controversial, frightening diet
Review: I read Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution on the recommendation of a a registered nurse friend who had gotten great results from her high protein diet. As someone who has dieted since age 13, I am always interested in something new-but I rarely actually try out what I consider to be a "fad" diet. I read the book and wanted to believe the information presented. Atkins' material does read easily, including innumerable case examples that encourage the reader to identify with his patients and feel hopeful about their own results. However, I found Dr. Atkins to be very defensive. He seemingly enjoys the controversy his diet invariably stirs up and talks about the "academic medical authorities" and "consensus medicine" as if they were gang bangers trying to give medical advice. I think Atkins' "science" is skewed because other researchers cannot duplicate his research and results (that is a main tenant of real science). Despite my initial trepidation, I ate the prescribed 20 grams of carbohydrate (per day) and the rest fat and protein for 48 hours. It is the strangest thing I have ever done to my body with the exception of pregnancy. I felt weird, peed constantly, was voraciously thirsty, but I didn't feel hungry. I would compare my lack of hunger to the way one's appetite wanes during a serious bout of the flu. I lost 3 pounds, but could not continue the diet because I felt too spacey. I believe that staying on the diet would harm me. This diet scares me-I'm sticking to my grandmother's wise dictum of variety and moderation. I may not ever achieve rail thinness, but I hope to have my grandmother's 97 years of meaningful life, love, independence and persistent health.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok for some
Review: My cousin lost 120 lbs on this, but it is just not for me I am not a big meat eater and i need veggies and fruit one thing that people need to do is to drink a lot of water because water retention may make it seem like you are not losing weight despite your efforts, but if you drink a whole bunch of water and exercise as well as diet it will happen remember DRINK WATER
Rating:
Summary: Where were the publisher's proof-readers?
Review: Atkin's diet is good and obviously valuable to a great many people; however, it became difficult for me to take his work seriously after plowing through page after page of typographical errors and misspelled words. Lacksadaisical printing led me to wonder whether greed propelled this poorly produced work before the public or an altruistic desire to help as many overweight people as possible. Dr. Atkins, you should be embarrassed that your name is on the cover; I suggest you find another publisher if you want to be taken seriously.
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Summary: Losing weight on Atkins is a fact
Review: Because my boyfriend wanted to try Atkins to combat some weight gained after taking an office job, I agreed to go on the diet with him. His sister, a (heavy) woman when I met her, had become a petite woman with slender legs and a flat stomach in a matter of months after cutting carbs. Of course, I ended up being the one who actually read the book and told him what we could eat and for how long. Both of us dropped weight, and quickly. After two months, he had lost eighteen pounds, and I had lost thirteen. Losing weight on Atkins is a fact. I'm not sure if I believe in what the good doctor has to say about the science behind the wieght loss; I was left with many questions and a skeptical feeling about whether this was the way my body was really meant to use food. I did come to a couple of conclusions, one being that your diet is about as personal a matter as they come, and if something works for you and makes you feel good, all people with opinions need to step back and keep their minds in their own kitchens. Another was that I am not fat enough to torture myself with this diet. I found that I could eat a generous spinach salad, two whole chicken breasts, and an apple with slices of delicious cheese and still feel an emptiness at the bottom of my stomach, a small child dwelling in my belly reaching its hands up and begging for just one soft roll of bread. I could order a double double with cheese at ... eat both patties, and still my gut would sob for the missing hamburger buns. I would have traded a life-time of hot, juicy meatballs for just one plate of carbohydrate laden, steaming, insulin-producing spaghetti. And my boyfriend? Well, when he was finally allowed beer on Atkin's schedule, he would drink his one mug so, so slowly while the rest of the guys downed the pitcher, and the look in his eyes was akin to shame. The best thing the Atkins diet did for us was that it forced mounds of vegetables into our daily feed. Many Americans will go days without consuming any vegetables other than fried potatoes or iceberg lettuce, and produce shopping became something exciting for us. I love bacon, but it gets tiresome for breakfast every day. I love steak as much as any other American, but not five nights a week. There are only so many meats to experiment with, and they don't really taste very different from each other. We discovered how many different flavors and textures of vegetables there are out there. I learned how to put together one mean salad. Dispite what Atkins has to say about ketosis and sugar, I think a real key to our weight loss was filling up on low calorie foods, replacing vending machine snacks with cucumber slices and radishes. Also, any diet with strict rules forces planning. I believe good planning is a key to weight loss all on its own. In any diet, the traps of temptation and the overdoses of calories come from unexpected places. By living under the laws of Atkins, you just don't have the option of blowing your diet over a great looking cheesecake on the desert tray. Cheesecake is simply not allowed. In the year since we quit Atkins together, my boyfriend and I have only gained back six pounds between us, and I think this is because we have maintained the good habits of menu planning and increased consumption of a variety of vegetables that the diet taught us. What I have taken from the book and the diet is this: this diet will work, but it's nothing special unless it happens to work miracles for you. My boyfriend's sister has fought her wieght all her life, now she is thin and perfectly happy turning away carbs. For me, if this diet had turned me into Julia Robert's twin with Denise Austen's energy, it would still not have been worth the feeling that something was missing. I was never satisfied, and towards the end I was even jealous of birds who got bread crumbs in the street. So go ahead and try the diet, but don't feel bad if you're back to toast before the induction period ends. And if you are one of those people who have found thier miracle solution, dropped ten clothing sizes, and gotten checked out at their ten-year reunion by people who used to make fun of them in high-school, congratulations. Now leave me alone, because I have a rice bowl to eat, and we're all saying no to that cheesecake together.
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Summary: PS to its a great diet, but .......
Review: I wanted to mention. That the last time I went on the diet and lost 35 lbs I had blood work done. My cholesterol went from 205 to 165 and my tryglcyerides from 260 to 105!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the Best Thing in the World for the Obese
Review: There are many reviewers who have categorized this diet as dangerous -- and the induction level can be for some people who have liver/kidney problems, etc. However, the induction level is not the only level on this diet. As a matter of fact, Dr. Atkins doesn't recommend that anyone stay on that level unless it's the only level that results in weight loss. Additionally, people who are lumbering around with 100-200 pounds to lose have more to worry about than just kidney problems! My OB-GYN, my gastroenterologist (I have Crohn's Disease) and my general practitioner ALL enthusiastically endorse this diet for me -- I was about 70 pounds overweight. All were skeptical at first -- until I begged them to let me try it for two weeks -- and all were convinced by my blood tests and blood pressure before and after the two week induction period. Dr. Atkins is NOT recommending that you eat only meat, eggs and cheese forever -- just for two weeks. But he does recommend that people eliminate flour and sugar forever. ... France as an example of people who eat lots of "French Bread" and stay slim. Actually, the French don't eat anywhere near the amount of bread products we do -- and what they do eat has more whole grain in it than what is produced here. Although that's changing as our American foods get exported on a larger and larger scale and France is starting to see more obesity as a result. ...staple of an Asian diet is rice. Granted -- but not the "rice" we eat here. Uncle Ben's and Minute Rice are NOT RICE -- they are rice products. Also Quaker Oats is not oat meal -- it's an oat meal product. Be sensible. See your doctor if you are concerned about your kidney or liver function, but give it chance if you are risking your life by carrying around an "extra person" with you in body fat!
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