Rating: 
Summary: The Second Best Thing I Ever Did For Myself!
Review: Fifteen years ago I quit cigarettes...That was the best thing I ever did for myself. After listening to, getting to understand, and practicing the information on the cassettes...This is the second best thing I ever did for myself...A close second!
Rating:
Summary: The Second Best Thing I Ever Did For Myself!
Review: Fifteen years ago I quit smoking cigarettes...That was the best thing I ever did for myself. After listening to, getting to understand, and practicing the Atkins approach...This is the second best thing I ever did for myself...A close second!
Rating: 
Summary: Oh boy...where to start?
Review: I'll admit it. I'm a bit apprehensive to write a review on this book, particularly since there are well over 1200 customer reviews on it to date! However, I think that you may find my experience helpful. First, let me start by saying that I do believe that this diet works (it did for me) if you follow it religiously (no cheating!) I also believe in its health perks, such as lowered cholesterol and blood pressure, increased energy, etc. However, if you tend to fall off the diet wagon pretty easily you can really jeopardize your health by alternating between Atkins and carb binges. Think about it. Has eating bacon and twinkies together ever been a good thing? Second, if you consider following this diet, please consult a doctor first. Some gastrointestinal issues can become severely aggravated by this plan, resulting in extreme pain that all of the supplements and herbs in the world cannot cure. When this happened to me my doctor suggested that I discontinue the diet. I did and gained back all of the 15 pounds that I had lost over the previous three weeks in a week's time, plus about ten more in the weeks to follow. Finally, please take into account as to whether you can really follow this type of a diet for the rest of your life. If you don't, you're in for a grave disappointment. Still, it really does work for many people, thus I give it 3 stars. I just suggest that you consider my advice before plunging into such an extreme plan.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY! A doable diet that works!
Review: I am a physician. All my professional life I was steeped in the disinformation regarding low fat diets. And I kept getting fatter and fatter and fatter. Then a friend told me about Atkins. At first I scoffed, but I went out and bought the book anyway. I bought it and read it BEFORE reading the reviews on this site. I wish I had read the reviews first because that alone would have provided the motivation I needed to get going. I went on the induction phase of the diet for two weeks and lost, I kid you not, 16 pounds! I then attempted, more or less successfully to stay on the induction for 8 months over which time I lost a total of 55 pounds. I am still loosing and will stay on the diet until I reach my target weight of 175 - 180 pounds. Another 20 pounds or so. I actually find being on the induction diet easier than trying to modulate my carb intake. I am a carboholic and am just more comfortable avoiding them altogether. It takes 7 - 14 days to rid yourself of your carb craving. BUT, don't cheat. Read the book carefully and adhere to it meticulously. You will loose weight. Now there are those naysayers who whine that they can't stay on the diet or that they feel too deprived. And maybe the diet isn't for everyone. But if you love to eat, hate to count calories, and want an approach that WILL work and more importantly that you CAN do - this is the diet for you. I've resigned myself that I must eat like this for the remainder of my life. Actually not quite as draconian, BUT if I want to stay fit I will have to cut down drastically on carbs. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I feel great. No more post meal energy crashes. And I feel 20 years younger. I honestly had forgotten how easily I used to move around. I can't wait for the next 20 to come off. And I KNOW that it will. Don't listen to the nattering nabobs of negativity. Go for it. Just do it! Good luck.
Rating:
Summary: This diet works!
Review: Many people say that this diet can work for everyone, but I don't believe it can. I know a few people who tried it and it didn't work. If you don't really like protein foods, you won't be able to do it. Also, my mom and grandma have irritable bowel syndrome and it was worse on Atkins.
For people like me, however, it is perfect. I love meat and cheese. It was hard to get started, but once my blood sugar leveled out, I didn't have any more cravings. It was easy. I could be sitting right next to a cake and not want it at all. I have, so far, lost 30 pounds. I have starting excercising on a regular basis and I can lose up to about 4-6 pounds a week with excercising and Atkins.
Rating: 
Summary: If you can do this for life, I applaud you!
Review: My review of this book/program is mixed. It did not work for me but it does seem to be an effective program for some individuals. I'll simply list the pros/cons I found in with this plan/book. Pros
-Advocates drinking of water! Anyone who wants to lose weight needs to develop this habit.
- Yes, we all need fat in our diets! Fats are not evil. We can all argue about how much we need but even people on low-fat diets, need to make sure to include at least small quanities of fats (esp. nuts/peanut butter, fish oils, olive oil).
-Advocates eating unprocessed foods. We don't need the extra chemicals, trans fats, and hidden sugars found in many foods (even diet foods!). I do agree with Dr. Atkins that eating unprocessed food is a key to good health and a longer life.
-It keeps you full. All the protein and fats are great at leaving you satisfied and not as hungry as you may be with traditional diets. Cons
-Overly restrictive induction. I never saw the point of doing an induction. To stop all cravings??? It didn't in me. I may have stuck with this plan if the induction period wasn't so harsh. -Millions of people lose weight without being in ketosis. Is there really any reason that you have to be in this state??? -Doesn't seem to allow for any cheating. Yes, this may should strange but a 'good' lifestyle plan is going to have to allow for the fact that I will make mistakes. -Side effects in some individuals. I had headaches, leg cramps, nausea, constipation (Yes, even with fiber supplements!!!!) and felt sick during the whole month I tried the plan. I took all sorts of vitamins but these symptoms didn't go away completely until I stopped the plan. Some may agree, others may disagree but I just could not do this plan for life. I'm now on a more balanced diet but I do include a few of the tricks I learned from Atkins (i.e. having a veggie with a lean protein instead of potatos, watching out for the 'white' flours/sugars).
Rating:
Summary: I lost 47 pounds and didn't miss a beat
Review: This diet is the best of the best. From the day I started, I had no cravings and felt great. I have been dieting now for 10 weeks and still have another 10 pounds to lose. I have tried lots of diets but could never stick to them. This is the first diet that works for me. Some other books help... 1. Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self stopped my self-sabotage and showed me how to be my best no matter how tough things get. 2. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People got me back in touch with my principles and being a good guy.
Rating:
Summary: VERY Educational and Enlightening
Review: I read this entire book with only 7 pounds to lose, (I realize Atkin's was written for the obese...but what the heck) that have plagued me for a year. I cannot find any help for how someone like me should be using Atkins, so I want to write this review for others. Low calorie diets work, but take me a month to lose 4 pounds safely and were so boring, and I would gain it back. I have been on this diet for 10 days and have lost my 5 pounds. I am following the rules except for a few changes I needed to make (Atkin's stresses being the expert and following your own body's exceptions). On the 5th day I couldn't even eat, I was losing too fast and was becoming anorexic and was faint. I increased my carbs to double what the early phase tells your to do (just for one day)and THEN got the promised energy burst. For the last five days I have felt terrific. I have energy all day and am sleeping much better. I eat 30 grams a day and not the 20 they say. I can see that Atkin's is a very intelligent way to think about food, or at least to combine that intelligence with other nutritional info. I think if I could gradually get up to the 60-90 a day they recommend for maintenance it would suit my usual eating patterns enough to be happy. And I wouldn't have the ups and downs of weight gain and dessert eating, and would feel more healthy. The information Atkin's provides gives a real balance to all the calorie info I had before. BUT and this is the hard part. I am so level, and have no cravings, in fact don't even have an appetite, that I MISS not having the excitement and other emotions connected with eating. Like the loss of some fun in my life. Also I work alot and don't have time to make the special flavorful recipes that make the diet more interesting. I bought their pancake and syrup combo and they tasted rubbery and not that great. So here I am on the 10th day, sick of tuna salad, and not hungry, and have no idea what to have for lunch. I have to think of something. A chicken thigh? UGH. I may not last on it, but I will incorporate the info in this book into my future eating patterns. (By the way, he does NOT recommend high fat)...But I sure do love getting up every morning and seeing the body getting prettier. It's a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow suicide
Review: On August 17th 2003 The Sunday Times reported the death of a 16 year old teenager in the USA on day 8 of an Atkins diet. Her death was attributed to an abnormal heart rhythm brought about by low levels of potassium and calcium in her blood. An American doctor also suffered severe chest pain and heart dysrythmia while on an Atkin diet. Potassium and calcium levels are vital for normal conductivity of electrical impulses which keep the heart beating. The popular high protein, low carbohydrate, Atkins Diet for losing weight has been criticized by leading nutritionist Dr Susan Jebb, of the Medical Research Council Centre for Human Nutrition Research in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Speaking at a briefing at the Royal Institution, London in August 2003, Dr. Jebb said that the diet is a fad and based on pseudo-science. She rejects as fundamentally unhealthy any diet which cuts out an entire food group (carbohydrates in this case). She says that the Atkin Diet could pose serious health problems and that it would be negligent to recommend the Atkins diet to anyone who was overweight. Dr. Jebb is the latest in a series of nutritionists who have criticised the Atkins Diet devised by Dr Robert Atkins in the 1960s. Atkins believed that excess carbohydrate intake results in overproduction of insulin which in turn stimulates hunger and weight gain. Dr Jane Ogden, from King's College says that most of the benefits of the Atkins diet were "in the mind" and that its simple format and allowance of tasty, high-fat food made it popular. The diet can be effective in the short term, like all low carbohydrate diets, but it is usually doomed to failure - "The moment the body starts losing weight, it lowers metabolic rate making it harder to shed further pounds. With any diet, about 60 per cent of people lose weight in the first few weeks but over the next few years 95-99 per cent regain all the weight they lose - and some put on even more. The reality of dieting is that you have to modify the behaviour that you have learned from being a baby, and that's extremely difficult." Nutritionists are also saying that a high protein diet like the Atkins results in excessive demands on the kidneys and increases calcium loss from the body with repercussions on bone development and structure. Carbohydrate foods can protect against heart disease and also are an important source of fibre which aids colon health and can reduce the risk of high cholesterol and cancer. Carbohydrate foods are also a key source of vitamins and antioxidants. High fat diets like the Atkins are a known risk for a variety of cancers. Dr. Jebb's criticism has been rejected by at least one fan of the Atkins Diet, who says in a letter to The Telegraph that the Atkins diet, whilst initially forbidding carbohydrates for the two induction weeks, then allows dieters to reintroduce carbohydrates. The point at which the dieter stops losing weight is that particular person's "level" and cutting back from this point will restart the weight loss. Everyone's ability to assimilate carbohydrates is different and it is finding this level which is the key to this way of eating and subsequent weight loss.
Rating:
Summary: Nonsense
Review: It's very interesting that any reviewer who spoke of the dangers of this diet had their review rated "unhelpful". I guess fatties hear what they want to hear just like they eat what they want to eat. If you want to lose weight stop stuffing your face. It's that simple. It's not genetic or any of that nonsense. It is simply being a glutton with no self respect or self control. Go ahead and lose weight on the Atkins diet. You'll also lose a kidney or your liver in a few years. Eat healthy=being healthy. No other way around it tubsters. Americans are the fattest nation on earth. Enough of the BS excuses. Take control of your life.
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