Rating: 
Summary: Satisfying and easy to stick to
Review: My sister and I started on the Atkins plan in February 2002 after the death of our stepfather from lung cancer, which was made all the more painful to watch due to his extreme obesity. In the past, we tried the agony of counting calories, Weight Watchers, The Zone and many other popular plans out there. The result was gaining back what we lost plus a few extra pounds to go with it. When we started Atkins, we weighed 350 and 410 lbs respectively. After almost eleven months, we have lost a total of 200 pounds combined and are still going strong. Everyone wants to know our secret and we continue to emphasis that our success is because we did the research and READ THE BOOK. Also, there are tons of low carb substitutes that now exist that didn't just a year ago when we started including bread, pasta, sweets (lots of sugar free chocolate)and much more. These substitutes are carried in health food stores and more recently, we've found many of them at the local grocery store. Prices are high, but they are continuing to drop as the demand increases for low-carb foods. The key is knowing how to read food labels and how to figure out net carbs. So for all those just getting started, hang in there. Once you are into the induction phase, your cravings for "bad" carbs really does go away and you are left eating delicious food including "good" carbs and protein that has flavor and really satisfies. It will take another year for us to reach our goal weight of 170, but this is the closest that we've ever come to it. Yes, we have our times when we've fell "off the wagon," most recently during our holiday vacation. But each time, we just can't wait to go back to the induction phase and start again. Good luck!
Rating: 
Summary: Just as Punishing & Unrealistic as Low Fat Diet
Review: Like a lot of 30-something American males, I have 20 pounds to lose. Even though I work out five days a week, I still can't seem to take it off, mainly because I tend to overeat at meals and give in to junk food too often. I tried this diet and it didn't work for me...I made it five days. Mentally, I felt like a thick fog had come over me. I literally couldn't think or concentrate at all. At the gym, I had no energy to lift or run on the treadmill. I usually run three miles, but after five days on Atkins, I couldn't even make it a half-mile without exhaustion. So for me it's back to basics. Three reasonable-sized meals a day, counting calories and hitting the gym hard. And no snacks in between. Yes, it's painful, but not as painful as this diet, at least for me. And good luck to everyone in 2004 on their weight goals, no matter what method or diet you use!
Rating: 
Summary: Give me my carbs (and my Health!)
Review: High protein, low carb diets are nothing new. In fact, they've gone in and out of vouge since approximately the 1860's. They SEEM to work at first, because one does lose weight. The trouble is, this type of eating puts the body into a state called Ketosis, which basically means the body is unable to properly metabolize fat, due to a lack of carbohydrates! So it starts feeding off of muscle tissue for energy.
Carbs are needed to metabolize fat for energy, and without the proper amount of carbs,you will tire out more quickly when exercising than someone who has an adequate carb supply.In fact,the human body needs on average about 300 grams of carbohydrates a day. 60 grams a day are needed just to maintain proper nervous system function.The simple carbohydrates found in fruits and vegetables are quickly used by the body. Complex carbs,found in starchy foods,are stored in the body until needed for energy.If they aren't called on for energy,you gain weight.
Much of the weight lost on a low carb diet is water weight (mostly from muscle). In fact, for every two pounds lost on a high carb diet, 1 pound of it is muscle! Hardly a good trade off for anyone.
If you're considering this type of diet, consider this instead..eat less, do more! In fact, I lost 20 pounds in two months simply by doing more and eliminating fast food.(I've maintained the same bodyweight for the past 7 years, even though I've had fast food for lunch every day. How is this possible? Activity level!)The only other change I made to my diet was cutting back to one soda a day and drinking water, fruit juice, or a sports drink the rest of the day. But there would have been no way I could keep up my activity level by robbing my body of carbohydrates.
If you're obese (or even if you're not),see your doctor about and exercise/diet program. It's better to lose a pound every week or two than to lose it too rapidly. (People who lose it rapidly often put it back on).That may seem like a slow way to go about losing it-and it is-but it's simply not worth the risk to your health for a quick fix. (and didn't Dr. Atkins die from heart attack?)
Eat Less/Exercise: Good
Ketosis: Bad!
Rating:
Summary: Our whole family is on Atkins
Review: I have lost over 55 lbs with Atkins and even more impressively have kept that weight off even over the recent holiday season. On most diets, we have lost weight only to put it right back on again.Another thing; the weight we lost was true fat, not just water and muscle as with most diets.Ou daughter is also on the program has lost weight and is more alert. As a side benefit, school became easier for her and she is now getting straight A's in college! Another bonus is that her new figure has attracted a new and exciting love in her life.Great program. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: It works!!
Review: A common misconception I have noticed in several reviews indicate that no carbs are allowed in the diet. This is incorrect I am currently out of the intro stage and maintaining my weight loss. The evening meal you can have carbs, I eat what I want including moderate portions of carbs. So I get carbs everyday. I try to limit carbs for breakfast and lunch. I also get a desert everyday. I workout 3 times a week for a hour and a half. At night before bed if I'm hungry I have 150 cal. bowl of cereal. I'm satisfied and still down 18 pounds from where I started. With some common sense and my own modifications the diet works well for me. Throw in a vitamin E everyday and your home free.
Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry, but please don't do this to yourselves.
Review: I've been doing research on different diet strategies--reading books, AND going through the diets themselves. Naturally, this study wasn't complete without reviewing the Atkins diet. You already know how I feel, from the one star I gave it. Allow me to elaborate. The Atkins Diet works because it starves you. The average person is disgusted by the thought of eating a tub of butter for sustenance. The average person bows down after a large steak, not going for a second part of the meal. And to be quite honest, you'd rather not be seen eating five courses of London Broil while your friends enjoy salads, pizza, ice cream, and burritos. When you're eating with friends, you eat even less than your Atkins limits because it just looks disgusting to eat too much beef, or to be ordering hamburgers just to eat the patty. The thought of a "ketosis" and separate "fat-burning" and "carb-burning" metabolisms... this is all snake-oil salesmanry. Not only will any other doctor tell you it's not true, but Atkins has yet to release credible (that means peer-reviewed) evidence of those things happening. They simply don't happen. I've seen in my eyes that they don't happen. The Atkins diet basically makes fruits, bread, cake, cookies, and (during Induction Phase) veggies, all "shameful foods." Because just about every food available is, under the Atkins diet, taboo, you eat much less, getting relatively few kilocalories of energy. Which works, but it's basically the same as every restrictive diet out there: it's just starvation. Side-effects of the Atkins diet: If you don't take a fiber supplement (like metamucil) you get constipated. If you don't take a vitamin supplement, you cramp up all the time, and have spurious aches and pains. And, if you truly eat as much food as you did before, taking the time to make lots of hot dogs and steaks, you lose no weight at all (A friend did this with chicken wings, which he "could eat all day long", and we documented him GAINING weight for three weeks straight, after which he quit). I'd like to address one other thing: acid balances. I once heard someone say "My piss got bright yellow and I could FEEL my body PISSING OUT THE FAT!" Sadly, fat doesn't just go into your urine and out of your body. If you can feel your urine, then that means that it is more than 1% uric acid. Which is BAD. The Atkins diet actually advocates this... You're supposed to test your urine with sticks (which are actually litmus-paper rods; try dipping them in vinegar) to make sure that "the fat is leaving." Most people don't feel their urine burning them slightly as it exits their body; Atkins dieters feel it all the time. I would like to address this because it's a deeper underlying problem. Under the Atkins diet, almost EVERYTHING you eat is an acid-forming food, loaded with nitrogen. Your body normally turns uric acid into urea so that it's easier stored and less harmful to the body; with the Atkins diet, your body is trying to expel all the acid it can find. Your urine will actually have a high acid content, as your kidneys try to keep you at an efficient pH. This leads to a problem with hydration: The more water you have, the more acid your body can shove out of your body safely. If you're not getting sufficient water, your pH changes. This will make your body a very inefficient place; your metabolism lowers and you feel lethargic... also, less blood will go to your brain, which is a more sensitive organ to pH changes. I have observed this in long-time users of the Atkins diet. I had a group of long-time Atkins users, and most of them drank around five liters of water a day. Most of them had more fat than muscle on them; the ones that didn't drink water even confessed to not exercising regularly, and had nearly no muscle remaining on their body. This diet is an extremely unhealthy thing to do, and it is destructive in the long-term. The only thing it does is starve the user, and I recommend that about as much as I recommend anorexia nervosa. My advice? If you're concerned about obesity, consult a trained dietician, and not a snake-oil salesman with a ridiculously high diet failure rate.
Rating:
Summary: Atkins works for me
Review: This book and diet are very easy to follow. I actually no longer feel I am on a diet. It is a permanent way of changing the way I eat and think about food. I started Atkins in March of 2003 and have lost and maintained 30 pounds. The hardest part is changing your mind set on carbs vs. fat. Also counting carbs instead of calories and not worrying about fat. This way of eating and exercising too has sped up my stalled out metabolism and I feel fabulous! Once you get on your way to losing weight you can add in carbs as you go and see what works. An occasional roll or bite of candy is fine for me now. I eat what I want during the holidays and maybe gain a pound or two, but lose it quickly within a few days. Try it and give it a fair chance. If you like meat and cheese it is the easiest way to lose weight. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Please read this before buying the book.
Review: An interesting diet plan. Bottom line is that you do lose weight and its long-term safety is still in question. Be aware that it restricts calories (look at the menu plans) which contributes to weight loss as well. Also, check out "Treat Your Own Knees" if you suffer from knee pain.
Rating:
Summary: Common Science!
Review: Finally... for us carboholics the answer. After years of 'low-fat' a diet with proven science!
That said I would suggest getting out of the diet idea and adopting a lifestyle which controls carbohydrate intake.
I note that the Americans are loosing themselves from the 'low-fat, high-sugar' corporate giants and have acknowledged the common sense truth behind the Dr Atkins metabolic science!
I also note in true fashion the UK is about five years behind and the papers are full of the 'terrors' of carbohydrate control.
Still eventually we will have to 'wake up and count the carbohydrates'!
If you are going to give it a go... the first days are hard and proof of carbohydrate addiction (as if being overweight is not!). Don't get obsessed with the thing and continue the two week induction 'forever'... it won't work. Do the two weeks and then find your maintenance or 'slow reduction' level. This way you will re-educate your body over the long term. Nothing else works..! Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Dropped 5 dress sizes over the holidays!
Review: I have been on the Atkins Program for several months and contined to lose weight through the holidays which included Thanksgiving and Christmas right up to today, 1 day before New Years Eve.Even more impressive though was my wife who I finally convinced to go on the program. She went from a size 10-12 to a 6-7 and lost 6 inches from her waist during this period. What really impressed us is that we both went to many banquets and parties and still lost weight and inches while having a good time with friends and colleagues during the festive season.Atkins rocks. It's the best!
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