MIL is always trying to lose a 'bit' of weight. She needs to lose about 50lbs. and comes up with these 3 day diets to lose 10lbs.
Ugh, ok...and always tries to push them on me

she tried to give me the peanut butter and bread diet for 3 days. I said, 'I can't eat any of that! I am atkins.'

I said you eat NO bread and see how good you feel. She said, "I can't do that, I love bread too much to ever give it up.'

I said 'we are at a standstill' HAHA

So when I lose my 50lbs to goal, and she is still struggling to find a way to lose 10lbs I know she will say to me 'How did you do that?' And when I say I eat no bread she will say, nah, can't do that. So again we get nowhere LOL

Some people will never give up entire food groups. simple as that.

I hear this a lot. And when I say, "No, I don't miss it, it doesn't taste good any more," they are horrified. I have ruined bread for myself!

One of the ways I turned around the emotional roots of my eating disorder was to connect what I ATE with how I FELT after. Sure, tasty at the time, but the gut pains and the headaches and the other sick feelings were not tasty at all.

But I had never connected them until I made the effort. I just focused on the moment of eating and that is what all these folks are doing... they act like what it does to their gut doesn't count. That chronic heartburn and gas and bloating is just something that happens after they eat!

And that's just not true.

I really think you hit the nail on the head with this. For me Atkins/LC diets are NO different than any other diet i've tried. The pros and cons at the end of the day pretty much add up to the same thing:
on diet X i feel hungry on atkins i get bad headaches(atkins flu) (both a con)
on diet x i have to count caleries on atkins i count carbs (both netiher pro nor con)
on diet x i lost 15lbs in the first 2 weeks on atkins about the same (both get a pro)
on diet x i had to buy extra stuff like low cal dinners, on atkins i have to buy more expensive butter, vitamins etc (both get a con if you are poor lol)
on diet X when i cheated i gained weight on atkins same thing (both con)
on diet x i hit a plateu, same on atkins (both get neither pro or con, because there are solutions for both, on either plan)
when i quit diet x my weight came back, same with atkins (both con, but hey what would one expect)

Atkins is NOT different or better than any other dieting option in my opinion. There are pros and cons for all diets. that's why it's a DIET. I think it's just what diet allows you to eat the foods you enjoy eating the most and still lose weight or maintain the weight you want to stay at, and most of will agree without excercise (cause if we did enough of that the diet would prolly be irrelevant.)

This is my opinon of course. So if Atkins didn't work for someone it's for no other reason than they were "unhappy" on atkins. If you aren't happy you aren't going to stick with something no matter WHAT the final result can be.

My friend and i started diets at the same time last january, i went low calorie, she went "Sensa" she lost 40lbs and still uses her Sensa, and loves it and will never change. I lost about the same weight, stopped doing my routine and wound up right back where i always go about 250lbs (which seems to be the exact weight my body likes to end up with when i put zero effort into dieting). Sensa seemed interesting, there just wasn't enough research for me to decide if there would be negative side effects, it might be something i try in the future if Atkins "doesn't work for me." lol. But right now i'm 9 days now through induction and so far (other than atkins flu) i'm fairly okay with it. I've had slumps but if i can become "happy" with the choices atkins gives than of course i can live with that for life.

I agree with you. Even before starting Atkins I would often remark to myself in my own head "gee, I didn't actually enjoy that chocolate, or brownie, or donut, or slice of whole wheat toast." I kept wanting to capture this elusive taste and experience, something I believed I had enjoyed in the past. Yesterday, after church, there was a big lunch and the table was covered with wonderful looking food. I immediately had a pang of want. However, I ate ham, that oddly enough was covered in gelatin, and some broccoli cheese salad. Two seconds into tasting the ham any regret about not being able to partake of the carbs evaporated. By dinner time I still wasn't hungry and felt good. If I'd have eaten even a small portion of the other food I would have suffered with severe bloating and reflux...NO THANKS!

The line the medical and nutrition profession give out, advocating low-fat, is bull and is harming people's health, not to mention quality of life. However, like any dogma, it disallows any kind of meaningful discussion. I think to myself "if all that I thought about eating was wrong (and it was) what other things in life have I missed out on because of ignorance and cultural bias?"

I never paid much attention to Omega fatty acids, but it seems I should. I'm definitely off the vegetable oils, only using olive and coconut now. However, I notice from the chart that walnuts are higher in omega 6, as are almonds. I eat quite a lot of these now that I'm low-carbing. I also noticed that cooked meat is higher in Omega 6's. What does this mean? Is eliminating the vegetable oils and supplementing enough to redress the imbalance?

I figure eliminating added soy and other vegetable oils, except olive, and all those manufactured products that contain vegetable oils, probably reduces my consumption of O6 by 80%. I don't sweat the rest, but I do eat a lot of fish and especially salmon. I also take fish oil supplements.

what is great about atkins is the fact it promotes healthy fats to lose weight. eating ALOT of that. it throws you into ketosis which is fat burner vs. starving on low fat/low cal. there is no low fat diet that does that. Fat is taste. taste means you will probably stay longer and til death on your eating plan.

I disagree that an atkins type plan for eating for life is the same of 'any other diet'. any other diet can be chemicals, weight loss surgery, low fat.low cal. etc. and atkins to me is way better than those options.


AND IF YOU THINK of it as a diet....then you are screwed. it is a way of eating change for life. simple as that. if one can not make that connect, then one will definitely go off their chosen plan for life and gain it all back what they lost.


it isn't rocket science to stay on a way of eating for life. but it comes down to what way of eating for life can you continue long term?


and carb sensitive people are key here. carbs make some people's bodies crave more junk carbs. so if you leave those by the wayside and it works for you with ALL the benefits of not being hungry, no cravings, not alot of total chemical low fat crappola sugar in your meals then sure it is a plus big time.

all that extra with an atkins type plan will give a person a chance to make it long term. low carb plans are not diets. they are way of eating change FOR LIFE. either one accepts it or can't handle it but I sure don't see my low carb atkins as a diet and never will.



low fat

I have just started my second year of maintenance. I cannot believe it! More than a year at the same low weight.

I've lost hundreds of pounds over my lifetime, in various quantities, and they all came back immediately because I couldn't sustain the way I lost them: WW, juice fasting, water fasting, vegetarianism, veganism, bulimia, consistent exercise, hypnosis, low fat, low calorie, low protein, moderate portions, behavior modification, Overeater's Anonymous, Dexatrim, diuretic pills, doctor prescribed amphetamins, grapefruits only, bananas only....I'll stop now because I'm starting to get upset at how I wasted my money and hopes on all that.

Anyway, my point is that low carb is only like any other weight maintenance program if the others are equally sustainable which, obviously, for me they were not. Personally, I don't think my findings are unique.

BTW, I'm intrigued by the Sensa commercials. Thankfully I don't feel a need to try it and have to rely on it for the rest of my life - what if the company goes out of business? But I'm curious if anyone else besides KristyRusi's friend has tried it and what their opinion is.

The folks at Amazon Reviews are NOT impressed:

http://www.amazon.com/Sensa-Starter...erBy=addOneStar

Never underestimate and power of the placebo effect. WSJ Article

Also, always be suspicious of very positive and very negative reviews on Amazon. It turns out there's a lot of shenanigans going on with reviews.

Your description of how you "view" your Atkins DIET is my exact point on the "it makes you happy" meter. You are happy on the diet, for you it doesn't feel like a diet, it feels like a lifestyle change. When i watch "the biggest loser" tv show, they eat carbs like bread (always promoting subway). They excercise, they eat in moderation, they learn good foods and bad foods. They learn about their bodies and they still lose massive weight and 80% maintain that weightloss. (many of them going on to help others do the same) for them that is a lifestyle change as well. Adding just "responsible healthy foods and exercise into your routine" is a Lifestyle change. So you could arguably say that anything you are HAPPY with living with FOR LIFE and helps you maintain, is a lifestyle change.

It is wonderful if someone can be happy with never eating another piece of bread, potatoe chip, cupcake, or bowl of pasta, the will power to do those things quite frankly are your LIFESTYLE change, Atkins may help you feel full enough and satisfy you enough that you don't need them but above all else it is the way you feel about Atkins that makes you satisfied with the DIET, not the Diet itself. but to me this IS a diet. Even if eventually every single craving disappears and i change my perspective of carbs (or the lack there of) it will still be a diet that i TURNED INTO a lifestyle change. It will be up to my will-power and my will-power only if it works or not.

Anyone who is 100+lbs overweight that goes on any diet ANY diet will lose weight if they drastically change what they eat. It's the maintenance that is the big game changer and the result of if the diet will become your lifestyle. For example my Sensa friend loves her diet choice, for her Sensa is not a diet its a lifestyle change. My aunt takes b12 and b6 shots (she's been doing this 1x a week for nearly 4 years) she lost over 120Lbs and has had zero weight gain and i'm sure that it's because she's still on her shots. If i start eating carbs on Atkins i WILL gain my weight back. It's NO DIFFERENT in that sense than any other diet. You can never ever eat what you want and going no weight. Therefore it is a DIET. I'm fine with the definition of "diet" it might be an ugly word to some people but if it works it possibly will become the diet i continute to make my lifestyle choice.

I did those B-12/b-6 shots and they worked i lost 56lbs in about 8 months and it stayed off until i couldn't afford the shots from having a much lesser income (they cast about $25/week.) And i could have carbs. (oh my! not carbs.) You have to get a "shot" every week to and it's not a tiny diabeties shot either it's like damned flu shot of death lol. I chose Atkins because i figured it is much less inconvenient than having to be somewhere between 3-5pm every thrusday without fail, and $25 a week + monthly checkup) The foods we eat on Atkins are much more expensive than bread/pasta/beans etc. MEAT AIN'T cheap! but so long as i am ABLE to buy these things i can successfully do this, and that to me is what makes it a diet.

I must do x to lose weight. If i stop doing x i will gain weight. that is the result of ALL defined Diets for me. But once again I'm happy with that. If you have to convince yourself that it is not a diet to be Happy that's okay too. But for me you just seem a bit pertentious by assuming that if someone calls it a deit they will fail. That's simply NOT true.

EDIT: i would also like to add i've read many many posts even on here that just because you track carbs you still end up having to lower your calories to under x amount/day that wasn't something i was expecting, and counting calories feels like any other diet. Nothing about it feels any different. If my will power is what makes me fail, so be it, but it won't be because it doesn't work, just like many other diets work (i'm not talking fads:diet pills, drink a shake, cabbage soup, fasting, i'm talkin' a real diet, where you control intake of foods/calories/carbs whatever +some kind of activity.)

I was thinking the same thing about "the placebo" effect. My very point also that it makes her happy and keeps her from over eating. It may be a big fat lie, but it's that lie she needs to not over eat unfortunately i have to have hard facts and not magical miracles. Dang... lol.

Diet literally means "what you eat". It also means "what you don't eat", but usually for a short time to lose weight, after which you go back to your regular diet, i.e., "dieting".

This is where willpower comes into play. No willpower needed to eat. But once you start eating less - of total food or carbs or whatever - that's when you feel the effect of willpower. Willpower is used in the context of deprivation. Two things where it applies - hunger, and cravings. Hunger, that's easy: Eat. Cravings, that's another story. If you crave stuff you know makes you fat, you can't just eat that and still expect to lose fat if that's your original intent. But then, it's not just black and white, where you either eat or not eat. You can also eat that once in a while, then not eat that for a while. We'd call this a Carbohydrates Addict Diet, there's a book and everything, and a sub-forum right here.

Once we start to understand more about it, like the fact that hunger and cravings are not the same yet share physiological traits like dopamine (the hormone associated with learning and pleasure), we can then deal with those things more easily, more pragmatically. It allows us to think it through like we're doing here instead of just going about like zombies.

I understand what you are saying.. I understand what a craving is. I have been on other diets that don't make me "hungry" but that doesn't mean i didn't crave things that were in front of me that i could not have, the same happens to me on this diet. And the actual verb diet means: Verb
Restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight: "it is difficult to diet in a house full of cupcakes". It doesn't "imply" for a short amount of time at all. That's your view. But that put aside. The whole point i'm trying to make that calling a diet by any other name doesn't make it not a diet. I can not eat X therefore i am limiting what i eat. I AM HAPPY (currently) on my Atkins style diet. Do i get tempted? yes. I'm on day 12 of induction, i'm much less hungry than when i started, but yetserday (nationchampionship football game for ALabama, my state and team) we all went to a wing restaruant to watch it. They bring "complementary" home made chips to the table, everyone is eating them, and yes that is hard to say no. These situations is where i know i'm on a diet. (maybe those cravings will eventually go away completely, but in my opinion the memory of good food will never go away, you just find WILL POWER to push past those moments). I did not cheat i waited for my 12 garlic parmesan wings tossed in lots of butter and ate my heart out, i was satisfied in the taste-buds, full and any doubt about being neglected the chips disappeared. It wasn't my body rejecting carbs that did that, it was me. I don't really know what point most people are trying to make or what idea i'm trying to be fed about how i think of Atkins, but i'm PROUD when i have the will power to say no. It's not negative to me. Is it to others? I have tried many different "lifestyle" changing diets. I was vegetarian for 2 years (wow what a change). I had the same feelings when people ate bacon in front of me years ago, i still stuck with it, but the result is all the same. If you stop what you are doing you will gain the weight back. According to the book and rungs you should eventually be able to add back most the foods you love, but from what experiences i've seen the best anyone can end up with is a Paleo-style diet or "lifestyle". Most "diets" are required long term. I can't name ONE that says oh do this for 6 months and you'll never gain the weight again once you stop. ALL of them say you must maintain this style of eating to keep your weight off, not just Atkins, ALL. The big draw for Atkins to me is the lack of "required" exercise. When i went vegetarian i lost 15lbs in 1 week. I lost 7lbs in my first week of induction. But i did ZERO exercise. Maybe if i'd have exercised like with the vegetarian diet i would have lost about the same. The point i'm making is that NO MATTER WHAT if you don't have the drive to stick with this, you will fail. It has nothing to do with whether the diet works or not. It does, like most diets if you stick with them they work. Once you stop you gain. I'm okay with knowing that. The things i have to deprive (if that's a negative word for you replace it with, "limit") myself of are the things i'm willing to let go of. If i don't have better or equal results, i could always go back to a different diet/lifestyle and lose the same weight and eat different foods/exercise. In the end if i don't have the will power/drive to stick with it i'm going to fail no matter what decision i make.

Just to say that I used "will power" on every other time I lost weight. I lost lots of weight. I'm a Champ!

But you can't do it with will power. Not against being hungry. Your own body will scream at you until you give in.

What is extraordinarily different about low carbing, different from Weight Watchers and calorie counting and "eat less and move more" is that it is effortless. Because I'm not hungry.

If we are not hungry it is much easier to say "no."