Well I just read Atkins for Life (again).

I personally did strict induction for 2 weeks and have now "tweaked" my plan to suit me. The way "I" interpret things is this..

If you notice in Atkins for Life the real stories of the people in there they all have a different ACE score (Atkins Carbohydrate Equillibrium). If the plan wasn't meant to be tweaked to suit your own body then why have an ACE score at all?

Don't get me wrong I still don't eat refined sugars, bread, rice, few processed things, ect. But I do just fine on ave. 35-55 carbs a day because that's what MY body says is ok.

Anyway just my .02

The best answer to the questions about LC WOE tweaking has been stated by many posters, many times over. Namely, that people's bodies are very different, and what works for one may not work for another. In DANDR, Dr. Atkins never once says that his diet works for all people; to paraphrase, he said that his plan was very likely to work for the types of people who have been unable to lose via conventional (and wrong-headed) low-fat/calorie methods. The book explains everything from the big picture, as some have said "just stay LC," to the minutae, why one should take a certain amount of chromium picolinate or eliminate meats preserved with nitrates. But, as nikkil asked, why all the fuss?

We know from DANDR that "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" doesn't stand up. The higher ratio of fat to carbs, not protein to carbs, seems to be the best indicator of the metabolic advantage discussed in Chapter 7. There is a caloric intake level (just as there is a carbohydrate intake level), dependent upon the individual, at which we no longer lose weight, even on Akins, even on the Fat Fast. That's why the FF is limited to 1,000 calories and only a few selections, of course. Under such constraints, even the most metabolically resistant person can lose weight (which is, let us not forget, the purpose of FF). So one can essentially say that the most efficient Atkins plan FOR WEIGHT LOSS is the FF - high in fat, low in protein, low in carbs. But the Atkins WOE is, of course, not only about weight loss but about a healthy way of eating, according to the plan in his books. That plan can be complicated, but after one learns which of the thousands of possible rules actually apply to her or himself personally, it is really simple and easy to follow plan that you can rely on your instincts and follow perfectly.

So, a short and simple answer to your question, nikkil?


Because low-fat diets rely on the caloric principal. You MUST use more calories than you eat. While this may be very low for most sedentary, obese individuals, there is a level of caloric restriction that will produce weight loss. Very simple. LC diets, however, (and my expertise is with Atkins, here) rely on one principle: avoid impacting blood sugar.

One thing trustycat said got me thinking ...


I often have a hard time with just how to explain LC diets to people simply. First, I knew Atkins as "the protein diet," then as a high-fat metabolic supercharging diet, recently as a low-carb diet. So is the plan about promoting protein, promoting fat, reducing carbs? No, it's about avoiding the insulin spikes which cause hunger, which in turn causes eating, which causes blood sugar to rise and we start all over again.

So whereas low-cal dieters only have to restrict calories, we have to restrict things which would impact either blood sugar or metabolism. That's a lot of stuff! Caffeine's metabolic-accelerating qualities are well documented, however anyone who consumes it regularly is familiar with the fallout some time afterward, which is why one should avoid it. Getting into a fat-burning metabolism isn't easy, and one blood sugar spike sends you reeling back to the 1st day of Induction. The body has to be coaxed into a delicate state of weight-loss which must be maintained. Metabolically "lucky" people may get into lypolysis (ketosis), lose weight, and get along with fewer restrictions much easier, but that is them and you are you. Comparing isn't that helpful a thing sometimes, and well all know that weight which comes off too easily can cause people to stop their LC eating plan and yo-yo just like with any other "diet." Appreciate your body's pace

Finally, I believe we should all listen to trustycat's sage wisdom here:


The movements of the sun and moon, the contents of your digestive system and bladder, and the clothes you have on are all variables which can cause your weight to fluctuate as much as 10 lbs! Weighing is not recommended more than once a week in DANDR, which sounds like good advice to me. Heck, people going into the OWL, PM, and LM phases of Atkins are asked to evaluate the effects of 5g carb increments on their weight loss, at two week intervals for several cycles, which translates to maybe several months just figuring out what ones CCLL (Critical Carb Level for Losing) is! LC WOL followers who can't be dissuaded from weighing themselves and over-analysing the results DAILY will have a hard time keeping it up for long.

Just keep your heads up and let's all do our best!

I was helping my daughter with some economics/history homework (she's a senior in high school) and came across a discussion about the fallacy of assuming that certain causes will always have the same effects. The point was made that sometimes the same cause or motive will have widely varying results. It struck me how relevant this is to dieting in general and to LC in particular. We like to BELIEVE that we know what is causing a stall or a good result. Yet at times the same action (e.g. upping carbs) can result in opposite effects, even in the same person. Just to spell this out: one month you might up carbs deliberately and keep losing. Another month you might increase carbs and find yourself gaining. There is an element of mystery to the way the body works, no matter how hard we try to find a cause for every result.

It is so true what you said Diane, I just had a very interesting experience. I lost 60lbs in 6 months, then during the next 6 months I was able to lose only 15 with a lot of effort. Latetly, I was truly upset because I could not lose any more weight no matter what I did. So I came to this site and read and read. I decided then to overeat during the Memorial Day Weekend. I binged on cake, ice cream and everything I could. Did that for the 3 days, on the 4th day I started the fat fast. So far I have lost 10 lbs. in about 4 days. I am still doing the fat fast until tomorrow. Then back on Atkins for the weekend and back on the fat fast on Monday.

I am also a diabetic and I was totally amazed to see my blood sugar at 78. Not even doing Atkins it has been so low, usually between 110 and 160 and for someone that used to have them in the 600s is a very good thing. So the fat fast, for me, has been a miracle.

I guess we are all different.