From the mouth of the good doctor himself....


The Wrong Way to do Atkins

Over the years, I have been amazed at the way people ignore the advice in this book and devise ways to abuse the Atkins Nutritional Approach by doing it their own way. Here are nine of the most common misconceptions among Atkins Abusers.

Misconception: Atkins can be used as a short term or crash diet.
Reality: If you do induction for two weeks to drop 10 pounds and then go back to your old way of eating, you will be treating it as a crash diet. But that goes against everything I recommend, and will lead to problems in the long run.

Misconception: You can lose weight doing Atkins, then return to your old way of eating.
Reality: Do this, and as with your past attempts, you will neglect to change those eating habits that ensure you always regain lost weight.

Misconception: You can focus solely on losing weight and minimize the maintenance aspects.
Reality: Any weight loss program that does not segue into weight maintenance is doomed to failure. Maintenance is likely to be somewhere between your menu during Induction Phase the menu you ate before you started Atkins.

Misconception: You can eat any food so long as you do not exceed 20 grams of carbs a day.
Reality: If you eat junk foods or other nutrient deficient carbohydrate foods instead of vegetables and other nutrient dense foods, you will miss most of the benefits I write about and you certainly will not be fostering long term health.

Misconception: You can use Atkins for weight loss, but you don’t have to bother with exercise and supplements if you don’t have any health problems.
Reality: If you don’t supplement with vita-nutrients and exercise regularly, you may take off pounds but you will miss out on important health benefits. Everyone needs exercise. It is not solely related to weight loss.

Misconception: You can go back to eating your favourite foods after you lose weight.
Reality: Your favourite foods may well be your problem foods. Unless you acknowledge and learn to deal with your addictions, you are doomed to regain weight and fall back into the dangerous cycle of high blood sugar and overproduction of insulin.

Misconception: You can do Induction during the week and binge on weekends and still lose or maintain weight.
Reality: When you do Atkins during the week and cheat on weekends, for several days after your binge, you are no longer burning fat. At most, you could be in the fat burning state for only three days a week. In addition, you have overstimulated your insulin response, increasing the metabolic risk factors underlying your weight problem. Remember that when you burn fat, dietary fat is also being burned. However, if you combine high carbs with high fat – the typical American diet – you will be increasing your cardiovascular risks.

Misconception: You can do Atkins while following a low fat regimen.
Reality: To encourage your body to burn its own stores of fat, you need to reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat, meaning you have to eat primarily foods rich in protein and fat. Remember that essential fatty acids play a role in normal metabolic function. Fat also plays a role in stabilizing blood sugar and increasing satiety. If fat intake is too low, you will not burn fat aggressively. Moreover, excess protein converts to glucose and can keep fat from becoming primary fuel.


Taken from the updated DANDR. Paperback edition, pages 223-225.

Amen Karen.

Thanks so much for posting this.

Hi Karen,

Thanks for posting this, it is a good reminder for all of us. It feels like you're wielding a big stick and I got whacked.

Ah, you know me, I'll get over the sting of the whack soon.

I like the term "Atkins Abuser." Think I'll add it to my lexicon! LOL!

"...now, all you ATKINS ABUSERS..."

Looks good. Whaddaya think?

Ruth, I'm only the messenger!

Karen

Yes!

Hope everyone reads this...
Ellie

adding my AMEN to this!

Great post, Karen, and especially appropriate for "newbie season"

Thanks so much Karen. I needed that "kick"!!!!!
It was a great reminder for me to actually go back to the book and refresh from time to time.
By the way, looking forward to hearing you on CBC on Tuesday!

Glenda

Thanks, Karen. It is nice to hear it from the doctor himself

Thanks Karen.... I find it really frustrating when people assume that following the Atkins "diet" is about eating fried food all day long. I feel this misconceptionn needs to be addressed.
Doods.

Thanks for posting this -- have you any other feedback to offer on this new edition of TNDR?

The wrong way to read Atkins is .....SNIKTA

Perhaps that is what we should call the defaulters.

... I was doing so well then I Snikta'rd....

....I got myself in a right Snikta....

Two thoughts:

..."Oh so that's why my mother gained weight.." My mom never addressed her sugar dependency. So when she "got off the diet" she had a harder time with temtation.

Also I remember thinking on day 9 of my Induction "Oh, my G.. I have to eat like this forever!!" I chuckle at that because I'm now been LC for almost 5 months and I don't even want a 10th of the carbs I used to eat. I do miss somethings like at family holidays... but for day to day stuff... not much.

One positive thing I must add to this LC: I have become a very good cook! I make things that I never dreamed I could make.
I made my own LC Alfredo sauce! And it was good!

I haven't went out to get the new version yet. I am wondering though...... In the new version does the dear Dr. advise against indulging in his protein snack bars?

I'll get around to it as I go through the new book. That was the first thing that really caught my attention. Along with this...



Of course not! Now there will be legions of people eating those ~#$% bars and wondering why they are stalling. Just think! You can have ten Atkins Bars a day along with the mail-order mousse, cheesecake...GRRRRRR!

Karen