atkins dieters?

i'm in week 2 of atkins.. (i've lost 5 pounds so far)~ my husband has lost 8. its a LOT easier doing this together!

i was wondering if any TC'ers have switched to a low carb way of eating.. and how is it going?

elicia

I did it... it worked very well... I am off the lowcarb wagon right now but I think I'll have to go back on it as the pantalons are getting tight again. So like all diets it seems to work temporarily but if you want to keep at the size you reduce to, it's very hard unless you eat that way forever.

It was easy to do alone, but now I am married and Mr. Fishstick eats with me every day, it's hard to keep on it because he loves his pasta.

I have lost about 20 pounds in a little over 5 weeks. I am not indulging in a lot of fat, though, just going high protein, high fiber, low carb and moderate fats. Seems to work pretty well. The biggest problem is that alcohol is pure carbohydrate, so that means NO BOOZE!

I was on it doing GREAT! 13 pounds in two weeks, I have never been able to lose that much weight on any other programs. Even with fasting. Then my Husband surprised me one day and took me to Bahooka for a visit! WOW! What a place! First time there! By the end of my Navy Grog I was off the diet, I have been off of the diet for 2 weeks now, and haven't gained any of the weight back. I need to get back on the Atkins wagon! There are some great resources online for recipes on low carb cooking. Good luck!

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2003-07-02 14:39 ]

I maintain a high-protein diet and the carbs I do consume are of the low-glycemic index variety. I don't do it for weight loss, but rather for energy - I just feel better on this diet! And, let me tell you, Tiki drinks are very possible on this diet. Check out my Tiki Taky site and go to the Tiki Cocktails page. Click on the This Week's Special link and there is a weekly-updated recipe for a low-carb Tiki cocktail!!! I have spent a very long time working with Splenda-sweetened syrups to make cocktail facimilies and indulge in one or two every night. So, if you want to maintain Tikiness and keep the low-carb thing, check in at Tiki Taky now and then for a new recipe and sources for the syrups (yes, you can get Splenda-sweetened Rum syrup: DIVINE!)

scigirl!

i adore you! what a great site..and recipes!! especially nice that there are non alcoholic choices too (i am, unfortunately, allergic to booze)

i just discovered the sugar free da vinci syrups, but so far have only made Italian Sodas (hey, i just started this way of eating, so im still exploring the low carb universe!)

thanks again!! that natures flavor's site is amazing..

elicia

Glad you found Tiki Taky of use, Elicia! I update the weekly specials recipes regularly, so there will be something new for you to check out later this week (have to post this week since I'll be in Ireland next week). The Nature's Flavors company is great - nice folks, great products (the bar mixes are wonderful!) and free shipping with $25.00 purchase! And sign up for their newsletter - it will tell you when they are offering specials; the 20% off all syrups special just ended yesterday :(

Also, if you like DaVinci, check out netrition.com and vitalady.com. Netrition offers DaVinci and has a flat $4.95 shipping fee. Plus, you can get the Keto drink mixes and other lo-carb goodies and supplements here. Vitalady has cheaper prices of syrups (+a few flavors from other companies), but the shipping cost is a little higher.

If you do protein bars, check out the Doctor's CarbRite Diet Bars at Netrition. They have the lowest sat-fat values of any of the sugar-free protein bars, while offering 20 or so grams of protein. And they are the best tasting of any of the protein bars out there! Like candy bars that are good for you!

Keep on lo-carbin' - I run 40 miles/week, strength train 6 days a week and cycle 6 days a week, all on a lo-carb, high-protein diet!

Ya, I'll put money on it that Atkins was a lush!

I started my own diet plan. I only eat things that start with the letters c, g, k, m and sometimes y.

On 2003-07-02 18:15, Tiki_Bong wrote:
I started my own diet plan. I only eat things that start with the letters c, g, k, m and sometimes y.

c - Cruzan
g - Goslings
k - Kaniche
m - Matusalem
y - hmmmmm, Youngs Ale?

I am ashamed to admit it but my husband and I GAINED weight on Atkins. I went back to eating pizza and drinking soda and lost 3 pounds.

I have done low carb or ketogenic dieting for years. After you get past the huge cravings the first few days, it's easy. Just keep Cool Whip on hand for emergencies.

There is some dispute as to whether it works by keeping you in ketosis or lowering appetite and thus lowering calories. I do know that when I was into power lifting and did it and forced my calories up, I lost nothing. When I did it normal, I lost 1/2 pound a day.

It is muscle sparing regardless, which is good. And straight shots are about all you can drink without using the diet sodas and tonic waters.

On 2003-07-02 20:35, TikiGoddess wrote:
I am ashamed to admit it but my husband and I GAINED weight on Atkins. I went back to eating pizza and drinking soda and lost 3 pounds.

nah, you're just higher evolved than us caveman/carnivore types!

one thing i have noticed, is that drinking diet coke makes me insanely hungry (and i used to drink a 6 pk a day!).. so now its water and splenda drinks.

I don't know if this is a dangerous thing to tell you, but I managed the Atkins diet very successfully with 2 handicaps: I didn't count alcoholic beverages, and I did it mostly vegetarian.

I drank beer, wine, etc as usual, and it didn't seem to adversley affect the diet.

I posted this before, but perhaps now it will be more on topic - someone has collected recipes for a low carb hawaiian luau!
http://hometown.aol.com/Terranova0/recipe1.index.html

Hi
I lost about 40 pounds, but at a very slow rate at the beginning.
BTW - I too kept away from the extremely fatty stuff that was "allowed".
My diet used to include a big salad with lettuce, cucumber, chiken breast + soy sauce, lots of olive oil, tabasco, some salt and tons of garlic.

The drink was the hard part as I hate water (I call it "the clear horror"). So I drink cold coffe (decaff, artificial sweetner, cream), lots of it.

I recently wanted to accelrate the loss, so I started by eating every other day (don't try it, my body has been used to eating once a day for years, so the move wasn't drastic). It sure saved some money, too.
Now that I'm very close to my target weight I eat cottage cheese for a couple of days, then salad, then cottage again, then I can "party" on the weekend.

The drinks are of course, not on the diet, but whenever I go off the diet I just need to not eat too much the next few days.

Ran

tikifish, the drink was the biggest problem! One mixed drink will usually have more carbs than you are allowed in a day and a couple of beers will put you over. If you were drinking, you weren't really low carbing. One drink with tonic water is over 30 grams of carbs!

Besides Cool Whip, we ate wings regularly. As long as you don't have too many, they are a great way to eat fun. The Met-Rx Protein Plus bars are also awesome. Well, one of theirs is low carb and damned yummy when you are used to eating meat and eggs and cheese every meal every day.

I also try to cycle the diet. 2 weeks on, one week off. The greatest losses came for me in the first 2 weeks and quickly slowed.

I decided to give it a try last year and lost about 30 pounds in 4 months. Then I mysteriously leveled off and have been there ever since, even while still on the diet.

Yeah, no drinks on the diet sucks, as I think the more I drank contributed to the diet being less effective. I didn't drink high calorie drinks, but the book says that the mere presence of alcohol in the system slows or stops the ketosis, so that's probably it.

But I have to say I haven't felt better on any other diet. Less hungry, plenty of energy.

I guess that I am just lucky that it worked for me even with the inclusion of white wine (my usual at the time).

If anyone wants, I have a huge word file of collected LowCarb vegetarian recipes I could email to you...

The low carb diet isn't new. I have a book from the 1950s on drinks and drinking that suggests a low carb diet as a way to lose weight while drinking as much as you want. They called it the "caveman diet" as it contains primarily meat and vegetables.

Hey, don't forget to exercise too. Many times, lowering your caloric intake does little or causes only temporary weight loss without increasing your physical activity too. Our metabolism will keep slowing as we age and we need to counter that. A 47 year old friend of mine eats just about anything he wants (in moderation of course), but he runs and lifts weights 2-3 times a week. He looks better and is healthier than when he was half his age.

You don't have to become a super athlete though. Pick any activity you enjoy, then stick to it regardless if it's walking, swimming, dancing, riding a bike, yoga, etc. Any exercise is still better than no exercise. (Finding ways to keep your daily stress in check is also really important since stress can eventually kill you in a multitude of ways.)

I want to see all my Tiki friends live long and healthy lives so it's not just about how we look, but being here to enjoy the time we have with friends and family in good health. Trust me, spending time in a hospital with something like a heart condition or severe diabetes sure puts a damper on the Tiki partying.