diehard3's Journal, 28 December 2016

If you're doing this specifically for weight loss then I suggest you think twice. Your muscles need carbs and muscle burns calories. Any diet lacking in carbs is training your body to store carbs whenever you go back. Yo Yo training. You'll never catch me doing a keto or atkins diet ever again. Just cleaning up my processed foods without grains for one week left me with no energy to work out. You gotta fuel the body to change the composition. Scales are notorious liars. 

I do keto with great success. As do many ppl like body builders! Lean gains/ carb cycling. You can't do a low carb diet for a week lol! Of course you'd feel like crap. Keto flu is real but once you break through the energy is like nothing else! 🔥 with any woe you need to get your macros right. 

Not buying it. Never buying it. It's cycling a diet that's unsustainable. weight loss and muscle loss can't go hand in hand. I'll take a registered dieticians advice. Keto = eyeroll = ridiculous fad.  

Having success with Atkins diet--actually recommended by my doctor. No one claims you have to live on 20 carbs a day forever. There are several phases--you can choose to move on and up the carbs when it works for you. I don't think it is a good idea to discourage people who are experiencing success because it didn't work for you. 

Many doctors and pro athletes advocate low carb. For some of us it is absolutely the most successful approach. Just because it hasn't worked for you, JayMaine, doesn't mean it's not right for others. I could give you a list of 50 physicians who are running successful Low Carb clinics, reversing diabetes and heart disease while treating obesity. It is not a fad; it is the cutting edge of obesity medicine. 

OK please don't take this as an insult to any of your diet success stories, your personal feelings about your chosen diet or the food you eat. If I insulted anyone personally I assure you it was not my intent. There are lots of people that have lost weight using a variety of methods. I don't subscribe to things I don't believe in. Here is what I believe today. The Atkins diet comes and goes but it is very difficult to maintain and the Keto diet is a variation. Fat doesn't make you fat, carbs don't make you fat, protein doesn't make you fat. Dr's are in a great majority fairly uneducated when it comes to specialties like nutrition. Their education does not demand the study of nutrition for more than a few classes. I do not consider them experts. They study Pharmaceuticals much more than food. Nutritionists are not a certified field or professionally licensed specialty. I take my nutrition info from a dietician. That professional food expert has seen numerous fad diets come and go and her feeling on the Keto diet is that it's a fad which stresses the body and messes seriously with your hormones which control EVERYTHING. She also believes it's unsustainable and people store fat more efficiently when they go off it. Then they get mad because they're gaining weight and go back hardcore. Thereby training the body to be even more efficient next time you go off it. My diet is cut the processed food out, eat lots of veggies get a good amount of protein, limited fat and work out until your body composition meets your calorie load. And treat yourself sparingly. If this helps I'm glad. If you disagree I'm happy to hear your comments. I mean no harm. You've got to do what you think is right. 

I think the purpose of these posts is for support. I support whatever you are trying to do, but please stop advocating against Adkins or any other low carb diet. There are many of us on those diets who don't fit the pattern you describe. I wish you well in whatever diet (or not) you choose. 

Whoa! I wasn't expecting a debate. I lost 50+pounds on the Atkins diet in 2013 and I have managed to keep it off except for the few pounds I gained over the holidays. I have more energy when I am into this woe than any other and I don't feel deprived. I was never successful with other plans. I have to limit carbs otherwise I eat uncontrollably, I have a sweet tooth. 

Great plan, Diehard, you've done great and repeating that success should be easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

When I was younger, I had amazing success with Atkins and lost 30-40lbs. I eventually gained the weight back just like I did with every other weight loss I have had throughout my life. I actually kept off the Atkins weight better than with super low calorie diet efforts. Having said that, after I was 50, Atkins was no longer right for me. Not only do I feel kind of sick when I am on it, but the initial fast weight loss completely stops for me after about 3 weeks. I have no idea why but my body likes a lot of fiber so maybe that's the problem now that I'm older. Right now I'm easing into a plan that is very high in protein and fiber with a reasonable level of carbs and fat. It's about 1500 to 1600 calories per day. (Increasing fiber too quickly can upset my stomach.) After fighting my weight my whole life I truly believe that the bottom line is that lower calories and more exercise is the only way to go (for me). There are lots of things you can do to enhance the effect of your plan with specific nutritional balance and fat burning workouts, but I'm finding the 'tips and tricks' are a little less effective now that I'm older. Maybe it's just because I can't work out as hard as when I was young. I don't know. I don't care what plan you choose. I commend your efforts, feel your pain, and join in your resolve to be healthier. Happy New Year!  

I have type 2 diabetes, and I find that more than 20 grams of carbs push my blood sugar levels too high (I test once a day in the morning). I eat lean meats, fish, low carb tortillas (as a base of a sandwich) and plenty of veggies. Add in the small handful of nuts, and that's about it. If I keep on this, I stay in the 100-115 range, which is good for me, but if I vary it by even just a small amount, I'm in the 120's. Just my body makeup, I guess. I'm open to suggestions, tho!