Reply #16: I've lost 15lbs so far on Atkins - it really does work [View All]

The thing is the carbs, which yes, eliminates alot of foods - but only temporary. You do the really low carb diet only for 2 weeks and then each week you start adding the good carbs back into your diet.

Thing is when your body burns energy it burns carbs first, then fat then protien. So if you have too many carbs in your diet then you're not going to burn that fat so easily.

The things I've eaten during my 2 weeks:

Lots of eggs (but no more than 2 per day)
Chicken galore
Cottage Cheese
A small salad (no iceburg lettuce) with a no-carb dressing on it (most dressings that AREN'T low fat or have mustard in it are usually no-carb).
Low-Carb Shakes & Bars
Vegetables (small servings

I pretty much had a bland diet for 2 weeks, but then again I'm a really fussy eater to begin with.

Check the label because not all carbs are bad. You'll have to read more about Net Carbs, which is the Net amount of carbs that will actually affect your blood sugar. Certain sugars like glycerol/glycerin actually have little affect on your blood sugars and are used more abundantly in low-carb foods.

Things I strongly recommend if you're doing the Atkins Diet:

• A good multi-vitamin!! You will not get a complete serving of all your needed vitamins each day when you first start this diet (I mean you can, but most folks probably don't). Make sure you have a good suppliment to go with the diet
  
• A Fiber pill - Probably because I was eating more protien and not getting enough fiber into my diet. Adding a Fiber Pill helps fix that problem
  
• A notebook - just to track your diet. Helps keep you honest!!!
  
• Ketone Testing Strips - this will show you if your diet is working. If you're breaking down fats you'll test positive for Ketones in your urine and that's a really really good thing!!
  

Make sure you drink plenty of water. I found Diet V8 splash a good substitute for juice in the morning and I drank lots of Crystal Light when I wanted something other than water to drink.

I would not recommend this diet if you only have a few pounds to lose. I'm looking to lose about 50-60 and it's a good way to jumpstart the diet. Although I lost 15lbs my first 3 weeks, I'll probably drop down to the normal 2 lbs a week after that (Plus I was up about 5 lbs from my normal weight).

You will crave like you wouldn't believe those first 2 weeks and it's really just a matter of willpower. What helped me is I had a pre-Atkins week before I started it (I had done this diet once before and it worked and the weight stayed off until I moved and added alot of stress to my life). The week before I started Atkins I started reducing the junkfood and other junk carbs from my diet. But I wasn't perfect and didn't count. But I can assure you that the first few days going hardcore Atkins is probably like a smoker trying to quit smoking. Not only did I crave the food, there are times during my day that I just want to eat even though I'm not hungry.

The ultimate goal of Atkins is to ween you off the bad carbs and get you into the habit of eating healthy and to include healthy carbs in your diet. When I was in Maintenence with Atkins, I made it a point to never eat a heavy carb breakfast. If I started the day with too many carbs then I just craved them all day.

Good luck!!!

BTW, there are variations of Atkins if you do not think you can cut out the carbs to less than 20g per day.