atkins diet?

Anyone here tried the Atkins? Is it just the 1st week that you have to be strict and then once you are off that week, you just maintain what you eat?
I know that you cannot eat fruits........ and that bread is out of the question.
Could I eat say, a slim fast bar or a protein bar for breakfast; for lunch a salad or sandwich (minus the bread, I am guessing?) and for dinner, eat a normal meal? Or do you have to cut out ALL breads and such?
I've looked into the Zone, also.
Since switching from depo to the pill, I have cut wayyyyy back on the soda, and somedays, I dont even have sode, but an iced tea w/ lemon. On lunches, I dont eat french fries, but usually get a sandwich from Subway or Port of Subs. For dinner, sometimes a small hamburger & small fries, or a salad.
I just want to lose 10-15 lbs is all for right now.

I haven't done this diet myself, but have a co-worker who is on her 4th month doing it and has lost A LOT of weight!

Here is the website that has a ton of information
http://atkinscenter.com/

Basically the first 2 weeks are the "Induction" period where you cannot eat any carbs at all (mainly only eat meat and fish, eggs, and some dairy), and you lose the most weight rapidly while you determine your rate of weight loss or whatever term they call it. Then at the end of the two weeks you move on to the next stage where you slowly week by week add in other foods like nuts and fruits in small quantities and continue a healthy weight loss. I think it works if you can be really strict about it. I can't do it because it's just too much meat for me, and I don't like eggs so it just doesn't fit well with me!

Hey Tigger.
I don't really know anything about the Atkins diet except for, I know it's supposed to be a low-carb kind of diet. I don't believe you can have any bread on it, but I may be mistaken. But I did find a link for you.

http://atkinscenter.com/

Oh, and if you do a search on http://www.google.com for atkins diet, you'll get a TON more links.

EEP! Sorry, Sunni Jean, I was posting at the same time as you!

One of my really good friends is on it, and has lost over 100 pounds on it. She said the induction period is really tough, even after that it's still hard because you only add carbs back in very slowly.

Honestly, if you are only looking to lose 10-15 pounds, Atkins would be going overboard. It is a radical change and it only works if you can make the whole commitment to it.

The entire thing with the Atkins diet is that once you toss out the carbs and lose the weight and you start to add the carbs back in, you have to be VERY careful, or start exercising on a regular basis. Otherwise you WILL gain weight back. I was speaking to my trainer about this when we were discussing my meal planning because I thought well - I need to lose weight and I wanna do it fast.. atkins + exercise? My trainer won't let me go on the Atkins because of the energy carbs gives you and he (I've been assigned a new trainer now because Jennifer went on vacation) doesn't want me to have low energy for workouts.


So, like valan said.. I think if you are only trying to lose 10-15 lbs the Atkins diet really isn't a good idea.

I agree. Darrell and I did this and we lost a lot of weight!

No fruit, juice, milk, processed food of any kind, sugar, flour of any kind-including bread, crackers, cereal muffins, etc.

You can have meat, fish, eggs, dairy-including cream, cream cheese, any unprocessed cheese, etc. Sweetener (instead of sugar) is allowed... umm I can't think of anything else... Basically, the fattier the foods, the better. We ate very richly on this diet, but I had to make everything myself because most people add sugar to their desserts, not sweetener.

I only went on it to support hubby, but I went off of it when I dropped a whole cup size! (Sorry guys) Then while I was off it, hubby got discouraged and went off it. It's good if you can stay on it, there are many good recipes to keep it interesting too.

Look on the side of everything you buy. If the carbohydrate count is near 3 or over, you can't or shouldn't have it.

Hope this helps.

My parents have been on this diet for months now and I don't know how they do it...my mom has lost 15 lbs and still wants to lose more..I cannpto be without my pasta and potatoes!! I would go nuts!

I was on this diet a while back, and I am a complete carb addict, I love my pastas, potatos and bread. I did however go on the diet and stayed on it for about two or three months. And I lost about 25lbs.

I think if you are a carb addict, this diet isn't going to work in the long term, for me, once I started adding the carbs back the weight just came back. Another thing was, it was a really boring diet for me. I got tired of eating just chicken, or steak. Hamburgers without buns. I think that contributed to the weight loss as well.


I don't know. I know I personally would never go on the diet again. Mostly because I now know I can't deal with the loss of my carbs .

I've had friends go on it and love it. I've had others who went on it, got off and put on more weight. I guess it depends how much you like carbs.

I saw a bit on the news the other night that researchers have determined the reason the Atkins diet works is because it's a low calorie diet (surprising, given all the fat you end up consuming) and not from any change in your metabolism. Personally, I think the best thing for weight loss is a healthy diet low in calories and exercise, but then again, I'm not a dietician