Atkins 20

[ronandannette]

I started this thread over on WISH but haven't received any responses. Anybody here able to help?

I'm not seeing any current threads referring to the Atkins diet and I'd love some input from others that have used it. I'm looking to go down 20lbs, in order to avoid treatment for sleep apnea and to give myself a "cushion" against the inevitable weight-gain I will incur when I quit smoking. (I recently aborted a quit attempt as I went cold-turkey with no cheats and gained almost 6lbs in 3 weeks. )

I'm presently on Day 6 of Induction and am a very pass/fail person so I've not cheated but I am having a hard time because I didn't start out very intentionally. I did no menu planning or shopping and have just been trying to make it fly on what I already had around the house, although I did purchase some Atkins shakes for having at work. So far I've lost 2 or 3 lbs but I was expecting to dump more water-weight and feel less puffy. That doesn't seem to have happened.

Right now I am very hungry - all the time, and although I don't perceive a craving for junk, I would practically kill for condiments or some fruit. I am definitely intending to do some shopping this weekend and get some menus planned and perhaps do up some recipes to have prepared food on-hand so I can eat immediately when I feel the need.

Anyone with any advice/experience or just would like to converse, I thank you in advance.

 

[Dentam]

I personally feel that Atkins 20 is too restrictive. Have you looked at Atkins 40 or just trying to lower your carb intake but not by such a drastic amount? And exercise and strength training will help a lot also. Good luck!

 

[ronandannette]

I personally feel that Atkins 20 is too restrictive. Have you looked at Atkins 40 or just trying to lower your carb intake but not by such a drastic amount? And exercise and strength training will help a lot also. Good luck!

Thanks for that. Yes, I looked at 40 but I was hoping that the results from 20 would be so dramatic and exciting that it would make the suffering worthwhile.

I'm secretly (OK, it's out now ) worried that I'm not even capable of losing weight. I've never really tried before and have very recently entered menopause and the metabolic changes that accompany the hormonal changes have really got me nervous. I've been carrying this extra 20 for 7 years and I gained them all (practically overnight, it seemed) during my last period of non-smoking. I need to get the smoking over and done with but I simply can't face the idea of gaining any more.

 

[wenrob]

I can't help with Atkins but I am a weight loss/maintainer "veteran." If this isn't the way you plan on eating forever after, maybe it's not the right diet for you. I personally choose to count calories because I don't have to cut anything out and that's what is sustainable for me. Losing weight isn't about what you eat but how *much* you eat. If it's making you miserable it's not going to be sustainable. On the MFP forums there is a group called LCHF- Low Carb High Fat. These are people who cut carbs for various reasons and have maintained that eating lifestyle for quite some time, maybe they can help you if low carb is the way you want to go.

 

[Dentam]

Thanks for that. Yes, I looked at 40 but I was hoping that the results from 20 would be so dramatic and exciting that it would make the suffering worthwhile.

You have more will power than I do then! I just wonder how people can stick to a plan that is so restrictive, and what happens when they go back to eating more normally? Don't they gain all the weight back and then some?

Good luck with quitting smoking - that's the best thing you can do for your health!

 

[barkley]

just want to say-stick with your goals. I'm about 6 weeks into giving up smoking cold turkey while dieting at the same time (I'm doing the south beach diet). it's hard, dang hard-but it can be done. I'm almost 20 pounds down and haven't relapsed into smoking.

biggest suggestion I can make-if you can replace your smokes with a healthy habit you will do double duty by eliminating the individual cigarette and adding a healthy habit. when I first started out if I got a craving I went outside and walked for about the amount of time smoking one cigarette would take me, as I've progressed I've taken to throwing myself into projects around the house (my closets and photo albums are getting hecka organized-and goodwill is going to be thrilled with all the stuff I've dug out to donate). it's all physical activity so it's helping along with the diet to lose some weight (and I'm menopausal too-so I figure so long as I'm not gaining while quitting it's still a success).

stick with it-take it not a day at a time, but an hour or so at a time. my mantra is kind of 'I've gotten through the morning w/o a smoke and cheating on my diet so now let's aim to get through the afternoon, afternoon's done now let's get through this evening.....' (and so on).


good luck-you can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ronandannette]

You have more will power than I do then! I just wonder how people can stick to a plan that is so restrictive, and what happens when they go back to eating more normally? Don't they gain all the weight back and then some?

Good luck with quitting smoking - that's the best thing you can do for your health!

Agree, and I've done it before, I know I can do it again. But it was shocking how much that weight-gain messed with my head. And call me vain but the idea of having to use a CPAP is just a no. The Doc says 20lbs will make a world of difference in that situation.

I'm (mostly) pretty good at toughing things out - I'm going to give Induction on 20 a full-on effort for the recommended 2 weeks. If the results aren't worth it, I'd actually probably try Weight Watchers next instead of going to 40.

 

[ronandannette]

just want to say-stick with your goals. I'm about 6 weeks into giving up smoking cold turkey while dieting at the same time (I'm doing the south beach diet). it's hard, dang hard-but it can be done. I'm almost 20 pounds down and haven't relapsed into smoking.

biggest suggestion I can make-if you can replace your smokes with a healthy habit you will do double duty by eliminating the individual cigarette and adding a healthy habit. when I first started out if I got a craving I went outside and walked for about the amount of time smoking one cigarette would take me, as I've progressed I've taken to throwing myself into projects around the house (my closets and photo albums are getting hecka organized-and goodwill is going to be thrilled with all the stuff I've dug out to donate). it's all physical activity so it's helping along with the diet to lose some weight (and I'm menopausal too-so I figure so long as I'm not gaining while quitting it's still a success).

stick with it-take it not a day at a time, but an hour or so at a time. my mantra is kind of 'I've gotten through the morning w/o a smoke and cheating on my diet so now let's aim to get through the afternoon, afternoon's done now let's get through this evening.....' (and so on).


good luck-you can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I admire that more than you know!

 

[Dentam]

I'm pretty good at toughing things out - I'm going to give Induction on 20 a full-on effort for the recommended 2 weeks. If the results aren't worth it, I'd actually probably try Weight Watchers next instead of going to 40.

My Fitness Pal is a free website and app that is just like WW. Unless you prefer the meetings, in which case WW will be the way to go.

 

[ronandannette]

My Fitness Pal is a free website and app that is just like WW. Unless you prefer the meetings, in which case WW will be the way to go.

I've got enough on the go without meetings; a WW attempt will be the on-line version only. Does this Fitness Pal thing have a points counter? If so, I'm intrigued...

 

[Dentam]

I've got enough on the go without meetings; a WW attempt will be the on-line version only. Does this Fitness Pal thing have a points counter? If so, I'm intrigued...

It gives you a daily calorie goal based on your weight loss per week goal, which you can change whenever you'd like. It also has a log for exercise and message boards, etc. Pretty much everything that WW online has but for free! myfitnesspal.com

 

[ronandannette]

It gives you a daily calorie goal based on your weight loss per week goal, which you can change whenever you'd like. It also has a log for exercise and message boards, etc. Pretty much everything that WW online has but for free! myfitnesspal.com

You had me at "free"! I really prefer the idea of not counting calories but it's for sure worth a look. Thanks for telling me.

 

[Dentam]

You had me at "free"! I really prefer the idea of not counting calories but it's for sure worth a look. Thanks for telling me.

No problem! I think it's a great site, but still struggle with counting everything I eat. It does get tedious!

 

[dotfurio]

I did Atkins a few years ago and stayed within the 20 carb limit the whole time. I think I was on it about 6 weeks. It's hard for me to lose weight and I lost 20-25 on it. Of course I gained most of it back after I quit. I have a huge sweet tooth, but it wasn't desserts I missed the most, it was fruit. I think the only reason I stayed on it so long is because everyone in my department was on it. I was turning into such a grumpy witch my husband finally begged me to stop, lol.

ETA I've done MFP and WW online. I know a lot of people have success with MFP, and the program is easy to use. I personally prefer WW online because the points are set up to discourage sugar, and as I said I have a huge sweet tooth. Also with WW most fruits and veggies are "free" so I never feel like I can't have something if I'm still hungry and out of points.

 

[Christine]

I can't answer anything about Atkins 20 but I few things I'll comment on: I don't have any luck on the WISH board either. Lots of people refer people over there and it's format is just odd for random stuff. There are challenges threads, weigh ins, etc. but it's an odd board I think the way it works.

Two weeks ago, I rejoined MyFitnessPal and am on a 1200 calorie per day "diet" just to jumpstart me. I know it's not sustainable, but like you, I'm menopausal and have noticed some real changes in the way I gain and lose weight. Like you, I was fearing that I couldn't lose weight if I needed to. In the past, I just bumped my calories down to about 1800 and it would gradually take care of itself. In the last two years, even 1600 was not really doing it. I would have to wait 6 weeks until I even started to see movement on the scale. That's too long to go without some reward, KWIM?

So, I decided on 1200 calories. I don't have a LOT to lose, but I did lose about 5lbs within the first 10 days and I'm down a total of 6 lbs now. It has been hard. The first week was terrible with hunger, irritability, feeling poorly. I'm doing better with that now and I am managing those calories okay, but I have NO energy. I cannot exercise at 1200 calories. With the advice of the forum on MFP, I have gotten good advice to go up a little bit.

My point here is that, no matter what diet you are on, MFP has a GREAT community. When I posted my question about my plan, I had about 16 replies in a matter of minutes. Very, very active community and everyone is doing very different plans so you probably will get a lot of help on Atkins there.

Edited to add: I see some discussion about free calories. I don't believe in that. Everything has a caloric impact, even fruit. My coworker on WW stalled her weight loss because of free fruit. While fruit is very healthy, much of it beyond berries, is pretty high calorically. I love mangoes but have you seen how many calories they have? Everything works differently for everyone. I think if you are at "that last 10 lbs" that calories really matter. If someone gave me license to eat free fruit, I know I'd sabotage myself because I am hungry and I'd probably eat 500 extra calories of fruit a day. With mangoes, bananas, and some melons its very easy to do.

 

[dclpluto]

About 10 years ago I did Atkins. I lost 60 pounds in about 4 months. Got off the diet and within 6 months I was back to where I was. Weight watchers is what works. You want a diet you can do for a lifetime. Atkins might be good for someone who wants to lose weight for a wedding or something.

 

[lizabu]

I started this thread over on WISH but haven't received any responses. Anybody here able to help?

I'm not seeing any current threads referring to the Atkins diet and I'd love some input from others that have used it. I'm looking to go down 20lbs, in order to avoid treatment for sleep apnea and to give myself a "cushion" against the inevitable weight-gain I will incur when I quit smoking. (I recently aborted a quit attempt as I went cold-turkey with no cheats and gained almost 6lbs in 3 weeks. )

I'm presently on Day 6 of Induction and am a very pass/fail person so I've not cheated but I am having a hard time because I didn't start out very intentionally. I did no menu planning or shopping and have just been trying to make it fly on what I already had around the house, although I did purchase some Atkins shakes for having at work. So far I've lost 2 or 3 lbs but I was expecting to dump more water-weight and feel less puffy. That doesn't seem to have happened.

Right now I am very hungry - all the time, and although I don't perceive a craving for junk, I would practically kill for condiments or some fruit. I am definitely intending to do some shopping this weekend and get some menus planned and perhaps do up some recipes to have prepared food on-hand so I can eat immediately when I feel the need.

Anyone with any advice/experience or just would like to converse, I thank you in advance.

Atkins 20 absolutely works. The think what jumped out at me is when you said you are hungry. That is not right. When you're doing Atkins you shouldn't be hungry at all. Most people have to remind themselves to eat. Perhaps you aren't getting enough to protein and fat. Fat especially will make you feel full. Try logging everything in my fitness pal. Set your macros to 10% carbs/60% fat/30% protein. When I was doing Atkins 20 I found it easiest to eat close to the same thing each day. Breakfast was bacon and eggs and half an avocado. Lunch was some chicken salad or some lunch meat, cheese and cucumber slices. Dinner was salad and steak, chicken or fish. You will find your groove and learn which meals you like the best over time.the first 4 days are basically a detox and you will expect to drop a little water weight during this time. It takes 3-4 days for your body to get into ketosis where it will start burning fat. If you want to crank up the fat burning add exercise. There are some great videos on YouTube and they're free. I recently starting doing Les Mills Combat on YouTube and it's fun and only takes 30 minutes.

 

[wenrob]

I can't answer anything about Atkins 20 but I few things I'll comment on: I don't have any luck on the WISH board either. Lots of people refer people over there and it's format is just odd for random stuff. There are challenges threads, weigh ins, etc. but it's an odd board I think the way it works.

Two weeks ago, I rejoined MyFitnessPal and am on a 1200 calorie per day "diet" just to jumpstart me. I know it's not sustainable, but like you, I'm menopausal and have noticed some real changes in the way I gain and lose weight. Like you, I was fearing that I couldn't lose weight if I needed to. In the past, I just bumped my calories down to about 1800 and it would gradually take care of itself. In the last two years, even 1600 was not really doing it. I would have to wait 6 weeks until I even started to see movement on the scale. That's too long to go without some reward, KWIM?

So, I decided on 1200 calories. I don't have a LOT to lose, but I did lose about 5lbs within the first 10 days and I'm down a total of 6 lbs now. It has been hard. The first week was terrible with hunger, irritability, feeling poorly. I'm doing better with that now and I am managing those calories okay, but I have NO energy. I cannot exercise at 1200 calories. With the advice of the forum on MFP, I have gotten good advice to go up a little bit.

My point here is that, no matter what diet you are on, MFP has a GREAT community. When I posted my question about my plan, I had about 16 replies in a matter of minutes. Very, very active community and everyone is doing very different plans so you probably will get a lot of help on Atkins there.

Edited to add: I see some discussion about free calories. I don't believe in that. Everything has a caloric impact, even fruit. My coworker on WW stalled her weight loss because of free fruit. While fruit is very healthy, much of it beyond berries, is pretty high calorically. I love mangoes but have you seen how many calories they have? Everything works differently for everyone. I think if you are at "that last 10 lbs" that calories really matter. If someone gave me license to eat free fruit, I know I'd sabotage myself because I am hungry and I'd probably eat 500 extra calories of fruit a day. With mangoes, bananas, and some melons its very easy to do.

MFP calorie goals do not include exercise. 1200 is my base to lose but I eat a minimum of 1400 and usually average 1600. I walk for exercise to "earn" more calories. I'm glad you're listening to them and going up a little bit. They are a great community and most of them just want to help others be successful.

 

[ronandannette]

Atkins 20 absolutely works. The think what jumped out at me is when you said you are hungry. That is not right. When you're doing Atkins you shouldn't be hungry at all. Most people have to remind themselves to eat. Perhaps you aren't getting enough to protein and fat. Fat especially will make you feel full. Try logging everything in my fitness pal. Set your macros to 10% carbs/60% fat/30% protein. When I was doing Atkins 20 I found it easiest to eat close to the same thing each day. Breakfast was bacon and eggs and half an avocado. Lunch was some chicken salad or some lunch meat, cheese and cucumber slices. Dinner was salad and steak, chicken or fish. You will find your groove and learn which meals you like the best over time.the first 4 days are basically a detox and you will expect to drop a little water weight during this time. It takes 3-4 days for your body to get into ketosis where it will start burning fat. If you want to crank up the fat burning add exercise. There are some great videos on YouTube and they're free. I recently starting doing Les Mills Combat on YouTube and it's fun and only takes 30 minutes.

I'm hungry for 2 reasons:

1. I'm having trouble eating 12g worth of low-carb veg based on what I have on hand around the house. It's been basically broccoli, lettuce, some canned string beans and raw tomato. I'm trying to get those in first before eating anything else and and I find myself losing my appetite for them far before I'm full.

2. I don't have the time or facilities to do a hot meal for either breakfast or lunch. I've been relying on plain roasted chicken breasts, grilled sirloin and cheese for protein, although I did have eggs twice for supper. Similarly to the veg, I find it hard to consume high quantities at once because they're just so boring.

Overall I clearly understand my big problem with this program is my lack of planning and preparation and given the way I like to eat, I absolutely HAVE to do some shopping and pre-cook some decent recipes in bulk to have things ready to go when I need them. There's 1,000 excuses I could make about my limited time and energy, but I guess it's all about priorities.

Right now this is way more miserable than it needs to be. OTOH, one bright spot is that I was able to go out for lunch with friends yesterday to Opa the Greek and had no trouble whatsoever finding a compliant meal (souvlaki and salad platter). That was a relief because I'm very social with food and I want whatever diet I'm doing to be unobtrusive - I'd totally HATE to drag everybody around me into the vortex of what I can and can't eat.

...Two weeks ago, I rejoined MyFitnessPal and am on a 1200 calorie per day "diet" just to jumpstart me. I know it's not sustainable, but like you, I'm menopausal and have noticed some real changes in the way I gain and lose weight. Like you, I was fearing that I couldn't lose weight if I needed to. In the past, I just bumped my calories down to about 1800 and it would gradually take care of itself. In the last two years, even 1600 was not really doing it. I would have to wait 6 weeks until I even started to see movement on the scale. That's too long to go without some reward, KWIM?

So, I decided on 1200 calories. I don't have a LOT to lose, but I did lose about 5lbs within the first 10 days and I'm down a total of 6 lbs now. It has been hard. The first week was terrible with hunger, irritability, feeling poorly. I'm doing better with that now and I am managing those calories okay, but I have NO energy. I cannot exercise at 1200 calories. With the advice of the forum on MFP, I have gotten good advice to go up a little bit.

My point here is that, no matter what diet you are on, MFP has a GREAT community. When I posted my question about my plan, I had about 16 replies in a matter of minutes. Very, very active community and everyone is doing very different plans so you probably will get a lot of help on Atkins there.

Edited to add: I see some discussion about free calories. I don't believe in that. Everything has a caloric impact, even fruit. My coworker on WW stalled her weight loss because of free fruit. While fruit is very healthy, much of it beyond berries, is pretty high calorically. I love mangoes but have you seen how many calories they have? Everything works differently for everyone. I think if you are at "that last 10 lbs" that calories really matter. If someone gave me license to eat free fruit, I know I'd sabotage myself because I am hungry and I'd probably eat 500 extra calories of fruit a day. With mangoes, bananas, and some melons its very easy to do.

Thanks very much for telling me this. It's really freaking me out. And I basically went from a relatively normal cycle to BANG!! - full on menopause this spring. It really seemed like everything on me just shrivelled up overnight. My GP won't prescribe HRT and gynecology is a specialty here; I was referred back in June and am still waiting for an appointment.

I greatly appreciate everything everybody has mentioned here - I'm not a serial dieter and pretty out of touch with any dialogue about weight loss. Please continue to let me know how you're all making out with your own plans; maybe we could be a little support for each other.

 

[Owlpost23]

As far as the smoking goes,try the cold laser method.My husband and I did that 11 years ago,and have no cravings at all.Worth looking into!