Posted on 01/04/2004 7:26:23 PM PST by SamAdams76
Next time you see a baker begging in the street, feel free to blame people like me for his plight. It seems that sales of bread have fallen so sharply in the US as a result of the spread of the Atkins diet — and what happens there soon follows here — that bakers are pondering a bleak future. One, Sara Lee, is attempting to revive its fortunes with a low-carbohydrate brand — Delightful Bakery Breads — which will go on sale next week; another large company will follow suit in May. Low-carb bread may sound like an absurdly contradictory invention, but I have a pretty good idea what it will be like, since I have already tried low-carb muffins, chocolate cake, crisps, chocolate and breakfast snacks. They have one thing in common. They all taste like ground cardboard.
I’ve eaten them because I am a convert to the low-carb, high-fat Atkins diet. This means I am also a turncoat. Last year, I wrote on these pages — in response to a report which claimed to find that fatties are thicker than stick insects — that “I’m fat, I’m thick and I’m proud.” Fine in theory, perhaps. But it turned out to be a lie. Soon afterwards, I started dieting.
So much for being fat and proud. I plead just one factor in mitigation. Take a look at the picture next to these words. See what I mean? I think the word is “jowly”. Less diplomatic souls might say “porker”.
Let’s make a deal. If you have the heart to forgive me my slide from porker to porkies, then I won’t mention if you, too, need to follow that January tradition and go on a diet. As millions look in the mirror this morning after the Christmas binge, my message is simple: it’s a doddle. Within a fortnight of starting, even I had lost 5lb. Five months on and I have lost more than three stone — with more to come. For the first time ever, I’m on a diet and don ’t have constant hunger pangs. I’m eating plentifully and yet the weight is cascading off.
I’ve noticed a common reaction from people I meet. Some are fascinated and want to know all the details. But quite a few are, well, angry. They seem somehow put out that I am losing my jowls so easily and so enjoyably.
I’m now used to the looks of admiration and surprise at my success turning, when I mention Atkins, to sneering. It’s usually followed by a variation on the theme of “well, it isn’t a proper diet”, as if the only acceptable form of weight loss is one which involves much suffering (let’s leave aside the low-carb muffins for a moment).
If these people themselves were fat I could understand their attitude, but my fat friends are generally hugely supportive. No, it’s normal-size people who seem affronted. It’s also an exclusively male phenomenon. Neither I, nor anyone I know following this diet, has ever had such a response from a woman.
One newspaper diary column became mildly obsessed — and rather offended — by my weight loss, suggesting that its readers send me “gifts of stollen and mince pies” for Christmas.
The writer wasn’t to know that I had already been allowing myself small periods off the diet anyway. I spent last week in Vienna, where it would have been a crime not to eat cake, and stuffed every carb I could find down my throat. But the more potatoes, chocolate and bread I put away, the hungrier I felt. Within a day back on the wagon my appetite had shrunk again and I’m finding it as easy as ever to stick to the diet.
Now that the weight is dropping off, I’ll happily endorse the fathead report which so annoyed me last year. It wasn’t specific about the IQ points lost per pound gained, nor did it say if it worked in reverse.But that’s an assumption I’m prepared, for the good of mankind, to make. And since I’ve lost 45lb, I must have put on quite a few IQ points. So if you have any tricky personal problems that need solving or any philosophical dilemmas which need unravelling, just get started on Atkins — or ask me to apply my now enormous, lean, honed, brain power.
In the gym, I try to lift the amount of weight I have shed and wonder how I avoided a heart attack. So yes, this year I’m now an evangelist for weight loss. Call me a turncoat if you want. I don’t care. I feel better than I can ever remember before. If only I could so easily shed those self-interested charlatans and nutritionists who would stop me and others from losing weight and enjoying it.
I can relate to that and that more than anything else was the reason I didn't do Atkins. When I kicked off my low-carb program, it was combined with a vigorous exercise program that continues to this day (and will hopefully continue for life). I must have some carbs in my diet. But I get them from all natural sources such as yogurt, nuts, berries and vegetables (and beer). The Atkins plan is awfully strict with 20 grams of carb a day for the first two weeks (induction) and then only 5 a week each additional week until you stop losing weight. I figure I've had an average of 100 grams of carb throughout this program. Still far below what the average American consumes (425g I believe).
I think the recommended daily allowance for carbs (375g) that the government's infernal food pyramid pushes is far too high. Especially for people who are not in a fitness program as we are. It is important to point out that carbs aren't bad for you if you are going to be burning them off. It's the carbs that aren't burned off that is the problem.
Glad to hear it--is that 9 carbs total--or what we call "impacting carbs" which is the carb number minus the fiber number?
As for Kahlua, it just wouldn't be Christmas without it as I have a long-standing tradition of sipping Kahlua by the Christmas tree this time of year. In fact, just seeing a Christmas tree makes me salivate for Kahlua. Sort of a Pavlov-dog thing going there. This year, I allowed myself a jigger of Kahlua each evening and I drank it real slow. Thus I only went through two bottles this season instead of the usual five or six (or more because I didn't really count).
As for Egg Nog, I used to drink it by the gallon other years. I'd have two to three tall glasses practically every day between Thanksgiving and New Year's in years past. It was a holiday staple with me. This year, I only went through two half-gallon containers and I would have no more than half a glass on any given day. As a result, I didn't gain any weight because I still didn't have any pies or cookies or any of the other things I used to gorge on in years past.
So it is okay to splurge a little now and then. I'm back on the straight and narrow for a while now.
You are on a planet that orbits the sun...not the other way around. If my plebeian experiences do not meet with your discriminating, elitist standards, "sing loi"!
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The rate of absorption of the drug is dependent on one's size, weight and tolerance (which rises with increased consumption of the drug). Caffeine is absorbed and distributed quickly. Once absorbed, it passes into the central nervous system, stimulating it and producing the well-documented effect of alertness. Excessive caffeine intake though, can lead to a fast heart rate, excessive urination, nausea and vomiting, restlessness, anxiety, depression, tremors, difficulty sleeping, loss of calcium and potassium resulting in a longer recovery after exercising. The effects of caffeine on health have been widely studied. A 1984 statement from the American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs said, "Moderate tea or coffee drinkers probably have no concern for their health relative to their caffeine consumption provided other lifestyle habits (diet, alcohol consumption) are moderate as well." Studies have examined the effects of caffeine on fibrocystic breast disease, cardiovascular disease, birth defects, reproductive function and behavior in children. Caffeine has been linked to some of these. Abrupt withdrawal of caffeine may cause headaches, drowsiness, irritability, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms. Reduce caffeine intake gradually to prevent any symptoms of withdrawal. In adults, symptoms of caffeine overdose include:
Symptoms of caffeine poisoning in infants include:
250-300 mg of caffeine per day is considered a moderate amount. This is roughly equivalent to the amount of the drug found in three 8 oz cups of coffee. Consuming in greater than ten 8 oz cups of coffee a day is considered excessive. Caffeine poisoning from consuming excessive amounts has occurred. Treatment In cases of caffeine overdose, call Poison Control to see if it is necessary to take the patient to the hospital. The NIH says not to induce vomiting unless recommended by a doctor or an official from Poison Control. By: Psychology Today Staff Originally published by Psychology Today: 20021010 |
Don't worry to much about it. It spikes insulin, which is the storage hormone that causes body fat to accumulate. The Atkins diet tries to minimize whatever might stimulate production of insulin. You don't have to eliminate it altogether. In the "Induction Phase," it would probably be most important to remove it, but as the diet continues, you will find that moderate usage will not affect your weight loss.
"Benign Dietary Ketosis," described in Atkins' book as the condition where the body is burning fat, creates the sensation of NOT being hungry. You can eat meat, eggs, fish, butter, cheese more or less to your heart's content, but you will discover that you are satisfied with smaller portions than you were before.
All in all, the diet, if followed for any length of time, has good effects all around. Remember that it is not a "DIET," per se, but a change in your lifestyle. The best way to benefit from it is to make it a permanent part of your life.
Remember, you are not going from a "good" diet to a "diet." You are RETURNING to the historical, nutrition-dense, natural diet that the human body was intended to be eating all along. There is nothing "odd" or "unbalanced" about a diet that is composed of natural meats and their attached fats, vegetables, and minimally processed fruits. This was the human diet before the onset of grain agriculture, and it served humanity very well.
Oops. Miracle Whip is loaded with sugar. Try to switch to real mayonnaise, instead.
Trader Joe's sells low carb tortillas, and I actually like them better than white flour tortillas. If you make a quesadilla with them, you can nuke them with no gumminess or hardness forming.
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