I started the phase 2 of Atkins (skipped induction because I was nursing a newborn) last April and stayed on it 6 months. But after 3 months, I began bruising very easily. I lost 11 lbs total and many inches, but the bruising was weird. When I began eating some carbs again other than berries (I ate berries and nuts all along), the bruising stopped.
I felt much better on the low carb diet but I despised all the fake sugar things. They taste weird and they have bad side effects. Most people use the Atkins substitutes and thus do get sweetness now and again. If I were on Atkins, I wouldn't get any sweetness. I think all Atkins people who say "I don't ever crave sugar!" as they down Atkins syrups, bars, pastas, shakes... are phonies. I was doing it with nothing sweeter than frozen berries. You really DO miss sweets even if you don't crave them. South Beach calls it part of the diet to go ahead and eat a dessert now and then as long as you realize what it may cost you the next day in catching up, cravings or pound wise.
Another thing -- this is kind of scary -- my beautiful 10 month old baby is wonderfully healthy, and filled out with cheeks and thighs and all, but he is INCREDIBLY UNDERWEIGHT. He is bright, advanced in his behaviors, and he is at the 5th %ile in height, but WAYYY off the charts below the norm in weight. He weighs what a 5 month old would. 13.5 lbs. He is healthy and loves to eat, but I wonder if my diet affected him. How I hope not. My other two kids were normal to upper weights at his age.
Anyway, I love the low carb way of life, but maybe Atkins wasn't right for me as a nursing mom.
Another weird thing? On Atkins I used to use heavy cream as a dessert, either whipped or simply poured onto berries with a sprinkling of chopped nuts. I used to buy a LOT of that cream and I loved it. My treat! Once I started eating carbs, I couldn't stand to THINK about that cream! I had a half-gallon of it (you can find it at Smart and Final stores) that I just let rot in the fridge. When I think of that cream I shudder now. I don't know why. The desserts I made with it were pretty yummy.
The South Beach diet ricotta dessert is awesome. Low fat ricotta cheese, mixed with a tiny bit of fake sugar (I can only use stevia) and a small amount of cocoa powder (Dutch process, not chocolate milk powder). Yum. Like tiramisu.
I hear what you are saying. I never had any of those low-car "candy" bars and shakes either, but for the reason that my diet is not technically Atkins, but a "whole food" variant of that diet. That is, I avoid processed foods and stick to whole foods - in their natural form whenever possible. I believe the human body is built for these kind of foods and is not well suited for "chemical" foods such as high fructose corn syrups, hydrogenized vegetable oils (trans-fats), etc.
I do have a sweet tooth however, but I satisfy it with natural yogurt, the kind with fruit on the bottom - usually blueberries, strawberries or raspberries. I am partial to the Stonyfield yogurts, which are made with all-natural ingredients. A cup of this yogurt packs about 26 grams of carb but it does take care of my cravings for sweets because it has real sugar (the naturally milled kind and not the refined sugars or corn syrup). I must say that when I eat one of these yogurts, I feel as though I am eating cheesecake or blueberry pie with ice cream on top. So it is much easier to resist other sweets during the day, knowing that I have this yogurt to look forward to.
That is pretty much the only sugar I have all day. I do use Splenda in my coffee and tea but that's about it for sweeteners.
Well good luck with your South Beach diet. I hear that is also a good one that accomplishes pretty much the same thing. What's important is to find a way you can eat for life, for that is the only way it will work long term.
BTW, I've seen lots of advertising lately for low-carb "wraps" at Subway. I plan to try one of those this week at lunch. Has anybody out there tried them? Are they any good? I used to be a regular at Subway when I was still fat and I miss the place. I look forward to going there again now that they have something I can actually eat.