Dr. Robert Atkins Dead

[Artist]

"Yeah, well, I have about 947 pounds to lose, give or take, so maybe I should consider the other."

LOL! I've been blaming too many hours at the keyboard for some of my gain, but perhaps I haven't been eating enough salami, cheese and pork rinds! ;^)

[Yaelle]

The testimonials have really intrigued me about Atkins.

I agree. What gets me about these testimonials here is that people who tried and failed on the Atkins diet would be all over this thread, but they seem to be absent, and there is no commercial reason for fellow Freepers to be kissing up to Atkins here, passed away or not. This is not the first time I heard odes to his diet here, too.

I have 20 lbs to lose after having a baby (who am I kidding, I had them before, too) and I LIVE on carbohydrates. I am addicted. I have found it very hard to "cut down" before, but perhaps cold turkey quitting might be easier than trying to just eat less. My skinny DH just says, eat a little less of everything and you will be fine, but I don't eat that much anyway, and that doesn't work for me.

Please put those of us who want to give his diet a try in the right direction and give us a couple of tips for getting started, if you can. Thanks.

[Yaelle]

I am thinking of trying this diet too, but wondering what effect it would have on the baby. I am b-feeding too; I gave birth in February. Is there a way to make sure you don't get constipated? Is this ketone thing good for a nursing infant? Does anyone know?

[FrogMom]

How does Jicama rate?

[agrace]

From what I have read, it isn't good for nursing babies, because ketosis releases toxins into the bloodstream which are then found in the breast milk (feel free to correct me if I am wrong, anyone). While I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes (required close diet monitoring and carb counting), I had to check my ketones every morning to make sure I wasn't at all in ketosis (trace ketones in my urine was ok but nothing more) for the same sort of reasons.

And that is basically why I haven't gone all the way myself and have chosen only to cut carbs as much as I can for now. Even so, dieting while nursing is touchy. Still I am interested to know if the book mentions it in any way. I think I'll go out and get it this weekend regardless and read ahead! :)

[Mr. Jeeves]

How does Jicama rate?

According to Dr. Atkins' Carbohydrate Gram Counter, 1/2 cup of raw Jicama has 2.5 net grams of carbohydrate and 25 calories. Not bad at all.

I started Atkins just ten days ago. I've lost ten pounds, acid reflux is gone, strange chest pains are gone, sugar cravings are gone. Breaking the sugar addiction is very hard - days three through six were brutal. Your body can tell that it's being starved of something it desperately wants, no matter how much steak you eat to make up for it! Once you get over the hump and ketosis kicks in, however, sticking to the diet is easy. The only drawback is that it requires a lot of cooking. Just about everything "quick" at the grocery store has far too many carbs and is off-limits.

[DeSoto]

How does Jicama rate?

Here is a free website Carb chart that I found from Google and it has helped me to figure out what foods I should concentrate on.

Carb Chart

I started a low Carb Diet of my own making in January and I have made a lot of mistakes, but I have lost nearly 30 pounds in 10 weeks. I could have done better if I would have learned earlier to read product labels far more closely (carbs hide in the dangedest places 8^) and to read more than I have. Lately, I have been doing better in my carb watching and have lost 6 pounds in the last week.

I would like to reiterate what has been said on this thread, for the first time in decades I am not hungry. I had bacon and eggs about 7 hours ago and I am not hungry in the least. I will probably eat again before the evening is over, but not because I am starving.

Before, I was always hungry. I could eat continuously, until my stomach hurt from too much food, and I would still be hungry. I had no energy, I lived for naps. I would wake up more tired than I when I went to bed and that is not the case now, I can easily make it all day without a nap. In the mornings I can wake up refreshed. I can't remember how long ago it was that I have woken up refreshed, until this diet.

I still have another 140 pounds to lose, I figure it will take another year or so, but I really don't care how long it takes. I intend to stay on this diet the rest of my life.

The hardest part is learning how to fix foods without carbs. I have found that there are some good recipes and I need to find more. But there are plenty of resources available and in time cooking low carb will become much easier and more natural.

I want to thank everyone that has posted on this thread, I have enjoyed it very much and wanted to add my testimonial.

[FrogMom]

Went to the doc and had a "what's your cholesterol, we've never checked it" visit. Then I get the ominous phone call where the nurse says, "The doctor wants to see you about your lab results." And no, she wouldn't give them to me on the phone.

Cholesterol was 235. HDL was 40, LDL 170. He wanted to put me on medication. I asked when he'd re-check my levels if he did. He said 4 months. So I asked if I could try diet and exercise for that time period, instead of the medication. He said okay, but if it wasn't better he'd have to medicate me.

I started Atkins the next day. A week later, I've lost 8 pounds. I've never been hungry, yet. In fact, I've probably eaten more than usual.

I've never been a sweet-freak, but miss crunchy for some reason (old favorite snack was popcorn). We bought a Jicama last weekend and I loved it. Had raw slices of it with dinner or lunch about 4 times. Since I have some arthritis in my shoulders and hips, went to the local "cove" and paid for a class in water aerobics. Low impact and, no, I didn't know you could sweat in the water!

Fingers crossed, had smoked oysters and sugar free chocolate pudding for lunch and having pork roast and avacado/tomato/mozarella salad with olive oil for dinner. And maybe some Jicama. Wish me luck.

[jennyp]

Cholesterol was 235. HDL was 40, LDL 170. He wanted to put me on medication. I asked when he'd re-check my levels if he did. He said 4 months. So I asked if I could try diet and exercise for that time period, instead of the medication. He said okay, but if it wasn't better he'd have to medicate me.

I started Atkins the next day. A week later, I've lost 8 pounds. I've never been hungry, yet. In fact, I've probably eaten more than usual.

I'm glad Atkins agrees with you (as it did with me). Hopefully that means it'll do good things to your cholesterol numbers too. I didn't get a baseline blood workup before I started Atkins. (And I've been kicking myself ever since!) But since then I've had them done 3 times. I'm really happy with the internal ratios:

JennyP's numbers since going on a low-carb diet

Date	Mos. into diet	Weight	BMI	Total	HDL	LDL	Total/HDL	Triglycerides
10/20/99	0	163	24.8	unknown - wish I had tested beforehand
4/21/00	6	147	22.3	244	76	158	3.2	48
3/20/01	17	156	23.7	241	74	149	3.3	90
5/15/02	31	154	23.4	219	78	128	2.8	66
4/03	42	143	21.7	hmmm... time to set an appointment

After losing 1 lb per week, I plateaued at 16 lbs below starting weight. Then I drifted upwards over the next year to around 8 lbs below starting weight. Then I finally cut out ice cream for dessert (we couldn't resist giving ourselves bigger & bigger portions as the months went by!) & since then my weight has drifted back down to 20 lbs below starting weight. I also switched to a canola-based margarine; perhaps that's why my total cholesterol number is coming down.

[jennyp]

BTW, that initial 8 lbs loss in the first week is mostly water. When the weight loss starts to slow down to 1 or 2 lbs/week, that's how much fat is really being shed.

Anyway, I found I had to take a potassium supplement daily to prevent leg cramps for a while, while my body adjusted to the lower amount of water. (I hardly need to anymore.)

[philman_36]

...a recipe for nutricional disaster.
...of obviously poor nutricional value...
Are you two related?
T, not C...no E.

[Artist]

Thanks very much for your excellent contributions to this thread, and congratulations on your personal transformation! You look GREAT!

Have you heard anything about an increased risk of kidney stones on Atkins? If so, do you have any tips on how to avoid them?

With thanks,

[xsysmgr]

The only good white food is cauliflower!

Cauliflower and broccoli are survival foods. When your're down to eating grubs, grass, tree bark and such, and you run out.

[StockAyatollah]

Mich Ultra tastes like watered down Mich Light which is just watered down Michelob.

[StockAyatollah]

Three things you can always count on government to give you: lies, corruption and incompetence. The USDA "food pyramid" is all three.

[RipSawyer]

"It is, in fact, food that kills."

"Every death, excepting stillbirths, have involved someone who had eaten at some time before his death."


ABSOLUTELY, and stories of people dying of starvation only prove that after a lifetime of destroying your health by eating not even a complete rejection of food can save you.

[RipSawyer]

" But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, smells worse than a half-head of cauliflower that has gone bad in the fridge! Good thing I had a FoodSaver to seal it up, or it would've stunk up"

Anything in this family of vegetables smells incredibly bad when it goes bad. Many years ago I was driving and came upon the site of the wreck of two eighteen wheel trucks. One of them had been loaded with cabbage, the whole truck load was lying in the hot sun and the stench was unbelievable.

[RipSawyer]

What is Jicama?

[FrogMom]

It's a root vegetable, color of a potato shaped kind of like a fat turnip. Has firm white flesh and is fairly sweet. Good stuff.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Again, more useless drivel from an obviously sad little man. LOL