Atkins Had a heart attack

local radio ^ | April 25, 2001 | Magnus Mat

[oldvike]

But telling a morbidly obese diabetic with extreme hyper tension to just 'eat better and exercise' is nonsense.

Disagree. I lost that much weight eating better and exercising. Fat people always have to make excuses (I can call people fat because I was one once....kinda like a black being able to call another black a n***er) as to why they can't lose weight. I'll never, ever go along with the notion that eating healthy and exercising is not the way to lose the weight.

I went on the Health Management Resources diet (HMR) (otherwise known as the Healthy Solutions Plan) and have never felt better. It's basically a healthy eating diet along with an exercise plan. Nobody can ever convince me that there's a good long-term way to lose weight other than eating healthy. NO WAY! And, btw, about half my class at HMR was comprised of very very fat people who had once lost alot of weight on the Atkins diet only to gain it back a short time later.

[Paradox]

But even when I am cutting weight, I do not eliminate carbs entirely. I simply reduce them.

Did you ever try the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (or Targeted Ketogenic Diet?) by Lyle McDonald? His ideas were all the rage a few years back. I used those techniques to get to an alltime body fat low, while maintaining all my strength (I assume I kept the large majority of my muscle).

Basically, you go lowcarb, but you time your carbohydrate intake for either specific days (2 day pigout) or specific times (30 minutes before a workout, and up to an hour afterwards).

[HELLRAISER II]

Yeah those jerks just want to have control over what we do with our own bodies while covertly coaxing doctors to put us all on Paxil, Prozac & Ritalin. Hell i've taken Creatine, Ephederine products & Protein powders. If they are taken as directed they all help energy & hunger pains with no side effects. Personally I don't think that Steroids are given a fair shake either , now with that said I think that you can hurt yourself if you take much or the wrong combinations but if you take a hundred ephederine pills that would kill you just as easy & their over the counter.

[Registered]

I just got a Brittany dog and we did a 12 mile run together last weekend.

How romantic.

[MagnusMat]

Atkins, in my humble opinion has put a stop to the myth that fat is intrinsically bad.

[HELLRAISER II]

I agree with you 100%, all I was saying is that there have been ALLEGATIONS that Creatine was not good for you. I do not agree with them.

[SolitaryMan]

I have to agree with the amount people eat. With super-sized everything these days, huge portions. Over-weight people will usually eat until they are stuffed. Much easier to loose weight by eating less than by exercising more.

[marty60]

The Atkins diet works....refined sugar and flours do not belong in our diet

Amen to that.

[galt-jw]

yikes....way too much training. check out mentzer, seriously, it is a logically airtight argument, the final word in training. if you are not increasing in weights or reps each workout, your recovery process is not yet complete, as the adaptation response of the body is the normal response to a stressor (sunlight, training etc) when rest and recovery is adequate. If you were to expose yourself to sunlight in amounts from which you could not recover, as with training, the effect is a negative. stresses such as lifting do not build, they tear down. the recovery is response to the stress is what builds. if you are over training, there is no period for recovery, which leads to the mysterious "plateau", the solution to which is MORE training, usually, to no effect whatsoever.

but i will bet that you have been on vacation or had a layoff where you came back stronger than before you left, even though you thought you would be weaker. that meant your poor body finally had a chance to recover and grow. if you incorporated the right amt of rest all the time, this outcome would be normal. its logic.

[pgkdan]

Rampant obesity is a fairly recent phenomona...and so are the huge amounts of highly refined sugars and flours in our diets. An insulin dependent diabetic will not likely have any lasting success on a regular diet and exercise regime. Believe me, I know...the insulin you take stores most of what you eat as fat, and because your body is so inefficeint at metabolizing glucose your body is starving at the cellular level. Hence you are always, always, always hungry. It's miserable. I never in my life had a weight problem until I quit smoking, then I gained 50 lbs, became diabetic and then my weight just continually increased...at the rate of about 1/2 lb per week until I was HUGE. I feel like the Atkins diet saved my life...literally. I'm very grateful that I found his book and will pray for his complete and speedy recovery.

[Darnright]

Magnus, here's the skinny (sorry, couldn't resist) on Dr. A's medical emergency:

From this link:
"Truly Low Carb message board

"Indeed, Dr. Atkins did suffer a medical emergency on Thursday, April 18 during breakfast. He is currently in stable condition, alert and resting under his physician's care.

As per the latest information from his doctor, the likely cause of this event was the fact that, over the past couple of years, Dr. Atkins has had an infection of the heart muscle (called the myocardium) contracted during an overseas trip. Coupled with the extreme heat conditions of mid-April here in New York, the 71-year old Dr. Atkins suffered this event."

If Dr. A has had this infection for such a long period of time, you guys cannot blame his heart emergency on his eating habits, for goodness' sake.

[11th Earl of Mar]

several College athletes that died. I think they were Wrestlers, but wrestlers really work on their weight & they will often try to shed water weight & not take in plenty of fluids

Yes, this is true. Creatine adds water in the muscles. Wrestlers, when making weight, dehydrate themselves. It is the vital organs that suffer when a dehydrated body shifts all of its available water to the muscles, because they, too, need water. And if the heart, which is over 80 percent water, dehydrates, it will fail.

[oldvike]

There's good fat and there's bad fat, but eating 5 pounds of beef a day is not my idea of healthy living. I know many people who lost weight on his diet and and gained it all back (and then some). But hey, this is a free country, if fat people want to lose weight eating a pig a day, fine by me. I choose a healthy balance.

[maxwell]

Bwahaha...

[HELLRAISER II]

I don't personally see a problem with steroids, especially someone that is over age 30-35 & is trying to maintain their physique. During this time frame Testosterone will begin to diminish & I feel that Testosterone therapy should be availiable for anyone who wishes to use it. If they would just ease up on the laws, we would be able to get it legally & proceed under the direction of our physicians. The only way you can get it now is if your willing to go to jail while trying to obtain it or take some type of Vet steroids (which are also illegal)& I just don't think that's a good idea.

[Joe Driscoll]

Of course, I have a padded seat now.

Have you considered getting one for the bike too?

[galt-jw]

As per the latest information from his doctor, the likely cause of this event was the fact that, over the past couple of years, Dr. Atkins has had an infection of the heart muscle (called the myocardium) contracted during an overseas trip. Coupled with the extreme heat conditions of mid-April here in New York, the 71-year old Dr. Atkins suffered this event."

i wouldnt expect him to blame his multi million dollar diet, as the lawsuits would be uncountable. now, how bout a nice three dollar wax bar?

[11th Earl of Mar]

Basically, you go lowcarb, but you time your carbohydrate intake for either specific days (2 day pigout) or specific times (30 minutes before a workout, and up to an hour afterwards).

I have not heard of that specific diet. But from what you are describing, that is what I did. My carb intake was "highest" right before and after a workout. Also, my cheat meals were continued until 4 weeks before the contest.

[MagnusMat]

I agree. Personally I believe in high green vegtables, omega three fats (salmon, olive oil) with high fiber carbs, little sugar, lots of water and no junk food.

[Paradox]

I didn't realize there were so many "work out" types on FR. I am glad to see it. I started training back in my flaming liberal days, maybe it was the workouts which delivered me from that evihl!

I used to me a Menzer fan, I also believe in short, intense, workouts, but he, like Atkins, was too dogmatic (actually, Atkins is not as strict as people think). He was an Objectivist, in the Peikoff/Rand style, and while I admired much of what he though, said, and his "rationality", he was probably wrong about some things, and would refuse to look at research data which contradicted his theories. Still one of my early influences.