Lets get the SKINNY on the Atkins Diet

CookingWithCarlo.com ^ | Oct 4 2003 | Carlo3b Dad, Chef, Author

[SamAdams76]

The less sweet stuff you consume, the better it should be when you do. Believe me the quality can make up for the quantity.

That is so true. The only "sweet" I allow myself these days is my daily cup of yogurt (with either blueberries, strawberries or raspberries). Because I don't eat any other sweets, this tastes just like ice cream used to taste to me. In fact, my cravings for that sort of stuff is satiated by the yogurt. The blueberry yogurt I had this morning reminded me of blueberry pie with ice cream - only without the crust, which I don't miss at all.

The carbs listed in yogurt can be misleading as the FDA forces food companies to list carbs "by difference." It's complicated to explain but bottom line is that yogurt has much less actual carbs than what is listed on the food label. If you want a technical explanation of why this is so, type "yogurt" and "low carb" into a search engine and you should find some articles.

But don't just get any "supermarket" yogurt. Read the ingredients carefully. Many of the big companies (like Dannon) add high fructose corn syrup and other junk to the yogurt. This you do not want. Get the all-natural brands like Stonyfield Farm (which I prefer) and make sure that the yogurt contains live cultures. Yogurt without live cultures isn't really yogurt at all and you lose a lot of the health benefits that real yogurt provides. Yogurt with real sugar is okay unless you are really on a strict low-carb diet. For me, it's the only real sugar I get all day and I make sure I get it in the morning where I will have all day to burn it off. But some of these all-natural yogurts are made with Splenda. I haven't found any of them in my local supermarkets yet but I hear that Sam's Club carries one of these brands.

[SBprone]

Fresh berries make starchy desserts look like their hillbilly relatives. This is a rich country where almost everybody can afford to eat great food, if only they knew what to choose and what to do with it.

[areeves79]

My dad is on this diet and it works for him, but just like any of the others you have to be strict on yourself to keep it up.

[areeves79]

BTW can you add me to your list?

Thanks

[SamAdams76]

Best way to be healthy is to have a varied diet and keep the portions sensible.

Your post sounds like it was cut and pasted out of some FDA food pyramid article. All these tired cliches that pretend to say important things without actually saying anything.

I guess it all depends on what your idea of a varied diet is. If your idea of a varied diet includes cakes, pies, cookies, chips, pretzels, hydrogenated vegetable oils, high fructose corn syrups, candies, donuts, muffins, pastries, etc., then count me out. That kind of "varied" diet was making me fat and was slowly killing me.

Those are really the only foods I have eliminated from my diet for I still eat pasta, bread (fresh bread only, not that supermarket crap), and potatoes - just not as much as before. And I eat tons of vegetables and berries, more so than I ever did before. So contrary to your perceived notion of what a low-carb diet is, it is much more than a "meat, egg and cheese" diet. In fact, under no circumstances does a genuine low-carber, who follows the guidelines, ever "gorge" on high-fat, high-protein foods. This is not an "all-you-can-eat-meat" kind of diet, no matter how much the naysayers like to say so.

[Ditter]

Thanks for the encouragement Sam. I am down a pound (at least) this morning. Finally! And yes, you are right, not gaining any weight feels so good. My clothes are getting baggy but I have started fitting into previously tight clothes. In the spring I will literaly have NOTHING TO WEAR! YEA!

[Library Lady]

Please add me to your ping list. Thank you.

[Library Lady]

Wow!

[nina0113]

Please add me to the Atkins ping list too - I've lost 20# since July, I'm sure if I exercised it would be more.

[stanz]

My advice comes from experience not from any food pyramid.
I don't need to waste my time posting information anyone can get on their own. If you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise. Maintain the same haelthy eating habits and you'll keep the weight off. It's no mystery. I do not subscribe to any diets that recommend pushing one food group over another for any interval. If you have problems with that, then have problems.

[Protagoras]

Add me please, thank you

[SaveTheChief]

Sam, I have read your comments on this and other similar threads and want to congratulate you on your success. I have reached that point myself where I know I need to do something to take better care of myself. All these high-sugar, processed foods are killing me. I physically FEEL better if I do not drink that cola, and eliminate other sugars from my diet. It seems sir, like you have a quite sensable approach to the whole thing, adding exercising to a healthy diet.

I do have one question for you. Do you have any recommendations for a snack food that won't get a person in too much trouble?

[SnarlinCubBear]

ping-a-ling to you, darlin'

[Grit]

65 lbs BUMP.
Reached my goal over 18 months ago.
Add me to the list, Carlo.

[stanz]

From: http://www.a-personaldietitian.com/atkins_diet.htm

The key claims of the Atkins Diet are:

1.Burns body fat: Actually, any diet that causes you to eat fewer calories than you need to maintain your current weight will do the same thing: burn your body’s fat stores so that you lose weight.

2.This diet is ketogenic: by lowering the carbohydrate in the diet, and using fat and protein as the primary fuel to supply glucose, ketones are formed. The Atkins Diet promotes this as a good thing for the average person. Ketosis can cause dramatic weight loss at first (which seems great) because your kidneys have to get rid of these ketones, and this takes a lot of water to flush this out of your body. So, much of the weight loss initially is water. Ketosis changes your body’s blood chemistry, and can be dangerous for people with diabetes and those who are pregnant.

3.“You won’t feel hungry in between meals” - A diet high in fat and protein takes longer to digest, so you have a greater feeling of fullness. However, you do not need to go to a completely high fat, high protein diet to get a feeling of satisfaction. On a low fat, higher carbohydrate diet, you should spread the fat and protein in your diet throughout the day so that you do not get as hungry between meals. Many people make the mistake of filling up on plain carbohydrate snacks without any added fat or protein. Plain carbohydrates are digested quickly, leaving your stomach with an empty feeling faster. Adding a little low fat protein like turkey, tuna, or low fat cheese to the snack will diminish this problem.

4.“Your overall health will improve and you’ll feel better” - This claim is made because they say the Atkins diet “cleans” out toxins that are stored in the body’s fat cells because fat is being burned for fuel. The other rationale for this claim is a stabilization in blood sugar levels because of the reduction in carbohydrate consumption. This claim is very dramatic, but is applicable to almost any weight loss plan where the outcome is a reduction in body weight. Most people do feel better when they lose weight after being obese. Blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and blood sugar levels typically fall when a healthy body weight is achieved. One does not need to follow a ketogenic, high fat diet to accomplish this.

If you are considering a high fat, high protein diet, find about the effects of these diets from multiple professional sources. You can lose weight on just about any diet that is reduced in calories. The reason I do not advocate The Atkins diet is because it does not promote a healthy, lifelong pattern of eating, and teaches people to choose foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol and calorically dense foods.

It is well established that once a person reaches a healthy body weight, the best way to stay there and not re-gain the weight they fought hard to lose is to follow a lower fat diet that includes healthy portions of nutritious carbohydrates and proteins, and a reasonable amount of “good” fats, not saturated animal fats.

This is the opposite of the Atkins Diet.

[carlo3b]

WORLD GREATEST CHICKEN LIVER PATE
shuussh.... and it's lowcarb.. :o)

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 lb mushrooms
• 1 lb chicken livers
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 dash dried dill
• 1 pinch Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 cup butter

1) Simmer for 5 minutes in first measure of butter: mushrooms, chicken livers, garlic powder, and paprika.
2) Add green onions, white wine, dill weed and Tabasco.
Cover and cook slowly 5 - 10 minutes more. Cool. Whirl in blender.
3) Blend in one cube of butter and salt to taste.
Turn into serving dish and chill overnight. Garnish with parsley.

[SamAdams76]

That only "food group" being eliminated here is junk food which includes pies, cakes, cookies, candies, hydrogenated vegetable oils, hydrogenated vegetable oils and high fructose corn syrup, etc. Surely you aren't trying to imply that not eating these foods is harmful to your health. If so, please explain how the aforementioned foods are helpful.

[carlo3b]

Thanks :) :) :).. see now even you must be feelin better because of ATKINS, got all of that off of your chest.. Great post, and something everyone that embarks on this or any diet should research before diving in..

That said read the posts and tell me that this diet hasn't captured the attention of soo many grateful folks that haven't been harmed or died as is the rant for the past.. you did good, I want everyone to check this out as do you.. {{HUG}}

[SamAdams76]

Snack foods simply need to be redefined. I'm not a big snacker these days because my meals pretty much fill me up. (I am diligent about three meals a day.) But for snacks, here is what I do. I buy nuts, such as macadamia nuts, smoked almonds, pistachios, even peanuts, and separate them into 1oz servings. I only have 1oz of nuts at a time and never more than 2oz a day as too many nuts will stall your weight loss (they are high in fat). In fact, I usually don't have nuts for snacks but put an ounce in my salad at dinner. I also buy cheese and cut it into 2oz cubes. Swiss, munster, gouda, etc., most cheeses are good for you. I then wrap the cheese in plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator. Most cheeses are roughly 100 calories an ounce so a 2oz serving is 200 calories and it makes for a filling snack. I never have more than 4oz of cheese in a day for the same reason I never have more than 2oz of nuts.

Berries make excellent snacks as well. Especially blueberries because they pack well and you can eat them on the run. All berries are low-glycemic which means that they won't send your insulin into overdrive as other fruits can do. Limit yourself to a cup serving of these a day. Actually I try to eat blueberries daily as they are one of the best foods you can eat - they are loaded with antioxidants and other good stuff.

But I'm not a big snacker because the meals usually fill me up. Do you use olive oil? I have olive oil everyday. Don't worry about the calories or fat, olive oil is very good for you and it makes vegetables and salads very palatable. Even more so than butter, in my opinion.

If you have time, here is another good snack involving olive oil: Chop up some cooked jalapenos, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in a slice of cheese (swiss is best for this particular snack but any cheese will work). You can substitute some other cooked vegetable if you can't handle jalapenos. But let me say that hot peppers like jalapenos are very good for you on this diet. Despite what many think, hot peppers are actually good for your digestive system and can help boost your metabolism. There is an active ingredient in hot peppers called capsacin (I may have it spelled wrong) that has been discovered in recent years to have multiple health benefits.

[SamAdams76]

Speaking of olive oil, I mention it before because it helps to make meals very filling. This is probably why I feel the need to snack a lot less. I use probably three or four tablespoons at dinner every night in my food. Though it is high in calories and fat, it doesn't seem to hinder my weight loss at all.

Olive oil is probably one of the most important foods humans can eat. The health benefits of olive oil are too numerous to mention. But don't take my word for it, run a Google search with the keywords "olive oil" and "health benefits" and you will be inundated with lengthy articles.