Aktins people....discussion
I've been thinking about different plans and Atkins came to mind. I wanna know something. I know there are a few very hard core Atkins people on here so I thought you would be the perfect people to ask.
We all know we have our "nutritional malfunction days" or "nutritional imbalance days" . Lol, I'm going to love saying that. But say if you were on low cal, when you have an off day it's not that big of a thing because we are use to all the foods.
You guys are not because you don't eat certain foods all through out the program. I know you guys have your own ways of coping with this. But doesn't it almost make you feel like you are depriving yourself of eating say for instance......pasta. I can see where this would lead to eating all kinds of starches if you are not VERY careful.
I know this goes for all plans, no matter what plan you are on it will be some what the same. But with Atkins it seems like it would be harder to handle because you are so limited. Don't you ever want to be able to eat a piece of cake again without feeling like that (if you do feel like that)? Because I think I would, so this interests me. Can you actually live like this long term? I don't mean that in a mean way, but I honsetly wonder how anyone could do this long term. I keep thinking like when I was on the liquid fast feeling deprived (here we go on that WORD again). For me it seems like the deprivation feeling would be extremely high, not one everyone can follow.
Anyone here want to make me understand how they are capable of this?
You're only as limited as your imagination.
Cake, crackers, sweets, ice cream, pasta, etc.? There are options.
Here's my today. Not an "on" day because of my fruit, but you'll get a picture of how it can go.
Preworkout protein shake with greek yogurt and berries (wanted carbs for the workout)
Postworkout apple with peanut butter (apple was off, but I've been craving them and finishing what I have in the house)
Breakfast crustless quiche with ham and cheese and broccoli
Lunch chicken bacon swiss cheese casserole
So, if you forget the apple, it wasn't a bad day for being up the ladder. If you were in Induction you would have had the protein shake plain, no apple and had only <10 carbs.
Does it seem depriving?
Atkin's is H A R D. But it's easiest for me to stick to because it's all so chemical and I was a chemistry nerd in college, so I understand how a teeny bit of something can screw up everything. I'm literally scared to go off plan (especially since my last week's 6 pound gain from sugar alcohol overload).
I know that I will N O T be able to live off Atkin's for the rest of my life, no. There are ways that you can, though. Low carbing at goal is a lot easier than low carbing during induction or OWL. I promote this website a lot: Sugarfreesheila.com
She only lost like 38 pounds on Atkin's but she's an Atkin's Nazi - so strict - she's turned it into her life. Now that she's on maintenance, she eats fruit (low glycemic fruits of course), nuts, and allows "splurge" days once a month. So there are ways to live off the plan.
on 1/20/09 10:42 am
Holly:
I don't know much about Atkins but I do know it's not a plan I could do long term. If you think about it, "deprivation" will exist on ANY plan you follow because you can't continue to overeat and lose weight and/or maintain a normal weight. It's a matter of addressing why you overeat and finding a plan that will work for you for the rest of your life. I don't FEEL deprived but I AM deprived if you compare the amount of food I eat today to the amount of food I ate 140 pounds heavier.
I'm sure the Atkins Queen can give you more insight on doing Atkins long-term.
i've been thinking of trying it again, but not as strict. i cannot live without some bread. i love it too much lol. i can restrict it, but i gots to have some every now and then! i also have kids. and realistically i don't see how i can tell my daughter we'll never have spaghetti again (her fav food) because i'm trying to lose weight! i've switched to the whole grain pasta and keep it on the menu. so i guess i'm trying to make up my own plan.
For me, Atkins represented the answers to someone who was told that to control her disease, you need to eat low carb and exercise. And being highly sensitive to processed carbs made it a no brainer for me.
I think that the reason most people feel like you are deprived so much on Atkins is because they only look at the Induction phase of Atkins and don't read about OWL(Ongoing Weight Loss). You lose more weight on Induction, so people think, oh, I'll just stay on Induction and lose faster. Yeah, but that is just not sustainable for the long haul. I've seen people who don't even get the required 20 grams of the right carbs for Induction and then they wonder why their weight loss stops. Your body needs carbs for your metabolism to work correctly, but they have to be from vegetables and low glycemic fruit. The first stage of OWL is to add 5 grams more of carbs a day from more vegetables and fruit. Then if you are still losing, you add nuts. Then if you are still losing, you add alcohol, most people don't lose adding even small amounts of alcohol and skip this. Once you have lost MOST of your weight, then you can start adding in low carb tortillas wraps or whole grain products, but they can slow your weight loss down, too, so that's why they are for closer to maintenance.
Doing Atkins ain't for sissies! But they have a great support group on the website, and they are very helpful for sharing recipes and letting you know the scoop about hidden stuff in foods that will slow you down. I have an Atkins version for just about everything. So I don't feel deprived when I'm having sf jello with blueberries and canteloupe topped with whipped cream, made from heavy whipping cream. And tonight I am having Atkins meatloaf. It's made with parmesan cheese instead of bread crumbs. There's always more than one way to skin a cat!
I'm a meat and cheese and salad eater, so I felt deprived on low fat low calorie. I despise turkey burgers, so I feel like a cheeseburger made from fine ground chuck is a treat. I adore salads now...I didn't before Atkins. But I like mine with olive oil and vinegar instead of low fat dressing which made me want to barf and was processed all to hell. Olive oil is great for your heart.
What I've learned is to eat "nutritiously" and as close to natural as possible. Ain't nothin' nutritious and natural about cake. Ain't nothin' nutritious and natural about white bread. I don't look at it as depriving myself of these things, I look at it as they have no value and are harmful to my health and well being. Now when I eat them, I feel like crap the next day. That's simply not acceptable to me when it took me so long to feel this great, physically and mentally.
I'm done abusing myself with food. It took me a long time to get to this point, but it was so worth the effort.
Sorry about the novel, but you know how I get about using that damned "D" word!
Mary
