Is There A Former Atkins Dieter Here?

[iu]

I am enjoying the No S Diet and following it to the t. I have sudden fears about all the carbs compared to 20 a day. Scary, has a former Atkins person been here?

[Toro]

Is There A Former Atkins Dieter Here?

Does a bear shit in the woods? Is the Pope Catholic?

Lol, Just yanking your chain. I think most people here have tried every diet known to mankind.

[viktoria]

Hi,
I did atkins for 2 years. I had been reaching my goal weight 3 times and then gaining back same 10 pounds. I was so tired of that merry-go-round. Then I switched to French diet which is similar to No S – it was very difficult to start having all “BAD” food (and by ‘bad’ I mean almost every carb). Even now I prefer yogurt to oatmeal and a piece of cheese to a piece of bread, but there is so much good food out there that I don’t care about carbs any more (or care so much less). Yesterday I tracked my meals into fitday and it showed that I had 180 carbs – but who cares cause I ate 3 meals and ate like a queen

[childbride]

I got on the low-carb bandwagon early (before Atkins gained popularity, actually). But I know exactly what you mean about carbs. Everything I read said "carbs are evil," and I just ate it up, so to speak.

It's taking me some time to adjust to eating carbs again, and not classifying foods as "good" and "evil." It's just food, after all.

I was inspired by something that Reinhard says on the main site, which I will paraphrase: most people for most of history have gotten most of their calories from carbs - and remained thin! Good enough for me.

[hexagon]

Hi,

I did Atkins too, and unfortunately after I stopped was overly into carbs for awhile--I felt so horribly deprived that I was trying to make up for it.

I have to say the Atkins diet wasn't all bad for me--it helped me get in touch with my hunger (real vs. cravings) and get some strategies to control it. It also got me into cooking a lot more, which was good. Before Atkins I used to have problems with real hunger/sensitive blood sugar stuff, probably because I was trying to stay super low-fat. Basically most of my carbs are in the form of whole grains now--most importantly, I make sure to include both protein, carbs (including lots of veggies), and fats (more unsaturated than saturated) in every meal. It seems like the protein, fat and fiber keep my blood sugar steady and I don't have to avoid carbs, which is cool.

Anyhow, all things in moderation. Having lived in both Korea and Germany, two countries with plenty of carbohydrates in their diets (including "bad" carbs like white rice), I have to say those carbs aren't making them fat.

[wosnes]

Anyhow, all things in moderation. Having lived in both Korea and Germany, two countries with plenty of carbohydrates in their diets (including "bad" carbs like white rice), I have to say those carbs aren't making them fat.

Throughout the world most people eat diets high in carbs -- including white rice and pasta and bread made from white flour. The difference between them and us is that the rest of their diet included more unprocessed foods and their habits -- similar to No-S.

[iu]

Thanks for the Atkins info.....the N S Diet is so freeing and wonderful at times I just get scared eating like this. This morning I got on the scale and had gone from 165 to 160 and it abolished all fears.....I have never been happier with three meals one plate no snacks in my whole life!! Grazing on protein is something I could never do again, it will take me awhile to get rid of the fear of carbs. Hey, thanks for the comments.

[jennzenn]

iu,
don't worry, the carb obsession will fade. My daughters were teasing me of when they remembered that by the campfire a few years ago...I wouldn't lick the marshmallow off of my fingers when I roasted one for my young son. I was worried about the carbs and staying in ketosis.

ARRGH the time wasted on such nonsense.
There was some good that came from Atkins. We have a tendancy to eat carb laden meals a little too often and forget the value in vegetables and a bit more protein. You will always remember that.

Some carbs provide longer lasting sustenance than others, but none are really "bad". Some don't make you feel so hot if you eat too many (sugar and highly refined snack foods), and some don't give equal amounts of sustained energy for the calorie content either.

If we have any tendancy to pancreas hyper-activity, or under-activity....the quality of carb and obviously the balance of it with protein and vegetables is a bonus to our energy levels and the size of our posterior!

No-s will automatically help you in making wise choices. It just takes one meal that was unbalanced to make you realize that it is tough to get through to the next meal without snacking...and next time we will learn from the mistake and plan a better fuel for our bodies at the next meal.

that is my 2 cents...hope it is encouraging.

Jennzenn

[iu]

Thanks Jennzenn, it really is amazing how hard it is to move beyond some of the learned habits of former diets.....I will remember the marshmallow story when I start to doubt . I

[JustAnnie]

I tried Atkins a few times without much success, plus I had a horrible time with not getting enough fiber so I was miserable alot. Not going back there.

[florafloraflora]

I had a horrible time with not getting enough fiber so I was miserable alot.

I had the same problem even with the more moderate Zone diet, even though I was eating a fair amount of fruits and vegetables. I felt good otherwise when I was eating that way, but I found that to digest things properly I really needed more than 40% of my calories as carbs.

[cab54]

---Toro, you're hilarious!

Yeah, we've all tried just about everything, most of us anyway, or we wouldn't have come full circle to a SANE diet like this one.

I tried Atkins---twice (what is that quote about trying the same thing over and over is insanity???? ) I lost NOTHING each time. I did what Reinhold calls focused gluttony--I ate TONS of what I COULD have. Lots of meat and eggs is still too much food.

My diabetic husband went on it for a month and his blood sugar was about 180 every day (quite high). On NO carbs and NO sugar?? 180?? He thought it might help control his blood sugar and it did anything BUT.

Since I've been on no S, I've been using steadily (I don't use a scale very often, I use clothing/mirror.) It just makes sense.

[cab54]

oops--that was "I've been LOSING steadily". Sorry.