Question for Barbara or anyone doing/has done Atkins

[Barbara]

Sheesh... scary stuff. Perhaps I'll just cut out the sugar/junk & get off my lazy butt! I'm really going to miss you, Kit Kat bars... That recipe sounds delicious, Roz! Is it true that caffeine increases your craving of sugar?

[biochemtine]

I don't know if it raises your cravings for sugar, or if it affects the metabolism of the carbs, but on South Beach you're only allowed 1-2 cups of caffeinated coffee or tea a day.

I've noticed that my cravings for sugar are almost completely gone. I think, every now and then, "oooh, carmel corn sounds good," but I'm not actually craving it. Usually I'm just hungry and that's the first thing that pops into my mind. I've been sugar free for almost a week now. I accidentally drank an old soda I had in the fridge, and shared a 1/2 diet-1/2 reg Pepsi with DH yesterday, but I've been really good otherwise.

I might just stick with the no sugar in my diet and see how much weight I can lose. And work out of course.

[TheWife]

I do what Kristie and Roz said. I eat mostly natural foods, lots of fresh veggies, some fruit, a little tiny bit of chicken or beef, and some carbs. I have a treat here and there of course, but I don't buy potato chips and candy bars and ice cream like I used to. I try to buy what ever I can that doesn't ahve corn syrup or hydrogenated oils in it. I lost 40 pounds that way then plateaued (ok that doesn't look spelled right but deal with it lol) so I know need to exercise to lost more, but I have been lazy in that dept. As soon as I get home I will get back to a light walk on the treadmill, since you aren't supposed to get your heart rate over 120 while pg, that's about all I can do. Then after the baby I will go back to running. I don't waste calories on beverages either. I only drink water. No tea, soda, koolaid, nothing. Just wastes cals on something that doesn't make you full. I also eat every two and a half hours so I am never hungry. I have breakfast, then snack, then lunch, then snack, then dinner, then snack. It worked pretty well for me. Hope that is helpful to someone.

[Kristie]

I just wanna know.... is cheese REALLY that bad for you?
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nah.. just kidding.. i'm a big cheese addict, but i've been doing really good with it since going overseas.. it's just interesting on how tasty things were over there and they weren't processed like over here, didn't have LOADS of butter for taste enhancement... and i felt sooo much better too (except for always being tired - time change)

but anyways, Roz - would you be interested in posting that recipe (cuz it DOES sound yummy) in the recipe section?

I'm gonna find a "by scratch" pomodoro or al forne recipe somewhere and post that for spagetti's and so forth...from what I hear, the italians make one big batch of it and freeze what's not used that way they don't have to make it all the time.

oh and after the concert last night, they were giving away the new coke C2... we figured we'd try it cuz they call it "carb" coke and it's supposed to have less sugar.. but from what we noticed, it still had enough sugar to coat your tongue and teeth (like regular cokes do) and less FLAVOR...

I find it AMAZING how much money people are making off of just saying "low CARB" or "carb this", "carb that"... we even went to Ruby Tuesdays in Atlanta and noticed they had "Carb friendly" buffalo wings.. now HOW is that possible? haha

[amg29]

Hi everyone!
Just wanted to comment on the whole Atkins diet thing. I'm not a nutrition expert by any means, but am studying to be a nurse and have learned a lot about how our bodies work.
Atkins is very bad for you in the long run! It has been proven to work in the short run and you can lose weight, but what about how your body is dealing with added fat and protein???
More fat can lead to heart problems---especially congestive heart disease. Also, more protein means your kidneys have to work even harder- making them a target for problems in the future.
The South Beach Diet is a little better like Roz said, but I'd definitely just stick to eating healthy and exercising. It has been proven that in a 1-year span if you eat healthy and exercise, you will have the same outcome as someone on the Atkins diet. And also, after that period you will continue to tone your body while the Atkins diet actually will hit a plateau.
Ok! Now I'm done.
Thanks for reading!
Take care,
Andrea

[lucky81698]

That's alot of good info. Michelle, how long did it take you to lose 40 pounds? Were you really trying, like on a timetable or anything, or did you just change your habits and it just ended up that way? However you did it, it's great!

[MQAAord]

I lost 60 pounds with a combo of Slim-Fast & exercise.

(Of course the fact that it was post-baby weight probably helped it come off.....)

I cut out most added sugar in my life. I switched to diet soda, and even cut that back a great deal. I don't keep candy in the house anymore, if I absolutly [b:c1ff86da85]must[/b:c1ff86da85] have a candy bar I'll by one in line at Target or the grocery store. That way the craving is satisfied, but I only bought one, and it was disposed of immediatly, and I don't now have a bag of candy sitting around the house waiting to get eaten. I buy as much no-sugar-added stuff as I can, the few times I buy ice cream it's the no-sugar-added variety. Swiss Miss even makes a no-sugar-added cocoa mix.

Cutting the sugar has made all the difference in the world.

I do need to be much more diligent with the exercise though, since I lost the weight I got lazy, and while I haven't gained any back, I lack the muscle tone I'd developed. So I really must get off my duff and get back in the Pilates & NordicTrak routine!