Question for accomplished Atkiners...
 

This is going out to all the Atkins followers who have reached their goal or are very close...


I am thinking about how I am going to maintain my loss once I get to my goal.

It seems there is two ways of doing it and I wanted to get other's opinions.


#1 Follow the book and find out how many carbs per day you can eat and still maintain your weight loss. (for me I think it's pretty low like 25 carbs or so)
If I do this, I will pretty much be cooking 2 different meals for me and my future husband, (he doesn't tolerate fat well in his system) and not able to eat out at a lot of restraunts together like mexican food and chinese etc.

#2 Eat low fat, "healthy" foods with lots of vegys, fruit, and whole grain
With this I can go to a more variety of restaurants and not have to cook 2 meals for me and my family.

I am wondering, if I switch to the #2 option, will I gain weight since my carbs are up? It seems the answer is you have to choose between eating low carb-high fat or low fat-high carb.

I know either way I will need to not go back to eating a ton of junk food like I used to, and save those things for treats. But I guess I just want to know what works best for most people who have done this???


Thanks you guys!

Katie

FYI, I went from my goal weight of 135 up to an all-time high of 209 by switching between low-fat and low-carb for a couple years. It totally DID NOT WORK...AT ALL. My advice to you is to read Atkins for life, you would be surprised how flexible LC eating really is. You can eat lower fat and lower carb at the same time, too.

Who says you can't eat Mexican food? Fajitas work great when your out to eat, as do most Chili Rellenos (ask them what is in their egg batter).

I have never tried low fat only Atkins. I have been successful on Atkins and can tell you this WOE works. We are a family of four. So, somedays there are seperate meals. But most of the time we come together on a meal. Because this diet has alot of meat. I usually just add a salad and a starch. I eat the meat and salad. My kids and DH have the starch with thier meal.

I do something similar to manucpa. Tonight we are having guests for dinner. Instead of making different meals, I'm just making sure that there is something for everyone. We're having buffalo wings, deviled eggs and shrimp for appetizers and for the main meal we're having steak, bbq ribs, corn on the cob, salad and canteloupe chunks. The guests are bringing potato salad and dessert. I plan to eat the appetizers, steak, salad and canteloupe everyone else can choose what they like based on their preferences.
Most nights I do a meat, veggie and side dish. I eat the meat and veggie, everyone else eats that plus the side dish.
If you read Atkins for life, you'll see that the maintainance level is more moderate fat, moderate carb, adequate protein and it can be adjusted based on your individual carb tolerances, tastes and needs. It seems more about balance than one extreme or the other.

I think cutting back on some of the fats on Atkins is fine, but adding too many carbs would be a big mistake. I have not changed my cooking for the family other than maybe less casseroles ect.
When you say he has trouble with fats, which kind? meat or the butter/cream ect?

I am 1 pound from goal and for sometime now I have eaten, small potatoes, fresh corn, no flour bread, 2-4 times a week, but only choosing one a day.As well 2-3 servings of fruit everyday. I have managed to lose my last 10 pounds this way, but, not for one minute do I think I could go back to my low fat way of eating......... Thats what got me fat :rolleyes: and many others here, remember traditionally low fat products have more sugar in them.

Good luck Kathy

No advice here....I'm a newbie, but if you read the book from cover to cover you'll find that you'll be upping your carbs according to what your body will tolerate.

I want to say to Kathy....I AM SO IMPRESSED! You've done a great job! How long did it take you to lose the weight and what was your average weight loss per week???

JJ

That's exactly what Atkins maintenance is about (well, except for the low-fat part) -- lots of dairy, veggies, fruit, and whole grains! I eat basically unlimited green veggies and 2 servings a day of fruit (apples, berries, melons, or grapes) or starchy veggies (corn, peas, butterbeans), and the only reason I don't eat whole grains is because I don't like them. As for fat, maintenance involves lowering your fat consumption a bit as you raise your carbs -- it's still not a low-fat diet by any stretch of the imagination, but unlike the weight loss phases, you don't need to try to deliberately add fat. It's important to eat enough fat, because of its satiating properties, and you still have to get your calories from somewhere, but the ratios shift more toward the carb end of things (your protein intake should remain constant). I use a reasonable amount of olive oil and butter in cooking, eat full-fat dairy products, and buy dark-meat chicken (which I prefer for taste and cost reasons), but I don't make any heroic efforts to eat lots of fat.

As for meeting your future husband's needs, I sympathize, because my DH doesn't do well with very rich foods with lots of cheese, eggs, or cream, and he refuses to eat visible fat on meat. However, he likes well-trimmed dark meat chicken and food cooked with olive oil, and it might be worth seeing how your FH does with the "lighter" fats (which are the so-called good fats anyway). Also, it's easy enough to cook relatively low-fat and add a pat of butter, a drizzle of flavored olive oil, full-fat salad dressing, or a slice of melted cheese to your plate just before serving. And there's no law saying all your fat intake has to come at meals -- try a higher-fat breakfast or snacks of full-fat dairy or a handful of nuts. You probably only eat dinner with him anyway, so you might want to eat more fat and less carbs for breakfast and lunch, then have a lower-fat, higher-carb dinner together.

One more note -- your maintenance carb level is probably a lot higher than 25g. Dr. Atkins says in Atkins for Life that almost nobody's maintenance level is lower than 45g, and most people's is more like 50-60g. A lot of people think their maintenance level is 25-30g, because they get off Induction, start upping their carbs like the book suggests, and hit the infamous third- or fourth-week stall -- it's entirely unconnected to their carb intake level, but that's what it gets blamed on. It takes a long time to determine what your maintenance level is, like a month or two -- personally, I think it takes two or three weeks to really see the true effects of any adjustment in carb levels, but by the time you ease from premaintenance to maintenance, your rate of loss will have shifted to a pound every couple weeks or month, so you can't really tell where you're at by short-term scale fluctuations. Also keep in mind when determining your maintenance level that 25-30g of veggies affects your body very differently from 25-30g of LC junk food, and that some foods affect people differently. You may be able to maintain eating 50g a day of fruit and veggies (green and starchy), but not with 25g of fruit/veggies and 25g whole grains.