I gotta correct some of these errors with your Atkins perception, Monika.
I hope you don't mind a friendly rebuttal.
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Originally Posted by Monika4
I did feel that two cups of veggies was not enough, and I did have problems with constipation on Atkins. I realized that this would have to become a way of life if I am not willing to risk yoyo dieting forever. I did not like counting carbs, which meant weighing everything I eat - since I often don't eat at home, that was practically difficult. I could not imagine what was so harmful to most fruits, so the idea of damning apples from my diet wasn't appealing either.
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That phase of Atkins is supposed to last for 2 weeks. After that, you can add a LOT more low carb veggies and even things like nuts and berries. In fact, you can add back in all low glycemic food until you find a level of carb intake where you quit losing weight, or start to get cravings.
For some reason, that is the biggest misconception about Atkins. I typically have 4-5 cups of spinach/salad greens when I eat a salad. I eat tons of broccolli, asparagus, brussel sprouts and so on. Sometimes my meals don't even have meat. They'll be an enormous salad. In fact, it'd be awfully hard for vegetarians to do Atkins if your two cups of veggie claim were actually true. And yes, there are vegetarians active on this MB doing Atkins.
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Atkins also clearly recommends a whole bunch of supplements. I am in favor of keeping things natural, so not needing various oil and vitamin supplements sounded more appealing. In contrast, when I read: don't try low fat, don't trim the fatty parts of the meat away, that was just not appetizing to me. I don't eat pork, so the whole bacon etc. didn't appeal at all. I know many on Atkins here supplement with extra fat - didn't feel right for me.
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Well, the big departure between Atkins and SBD is that Atkins doesn't believe there is anything wrong with fats, even saturated fats. From the research I'm reading about fat and heart disease, I tend to agree. However, I think SBD is smart to promote eating of the good fats.
As far as supplements, I follow my instincts on them. I suspect they are probably a good source of income for any diet doctor who sells his own line. So I plug what I eat into fitday and supplement those vitamins that I'm low on. There's really no proof that taking supplements is useful or even safe. So I am skeptical about it.
Fiber is another thing people complain about. There's absolutely no reason you can't consume enough fiber on Atkins. I use low carb cereals that have tons of fiber. In fact, even things like low carb milk and ice cream have fiber in them. And, there's always the stuff like psyssilium husks.
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Last, it is pretty clear that when in ketosis, you are extremely, sometimes dangerously (e.g. if going out in company and you have to drive home later), sensitive to alcohol.
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I just found I don't have to drink as much to get a buzz. So whereas it might have been 2 beers got me happy, now 1 does. I'm a cheaper date.
But I don't drink often anyway. Its just something to keep in mind when you go out.
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I also felt not well in ketosis - although I have read enough that I trust it would have gone better later on.
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That's typical of any low carb diet for the first couple of weeks. I don't know if it is ketosis or just your system going through carb withdrawls. I remember hearing CAD dieters complaining of it also.
Anyway, I find the entire cholesterol heart disease
theory is losing credibility as time goes on. New research is showing that our heart disease problem in this country is probably more related to insulin than cholesterol and even the SBD diet doc is saying he thinks dietary fat makes little difference in heart disease. And both diets do lower your insulin levels which is probably the most crucial health and life extending thing you can do with your diet.
So, in the end, my body loves Atkins and not getting hungry and losing weight and eating good foods, including probably at least as many veggies as you do.