Hello,

I stumbled across this forum when I was doing some research on the Atkins diet plan. I have heard many good things about it, and some bad things as well. Some people I know are on it and have lost weight, so I am thinking of starting the plan. I was impressed by many of the before and after photos of some of the success stories Congrats to all of you ..

Currently, I weigh about 230 pounds I don't seem to gain weight, and I don't seem to lose weight.. I eat fairly healthy and I don't overeat much.. I guess my main problem is that I don't excercise much and I do eat lots of carbs. I do not eat red meat or fish, and I love veggies and fruits (mostly berries and apples). I also love yogourt and cheese..

So, my first question is, if my diet now consists mainly of chicken, turkey, shrimp, veggies, berries, yogourt and cheese, can I be successful at this plan? I can't stand mayo or butter and I rarely use oil. Are these things manditory to eat?? The thought of eating really high fatty foods doesn't sit with me that well, but I am willing to increase my daily intake a bit...Will I have to begin eating red meats?

Also, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good book for me to start off with? I know there are many Atkins books, but I'm not sure which one to get! lol ... I would like one that explains the diet and what I can and cannot eat, what veggies and fruits are good, and which also provides info on how low carbs and high fats effect the body...

One more question :P Does the Atkins diet elminite bread entirely?? Or do people on this diet occassionally have bread? Is there something available that can replace bread? Like, if I want a peanut butter sandwich, what can I put the peanut butter on?

Thanks for any help / advise you can give me!

take care,

elyssa

I will try to answer a few of your questions

1. No you do not have to eat red meat or fish to be sucessful on Atkins...there are a few vegitarians who do Atkins...its much more difficult but with chicken turkey and shrimp as pure protein sources you should not have problems

2. Yougurt and cheese as being dariy products do contain some carbs...cheese less than yougurt...there is some debate on exactly how may carbs are left in yogurt since they contain live cultures which "eat up" the milk sugar in it...do a search on here and I am sure you will find a lot of info on yogurt. For myself i found that eating yogurt did not work for me as my body must recognize all 12 or so carbs a half cup...and I did not lose. I love cheese and as long as I limit it to no more than a couple ounces a day i have no problems

3. On the induction phase the first 2 weeks of Atkins you should not have any fruits or berries....After you have decided to move on the OWL...ongoing weight loss you can begin to incorperate some fruits and berries into your meals as long as you do not exceed your daily carb total

4. Vegies are great...i also love them...You can have low carb vegies which is pretty much all of them except corn, peas, beans except green beans, carrots, potatoes
I love cabbage, green beans, broccoli, califlower and many more

A book well if you can get the newest version of Dr Atkins new Diet Revolution

Also a pocket carb counter is very very helpful

Hi Becca,

thanks so much for the informative reply! it really helped me a lot... i'm gonna do some more research on low carb foods and i am trying to figure out which book is the newest one! i went to Chapters yesterday (book store in Canada) and there were just so many Atkins books, I couldn't figure out which one to get... Do you happen to know the publish date of the newest 'New Diet Revolution'??

Also, do you happen to know if taking Coral Calcium (from Robert Barefoot) will be a problem if i'm doing the Atkin's diet?

thanks again!

elyssa

Hi

I just happened on to your post about Dr. Atkins latest book edition and the paperback printing was in January, 2002. It is an updated version of his book back in the 70's and also the 90's. Don't know exactly what he changed, if anything.


This is a great WOE (way of eating). I am fortunate that I haven't gotten bored with it at all. I eat a lot of the same things every day. Tried all the recipes a few weeks back and found my self stalled so I went back to pure whole foods. It worked for me and after 4 months I am down 27 pounds and 25+ inches.

Good luck to you.

Rose