Ok FIRST of all-WHY do people keep telling me Im NOT doing ATkins correctly because they say "on Atkins you cant have ANY carbs". I KNOW thats not true but I ALWAYS end up second guessing myself afterwards wondering if maybe Ive NOT got it right. Im keeping myself to 20-25 carbs per day. Isnt that CORRECT??

Then they say "oh, if your eating SOME carbs then your doing the South Beach diet-not Atkins." HUH? Am I??

WHAT is the differnece between the two diets??

I HATE when I let general idiots make me question myself~!

Well if you've read the book, then you know that Atkins is NOT *no* carb. It's *low* carb. And staying below 20 g is only the very first phase of it. Many people are following Atkins and eating 50, 60, even 100 g of carbs a day. What carbs they choose to eat makes all the difference though.

I don't know anything about South Beach, other than that in the first chapter of the book they explicitly say that it is not a low carb diet...

I wouldn't waste my time trying to correct people who clearly don't know what they're talking about. I'd just say "have you read the book? no? well, let me know when you do and we can talk then". Other than that... does it really matter what "name" other people are giving to how you're eating? You know what you're doing, and that you're doing it right, and that it's working. I'd just "smile and nod" to those who insist on pestering you with misinformation.

Wynter

I agree with Wynter. The first phase of Atkins has you stay under 20 carbs and you eventually step up the carbs in increments of 5 once you've lost half the weight you want to lose. It is by no means a NO CARBS diet. I don't think those people know what they are talking about.

I think that's the kind of misinformation that leads to comments about lc plans being dangerous. I've had the same comments and questions--even saw a Cathy commic strip recently in which veggies were clearly said to be off limits on LC plans.

I don't even tell people I'm doing Atkins--it just aggravates them. Instead I stiick with saying Low-Carb. If the ask if it's Atkins, I ramble off a few of the different plans and say they're all pretty much the same. Just my way of avoiding conflict....

I think a simplistic explanation is Atkins is a low carb WOE and South Beach is a low glycemic WOE. What is that, you ask? Prevention.com has an article that says, "Low-GI foods (less than 55) produce a gradual rise in blood sugar that's easy on the body. Foods between 55 and 70 are intermediate-GI foods. Foods with high-GI numbers (more than 70) make blood sugar as well as insulin levels spike fast. We now realize that's a health threat." Those foods include a lot of the same veggies we eat, but with low-fat dairy and meats instead of having fat in the meals as Atkins does.

Still confused? Read the articles at http://www.prevention.com/cda/featu...s1-5345,00.html for more information.

dont let other people bother you , just keep doing what you are ,, dont even tell them you are on atkins, just tell them you are watching what you eat, or tell them nothing and then when you show up one day and you have lost alot of weight and everyone notices then tell them you do atkins and it has only helped you ..ddd

I told my mother I'm following Atkins, and she said"Oh No! Not the one where they make you eat all that bacon"? I laughed. I had an image of five guys holding me down shoving bacon in my mouth. I just say lo-carb now. Many people are ignorant of what Atkins really is. Then again, if they're asking because they're truly interested-I'll happily sing Atkins praises.

I usually tell people I'm on Atkin's.... when they say "oh, the no carb diet" ... i just say "NO, actually I am eating all the healthy carbs... just not the flour, sugar, starch crap that makes me feel unhealthy" they usually get it.. if they don't I don't care

Misinformed people that like to judge me, don't bother me at all... I usually ask them where they got the info from.... if they haven't read the book .. I recommend it to them....

Possibly the people that are giving you these opionions are referring to the old atkin's plan... back when you didn't subtract fiber.. and you were to eat as few carbs as possible..... WE've come a long way baby!