I am getting a little tired of all these people "on Atkins" Most of the people are just doing LC, and havent even read the book. I've been on Atkins since October and people know how I lost the weight and so they're trying to lc too, but despite my advice of getting the book they just do they're own version and ask me what they can or cannot eat, which I dont mind, but they're not doing Atkins, just lcing. I hate that its now a "fad diet" it just gets annoying to watch so many people doing it incorrectly. Like they'll tell me they've just started "induction" and only had an atkins shake and then a atkins wrap for lunch? If they would read the book and know that they arent allowed I wouldnt have to hear about it. Sorry, to sound mean but my thing is is that if you're going to do something then you need to do the research about it. Like, when I decided to start atkins I bought the book and read the entire thing before I even started. THe book only costs like $6 at any walmart or free from the library, go pick it up!!!
sorry for venting

Where do you live, it costs almost $30 here. Just direct your friends to the website. I never bought the book, I really really do not have the money because I am drowning in school loans right now.

I guess if you suggest it once and they don't follow through, you've done all you can. When they see you succeed, maybe they'll take your advice. If not, just remembering you aren't responsible for their choices is the only thing you can do... and if they keep asking what to eat, be "too busy" to tell them and suggest the website, even though IMHO it isn't as good as the book.

Are the people you're talking about doing "Atkins" or are they just lcing? I have a girlfriend that is lowering her carbs but is not follow Atkins. She hasn't read any books and she is doing well. If a person is doing Atkins yes they should read the book or read everything on the website. But don't get yourself upset is someone is LCing and havent read they Atkins book maybe they're LCing but necessarily following Atkins.

Libra, you can thank society in general for not bothering, most are extremely lazy, everyone wants a quick fix, everyone wants to lose weight in 10 minutes, and commercial after commercial after print ad, radio ad & internet junk mail all tell us that we don't have to do anything, we can eat our fill of junk food and STILL lose 50lbs in 10 minutes. Forget exercise, don't need it, forget portion control, eating healthy, why bother when you can simply take a pill?

I love reading posts from people who ate 6 quarts of ice cream and ask the question.........."Will I gain weight?"..........well gee, I would assume SO

The book is great and there's a lot of great information on these boards, but a lot of people are simply looking for a quick fix while they continue to lounge on the couch, eating Doritos, Ice Cream, Oreos, and bemoan the fact that they "can't" seem to lose any weight.................very sad indeed................

LL

Pandora, Ebay has the book usually for only a couple of dollars. You can also get it from amazon.com. Much cheaper than new, but still just as good.

Most people that are lazy enough to gain lots of weight are also too lazy to read the entire book.

I'm getting upset by this as well. I'm tired of people frowning when they find out I'm on Atkins, because, "I have a friend that tried it and she got really sick."

Well, your friend was a lazy fool that didn't read the book and did serious damage to her body, because she missed something very important.

9 times out of 10, when someone gets sick because of the diet they've done one of the following:

A) Not enough calories
B) Too many calories
C) Not enough water
D) Not enough vitamins
E) Too many frankfenfoods
F) Not enough exercise
G) Too many cheats
H) Didn't follow induction properly and never went into ketosis
I) Too much red meat

Too many people think you can do Atkins without researching it.

Geez I hate to jump on the ban wagon but I have to agree. People don't realize that when you read the book, not only are you gaining knowledge but it preps your mind and your spirit. This makes it easier to stay committed because you know what to expect.

My best friend bless her heart, bounces from 'so called atkins' to 'master cleanse'... back and forth and she gets upset when she doesn't lose or can't stay committed... she'll ask me for specific details and gets mad if I tell her she's doing it wrong and needs to read the book...

Now I only say Get the book to people...

woooooo i feel better...lol :-)

While you all bring up some very good points, I gotta ask why do you care what people think of our WOL?

Lucy and tcastro are right when they make the general statements about people being lazy. I'll take it a step further and say that in general, people are uninformed, cant think for themselves and sometimes they're just plain stupid.

If someone comes to me for guidance, I'll share my experience with them in order to help them out as much as I can.

However, if someone says to me "you shouldn't do Atkins because I heard it will (fill in the blank)", I ask them for proof. I haven't gotten any valid proof yet!!! Surprised, neither am I!!!

My own mother (who I've writted about in an LA weightloss thread on this site) said something like this. . . My friend Judy who is a nurse, says that Atkins can really hurt your gall bladder. I said you tell Judy that I've never eaten more green veggies, or drank more water or exercised this much, or felt better in my whole life. Do me a favor and tell Judy that she's full of cr~p.

Because my mom is still uninformed about this WOE, she's gonna take what her friend (who must be an expert because she is a nurse - right? ? ?) says as the truth. Why, because my mom is too lazy to red the book - even though she bought "Atkins for Life" for me because she thought I would like it.

The funny thing is. . . ANOTHER NURSE, my MIL, gave us her Atkins book. The even funnier or sadder thing is that she never read the whole book and she often asks my DW this question, "so what DO you eat?"

I dont mean to dump on my mom here, I'm just using her and her friend as a real life example.

What a lot of good information here! Yes, I got the book, no I didn't read it. I gave it to my HUSBAND to read!! Then he starts telling me all this stuff and I kept asking him, "we can eat that?" and he said, "didn't you read the book??" and I finally broke down and read the darned thing.

I need lots of feedback and help. I am most interested in learning what foods do what and how I can best give nutrients to my body while staying in ketosis. And I'm not reluctant to read the Atkins books anymore. In fact, once I started reading them, I couldn't stop!

Also, find ATKINS on AMAZON.COM for VERY CHEAP and/or visit some of your local book resellers and check out local yard sales. You'd be surprised how easy it is to find the books, they're everywhere.

Thanks for being there!

I am a registered nurse and my friend is a LPN. She noticed my weightloss and wanted to do the same thing. I did all my reading, and some web research, and (at one time) was very active in this forum. I feel I am pretty up on exactly what Atkins is and how it works in my body and make informed eating choices. Deb, however, wants me to tell her how to do Atkins. I have offered to loan her my book-but she doesn't like to read. I suggested the web site-again, it's too much trouble. She did lose 30 pounds and is now at 250#, but has hit her wall. She eats those danged wraps from subway regularly and tries to exist on iceberg salads, meat and ranch dressing. She thought I was cheating while I was munching away on strawberries-because I hadn't told her what fruits she could have. I don't want to be responsible for her diet. Lord knows if she got through nursing school she should be able to read material that pertains to her own health!
As for being a nurse and having absolute knowledge on nutrition-that's bunk. We are given short courses on what vitamins and minerals are and how they work, that the lowfat diet is the right diet to preach and how the kreb's cycle works. Not a drop did I ever learn about Leptin or other hormones in weight maintence. Nurses get more nutritional education than general physicians. We all need to get our info on our own, or from a well informed nutritionist. Good luck!

With every new WOE that comes out there are people who do it wrong.

The uninformed are in every walk of life

My sister read the book and still does it wrong. Oh well!

Funny thing... DANDR actually has these things IN THE INDUCTION MENU (the shakes at least) >>>

You know, just because people ask questions doesn't mean they haven't read the book. Some people just want reassurance. Some people see our daily posts and see that experience sometimes tells a different story than the book. The book doesn't even mention sugar alcohols and whether they are okay or not yet you call up atkins nutritionals and they have them as okay for induction and that goes for the packages as well. How many of us who have done atkins would give that same advice though??? Not many.

THere are a lot of mixed messages out there between the message boards, media, and the companies pushing the hell out of low-carb products, then you have all the so well educated low-fat crowd that just have to get in a say without having a clue. Not to mention all those wonderful family members who know everything because they read an article in some magazine which MOST of us have to deal with at some time or another. People come here for advice from real people that have had the pleasure of seeing this diet work.

My mother always told me... don't believe everything you read, and honestly I dont. I read the book but had I not known people who had actually tested the info and seen it work I would have NEVER even tried atkins. True there are a lot of idiots that come to the board and ask a question and don't want to listen to the advice that some of the more seasoned atkins dieters give but it is their loss. Just ignore them ... or you could always read on, I mean it IS cheap entertainment. I just wouldn't assume that asking questions = a person hasn't read the book.

Jenn

I'm sure there ARE "lazy" people, I've seen them. They want you to do it FOR them. I just think it's dangerous policy to generalize (Like people being "lazy enough to gain lots of weight...) even about the "just tell me what to eat" crowd. Did anyone think that perhaps a person just MIGHT have trouble understanding what they TRY to read? Learning disabilities are not just for kids, and people might not want to talk about it if they have one. I know more than one intelligent adult that can NOT process information by reading it. Are they lazy and stupid? I would say not. One of them has managed to raise 3 kids and hold down a job, but she needs VERBAL instruction, or she can't understand it.

I'm not saying ALL people suffer from this, but maybe instead of making snap judgements it might serve to remember that people might have other reasons for needing help.