I just started this diet a few days ago...

What happens to all the extra skin on my belly when the fat is gone?

5 years ago, I weighed 185lbs. I gained 100lbs very quickly, (depression) and it has caused many stretch marks on my belly, shoulders, upper arms and upper legs. If my skin is not very elastic, will the extra skin ever go away?

I excersize daily.

another question, different topic:

My muscles seem much more sore than usual after biking. Am I in danger of losing muscle mass on this diet?

BTW - I invested in this nifty scale that has a built in Body Fat Analyzer. I am at 32.4%

You might want to read the thread "How fat moves about" I found it doing a search for "Woman Doctor's Diet for Woman" if I was smart, I would know how to put a link up, I tried and got an error. Maybe someone can find and post that for you, or you could do the search yourself.

Good luck!


Elihnig

skin elasticity depends on a number of factors--age, number of times we've lost and gained, genetic 'luck', rate of loss, etc. Wait two years after hitting goal weight until you judge how your skin is doing--there's some "catch up" time where it will continue to shrink. If then, it bothers you, cosmetic surgery is an option. I believe that most people, upon getting slim, will have improved their self-confidence so much that some small issue like stretch marks or a bit of excess skin won't bother them. If someone judges you harshly for such a thing, they're not worth your trouble.

On LC and muscle loss--the opposite of what you fear is true. On low-cal diets, what you lose is some fat and some muscle, which is one part of why metabolic slow down results from such dieting. On LC, you lose almost no muscle tissue. (see http://www.lowcarbretreat.com/josh_yelon/topic2.html and DANDR)

With weight lifting and keeping my protein grams at 100 or more, I estimate I've increased my lean body mass 12-13 pounds in a year, in addition to losing the 25 pounds of scale weight...in other words, I've lost 37-8 pounds of pure fat while adding muscle. Not a bad deal at all!

Here's the link:

How Fat Moves About

Karen

Thanks for the response, although some of the information was specific to women, I am sure most also applies to men.

About the achy muscles, I did an analysis of what I have been eating the last few days, and found out that I was getting sometimes as little as 600 calories. Today I am eating a bit more, but what threw me is that I guess due to ketosis kicking in, my appetite dropped. When combined with advise to only eat if hungry and to stop when feeling full and the general full feeling that high protein medium fat diets cause, I simply was not eating much.

If what you said is true about low calorie diets (combo of fat and lean muscle mass weight loss), then I must have been experiencing that despite also eating a low carb high protein diet.(This morning I felt very sore, although insomnia isn't helping).

QUESTION 1 - When on Atkins diet, how many calories should I be consuming? Given that my standard metabolic rate for age/sex/height/build is about 2300-2500 calories, should I eat 2000? 1500? 1000? certainly below that would be unhealthy (as I discovered). If i excersize, should I eat more?

QUESTION 2 - I am only 23, but my dad's side has a history of heart problems, high cholesterol, hypertension, heart disease. My grandfather died of heart failure after years of angina. My father has already had a quadruple bypass, and although he maintains a very healthy lifestyle, he must take beta blockers and stuff to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and heart rate.
Now for the question - Given my family history and an early test showing that I have borderline cholesterol and blood pressure, Is an atkins diet safe for me? Should I modify it to have a lower fat intake? (lean meats (no beef), fat free cheese, egg whites only?)
I want to get healthy, but not kill myself in the process. I hear all these people on Atkins with very high cholesterol, and that scares me. Please Advise.

A friend here gave my stats to a low carb trainer/ consultant/ expert who advised that I should be consuming 1800-2000 calories to lose weight on low-carb successfully. I had been eating 10 times my body weight (2800), and nothing was happening. My standard metabolic rate (which must be calculated on lean body mass) is 2300-2400. I expect you should go higher than 2000 (especially if you are exercising, and I think male and 23?), but certainly not less than 2000 calories. Why not start at 2500 and see how you go with losing, and more importantly how you feel. If you have trouble getting your calories up that high use olive oil, etc. Try using www.fitday.com to make sure your calories are high enough, and you are getting enough fat and protein - about 60-70% fat, 3-5% carbs, 25-35% protein. Fitday will calculate it for you.

You might need a potassium supplement for the aching muscles. Also, it is common to feel a little "out of sorts" the first few days of WOE.

From all I have read in forums and Atkins books claims this diet is beneficial for heart and cholesterol problems. Hopefully others with first hand knowledge will reply here and reassure you not to try to do this WOE low fat.

Hope this helps.

Kim

hmm, it seems like it would be lose weight very slowly if i only undercut my metabolism by 300 calories / day. By simple math, that would be about 1 pound of loss every 12 days (1 lb of fat is about 3700 calories). I was hoping for about 1 pound per week at least.

Who advised you to eat only when hungry? Atkins advises to eat either 3 meals a day or 4-5 smaller meals and to not go any longer than 6 hours without eating.

You're at a point now where educating yourself on LC and how and why it works would be extremely beneficial. Dr. Atkins new edition of Diet Revolution is full of information, but a more easily understandable book is Protein Power by Michael and Mary Eades. Atkins has spent years defending himself and sometimes has a tendency to be a bit verbose. It's better to read both.

You're changing your the course of your health and it goes beyond the scope of what a low carb forum can provide. In reading a book on the subject, you will have all the data and reasons why it works, and how to do it properly. It's the best thing you could do for yourself.

Karen

Its not really about undercutting your calories so much as it is about the way fat is burned.

You have to read the book. There is too much you need to understand about how it all works, that only the Atkins book, or another like Protein Power, will explain to you.

Good Luck,

Kim