Hi everyone! I hope you all had a nice holiday! I am getting back into the swing of things....but I would really like to try something new, I mean other than the Atkins. Although Atkins has been very true to me, I am getting to the point where I need a bit more variety. I dont know anything about the other diets out there, ie, the zone, sugar busters, etc...I like atkins because of the fact it is so easy to keep track of your carbs. I was wondering if anyone can kinda let me in on the other diets, without me having to do a whole lot of research to begin with, and let me know what works well. I will of course read the book of whichever diet I choose, but I just want a bit of a head start. Thanks so much.

kandi

Hi Kandi!

You can have a look at this link: http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-a...lans/index.html
It covers most of the low carb plans out there. I do wonder a bit about your comment on the lack of variety on Atkins. You have been increasing your daily carb amount as you go, haven't you? By the time you get to 30 or 40 grams of carb per day that should allow for quite a bit of variety. I think that's perhaps one of the biggest reasons that Dr. Atkins encourages people not to stay at the 20 gram carb level for long periods; it does greatly limit the variety of foods you can eat.

That link above is for our very own "which low carb plan is right for me" which is found to the right of your first post under the orange "quick links".

Have you visited the Recipe area of the board? There are incredible recipes there by renowned chefs and experienced members and they cover all carb levels from almost zero to much higher. That's how to get variety.

if you look at the Protein Power Plan, they have a higher carb count to start with (but you should be at 35 gm after 5 weeks on Atkins) and their book has lots of lists of what foods and amounts are equal to 5, 10 or more grams of carbs.

Hi and thanks for your replies. I dont think I was exactly clear in my original post. I guess what I am after is how these other diets differ from atkins. I breifly looked thru the sugar busters book and it says that you can have whole wheat bread and pasta, etc...When I say variety, I mean some form of bread, pasta, etc...I am allergic to eggs, so I cannot eat eggs, although I love them, they make me deathly ill....To tell you the truth I am not sure what I am loking for....I just know that now when I go to eat a steak or salad, I am not enjoying it. I dont look forward to eating what is on the plan anymore. Does anyone know how the PP plan works and how it differs from Atkins. I want to know how they differ, and if they are working as well as atkins for you. Not just weight wise, but health wise too. I just want to try something different. If it doesnt give me the same results, then I wil stick with Atkins, but I would really like to try a different plan. Thank you!

kandi

Protein Power is very similar to Atkins at least at stage one. I don't think you'd be able to work in bread or pasta there; just a few more veggies and some low GI fruits.
Have you had a chance to take a look at the link I gave you and also at the recipes forum? You don't have to be eating just steaks and salads even on induction levels of Atkins and you can make an awful lot of main dishes without eggs. Have a look through my journal; all those menus are based on 30 grams of carb per day or less.
You need to find a plan that you can live with, so check out the other plans in the link and give it some thought.

Thanks Lisa! I only briefly looked thru those links. I have been out of town and only returned today. I will have a look later tongiht after kids are in bed though. I noticed you are on Dr. Bernstein's plan! How is that one different than Atkins...and do you like it? I will have a look thru your journal as well. Thanks for the insight. I will let you know...

Texasgal..

Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution is a lot like Protein Power at the first stage except that's pretty much where you stay; 30 grams of carb per day max. The main focus of my plan is to control blood sugar (I'm diabetic), but weight loss is encouraged as well.
Once I get to my weight loss goal, I plan to experiment a bit with the carbs and my glucometer to see how many grams I can eat without spiking my blood sugar and/or gaining weight again. I have a feeling that maintainance for me will be somewhere between 40 and 50 grams of carb per day.
Hope you find a plan that will work well for you and that you can be comfortable with.

maybe all you need to do is moderate your Atkins diet a little bit. Perhaps adding in a little carbs will do. Maybe a half an apple or some other low glycemic carb with your meals will satisfy you.

texasgal,
since you dont have GOBS of weight to lose,,,,,,,are you also looking at the ECC count? (that is the effective carb count of your food........carbs minus the fiber grams.) that will also give you more leanionsy? (sp?) in what you may or may not chose to eat.

you will just have to see what works well for you. Dana Carpendar has a book out that explains all that and give a nice over view of all the basic plans.

good luck!
kimberly

Hi and thanks for all the tips. I have decided to try a combination of Sugar Busters and Atkins. Sugar Busters will give me the extra carbs that I am after and Atkins will keep me on top of things. I dont want to go totally with Sugar Busters, but I think that eating what they offer, ie whole wheat etc...it will satisfy me. So far so good. After a month of staying completely off the ATkins, I didn't weigh myself...I had gained about 4 pounds over the holidays. But this morning I stepped on the scale and found that I was back down to 164. YIPPEE, so that tells me it is working. Thanks for all your support