I just did the Atkins induction for 2 1/2 weeks, and became so weak I could hardly walk . I switched to the Schwarzbein method, which has 75 grams of carbs in a day and as much fat/protein as you are hungry for. I'm able to go to work now, but I still feel lousy. Fatigued and weakened, emotionally and physically. Schwarzbein says you may feel worse for quite a while (even months for some people) until your body adjusts.

My questions for you is: Does the Zone method have an initial period of feeling worse like that?

It can take up to two weeks for the body to rid itself of arachidonic acid which may cause headaches. Most people to not experience anything negative while their body rids itself of AA, much less anything to the extent you've described, in fact, most people report feeling great almost immediately.

Thank you for both your answers, Zonecoach. I know what happened to me wasn't typical, but it was quite serious. I've continued my research, and believe it was due to the more extreme high fat and 20 gram carb Atkins induction I was on. A book called Life without Bread, which recommends around 75 grams carb, talks about the dangers of extreme lo carbing too quickly for some people -- it can stimulate autoimmune problems among other things, which is what I think happened with me. I'm concerned that people are only looking at cardiovascular dangers, HDL level,s etc. and not addressing some other possible dangers of Atkins for some of us. I've been off it and doing Schwarzbein's 75 carbs/day for a week, and I started feeling better yesterday. I think I'm okay for now - through the crisis.

Anyhow, I consider the Zone to be more "balanced" rather than "low". That's probably why people don't have that hard transition. Something sounds right about that to me, but I don't want to make any more changes for my poor body for a while. I will consider switching to the zone in the near future.

I believe that as well.

I'm glad you're feeling better. IMHO, 75gC/day is still too low, but if it's working for you, great! Do you feel you have mental clarity, focus and energy throughout your waking hours?