Hiya, just a quick intro. My name is Melissa and I've been doing Atkins for 4 weeks now. I've lost 21 pounds already which I'm so pleased with. Just a few things I'd maybe like a bit of advice with...

How do you get round the problem of none believers? I'm having terrible trouble putting the low carb lifestyle across to my mother, who is so fixed on the negative publististy the Atkins diet has over here in England. She's hooked on the idea, low fat is best, and she thinks I'm gonna have a heart attack any moment..... please help me with some things I can throw at her to prove that Atkins isn't all bad!

Secondly... According to atkins, I should have bags of energy by now.. Am I doing something wrong, because I'm still find it an effort to get up and going in the morning!

Hi Melissa -

There are many "non believers". If you've read the Atkins book, there are plenty of arguments for doing this diet. First of all, everyone always thinks that Induction IS the diet. Induction is simply a tool to balance blood sugar and spur weight loss. The subsequent phases of Atkins allow for a balanced diet of nutritious food (no junk!).

I've just moved to England from the US, and I'm surprised at the bad press the Atkins diet is getting. In the US, new light has been shed on the diet. There were some studies conducted of people who had been on the diet long-term (after all, it's been around since the '70s) and they have healthy hearts and cholesterol levels - this in addition to keeping their weight at a healthy level. Why doesn't the British public know about this?

I have found the energy thing to be a problem for me as well - so don't know what to say about that. Congrats on your weight loss so far!

-L

Congrats & Welcome Melissa:

It is difficult dealing with the "static" that people will give you about the Atkins plan. Funny, I was one of those people who gave a friend a really hard time until she told me to read the book - and then I could be as critical as I wanted. I read the book and then started doing the plan because it made sense.

I work in a research environment at a university in Ireland. I work with people who are leading cardio/pulmonary/platelet researchers. Every morning when I go to get my fried egg/sausage breakfast in the canteen I get the strangest looks and comments. I shrug it off as people who don't know the WHOLE story.

Family and friends can be a bit of pain when it comes to YOU changing your life. I think that my family has always known me as a fat, low-self-esteemed welcome mat that changed her tune a little over a month ago. They don't like it because I am taking charge of MY life and I think they miss some of the control. Don't get me wrong they are lovely in a lot of other ways. Just that people get nervous when they see changes..

Energy: supplements are vital. The book gives a pretty comprehensive list of supplements for energy and general well being. Worth giving it a glance.

Cheers!

K

I have found that the best reply to any criticism of this lifestyle is a before and after set of blood lipid readings.
Before I started the Atkins plan, my tri-glycerides were 309. After two months on the plan they had dropped to 97. There were also improvements in HDL/total cholesterol ratio, HbA1C, and other blood chemistry components.
If you had a recent blood workup, get a copy from your physician and save it for a comparison to a new workup in a couple more months. (If you haven't had a blood lipid panel for a while, get one done now and compare it to one 3 months from now)
There should be improvement in all the indicators and if anyone says your style of eating is unhealthy, just show them the numbers.
I started the LC plan to help with my weight, but have found that the effects on my diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol levels are more of a reason to stay with LC.

Good luck, Johnie