User Review #5 by Sean Cronin on May 6th, 2008 at 1:01 PM CDT

Name

I read Dr. Atkins book and used his diet plan with really good success. I weighed 240 Ibs and dropped to 170 Ibs and have been able to sustain the weightloss. Everybody who has written a review of the plan all say that the plan works. In my opinion people just love their carb-laden foods and don't want to give them up which is why atkins gets a bad reputation from "experts". This isn't even a diet it's a whole lifestyle change, it's not just about eating meats and cheese, it's about exercising, getting the proper nutrition, and not going overboard with "bad carbs" such as white flour, sugar and highly starched foods. People who actually take the time to read his book instead of making snap judgements about it know this. The premise of his plan is very simple, your body runs off of 2 (3 if you count alcohol) fuels: Carbohydrates and Fat. Carbohydrates burn faster than fat so your body will naturally use it first to burn. Now, if you don't have a very active lifestyle, and your body doesn't burn through all the carbs your ingesting, the excess carbs it doesn't burn gets stored as fat. this is the whole "counting calories" way of eating. If you deprive your body of carbohydrates it has no choice but to burn fat, which is what the "induction phase" of atkins is for, but the induction phase is not the whole atkins diet! This diet proves it's WHAT your eating not how much you eat, because I regurlarly eat 2000-2500 calories a day and still lose weight. And no matter how many experts set out to prove that this diet isn't healthy for you their hasn't been one study that I'm aware of that shows Atkins is dangerous to your health. Even in the above review all it says is "“Most nutritionists recommend that 55 to 60 percent of your calories come from carbohydrate,” Kirby says. “With a 1,500-calorie weight-loss diet, that would add up to 188 to 225 grams of carbs per day. Even the maintenance phase, which recommends 40 to 60 grams, is far too low.” I have one question...why? The above review provides no scientific/logical reasoning behind this statement. If you want to know where I get my information from it's easy: buy mr. atkins book and take the time to read it. the book is called "Dr. Atkins new diet revolution". And quite frankly the Nutrasystem pretty much works on the same premise as Atkins, it just works on the glycemic index and providing good carbs instead of bad, but you'll notice the plan still focuses on carbs and the kind of food you eat. (which atkins also does, but the atkins organization doesn't provide people with ready to eat meals, so I guess that's a good reason for saying it's an "average" diet plan that's "not in the same league" as other plans.)

I read Dr. Atkins book and used his diet plan with really good success. I weighed 240 Ibs and dropped to 170 Ibs and have been able to sustain the weightloss. Everybody who has written a review of the plan all say that the plan works. In my opinion people just love their carb-laden foods and don't want to give them up which is why atkins gets a bad reputation from "experts". This isn't even a diet it's a whole lifestyle change, it's not just about eating meats and cheese, it's about exercising, getting the proper nutrition, and not going overboard with "bad carbs" such as white flour, sugar and highly starched foods. People who actually take the time to read his book instead of making snap judgements about it know this. The premise of his plan is very simple, your body runs off of 2 (3 if you count alcohol) fuels: Carbohydrates and Fat. Carbohydrates burn faster than fat so your body will naturally use it first to burn. Now, if you don't have a very active lifestyle, and your body doesn't burn through all the carbs your ingesting, the excess carbs it doesn't burn gets stored as fat. this is the whole "counting calories" way of eating. If you deprive your body of carbohydrates it has no choice but to burn fat, which is what the "induction phase" of atkins is for, but the induction phase is not the whole atkins diet! This diet proves it's WHAT your eating not how much you eat, because I regurlarly eat 2000-2500 calories a day and still lose weight. And no matter how many experts set out to prove that this diet isn't healthy for you their hasn't been one study that I'm aware of that shows Atkins is dangerous to your health. Even in the above review all it says is ""Most nutritionists recommend that 55 to 60 percent of your calories come from carbohydrate," Kirby says. "With a 1,500-calorie weight-loss diet, that would add up to 188 to 225 grams of carbs per day. Even the maintenance phase, which recommends 40 to 60 grams, is far too low." I have one question...why? The above review provides no scientific/logical reasoning behind this statement. If you want to know where I get my information from it's easy: buy mr. atkins book and take the time to read it. the book is called "Dr. Atkins new diet revolution". And quite frankly the Nutrasystem pretty much works on the same premise as Atkins, it just works on the glycemic index and providing good carbs instead of bad, but you'll notice the plan still focuses on carbs and the kind of food you eat. (which atkins also does, but the atkins organization doesn't provide people with ready to eat meals, so I guess that's a good reason for saying it's an "average" diet plan that's "not in the same league" as other plans.)

User Review #4 by chris on February 4th, 2008 at 12:20 AM CST

Name

It's important to understand, Atkins is not necessarily low carb...it is controlled carb. Eating low amounts of high glycemic carbs. I did atkins for 2 years and lost a lot of weight, and kept my diabetes at bay without the need for medication. Dr's and laypeople both marveled at my success. I was a little reckless with the meat and soda and I did develop kidney stones and had to stop it for awhile. I think diet lemonade, which is high in citric acid and plenty of water would have helped this as I was drinking mostly diet sodas which is very hard on your system and very dehydrating. In the end, I don't know anyone who would look at a plate with a chicken thigh, a salad with tomatoes, sprouts, peppers, sunflower seeds and italian dressing with some brocoli and think "Oh what an unhealthy diet", and yet this is induction Atkins, much more strict than the other levels with regard to carb cutting.

It's important to understand, Atkins is not necessarily low carb...it is controlled carb. Eating low amounts of high glycemic carbs.
I did atkins for 2 years and lost a lot of weight, and kept my diabetes at bay without the need for medication. Dr's and laypeople both marveled at my success. I was a little reckless with the meat and soda and I did develop kidney stones and had to stop it for awhile. I think diet lemonade, which is high in citric acid and plenty of water would have helped this as I was drinking mostly diet sodas which is very hard on your system and very dehydrating.
In the end, I don't know anyone who would look at a plate with a chicken thigh, a salad with tomatoes, sprouts, peppers, sunflower seeds and italian dressing with some brocoli and think "Oh what an unhealthy diet", and yet this is induction Atkins, much more strict than the other levels with regard to carb cutting.

User Review #3 by Sabrina on January 29th, 2008 at 4:20 PM CST

Name

I went on the Atkins Diet about 15 years ago and lost 250 pounds over 2 years. It really does work, but MAN did I ever get tired of eating meat, eggs and cheese. I think I ate enough ham and cheese omelets to fill a tractor truck bed! I was ecstatic with the weight that I lost--happy enough to deal with the horrible breath that ketosis causes. I really thought that I had found the answer to a problem that had plagued me for years! I was wrong. As soon as I started adding carbs, the weight came right back--and FAST!!!!!! Also, I am told that I did irreversible damage to my kidneys. I would not recommend Atkins for a long term maintenance of weight loss.

I went on the Atkins Diet about 15 years ago and lost 250 pounds over 2 years. It really does work, but MAN did I ever get tired of eating meat, eggs and cheese. I think I ate enough ham and cheese omelets to fill a tractor truck bed!

I was ecstatic with the weight that I lost--happy enough to deal with the horrible breath that ketosis causes. I really thought that I had found the answer to a problem that had plagued me for years!

I was wrong. As soon as I started adding carbs, the weight came right back--and FAST!!!!!! Also, I am told that I did irreversible damage to my kidneys. I would not recommend Atkins for a long term maintenance of weight loss.