Atkins to SW - help!

Hi

I have been doing atkins with success for the past 4 weeks and have lost 21lbs in total but I have got to the point where I am so fed up with the limited diet and lack of fruit and veg. If I don't change soon I am going to crack and have a good old carb binge!

I do think I have made a lot of progress and have broken a lot of bad habits but feel that SW is going to be a much more maintainable diet for me. I have identified a local group and will go to my first meeting Wednesday evening.

I do have a question which someone with more experience can help with I am sure. What should I do between now and Wednesday? What I really want to avoid is falling into a binge while I am in 'limbo'. I realise that I will be re-introducing carbs into my diet and this will lead to some kind of gain. So should I carry on with Akins until I get all the information or should I try and follow an SW style diet between now and then so my first weigh in would give a more realistic start point and reduce the gain in the first propper week of the diet IYSWM?

Any help, opinions or ideas would be appreciated!

Hey, welcome!

If you do have a binge and you weigh heavy, you will have a big loss first week! I think it's down to personal choice to be honest, you could just have a few days off either and just try eating small portions of "normal" food. As long as you drink plenty, reintroducing carbs should have too much of an impact.

Sorry I haven't been much help, I'm better with talking about the SW plan! I think there is a few people around that have come over from Atkins, so hopefully someone will come by and make more sense!

Best of luck,

Natt x

Welcome

I did Atkins for about 6 months a few years back and although I enjoyed it, the novelty wore off and eventually I was craving fresh fruit and veg!

You might be wise to switch to doing SW 'red' days, which will gradually help you introduce carbs. I can't say whether you'll avoid a gain - that's totally down to your body, and you may want to speak to someone in the Low Carb section of the site who's done it themselves.

But the red day plan is basically lean meats with all visible fat removed, with fruit, vegetables and salads etc. If you want carbs, you have a measured amount as a 'healthy extra' - eg. ryvita, 2 slices wholemeal bread, krisprolls, potatoes, wholewheat pasta etc. It could work for you, as you'll be limiting the carbs you have, so may avoid the binge/bloat syndrome

Good luck with the switch.

thanks, I think I am going to see the way between by stopping restricting my fruit and vegatable intake and reducing the meat and cheese consumption. I am also going to introduce one portion of carbs, ie rice, bread, pasta or potatoes.

Couple more questions - I only eat wholemeal options but what is one portion measured on red days? Also, where do baked beans fall - healthy option or free?

Thanks, you have been so helpful.

Right so you've got 4 days til you join a class on Wednesday yeah? (welcome to the Wednesday club, by the way, I'm a WedsWeigher as well!)

I'd say your plan sounds ok. Definitely reduce the cheese - you do get 2 portions a day as a healthy extra - that's 28g of normal cheddar, for example, or 42g of reduced fat cheese. If you stick to those guidelines you will still be eating quite a bit of cheese, but probably a lot less than you're used to!

No need to reduce your meat - just choose lean meats instead. Chicken, turkey, etc. Pork, beef and lamb are also ok, but just remember to remove the fat before you eat it. If you want bacon, trim the fat before cooking.

Gradually up your veg and fruit. Stick to easily digestible stuff and avoid bananas, parsnips...the more starchy, higher carb foods. You will probably notice with the increase in fibre that you poo more, I would think.

Rice is not a healthy extra on red days. You get 35g of dried wholemeal pasta as a healthy extra. Baked beans you get 142g per portion for one healthy extra. For potatoes, it's 198g but the skins must be left on.

Hope that helps you.

be prepared for a slight gain if you switch,,,, but thus is short lived once the body gets used to the change in diet again. I also done well on Atkins a few years back, but missed the veg & fruit as well.

Phil x

I agree with everything above. I did Atkins a while back and did a fair loss but there was no way i could maintain it, missed the fruit and veg too much. SW is much better, well balanced and easy to do every day. You will probably put on or STS to start with, but it'll soon catch up once you're in to the swing of it! Hellies advice seems pretty good, by having red days you can ease in to it. Good luck