Has Anyone Tried Atkins Before?

Hi All

Just wondering if anyone has been on Atkins before and what their experiences are. I went on it in 2003 and lost loads. I went from a size 22/24 to a size 16 then stopped loosing. I have now realised that the reason why my weightloss stopped was because I started drinking diet coke again. I didn't know then that DC stops ketosis because of the citric acid.

I enjoyed being on this diet and the only reason I stopped it was because I stopped loosing the weight. I also drank hardly any water.

I am giving going back onto Atkins some serious thought. There has been an article in a magazine that was saying that if you Atkins in a healthy way - ie grill meat rather than frying in butter and not eating too much mayo and cheese - that's it is a quick and effective way of loosing weight?

What are you thoughts guys?

Hi yes me I was so ill on day 2 i nearly collasped so I stopped it XXc

I tried it for a month and to be honest i felt unwell on it so stopped. It made me feel really quesy all the time and each meal time i thought ,oh god not more meat lol

julesrush

yes me , i gained 7lbs in two weeks!!!!????

yup...my dad has been on it for ...erm...6 or so years now, my mum recently stopped to do CD. They went crazy with the research though and take all sorts of suppliments...L-carnatine and L-gutamine are 2 I remember, they also take fish oil and other random stuff to make sure they are properly nourished. Suits my dad well...he feels fab (did feel horrific for about 2 weeks to start with though...I think it must be the whole ketosis thing)

The thing with Atkins is that there aren't really strict portion sizes for stuff (from what I remember) and thats where it fell down for me, oh, and the lack of sweet stuff for the first 2 weeks! (fruit etc get added in don't they?)

Blimey!! My experiences were quite good. There are more low carb products like shakes and stuff now that weren't there when I did it. I also tried to find recipies to make things easier. I think I may try 790 and if I still find things hard even on that - then I am going to go onto Atkins.

I have done Atkins for a few days and got so sick of it

But then like most I had not a clue about Atkins at the time and was following what I got in magazine and articles like that.

Since then I have bought a couple of Robert C. Atkins books and I found the last one I bought called Atkins for life the next level.

This one explains very well that the first two week is called the induction phase and this is were the media get hung up on it.

The first two weeks you eat no carbs what so ever and all the meat and fats you like...no sausages for there is bread in sausages and that will take you out of ketosis.

The reason you eat all the high fats and no carbs etc. is that is stave's off hunger and you go into ketosis due to the high content of protein and fats.

You limit your intake of carbs to 20 grams of net carbs a day for a minimum of two weeks.

During this time you satisfy your appetite with chicken, eggs, beef, and other high protein and good fats, such as olive oil. You can eat only fish or fowl if you do not like red meat.

You may have 3 cups of salad greens dressed with your favourite low carb dressing or 2 cups of salad and a cup of fresh, non starch veggies such as broccoli or Asparagus, cauliflower, spinach or zucchini (courgette)


The Induction phase which is meant as a short term phase to jump start weight loss.

After two weeks, you can add an ounce of nuts or seeds to your daily intake of carbs if they don't interfere with your weight loss.

Phase 2 Ongoing weight loss you continue to eat high-quality protein and fat, along with your salad greens and vegetables. Week by week, you add back nutrient-rich carbs such as more veggies, cheese, berries, nuts and seeds-and for some people, even legumes. You do this by adding 5 grams of Net Carbs per day in a weekly increments until weight loss ceases. So you go from 20 to 30 grams per day one week, then to 30 grams daily the next week, and so forth.

Once you stop losing weight drop back 5 grams and you've discovered the amount of carbs you can eat while still losing weight. For most people that amount is somewhere between 40 to 60 grams daily. Continue until you are within 5 to 10lbs. of your goal weight.

Phase 3: Pre-maintenance. With your goal in sight, you will want to slow your weight loss to an almost imperceptible rate so that your good eating habits become ingrained. Each week, you will now add another 10 grams of daily Net carbs to your program - or treat yourself to an extra 20 to 30 grams of nutrient-dense foods twice a week - so long as you continue to lose. If your weight loss stops, cut back 5 or 10 grams until you resume gradual weight loss. This is your level for carb consumption, at which you will continue until you reach your target.

Phase 4: Life Maintenance. Now that you've achieved your goal weight , you can start enjoying an even wider range of delicious foods. You still need to keep an eye on your carb intake, of course. Is that hard to do? No. Just Skip the junk food and use your carb grams on nutrient-rich foods such as whole, unrefined grains and a variety of fruits and vegetables...

You really need the book to do this diet and it has loads on GI and GL along with lovely menus and ideas.


Hope that helps.

Love Mini xxx

As you introduce more carbs you cut back on the portions of meat.

Portion size.



2 tablespoon peanut butter.....= think size wise... two tea bags.

3 ounce of beef, chicken or pork...=.a small pack of tissues or cigarettes.



1 ounce of cheese.....= a pair of dice

1 ounce of nuts.....= one pin-pong ball or a small child's handful.

I was mpre successful on atkins than any other diet because it promoted the foods I love

Having said that I still couldn't stick to it for more than 4 weeks diets work if you can stick to them so if you can stick to it then do it. The key is doing some thinkiong along the way about what your 'standard' diet should consist of in order to maintain your weightloss and give you a good healthy balanced diet. I love to know what you decide. Good luck with whatever it is

I did Atkins a few years ago and initially did very well on it, had a good weight loss, nearly 2 stones in the first few months, but then I really struggled. I found it quite limiting and restricting and difficult to socialise with, I then plateaud for months and finally got fed up and came off. And then put all the weight back on with a bit more on top of course!! I preferred doing CD because although of course its even more restrictive, I always knew roughly how long it was going to last and I could knuckle down & stick to it for a period of time, whereas any other diet, for me, has always been hit & miss, some weeks you lose, some you don't and it just seems to go on & on.

At the end of the day you have to find the diet that works for you & suits you. Cambridge Diet just ticked all the boxes for me.

Try the 790, it may works better for you, but best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

I think I will stick with CD. I am finding it a bit of a pain but on the whole, not too bad. I have eaten tonight though. But again, only some protein, I had a heavy training session and was so hungry I was shaking and water didn't help. I am not going to feel guilty about it though. I made a decision and if it effects my weightloss this week then it's only a week after all and not the end of the world.

Sarah,

You have the right attitude and you made a good choice for yourself and I think feeling guilty just makes things worse.

Love Mini xxx

Hi, I did it and lost quite a bit of weight and then stopped losing. I wasn't too bothered as Atkins had stopped my weight from continuing to rocket up.

I learned a lot - never knew I was addicted to carb, learned about insulin resistance which I really had and learned about ketosis and appetite.

When I was ready to lose the rest of the weight, I came to CD - I needed to see results and also liked that CD was low carb (not as low as Atkins) and so had ketosis which I think is the big factor in weight loss as you need less will power if your appetite isn't raging out of control.

Once I finish losing, I'm planning to switch to Atkins maintenance. I know if I go back to my addictions, I'll go back to my old weight.

HI Hun,

I did Atkins a few years ago and lots loads on it - I unfortunately, got complacent and didn't see the phases thru and inevitibly put the weight back on!
The diet is a fab diet if followed correctly - unfortunately it gets alot of stick in the media because people don't follow it properly and then they complain when they get ill.
The trick is to vary the diet with the listed options in the books and portion control - just because something says it's unlimited, doesn't mean stuff urself (which I've found alot of people do an Atkins & get poorly!). The book says eat until u're comfortable. I was never hungry and had to remind myself to eat.

Good look with ur weightloss journey hun
Much love, chelle xx

Hi there,

Yes I did the Atkins and it was my most successful diet ever. I lost 28Ibs I went down to 17st 1Ib. I then stopped because I wanted to eat carbs again. It took me a while to regain the weight, but I have!
I am doing Atkins for four weeks then I will return to Cambridge.
I don't eat red meat, so when I did Atkins I was limited to fish (I only eat trout and salmon in the main) and roast chicken with vegetables and salad. I'm not the worlds biggest fan of egg, so would have them boiled every so often.

In addition I was also running twice per week (only 4 miles per week), going the gym 2 times per week (a combination of apparatus work and swimming around 30-50 lengths each time). I like exercising enyway - so will still do that, but not running.

As Mini says, the media get hung up on the induction phase and in addition forget to mention that Atkins also recommend 30 mins of exercise 3-4 times per week.

I hope that helps.

Best Regards,