I'll buy some of that...

But it seems like most of the Atkins ppl I know are whacko about carb-free... Not really a fault of the theory though, just peoples use of it. :)

I was never a true purveyor of Atkins, but the diet did proclaim two things which appeal to me. 1) There are too many carbs in the American diet, and 2) Eat all the meat possible.

The meat part of the diet was easy, since I love meat anyway. The carb part, while initially difficult, took a wee bit of mind over matter. Hence, get a burger, don't eat the bun. Pass on that basket o' bread they set down in front of you in restaurants, and avoid the rice and potatoes served with the main course.

Chris: you state Atkins people are whacko, and you most probably are correct. Americans are whacko in general when it comes to dieting. It's an all-or-nothing thing with them, which is why they burn out after six weeks and head back to the buffet bar with the lame excuse of, "I can't do it! It's too hard!" The strong fact about dieting is dieting does nothing without two other key elements, which is moderation and exercise.

Atkins, while a potential ploy for the meat industry (;) ) is not the only way to lose weight. And beside, eating meat exclusively should be done only in the first six weeks of the diet. After that, one should introduce carbs to their diet, or they'll have some sort of catastrophic internal organ implosion or something.

As some may remember, America's leaning toward carbs came about in the 70s when it was said meat causes high cholestoral. So the pasta was piled on with the spaghet and all the rest. So we got our cholestoral from somewhere else, and our fat too.

My agreement is with CJ as the main way a person loses weight is diet and exercise. IMO the gut will leave if one keeps up the crunches. The gut and waist are the hardest places to lose weight. And remember, if you continue with the diet and exercise, your body is doing one of, if not two things simultaneously: losing weight and gaining shape.

The most true thing I can say is of a diet, one also has to be active to see/feel results.

Now, where's that goddamned Krispy Kreme doughnut! :D

Yes, yes, yes, Dorion.

Too many people are looking for the easy way out these days. Overweight: take a pill or try Atkin's diet. Don't like your spouse: divorce him/her. Don't like your car: Buy a new one and take on massive debt. Not enough power in the SC: install 3.6 ;)

Personally, I don't know what I'd do without carbohydrates. I adore breads and pasta, and I must have my daily sweets (pastry or kid's cereal).

Hey, if you burn the energy, you can eat carbohydrates to your heart's content (double entendre intended). If you're a desk jockey who doesn't make much of an effort to get meaningful exercise, Atkins (and by that I mean real Atkins of moderation in carbs, not zero-carb mania) can help you get rid of the weight. You just have to have the discipline to maintain a reduced-carb diet -- you can still have pasta or cereal or whatever, just not chocolate frosted sugar bombs cereal for breakfast, with toast, a huge sammich, coke and chips for lunch, Snickers for a snack and then gnocci with a loaf of bread for dinner.
The weight loss is "fast" b/c it cuts right to the core of the metabolic equation for most people, but it's not "easy" per se to have the discipline to keep up the moderate carb lifestyle going forward.
Note: it does get easIER as time goes by, b/c you don't miss the insulin rush/satiation feeling you used to get -- that warm, full, sated sensation.
It also gets easier b/c when you eat a big carb meal (like thanksgiving w/ stuffing and potatoes and cranberry, etc.) you go out like a freaking light, and it's not the tryptophan.

JP

I'm still the only "pass me a burger, I'm fading away" :(

Well, there's only 21 responses, so there's hope for me yet. I can't be the only one! The good news is I'd make a great race car driver. Very light! Hehehe

I'll pass you a burger. But if you fade away, can you pass me your Carrera first? :)

It used to be my dear mother's bourbon balls that'd put us out when I was a kid. Turkey dinner didn't work, but when she and the old man wanted some peace and quiet, it was like "Here, kids. Have a taste of these..."

Gawd! I wonder how many shots of the suff were in a single mixing bowl. Or how many bottles? ;)

Ive gone from a BMI of 31 to 26.

I had a little lifestyle change this past october. I still eat the foods I used to, but less. Ive minimized alchohol consumption, except for rare occasions, and I exercise more.

I feel great!!

I'll second you on that.

I lack the CD you've got, but I'm sitting at a 21.45 on the BMI. Go too long without eating and I go foggy in the brain. My wife sez I get very mean when I'm hungry and don't eat. She's also been calling me a human garbage disposal since we met 14 years ago.

I travel with PowerBars in my backpack - just in case.:D

I've been thin most of my life; only in the last three years have I put on any weight. At 5'10" and 155lbs for over thirty years. Now at 52, I'm getting fat and lazy, and I don't give a $hit. Even at that, I'm still on the high end of the normal range, at 24.9.

Ed

Nice work Tim! Cheapest horsepower increase in town too! :)

I think Guiness is gonna be my downfall one of these years.


Iceman, I have the same problem (and same feedback!) and have found that while sugar gets me out of the irritated frame of mind, if I eat something higher in protein, it lasts a lot longer. A peanut butter sandwhich takes that edge off and isn't gone 20 minutes later.

I think chocolate is one of the healthiest foods on the planet - seriously.

What can it do?

1) Take one out of a sour frame of mind.

2) Eliminate sudden hunger.

3) Act as an aphrodisiac.

Apply sparingly, of course, this food of the gods.

"I've minimized alchohol consumption, "

I think this might be the main thing that has helped me lose weight.

My 2nd year of college, I weighed nearly 185 lbs... guess why? Drinking heavily 3-4 nights a week surely had something to do with it, as beer is very high in carbs, fattening, and has a fair amount of calories. Not only that, the next day I would hardly be in the mood for exercise, if you catch my drift.

After awhile I decided that I needed to do something, so I got my mountain bike up to Boston from CT (well, actually I got BOTH of my mountain bikes up, because my GOOD ONE ended up getting stolen in broad daylight, right on BU campus, with a chain lock on it), and began going on long rides along the Charles River every morning that was 1) not raining, and 2) I didn't have an early class (about 4-5 days a week).

I would ride along the Charles and listen to WEEI (sports talk) on the walkman, about 2 hours a day. The difference was instant. I decided to begin a somewhat diet (a concerted effort to eat LESS crap0; I lost weight very quickly, and got a nice tan from being outside so much. By the time I graduated, I weight 170 again.

After leaving college, the amount I drank decreased yet again. I am on no real diet right now (like I said, I don't eat a lot of bad food to begin with), and drink a maximum 3 days out of every TWO weeks. When I weighed myself yesterday, I tipped the scales at 161. And this is AFTER the holidays.

Want to lose weight fast? Stop drinking.

LOL! Hey, I noticed somebody joined me in the "pass me a burger" catagory. Now I'm not alone! :D

Don't forget the trace amounts of THC. Of course it takes something like 20 lbs of chocolate to equal one...er...inhale.

This is information passed on from my mother, who has several medical degrees. Forgive me if I get some of the details mussed up.

one of the main reasons that people gain a lot of weight during the winter has to do with the relationship between chocolate and the sun.

Since we get a LOT less sun in the winter than in the other seasons (duh), the lack of exposure to sunlight causes less seratonin to be released in the body. The body goes into withdrawl, and craves the seratonin. Incidentially, consuming chocolate also causes seratonin to be released in the body. Therefore, people consume gobs more chocolate in the winter, and gain weight accordingly.

Anyways, my BMI number using those calculations is 23.05. My fat % as measured on a fat scale (uses electrical impulse to measure fat) is only 13%. So, that BMI number seems odd to me.

Mine is 13.1% --> the scary part is I am skin and bones. I took part in a medical study recently which measured heart size and body composition etc, including a DEXA (laser machine) scan, which told me that figure. I was slightly higher on a bio-impedance test (but was dehydrated - it is a hot summer here). I look like (and thought I was) more like a 10%... must be a nice amount of fat around the heart!!

The BMI index is crap. I'm a little overweight but NOT obese. I guess I throw off the number by weight lifting but my BMI is 31.2. I have a 36" waist, I'm 6' tall and weigh in at 230 lbs. I'm no bean pole by any standard, but obese???

if you have a 36" waist and are 6' tall, you are certainly not obese.

my waist is 33" (34" for baggy clothes, PJs and the like), and I am 5'8" 160-165 lbs. I don't see how anyone with a 36" waist could possibly be obese by any standard, unless they are only 5' tall!

Funny, that is the Atkins diet.

Atkins isn't just about cutting down on carbs. It requires exercise.

Stop listening to the crap the media is force-feeding everyone. Read the book (sit your butt down at a Border's if you don't want to contribute cash to the cause) before making generalizations.

I've lost 50 pounds on Atkins since August. 6'4" with a 38" waist. Target is 34-36".