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From: Brad Falk 
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet.rx
Subject: Re: Need to know about Dr. Atkins Diet
Date: 9 Sep 1997 03:16:19 GMT
Organization: Concentric Internet Services
Lines: 71
Message-ID: 
References: 
NNTP-Posting-Host: mariner.concentric.net
Xref: Supernews69 alt.support.diet.rx:8578
Suzanne Houston  wrote:
:   I want to know how you have felt with this t\diet. Any problems? I want
: to start this diet, but I need some advice
: Thanks,
: Susan
-- 
I lost 50 lbs this year with Phentermine (no fenfluramine), exercise
(10-30 miles of bike riding every day) and a low fat diet (no calorie
counting). 
This summer I hit a plateau that seemed to go on forever so I went to a
doctor for advise, since I still want to loose 25 lbs. 
He recommended a change in diet to kick my metabolism into the butt. So
intstead of low fat, I switched last month to the Dr. Atkins type diet,
which basically means you can eat anything that isn't carbohydrates. Well,
no more than 20 grams a day. That means all sugars and starches are out. A
"normal" diet should include about 300 gr of carbs per day. 
20 grs of carbs per day is almost nothing. An average candy bar has about
30-40 gr. This means a major readjustment if you are used to carbs in your
diet, such as (aside from the obvious) no juices, and almost no fruit. 
This is not a good diet for a strict vegetarian. But, on this diet you can
go to Burger King for lunch, order two Whoppers (with cheese), and eat the
whole thing EXCEPT the bread. That was quite a change from what I was used
to diet-wise. I don't think I even recognized a fast food restaurant
anymore. 
But, believe me, it works. I lost an additional 12 lbs in just under three
weeks. Ok, so it gets kind of dull with the food selections but the
results are staggering. Plus, you really don't have to go hungry, as long
as you stay away from the carbs. 
The doctor I saw did quite a bit of research into the Atkins diet, because
he wanted to know why it worked (one thing the original Atkins book never
explains). 
To make a long story short, on a low-carb diet the crucial metabolic
factor is insulin. If you keep the sugar/starch down to almost nothing,
you will not gain weight, because without carb-fuel the body will not
convert dietary fat into body fat, but *burn* stored body fat to make up
for the energy otherwise obtained from carbs. Same story with cholesterol
- without the carbs, the body will just get rid of it instead of storing
it. That is why on the Atkins diet you can eat all the meat, eggs, cheese
etc. you want, still lose weight and don't have to worry about
cholesterol. 
This is definitely not a diet for a lifetime (too dull), but for a short
to medium term weight loss program, it works. Well, at least it worked for
me. I know the whole thing is counter-intutitive, but just try it and see
for yourself. 
Oh yeah, other staples of this diet are sugar-free jello (actually
sugar-free anything) and lettuce (for fiber) - but, you can have all the
fat you want in your salad dressing and you can spruce up the jello with
sugar-free Cool Whip. 
As far as milk is concerned (which I only drink in my coffee) I noticed
that the higher the fat content, the lower the sugar content (1/4 cup of
skim milk has 4 gr of sugar, while a 1/4 cup of half & half as no sugars).
So now I can acutally have real cream with my morning coffee. I am
enjoying it while I can, because that stuff will have to go when I have
lost all the weight I want on switch to maintenance and a more
nutritionally balanced diet. 
Claudia
.
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