Atkins - it works

[SuperFLY]

Hey all,

just wanted to pop in and let you know what i've been up to healthwise.

the last 2yrs ive kinda been doing bugger all cept sitting in front of my pc at work, then sitting in front of my pc at home with the odd change of sitting in front of a pint down the pub. not the most active lifestyle it has to be said.

in the last 2 months+ i thought the gut had to go but i was finding it hard to get motivated to work it off.. so.. i thought of adkins.

now done right adkins is not the unhealthy, greasy fry-up every day that some people have stereotyped it as. it can be a very healthy diet choice.

in the last 2months i've gone from over 13st to around 11st 9lbs, i have also been doing my home stretches (mostly leg lifts etc.. to tighten my stomach muscles) and some minor weights just to gain some definition back. i have been doing this for the last 2-3 weeks.

upper bodies looking soooo much better and everyone, even people who see me every day so wouldnt really normally notice changes like this is saying im looking better, face is thinner etc.. even my skin colours improved. (less pastey)

my intention was to loose a st which i've done and then some, then start back at the gym, but i want to be careful about it now. i've tried to restart the gym 3 times in the last 2 yrs and each time i've just dived straight back into my normal routine, my bodies had a shock and i've ended up making myself ill (not quite sure how that happens but each time within a few days i've got a strinking cold or just feel awful) so im taking it slow this time.

joined a new gym, one with a spa, sauna etc.. in so im taking it slow there. had my 1st 'session' last night of basically doing a few laps in the pool, loosing up in the sauna's then a few more laps.. just to get the heart rate going, and i tell ya after 2yrs of doing nothing but holding my body up walking to the car and back my legs were feeling it!

nowadays i dont even carb count as far as adkins goes.. i just eat sensibly and lay off the carby foods (crisps, potatoes, pasta, wheat, fruits, etc.) the biggest thing is swapping from normal coke to coke zero.. im definately sticking to that; no horrible aftertaste like diet and no sugar to boot.. lovely.

i think my longer term plan is going to be 2/3 nights down the gym (either swimming or gym, whatever im in the mood for) and if i manage at least 2 i'll treat myself to eating/drinking normally on the w/e. will be nice to be able to have a beer or 2 again. but the rest of the week i'll stick to low carb. (basically whey shake or morning start bar for brekkie, meat/fish and salad for lunch.. normally with some cottage cheese, gerkin etc.. and dinner, again meat or quorn of some description and green beans or salad. but you can always mix it up.. thai green curry with green beans was had last night.. mmm)

if anyone has any questions or preconceptions about adkins and its methods just ask me (dalepea taught me everything i know tho, hehe.. tho the slacker couldnt last more than 2 weeks back on it coz he's a lazy fek and didnt prepare his meals :P)

feeling and looking a lot better :)

[Badger]

You suck.

That is all I have to say :mushy:

[tIMor`]

Hmmm

I believe any diet in which forces you to pretty much charge everything you eat to be pretty bad. I mean, the average person is unlikely to drastically change what they eat and stick to it for the rest of their lives. I also don't believe it is necessary - maybe only in extreme cases..

[Tolon]

Hmmm

I believe any diet in which forces you to pretty much charge everything you eat to be pretty bad. I mean, the average person is unlikely to drastically change what they eat and stick to it for the rest of their lives. I also don't believe it is necessary - maybe only in extreme cases..

I agree, i believe in cutting down carbs but not to an excessive level whilst cramming on protein.

[c0rr0d3dm0nk33]

meh, i've given atkins a go... gonna stick with it... got another couple of stone to shift but i plan on losing one of those via akins then moving to getting back into running and then controlling the carb intake as well (though obviously going up from what it is now)... if anything to ease back into a more carbylicious diety mergingy

was over 16 1/2 and now at about 14 3/4.

reckon for my size and height 12 1/2 - 13 should be fine

[Tolon]

meh, i've given atkins a go... gonna stick with it... got another couple of stone to shift but i plan on losing one of those via akins then moving to getting back into running and then controlling the carb intake as well (though obviously going up from what it is now)... if anything to ease back into a more carbylicious diety mergingy

was over 16 1/2 and now at about 14 3/4.

reckon for my size and height 12 1/2 - 13 should be fine

I don't recommend Atkins for you mate, it may have quick results but you'll feel so much better and do your body a service by losing at a steady 1-3 lbs a week through a healthy diet and cardio/weight programme.

[SuperFLY]

Hmmm

I believe any diet in which forces you to pretty much charge everything you eat to be pretty bad. I mean, the average person is unlikely to drastically change what they eat and stick to it for the rest of their lives. I also don't believe it is necessary - maybe only in extreme cases..
yes cutting out incredible amounts of sugar and saturated fats from crisps etc.. is bad... yeh right..

also, and i'll be blunt.. what you've said is very stupid indeed. if you live on crap, fast foods, sugary drinks etc.. of course changing that and eating healthier foods, more water etc.. is good for you and anyone in the fitness business will tell you that.

if you're ever at all serious about getting fit its not just exercise or diet you need its both and YES you NEED to stick to it.

if you're just going to do it half assed theres no point even bothering as you're only cheating yourself.

like i said



nowadays i dont even carb count as far as adkins goes.. i just eat sensibly and lay off the carby foods (crisps, potatoes, pasta, wheat, fruits, etc.) the biggest thing is swapping from normal coke to coke zero.. im definately sticking to that; no horrible aftertaste like diet and no sugar to boot.. lovely.

no one can deny having a breakfast bar and salad/bit of meat/some cottage cheese etc.. is unhealthy.


I don't recommend Atkins for you mate, it may have quick results but you'll feel so much better and do your body a service by losing at a steady 1-3 lbs a week through a healthy diet and cardio/weight programme.
you do actually feel very good on adkins after the first 3-5 days. once the carb craving has gone. your body starts burning fat for fuel and with an abundant supply you suddenly start feeling very active and full of energy. its a great feeling :)

people need to be educated in what the adkins style diet involves and realise its NOT a greasy fryup every single day whilst eating hundreds of steak a week covered in blocks of cheese and cream. you can of course do it like that and you'll loose the weight but its certainly not good for you.

if i were to say to you, err.. take yesterday for example.. in the morning i had a shake for breakfast, salad, cottage cheese, gerkin and some chicken for lunch.. then i went out in the evening and had a spicy chicken skewer and onions but instead of the chips i had a side salad instead. now if you'd not heard of adkins you'd just think i was eating healthily.. and thats all it is. the only difference is, you just dont have any bread, pasta, rice etc.. in the middle.

currently im doing mainly cardio/some weights etc.. down the gym, going for my swims and basically being lo carb during the week but lettig myself off on the w/e. man, it was nice to have a drink for the first time in over 2 months last saturday :D

personally now im excerising and ive lost the weight i wanted to with the adkins (like i said in my first post.. it was basically a fast method to scrub off the excess then start maintaining and toning with the gym) i dont really need to watch my diet as 'much' as i did but make no mistake diet is a very important part of being healthy, gym alone wont cut it and you'd be a fool to think you can force down burgers and fast food etc.. every day and still look and feel great as you wander down the gym a couple of days a week. doesnt work like that.

my main motivaition for sticking to it during the week is it basically keeps me off the crisps and the like of which i love. i know if i just thought 'oo im going to the gym i'll go back to how i used to eat' id drop straight back into eating loadsa crisps, fizzy drinks etc.. and it'll just cancel all my hard work out. im not going to let that happen.

anyway.. as said, please dont let any misconceptions regarding low carb diets colour your views. they are not at all what some of you think.

[c0rr0d3dm0nk33]

I agree with fly, every time i've heard atkins bandied around i've though there no way i'll eat fatty greasy foods all the time.

I tend to have a Pepperami in the morning, and if i've got any a bit of cottage cheese... For lunch a salad of some description (chook caesar, ham and egg), with a little cheese. For dinner it depends, something with salad usually... chicken, beef, fish... keeping an eye on any sauce on certain things (some sauces are low carb so tis all good) with a flavoring... sometimes with some melted cheese if i'm trying to make it a bit mexicany lol...

I do miss vegetables, something i never thought i'd really say... never been a huge fan before

[tIMor`]

When did I say eating crisps etc. was good? What I said was "drastic changes in diet" are not the answer. Sure - not eating crisps, burgers, junk food etc. is not right - I just assumed you had gotten past that bit, it is oh so very obvious after all. The whole "eat x amount of protein, x amount of carbs, x amount of fat" etc. diets are the ones that are over the top. Atkins falls into that category due to his banning of almost all carbs... No one will ever be able to change onto that diet and keep it that way for life - it makes no sense. People grow up with a certain diet - some of those things are going to stick. Bread, pasta, rice etc. are all fine if eaten at a decent time/in moderation. It makes no sense to drastically change your diet for x amount of time lose weight and go back again - they call that crash dieting. These can all be changed also - e.g. instead of white bread/rice you go for brown bread/rice...

I mean seriously, are you listening to yourself? No fruit and veg? Are you taking the piss?

The majority of breakfast bars have like 30g of sugar also :D, you wouldn't see me touching them... oh dear

I said "drastically changing your diet" is not good... You can't expect everyone to just remove rice, fruit, veg, pasta and bread from their diet... It just makes no sense - the majority of people eat these foods every day and rely on them to get by.

Joining a gym isn't really the answer either - how many people do you know who joined the gym for a few months only to keep it going seriously for a month or two and end up paying off the rest of their contract for nothing?

These are all just short term measures - the majority of people need something concrete that they can stick to. Changing their entire diet to no longer include foods they have relied on for years (bread, fruit, veg etc.) is just plain stupid quite frankly.

Yes keep it healthy - but don't remove things such as fruit, bread and vegetables that are always going to be a part of your diet :|

[SuperFLY]

When did I say eating crisps etc. was good? What I said was "drastic changes in diet" are not the answer. Sure - not eating crisps, burgers, junk food etc. is not right - I just assumed you had gotten past that bit, it is oh so very obvious after all.

heh yeh.. i was mainly picking up on the blanket 'changing what you eat' comment you made.. just trying to illustrate that going from eating crap to eating good food is a big change, however its certainly not a bad one :)



The whole "eat x amount of protein, x amount of carbs, x amount of fat" etc. diets are the ones that are over the top. Atkins falls into that category due to his banning of almost all carbs... No one will ever be able to change onto that diet and keep it that way for life - it makes no sense.

20g of carbs for 12 days then onto 40g, then onto 60g.. etc.. the recommended level for most people is about 260g yes you're definately making a radical change to the norm, but its easier than you think :) i dont even think about carb counts anymore. havent for a long time. i just have my morning/lunch routine and for dinner i just have green beans or salad instead of the usual potato/chips/rice etc.. easy to do.



People grow up with a certain diet - some of those things are going to stick. Bread, pasta, rice etc. are all fine if eaten at a decent time/in moderation. It makes no sense to drastically change your diet for x amount of time lose weight and go back again - they call that crash dieting. These can all be changed also - e.g. instead of white bread/rice you go for brown bread/rice...

of course, and to just diet, loose it, then go back to the norm and balloon again is a seriously stupid thing to do. hense why i geared myself up to start exercising once id lost the weight i wanted to. used the adkins to scrub the pounds off, go back to eating almost normally but healthily and maintaining my health/weight with the spa/gym

considering im currently just lowering my carbs during the week and having whatever i want on the w/e basically means im not on adkins anymore.. just simply eating healthily during the week. having a nice load of rice with my curry or a few bevvies on the w/e is just my reward for working out and being good during the week :)



I mean seriously, are you listening to yourself? No fruit and veg? Are you taking the piss?

no fruit. correct.. the natural sugars, although natural and good can upset kitosis. you can of course reintroduce fruit once you're at my stage. (i.e you've lost all you wanted to loose) but thats also replaced with vitimin tablets/vit-c drinks/etc.. as far as veg goes, i eat plenty of veg. lettuce, cabbage, carrots (although high in carbs, im not at the stage where i need to worry about it), green beans, asparagus, cucumber, blah blah blah.. i have no need to cut any of that out of my diet.

another misconception with adkins i hope is rectified there. in fact you are recommended 3 cups of leafy greens a day and think how much you can stuff in 3 cups. a whole caesar salad will barely make a cup full.



The majority of breakfast bars have like 30g of sugar also :D, you wouldn't see me touching them... oh dear

sorry my mistake, should have said adkins breakfast bars. zero sugar, around 2g carbs, plenty of vitimins.. and rather nice too :) mainly i stick to the adkins shakes at about 3g carbs. they're rather tasty too. got some new whey shake ones and tbh i dont like them much.. too think and not as nice tasting, heh.



I said "drastically changing your diet" is not good... You can't expect everyone to just remove rice, fruit, veg, pasta and bread from their diet... It just makes no sense - the majority of people eat these foods every day and rely on them to get by.

i dont expect anyone to do anything. this thread was simply me telling you guys what I have done, and would be happy enough to help give info to anyone wanting to give it a try. the choice is yours and no one elses.

i also wouldnt recommend it to everyone either, and i certainly wouldnt suggest anyone stay on it for life. but as a way to trim yourself down to move into exercise (lets be honest, getting off your arse and working out is the best thing you can ever do) i think its fantastic and not the grease covered gorge some people think it is.



Joining a gym isn't really the answer either - how many people do you know who joined the gym for a few months only to keep it going seriously for a month or two and end up paying off the rest of their contract for nothing?

weak wills. anyone truely serious about sorting themselves out (take dilbert for example) will stick at it and reap the benefits. i wont lie, in the last 2 yrs i could barely bring myself down to my old gym.. when i did i dived right in and made myself ill, then stopped again. wasnt doing myself any favours.

now however, the new gym/spa i've joined has a lovely pool, sauna etc.. to relax in and the gym is fully outfitted to keep you going and motivated (tv's in each machine that you choose the channel are great. the worst thing for me was getting bored.. that definately helps)



These are all just short term measures - the majority of people need something concrete that they can stick to. Changing their entire diet to no longer include foods they have relied on for years (bread, fruit, veg etc.) is just plain stupid quite frankly.

Yes keep it healthy - but don't remove things such as fruit, bread and vegetables that are always going to be a part of your diet :|
they're not short term measures if you do them right and stick to your convictions.

its rather obvious if you diet and then stop you'll put the weight back on. its rather obvious if you goto the gym for a bit then stop it'll do you no good. you havent actually stated anything of use other than displayed your general thoughts that people are lazy food adicts that cant stick to anything they try. not everyone is like that. as for me.. yeh i was a bit like that, definately for the last 2yrs but not anymore :) its just up to me to stick with it.

like i mentioned above.. its your choice what you do. im not trying to ram anything down your throat. this post was, as said many times above, simply to give you guys my experiences and offer info where needed.

entirely your choice if you want to do it or not, i couldnt give 2 shits what you do

[tIMor`]

I just object to people giving bad advice - my bad

[SuperFLY]

I just object to people giving bad advice - my bad
ok im having trouble getting through here so i'll say it once more for good measure.

i gave no advice, i posted saying what id been up to, not what people should do. that clear? hope so.

also as a matter of point, thats your opinion, not mine. now you're entitled to it, but remember not everyone will share it. all i know is i've lost 2 stone and feel great. keep it in mind eh ;)

[tIMor`]

I made a simple comment regarding atkins.

You then went onto attack my comment and called me "stupid" for suggesting "cutting out incredible amounts of sugar and saturated fats from crisps etc.. is bad"... which I clearly didn't do...

Your next post can then be considered 'advice' as you argued against my point regarding Atkins and joining a gym with your own opinions. Either way, people reading what you wrote may well take it as fact and consider doing the same..

I mean, you only have to look at your first post and your comment on Dalehead to understand Atkins might not be the answer.

[SuperFLY]

aww tim i thought you'd be thicker skinner than that, my apologies i didnt know my comments would upset you so :(

giving and defending your own opinions (although im living proof it worked) are very different from giving advice. i can only supply you guys with my experiences and you can choose to agree or disagree. i have no problems with that :)

ahh my apologies again i presumed you knew that dale in the past had been an avid adkin'er and lost a hell of a lot of weight on it. he did try to go back on it recently as i said but by his own admission didnt prepare for it and as such got bored after 3 weeks eating the same things and decided not to do it. as with anything, preperation and variation is key especially when you've made the choice to change your lifestyle/routine

well anyway.. im off down the gym so i'll leave that with you, but just to make you feel better..

disclaimer: my above posts are not advice on what is the best course of action when wanting to scrub off some pounds, mearly a record of my experiences with my chosen course of action that has resulted in a loss of 2 stone, improved energy and skin tone. the gym/spa is now helping me work to tone and finish/maintain the job the adkins diet started. these results are simply based on my experiences.

hows that tim? ok?

[tIMor`]

Kinda

See you back here in a year or so when you come back looking for advice on how to shed 4 stone (2+2 in case you were wondering) :D

[Dalehead]

What's more interesting is the ability to loose a huge amount of employment when spending this amount of time posting on internet forums during the work day !!!!

[Tolon]

lol Dale