I can tell you... Atkins is not for everyone...

[discophile]

I have just completed two weeks of Atkins induction phase. I followed it to the letter. I know I have been in ketosis. Yeah, that's the good news. The bad news is that after two weeks of almost bathing in butter and olive oil I have lost diddly f*cking squat weight. Zero. Nadda. Rien. Etc.

What I have got, after two weeks of Atkins, is a bleeding bum from the constipation/piles that it has given me.

Back to the drawing board. [pissed off face]

Oh :(

How do you know you were in ketosis though?

You wee on a stick that tells you

I tried Atkins some years ago and lost a stone and a half in two weeks. It all came back once I reverted back to my pre Atkins diet.

That aside, it does work. However, it isn't enough on its own. The 'science' is that you still need to exercise except now you are burning fat as opposed to carbs. If you aren't exercising (enough) then thats your problem.

I meant there is your problem

Yeah, you may be right about the exercise. Unfortunately now I feel so ill I am giving up Atkins.

I knew I was in ketosis because I was never hungry. In the whole two weeks I did not feel hungry at all. My mood was also brilliant the whole time. I say brilliant but what I mean is even - no ups and downs. And my urine smelled wierd and was a wierd colour, another sign of ketosis. I wouldn't bother with the sticks personally, I can tell when ketosis is going on.

About to have some toast.

Did the psyllium husk not help at all?

You dont need to exercise on low carb, the weight falls off just as easily if you dont. Thats a load of nonsense. I lost 12lbs in my first week of low carb, and did no exercise.

Shame you have given up so quickly op, low carb is def the best way to go. Did you weigh yourself first thing in the morning, naked after a pee both times? If not, you are also weighing your clothes and anything you have eaten or had to drink that day!

pagwatch, did you stalk me to Holland Barrett? I did indeed buy and consume psyllium husk capsules. I don't think they helped [has piles emoticon]

at Black. You sing the praises of the Atkins diet and in the same breath says that it's 'science' is 'a load of nonsense'.

By cutting out high carbs stuff like snacks you are cutting out high calorie stuff. So of course you are going to lose weight even if you don't exercise.

You absolutely must drink plenty after taking psyllium.

You could also take dulcoease.

I said having to exercise alongside low carb was a load of nonsense I currently eat around 2000-3000 calories a day, but I have a feeling you will either ignore that or have some other "suggestion" for my weightloss.

I am another who thinks it works. Before I had dd1, I lost 45 lbs in 4.5 months. I didn't exercise that much (1-2 times per week) for the first month or so. Then stepped it up to 4-5 times per week.

Are you on any medications and are you eating enough veg? How many carbs are you eating? If its less than 10 per day, that could be the problem. Sometimes increasing your carbs helps.

I am starting again today ( for what seems like the 100th time) I am still nursing 7 month old dd, so will not go below 30 carbs per day, but if you want a (modified) Atkins buddy, let me know!

Black - exercise alongside a carb low diet is the theory behind Atkins. I just find it funny that you think it's great but nonsense at the same time.

.... also this thing about not exercising is a bit like tutoring. Parents go on about how they didn't tutor their kids for 11+. They then go on about their academic primary or prep and how their DCs love doing puzzles and reads a lot.

Similarly just because you don't go to the gym or run on the streets or use a exercise DVD doesn't mean that you don't 'exercise'.

Disc- do your clothes feel looser? You may have lost inches, which is what people see anyway.

Im not doing Atkins, I am low carbing. I amnot sure of Atkins rules. I do know however, that you dont have to exercise alongside a low carb diet. I did not increase my execrise levels. Is that simple enough to understand yet? I sure hope so.

Shame the OPs thread has been derailed. Its a shame this WOE didnt work for you quick enough, and that you find something suitable.

I'm not saying Atkins doesn't work, it just didn't work for me on this occasion for some reason. Have nothing against it really.

Black - I don't mind getting into a bun fight over something important like education but not too keen on spending my Sunday arguing about your diet plan

It worked for me. I went from 13 and a half stone to 9 stone in 8 months in 2011 with absolutely no exercise. I now eat all food groups and exercise every day for 20 minutes to maintain this weight.

Forgot to say I lost no weight for first 3 weeks but just stuck at it as was in no hurry. It took 12 years to put the weight on so I thought it's not going to come of mega quick.

facts:

1. 2000 calories is the level needed to keep most people breathing on a normal day.

2. Unless you are strapped to a bed 24/7, you are exercising and using calories.

3. Somewhat to my surprise, Atkins now recommends reducing simple carbs (sugar, biscuits, cakes etc - all the sugary rubbish) and eating a good percentage of complex carbs ('good carbs' in the Atkins baby-speak: pasta, bread, rice etc). i.e. a normal sensible diet. They will still try to peddle you the odd nasty processed shake and sugary 'health' bar, and their 'LBD' diet is hardly enough to feed a sparrow which is why people lose weight on it. But the basic 'nutrition and science' page is the obvious good sense.

excuse me, time for a sandwich.

I went on the Atkins and I'm sure it gave me gallstones. Somebody else I knew got a severe digestive disorder from it. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. There was a programme on about it quite a while ago saying how it can cause serious health problems.

Also, a strain on the kidneys apparently. Kidney damage possibility.

Generally if you want to lose weight you should aim to eat 600kcals less than what you usually do. The reason most diets work is because they all encourage you to eat less kcals than you did before. Whether that is be removing a food group, good old calorie counting or the watercress soup diet :)

Hope that helps

xxx

I don't do Atkins, but I low carb. It's perfectly possible that low carb will not work for you in that you don't lose weight and that you'll need to eat a very low calorie diet to lose weight. Think Gary Taubes talks about this in The Diet Delusion, I seem to remember he thought it was about their sensitivity to carbs and he believed that these people had to eat an unusually small amount of calories to lose weight - it was genetic and there was little they could do to change that except starve themselves. Don't have the book anymore - so forgive my hazy recollection.

The only thing I'd say is that 2 weeks is probably not long enough to find out whether a diet is resulting in fat loss - I can gain 4lbs in water almost overnight which would mask any weight loss. Cure for constipation - eat loads of allowed veg and drink loads of water.

Other than that I wish you the best of luck in finding a diet that suits you and your lifestyle. Have you tried fasting?