Atkins for 2-3 weeks a mistake?

[lovelola]

I have about a stone to lose post baby and I'm feeling really impatient to get back to normal.

I remember losing loads of weight v. quickly on Atkins about 5 years ago, so am tempted to go back on it. Trouble is, being realistic, my lifestyle won't let me sustain it.

Question is - if I go on Atikins for, say, 3 weeks, and then move to eg slimming world or just cutting calorie intake and exercising, will the weight lost on Atkins just go back on automatically? Would I be wasting my time?

Thanks!

complete waste of time. You need to look at a long term change. How old is your baby?

waste of time - you'll put it al back on and more

That's me told! My Ds is 8 weeks - I did say I was being impatient! Why, out of interest, do you think it would be a complete waste of time? Thanks for the advice.

Most of the initial rapid weight-loss from a low-carb diet like Atkins happens because when you run down your short term energy stores (carbohydrate stores or glycogen) you also lose a lot of the fluid that goes with them. But the minute you reintroduce carbohydrates in anything approaching normal amounts those same short-term energy stores plump right back up again, the fluid returns as well, and the gains can be rapid - half a stone overnight isn't uncommon.

If you want to lose weight successfully over the long term... ie. you'd still like to be a healthy weight when your child is 2, 5 or 10 years old.... then you need to go with a healthy, balanced diet, exercise portion-control and increase how active you are. You can reasonably expect to lose up to 1% of your body-weight each week if you are very accurate about your food intake and conscientious about exercise. So if you're 10st now (140lbs) then you could expect to lose 1 - 1.5lbs in a week. If you're 14st now (196lbs) you might lose 1.5 - 2lbs a week.

A stone is nothing at 8 weeks postnatal, trust me. I was almost 15 stone when my ds was 18 months. Now he's nearly 2 I am just under 10. I did do it low carbing, but I know it works for me, I understand the science behind it and why it has worked. Doing it for a quick fix will be a disaster as you will literally pile it back on- my mum attempted to do it, but thought that 'little cheats' wouldn't hurt. They do and as a result she put on weight. At 8 weeks I'd honestly say give yourself a break. Try a sensible approach that you can stick to, so maybe slimming world or something similar. Even at a pound a week, you'll have lost it by summer