the atkins bars... not on induction?

[not2late]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

I agree with you. That's why I don't mandate "don't eat the bars". I tell people here the truth about them: they cause some people weight loss difficulties--stalls or slow downs. Even Atkins Nutritionals Inc. acknowledges that and advice people to stop eating them if they stop losing weight or if their weight loss slows down. If they still want to eat that stuff, that's their decision. My conscious is clear because I know they were informed of the potential adverse effects.

Eventhough Dr. Atkins put it in the book, I always found this line from his biography to be incredibly revealing:

The energy bars and shakes were a necessary evil, there only because he thought his patients were too lazy to prepare the real kind of unprocessed foods that were the mainstay of his diet.

---Excerpted from:
Dr. Robert Atkins: The True Story of The Man Behind the War on Carbohydrates Lisa Rogak. Chamberlian Bros. 2005. Ch. 6

[Angelina_B1987]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

I have been using the atkins morning start shakes and bars since day 1 and have never had a problem. I guess it just depends on the individual person, though they do create cravings.

[2big4mysize]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

I have been using the atkins morning start shakes and bars since day 1 and have never had a problem. I guess it just depends on the individual person, though they do create cravings.

how can you say you have never had a problem if you then post they create cravings in you? Cravings on Atkins is out of control blood sugars so if you have them when eating those bars you really should follow Dr Atkins advice in chapter 14 and drop them immediately just like any other food you add the causes cravings.

[Angelina_B1987]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

I meant they don't create problems for me as far as weight loss goes. Several other foods such as eggs and chicken make me crave sugar too. Kinda weird.

[not2late]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

2Big's point is that cause cravings indicate they have a bad effect on your blood sugar control. Blood sugar control is important to the weight loss aspect of Atkins. Low carb regulates insulin. Insulin is the hormone that "grabs" excess sugar in your blood and takes it to either be used immediately for energy or stored as glycogen or fat.

You might want to see if the cravings you get from eggs and chicken are due to those foods or do to the additives on those foods. For example, do plain hard or soft boiled eggs give you cravings? Does plain broiled or grilled chicken (no seasonings other than salt and pepper) give you cravings? If not, then you might want to see what's being added to those foods that is giving you cravings.

[Moochiecat]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

This is a discussion we've had many many times, and we'll no doubt have it many many more times in the future.

Think of it from a nutritional standpoint.
I know for sure that *real* food (as opposed to processed packaged food) is better for my body..that's a plain and simple fact. It's in it's natural state and the vitamins and fiber are there for my body to use, and my body will use up every bit of goodness it can from them. I can eat whatever I want off the Acceptable Foods list, and feel content and happy that I've done the best for my body.

A man-made packaged processed 'food'...well...really, what will it give me? For one thing, if it's a bar or shake it's going to remind me of the types of foods that got me so fat to begin with....but they won't quite taste the same, so they're going to make me long for the old days...why would I want that? I think I've eaten enough chemicals in my life with my previous lifestyle...I don't want to do that anymore. My body deserves better than a processed piece of whateveritis.
If I want processed vitamins then I'll take a vitamin pill....when faced with a processed food and a natural food, I'll go for the natural food every time....there's just more nutritional impact in fresh real food.

As far as using one in an emergency, I agree with 2big...there are always options. A member of the board one time (wish I could remember who it was) said that the only time they'd use them was if they were trapped in the bar or shake factory and there was nothing else to eat...lol

There's always the 'what if' factor "What if I hadn't eaten the bars and shakes...would I have lost more weight than what I've lost? Can I be sure they had no effect on me?"

I don't have time for that...I just want the weight gone...I don't know about anyone else, maybe that's just me.

[Goldfinger]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

Here's another perspective from a FORMER bar eater:

I managed to get into the bars and shakes after my 3rd month on Atkins. I thought 'Wow, these are like the holy grail! They taste pretty good AND they're low carb." For the next 6-7 months I proceeded to have one per day, and I was strict on making sure that it was only ONE per day. I think that that was important to ensuring that I did not get out of control or have my weight loss stall. I still managed to lose 10 lbs a month.

After a while, I noticed that they didn't taste as good as before, and that they had pretty much become a habit more than anything else. I then started looking at the ingredients; most of the bars contain maltitol or maltitiol syrup (in addition to other sugar alcohols). This article had been posted here around that time:

http://www.mendosa.com/netcarbs.htm

That really put things into perspective. Maybe it was me maturing on this WOL, but I cut out the bars completey, and replaced them with other snacks like meats and cheeses. I look back today and am surprised that I actually lost the taste for the bars. I haven't had one since September and I don't miss them one bit.

I guess the moral of my story is... The bars may be helpful at some stage of the Atkins journey, but as you progress in the Atkins WOL, cutting them out is part of the natural progression to the healthy, natural, and unprocessed foods that this WOL advocates.

[2big4mysize]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

here is something for all the bars don't effect me folk to think very hard about. Did you ever wonder how Slimfast stays in business? it is because of all the repeat customers. think very hard about what that says about using bars and/or shakes to lose weight.
You don't learn to make good real world food choices you don't learn what foods effect you in what manner, you learn I only eat this or only drink this and I will lose weight.

They get to goal weight and say yippeeeee I'm a size _____ ,shelve the bars and shakes and go right back to their old way of eating cause they didn't learn and practice eating correctly for their metabolism all the time it took them to lose the weight.

So you going to be a permenant goalie or a permenant returnee member cuase you don't know how to maintain your weight loss when you arrive at goal? SLimFast is betting their customers will be permanent returnees.

[thirtytogo]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

And dying my hair will give me cancer, etc etc etc etc... i dont care, everything has pros and cons. What works for some, may not work for others. I can tell you this much for those who it works for, good for them! For some its the difference of making it through and quiting. I would rather see a skinny person who has a bar from time to time, daily, what ever that may be. Than a fat one who gave up!

Dont be so ridged. Its about getting there. Its about what works for you. If you need em who am i, who are you, to say no. Lets face it, some of the opinions about this have been very stern to scare the poor falker who even though he needed something who asked. If it works for you wooohoo congratulations. We are individuals -


Lisa

[not2late]

Re: the atkins bars... not on induction?

This thread is becoming repetitive and redundant so I'm going to lock it.

Here are the basic facts:

Low carb replacement foods like bars and shakes affect different people differently.

1. Some people will experience weight loss slow downs and stalls. Others don't.
2. For some people the use of these bars only serves to reinforce the eating habits that got them fat in the first place. For others they don't.

The mods at ADBB don't sell shakes or bars, so we have no financial incentive to push these products. We only relate the facts behind these bars when we are asked about them.

What the individual dieter does with that information is up to that dieter. They have been thoroughly warned and should thoroughly accept the consequences if any.