does the weight come right back?

[steve22]

Well I'm only 5lbs from my target weight. Once I hit that weight I plan on ditching the low carb life style and switching to a healthy low fat diet. My concern is that I'll gain back the weight I lost during atkins. Should I be concerned?

[angelsfort]

Re: does the weight come right back?

My "guess" would be a heaping overwhelming YEAH it's gonna come creeping right back!

I did a low carb diet a few years ago, I stayed on the induction phase for about 3 months and dropped 30 lbs. GOAL! I was psyched!! I was so TIRED of eating low carb, that I immediately switched back to my old eating habits. (they weren't really BAD eating habits, just lots of carbs)

I slowly gained my weight back, after a major trama happened in my life I totally ditched any healthy eating and gained an additional 20 lbs. SO. Although every person is different and can tolerate different levels of carbs... I really believe that the weight will creep back up... even if you're on a low fat diet.

You should hang out and visit the different areas of the site... I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas (if you are bored with the low carb food options you have) there are MANY MANY people who can help you spice up your menu!

[Analog6]

Re: does the weight come right back?

Why?

And what do you mean by a 'healthy low fat diet'. Atkins or any low carb lifestyle is a perfectly healthy diet for life. It is not meant to be used in isolation. Have you learnt nothing from reading the book and doing the hard yards. If you follow this, in my humble opinion, stupid, course of action you'll probably be back here in a year crying that it has all gone back on.

Re-read you book. Buy "Atkins for Life" and learn how to maintain yourself on the VERY healthy way of life. Or the weight will 'come right back'.

Well I'm only 5lbs from my target weight. Once I hit that weight I plan on ditching the low carb life style and switching to a healthy low fat diet. My concern is that I'll gain back the weight I lost during atkins. Should I be concerned?

[cleochatra]

Re: does the weight come right back?

Once I hit that weight I plan on ditching the low carb life style and switching to a healthy low fat diet.

Hi, steve! I don't know you, but I'm thinking there's a reason you're trying Atkins, and I'm guessing it's because it makes you feel pretty healthy and wonderful. That said, why would you try something that wreaks havok with your blood sugar?

And who's to say that Atkins isn't healthy and a low-cal, low-fat lifestyle necessarily is? Many will tell you how their doctors have been flummoxed by the results of lowered cholestrol levels, lowered blood sugar and excellent blood sugar results from this way of eating.

When Atkins works so well for so many with blood sugar problems, why would a person go back to eating what made them fat and unhealthy in the first place, you know?

If anyone has any issues with Atkins being healthy, this might help...

If anyone tells you that Weight Watcher is healthy and Atkins is not, you have my permission to use this comparison I put together yesterday using information gleaned from a site which educates nutritionists. It will save you a lot of effort and wasted breath. The proof is in the menu. Feel free to tweak it any way you wish. I did my calculations for the Atkins menu in fit day.

Weight Watchers Sample Menu:

Breakfast:
1 cup light nonfat vanilla yogurt
1.5 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup low-fat granola

Lunch:
Ham and Cheese tortilla-
6-inch tortilla
1.5 ounces reduced-fat Swiss cheese
2 ounces lean ham
12 cherry tomatoes
1 cup broccoli florets

Dinner:
6 ounces steamed flounder
1 cup steamed green beans with lemon
1 cup linguine topped with 1/4 cup marinara sauce

Snack:
1 banana
1 tablespoon peanut butter
16 ounces cappuccino made with nonfat milk


Nutrition Analysis of Sample Menu:*

1491 calories
202 carbohydrates


Atkins Maintenance Sample Menu


Breakfast:
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1/8 cup flax seed meal
1 packet splenda

Lunch:
Ham and Cheese tortilla-
6-inch low-carb tortilla
1.5 ounces cheddar cheese
2 ounces lean ham
12 cherry tomatoes
1 cup broccoli florets

Dinner:
6 ounces steamed flounder
1 cup steamed green beans with lemon
1 cup spaghetti squash topped with 1/4 cup alfredo sauce with pignoli

Snack:
1 Wasa crisp bread
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon peanut butter
16 ounces herbal tea with 2 Tbsp cream


According to fitday totals, this would equal

1311 calories
50 carbohydrates

[dreamof145]

Re: does the weight come right back?

I think that is a fear that we all have, and the only way to prepare for that not to happen is to go into maintenance and do this WOE for life. If you go back to the old ways of eating, don't exercise or take supplements, then the old habits that made us overweight before will threaten us again.

My PLAN is to stay with the Maintenance level and not let it go to my head that I am 'cured' from getting fat. I will never be cured, I will always have to maintain my new life-style to stay healthy.

[steve22]

Re: does the weight come right back?

thanks for the feedback. i think i have a different background then many of the people on this forum. I've actually always been in pretty good shape. I tried atkins to shed a few pounds before a big company conference at the end of the month. It worked extremely well. I went from 195 to 184 in just 16 days. My overall goal is 179. Since im only 22 and have a pretty good metabolism (i was fortunate to only be 195 considering my eating habbits) I think I can keep the weight off by switching to low fat, and exercising regularly. However my concern is that the body just naturally begins to store up on carbs once i start eating them again, regardless of how much exercise I do. If its an inevitable weight gain then I may consider sticking to the low car wol. On the other hand, if I can manage to keep the weight off by eating healthy and exercising, then that's what I want to do.

[cleochatra]

Re: does the weight come right back?

I know too many people who think Atkins is a diet one begins and one ends. It's actually a way of eating devoid of processed foods. When people think this is something you do that is unhealthy so you do it to drop weight and then go back to the truly unhealthy way of eating, I think that's where things fall apart.

Did you peek at the menu I posted? It's extremely healthful. I think we are so brainwashed, as a nation, to believe the food pyramid is god, but the PACs and special interest groups are the ones who influence policy, and not common sense. Special K needs you to believe you need cereal to be healthy. That's just hog wash.

Carbs can be good and they can be bad; this is why this way of eating is such a positive change for many. You learn what your body honestly wants and needs, what your food intolerances truly are, and you'll feel so amazing once in ketosis that you'll wonder why blood sugar whoopsies ever made you a happy camper. I know it makes me miserable.

I just think of this way of eating as an honest "detox" for the body. Water, vegetables, healthy proteins, healthy fats, cheeses, and as you progress and know how your blood sugar handles them, fruits, flax, nuts and seeds, oats and other healthy foods. (not in that order).

I have been an absolute skeptic about this way of eating, but man I can honestly tell you that I lost a lot of weight, and as soon as I went back to what I thought was healthy, I was depressed, tired, dizzy, and always hungry.

I think this is a wake up call. The human animal was never meant for a low-cal, high-carb processed diet. I look to Native Americans and their diets filled with pemmican, meat and how lean and healthy they were versus what our current American diet has done to so many people from the various indigenous nations.

[iyamamaschke]

Re: does the weight come right back?

I lost a ton of weight on and off of Atkins in the Years that I had been doing it I like you though oh ya I can just ditch it and do something elese. I'll tell you straight out right now, that you will maintain for a while then all of a sudden it starts to come back on with avengance and before you know it you are back where you started plus a whole lot extra that's what happened to me. I probably maintained on Low fat for UMM lets say 1 month then it was packing on at trhe speed of sound.

Atkins isn't just a quick weight loss plan sure in the beginning it works real fast but, what have you taught yourself about eating from sticking with it for 2 weeks and going back. NOTHING. I have changed my entire outlook and until that happens it's gunna keep a comming back and that is something I ahve learned the extremely hard way By experience.

Sarah

[Perry]

Re: does the weight come right back?

thanks for the feedback. i think i have a different background then many of the people on this forum. I've actually always been in pretty good shape. I tried atkins to shed a few pounds before a big company conference at the end of the month. It worked extremely well. I went from 195 to 184 in just 16 days. My overall goal is 179. Since im only 22 and have a pretty good metabolism (i was fortunate to only be 195 considering my eating habbits) I think I can keep the weight off by switching to low fat, and exercising regularly. However my concern is that the body just naturally begins to store up on carbs once i start eating them again, regardless of how much exercise I do. If its an inevitable weight gain then I may consider sticking to the low car wol. On the other hand, if I can manage to keep the weight off by eating healthy and exercising, then that's what I want to do.

Steve22, first off, congrats on getting to your goal - or very close. You've experienced the power of this diet. However, low-carb has its dark side, too. Some people have so much success that they believe they can try something 'new' and just run back to Atkins (or low-carb) when the mood strikes them - or the lbs. start creeping back on. THAT DOES NOT WORK. You didn't creep up to 195 by eating healthy - what makes you think you can do it now? You have a lot of years left to live. Eating yogurt and boiled chicken all the time could get a little boring, don't you think?

Secondly, by implying that Atkins is 'non-healthy', on an Atkins bulletin board, is asking for trouble!

I don't have any experience with low-fat but I would imagine if you maintained a low-fat diet and exercise routine (at goal weight) you could be successful. However, if we see you back in the STAC forum posting, don't say we didn't warn you.

[tentcamp]

Re: does the weight come right back?

I got fat eating "healthy" low fat.

[steve22]

Re: does the weight come right back?

by implying that Atkins is 'non-healthy', on an Atkins bulletin board, is asking for trouble!

I never stated that atkins was "unhealthy", i just said that a balanced low fat diet would be health"ier". I work for a food service company and have talked to a couple of registered dietitians. Their opions on this matter are important to me since health & dieting are their areas of expertise.

[Perry]

Re: does the weight come right back?

Thanks for clarifying, Steve.

[yemenitegreen]

Re: does the weight come right back?

And their opinions are based on what exactly? FDA recommendations? Personal experience? Medical facts?

What exactly do you talk about when mentioning a balanced low-fat diet? And.. if you are so healthy and trim to begin with, why would eating the "healthier" diet make your body gain pounds, where's the logic? And if low fat is so much healthier, why didn't you lose your weight on a low fat regimen? Frankly, I just don't get it.

If the so-called balanced low-fat diet is good for you, stick to it, no doubt about it. Every body has different needs, and a way of eating will have to suit you. But I would not base that opinion or decision on a dieticians' advice but on your personal experience.

Anyway, I believe that regarding Atkins(or any way of eating) as a short term diet is just wrong. Find a way of eating that suits your metabolism, and stick to it. Period.

yemenitegreen

[ttdriver]

Re: does the weight come right back?

I got fat eating "healthy" low fat.

Me too, AND I was hungry ALL THE TIME.

Betty

[shirleyhon]

Re: does the weight come right back?

I think that people need to find out what works for them and just keep their attitudes. Everyone wants to tell everyone what it right. What is right is what makes people feel better about themselves.