New to this and need help please!!!!!!!

[toni29]

I am going to be in a wedding in May and wanted to drop some pounds before then and I was wondering if the atkins diet is safe? I have heard that it causes liver and kidney failure because of the increase in protein. I'm just wondering if anyone has any information on this? I was only going to do it for a few months. Thank you.

[shannon07016]

Re: New to this and need help please!!!!!!!

Read the book.

[Georgiana]

Re: New to this and need help please!!!!!!!

I am going to be in a wedding in May and wanted to drop some pounds before then and I was wondering if the atkins diet is safe? I have heard that it causes liver and kidney failure because of the increase in protein. I'm just wondering if anyone has any information on this? I was only going to do it for a few months. Thank you.

Toni, I'm afraid this won't work for you the way you are trying to do it. The thing with Atkins is that most people gain the weight back plus some when they go off the diet. Besides, there is no way one can say whether you will drop the amount of weight you want to lose by the time of the wedding. After the first two weeks of induction are done, some people keep losing fast, while others lose only 0-2 lbs per week. It depends on how much you have to lose, your age, metabolism, etc.

Atkins is not a diet, but a way of eating for life. It has an Induction phase (where you restrict your carbs to under 20 g), an Ongoing Weight Loss phase (where you slowly add foods back based on their place on the Carbohydrate Ladder), Pre-Maintenance and Maintenance (which is what you should follow for life after dropping the pounds). So if you are looking for a quick way to lose pounds and then go back to your old ways of eating, I believe Atkins is not the best option.

As to the safety of this "diet", yes, Atkins is a safe way of eating. Besides losing weight, many people also improve their health. There was this post today on the board, where someone posted their blood test results before and during Atkins... here's a link to it:

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/main-atkins-diet-forum/71837-why-atkins-works.html

It is a misconception that Atkins is a high-protein diet. In fact, it is a high-fat diet. Only 30% of your calories come from protein, which for someone who eats 1800 calories per day means 135 g of protein. If you do not have liver or kidney problems before starting Atkins, there is no way you won't be able to deal with this amount of protein! At the beginning of chapter 10 in the book, Dr. Atkins writes

People with severe kidney disease (creatinine over 2.4) should not do any phase of Atkins unless ordered to do so by their physician.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!