anyone else being bashed?

[Pam_C]

I was wondering if anyone else has the problem of being told how "stupid" it is to be on a low carb diet? I deal with this everytime I say I am on Atkins. I have also noticed that a certain fitness site has a post on their forums about how bad low carb diets are. I quit telling people I am on Atkins now. I am sick of hearing how someone they know has almost died from doing a low carb diet and their kidneys shut down and so on and so forth. Just curious.

Pam

[not2late]

If I think I'm around people who believe the media lies about this diet, I just tell them I don't eat added refined sugars, refined grains and grain products, and that I eat more whole, natural, minimally processed/refined foods. They usually are in awe that I'm doing something so healthy.

[ttdriver]

I never shirk from telling them I'm doing Atkins. And that I've been waiting for it to kill me for nearly 4 years....And how I run 30 miles a week, never eat sugar, flour or starch, eat lots of fruits and vegetables along with my meats and take lots of vitamins. And that my cholesterol numbers are perfect, along with my blood pressure and blood sugar. Oh and that I have 13% body fat.

Then they ask me how to do Atkins.

Betty

[Pam_C]

Thanks for the tips I'll try that. I've lost 65lps and still going.

Pam

[TWTMhomeschoolMom]

I never shirk from telling them I'm doing Atkins. ...... {snip} never eat sugar, flour or starch, eat lots of fruits and vegetables along with my meats

I'm with you Betty. As time has gone on, now going on 16months I've become more and more comfortable with telling folks straight-out that I follow Atkins. I follow it up with a ----and so that means I don't eat sugar or flour or other processed foods, but I do eat loads of vegetables, some fruits, and protein items. If they still think or suggest that I'm doing something *wrong* I counter with the facts that my cholestrol is wonderfully low and that my Doc thinks that my low-carb diet is the best approach to a healthy lifestyle.

What the person finally admits typically is that they think I'm eating all the beef, and fat, and chicken skins, I possible could stuff into this body and forgetting to eat vegetables and fruit. A simple explanation of the major food-stuffs I avoid; flour, sugar, potatoes, rice, suffices it for most folks.

[snorkelman]

Although you will lose weight with a very low carb diet such as atkins, i think that the jury is still out as to whether it is safe to eat saturated fats and little to no fruit and limited veggies for long periods of time. Clearly this is viewed as an extreme eating plan, and anyone who claims that it is safe really can't have much data to support it.

Don't bash me, I am just telling you why people confront you when you tell them you are on a very lo carb eating plan.

[Sarah_K]

When asked how I'm losing weight, I usually try to head anti-Atkins comments off at the pass by saying, "I follow the Atkins plan, BY THE BOOK, which does not mean eating only bacon, eggs and steak for every meal; I eat a lot of vegetables and unprocessed foods, no sugar, flour, or starches, and I exercise regularly." At that point, people get the idea that what they've heard about the plan may not actually be completely accurate(!).

It's worked for me.

[ttdriver]

Although you will lose weight with a very low carb diet such as atkins, i think that the jury is still out as to whether it is safe to eat saturated fats and little to no fruit and limited veggies for long periods of time. Clearly this is viewed as an extreme eating plan, and anyone who claims that it is safe really can't have much data to support it.

Don't bash me, I am just telling you why people confront you when you tell them you are on a very lo carb eating plan.

No fruit and limited veggies? What would they be? I eat darn near every fruit and veggie on the planet (exception bananas and potatoes). As for saturated fats, there is NO proof that they harm the body in the absence of a high sugar/flour diet. Its what our ancestors ate for years ... the obesity epidemic surged when processed convenience foods packed with sugar and other garbage became available.

I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how eating wholesome foods is 'extreme'.

Betty

[TWTMhomeschoolMom]

And Betty, once again I'll chime in with you. I eat more vegetables now then I ever did following the TYPICALLY American eating plan. Following Atkins I now have room for fresh vegetables at every meal since I'm not loading my plate with high-carb foods.

Last time I visited with my extended family I noticed that while they ate crackers and breads and sugary deserts I was eating fresh vegetables. While they ate a second helping of meat, I was finding myself quite satisfied with my single serving of meat and all my fresh vegetables.

Thanks snorkelman but I'll stick to my Atkins and watch the pounds disappear and my cholestrol drop and drop and drop.

[ttdriver]

Thanks snorkelman but I'll stick to my Atkins and watch the pounds disappear and my cholestrol drop and drop and drop.

:guns :guns :guns YOU BETCHA!!

Betty

[2big4mysize]

When they tell you those stories ask then to tell you what medical review site that was on or to please give you a copy of the article cause you'd like to check it for yourself as you have done a lot of research on the low carbing issues and haven't yet found any that say it is bad with scientific studies to back them up.
As you lose more and become healthier we suddenly become walking talking Atkinsbillboards and those say nay sayers will be asking you your secrets for getting smaler and healthier.

You can always say and they used to think the world was flat too.

Happy low carbing.

[leslie0021]

anyone who claims that it is safe really can't have much data to support it.

:confused

My blood panel was perfect last time I went to the doctor...I eat fruit, and veggies galore, I am now on Rung 9, so I get whole grains. I eat chicken and fish and use healthy fats in moderation. That is what Atkins is all about.

I'm not sure why the above statement would even be made, but hey, it's just another opportunity to educate.

I tell people what I eat in the course of a day, then ask them what they think of it. They invariably tell me how healthy I am, that I'm really a model for good nutritional practices, etc. THEN I tell them it's Atkins that I do, and they are floored...."But I thought..." comes next. Exactly. So, let me tell you the truth. Gets em' every time.

To be honest...I feel that Atkins is the way humans were intended to eat. Meat, fish, fowl....veggies, fruits, whole grains, healthy oils and fats. All original foods.

:yes

[fawn]

I NEVER hesitate to say I follow the Atkins plan.

I've been on it for 5 years and like Betty I just can't get the damn plan to kill me!

All my blood work is normal
My BP is 107/67

And like Betty I run 25-30 miles a week and weight train

I think I'm in better health than 2 out of 3 of my children! (1 still lives at home and is controlled....controlled carbs that is) hee hee hee......

My bacon intake is about once a week.....the darn stuff is too difficult to clean up and my snack choices have gone from pork rinds to almonds so it's a natural progression once you have chosen this as a lifestyle rather than a diet. The natural progression is 6-9 servings of fruit/veggies a day and I don't know about you girls but I don't eat nearly as much meat/fat as I did on induction.....AND while the naysayers are eating bagels and fat free cream cheese I'm munching on a flax muffin spread w/yocheese.

God I'm too healthy now that I think about it! :yikes

[ttdriver]

God I'm too healthy now that I think about it!

:guns :guns :guns :guns :guns :guns :guns

Ain't it the truth!!

Betty

[lowcarbing4ever]

I also never, ever hesitate to say I am on Atkins. Why should I be ashamed of getting healthy instead of being a processed-white sugar/bread/rice-junk food junkie? Most idiots--oops, excuse me--people who harp on anyone about being on Atkins start out with, "isn't that the DIET where you eat tons of fat, bacon and beef all day?" Followed by, "you know, that DIET isn't healthy! It could kill you! Haven't you heard about the woman....blah, blah, blah." You know, if I had a dime for every person who told me some story about someone who almost died, got sick, etc, etc on Atkins, I would have a house and new car by now. :bang
First of all, I tell them that Atkins is not a DIET in the sense of the word as they understand it. It is a diet in the sense of changing the way you eat versus what you used to eat. Then I explain, (if they are willing to have brains to listen), exactly what I eat and what the plan entails. Then I show them the book because sometimes they still don't believe what I say. And I totally agree: I eat more veggies, even me being in induction than I ever did....and the variety! I always stuck to one or two veggies. Now, I experiment with food, cooking, etc more than before. I was a microwave-Tvdinner queen before Atkins. If it didn't come in a box to be microwaved, boiled or ready in 5 minutes, I was sleep. My life has done a totally different life change. If eating 3 times a day, exercising, drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of sleep, and losing 75 lbs will kill me on Atkins, let me go with a smile on my face and a copy of DANDR in my folded arms across my chest! :guns :dancingb: Don't worry about people not jivin' with you being on Atkins; you are the one getting healthy and living a better life. If they choose to believe negative, let them. Just tell them you are on Atkins and close your ears to the rest. It is really none of their business anyway.