atkins failure

[Georgiana]

Re: atkins failure

I didn't actually ask for advice on me and "OWL"

I thought this was asking for advice:

"What should I do to move to OWL? Eat more carbs gradually?"

[Georgiana]

Re: atkins failure

Advice about Atkins as in DANDR 2002, I mean... not about some other plan.

[ADreamComeTrue]

Re: atkins failure

Just giving my opinion as I am fairly new too, but I have read the book recently. I think it is very important to do all of the phases of Atkins because for me, it makes me feel like I have "achieved something else"! Like when my first two weeks of Induction was done, I felt great and happy that I met one of the "Phase goals" and I will be moving to OWL in 4 days. I am also the type that tends to "do it the right way the first time so I don't have to repeat it again" about lots of things..but that is just me and how I feel about it. Good Luck to you!

-Christie

[mitzimarie]

Re: atkins failure

I didn't actually ask for advice on me and "OWL", but thanks. I don't see why it matters if I see how many carbs I can eat without gaining weight before I lose the weight I want to lose or after. Since I lose about 1/3 of a pound a week now, it will take forever to even figure out if I'm gaining or losing weight by adding carbs. It makes more sense to me to just stick with what's been working and then after I'm at my goal, see how many carbs I can add.

Ok... point taken. As J said, your method is entirely your choice. But it's left me wondering - if you don't want advice on how to follow 2002 DANDR properly, and it makes more sense to stick to what you've been doing, what is it that you would like to achieve in this thread? I genuinely mean no disrespect with that question... I am just not clear upon what members are supposed to be discussing here.

[bizzlekitty]

Re: atkins failure

As for thyroid issues, I have those in spades and this WOE (and nothing else ever has) works for me, but I have to do it right.

Dr. Atkins also mentions in the book about getting health conditions tested for and dealt with. If you have thyroid issues and aren't properly medicated, it will be very difficult to lose weight. Certain other medications and conditions can also interfere with weight loss.

I've run into so many people who have said Atkins didn't work for them and they did it right, yadda yadda, but after quizzing them more, they were not! I myself have not done right at times and still stumble here and there, but am doing better this time and plan to do it for the rest of my life.

I have a multiple of health conditions with medications I take that make it difficult to lose weight, yet this WOL, done exactly, does work.

[not2late]

Re: atkins failure

hi amazon1.

I can understand your concern for your friend. But unless she posts herself, there is really no way we can help her. Unless you live with her and know exactly what she is eating, how much she is eating, what kind of exercise she does, etc., it's really hard to know with any certainty that she is following Atkins. My brother-in-law swore up and down that he was following Atkins and that he gained weight because of Atkins....and then I found the goober was "following Atkins" by eating pastrami sandwiches (yes, including the bread!) and 2-3 bags of pork rinds per day. Needless to say, he still swears he followed Atkins to a T and still blames Atkins for his weight gain.

So your friend really needs to post here for help. And she shouldn't feel embarassed or self-conscious about posting here----it's all anonymous.

The other thing is that you mentioned she wasn't losing weight. Was she losing inches? I went through a period where I didn't lose pounds, but I lost dress sizes. For someone like me who spent most of her life in the "extended sizes", fitting into normal size clothes meant I was normal sized. I didn't care if the scale showed I was 190-200 pounds: I looked smaller and I was smaller.

The other thing I found necessary during my loss was to keep reading and referring to the book. There were times when I thought something was done X-way, and when I read the book, I saw it wasn't so.

[warmsummerfall]

Re: atkins failure

Hi everyone, I had been on Atkins a year and a half ago. I lost 60 pounds following the plan. When I felt comfortable with my weight I went off atkins plan except I really watched my carb intake. When I started gaining weight back (10 pounds) I knew how important being on the true atkins plan was. Even though I had the lost the weight, I had to reread the book a couple of times, and coming on this board I continue to learn things daily. They are a great bunch of ladies and gents here to offer true atkins support 24/7. I have lost five pounds so far of the ten. If I do not follow the plan to a T, then I will gain the weight back. I also had some freinds who said they followed the plan and did not lose but once I really starting helping them they were making some small mistakes that added to no weight loss. For me the support offered here is awesome although they will tell you like it is. This works for me I can gain weight being told what I want to hear, or I can lose weight being told the keys to success here. I do hope you stay with us and let us support each other on our journey and life time eating healthy plan.

[amazon1]

Re: atkins failure

I think I've asked this before. It's really more of a comment. If I lose let's say 1/3 of a pound a week and my weight fluctuates within that week up and down by up to 2 pounds (I don't know if everyone is like this) how can you possibly know within 1 or 2 weeks if what you're doing is right? So if you add 5 carbs, how do you know you've stalled when you wouldn't be expected to lose noticeably that week and / or it could just be random fluctuations within the week. I don't want to wait for months to figure out how many carbs I can eat maximally when I'm fine now, eating less carbs. I don't think I will go crazy when I meet my goal because I didn't eat like that before.

Also, many of the things in the book were never tested. Some major tenets of Atkins have been tested - like that the diet does help with weight loss and can lead to improved cholesterol, etc. But things like not eating nuts in induction has not been subject to any kind of random testing that I've ever heard of. And I really think if we had the good doctor here with us, being a doctor and a scientist, he would probably be pretty casual with what you add when, etc. It's just a feeling I have. I think he'd say, "Some people can't control themselves when they eat nuts. If you can, I see no problem with eating an ounce of nuts."

And some people become upset when Atkins is discussed reasonably but not all.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: atkins failure

>>I think he'd say, "Some people can't control themselves when they eat nuts.>>

Well, you've read the book, so you know what he says about nuts!

>>I really think if we had the good doctor here with us, being a doctor and a scientist, he would probably be pretty casual with what you add when, etc.>>

After 30 years of work, he came up with the OWL carb ladder ... which is there for a reason.

I think he did it for a reason.

That you don't want to follow the plan as written by Dr. Atkins is up to you.

Just don't expect those of us for whom it has worked and continues to work to support your own version.

[mitzimarie]

Re: atkins failure

But things like not eating nuts in induction has not been subject to any kind of random testing that I've ever heard of. And I really think if we had the good doctor here with us, being a doctor and a scientist, he would probably be pretty casual with what you add when, etc. It's just a feeling I have. I think he'd say, "Some people can't control themselves when they eat nuts. If you can, I see no problem with eating an ounce of nuts."

Induction is only a 2 week period. Someone as close to their goal weight as you are should start progressing up the rungs as soon as that 2 weeks is up, and nuts are in one of the lower rungs. Why are you in Extended Induction?

And, again, I don't understand why it is so important to push your view that following Atkins by the 540 page book written by the doctor himself, should be followed in a "casual" way. This is not a general low carb board... we are a support board for 2002 DANDR.

[amazon1]

Re: atkins failure

I originally asked about when I should get blood work repeated and I got a few helpful, reasonable answers and I changed my appointment. Then I asked about my friend. Someone kept saying, go on OWL, read the book. So then I just asked what was so special about OWL. Not really asking for "advice".

I have gotten helpful answers and encouragement on this board in-between the "Read the Book", "You haven't read and memorized your book!" exhortations. Not everyone here is a strict zealot.

And given that I was not very overweight to begin with - I started at 5'6" - 142 lbs. and am now about 132 pounds in about 3 months, and I'm 55, I would say that my method worked too. Because I am following the Atkins diet.

[Georgiana]

Re: atkins failure

I think I've asked this before.

Yes, you did. It was answered here: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...ies-carbs.html

[Skeptika23]

Re: atkins failure

I originally asked about when I should get blood work repeated and I got a few helpful, reasonable answers and I changed my appointment. Then I asked about my friend. Someone kept saying, go on OWL, read the book. So then I just asked what was so special about OWL. Not really asking for "advice".

I have gotten helpful answers and encouragement on this board in-between the "Read the Book", "You haven't read and memorized your book!" exhortations. Not everyone here is a strict zealot.

And given that I was not very overweight to begin with - I started at 5'6" - 142 lbs. and am now about 132 pounds in about 3 months, and I'm 55, I would say that my method worked too. Because I am following the Atkins diet.

Actually, the VAST majority of us are strict zealots when it comes to DANDR 2002, so... But zealotry implies that we adhere to it without objective evidence, which actually not true at all - we have a LOT of evidence that following DANDR 2002 works for weight loss and maintenance of weight goals.

As many others have said - if you don't want to follow the plan we follow here at ADBB, that fine, and good luck to you - there are a tons of variants on Atkins (including previous books of his) and low carb eating in general, and some people have success with that. Tons of boards out there for that, too - all of which are filled with non-zealots.

But we here follow DANDR 2002, because we believe -and know, due to experience - that it works, exactly as Dr. Atkins designed that plan in that book.

[mitzimarie]

Re: atkins failure

Because I am following the Atkins diet.

Well, that's just it... you are NOT following the Atkins diet. Atkins is comprised of 4 stages. You don't understand how they work, so how can you be following Atkins?

Look, I sincerely congratulate you for being able to lose weight. And I am not discrediting your way of doing it. But on this board, especially at this time of year with all of the newbies seeking information about how to do 2002 DANDR correctly, we would be remiss if we did not point out that there is a very specific way to follow the plan. That does not mean that we are zealots - we are just supporting the mission statement of this board.

[Georgiana]

Re: atkins failure

So then I just asked what was so special about OWL.

You asked how you should do to move to OWL, not "what is so special about OWL".