The Atkins diet, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins Diet Revolution which all started back in the 1970's. He was riddculed by colleagues and experts alike for his claims and yet today we have people en masse going the atkins way ..

Has this really gone too far ?? You see books posters and i now get spam email about it - that is after all the enlarge your penis and stay hard for 56 hours ones. Websites sport links to pay sites for it all, everyone seems to be talking about it and everyone is on it, well almost everyone.

Am i alone in thinking this is madness ? what the hell is wrong with you people, do you fail to understand the fairly basic concepts of nutrition ?

Woman who I work with trues every diet going - stayed on the Atkins Plan for 3 weeks, came off it when ahe fiunally realised why she could barely stand up!

Don't do it, just don't, Especially if the glossy mags tell you to do it!

I personally would not follow it, on account of having previous experience of what nail varnish breath smells like.

It is effective, but you have to stay on it, you cant switch back and forth or the weight just goes back on, as I understand it.

I would also be slightly concerned about following the recommendations of a doctor who was allegedly fairly substantially overweight at his passing.

And he was supposed to have suffered from heart disease. I've eaten whatever i felt like for years and never put on a pound, then i put on a stone in the last two months. Nothing changed, it just happened.

Even though it was developed some 30 years ago the Atkins method is tailor made for todays instant gratification, quick fix society, in at least the initial phase the results are impressive. However I have to agree with Fireboy, the short term gains are not worth the health problems health professionals are warning about.

Like most diets, its a con.

i reckon its not a bad idea, as long as you only want to lose about a stone or so quickly. But the effects are dangerous if continued for a long period of time. Its coomon sense though, that if you want to lose weight, you should reduce carbs and increase protein- the atkins diet is a stricter form of this.
I think it is only really dangerous if you have other co-existing morbidities such as renal failure, heart conditions and the like.

I tried the diet and found that i was losing weight. but not becuse of how effective the diet is, but mainly because I could have no bread, pasta, potatoes etc. and there is only so much meat you can eat, without the aforementioned foods.

This might sound silly, but are people following it properly? You only totally cut out carbs for two weeks, then introduce them back in dont you?

Nope...even after you quit the hardcore no carbs part, you have to stay on "maintenance."

If you get all badly into ketosis and just start eating carbs, youll gain weight back in an instant, either exactly what you lost or possibly much more...

It works pretty well for fast results, but if you fuck up, you REALLY fuck up....

Atkins is a load of shite - the main problem with the overweight brigade is as Jasper Carrott once said:

"This hole here," - points to mouth, "is bigger than this hole here!" - points to arse.

Modern day food is stuffed full of carbs, way too many - so in theory Atkins sounds OK - but you can't dump them totally. What you need to do is to loose some of the carbs and just watch what you eat.

Myself, I stopped eating chips and only eat rice, pasta, couscous or a small helping of spud healthly cooked with whatever else - dropped 16 pounds in 6 months - no ill effects or anything.

The trick is to replace the carb part of the nosh-up with veg and to generally reduce how much you eat in carbs (must dig my nutrition book out for recommended percentages).

Say no to chips!

the two women in that banner don't even look similar (and besides. I prefer the 'before' lady anyway)

Yeah, such a crap banner ad, they used 2 different models.

Dr. Atkins took a "header",
he slipped on the ice (right, bubba used to slip on the ice drinking pints)
he must of had his plug pulled , probably by ....

atkins my arse.
but my mate haas
lost loads of weight on atkins...
still he aint on it true ;P

I think the Atkins diet sounds ridiculous here's one on the same level 'The Berverly Hills Diet.' Basically it teaches you how to become an anorexic and eat very little and what you do eat has a laxative effect so you get rid of everthing anyway.
When are people going to realise, if you eat a balanced diet, eat less, and move about more you can lose weight? I'm not saying it's easy, but surely, that's the most sensible way.

fireboy spouted:
attachment=ilostonatkins.jpg

She also grew taller.

AFAIK the results of the BBC 'Diet Trials' report found that the Atkins Diet works because people stuffing themsleves with sausages and bacon don't eat as much. It's essentially just a bog-standard calorie controlled diet and if you follow it properly it'll work like any other diet.
Who cares though, nobody really likes skinny bitches anyhow

The only way I'd diet to lose weight is the real way. Healthy diet and lots of exercise.

Atkins is a dirty trick to get your body to lose weight and it works to an extent but it also fucks up your body. High cholesterol, low fibre, fatigue, low energy, I'd dread to see what was swilling around the gut and intestines of someone on Atkins.

You can't replace willpower and good strenuos cardio :)

Counting calories and exercising is the only way. Besides all the other health risks, Atkins also teaches you nothing about portion control, so when you come off it, you still eat like a bastard whilst satisfying your chip cravings, thus gaining all the weight you lost and more.

Basically it teaches you how to become an anorexic and eat very little and what you do eat has a laxative effect so you get rid of everthing anyway.

That shows how little you know about it. High protein diets and those rich in cheese have a binding effect and many people find that they really must up their fiber in order to have regular movements.
You also do not eat 'very little'. You can eat quite a bit of food and still lose. It is true that you can lose your appetite a bit but that's usually a good thing for people who are trying to lose weight. That's why diet pills that have the same effect are a mulitmillion dollar a year industry.
Everyone that I have ever known on Atkins has had wonderful results in terms of cholesterol and blood pressure and many other standard health screenings.
There is also a huge misconception that everyone on Atkins just loads up on greasy food s and that is not true at all. Yes, you are allowed to, but that doesn't mean that it is strongly encouraged. Atkins can be quite balanced for people who choose to do it properly. It's not the diet itself, it's the way the dieters use it. It's no different than people who go on Weight Watchers and fill up on artificial foods just because they are low in points. Eating a bunch of WOW chips and light bread that tastes like cardboard and has about the same amount of vitamins and nutrients in it is not following the diet the way that is suggested. I know many, many people who have said that they have never eaten as many vegetables in their life before they started Atkins. You really don't have a achoice but eat helathy vegetables because you are going to want more than just a piece of meat for dinner or lunch so you make a couple different vegetables for sides.
I do agree that it can be difficult to stick with, but for those who can, I believe it's a wonderful diet.

I've had quite a session tonight, so at the risk of being insensitive...

Ugh_tC spouted:
"This hole here," - points to mouth, "is bigger than this hole here!" - points to arse.
I have to agree with this. Simple mathematics, eat more calories than you use, then you'll put on weight.

The amount of people I've seen blame their weight problem on their 'metababolism' is unbelievable.

What? Am I to believe that your body is so much more efficient than mine at converting food into energy, that you pile on the pounds while eating the same as me? Are you superhuman our something?

FUCK OFF! You eat too much and don't exercise enough! Simple.

dogbomb spouted:


She also grew taller.

yep, according to the picture she started at 11ft 3 inches and ended up at 8ft 3 inches.
now come to think of it that could be a good thing.
I mean how the hell is a woman who is over 11ft ever going to get on in life?
Still, if you're only 4ft 2 you'd better be careful or you'd end up as a midget.

without a doubt, lowering your carbs do help you lose weight. my dad increased the amount of vegetables he was eating when he did the (f)atkins diet which surely negates the long term harm?

i found in the past that decreasing the amount of yeasty bread helped me lose weight, even though i was eating wholemeal grains instead.

but then now i am back to being a fat git again - more food and less exercise doh!!!

To stay fat you have to eat more calories, which means your metabolism is working quite well in order to convert those calories to fat.

So someone would be correct in saying it's their metabolism that makes them fat, but only because they don't get of rid of the extra calories they've eaten. Moral: Eat less, and if you can't do that then keep eating the same but exercise LOTS!.

When Dr Robert Atkins died, he weighed 18 st 6 lbs (117 kg) and was clinically obese. Yeah, that's a great diet...

Its rubbish. Just another fad. It seems every few years another freak comes up with some stupid way to "lose weight" and as a woman I'm frankly offended by it - have you ever looked at the front page of any of the women's magazines on the shelves? EVERY SINGLE ONE will have loads of shit about how to "get into that bikini"/"diet successfully"/"follow the celeb diet" etc etc blah blah, women especially (although also some men) are being constantly browbeaten by the media into this way of thinking that they have to be really really thin - skinny models, actresses etc constantly being feted as "gorgeous" and how we "should" look. I mean, in Hollywood the acceptable size is a "size 0" - what the FUCK is that? I didn't even know such a thing existed! Maybe for 9 year old girls perhaps . . .but not for mature WOMEN who are meant to have boobs and bums and hips because thats NATURAL!

I've never been "fat". As a teenage I was severly anorexic and nearly died (hey thats a way to lose weight - just stop eating. Does have side effects though like - sickness, constipation, fainting, dry flaky cracked skin, grey complexion, loss of menstruation . . oh and DEATH . . ) now I eat "normally" and as a dancer I an quite active. But as a size 12 occasionally verging on 14 (I'm 5'8" tall) I'm considered way too "fat" for popular culture (I'm a classical Indian dancer and they are supposed to be curvy so thats not a problem). I think i look fine and so does my fella, and I certainly feel fine, but everytime I open a magazine I', assaulted by pics of emaciated supermodels and actresses like Nicole Kidman, who frankly looks like skulls on pole - and reminded of how "gorgeous" they are and how to look like them by cutting out "carbs" and all that shit.

Fuck it. No way will I ever do that. As a matter of fact my ideal of a gorgeous looking woman is someone more like Monica Bellucci, curvy and sexy and healthy looking. I hate emaciated "size 4" actresses and models, I hate being able to count every bone in their body when they wear a low cut dress! How is that attractive? And my fella agrees with me. He thinks Monica is gorgeous and finds emaciated models really minging - he likes women with full boobs, curvy hips, long shiny hair, radiant skin - in other words HEALTHY looking!

Is it because the fashion/film industry is run by gay men who don't like womanly things like boobs and bums?

Atkins is bullshit. Completely unhealthy and faddy. If you want to lose weight just take more exercise and don't drink so much alcohol and try to structure your day so that you can get in a few "healthy" meals instead of just scoffing burgers and chips. For most people that will work.

*yawn*
And my fella agrees with me.
You'll find that most fellas do. You don't have to buy those stupid magazines. By doing so you're helping to pay the silly fuckers who perpetuate the ideal that grown women should look like adolescant boys.

harry007jnr spouted:
*yawn*

You'll find that most fellas do.

Most men's definition of curvy is big boob and small hips though, no?

Is it because the fashion/film industry is run by gay men who don't like womanly things like boobs and bums?

Yep welshgirl, it is run by gay men.

rammsteinrainbo spouted:
Most men's definition of curvy is big boob and small hips though, no?
What, you mean like Victoria Beckham? *retch*

My point is you don't have to pay attention to the fashion industry, so what if some gay designer thinks that an undernourished waif is the ideal woman? Let him.