Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Healthy Atkins Diet

Question:
I've been on Atkins for about 6 weeks. The first month I lost 7 pounds; nothing dramatic compared to some of the reports I hear, but I was still happy. But I haven't lost a single pound in more than 2 weeks, in fact I've gained a couple. The whole time on the diet I haven't gone above 20 grams of carbos a day, since I would go out of ketosis as soon as I'd get above 20 grams. So the last few weeks I've kept it well below 20 grams and have even cut down on fat and I'm not in ketosis and I'm gaining weight! In the last 2 days all I've had is (each day) a hamburger and 2 slices of turkey and I've gained weight! Also, I am soooo exhausted lately. I used to exercise but I simply can't do it anymore. Could anyone who knows something about the Atkins diet let me know if this is unusual, or what I can do to get out of this slump? I realize people are very outspoken about this diet. I do not need to hear comments about how ridiculous it is; I'd like to hear from people who know about the diet and who have some constructive advice. Please respond to my email address, as I'm too swamped at work to check this group too often. Can you please tell me more about a Healthy Atkins Diet? Thanks very much for your help.

Answer:
My suggestion is that you take a look at the total number of calories you are taking in. You may find out that you are eating way too many calories to lose weight--at least that has been my experience on this kind of diet. Also, I don't think that the goal of a low carbohydrate diet is to restrict yourself to 20 grams per day for the rest of your life and I don't think that doing that guarantees weight loss. I find that I do much better if I keep my carb levels in the 60 to 100 gram range and my calories in the 1200 to 1500 range--at least for weight _loss_. Maintenance is a different story and I can get by with eating a lot more. I think some people have the mistaken idea that a low carbohydrate is a miracle cure for weight loss....that all you have to do is cut out the carbs and you will be instantly thin. It hasn't worked that way for me, although I definitely prefer low carb dieting to low fat dieting for a number of reasons, the main ones being that (a) I can lose weight without suffering from hunger (b) it cuts down on a LOT of my cravings, especially cravings for carbs.