Atkins Snacks

[Carbonated_Brains]

You're not hungry all the time if you put in the number of calories correctly matched to your bodyweight and level of exercise.

And lots of foods leave you feeling full or empty regardless of their caloric weight...junk food has the lowest "fullness" effect on the body.

Let's face it though, if you take up jogging, you can plough through a pile of pasta and the carbs are greedily put to good use by your body, which needs them to fuel the exercise. Liberal olive oil, and fresh ingredients (not frigging TV dinners) will make you full. Plus, half the time feeling hungry is due to a lack of fluids, not food. Drink a cup of tea or juice.

The main things that people need to cut down on, are heavily processed fats, and high-fructose corn syrup.

The processed fats are difficult for the body to use, and thus end up as bodyfat. High-fructose corn syrup is used by the soft-drink industry in place of sugar, and it's basically a low level poison, it's horrible for your body.

I know plenty of Greeks and Italians who power through more fat and carbs than you could count, but they exercise and they don't eat processed chemical "food".


Take your atkins diet and combine it with moderate exercise; your body will suffer enormously. The body NEEDS carbohydrates.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by russotto

Low fat, low calorie diet = hungry all the time. And in my case, with a constant headache as well. I don't like being heavy but constant hunger and a headache ain't worth a few pounds. If it weren't for this "winter" thing and my hatred for the gym I could exercise enough to do something about it.

Anyway, I would think an Atkins snack would be a filet mignon :-)

Russotto, I lost 70 pounds on Atkins and never felt better in my life. I always felt sooooooo tired after eating carb-heavy. I eat "good" carbs now--no refind flour, sugar, no processed foods; just whole grains occasionally. I couldn't stand being hungry either and that is why Atkin's worked for me but it is something you need to take supplements for (as you don't get all needed nutrients) and you can't stay on Induction (no more than 20grams carbs/day) forever. After I lost the weight, I felt so good not even the foods that I most craved would get me to change...and on Atkins my cravings really diminshed anyway. I try to think of sugar as a drug and avoid it. For me, sugar leads to more sugar...just like all addictive behavior.

[staceyv]

Stacey, this is the wrong thread for my comment, but I can't help myself: Why not study nutrition and become a nutritionist for a hospital? That pays pretty durn good.

That's what I was in college for, but then I started at my current job and I was WAY too stressed out trying to work and go to school at the same time, so I dropped out. I'm not so into it anymore, but I still have all this info in my head, so I use it when appropriate, but I don't really feel like trying to counsel anyone on their diet for a living.

It drives me crazy that someone will come to me for help, I'll try really hard to give them good advice, do research for them, take a lot of effort and time to get them on the right track, and then one week later they're eating twinkies and washing them down with soda. I don't want any part of trying to control anyone's eating habits. It's way too frustrating and pretty much impossible. If someone really wanted to make a change, it's SO easy to get the information, they just need to motivate themselves to use it, and I'm not God, I can't do that for them.

[Kitsune]

one week later they're eating twinkies and washing them down with soda

Would that be Coke or RC? (Pepsi, as we all know, goes with Swiss Cake Rolls)

[warch]

RC. Coke is Lil' Debbies Oatmeal Cream Sandwiches...innit? er Maybe I got it backwards.

[Skunks]

As a cynic with a great deal of bias and a resounding lack of knowledge or perspective, it's my opinion that Atkins works for people mostly because it's just a chore to stick with. If your meals are based around foods that require prep (aside from the 'green veggies' and 'tomatos' part of the list, and even those are typically not consumed in the 'buy, then eat directly' fashion), you eat less frequently. It takes a good chunk of time to get Atkins-qualified food (meats) from the 'fridge to your face. Most people are too lazy to plan their snacks that far ahead.

So it worked decently for a while (I've heard strong positive and negative reports from both sides.) And then capitalism kicked in, and you can buy low-carb crap everywhere. You can snack a lot, and you're just left with the benefits of simple sugars and blah blah ketosis without really changing your caloric intake at all.

So my "diet", which is has been resoundingly successful (I don't own a scale or know how much I weigh) for me:

Only water and tea after 8pm. Eat relatively responsibly before then (when I'm hungry, not when I'm just in the mood to chew on something, and cook it all myself: pasta, sandwiches, tortilla-based food, eggs, stirfries.) Avoid buying icecream or cooking meals which end up being put into the 'fridge, because they're too snackable. If I'm up early enough, eat breakfast ('gets the metabolism going'). Exercise. Drink lots of tea, water, and orange juice. Allow for enough variation that I don't resent the diet, because the most important part is sticking with it for somewhere between a few months and the rest of my life.

Really, that's the core of it all -- happiness and less calories. Anything else is fluff or psychological manipulation to make one side or the other easier.

[russotto]

What makes you feel full is complex carbohydrates and fat. What makes your hunger satisfied is fat. And I don't know about you (specific), but _I_ feel hungry all the time when I'm eating only enough calories to maintain my weight, unless I'm somewhat overweight or I'm doing consistent hard exercise. And no, drinking a lot of water doesn't help.

As for HFCS, it's a bogus bogeyman. It's very similar to sucrose; it mainly consists of the two components of sucrose, in similar ratios. I prefer the taste and mouthfeel of cane sugar, but that doesn't make HFCS a poison.

"Processing" doesn't necessarily make food any worse; in the US, processed food tends to have a lot of sugar and salt added, which probably isn't good, but it's not "processing".

Atkins, I think, mainly works precisely because fat makes you full and satisfied; Atkins dieters tend to take in fewer calories than before they started their diet.

[jaguar]

http://www.illwillpress.com/fatkins.html

[Carbonated_Brains]

Damnit, jaguar, read post #23 in this thread.

[Carbonated_Brains]

And my main issue is that HFCS contains five percent more fructose than regular sugar, and fructose causes severe developmental and cardiovascular problems in high quantities.

It also has a marked effect on insulin, which (the jury is still out) could directly relate to an overall increase in obesity.

Anyway, if you need sources, search for Dr. Meira Field of the USDA.



russotto, I'm not going to convince you to stop, it's obviously your choice. But from what I've seen, a diet so high in protein and low in carbs turns your liver into that of an alcoholic.

But, if it works, go nuts.

[Kitsune]

But from what I've seen, a diet so high in protein and low in carbs turns your liver into that of an alcoholic.

Without all the fun, too. That sucks.

[Carbonated_Brains]

Exactly; I'm not preaching against liver cirrhosis, just do it RIGHT, damnit.

*clinks scotch glass*

[jaguar]

Damnit, jaguar, read post #23 in this thread.

Ah shit...

[Bawb]

Originally Posted by wolf

Wow! Working in a chocolate factory?? How cool is that! Is it really like that I Love Lucy episode?

LOL, yeah, there are a few places in the plant that are just like that I Love Lucy epicode.

[Clodfobble]

"Because we work--real--hard--at the chocolate factory! We start at eight and we don't get lunch 'til three! We work the whole week through... To make a buck or two... So we can send--it--home--to our fam-i-lies!"