Don't go Atkins. Replace the sugar in your diet with things like
fruit, which are sweet but have complex sugars. They also
have nutrients, which refined sugar does not. They also have
fiber which will help you feel full longer. Make sure you
get plenty of veg which also have nutrients and fiber. Try
to replace some of your meat with dried beans/split peas/
lentils; it will lower the fat in your diet, increase the fiber,
provide protein, iron (although low-absorption), and help
lower your LDL. Beans are also cheaper than meat. You can
also use tofu instead of meat in stir-fries. Another trick is
to use eggplant in your ragu sauce instead of meat.

For example, if you usually use 2 pounds of meat to a bag of kidney
beans in your chili, use 1 pound of meat to a bag; also make sure the
meat is low-fat, such as extra lean ground beef, or well trimmed stew
beef. And DON'T
add cheese to your chili. DO add lots of garlic and jalapenos for
the flavor, as well as onions.

Use whole grains; brown rice instead of white
rice; whole wheat spaghetti and macaroni. When you buy
bread, avoid anything with "unbleached enriched wheat flour"
as the first ingredient, because that is nothing more than
white flour that hasn't been chlorined or whatever they do to
bleach flour.

Make an excuse to throw vegetables in your food.
-- I use leftover spaghetti to make frittata, with garlic and baby green
peas.
-- I also throw baby green peas in my macaroni and cheese.
-- Rice pilaf is a good place to add baby green peas and shredded
carrot.
-- Kasha is buckwheat. Coat it with beaten egg and heat to dry the
egg. Add onions, garlic, baby green peas, shredded carrot, or broccoli,
and a cup of chicken soup per half cup of kasha.
-- When I make tuna salad, I use real onion and celery, also shredded
carrot and red bell pepper and sometimes shredded yellow squash and
garlic.
-- I had home fries this morning with an omelette, and I stuffed the
omelette with red bell pepper (more vitamin C than tomatoes),
onion, mushrooms, and garlic, and shredded a little aged
cheddar cheese (less fat than processed cheese) on top. You
can also stuff it with broccoli, of course.
-- Eggs fu yung and fried rice can be a good way to sneak veggies in.
-- If you like India style takeaway, cook the leftovers with rice and
eggs for kedgeree.
-- Another is Korean bibam bap: use leftover beef pulgoki and brown
short grain rice, steam some bean sprouts, carrots, mushrooms, and
spinach with kimchi, and top with chili-garlic sauce and a fried egg.
(don't have leftover
beef pulgoki? Marinate sandwich beef in tabasco and soy sauce
and put under the broiler.)

I have a million recipes like this.

I recently posted here that one of my concerns with Atkins is
that 68% of those who tried it, in one clinical study, wound up
constipated. That is bad for long term health. Removing fiber
from the diet demonstrably leads to colo-rectal cancer, the
third leading cancer killer behind lung cancer and prostate cancer,
and therefore the #2 preventable killer cancer. I even have
anecdotal evidence, a friend of mine was unable to tolerate any
fiber in her diet and she died about 20 years ago from colo-rectal
cancer at the age of only about 40.

"Steven C (Doktersteve)" wrote:

Oh man... here I am again considering trying the Atkins diet.
Lol, years ago I got the newest version of the book, and I tried to do it. I
guess I did not have the willpower to get past that first real carb craving
week that the book said I would experience, and I crashed, ended up eating
pancakes on a Sunday morning, and said "Atkins sucks".

The second time I tried the diet, I was dumb and did it with too much high
carb/sugar foods in the house.
I crashed, and blamed the Atkins diet. In retrospect, it may have been the
fact that at the time I was working a strenuous job and not getting enough
sleep, and generally not taking care of myself. It was also in the middle of
a hard time for me when I was experiencing some self loathing and depression
(more than is usual for a negative type guy like me).

So I am considering it again.
I am not fat. I have weight I don't want, but am not a "large" person. I am
five foot 6 inches and weigh about 190 lbs, however alot of that is muscle I
suspect, because my waist is 36, which isn't HUGE, but isn't skinny.
I want to loose some weight, and get alot of the refined sugars out of my
diet, as I have been a sugar junkie so long, and I don't really feel like
developing type 2 diabetes in my life...

But there seem to be roadblocks.
The Atkins diet seems to me in some ways like a clever scheme to sell
specialized foods from their website, and now through GNC stores.
You need to cut SO MANY carbs out of the diet to go into ketosis, that it
seems to me that you will end up spending lots on the high fatty foods that
are required whilst in the first few weeks (or months) of the program.
Meats, cheese, eggs, these are all things which are actually more expensive
than the highly processed foods that we are used to eating as a society. I
guess that you have to ask yourself whether you can put a pricetag on your
health though, right?

Can I drink diet soda while on Atkins? For some reason, Atkins himself seems
to act as if aspartame is the devil, and will impede your weight loss.
I question why an additive developed for diabetics and people on diet's
would deter people from loosing weight.
Of course, Atkins also conveniently sells products with the Splenda type of
sweetener in them (cant recall the non brand name atm).

How much back to "normal" (breads and other carbs) will I get back to after
I have lost my initial weight? I have a goal to have flat abs, to be honest,
as well as feel more energetic and the like.
So yeah, I have lots of questions, and I would appreciate it very much of
someone could shed some light on my queries.

I have tried low calorie/low fat/lots of exercise diets in the past with
MARGINAL success. In total I lost about 15 lbs before I found I had to
increase my cardio workout substantially. I don't drive a car, I take
transit and walk all over the place.
Its not as if I am suffering from the suburbanite syndrome of driving
everywhere and anywhere.

Thanks.