Which Atkins program works best?

by | Jan 29, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

This a recent comment I made on a post about Atkins at Jimmy Moore’s

 

Amanda’s post:

Hello all!

Last week I decided embark on my weight loss journey and started Atkins. I went ahead and checked out the latest book from the library and started followin it on 1/20. Frankly, I was a little disappointed when I weighed myself this morning and saw what I lost in a week. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. I followed it to the T as well. 

Anyway, I’ve been reading a bit online and it seems that people have the most success with Atkins 72 or the New Diet Revolution. What are the big differences between those two plans and which is better? I plan to start one of them today, I’m leaning towards 72 because I need strict. That said, both books are around $7 on Amazon, I may go ahead and just order both.

Thanks!
Amanda

 

My comment:

Hi Amanda,

Well firstly congratulations for sticking with the diet for 7 days. A lot of people bail up before then so well done you! That said I noticed you’ve only weighted yourself and as most of us will tell you the scales lie. It’s far better to also measure yourself and also keep an eye on how your clothes are fitting. Quite often we will notice our clothes loosening, well, before we see any change in the scales or the tape measure.

As for which diet to choose the old or the new, the bottom line is the one that best works for you is the one that you should continue with and it may end up that you actually don’t follow Atkins as your low carb diet of choice as other diets might suit you better.

Personally I  use a mixture from both, the old and the new simply because, one, I’ve never been a fan of net carbs which would lean towards the old 72 diet but also as Texasgoldengirl has pointed out we do have to watch how much protein we eat as our over indulging can quickly become a problem. 

Last thing I need to make sure I do is keep active as without a certain level of daily activity it seems my metabolism slows down and over the long term that could obviously give problems as well.

The great thing is you decided to take charge of your weight before you’re 40 and that’s probably about one of the best thing you could have done as leaving it later as LLL has said does make the job more difficult. Your decision to give Atkins another 2 weeks is probably a good start but I would suggest you actually take it on for longer than that. The thing is everyone’s body is different and yours may take a little longer to get into the swing of a low carb diet as there are many many changes that have to go on all for the better I might add.

Whatever you do make sure you continue to look after your health. Losing that 40 lbs now will probably be the best thing you can do for your future health and well being.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Just an introduction

by | Jan 28, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Another recent comment I did over at lowcarber forum on a post about low carb diet

 

Lyndsey’s post:

Hey everybody! My name is Lyndsey and I am excited to join you- I’ve been on low carb for 6 weeks (CAD) and I’ve lost about 20 lbs. I have 120 lbs left to go, and it’s crazy how daunting it can be! I find that if I think too much about the big number it’s easy to get discouraged!

I am 26, have 2 little girls ages 3 and 1 (my oldest has severe autism) and I am a professional photographer. I am so glad to be here and get some support! I’ve been active over in the CAD section but it’s a little sleepy over there and I don’t want to annoy them with my desire to post so frequently lol! 

Weight has been a life struggle for me. I have always been addicted to sugar, but only in the last year after having my youngest has my weight gotten higher than ever. I don’t want to blame circumstance but part of that has been dealing with the autism diagnosis for my oldest girl. The lowest I have ever been has been 125 at 15 years old (after doing THIS very diet!!), and that will be my goal again. More than anything, all of the silly reasons have gone and I now know I need to do this for my kids, for my health.. So it’s more motivating knowing I am doing it to be around for my kids in the long term. 

My husband is also obese but he is over 400 lbs. He has joined me on this but he’s not the type to join a forum  

Anyway, nice to meet you all and you WILL be seeing a lot of me

 

I replied:

Hi Lyndsey and a very warm welcome to you. Great to see you’ve lost 20 lbs and in only 6 weeks. Well Done!

I’m sure if you keep at it those extra 120 lbs will be gone before you know it just stick with the plan and don’t let anything disways you.

The link that JEY100 has suggested is well worth looking at. As is another one that focuses on the work of Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride who is considered a world wide specialist in the Gut and Psychology Syndrome, natural treatment for autism and other similar types of problems. Here is the link for that: http://www.doctor-natasha.com/gaps-book.php

Once again a warm welcome and I’m looking to seeing more of you on the forum as time goes past.

Mark

Lactose intolerance?

by | Jan 28, 2013 | Fat Loss | 0 comments

Another comment I made over at fattoskinny forum about a post on lactose intolerance

 

maidmarians’ post:

I love cheese and it’s hard to resist, but dairy sort of wreaks havoc on my body…bloating and all.  There are soy and almond cheeses, are those carby?  I stay away from soy pretty much too.  What is a good substitute for dairy on FTS?

 

My comment:

Hi maidmarian,

Oh yes I’m a confirmed cheese lover as well and once upon a time I also had a problem with dairy but I found out the problem that I had with dairy was not so much the dairy itself but that it was pasteurized dairy products.

Since having switched entirely to raw dairy as in raw or untreated milk, home made yogurts made from the same milk and nonpasteurized cheeses, that problem was greatly reduced. In addition, I also sorted out my stomach bacteria by taking a good a quality probiotics and also topping out on stomach enzymes again by taking enzymes for the stomach. Neither of those are expensive and once you’ve repopulated your digestive system with those bacteria and enzymes that it needs, you shouldn’t find you have anymore problems. In addition, eating natural live fresh yogurt amongst other healthy probiotic food will help increase the population of those beneficial bacteria and at the same time discourage unhealthy bacteria from living in your intestinal system.

As a footnote to that, raw milk does contain all the enzymes we need to digest it. It’s really only the pasteurization and processing procedures that kill those off making it hard to digest for some people. One thing I have noticed from myself is that providing I continue to eat a reasonable proportion of raw dairy foods with all the enzymes in them, the occasional portion of tasty though pasteurized cheese doesn’t affect me anymore simply because my digestive tract now contains adequate quantities of the enzymes needed to assimilate lactose, galactose and of course calcium which is one of the reasons why we drink milk in the first place.

So the bottom line is I would suggest you at least try firstly putting your stomach bacteria and enzyme population in order and then once that is done switch to  raw milk products for a while just to see how you get on.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Questions…New to low carbing

by | Jan 28, 2013 | Low carb diet | 0 comments

This is one of my comment on a post at Jimmy Moore’s regarding low carb diet

 

Debs wrote:

HI

I hope someone can help me… I’m fairly new to this and I have some questions.

I have read extensively on low carbing and am on a huge learning curve.

1.) 25g of carbs per day works very well for me do I have to go up or can I stay here?

2) I have almost zero appetite, is this a perm thing or just a honeymoon period?

3) I am seeing a lot of stuff about ketosis…should I be finding out more to incorporate this? and where would I find the info?

I’m sure that I will have more questions as things go on… but thanks in advance

 

I replied:

Hi Debs and a warm welcome to you too.

Yup I would agree with much of what nzmegs said particularly about reading Jimmy’s blog as well.

The important thing is to find a plan that works for you and then follow it to the letter and stick with it until you reach your goals. It’s a very simple plan providing you stick with it and I’m sure as you see more and more positive results that you’ll be encouraged to do so and yes we are always here if you want to come back and ask questions. So don’t hesitate to do that.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Looking for low carb salty crunchy snack

by | Jan 28, 2013 | Food Choices, Low carb diet | 0 comments

Another post at lowcarber forum  that I have commented on regarding low carb foods

 

belovednes:

Sometimes I will like to crunch in to salty snack. If you have a recipe please let me know.

 

My reply:

Hi belovednes,

One of my favorites is streaky bacon fried until it’s crispy but just before it gets crispy sprinkle it with slivers of Parmigiano cheese or any other strong hard Italian type cheese; can be eaten hot or cold. It’s also nice chopped up into small bits and sprinkled over salad.

Hope you enjoy that.

Mark