Dr. Atkin’s Diet Revolution
November 7, 2009 by Jim Made
Filed under Atkins Diet
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The Man Should Be Canonized!!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been through everything…. low stout, Optifast, cabbage soup, the Dean Ornish plot, and I can say unequivocally, that Dr. Atkins’ diet is the only one that has given me such dramatic results, with a minimum of pain and suffering.
I started Atkins about two months ago, weighing a huge amount (I’ll never tell how much, but it was serious). I have stayed on induction for the past two months, pretty much without falling off. It’s not that I have such fantastic will power…I don’t. But I really have absolutely no craving for carbohydrates or sweets, this from a convinced dessertophile. The net result is that in two months, I’ve shed about 34 lbs and gone down four pant sizes. My goal weight is still far off, but I feel better than I have in years.
For Atkins to work, you have to be pretty religious about it I reckon. I have not found induction at all restrictive, except that I do miss fruit, especially apples. I also have found that exercise is not an option with this diet…it’s essential, as the Dr. claims. The combination is more effective than diet or exercise is alone. Between the two, the health benefits of this lifestyle have been enormous. I had a blood workup done about 6 weeks into the program and it was brilliant. My cholesterol was down fewer than 200 for the first time in 12 years, my heart rate was a healthy 72, and my cardio health was brilliant.
There are things to watch out for on this diet. The water-drinking requirement should not be taken lightly. It flushes out the kidneys, which is pretty vital in a low carb diet. Also, forcing yourself not to cheat is also pretty vital. The yoyo effect of a dessert on the weekend can be pretty tough…it’s as if you are starting and stopping a diet over and over again and that’s tough on your body. Supplements should be taken, especially vitamin D and C since the induction phase is particularly light in these vitamins. A fiber drink is essential for maintaining excellent bowel health. But if you can follow all of this, the plot is not too hard, nor is it too extreme…Dean Ornish…now THAT’S extreme! (I had excellent results on that as well, but it was too extreme for me to follow forever.)
One note about the food…the recipes in the book and on the Atkins website are brilliant, truly gourmet. And there’s a nice blend of quick meals and fancier meals. The desserts though are disappointing. I find that it’s better for me just to avoid dessert altogether than to try a low carb substitute. There’s still enough tasty food without the need for sweets, and if I get even a small hankering for something sweet, there’s always sugar free jello. All in all, this has been, for me, an nearly painless diet and one that I highly recommend people consider, with advice of course from a medical professional.
Lost 4 lbs in 1 week…this REALLY works.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is not a fad diet, to me, this is a whole new eating lifestyle!
I must admit that I was a bit reluctant to try this “low carb, high stout” diet, but I’ve tried EVERYTHING and nothing seemed to work!
I used to workout 5x a week last year and was on a low calorie diet, and I lost only 4 lbs in 2 months.
Disappointed and discouraged with my results, I just stopped going to the gym.
Low calorie diets DON’T work for me – I used to stock up on lean cuisine meals whenever they would go on sale, because I thought it was convenient and simple to count calories that way.
But, I am hungry an hour later after eating a lean cuisine meal.
So I just recently took a step back and analyzed my eating habits – lots of “low calorie” foods but high in carb.
I ate lots of oatmeal, wheat bread, sugary granola bars that I thought were healthy, those “100 calorie” snacks etc – I was ALWAYS hungry.
That’s when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to lose any weight this way, and that I had to reanalyze my eating habits.
That’s when I started researching about low carb diets and found Dr. Atkin’s book. It made a lot of sense to me….as I read it at the bookstore, the words “ah ha!” kept repeating in my head.
I quickly bought the book (earlier this week) and I’ve already lost 4 lbs. Sure, it’s probably water weight, but I FEEL fantastic. I see and feel myself getting thinner, I’m NEVER hungry and I don’t crave sweets at all.
I’m not following the induction phase thoroughly, but I’m maintaining a low carb intake.
If I want veggies, I’ll eat it. Fruits? I’ll have an apple and munch on grilled chicken to keep my insulin levels in check. Bread? I’ll have a slice of low carb 5g wheat bread with cheese.
I just got back from a party and needless to say, they had a wide array of tasty sweets & tempting food – but I wasn’t craving any of it…and this is coming from a girl that likes to bake cupcakes, pastries and desserts!
I now snack on sugar-free jello gelatin when I’m in the mood for something sweet.
I had 1/2 of a cupcake and ate grilled chicken kabob right after. The point is, keep it balanced…moderation is key, you CAN have a low carb lifestyle. It doesn’t mean you can never have a cupcake/donut again, just listen to your body and don’t abuse it. If I want a donut, I’ll eat 1/3 of one with an egg white omelette.
I never eat carbs alone, I always pair it with some sort of protein…it’s working for me so far
I have a wedding to attend in 3 weeks, so I’ll certainly stick with this low carb phenomenon. Thank you Dr. Atkins for showing me the way….I’ve been getting compliments from family members & friends and it hasn’t even been a week!
Give it a shot! It’s really worth it
My Husband Lost Weight – I gained
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
For some reason this diet seems to work much better for men than women. My husband quickly lost 20 lbs. (but I am not convinced that a diet that high in protein and low in fruits and vegetables etc. is excellent for you for any length of time. I gained weight and many other women I know claimed the same result. I would have to say that for some of us, this diet just doesn’t work. Counting my calories and eating from all food groups has worked much better for me.
Simple! And effective!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I started the Atkin’s diet over a year ago and lost 30lbs in just over a month. I have kept the weight off too! My migraines disappeared and my depression is gone. My energy level is unbelieveable. Buy this book!!
Yawn……. dull…..
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Dr. Atkins has just rehashed his ancient work. Same ancient thing. The diet doesn’t even work. Ugh. Save your money.
Eczema disappeared
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
First things first, the diet is incredible because anything that gets us away from the white bread, white sugar, white rice mentality has to be recommended. I suffered for years as a child from eczema and had NO thought that this might possibly have been linked to refined carbohydrates. Ok, I admit as I got older I realized that sugar played a huge role in this complaint and for the past few years have been careful of how much sugar I consumed, which really helped and have thus since then been virtually (90%) eczema free. But, I still suffered from very dry skin which a homeopath said would never go away. “We know how to cure eczema, but you have to live with the dry skin”. I also suffered in the summer (due to the heat) of eczema in my elbows and backs of legs in the knee area. Well, I believed in thinking that this wouldn’t go away went on to continue eating refined carbohydrates and had no thought that these basically reverted into sugar in our bodies. Also, whenever I tried to lose weight by going on a low stout diet (where I would eat a lot of bread), my skin became very scaly and powdery if I didn’t use cream. I also suffered terribly from dandruff. But I somehow never linked these things. This was until I read this book. To be very honest, I really haven’t lost as much weight as I would have expected, but this might be because two things 1) I only have about 15 pounds to lose and 2) my penchant for alcohol (i.e red wine). I have now cut back to just drinking white wine (lower sugar content) and am starting to see some results. But, this summer (2003) I have declared myself 100% eczema free. I have no dry skin, no patches of eczema this summer, and no dandruff. My skin tone is brilliant and I place it all down to this way of eating. I can highly recommend it.
Also, being a flight attendant we all suffer from dry skin and I joked to a colleague (before I started this diet) that if I continued, I would end up looking like a raisin. That has all disappeared. Even on the longest flights I still have excellent skin tone and not a spot of dryness.
For me the weight-loss has now become secondary. It was a primary issue first off, but has now taken second place. Even if I modify the diet, which I will have to at a later stage because I cannot see myself sticking to it for life, then I will just banish refined carbs including all forms of sugar from my diet. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Atkins and it is a tragedy that he is not around to delight in all the recognition his books are now getting. Well he can rest assured knowing that the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote can be attributed to him and that is “..to know that just one person has breathed simpler because you have lived.”
This diet works
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I went on the Atkins diet 2 years ago, for about 5 months, and lost 25 pounds. I never felt better; my headaches went away, fatigue during the day was gone, I was able to wake up earlier in the morning. I need to lose 25 more pounds to be at my college weight. Even after I stopped the diet, and ate a lot more carbs, my weight loss remained. I noticed as I added back more carbohydrates, that many ancient symptoms returned. I am back on the more restricted part of the diet again because I want to lose the rest of the weight. I will say that you eat a moderate amount of protein, vegetables, fish, excellent oils, and I reckon it is a balanced, long-term diet that can work for many of us. Once you reach your weight loss goal, you add back in a lot more carbohydrates, all in the form of healthy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and moderate amounts of fruit, bread, etc.
I have two friends who lost 40 pounds (him) and 60 pounds (her) on this diet, their blood pressure normalized, and their cholesterol count really went from high to normal in 6 months. I have another friend who told her doctor she was going on the diet, he warned her not to. In three months she came back, her blood pressure was nearly normal, after being very high, and she felt better than she had in years. Her doctor told her to keep doing whatever she was doing, because it was working.
Another friend went on the high carb/ low stout diet. She did lose at first, but was hungry all the time and gained the weight back and more when she went off of it. There are people who do well on this kind of low-stout, high carb diet, and Atkins talks about this and why.
No diet is for everyone, each of our bodies are unique. I have found this diet to be brilliant in balancing blood sugar and eliminating the resultant fatigue, emotional swings, and headaches. Furthermore, I am rarely hungry on this diet, and after you get used to the change, it is tasty and very healthy. The people I have talked to who feel this diet is unhealthy haven’t really read and studied the diet, or really followed the diet for a period of time.
I read tons of nutrition books, was a vegetarian for years, and got so sick, autoimmune disease, low thyroid, indigestion, heartburn, and so on, that I started searching for a diet that would restore my health. It was only after being on this diet that I got well, completely. So for some of us, it really works.
About the book – not the diet
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I’m assuming you’re reading this because you want to know if this book is worth your money and time, and whether or not you should read it.
If this is not the case, you can skip the rest of this review, and read most of the others – which I have found to be largely testimonial, and will tell you what those reviewers reckon about the diet.
If you want to know something about the book: read on.
Firstly, I had a very hard time reading this book – in fact, I skipped most of it, because a very large part of the book is made up of extended testimonial-like cases. This made the book feel like marketing – and even if you’re not as suspicious of marketing as I am, it wears on your nerves quite quickly if you approach the book wanting to learn something about the diet. Additionally, Mr. Atkins’ tone made it sound like the diet was a religion or a cult. This made me want to try it even less.
Secondly, Mr. Atkins also seems to be encouraging a sedentary lifestyle. In the part of the book that I read, he never once mentioned physical activity of any sort other than eating. This turned me off, as I believe that one of the major sources of obesity, especially in highly “industrialized” countries, is lack of physical activity. In small, he does not promote a balanced lifestyle any more than a balanced diet.
Thirdly, Mr. Atkins makes several factual and logical errors. He mentions our ancient hunter ancestors, but fails to mention that they were also gatherers: fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, honey … all with lots of carbs. And people 200 years ago may have consumed much less sugar than we do now, but he doesn’t reckon that perhaps they weren’t obese because of their diet, but because of the amount of physical activity demanded of the large majority of the population just to stay alive.
Fourthly and finally, the book gave me no information I could not have found on the internet.
To sum up, is the book worth your time and money? You be the judge, but for me, it wasn’t; I can recommend neither the book nor the diet.
A nice approach…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
In the late 90′s my weight ballooned to 205 pounds while I drank 1/2 a gallon of Coke a day.
The revelation that I was stout came when my students started calling me “Drew Carey” and my uncle called me butterball.
I started Atkins Thanksgiving 2000. By April 2001 my weight had gone from 205 to 165.
This diet, in conjunction with proper exercise, will probably enhance weightloss for many people, unlike any other apporach they have tried.
The REAL Tale From A Successful User
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Okay, I keep hearing all of these AWEFUL things about the Atkins diet — About long term consumption of high levels of stout and protein and what devastating effects it has on your system. I, like most people that eat this way, am not a doctor. I can only speak for myself, but I get my information from legitimate scientific studies. Those studies, new and ancient, indicate that small-term and long term high protein / low carbohydrate intake is safe and may even be the most healthy way to eat. What out-proves even scientific experiments are personal experiments. I have had no more than 10 – 20 grams of carbohydrates per day in my system for over 20 years and drink a gallon of water per day. Yes, every day for 20 years I have eaten what that AMA has told me not to – huge amounts of stout and protein with nearly zero carbohydrates. Forget about the weight (though I did loose over 75 pounds and have kept it off all this time with NO rebound). The reason I changed my eating habits was to be the healthiest person I could be. And now I am. I make regular doctor visits and I am told that I am the healthiest man my doctor has seen in a very long time. My blood pressure is perfect, my cholesterol is perfect, I am physically fit and I feel well rested after 4 hours sleep per night (yes, this for 20 years also). I have gained increased metal clarity, eliminated my depression problems, etc., etc., etc. I could write on forever. What I am trying to say is… Don’t let the dogmatic system of medicine and nutrition in our civilized nations dictate how our bodies work with food. Objective science is the only system that can do that. Just because the establishment or the “majority” believes something, certainly does not make it right. Read the evidence. Don’t let the FDA or even Dr. Atkins persuade you to believe something. Find out for yourself. I found Dr. Atkins to be right on the money, and my body and mind are living proof… proof enough for me at least. Prove it to yourself.
Dr Atkin’s Diet Revolution
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this Dr Atkin’s Diet Revolution book for a gift for someone. The person seemed to be pleased to get the book.
Fascinating as history
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
After the publication of “Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution,” this older version seems to have been neglected. Mostly this is excellent because while it’s a fantastic book and I loved reading it, Dr. Atkins’ understanding of things has come a long way since he wrote it.
For example, the ancient version recommends nearly zero carbohydrates and doesn’t take fiber into account. The new book recommends no less than 20g of net carbohydrates, and fiber can be subtracted from the total count for any food since it doesn’t raise blood sugar.
In the ancient version, the first phase was simply called “Phase 1″ and lasted only one week; now it is called “Induction” and lasts 2 weeks. Since it includes more carbs, it can be adhered to for up to six months.
Dr. Atkins puts a huge emphasis on ketone strips. The new program includes using them, but downplays them. Many people – like me – have distress getting even light pink on our best days. I reckon downplaying, while still leaving the option there, is the best thing to do.
Other differences just have to do with the passage of time. 30 years ago Splenda wasn’t on the market, so there is no mention of it. Same with cyclomates. Who today has heard of this sweetener? And the cure for constipation then was a mild laxative. Nowadays fiber supplements are on the market and are the recommended thing.
The only part of the book I skipped was the recipes, though if you are into cooking it would be a really awesome part to look through. It takes up significant space, so if you are looking for low carb recipes, the book might be worth the price just for that.
I loved the end of the book and wish that section had been included in the new one. It’s Dr. Atkins’ statement to the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition of Human Needs on April 12, 1973 (very early versions of the book do not include this). He does a wonderful job of defending his diet to the naysayers. I highly recommend reading this section of the book.
One last thing, the weight chart at the back of the book is not realistic in today’s world. It’s based on the ancient version of the Met Life charts. The new version allows people to weigh more, and I know my body just stalls out my weight loss at 145. On the ancient Met Life chart that was too much. On the new one it is a perfectly normal weight.
I recommend this book as a excellent history lesson in how the diet started, but to lose weight I recommend “Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution,” which has the advantage of 30 years’ worth of learning that the doctor didn’t have when he wrote the first book.
Long Term Success
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this book in 1999. I have lived on this diet for the last two-three years. Within the first two months I dropped 30 pounds and as long as I follow the principles that this book taught, I keep it off. I have learned how to control my body from this in a way that I never could before. From age 12 on my sizes increased with my age until I was 21 (although technically at 21 I was a 22W). I was huge and miserable. This book changed my life. I wish the whole world could learn what I have learned about the way our bodies work. It would make for more pleased people. I am now a size 10 which is where I want to be. I recommend this to anyone who wants to change their life for the better. It is not a diet in the traditional sense, it is a way of life that can lead to healthful happiness. You have to try and you have to follow it and you have to let go of all the nonsense that the FDA has been trying to cram down our throats for years, but you will have results.
An oldie, but a goodie. The original lifestyle is still the very best.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
In 1998, I lost over 50 pounds on the original Atkins Lifestyle diet, the book I am reviewing now. In 2004, after the birth of my child, I needed to lose the 20 pounds that I gained whilst expecting. I went back on the original diet and lost in in about 4 months or less.
The original tried and right Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution allowed me to lose about four pounds to kick the diet off in the first week, gave me a ton of energy, and gradually allowed me to lose the rest of the weight after the introduction without problems or cravings.
I have lived on this diet for nearly 10 years and have never gained back the weight that I had lost (except for expecting a child). It’s been simpler to maintain weight loss with this lifestyle/diet than any other diet I have been on.
Some people have a very hard time following the diet. If one is a vegan, this diet will really never work, if one is addicted to processed wheat flour and sugar…there’s hope. In about a week one loses that addiction.
This diet/lifestyle has been given a terrible name by various groups, physicians and people. I believe that those whom disagree with this diet only focus on the “Induction” period.
Here’s a glimpse inside this diet: It’s basically knowing how many complex carbohydrates your body can handle on a daily bases (instead of calories) and it’s about cutting out all processed foods. It works on the premise that sugar carbohydrates make a person stout, not stout.
I tried the current, Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. It is my understanding that this diet was modified by a corporation that bought Dr. Atkins products and rights when he went into retirement. This diet focuses on promoting their bars, shakes, and other convenient items. I really didn’t care for that. Those things slow down one’s progress and keep you dependant on convenient foods that really aren’t that excellent for you. I also went on the official Atkins site and joined their message board. There’s a lot of very crabby people on that message board. I’m guessing that this new diet isn’t working very well for them either.
It really really works..
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have been doing atkins since August 2001 and I have lost 53 pounds. It really does work. I am obese person who weighed in at 350 pounds when I started with a thyriod problem which I take medication for. This way of life does work with the restricting of the carbs – dont be fool, atkin never said to eliminate them really, just restrict down to 20 initially to get into ketosis and then increase slowly whilst ensuring you still in ketosis.
Yes its right you will feel yucky, sluggish and achy for a few days but that will pass quicky – its the carb withdrawal, the sugar and flour. Once you over this you will be amazed how well you feel, more energise, more alert, not hungry(that is right, trust me!)and you will lose daily, its incredible. It not a hard program to follow.. There is alot of variety in food and recipes; its not really expensive program, and if you live in the States, you have access to you numerous commercial lowcarb products which sound yummyyy!
I would recommend you check out the yahoo egroup where there are alot of atkins and low carb lists you can join, where folks all over the world come together to share and work the Atkin program together.. Its is incredible some of the weight losses of these folks.. 100 pound/150 pounds..
And finally I leave with you with thought, Atkins is a qualified heart surgeon who made this program for obese people. In the 30 years plus he has been operating, media and the medical profession have taken potshots at him and this program but never have they found anything substantial to close him down! Fascinating point I reckon.
I say get the book, commit to the 14 day induction, make sure you get your blood tests, take your vitamin, drink your water and then review then. I have not heard anyone not being pleased with the results if they have worked the program correctly. Be prepared to wrestle with your mind in what you are eating compare to other programs but keep the faith and you will soonly see the results…