Is the Atkins diet a good way to lose weight fast?
Short answer, no. Long answer, please read on and watch the video. The Atkins Diet is the biggest abuse to the health of the human body. The body uses glycogen as its only source of fuel to run on. The central nervous system, brain, kidneys, liver, and muscles, including the heart, cannot function without glycogen. Glycogen comes from glucose which in turn is found in carbohydrate foods only. There is no glucose at all in proteins or fats. As carbohydrate foods is cut out in the Atkins diet and replaced by high amounts of unhealthy animal proteins and fats, the body is starved of its natural fuel source. The Atkins Diet works on the flawed assumption that without glucose in the diet, the body will start to convert the stored fats into glycogen to fuel the body. The problem is that in reality, the body is not able to convert fat into glycogen to any useful amount to fuel the body. This consequently forces the body to switch to desperate mode by “eating” away its own cells, breaking and
You can lose weight fast on Atkins, certainly. But I’d consult with your doctor first. I asked my doctor about it, and because I had high blood pressure and cholesterol, he advised me against it. It’s low carb, but high fat. And you can’t do it long term, because it’s not healthy in the long term. I know quite a few people who did it and lost weight, but once they started eating normal foods again, they gain most or all of it back. My doctor recommded Weight Watchers. It’s much more sensible and healthy. And it’s more of a healthy lifestyle change than a diet. You can do it long term…you can do it for the rest of your life. I lost 77 lbs, and now have normal bp/cholesterol and I’m now a Lifetime member.
Ignorance is bliss – read up on the diet and what Atkins recommends before making statements that just aren’t true. The induction phase sucks – it is really hard to consume less than 20G carbs / day and if you have no willpower or cheat on diets – it isn’t going to work. On the other hand, if you do it right (enter ketosis – get some ketostyx to check that your body is burning fat instead), you will lose weight. Over the long term, Atkins is pretty much like any low carb diet: eat lots of veggies, skinless lean protein sources (chicken, fish, etc) and you’ll keep the weight off. If you go back to pounding 20 ounce sodas and eating candy all the time, and you don’t exercise like a fiend well, you’ll get fat again… simple as that.
