Atkins: The Diet I Never Thought I'd Try

[PogMoma]

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of consequences did you experience doing what?

When I first got to my heaviest a few years ago and started dieting, I tried the Harcombe Diet. The weight loss was great but I started having skin problems. It quickly turned really bad and I suffered for quite a while going to all sorts of dermatologists and all that time I was in denial that the diet was the cause. When I stopped eating the Harcombe way, the skin condition calmed down but now I'm stuck with flare ups. They couldn't find the reason for it and couldn't say what it was so I was diagnosed with eczema. Easy to stick the unknown with eczema I suppose. Anyway it looks like I'm stuck with it for life

 

[Canadian]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that, that's awful.

For me it wasn't anything diet or weight-loss related. I was just working way too hard and was way too stressed. I kept pushing and pushing myself, ignoring all the warning signs that I was making myself ill and really neglecting my health. I ended up getting a very serious infection that's had lasting consequences. Had I not let myself get so run down in the first place it probably wouldn't have happened.

 

[shoebedoo]

Any chance it cud be gallstones? My mother had awful chest pains and when she was admitted to hospital they did a load of heart tests and sent her home. She was talking to a neighbour whose a nurse... told her her symptoms and she said ... I know by d bad smell coming from your breath that Uve gall stones and an infected gallbladder... Sure enough she was right and my mother had to have both removed! She was also getting shoots of pain coming out of d top of her shoulder!

 

[Canadian]

Oh wow, that's so strange that gallstones caused shoulder and chest pains! Sorry to hear your mother went through that. I don't really know anything about gallstones but for what it's worth my symptoms are almost completely gone. Whatever it was came on fast and disappeared almost as quickly. Hopefully that's the end of it, but if it ever happens again I'll keep your suggestion in mind.

 

[Canadian]

Calories for the day are almost at 1500 and net carbs are at 16g. I ate quite a lot of salad and other veggies today but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. I'm still working on the water and will probably only be able to manage 8 glasses today or else I'll be up all night! Overall I'm pleased. It will be interesting to see if increasing calories will result in a loss.

 

[coffeelover]

Glad you got out of a bad situation and that your eye is better too. Lots of veggies are a good thing. x

 

[Canadian]

Lots of veggies are a good thing. x

That's what I thought...have I misunderstood the book? I thought the 2002 edition says we're supposed to limit veggies to 3 cups during induction - three cups of loosely packed salad or two cups of salad and one of something else. That's the one rule that has never sat well with me and I don't understand why we can't eat as many allowed veggies as will fit into our daily carb allotment.

 

[PogMoma]

That sounds really bad I'm glad you're better now. It's so important to listen to what your body is trying to tell you. Hope you get on well with your new boss x

 

[ladyfelsham]

That's what I thought...have I misunderstood the book? I thought the 2002 edition says we're supposed to limit veggies to 3 cups during induction - three cups of loosely packed salad or two cups of salad and one of something else. That's the one rule that has never sat well with me and I don't understand why we can't eat as many allowed veggies as will fit into our daily carb allotment.

Morning hun - Katie, who has lost and is now maintaining beautifully, always says not to worry about the veggie 3 cup thing too much, and i agree. Green leafy veg will help you lose, help you keep regular and give you good vits - so go for it When I was doing low carb i had spinach almost every day.

 

[Canadian]

Thanks Susie, that's great to know! I was very strict for the first two weeks but have sometimes gone over on the veggies since then. I'm going to stop worrying about it going forward - as long as I stay under my 20g net carbs, that is.

I'm still not feeling back to normal yet. I think it's time to take some anti-inflammatory painkillers because I'm really not liking this. At least it isn't as bad as it was the first day but it's still a worry.

Up .4lbs this morning.

 

[ladyfelsham]

Gosh so sorry you've still got the pains, but tbh I never heard of anyone on low carb or paleo suffering from that sort of thing - are you stressed out about stuff at the moment?

And try to stop weighing every day if you can, hun. I know it's hard not to, but low carb makes the scales jump around like mad during the week, especially because water weight goes up and down.

Why not give yourself another couple of weeks on induction - and post your menus here, it really helps - and then see how you get on with it all, and if it's not working for you, we can put our heads together and suggest an alternative xxx

Later - just read back from the beginning of your diary and realised I'd missed a couple of things, hope this helps you -

- potassium - I take 100g every night, and sometimes another one during the night if restless leg is really giving me trouble (thanks menopause, loving you - not!)
- hungry one day, not the next - this is common to low carb - not sure why, maybe it's our bodies craving carbs?
- stick to the induction rules as much as you can (with the extra veg) - and try not to calorie count, that just doesn't work on low carb. The good fats - coconut, extra virgin olive oil - are your friends, embrace them

Susie xxx

 

[Canadian]

Gosh so sorry you've still got the pains, but tbh I never heard of anyone on low carb or paleo suffering from that sort of thing - are you stressed out about stuff at the moment?

No, I'm not stressed. I found quite a few discussions about chest pain while on Atkins when I looked. I can't say for sure that it's eating low carb that has caused mine. The timing seems suspect but for all I know it could be unrelated.

And try to stop weighing every day if you can, hun. I know it's hard not to, but low carb makes the scales jump around like mad during the week, especially because water weight goes up and down.

You're absolutely right. My plan in the beginning was to weigh once a week on Mondays, but I quickly slipped back into old habits of hopping on the scale every day! I will try to be better about it.

Why not give yourself another couple of weeks on induction - and post your menus here, it really helps - and then see how you get on with it all, and if it's not working for you, we can put our heads together and suggest an alternative xxx

I'm planning to stick out induction until at least the end of the month, so yes, I'll do that.

- potassium - I take 100g every night, and sometimes another one during the night if restless leg is really giving me trouble (thanks menopause, loving you - not!)

LOL, damn mother nature. I bought the 50mg potassium pills but have started taking 2 per day lately. If I up my veggie intake a little I should be able to get more potassium through my diet, as well.

- hungry one day, not the next - this is common to low carb - not sure why, maybe it's our bodies craving carbs?

Maybe! My appetite was really off for the first week or ten days, and my stomach always felt bloated. That's all gone away and my appetite is back to some semblance of normal. I don't have that never-ending hunger I get when I'm stuffing myself full of carbs (yay!) but my stomach feels just fine these days.

- stick to the induction rules as much as you can (with the extra veg) - and try not to calorie count, that just doesn't work on low carb. The good fats - coconut, extra virgin olive oil - are your friends, embrace them

I'm trying to embrace them! I wasn't intentionally tracking calories. Since starting Induction I've been tracking my food on and off using MFP, and it automatically calculates the calories for me. The only reason I've been paying attention to them is because I noticed I wasn't getting enough - the book says to aim for 1500-1800 per day and I've been naturally eating around 1100, sometimes less. When I was reading up on Induction stalls I saw that eating too few calories can cause the body to get confused and hang onto fat, so that's why I'm making an effort to hit that 1500 target.

 

[Canadian]

I'm still not feeling well...it's been days now and I'm very frustrated and worried. I can't even stand up without feeling it. I tried taking Advil but it didn't make any difference. I'm going to try some home remedies for acid reflux in case that's what's going on. I feel like all the fat I'm eating likely has a role in this. Induction might have been too drastic of a change too quickly because it's not at all what my body is used to. If the acid reflux remedies don't help then I'm going to go off the diet completely for a few days to see if being on induction is the cause. Any diet that makes this happen isn't worth it.

 

[Canadian]

I drank a glass of water with baking soda mixed in - it was every bit as disgusting as it sounds! I also ate some almonds as I read they can have a neutralizing effect, assuming this actually is acid reflux and not something more serious. No improvement. I'm actually feeling worse tonight than I have all day. I'll try one more thing tomorrow morning (lemon juice on an empty stomach) but if it doesn't help I'm going off induction. I don't know if it will be temporary or permanent, all I know is I can't go on feeling this way. I hate to kick myself out of ketosis but I need to try to get this under control or else I'll have to go to the doctor because I'm getting really scared.

 

[coffeelover]

Sorry your not feeling well. Don't worry about kicking yourself out of ketosis at this point. Most veg is alkaline and meat and cheese acidic, so may be acid reflux? What about trying carb cycling or just doing a low carb that's not induction maybe 50-70 grams a day and include a few carbs? Might be a better solution for you. x

 

[Canadian]

Around the time this came on I had upped my fat intake in an effort to get a few hundred more calories each day. I've been eating things like mayo, cream cheese, avocado and coconut oil, as well as some butter, almond milk and cream. I've also been eating around 2 servings of meat per day - usually beef or chicken with the skin on. Even though I haven't been going over my fat % target according to MFP, I think it's been too much too fast. After all, my body isn't used to eating much fat at all as I've been adhering to the low fat WOE for pretty much my entire life.

All I know for sure is I want to cut way back on the fat tomorrow. I don't know if that means I'll go over 20g of carbs or not. I suppose if I ate a bunch of salad I could stay under, although my body might get confused if I'm temporarily limiting carbs and fat. The idea of cheating doesn't appeal to me. It isn't even about having a binge day or anything like that...I just want this to stop. If I don't soon get relief, I need to take a break from this WOE.

Since I said I'd post it, my food for the day:

A big salad with field greens, green pepper, radishes, salsa, sour cream and cheddar cheese
About 2/3 of an avocado's worth of homemade guacamole on roast beef
2/3 of a red bell pepper stuffed with cream cheese and 2 slices of bacon
100mg of potassium in the morning and a multivitamin in the evening
A handful of slivered almonds
9 glasses of water
A glass of club soda with Soda Stream diet cola (sweetened with Splenda)

My calories were around 1200 and my carbs were 23g - they were right at 20g until I ate the almonds. I got 17g of fiber, 75g of protein and 81g of fat. I also consumed 14g of sugar from the veggies and cream cheese. (It's full fat plain cream cheese, but MFP says it contains sugar. I don't feel like getting up to check the label on the container right now to see if that's right.)

Sorry for all my whining these past few days! Hopefully I will be back with better news tomorrow.

 

[Canadian]

Sorry your not feeling well. Don't worry about kicking yourself out of ketosis at this point. Most veg is alkaline and meat and cheese acidic, so may be acid reflux? What about trying carb cycling or just doing a low carb that's not induction maybe 50-70 grams a day and include a few carbs? Might be a better solution for you. x

Hi coffeelover, thanks for the suggestions! I will certainly consider doing either of those things. I'm thinking it may be acid reflux as well. I'm used to eating a ton of veggies, but typically don't eat nearly as much meat or fat as I've been having lately. Maybe the shock has just been too much for my body, I don't know.

 

[Kat1e]

Sorry to hear you are feeling so unwell. Remember everyones body different so definitely worth figuring out what your body is saying. It maybe the fat and gall issues or something else completely - what ever it is please do try to get rid of it and then try track it down! Yes big changes can have a big effect (useful to remember how much diet effects us) - so slow approach maybe required

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[Canadian]

Morning all!

I went to bed last night feeling awful, but I think I've confirmed it's something to do with stomach acid. I couldn't even turn onto my right side because I felt a stabbing pain and couldn't take a full breath. But when I rolled onto my left side I was just fine. I read that it has something to do with the positioning of the stomach - on your left side the acid can't travel back up.

This morning I woke up feeling almost back to normal!! I drank some lemon water on an empty stomach as I read it can have a neutralizing effect. Now I'm waiting a while to eat anything. I still feel like I should do a low fat day today to make sure the problem really is gone, but I'm feeling much less worried. I'm taking a brief break, but I'm not giving up...I'm going to find a way to make low carb work for me whether that means going back on induction or trying something else.

Thanks again for listening to me rant and rave and offering advice these past few days!

 

[Dietninja]

Have you tried dukan? I actually preferred it to atkins as you still have some fat (eggs, oily fish) but not the vast quantities I got through on atkins. Not sure how you'd feel about that but worth checking it out...think its a marmite thing...you love it or you hate it!