BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Loss of strength

I have been on the Atkins diet since 5/2/04. I have lost total of 21 lbs, and have noticed that I have a loss of stength...Like just blow drying my hair my arms get REALLY tired!

I walk on my lunch hour at work (approx. 20-25 minutes on the nice days). So I thought I would try one of my old arobic exercise tapes last weekend and noticed how totally weak I felt while trying to do it.

Is this something that is normal? Any feed back on this is wanted. Thanks

SW: 194
CW: 173
GW: 145

Michelle (Newcomb13)

Hi Michelle,

I noticed that this is your second post and that it appears that you have lost 5 lbs in 11 days.

I do not think that you are eating enough calories! That seems like alot of weight loss to me (it's different when you intially begin).

Because I am a nurse I would not dare to advise, however would you consider discussing this with your Dr?

A balanced diet is important. I felt very weak with no carbs in the morning so I always have a bowl of oatmeal in the am as well as a good healthy carb or two at lunch. Supper and eves aren't as important to me. My legs were weak and I felt ill with the lack of carbs.

I have problems with a severe diet when one is told to load up on fats and cut down on things like apples and carrots.

I've lost 10 so far... down from 142 to 132. Still losing but have edited in that I certainly watch my carbs.... but I EAT them too.

I think one lb- 2lbs at the most per week is healthy.

I think you are starving yourself.

Actually eating a low carb diet should result in a GAIN of strength - not a loss of it. You need to look at your diet and make sure you are -

* taking your vitamins
* Drinking 8+ glasses of water a day
* Eating 3 large meals a day
* Having healthy snacks in between meals

You should never go more than 3-4 hours without having some sort of healthy snack in you.

As far as the "everyone must eat apples" post LOL I know someone who DID eat apples every day and was yelled at by his doctor for that making him fat! Apples are natural but they are VERY sugar filled. There is a balance in everything. If you could be eating things that are natural, fresh healthy and ALSO have low sugar, to eat apples instead is a bad choice. In actuality you should be filling yourself up at lunch / dinner / etc with spinach, zucchini, fish, etc. so you don't have room for dessert. Celery makes a great snack.

If you feel "fats are bad", you might want to read my many articles on the topic. TRANS FATTY ACIDS are bad. But just about any doctor or nurse I know is very emphatic on how critical monounsaturated fats and fish oils are to proper health - they must be taken *daily*. Many fats are absolutely critical to healthy living.

Gee...
was he having a bad dr day or are his bedside manners that bad? i've worked with drs for many years and have never heard of them YELLING at any patient... they suggest someone quit smoking a pack a day or a bottle a day... but yelling over an apple???????????
my advice... get a new dr. quick!!!!

Actually a lot of watchdog groups are angry with doctors for NOT being more aggressive with their patients. They are blaming doctors who are too "laid back" for just letting their patients in essence kill themselves. They are saying doctors need to become much more forceful in insisting on lifestyle changes.

They point to studies where obese people say "jeez my doctor never really made me feel like this was THAT important ..."

So I personally think it's about time for doctors to get some sense into people who are smoking and doing drugs and such. These people will at least listen to a doctor. The guy in question was eating apples with peanut butter every day and was seriously overweight. The doctor got upset because he'd TOLD this guy to only eat certain foods, and here the guy was deliberately not following his advice and getting fatter. What happens if the guy gets annoyed at being fat and turns around and sues the doctor for not "giving him proper advice"? I'm sure we'll be coming to that soon.

I can't imagine being a doctor and dealing with people who deliberately cause themselves to be ill, who keep doing bad things even when told not to. You're responsible for this person, you have an obligation to help people be healthy ...

I do not believe that the apples were making him seriously overweight. Peanut butter.... that's a no brainer. And it is likely he eats a heck of alot more than that too. It is his life and his Dr. can yell all he wants... but if the guy is self destructive what can you do. Blaming the medical environment is wrong. YOu cannot fix something which does not want to be fixed.
It is called lack of responsibility and additive natures of those who partake in that kind of behaviour. You cannot heal him who will not heal himself. I have taken care of thousands who are not health responsible. Don't blame Dr.s. They are a great caring bunch. If a person can't figure out drugs and smoking are bad where has he been the last 20 years? A Dr. cannot make them quit.

I reached my goal eating fruit. In fact, I live in a fruit belt and strawberries, raspberries, cherries are all in season and soon black berries will be ripe. We live on them in my household and no one is overweight.

As they say the proof is in the pudding. I do not or will not ever consider fruit unhealthy or
a sugar product.

Peanut butter, bacon and fats like that I steer clear of with a ten foot stick. I've seen alot of heart attack and stroke patients.

I've reached my goal.... 13 lbs in 8 weeks.... feel great and wish everyone healthy eating!!

amen to that. after beating my head against the wall too many times with too many people, i no longer attempt to "save" them from their habits.

i simply tell them that what they are doing will eventually kill them, and that it is their choice to change.

fresh fruits are extremely good for a person. this is what i have been saying all along. the low-carb obsession has gone way overboard. forget about the sugar in fruits - they are even worried about all that sugar in a carrot. LOL.

I really doubt you "live" on fruit. I imagine you have fruit in addition to a healthy diet. Low carb diets do NOT tell you to avoid all fruit. They tell you to eat them in moderation. The whole point here is that some people were NOT trained to eat in moderation and the low carb diet is a way to get that moderation back in their life.

And again, if you really avoided all fats, you would be dead. Fats are critical to body processing. It is the BAD fats like the trans fatty acids that are dangerous. The GOOD fats are critical to your body's metabolism. So it is important that you realize that there are good fats AND bad fats, just like there are good carbs AND bad carbs. To bash all fats is pretty medically unsound <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I doubt you guys would recommend drinking 8 glasses of pineapple juice a day - and if you personally did it, I pretty much guarantee you would gain weight. Yet some people do that thinking it is "healthy". Again, the point here is moderation.

I *live* in the fruit belt of the west coast. I do not live on fruit. I eat alot of fruit as well as carbs, protein etc. A balanced diet.

Why on earth would we recommend 8 glasses of pineapple juice a day? I've never heard of such a thing. Everything in moderation. I doubt you would recommend 8 lbs of bacon. Same idealology.

I personally am turned off this forum because of the preaching. You seem to think it's your platform to preach at everyone. Being the moderator doesn't mean we have to be your captive audience. Everyone has opinions and there are many healthy diets which work for folks. I tried low carb and I hate it. I need my carbs. I lost my wieght on low calorie and excerise and feel great. I still maintain a weight watchers approach is best. What does an all fruit diet or 8 glasses of pineapple juice come in play?

I *live* in the fruit belt of the west coast. I do not live on fruit. I eat alot of fruit as well as carbs, protein etc. A balanced diet.

Why on earth would we recommend 8 glasses of pineapple juice a day? I've never heard of such a thing. Everything in moderation. I doubt you would recommend 8 lbs of bacon. Same idealology.

I personally am turned off this forum because of the preaching. You seem to think it's your platform to preach at everyone. Being the moderator doesn't mean we have to be your captive audience. Everyone has opinions and there are many healthy diets which work for folks. I tried low carb and I hate it. I need my carbs. I lost my wieght on low calorie and excerise and feel great. I still maintain a weight watchers approach is best. What does an all fruit diet or 8 glasses of pineapple juice come in play?