BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Starting my new life tomorrow

Hi, I'm new here and was trying to read all the posts I could but I've run out of time as I am starting Atkins tomorrow. I have two questions. Caffinated coffee. Is it really taboo? (I read that somewhere.) I hate decaf!. Second, this bad breath thing. Does it happen to everyone and if so, is there anything a person can do to combat it (besides mouthwash). Thanks, I've gained lots of knowledge from this site already.

Dear Sue: Atkins is dangerous. It is ridiculous to cut out one nutrient in order to lose weight. I lost 55 lbs on Weight Watchers, and I gained 50 on Atkins - go figure. Weight Watchers doesn't restrict carbs, it only watches overall portions and calories. Simple and effective. Atkins doesn't watch fat - you can get fat on Atkins, very easily.

2 hours of strenuous exercise a day, plus a smart meal plan including all the food groups will do it just fine. Try it. It's not all about what you eat, it's also about how much you move. I've gotten a tremendous effect from this program and I invented it.

Join a gym.

Bleep, you are dangerous. The tone of your reply is nasty, brutish, and short. The poster is looking for advice about Atkins, not your personal and seriously uninformed crusade against it.

People have lost weight on Atkins, you cannot deny that. Just because your personality/physical make-up didn't allow you to lose doesn't mean the diet is dangerous.

Carbs aren't cut out...they're reduced -- for a minimum of time at that. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson just released a revised food pyramid which suggests limited intake of refined carbohydrates as well. Is he dangerous, too?

To the original poster, from my personal experience, bad breath happens (not to all, but it did to me) It lasted for my induction stage...but tapered after I started introducing more carbs.

As for caffiene (spell?) Two weeks without it IS necessary. Caffiene acts as a quick source of energy (somewhat like a carbohydrate) and your body burns it before burning the fat. The whole point of low carb is to condition your body into burning fat as it's primary source of energy. That's why so many people find they gain weight on Atkins, or any kind of low carb option...because they cannot cheat. There really isn't such a thing as a modified low-carb diet. You gotta be committed to not giving your body those quick carbs so it can be conditioned to burn the fat.

When people cheat on low carb diets, they do themselves a double disservice. First, they don't use that fat they've been eating...then they give their body an "out" by providing it with easy energy (the carbs) to burn as fuel. Then, the fat just gets stored.

So, the one thing I can tell you about low-carb dieting is DON'T CHEAT (especially during the induction period). If you feel like you need to cheat, go ahead and do weight watchers. But if you can stick with it....low carb is a good option.

Thanks Cat93. Glad to hear the breath thing will go away. And, thanks for explaining about the caffine. You explained it effects very well so, out it goes.

As for my other "un-asked for" advice. I picked low carb over other diets because I am not a fruit and vegatable person to begin with, so giving them up is not a problem. (I do take lots of vitamins to make up for my bad eating habits.) I don't eat a lot of sweets either. Now bread and potatoes is another matter but hey, it is a diet, you have to give up something you like! At least you don't have to go around feeling hungry all the time.

hi sue, do hope you have the book as it will guide you correctly on how to do atkins, i started last week, after reading the first part upto induction and i have already lost 3.7 pounds.

unfortunatly veg is a fair part of the diet it states 140-200g a day on top of 230-300g of salad, while doing induction/weight loss... i feel like i have bad breath as i have strange taste in my mouth, the book explais all this and you would get all your answers from the book, on coffee it says that it may cause unstable blood sugar and should be avioded by those who suspect they are csaffeine dependant, try to avoid it, im still drinking some. good luck

Yes, I do have the book and have been reading through it. Actually, I read the bit about caffine this morning. I'll eat salad and some vegatables but I am pretty picky in that area. Good luck! I'm feeling very positive about this.

Hi Tiger and SueMN. This is Glennys. I've tried doing the induction part of Atkins, but I get really light-headed and pass out. I think this may have something to do with potassium levels in my blood not being high enough. Anyway, because of that, I haven't been able to get through induction.

Do you think if I just do a couple of days of induction and then start on the next phase it would work?

Hi Glennys. If I was getting light headed and passing out, I think I would definately see a doctor before I tried dieting. Better safe than sorry. Good luck.

Cat93 is exactly right here, both in that low carb is very much about healthy eating not about an effort to "cut out one nutrient". It's informative to see Bleep's post because it shows just how much some people are completely misinformed about Atkins. Atkins does not cut out ANY nutrients. The whole point of Atkins / low carb is to cut out NON-NUTRITIVE food - i.e. food WITHOUT nutrients. So Bleep could not be any more wrong if he had tried.

Glennys - induction should be about eating a ton of veggies like broccoli and such, and taking vitamins every day. There should be no way you are low on potassium ...?

Eating veggies is really important in many, many ways. Studies have shown that if you eat a food 10 times, your taste buds begin to learn to accept that food flavor. I highly recommend training yourself to enjoy more vegetables. It's something your parents should have done for you growing up - and if they didn't, you need to do it for yourself now. Vitamin pills are fine, but never should take the place of real food.

When I was a child, I read about scurvy in school and trained myself to drink orange juice. Yup, I was a weird kid and hated orange jiuce. So I would hold my nose and make myself drink it. Suddenly I found I didn't mind orange juice, and eventually liked it.

I did the same thing with salad a year later, since I read that veggies were important. My parents were real meat and potatoes people, so I had to train myself. It's a little weird, but it worked.