The Zone/ Atkins/ South Beach

[LDNgirl]

Sorry bring a downer on the mouth watering recipes, and talk about the D word... lol...

This one is probably more for the girls than the guys, but has anyone tried any of the above diets?

I've tried Atkins and it made me soooo ill. Smelly breath and the rest! I hated it. Being North African, we LOVE our bread and bread products... does anyone know of a way to eat mummas cooking and still keep to these types of diets.

Do share your experiences..

[amina_imen]

I can talk for hours about diets...lol

I tried dieting quite a few times as I sometimes get obcessed about a pound or two and being psychologically obcessed with things doesn't help.
I tried all sorts of diets from atkins, to complex carbs only, to detox, to the "nothing diet".

I've tried the Atkins diet for a few days, I cheated though on the 5th day lol and ate a big tub of vanilla ice cream hahahaha...and guess what I put on more weight than I ever did...I run to the gym that same day and spent hours, I was haunted by feelings of guilt lol. I only got it off with exercise. Surely a tab of icecream wouldn't have been that much of a probleme outside Atkin's.

Solution is never starve yourself: healthy diet (all necessary components) + exercise

It's a simple rule just like in thermodynamics:
Energy in = Energy out
So exercise more than what you consume and you'll lose weight, as simple as that.

Really, those diets aren't good for you and even if they help you lose weight in the short term, the weight is back once your metabolism is back to normal.

For example I give you this formula: 3500 calories = 1 pound.
Keeping this in mind set a target for yourself and do it gradually. Any sudden change in weight isn't going to do you any good.

We have a biological clock in our brain, a thermostat that regulate body temp we all know that. We also have a weight thermostat that regulates and stabilises our weight.
How it works is if you lose weight in a few days and you're happy with your weight and start eating normally again your Wt thermostat is going to switch the weight to its equilibrium state, i'e' previous weight, unless you keep on dieting even after reaching your target. Again that's not a good idea.

Starving isn't good either as it lowers the metabolic rate and eating normally again would be interpreted as over-eating!!! Result= weight gain.

When you lose weight initially it's carbs then protein being burnt to produce the extra energu required and not provided by food. IN the body, each molecule of carb or protein is associated with 4 of water therefore initial weight loss is mainly water.
You lose weight than you start having a balanced meal basically carbs and protein and you put on weight. Why? because water is restored in the body to complex with the carbs and protein!
Not good either.

The Atkins diet is very risky in the long term. I know someone who lost 2 stones in just over 2 weeks on this diet but guess what, all back when back to carbs.
Celebrities out there like Jerry Hariwell just prove this point. Plus eating fatty food eeekkk surely isn't healthy.

From my experience, I find that if I want to lose weight, I eat as much as I want but limit my meals to a soup, vegetables and fish or chicken breast. That works wonders If exercise isn't a routine.

Exercise prevents all weight problems so that's the keypoint.

Oh and those weight loss tablets and drinks..they are crap.

[LDNgirl]

Wow! someone who has tried everything like me! lol...

I've read the Atkins book from cover to cover three times. He makes alot of sense, for a dead man! However, the basis of his theory is that fat just passes through our bodies and does not effect the weight we gain, as weight gain is purely to do with with our carb intake.

Aktins is unhealthy, with all the suppliments and the Colon care that you have to take is rediculous! Plus there was a documentary on the other stating that with all the protein you eat, it makes you feel fuller thereby making you eat less. SO in essence you take in as much calories as a person on a healthy eating diet. I know that when I was on the Atkins I ate nothing! coz I felt sick all the time.

But going back to what you said, is it really 3500 = 1 pound or is it 350 kcals = 1 pound. Is that the same coming off as it is going on?

What atkins has done however is bring to light the detrimental effect of Carbs on peoples weight. We now have the glycemic index, anything high on that = bad, most of the low stuff is good.

Calorie, fat and carb counting does my head in through coz I get bored so easily! Plus if anyone has a hectic job, you get home, you can be bothered to cook something healthy! It's a loose/ loose situation most of the time.

As you were taking the example of the 'stars', I was watching a program on how they have lost the wieght. I think it was Matt Damon who lost 60lbs by eating one small meal and running 12 miles per day. I rate his determination! I couldn't do it.

I ask for quick fixes coz at the moment I can't get to the gym because of an ankle injury. Since the begining of Ramadan I have put on so much weight, and I need to get it off because its starting to depress me now. I still try and eat 3 healthy meals per day, no snacking, if I eat carbs such as pasta, I use the low-carb range. I am on Iodine, Lecithin, Aqualite, and a turkish herbal slimming tea, plus green tea every few hours, but it does not seem to be making a difference at all. I've just ordered slimming patches of the internet lol... I miss the gym so much, and have been trying to make up for it in doing pilates at home.

Have you heard of the south beach diet? I really can't understand it, and it seems like a play on the zone.

[amina_imen]

Yes 3500 kcal = 1 pound I'm afraid..Ill post later, have to run now!
Take care

[amina_imen]

Sorry to hear about your ankle injury!

Aktins is unhealthy,

My opinion too.

is it really 3500 = 1 pound or is it 350 kcals = 1 pound. Is that the same coming off as it is going on?

As I said about 3,500 calories adds up to about 1 pound. This applies whether they are food calories coming in, or calories (burned by exercise) going out.

If you eat 3,500 calories more than your body needs, you will put on about 1 pound. If you use up 3,500 calories more than you eat, you will lose about 1 pound in weight.

What I think is if there was an easy way to lose weight -or a miracle way-, 1 in 2 adult Americans would not be overweight!

Calorie, fat and carb counting does my head in through coz I get bored so easily! Plus if anyone has a hectic job, you get home, you can be bothered to cook something healthy! It's a loose/ loose situation most of the time.
.....
I ask for quick fixes coz at the moment I can't get to the gym because of an ankle injury.

It's always the case, quick fixes wanted but slow steady weight loss, rather than fast weight loss is the only solution.

The maximum weight (fat or muscle) that such a person can lose is about 1/2 pound per day. Anything else will be water, which is rapidly regained.

This is why fast weight loss is nearly always followed by fast weight gain.

Measuring a diet's success with the bathroom scale isn't right due to water weight fluctuations. It is possible to temporarily reduce body weight by instigating water loss. Much of the initial weight loss produced by fad diets and some commercial programs are achieved through water loss. People generally at*tribute their weight loss to the success of the program. Tragically, they attribute the inevitable weight regain (resulting from the return of body fluid) to their own failure.

Short-term changes in body weight are due to such fluctuations, and not to changes in body fat. Do not take short-term changes in body weight seriously! Focus on the procedures, not the outcomes and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Remember: Losing weight is easy. Keeping it off is the difficult bit!

Also, any diet pill, weight loss diet or product that claims to produce weight loss of (say) 4 pounds a week or more (for someone under 180 pounds), is unlikely to be effective in helping you to lose weight.

A good diet should encourage you to eat less fat, more fruit and vegetables and keep your stomach full with starchy carbohydrates.

I used to eat lots of junk food then run to the gym. Now, I enjoy my soups every now and again, I try to have a healthy balanced diet. As I said I found that out of everything this is the best way to keep weight under control. Then if you indulge in unhealthy stuff it's not the end of the world and you don't see any changes, it's only when you make a lifestyle out of them!
One nutritionist once said there is no such thing as bad food (chips, chocolate..) there is a bad diet (eating chips all the time for eg). I definitely agree from my experience!!

Have you heard of the south beach diet? I really can't understand it, and it seems like a play on the zone.

I have but couldn't say much about it apart from the fact that it seems healthier than Atkins. I have read very good reviews about it too.
It's about cutting off the carbs then re-introducing them back..BUT it's a lifestyle. Just like the Atkins, you have to change your lifestyle once you determine your carbs allowance, something I can never do, I just like bread being Algerian lol.

Try this link:
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/...ght.html#para1

Take care and let me know how it's going ;-)

[HeWhoDaresWins]

ooops i leave "par la petite porte".. came to find food and you ladies are talking about how to avoid it...lol..
anyway.... good luck to you..hope yu feel (all of you) good about yourself whaveter weight or shape yu are.
What counts is the sense of humour...
lol yeah right!!
no no . i mean it.. serious now.
so ladies when you have finished. i am starving here!!...recettes please!!

[amina_imen]

LOL HeWhoDaresWins,
Off to have dinner now, I can assure you we feel good about ourselves, we just love talking about diet, something guys can't understand ;-)

Recettes later