Atkins Works, But You Must Stick With It

by Katie
(Missouri)

I did the Atkins diet three times in the past 5 years. The fist time I was pretty strict with it and I lost 40 pounds.

I ate mostly meat, strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, watermelon, nuts and cheese. I used low carb bread and low carb pasta. I ate lettuce wraps.

One of my favorite deserts was sugar free jello with whip cream and sometimes some fresh strawberries. I made Kool-Aid with splenda and drank a lot of crystal light.

I found new recipes and tried to vary my diet. I did, however, find myself craving fruits that are high in natural sugar such as apples and oranges, which are no no's on Atkins.

In the beginning, you definitely feel the lack of carbs by lack of energy, but the pounds just fell off very quickly. I always felt full and satisfied.

After a few months of strict no carb dieting, I tried to start adding carbs back in. I found myself slowly adding more and more carbs back into my diet.

I couldn't help myself and added way too many. I eventually gained all of the weight back.

About 2 years ago I tried Atkins again. I was very strict yet again, but added exercise into the plan.

I would work out 4 to 5 times a week, with 45 to 60 minutes of cardio almost daily and strength training every other day. I lost about 65 pounds in 5 months.

But yet again, when I went into maintenance, I lost control. I slacked off on my exercising and again gained back all of the weight.

Nowadays I don't eat nearly as much sugar or carbs in my diet. I don't crave sugar like I used to either.

I tried Atkins again a few months ago, but was completely unsuccessful in the first few weeks. Usually you lose 5 to 10 pounds the first week, and I didn't lose any this last time around.

I'm not so sure that I went about it the healthy way. You are supposed to restrict your carb intake to 20 carbs a day for the first few weeks, and I would eat a max of 40 and still had good results.

But, I also ate a lot of processed meats such as deli meats that can be high in fat. You are also not supposed to eat nuts or fruits for the first few weeks either, which I did do.

It is definitely a hard diet to stick to so you have to be really committed.