"The No-Energy Diet", better known as the Atkins Diet.

by Sara
(Cleveland, Ohio)

After gaining the infamous "Freshman 15" at college, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and try the Atkins Diet. From the way people were talking about it, I figured there has to be some truth to the hype.

I was on the diet 3 weeks and I never felt worse. Not that I need to explain what the diet is since I'm sure everyone and their grandma has heard about it.

But for those folks out there who have not heard of the Atkins diet, it's a low-carbohydrate diet. The first 2 weeks of the diet, known as Phase I, you can only have a maximum of 20 grams of carbohydrates a day.

There are many low-carb versions of food on the market so sticking to the diet wasn't terrible in that way. You can eat meats, tuna, basically anything with very few carbs.

But I have to say DON'T DO THIS DIET! The idea behind the Atkin's diet is to get your body into a state called "ketosis", meaning your body burns lipids (fat) for energy as opposed to carbohydrates. Sounds swell, right? Wrong!

Ketosis is a BAD thing for your body. Your body is set up to efficiently burn carbohydrates for energy. When your body has to solely use lipids for energy, it is an inefficient and unnatural process. Your body does not like it and you will feel the effects.

I had absolutely no energy, I felt like I was going to faint, I could not concentrate, and I felt overall ill on the diet. My whole body felt ill.

Did I lose weight? Yes, I lost 10 pounds. But as soon as I went off the diet, I put the weight back on. Tricking your body only produces short-term effects.

Stick to diet and exercise. If those aren't working for, you might want to have your doctor test your thyroid. I found out I had an under-active thyroid. Now I am back to my goal weight, but without the help of the Atkins Diet.

Do you need a little more help with your weight?