The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet Review

After several years of trying other “fad” diets, I decided to give in and try the Atkins Diet. Several of my friends had used it with success, and I figured if they could do it, so could I. What I didn’t know at the time I made the decision was how many restrictions there were to the Atkins diet.

I had been on diets before, but I was shocked at how much I had to give up just to lose weight. The premise of the diet is that those who are overweight eat too many carbohydrates, and though the body uses both fats and carbohydrates for energy, they use the carbohydrates first.

The consensus is that if you severely reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume and increase the fats and proteins, the body will burn the body fat that is stored more efficiently.

With such a severe restriction in carbohydrates, you body goes into a state of ketosis, which means your body using stored fat for energy. You usually feel less hungry when the body is in ketosis, so you naturally eat less.

The weight loss occurs because the lack of carbohydrates causes your body to turn the stored fat in energy instead of the carbohydrates that you previously consumed. Instead of consuming high amounts of carbohydrates that the body converts into sugar and then fat, the body relies on stored fat reserves in your body.

The Atkins diet has four phases with the first one being the most restrictive, limiting carbohydrates to a mere 20 grams daily, and phase two only increases that to 25 grams. With such a low amount of carbohydrates, it’s impossible not to lose weight because you don’t have unused sugar turning into fat.

Although I lost weight on the program, I found the limited selection of foods to be a drawback. I have the type of job that requires me to meet frequently with clients for breakfast, lunch, or dinner meetings, and the limited menu items make it almost impossible to enjoy a meal.

It may be because I only had about twenty pounds to lose, but I found the limited carbohydrates made me tired. I also did not find the menu selections filling except in the very beginning. It may work for people who have an abundance of stored fat, but for those who only have small amount of weight to lose, there isn’t enough stored fat to replace the loss of carbohydrates—at least that was my personal observation.

Some friends and co-workers who had fifty or more pounds to lose had less complaints about the plan, so I assume that the program is geared more toward those who have a great deal of weight to lose.

I chose to stay on the Atkins diet plan until I lost the twenty pounds, but I decided against their maintenance plan. I did learn how to eat less carbohydrates and to eat carbohydrates with a lower glycemic index, but it has still been a struggle to learn how to eat normally again. I also have serious concerns about the safety of such a diet.

I have to admit that if I discover the need to lose weight again, the Atkins diet will not be one of my choices. For me it was a last resort, but for the future, I plan to keep a more watchful eye on my weight—it’s easier to lose five pounds than twenty.

Review by Diana Freeman