I did see a difference, of course at first there's a more dramatic weight loss, but even in the second portion I saw weight loss.

Also even though sometimes I really wanted cake or cookies I never felt hungry, there's always the option of eating something more if you are hungry. The desserts int eh book wrent' that great, I remember, that, but that was my only real complaint.

atkins/southbeach diets - what I learned.

The induction periods give me headaches. I can't really do - no carbs/low carbs can be really bad for some people ( and yes, for those of us with diabetes - it can still be bad). However, the induction periods can teach you a lot. As in there is a lot of good food you are skipping by choosing the easy to eat and easy to find carbs. Many people eat 60+% carbohydrates. On my good days I eat 40 - 50% carbs. 40 to 50 % carbs for most women is living at the low end of carbs on the food pyramid. Percentagewise this means my fat is closer to 40 % of my diet.

I have a friend that swear atkins is the only way she loses weight. However, she yo-yos a lot. There isn't any room in Atkins for holiday gatherings , eating at friends', birthdays , etc. So she always seems to be starting over.

I think the south beach plan makes more sense. It takes you off , then slowly adds the 'better' carbs. I think it educates you and your palate.

I'm not actually against any plan - It just needs to be something you can live with.

Well, for the past week I've been avoiding flour and sugar fairly consistently, and I've not even been tempted to indulge in the various offers of cookies, cakes, bread rolls etc. A few years ago I noticed a real change in my ability to cope with soft drinks with sugar (or, as I now realise, HFCS) - I simply can't drink them. By the time I'm approaching the end of the drink, I'm thirstier than I was when I started, and I feel like ass. These days I drink club soda most of the time, and maybe once every few weeks I have a diet coke out of vague curiosity. And I can absolutely believe what you're saying, Trudy.

Hmm. Right. I'm going to try this, and see where it takes me.

BTW, I did not lose a ton of weight, but I never lose weight fast. Never.

I suspect it is the diabetes, combined with the fact that I seem to gain muscle fast. I hate the scale, but the tape measure is my friend.

South Beach is WAY more sensible, Atkins is a recipe for liver damage and heart disease. Go South Beach! Eat vegetables!

Atkins is a recipe for liver damage and heart disease

Upon what do you base this? Not meaning to be arsey - Taubes' book is a bit of a mind-boggler, but from what he says (and it's pretty extensive with the citations) the research upon which the AMA based their whole 'dietary fat=heart disease' argument is pretty contradictory, even spurious.

I'm trying to not to take his book as gospel, despite the extensive and detailed references, but he does build a convincing case. Can you point me to somewhere that explains this Atkins = heart disease/liver damage? (No worries if not - I'll carry on googling!)

I think South Beach suggests usiing Splenda, which I can't eat at all. It makes me feel weird and lightheaded and awful.

At work they had Diet Cokewith Splenda in the machine and I drank one and thought I was going to faint.

I have only anecdotal evidence. My Dad had his heart attack on Atkins and Dad's cardiologist says, "Atkins built my summer home."

Well, I am a pescatarian (I eat some seafood) and so South Beach/Atkins for me wasn't so much about eating a ton of meat (as is common), but more about decreasing starch. And it worked like a charm. I lost 50 pounds, but did it over the course of a year and a half, along with going to the gym 3-4 times a week.

I've gained about half of that back, 5 years later, because I don't make time for the gym and I drink too many damned lattes. But I know that if I cut the lattes out and head back to the gym, the weight will come right off again. And people are right; it really does teach you about how your body reacts to sugar.

I think the thing about the Atkins diet, is that a superficial reading of it makes it sound like eating all the fatty items you please is a good idea, and that stuffing yourself on protein is a grand plan. Whereas what the good Dr. Atkins was really saying was, eat a moderate amount of protein, with a reasonable (and the low-fat guidelines of many diets are not reasonable) amount of fat. In addition, it's best to get most of your carbs from eating lots of veggies, a bit of whole grains, and some carefully chosen fruit. It is distinctly possible that Atkins simply did not communicate his ideas as clearly as he thought he had. The South Beach Diet, the Hamptons Diet, Protein Power, and some others, may do a better job of it.