Atkins Makeover: Glycemic Index

Atkins hit the big time, exploitd it for all it was worth. Everyone in the diet industry does that. This blog is doing that as well with it's pervasive Ad-Sense Ads.

Now that Akins can't bank on the Low-Carb fad they are transforming to stay competitive. They still have a valuable brand that can be leveraged with the latest diet fad to come around.

More power to 'em. There's always somebody looking for the shiny silver bullet to solve their weight issues. Somebody has to sell to that person.

As for me, I'll stick to eating less and exercising more, thank you.

Good call Mikey :-) All bloggers have a tendency to get a little "holier-than-thou"... As for exploiting the diet industry - Mea Culpa - I'm exploiting it to.

Hopefully amongst all the exploitation you can find the occasional useful thing on diet-blog.

PS. Tell me when you get to within 10-15 pounds of your goal weight. This is when simple diet and exercise just don't cut it (well for me anyway). All ideas and experiences welcomed!

Jim.. those last ten pounds. Hehe, yes. Well, I found that in order to get right down into that elusive ideal weight zone (oops, I used a diet-fad word), I had to change things up a bit. What did it for me was a visit from my dad, who lost a ton of weight after a life-threatening ulcer one year ago. He's since lost 80 pounds, quit smoking, and started running about four to five miles a day. I'm not quite that crazy, but after he visited me, and fed me his regimine for about three or four days, I started losing weight again almost immediately.

In a nutshell... lots and lots of vegetable stuff. We ate three fruits per person per meal, a great big helping of many vegetable sides including salad, and nuts. For breakfast, we tried to keep it uner 400 cals, often just enjoying an Ensure, a fruit and some coffee. Lunch was one cup of soup (any kind, really) with a great big scoop of canned beans (black beans and lentils are my two faves) on the bottom of the bowl. (plus the fruits of course, and a little bit of bread and cheese sometimes). We ate equal amounts of starchy (always whole-grain) things and protein, opting for fish and chicken a lot of the time. A three ounce portion was sufficient. So, eating that way really did the trick! Snacking was limited to fruit and nuts, as much as you want, and maybe a sandwich between lunch and supper. We kept total cals around 1600 and took a lot of walks. Oh, and allowing yourself one or two very high quality and satisfying, mouthwatering chocolates or candies per day... like a little reward at the end of the day. Keeps things fun and delightful.

I think changing the majority of my nutrition to bulky, fibrous and water-rich foods was the biggest thing. I also had to remember what it felt like to abstain. i think during the course of dieting, I had slowly let little snacks and nibbles work their way into my day without my really being aware. Refreshing my self-discipline really helped. That, and the simple act of changing it up a bit. i think the body gets used to a certain lifestyle after awhile and reaches a sort of equilibrium. You have to break out of it. I would also recommend doing a colonic detox, or going vegan for awhile. It's great for the system, and really gets things moving and light-feeling. You do lose weight.

Anyhoo, just my two cents. Well, more than two cents maybe. It worked for me! Sorry if I rambled.. hope it helps someone.

As someone who has lost a lot of weight (165 pounds) on the Atkins Diet, I think this migration from the original rules only spells more trouble as the brand new people wonder why they aren't experiencing the same results as the early initiants did. Give up the convenience or packaged foods, and get back to eating the 3 cups or 6 servings of veggies, healthy cuts meat, and fats and oils. Voila, the way of eating starts working again, and the cravings go away.

Has the person who posted this "news" about the Atkins approach actually read the book by Dr. Atkins?

If they had, they would know that the Atkins diet is not necessarily "low-carb" or "no carb" in nature. The diet is, and always has been, constructed in 4 phases...Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance, and Life-Time Maintenance. Although Induction is the most restrictive phase - at 20 net carbs per day - the premise is to gradually add to your daily net carb intake (in the form of healthy carbs) until you reach a point of neither weight loss nor weight gain. That is the "control" point at which you will maintain your optimum weight. This could be as low as 20 or as high as 100+ - depending on individual metabolism. To blanketly state that the Atkins approach is "no carb" or "low carb" is inaccurate. It is "controlled carb", if we must assign a tabloid label.

Additionally, the book specifically points out that the diet is based on foods that are low on the Glycemic Index - foods that have lower impacts on blood sugar levels. There is no "switch" to the use of the Glycemic Index. It has been there all along. The more astute readers of the book will know that nothing has changed.

If the "posters" of articles here are going to get the information correct, they should start with thorough research.

The Atkins diet is NOT no carb--it is low carb--as is the Low Glycemic Index diet. Admit it, all the "new" diets are based on the Atkins theory--limit foods that increase insulin, exercise, and you will lose weight. Starchy, sugary foods and saturated fat keeps one fat.

I run a blog specific to Atkins dieting. please visit if you are interested.

I tried atkins. It worked, but eggs meat and cheese gets real old real quick. So now I just eat smaller portions and exercise lightly daily.