Atkins ????

[72Monte]

Im getting ready to go real hardcore on Atkins tomorrow and start following Builts Homework 1 program. Couple questions I have that I seem to be getting differant answers for.

#1. What should my starting Carb number be ? Im 5/11 365lbs I was told any where between 20 - 30 grams of carbs per day for two weeks straight.

#2. What should I increase to each week or every two weeks ?

#3. People are saying allow a cheat day and I hear that totally throws atkins diet off. Whats the real deal about cheat day ? I would rather just got a set time all out and get results that way.


Thanks in advance,
Monte

 

[gym66]

you do not need a cheat day at your weight. I am assuming your bf% is very high. keep your carbs below 30 throughout your diet until you hit desirable weight.

 

[Logman]

Big fan of the low-carb diet here. I didn't measure it too deeply but cut 9kg in 3 months easily. I find hunger extremely easy to deal with and can't understand how people find it hard to diet. I usually wake around 8am and I have half a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee to wake me up and then nothing until lunch. 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white, drop of milk, whisked, in the microwave, for scrambled egg (with tomato sauce) for lunch. Yes, this lunch leaves you hungry but I fill up on japanese tea.

Then 200ml of low-fat milk and 2 scoops of whey at 3-4pm with 2 caps of fish oil and train straight after.

Dinner around 6-7pm can be anything but usually fish and salad, miso soup.

Cardio in eveings is Karate and Kickboxing, at least 4 times a week. I jog on Wednesday and Sunday around 5 miles (not not for last month as have injury).

10pm another 200ml of low-fat milk and 2 scoops of whey plus 2 caps of fish oil, 1 cap Vitamin D and a multivitamin.

On this diet I pig out on pizza occasionally, eat out once a week where I gorge myself and drink copious amounts of alcohol. I'll eat rice some days so I do get a few carbs here and there. When I'm hungry I drink half a litre of japanese tea, I drink about 2 litres a day. And when I'm hungry I just take it to mean that fat is burning and I smile.

At your weight I'd be doing a 1000 calorie a day deficit. Fast till luch, then feed your stomach tiny amounts every 3 hours till bed. Stay hydrated, keep protein high, carb so low you can hardly count it. Watch that body melt.

Good luck!

 

[Built]

I'm with Logman on most of his points, but I disagree on the tiny feedings - you may feel more comfortable doing three or four meals with no snacks whatsoever.

First two weeks on Atkins: 20g of total carbohydrate (including fiber) a day.
Week 3: 25g a day.
Week 4; 30g a day.

Continue, week by week in 5g increments until weight-loss stalls - then back down by 5g and stay there. Periodically test this to see how you respond.

As someone who did this successfully while lifting weights, I strongly recommend having the extra carbohydrate only on lifting days, and only in the meal before you do your lifting (I know, everybody says "after", but while you're still fat, you'll feel more "normal" if you have the carb no more than half an hour before you train. It has to do with helping you get back into the comfort of ketosis by using up the carb and lowering your insulin while you train).

Weirdly enough, you may find that having a simpler carb, such as dextrose, white rice or even a slice of toast will be more comfortable than the "slower" carbs for this application, because it will clear faster and let you get back to "normal" after your workout has ended. It's just easier to target the little bit of carb to do what you need it to do while you train, but then be all spent. You'll find what feels the best for you as you work through this.

On Atkins, keep something else in mind - Atkins isn't a high-protein diet; rather, it's a high-fat diet. A decent rule of thumb is that your protein will be no higher than 1g per pound lean mass, and your fats will be HIGHER than 1g per pound lean mass.

For example, me. Were I to do Atkins now, I carry just under 120 lbs lean mass so I'd probably try 100g protein and 120g fat, with 20g carb daily for the first two weeks, then 25g of carb daily and so on. 100g protein, 120g fat and 20g carb provides 1560 calories, which is a fairly strong deficit for me - about 30% below maintenance.

Does this help?

 

[72Monte]

That helps a lot , Thank You very much. So far the only thing bothering me is im super light headed and peeing very often. It's hard being out and about and finding the perfect meal....Today I was driving around a lot and ended up getting my son McDonalds because he was hungry and I smelt it the whole way home....lol...so needless to say I only ate 3 eggs and 3 strips of bacon at 7am and havent eaten since and it's 3:00pm im heading to the gym now and will eat supper when I get home.

 

[Built]

McDonald's is fine - get a Big Xtra with cheese, and don't eat the bun. I had that every day for lunch when I did Atkins.

 

[72Monte]

For more advanced Diet and Fitness Software, check out FitDay PC.


Food Name
Amount
Unit
Cals
Fat (g)
Carbs (g)
Prot (g)
Delete


Total
894
78.6
8.7
40.0

Egg, whole, fried
cupeggextra largejumbolargemediumsmallgramskglboz262
20.3
1.3
18.7
Bacon, cooked
cup, piecesoz, cookedoz, raw (yield after cooking)medium slice (yield after cooking)thick slice (yield after cooking)thin slice (yield after cooking)gramskglboz81
6.3
0.2
5.6
Water, tap
cupfl ozgramskglboz0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Cheese, Cheddar or Colby, lowfat
cupcup, dicedcup, shreddedcubic inchslice (1 oz)gramskglboz98
4.0
1.1
13.8
Asparagus, cooked
cupsmall spear (5" long or less)medium spear (5-1/4" to 7" long)large spear (7-1/4" to 8-1/2" long)extra large spear (8-3/4" to 10" long)spear tip (2" long or less)gramskglboz11
0.6
1.1
0.7
Broccoli, cooked
cupcup, floweretsfloweretspear (about 5" long)gramskglboz15
0.8
2.0
0.7
Olive oil
cuptablespoongramskglboz358
40.5
0.0
0.0
Lettuce, raw
cup, shredded or choppedoz, raw, yieldslarge headlarge leafmedium head (6" dia)medium leafsmall headsmall leafgramskglboz8
0.1
1.6
0.5
Salad dressing
cuptablespoonpacketgramskglboz60
6.2
1.4
0.1

 

[72Monte]

This is what i ate yesterday 894 calories 78.6 grams of fat 8.7 grams of carbs 40 grams of protien


should I be eating more ? I wasnt really hungry except betten 11:00-1:00 when driving around.

 

[Built]

You'll find your appetite is down for a few days. It'll come back up so you might as well enjoy the strong deficit you're running - you'll forgive my wording, but you're still aaahh... juicy enough to not risk any health problems from going this low.

 

[72Monte]

Ok so ran into my first problem today and also have some atkins ????


1st problem , sitting at my computer desk today I went to get up and got the worst pain / cramp in my life left side lower stomach below belly button......Hurt like I debated calling 911 , couldnt even stand straight. Went away after about 8-10 seconds and soon as I sat down came right back so I quickly jumped up and it went away.

then while working today ( installing fence ) I went to bend over to grab a huge rock out of fence post hole and got the cramp again on right side , this time I goty sick to my stomach and threw up a bunch of times and had to go the bathroom. This was about 1:30pm and I ate 3 eggs 3 bacon at 6am and nothing between. Puked far more then I ate not to be gross.....Overall felt very weak and light headed all day so after work I skipped the gym and ate some chicken teryaki and chicken with broccili from chinese resturant. Now its 7pm and im felling a little better.



On another note because im getting sick of eggs n bacon I picked up some atkins bars and shakes......The say 20 carbs but 3 net so which is which ? Am i eating 20 carbs or 3 ?


Thanks in advance for the help,
Phil

 

[Built]

Sorry you got sick!

Re atkins bars - return them. They're total crap - loaded with all kinds of nonsense like soy and sugar alcohols. Net carbs is bs - you count total carbs. Ditch the bars.