I have been doing the Atkins diet for 6 days and no weight loss. I am doing it ALL properly. WHY??

Question

I have been following the Atkins diet for 6 whole days. I have not cheated once, and have followed it to the letter from the book. I have had no cheating or little mouthfuls. I have just had meat, eggs, cheese, cream and a small handful of salad (lettuce and cucumber) every day. I am drinking water throughout the day. I have seen reports that after 48 hours, people start to lose weight. I was expecting it to be fast, seeing as I have lost weight after the first couple of days on other diets. I keep reading in the internet that people have lost 10lbs in 2 weeks on this diet, but 6 days in and losing nothing, I can't believe that will happen. I have about 30 lbs to lose. I thought this was a surefire way to lose weight.

Please help, I am considering coming off of this diet and onto a low fat and low calorie one. I have a holiday in 3 and a half weeks. I need to lose a lot and very quickly.

Answer 1

Rule 1: you cannot lose more than 2-3 lbs safely on average per week.  You can go up to 5 lbs in some weeks, but planning on doing that for multiple weeks puts your body into starvation mode, and it eats its own muscles as well as storing more fat on every calorie it can get.

Atkins can be very effective, but I am not sure about your diet.  Some cheeses have carbs (stay away from the soft ones like brie, camenbert, cottege cheese, etc.).  Cream is probably okay, but not things like half an half.  I'd avoid cream altogether to be honest.  For some reason, I seem to recall cucumber not being on the list of approved items.

I lost about 60 lbs over the course of a year on atkins, by the way.

Effectively, you are  in the 2 week, no-carb starter phase.  'Little mouthfulls' are cheating, and completely hoses up your body's ability to adjust.  Go cold turkey on the carbs (plan on 0).  Make sure you don't eat breaded meat, or be careful on the sauces.

Most of the weight you lose in the first 2 weeks is water, I'm afraid to say.  The body adjusts to a lower level of water--which is why you have to drink so much.  There can be some danger of kidney damage in the long term if you don't drink a lot of water.

I know a lot of people 'debunked' the Atkins diet, but I find it ironic that it is very similar to the diet they put diabetics on (though usually a bit lower diet in fat for diabetics).  It does work, but you CANNOT cheat in the first two weeks to get your body into the state it needs to be in.

Understand that you cannot lose 30 lbs in 3 weeks without most of the weight being water.  Aim for 12, and be happy with 9.  Those numbers are agressive enough, to say nothing of 30.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Low fat low calorie is definitely the way to go.  Atkins is extremely hard on your body and dangerous over long periods of time.  Think of your heart...you really want all that cholesterol in your system?  If you want to end up lithe and slim, be like a gazelle: graze often and on vegetarian, low-calorie items and keep your body moving and your heart beating.

Answer 3

Eating low-carbs on an Atkins-style diet does not work. They are much too strict, not sustainable, and makes your life miserable as your body does not function properly without carbs causing headaches, irritability and loss of sleep. Did you know that low carb diets will actually cause you to gain weight after the initial weight loss?!

I can understand why you want to try a low calorie/low fat diet.

But it may not be as simple as counting calories and buying only "low fat" foods in the supermarkets.

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The Following DIETS DO NOT WORK and are PLAIN BAD FOR YOU!

(1) Low Carbs

I've described above.

(2) Low Fat Diets

You know all these so called “low fat” foods that are sold in your local supermarket? These foods are typically calorie ridden and will actually make you gain more weight! Low fat foods DO NOT equal weight loss.

(3) Starvation Diet

Your Body requires food to function. Losing weight the wrong way by not eating is actually worse for you than gaining weight. It will affect the way your brain functions and slow your metabolism down to a GRINDING HALT! You CANNOT lose weight and stay healthy by starving yourself of nutrition.

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SO, the key to losing weight is NOT to restrict your diet to "low fat", "low carbs" diets, but rather eating the RIGHT calories. You actually get to eat more (and stay healthy & happy!) and lose more weight.

For example, if you eat smaller meals more frequently, and eat the RIGHT foods, you can actually eat more and lose more weight. Sounds strange, but our bodies are very complex and if you understand your body, you can manipulate your metabolism for speedy and SUSTAINABLE weight loss!

Hope that helps!

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Answer 4

First you have to understand that every ones body is different, if you are not exercising then thats probably what you need to do, but if you were then change the diet,