[not2late]

Originally Posted by Diver Down

No worries, shelly, I just took offense at the notion I wasn't on Atkins as I sit here going through a difficult Induction phase. What other diet do they think I'm on?! I've worked hard to reduce my carbohydrate intake to far less than 20 carbs per day, I've eliminated breads, fruit, pastas, and the like, and basically subscribed to the fundamental principles of the diet. Am I living according to every single word in the latest revision of the Atkins bible? Perhaps not, but for that I shouldn't be cast a heretic.

If you play basketball, using a football and running around bases to score a touch-down, is it still basketball? And would basketball adherents recognize your basketball as the official basketball?

Atkins is a specific low carb diet. There are many other low carb diets out there, but they are not Atkins. This concept seems to befuddle plenty of people. I think it's more a result of "brand identification" than of ignorance. For example, in the US, the word "kleenex" has come to mean any facial tissue, eventhough there are brands like Puffs and Scott. The word "xerox" has come to mean photocopying. So people say "Atkins" and associate it with any old low carb diet there is.

Of what am I guilty, drinking caffeine? I don't recall where it was written in stone it was absolutely forbidden (advised against, naturally, but forbidden...since when?!).

Chapter 11, Induction Acceptable Foods List Beverage Footnote: "Excessive caffeine my cause untable blood sugar and should be avoided by those who suspect they are caffeine depened. Everyone should try to avoid caffeine."

And the net-carb products, Atkins sells them as safe during Induction so it's hard to throw stones at me for using them during emergencies. I am aware that Dr. Atkins caved in to pressure to offer such products and does not endorse them, but that doesn't change the fact that at their most one of them is considered 5 net carbs (and 9 total).

Chapter 11, Rules of Induction Rule 5: Eat nothing that is not on the acceptable foods list." So if those Atkins products have ingredients that are not on the Induction Acceptable Food List, then it is not to be eaten according to Rule 5.

Considering I'm primarily eating meat, I've got about 20 carbs to blow on whatever I feel like, ideally vegetables, but it's up to me to decide.

Chapter 11 Rules of Induction Rule 3: Eat no more than 20 grams a day of carbohydrate, most of which must come in the form of salad greens and other vegetables.

I've always found the strength of Atkins to be its flexibility - by that I mean, it lays down simple-to-follow principles, but allows the individual so many choices for how to fill in the blanks.

Atkins does have flexibility, as witnessed by the Foods List on Induction, and by the Foods List on On-Going Weight Loss Phase and Pre-Maintenance Phase. That is where the flexibility comes in.

Other diets prescribe what you eat, when, and in what portions.

So does Atkins.

Atkins tells you what to eat (please refer to the Induction Acceptable Foods List and the Carbohydrate Ladder Foods of the OWl And Pre-Maintenance Phases.)

Atkins tells you when to eat, Rule #1 :Eat either three regular size meals a day or four or five smaller meals. Do not skip meals or go more than six waking hours without eating.

And Atkins tells you in what portions: the cups measurements of vegetables, the amounts of cream and cheese, and the net carb additions during OWL and Pre-Maintenance Phases.

I get the feeling some of the people here are taking that particular approach to Atkins using that book as dogma.

Again, if you play basketball, using a football and running around bases to score a touch-down, is it still basketball? And will basketball adherents recognize your basketball as the official basketball?

As I explained above Atkins is a specific low carb diet, with specific rules. We go by Atkins here on the Atkins Diet Bulletin Board to avoid confusion.

And as was pointed out to you earlier, it isn't fair for you to ask us to troubleshoot your diet when you aren't following Atkins, because our answers are based on Atkins principles. Additionally it may not be safe for you to use what you are told here and apply it to your diet. Again, we use Atkins principles so the information here is specific to Atkins, not to what you are doing. So how accurately you can apply Atkins principles to it, is anyone's guess.

That kind of mentality will do far more to discourage newcomers to Atkins than any mention I make of drinking some Coke Zero during my induction.

ADBB has been around since 2003---maybe earlier because Tom started it as a list group, if I recall correctly. People have been coming here steadily since. And we have had members come to us actually relieved because they were on boards where if you wanted to eat chocolate chip cookies during Induction, that was okay as long as you didn't go over your carbs too much.

This board goes by the book---Dr. Atkins book.