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Originally Posted by CBell444  What are the recommended percentages? Where can I find more info on that? |
The approximate percentages are 65% fat, 5% carbohydrate, 30% protein.
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Originally Posted by Reborn_Warrior IMHO, if it is not in the book don't do it. Dr. Atkins says nothing about %'s for induction. So in other words, if you are using ratios, counting calories, worried about how much fat you are eating during induction, then you are not doing Atkins correctly. |
Your reasoning is actually wrong. Just because it is not necessary to count calories or use ratios, it does not mean they are not important, nor does it mean one is not doing Atkins correctly by keeping an eye on these things.
Calories. Most of us got fat not because we were eating a cup of pasta or a thin slice of rye bread at a meal, but because more often than not a cup of pasta grew into a whole bag and a thin slice grew into a whole loaf. That's why on Atkins, we need to retrain our brains and learn portion control, and Dr. Atkins explained a strategy to do this in DANDR. However, after years of overeating, some folks have trouble distinguishing between real, stomach hunger and brain hunger, and thus overeat. Overeating, as Dr. Atkins wrote, will cause our weight loss to slow down, stall or even go up, regardless of the number of carbohydrates we are consuming, because this diet "does not give you a license to gorge". While I agree it's better to teach yourself the difference between hunger and eating for the sake of stuffing your belly, knowing how many calories you are consuming is not against Atkins.
Percentages. You can do without if you have read the whole book, including the part where it says that excess protein will be converted into glucose. Then you would understand that Atkins is a high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet and if you were to enter a few menus in FitDay or some other simiar tool, you'd see that your percentages fall naturally around 65%, 5%, 30%. But not everyone reads the book or some read it while doing Induction, so they don't get to read the "protein can convert to glucose" part, which only appears in one of the last chapters. Others simply forget this statement. It is then important to remind these people what overeating protein will do to their weight loss and, since everybody might have a different definition of "overeating protein", it's good to give the percentages which were used in the studies overseen by Dr. Atkins. I mean, it is clear that Dr. Atkins wanted to see the best results coming out of those studies since they were funded by the Atkins Center, isn't it?
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| If you start adding things like carb/protein/fat ratios, which are not part of the Atkins Induction phase, what is wrong then with doing what they say on Atkins.com? They say you may eat things like Atkins low-carb bread or bars on induction. I believe if you are following the 2002 DANDR then do what it says and don't deviate from it. |
First of all, DANDR 2002 was (obviously) written when Dr. Atkins was alive, so those who were wondering how much protein is too much were able to call the Center and ask. We had members at ADBB who actually did that and the answer was the one we keep saying on the Board.
Second, the protein percentage (30%) was actually mentioned by Dr. Atkins in one of his other books (yes, I know we're following DANDR... I'll get there in a minute). The carbohydrate percentage comes to roughly 5% for the carbs we are allowed during the Induction phase (~100 calories counting calories for soluble fiber as 2 kcal/g) on a 2000 calories diet (2000 is the number recommended by USDA). Roughly 65% is what is then left for fat.
Third, if you take a look at the sample menu on page 133 of DANDR 2002, you will see that the percentages come out to about 65% fat, 5% carbs, 30% protein.
Now the bars and other frankenfoods. While Dr. Atkins recommended 65% fat, 5% carbs, 30% protein to his patients and in the studies he oversaw and in his books (more or less straightforward in writing), the man was never happy about people consuming frankenfoods, as one can find out from his biography. Years ago, there was actually a page on atkins.com saying that Atkins products may stall weight loss for some people---that page has since been removed. We have also seen often at ADBB how members consuming these products are stalled and their weight loss restarts as soon as they drop them.
Therefore we would be irresponsible if we didn't warn members about the effect frankenfoods can have on their weight loss. On the other hand, not overeating protein and making Atkins a high fat diet (as it is supposed to be!) is in the best interest of Atkineers, especially as everyone would like to get the best results out of his/her weight loss efforts. And while the percentages are something Dr. Atkins used for best results with his patients and in studies, frankenfoods are not.