Moving from HCG to Atkins

[shadowstar]

I just completed 21 days of HCG and lost 16lbs total. So basically, for those who don't know about HCG, I had to maintain a daily calorie diet of only 500 calories and wasn't allowed oils, carbs, etc. It was very strict.

A friend of mine did HCG too and lost 10lbs. Now she follows a certain Atkins diet which is basically high protein and low carb, and told me that for the first week I can load up on tons of protein and just basically avoid noodles/pasta, rice, and bread items. I also have to maintain only 20-25g of carbs everyday. Then I can gradually introduce them in the second week and maintain 30-40g of carbs after and just maintain that. I'm also now allowed oils in my food, but of course, not too much and I should still be health-conscious and try to eat as little as possible when it comes to oily or fried food.

But my main question is what foods do you guys suggest I eat for my first week?

I already know steaks, eggs, fish, chicken, etc. are fine (I'm just not going to eat any starchy stuff), but what about things like dimsum? Do they have a lot of carbs? What should I avoid?

[skyy]

congratulations on your first 15lbs and welcome to ADBB. here's a link to alot information you shall need to start(the previous link i posted was incorrect)

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...faq=atkins_faq

[shadowstar]

Thank you for that skyy! That list is great!

But I'm still curious about food like dimsum. My mother mentioned it might be carb-ridden because of the starchy wrapping they use for some of them.

[CarbFreeCandy]

Hi and Wecome!

First thing, there is only one "certain kind of Atkins". Anything else is imitation ( and gives the real Atkins plan a bad name for the most part). Veggies are a very important part of the plan, even in Induction. If the book is followed as it is written before long the Vegetables become the Star of The Show.

Check out the stickies around this board and invest in DANDR 2002. (Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution) It is the last book the good doctor actually had a hand in writing.

Congratulations on your losses so far!

Candy

[liv]

Shadowstar
On Atkins you need to study the rules - there are very strict restriction to what you can eat and not eat in the first phase.
Unless you do not know what is in the food - you should not eat it. That is the rule
Food in chinese places are usually quite horrible and I would not eat there on induction

Please READ this link
Phases of the Atkins Nutritional Approach

[not2late]

I just completed 21 days of HCG and lost 16lbs total. So basically, for those who don't know about HCG, I had to maintain a daily calorie diet of only 500 calories and wasn't allowed oils, carbs, etc. It was very strict.

A friend of mine did HCG too and lost 10lbs. Now she follows a certain Atkins diet which is basically high protein and low carb, and told me that for the first week I can load up on tons of protein and just basically avoid noodles/pasta, rice, and bread items. I also have to maintain only 20-25g of carbs everyday. Then I can gradually introduce them in the second week and maintain 30-40g of carbs after and just maintain that. I'm also now allowed oils in my food, but of course, not too much and I should still be health-conscious and try to eat as little as possible when it comes to oily or fried food.

But my main question is what foods do you guys suggest I eat for my first week?

I already know steaks, eggs, fish, chicken, etc. are fine (I'm just not going to eat any starchy stuff), but what about things like dimsum? Do they have a lot of carbs? What should I avoid?

Hi and welcome.

Based on what you described, your friend isn't following the Atkins Diet:

Atkins is a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet.

We don't "load up on tons of protein" because excessive dietary protein is converted to glucose and what glucose isn't used immediately by our bodies for energy is converted to glycogen or body fat. So on Atkins eating "tons of protein" is counter-productive.

Atkins is divided into 3 weight loss Phases and 1 weight maintenance phase. The first Phase is called Induction and it lasts a minimum of 14 days. The carbs are restricted to less than 20 net carb grams per day, with most of those carbs coming from vegetables.

Noodles/pasta, rice and bread items are allowed in the On-Going Weight Loss Phase of Atkins (the second of the 3 weight loss phases), but these grains are the last foods introduced during that Phase of the Diet (and it's well beyond the second week of the Diet) and only allowed in 5 net carb amounts.

As for fats and oils, Atkins is a HIGH fat diet, where over 50% of our daily calories come from fat. We eat healthy fats like animal fats and vegetable fats, and avoid unhealthy fats like the trans fats in margarine, vegetable shortening, and hydrogenated oils.

I recommend that you get a hold of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, 2002 edition. Read it and do the Diet properly. You might want to share the book with your friend too, so she too can do Atkins properly. As I wrote earlier, what she's doing isn't the Atkins Diet at all: this includes the 1972 version of the Diet or the latest Diet published last year by Atkins Nutritionals Inc.

[chinadoll]

I live in southern China, trust me, dim sum is NOT on the Atkins menu.

[brandywine1241]

You have been on a starvation diet for 3 weeks Atkins is not designed people in your situation. From what I remember, HCG has a plan for returning to normal eating and I would suggest you follow that until you get back to a healthy level of calories. At that point, if you want to explore Atkins as a means of maintaining your loss or even losing a bit more, get a copy of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (2002) and come on back. We will be happy to help you build a plan for a lifetime of healthy eating based on your individual food tolerances and tastes.

As the others have said, your friend is using "atkins" in a generic sense to describe a low carb diet, not the plan Dr. Atkins devised.