atkins on and off

[Laurenad]

ok.so lets say u do atkins for a day and then the next day u eat healthy and the next day atkins and the next day healthy. what does ur body go through in terms of pounds and weight oviously ur hurting ur body...but..what physiclaly happens and what weight fluctuatons happen? is it like u ate super fattening that day?

[Iapetus999]

That's pretty much the worst of both worlds.
You can't hi-carb one day and hi-fat the next...you'll wind up overeating and consuming way too many calories.

if you want to "make up your own plan" that's fine but it's hard for people here to really support that.

[Heather150]

what is your definition of "healthy" on the off days? Healthy as in high carb full of sugar and flour, or high carb as in fruits and vegetables?

Basically your just playing around with your insulin levels, and doesn't seem like a way to really lose weight. Either eat "healthy", which in all consideration, I feel Atkins is, or go low fat, high carb, if you can stand it.

[Richt]

Originally Posted by Laurenad

ok.so lets say u do atkins for a day and then the next day u eat healthy and the next day atkins and the next day healthy. what does ur body go through in terms of pounds and weight oviously ur hurting ur body...but..what physiclaly happens and what weight fluctuatons happen? is it like u ate super fattening that day?

Lauren, I am very interested in what you consider healthy? For example I am now eating healthier than I ever did pre Atkins, and have stuck to the WOE for almost 2 years.

Please respond.

Rich

[Smallerizing]

I don't get it. I thought Atkins IS eating healthy. And I didn't think you could do "Atkins" for one day, since you are not in ketosis until day 2,3, or 4. So how can one day do a bit of good? I've been off and on for like, two weeks on and a few weeks off, and I think that's bad enough, but at least I was low-carbing long enough to lose a couple pounds each time. Too bad I gained 5-10 on the "off" weeks.

Today is my start date for getting back on track for good. At least until the holidays. At least until my clothes fit again. It would be nice if I could develop some good holiday recipes and NOT plan to cheat then, but I'm going one day at a time for the present. But NOT one day on and one day off. That's probably worse than not doing Atkins at all, what with the added fat and no way to metabolize it - but I'll let the more experienced members here address that. Just wanted to add my two cents and my bad example on off/on. (which obviously didn't work) Good luck in finding the right method!

[cleochatra]

I agree with Iapetus. Either you're doing Atkins or you're not.

Good luck with that, though.

[not2late]

What physically happens when you do low carb for one day and high carb the next?

You screw up your insulin levels. That day of doing low carb will lower your insulin response because there aren't a whole lot of carbs in your blood. The following high carb day can cause an exaggerated spike in your insulin level, making you "diabetic" for a day. What's the physical consequences of an exaggerated insulin response? Go to the diabetes.org website and read about the consequences of a sustained exaggerated insulin response, including blindness, artheriosclerosis, heart disease, nerve damage, etc.

The other risk you run is that your body won't lose weight because it's too busy switching back and forth between two different metabolisms.

Anyhow, Lauren, I do realize that you have tried Atkins many times. If I recall correctly the first time you tried Atkins was in late December while your family was on a tour of Latin America and you left your Atkins book at university, which is why you posted here asking us what you can and can't eat on Atkins. The second time you tried Atkins was a month later when you were at your university and you left your Atkins book at home and ran into the same problem of not knowing how to do the diet. I beleive there were other attempts between then and now.

If you want to do a low carb diet, you might want to explore other low carb diets----in order to find the one that will fit your needs . Atkins isn't the only low carb diet out there. There are other ones that aren't as strict.

From reading your posts these last months, my impression is this:
1. you don't really understand this diet, which is why you keep asking the same questions over and over again.
2. you really haven't made the attempt to understand this diet, which is why you keep asking the same questions over and over again.
3. you really aren't serious about losing weight using Atkins because many, many times you have posted threads that have asked us what would happen if you ate high carb foods that aren't allowed in any phase of the Atkins diet and many, many times we have told you and advised you it wouldn't be wise and you have done so irregardless of the advice you have been given. Granted the decision ultimately rests with you and the consequences of your decision rests with you, but when you persistently ask for the same opinions on the same issue and persistently ignore that advice, it confirms to me that you aren't truly serious about losing weight on a low carb diet like Atkins--especially when you have received some one-on-one mentoring from one of our members.

So, Lauren, it would be in your best interest if you do some research about other diets and find one that will fit your needs because you've more or less have demonstrated that Atkins is too restrictive and too confusing for you to do properly.

Good luck to you Lauren. It's important for everyone to find a diet they can stick to 95-100% of the time. I hope you can find one you can.

[2big4mysize]

LOL Megs you bet me too it.
you forgot the posts about parental interferrence with Atkins twice as I recall.

Laurenas are you writting a term paper on the effects of high carb and low carb alternating? Of course we are all assuming based on your past posts that you and your Mother think high carb eating is healthy eating.

all you need to do is read your DANDR and the diabetic section and you can see what happens long term to health along with the places Megs suggested. I would not suggest you use yourself as the lab rat unless your doctor is closely monitoring your health and blood sugar levels.

One thing Megs didn't mention is the insulin is a fat storing hormone so the fats eatten on the atkins day will be stored as body fat until such time as the person has depleted glucogen stores and switch to fat burning hormones glucagon. OOPs they won't run out in 24 hrs cause they restocked when eating high carb the day before. if the calories in are exceeeding total caloric expendature from all sources (DANDR CHAPTER 11 Q and A)they are gainig fat mass weigth eating Atkins, and causing unstable blood sugars and the consequential bodily not reversable damage by alternating low carb high carb days.

Um? don't think I'd try that plan. Would love to read your research paper when you are done.

[AllieCat0817]

Originally Posted by Laurenad

ok.so lets say u do atkins for a day and then the next day u eat healthy and the next day atkins and the next day healthy. what does ur body go through in terms of pounds and weight oviously ur hurting ur body...but..what physiclaly happens and what weight fluctuatons happen? is it like u ate super fattening that day?

Ummm.... eating Atkins for a day IS eating healthy
If you think Atkins is not healthy, perhaps it's not what you should do at all??

[AllieCat0817]

WOW, Megs you REALLY broke that down.

Good luck Lauren.