Does it work 2nd time?

[AndyL]

I did Atkins in March/April 2004 as I needed to lose weight for my new career as a police officer - I lost 30 lbs. At the time, i did cardio work at the gym, but didn't lift any weights.
I then joined police training school in June 2004 and put about half of it back on during my 12 week residential stay there (they served loads of carb laden foods like rice and potatoes etc).

Since then, with the job and the shifts and lack of training, I've managed to go back to my previous starting weight. I decided to give Atkins another try recently and rejoined a new gym on the same day. I started 3 weeks ago today on Induction and have managed to lose around 5lbs with strict induction and training (first time I did it, I lost 14lbs in the first 2 weeks, and 30lbs by week 4).

This time, I have had no headaches or leg cramps like I did first time. I'm drinking 5 pints of water a day and I am taking L -Carnitine, Chromium and a multi-vit. First time round, I just took a multi-vit daily.

When i take the L Carnitine and Chromium, I feel really tired about an hour later. After that, I feel OK.
I've read that this diet only works first time you try it and any other attempts do not work. Is this correct?

First time I did this, I stopped going to the toilet and didn't have any gas. This time, I go, but not so often and have slight gas now and again. I have been really good though and have had no chocolate, sugar, rice, bread or potatoes for 3 weeks now and don't miss them at all.

Funny thing is, I can still get into clothes that fitted me when I lost the 30lbs. Jeans still fit around the waist, whereas they were tight pre- March 04.
So, I don't know where I've put the weight back on. People who know me have said I don't appear to have put the weight back on, but the scales don't lie!

My plan this time is to lose body fat and build muscle to replace it, so that I weigh the same but look totally different. I am also drinking a whey protein drink every day as well. I couldn't do this in 2004, as I would have been rejected for the police based solely on weight. I can afford to do weight training now.

Bodybuilders tend to work out on a high protein diet, so Atkins should compliment a weight training regime. Is it possible then that I could be losing body fat but building muscle mass, leading me to think that I am not losing weight?
My main problem area is my chest - I can't seem to lose the fat from this area whereas my belly has gone down.

On a plus note, a colleague at work who hadn't seen me for a few weeks said I'd lost weight. He said my face was not as puffed as it was!! Something must be working!!

[Kate113]

It's definitely possible to lose fat and build muscle mass and I can say for a fact that Atkins does work the second time around...even the third and fourth time around. It does seem to go a little slower though. Good luck to you.

[2big4mysize]

Atkins will work any time we do it correctly. the resluts will be different as we don't have the exact same body comp each time we yoyo our weight.

The high protein bodybuilders need is taken care of in your Atkins 30% protein the USDA diet has one 10%. Remember the human body convetrs all excess protein to sugar for storage and fuel so don't go wid adding more protein to your normal atkins to build mucles cause you will actully be building fat stores too.

On Atkins we morph our bodies adding lean body mass and shedding fat mass something your sclaes will not tell you as the scale only measures the force of gravity on your total body mass. your gym should be able to measure your bady fat % so you can watch it shrink as you work your Atkins.

Happy low carbing

[Laker75]

Hi, Andy!

The two lovely ladies who have posted here have it right. It does work the second, third, fifth time around... it's just ensuring you don't make the same mistakes that seems to be the tricky part. My experience with multiple attempts has been that the loss is slower, but since I've found this board, the support here has made me stick with it longer and apply the rules of DANDR more consistently. I hope your return is as succcessful as planned!

Take care and keep us posted!

S.

[ValidRouge]

Andy, I'm on my second time around and I can tell you it does work. Different than the first time around. I didn't seem to lose as much on induction the 2nd time around, but I moved into OWl and I've been steadily losing.

I finally got back down to the weight I had lost the first time around and I'm a LOT smaller! All during my weight loss I've been smaller at a higher weight. I don't know if there's any scientific explanation for it though--except that I added weight training this time around. It most likely is that I've added a lot of lean muscle that I didn't have before. It's probably what's happening with you too.

I'm trying really, really hard to make this work this time around. I'm planning meals, taking the time to cook delicius food so I don't get bored. It's really up to you to make it work a 2nd, 3rd 4th time around.