Does Atkins work because it's low calorie?

[Raterus]

I've gone on the Atkins diet many times in the past, all with great success. I totally believe in this diet.

I did the math on what I ate, and found that I'm only eating around 1000-1200 calories a day.

I was under the impression you lose weight on atkins because eating no carbs forces your body to burn fat.

My hunch now though is that the Atkins diet works because you eat less calories than your body burns in a day, so the foods you eat really don't matter.

I'm wondering if anyone has done the calorie math on their diet to confirm or disprove my hunch.

Thanks for any responses!

[DuchessOfDork]

No, because Atkins still works, even if you eat 2000 calories. I was eating 2000 calories (or more) a day when I lost the first 50lbs.

[*Emma*]

my calorie intake varies from 1000-2500... if i look at it deep enough i probably lose more the higher it is

[spirittalker]

There is some debate on this. My personal feeling is the answer is both. Ketogenic diets get your body burning fat as it's main fuel source. They also suppress appetite. So people generally tend to eat less. However, eating too low of calories have caused people to stall and lose muscle. I have noticed that when i am eating a moderate amount of calories i lose best. I think that the calories we are eating are higher quality calories, and are not getting stored away do to crazy insulin responses, and therefore are getting burned and supplying us with a lot more energy.

[UrbanShaman]

Originally Posted by spirittalker

I think that the calories we are eating are higher quality calories, and are not getting stored away do to crazy insulin responses, and therefore are getting burned and supplying us with a lot more energy.

I agree with this and wanted to add that I think that as our body gets rid of all the chemicals and additives and what not in our old way of eating, it is far more easily able to utilize every part of every energy source we consume. We get more calorie bang for our buck which allows for a lightly decreased calorie need. I can say for certain that I ate from 1800-2200 for Induction and I lost 10 pounds. I also don't feel hungry all the time like I used to even after consuming a Whopper with extra cheese so it definitely helps in the appetite department.

[Einy]

Interestingly enough, I have been asking myself the same question for the past 4 weeks or so.

Well, I tend to believe the same thing that we are loosing weight because of the lower calories we get. This is only a belief and has no scientific evidence what so ever. I just did an experiment for fun and just to add one more kick to this WOE . It may prove something and may not prove anything. Not sure.

My calorie intake since starting this WOE is usually around the 1500-1600. So, what I did is trying to eat in the range of 2000-2400 calories a day for two weeks and then dropped my calories intake to 1200-1500 a day. All @ 20 carbs/day.

I am in my 4th week right now, and planning after finishing that 4th week, to up my calories intake back to 2000-2400.

Anyway, the first week I dropped 3 lbs, 2nd week 3lbs, 3rd week 3lbs, and I will check on Monday for the 4th week result.

So far what I did proves nothing. There are many factors involved, calories intake, body reaction, type of calories, time (as I may have posted earlier in another post. In theory, the 3rd and 4th weeks loss are likely to be less since weight loss tend to slow down by time), etc.

So far I won’t jump into conclusions till I finish my 6th week. Will I get anything out of that? Probably not, but is it exciting to do so? It sure is..

[brandywine1241]

My calorie intake since starting this WOE is usually around the 1500-1600. So, what I did is trying to eat in the range of 2000-2400 calories a day for two weeks and then dropped my calories intake to 1200-1500 a day. All @ 20 carbs/day.

Interesting experiment, Einy. What foods or food types did you use to manipulate your calorie intake?

[Chicklady]

I've been averaging 1896 calories a day since I started in November. My lowest day was 1104 calories, my highest 2497!!! I eat when I'm hungry. I like that!!

[Georgiana]

I store the calories and weight in an Excel table (calories in the evening, weight in the morning), and if you correlate the two data sets you get a correlation coefficient of 0.73 (the max is 1, of course). So, at least in my case, the lower the number of calories consumed in a day (generally between 1000-1500), the higher the weight loss measured the next morning.

However, I am sure that a low caloric intake is not enough, because I've tried this type of diet before and it never worked on a long term. You eliminate water in the first few days and maybe lose some weight, but it's not something you can do for a lifetime because you do not learn where to take your calories from (you keep eating stuff which is low in calories, but also has a low nutritional rating or a low fullness factor). From my point of view, Atkins fixes that up and really teaches you to eat properly.

[Einy]

Well, I am sure more old timers Atkinies in here are more experienced than me when it comes to managing their WOE, but I think part of it is that I cannot move much because of my work nature. Setting in a cubical 12 hours a day (if lucky). So, I guess my body doesn’t demand calorie intake. I do light workout though, around 10-30 minutes a day.

As far as food, I try to fell my stomach with veggies more than anything else. And most of the time I pick low carb veggies over the high carb ones. I really LOVE salads, even before starting Atkins, salads were my favorite. Spring mix mainly, which is high in nutrition and low in carbs, one cub =~ 1 carb. I prefer cucumbers or mushrooms over tomatoes. Not that I don’t take tomatoes, I add it there once in awhile for a change. When it comes to both carbs and calories for examples, 3 cups of cucumbers = 1 cup of tomatoes. Mushrooms are high in protein, so you kinda hit three birds with one stone there; lower carbs, lower calories yet higher protein.

When it comes to animal protein, I don’t eat pork and usually prefer chicken and fish over beef. I try to maintain the 65/5/30 fat/carb/protein ratio; I think it is a great player in suppressing your appetite. I eat whenever I am hungry though, but usually I am not.

I am considered high resistant, my CCL is somewhere between 20 and 25, so I restrict my carbs to only 20. I found it really low at first, but I have already costumed my WOE around this number and some days I don’t even reach 20 carbs intake. I think if I try to make my WOE exciting, add new recipes, try new things and shop for low carb food, the WOE becomes really exciting and my mind gets occupied more into making the changes and try the new food rather than eating it.. hehe