Is going from Atkins to low fat OK?

[jutso19]

Hi all, for the past 2 and a half months i have been following the Atkins diet and have gone from 16 stone to 13st 7 (35 pounds) which I am astounded at. I have recently joined a gym and love it. I feel now that Atkins has played its part for me with the rapid weight loss and would like to start a new low fat diet eating mainly fruit, vegetables and grilled meat as I am starting to bore with the diet( really want fruit). However, I am wondering if this would result in weight gain with the re introduction of carbs from fruit and much less fat etc.
Any information would be great.

thanks, Joe

[mitzimarie]

Joe, Atkins is a plan for LIFE - not just a means to lose weight. Why don't you move up the rungs, as the plan is intended? There's no need to do without any food unless it is refined carbs. But these good carbs must be introduced in a specific order, and one at a time, in order to determine which ones you may have an intolerance to. You also need to determine your CCLL (Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing).

[neutronnorman]

If you are going to the gym to add muscle and lose fat, that means you want to maximize testosterone and growth hormone. Abandon the idea that a low fat diet / complex carbohydrates will maximize growth hormone and testosterone unless you are very disciplined and can get your hands on Decadurobolin, Dianabol, Winstrol V, Sustanol, Halotestin , Anavar and the like. The low fat / high complex carb diet will probably maximize your estrogen. Competitive natural bodybuilders that followed the low fat fad, yes it is a fad that started circa 1981, basically got no where, year in and out after gaining weight then dieting down. If you research the diets that enhanced muscle mass, definition and fat loss, prior to the low fat and anabolic steroid craze of the 1980's-90's, you'll come across the "Golden Era of Bodybuilding" that produced giants like Vince Ghironda, Steve Reeves, Bill Pearl, Larry Scott, etc.
These guys were eating dozens of raw eggs per day. Their early form of protein shakes were mixed in double cream. They avoided carbs like the plague, and only used carbohydrates cyclically. Google the late Rheo Blair.

Yeah, I know, you do not want to look like those guys. I hear that all the time. Looking like those guys is similar to starting piano lessons and coming out playing like Chopin within a few years. The point is that we all want to build attractive, aesthetic physiques and our health, vitality and strength during the process. The OWL rungs introduce you to (slowly) eating more carbs and you will eventually find the perfect amount of carbs your body can take before you once again become a fat producing machine. I'd hedge my bets you went on Atkins initially because you were over weight.

At the gym. there will be many that have reached impressive development on a low fat diet. Most of them were initially, hard gainers. They were your proverbial 90 lb weaklings found in comic books. They have different metabolisms, lower amount of body fat cells and a high ratio of brown to white fat cells. They can eat tons of food and have a difficult time gaining weight.

If you are prone to gaining fat, you will lose 40% muscle along with 60% fat on a low fat diet. You will end up with your body looking like an empty bag with nothing left to shape. You will end up looking like a smaller version of your over-fat self.

I've been involved with the gym-rat thing, off and on for 15+ years. I took a 'sabbatical' from it because of University. I've done the Atkins and variations of the diet along with my iron pumping friends. It works so well, that I do not know whether to laugh or cry about the results. I've seen it so many times.



When you switch over to a high carb diet, within 3 days, I guarantee you you will gain about 10 lb, look puffy and bloated. Then, in order to keep your calories around 2000 after wards, you will be eating a very small volume of food. You'll be hungry all the time. 2000 calories add very, very fast when consuming complex carbohydrates.

[jutso19]

thanks a lot for the advice guys, looks like ill be sticking with Atkins then, I will start to progress through the rungs as I only need to lose 10 or so pounds.

[imagood1]

Here is the OWL forum Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) - Atkins Diet. Read through the threads there and you will learn about adding foods back ---Don't jump up to Rung 9 from extended induction --- you should follow the rungs the way they are written, adding 5 net carbs of the food group you are adding back at a time. You can add berries back on Rung 4. Good luck -- glad you decided to stick with Atkins instead of jumping from one Atkins to a different "diet" .

[stacy3477]

Good for you jut...welcome to OWL!

[chinadoll]

Good choice Joe. Rung one is quick since you are not adding any new foods. Take your time on the others though to find out what foods trigger cravings, overeating and stalls. Valuable info for maintenance there.