Well, I have had my band for a year and lost around 42 pounds - I hadn't expected to lose so little.

So, I started the Atkins diet today. I am having a whole roast chicken including all the skin today, 4 ounces of cheddar cheese, a couple of fried eggs, decaffeinated coffee made with full cream, and if I get peckish some burger patties....

I'll let you know how I get on. My goal is to get into ketosis. The gastric band makes it a little difficult - it is difficult to eat the skin of the chicken - but I cut it up small and had it bit by bit.

You are eating a whole chicken???? Looks like maybe you need to take a look at your portion control.

I believe cutting back on carbs is good for weight loss. However, it is still calories in and calories out. When you burn 3500 more calories than you take in you loose a pound. IMHO the way most people do atkins is too high in fat. I ate both low carb and low fat and lost 107 pounds in about 10 months. To me, what you say you are eating is simply too much food. If you have restriciton you probably shouldn't be able to eat that much. Maybe you need a fill. I wish you the best!

This has got to be a joke. I just can't figure out if it's making light of Atkins, or Bandsters, or both.

This has got to be a joke. I just can't figure out if it's making light of Atkins, or Bandsters, or both.

That's what I'm thinking.

But, if you're serious, that seems like quite a bit of food and maybe you should get an OK with your nutritionist first. Hope it works out!

That's what I'm thinking.

But, if you're serious, that seems like quite a bit of food and maybe you should get an OK with your nutritionist first. Hope it works out!

I found that I was not able to eat a whole chicken a day. In fact in my 5th day on Atkins, I am now in ketosis and burning fat and not glucose. What I am having every day is eg 2 rashers of bacon and 2 fried eggs fried in fat, for Breakfast, and then maybe 2 salmon burgers for lunch and if I still feel peckish a few ounces of cheddar cheese and/or a chicken leg later on.

The worse thing about Atkins is that you can only drink Water. Or decaffeinated coffee with no milk and sugar. You can have wine when you're out of the induction phase. But anyway, I have lost 7 lbs this week and am now burning fat - how many bandsters here could say a) they lost 7 lbs this week; and they're definitely burning fat, as shown by the ketosis reagent test trips? I'm fed up of burning carbs and then finding my fat stocks untouched.

I found that I was not able to eat a whole chicken a day. In fact in my 5th day on Atkins, I am now in ketosis and burning fat and not glucose. What I am having every day is eg 2 rashers of bacon and 2 fried eggs fried in fat, for breakfast, and then maybe 2 salmon burgers for lunch and if I still feel peckish a few ounces of cheddar cheese and/or a chicken leg later on.

The worse thing about Atkins is that you can only drink Water. Or decaffeinated coffee with no milk and sugar. You can have wine when you're out of the induction phase. But anyway, I have lost 7 lbs this week

I was wondering how you were doing. Apparently the LBT has been having a few problems and it looks like they've reset the system back to Feb. 2nd...so a lot of the responses are gone.

I don't know what a 'rasher' is (slice?) but until my last fill, my normal breakfast was 2 sl of bacon with 2 eggs fried in just a bit of butter. It made all the difference in my hunger levels through the morning.

You can't have milk in your coffee but you can use heavyweight cream or half and half (both have less carbs). I think cream is too greasy, so I use the half and half. In the newer Atkins books they allow artificially sweetened drinks like Crystal Lite. I go by the '72 version and avoid artificial sweeteners.

A note on the reagent strips. They're a waste of money. On Atkins, you need to make sure you're drinking 64 fl oz of water per day. If you do that, those strips won't turn any color even though you're in ketosis.

Also, what I don't see on your menu are vegies. Even in the induction phase of Atkins, you're supposed to eat vegies. I don't know about later versions, but in the '72 version that includes 2 cups of salad a day which can include leafy greens, celery, cucumbers and radishes. After the 2 weeks it includes any low carb vegie (asparagus, green Beans, etc.). If you're not eating vegies, you're not doing Atkins. That's ok...but it's not Atkins.

The whole point of going through the lap-band journey is to not have to do those fad diets that don't work long term and really aren't very healthy. I think we all know that protein is very important once banded, but at the end of the day it's about burning more calories than taking in..... Hve you talked to your surgeon as to why the weight loss isn't coming off as quickly as you'd like? Also, your weightloss is a success. Think about what you would've gained without the band!!!!

Be very careful doing the Atkins diet, I did it in the 70's and lost 30 pounds in less than 3 months, but I went overboard and was not getting enough carbs and messed my kidneys up royally. Still to this day I have all kinds of trouble. True I kept the weight off for over a year after I lost the weight and ate pretty much anything I wanted but the consequences were just too great for me. I was eating less than 10 carbs A DAY and it was saying I should have been eating at least 45 - 60, and it really did play harshly on my body, so just make sure you get enough of the right carbs in if you plan to stay with it. Of course, this was just my experience and may not hurt anyone else. Good Luck in whatever route you take. Connie

Responding to a couple posts.

Atkins is not a fad diet. It does work long term. Of course people gain weight when they go off it...just as they gain weight when they go off Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or any other WOE. It's not just about burning more calories than you take in. It's also about the type of calories you're eating. Why do you think band doctors are recommending low carb diets? Because they *know* that you will burn those calories faster than the higher carbs which your body is struggling to store as fat. Carbs have a stronger impact on the insulin response system than Protein and fat.

No offense to the poster above who said they were on Atkins and eating less than 10 carbs, but if you're eating 10 carbs a day for 3 months, you weren't doing Atkins. Just trying to keep the record clear about Atkins. This WOE gets a lot of bad press from innocent comments such as this.

I also did Atkins 9 years ago (thought it was 7 but just found a journal showing it was over 9!) for about 3 months. I found my critical carb level (the point where I stopped losing) was around 35 carbs per day. I'm extremely sensitive to carbs, although recently I've discovered it's not all carbs...just those in sugar and wheat products (bread, crackers, etc.). I never put that weight back on, most likely because it coincided with a point in my life when I became more physically active and have stayed active.

The important thing to remember about Atkins is that (1) if you aren't eating vegies, you aren't doing Atkins and (2) drink at least 64 fl oz of Water per day because your body is in ketosis. Not a problem for healthy kidneys, but as my doc said at the time, it's still good to flush those ketones out with water.

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Fad: a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group.

Diet: such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight

In my personal experience, everyone I know did Atkins temporarily enthusiastically. All of them lost weight then gained it back plus some after they stopped Atkins which gives further credit to it being a temporary manner of conduct for all the people I know who did Atkins.

Oh, and before anyone suggests otherwise - they were doing Atkins. Sure, they stopped doing Atkins but has anyone ever done Atkins forever?

In my personal experience, everyone I know did Atkins temporarily enthusiastically. All of them lost weight then gained it back plus some after they stopped Atkins which gives further credit to it being a temporary manner of conduct for all the people I know who did Atkins.

Oh, and before anyone suggests otherwise - they were doing Atkins. Sure, they stopped doing Atkins but has anyone ever done Atkins forever?

I know just as many people who've done Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, yada yada. They did it temporarily and enthusiastically and gained it all back and then some after the stopped doing it. So by that criteria, *EVERY* manner of losing weight becomes temporary and a fad.

I've been a member of various low carb lists for about 18 years or so and yes, I know quite a few people who've been doing Atkins successfully for decades. I've gone to a number of their real life get togethers and have seen in person how successful they were at taking off the weight and keeping it off. My son's future mother-in-law has been doing Atkins consistently for 30 years. She started out at 420 pounds. It took her almost 3 years to lose all the weight and she has maintained that weight for 27 years...doing Atkins. At the time she was on blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetic meds. She hasn't take any for more than 27 years.

The only reason people don't stick to Atkins is the same reason they don't stick to any 'diet'. The only difference between Atkins and the diet that most lap band doctors prescribe is that they advise low fat as well as low carb. Otherwise there's no difference. So I guess the band doctors must be prescribing a fad diet, hmmm?

If you say so, Elfiepoo. *sigh*

Fad: a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group.

Diet: such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight

In my personal experience, everyone I know did Atkins temporarily enthusiastically. All of them lost weight then gained it back plus some after they stopped Atkins which gives further credit to it being a temporary manner of conduct for all the people I know who did Atkins.

Oh, and before anyone suggests otherwise - they were doing Atkins. Sure, they stopped doing Atkins but has anyone ever done Atkins forever?

With all respect, by that definition ALL weight loss strategies are fad diets according to medical literature

I think the point is that nothing in the diet and weight loss industry-- including basic calorie counting diets based on the food pyramid-- works very well long term in people who don't have the help of WLS. Thank goodness we do have that help!

I believe I made some relevant points that (1) Atkins is not a 'fad' just because people start it with enthusiasm and then fail. That describes every diet out there; and (2) If Atkins is not something someone can stick to for life, then what chance does any bander have since this is virtually identical to the diet prescribed by most band surgeons. The *only* difference is that band surgeons tend to also go low fat (30%), while Atkins is 60% fat.

It is, therefore, illogical to suggest or state that Atkins is a fad and not something one can stay with for life.

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I think the point is that nothing in the diet and weight loss industry-- including basic calorie counting diets based on the food pyramid-- works very well long term in people who don't have the help of WLS. Thank goodness we do have that help!

Ditto to that! With the band controlling my hunger, I have greater hope that this time I won't put it all back on.

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