I started on Atkins this past Monday (June 18th). I have already lost TEN POUNDS and I am SO excited! I need to lose about 33 pounds before surgery on July 23rd, so I am cooking right along. I plan to do Atkins until July 9th when I must start the required 2 weeks on a liquid diet. I am still really nervous about the boot camp feeling of liquids only for two weeks, but after seeing the scale tonight, I have some new confidence and determination! I CAN DO THIS!

Interestingly, I already know that my Gall Bladder is FULL of large stones. Atkins and the rapid weight loss is certainly stressing my GB and I have been having some pain here and there. I wonder what the chances are of my doc removing my GB while he's in there? It's a snip!! Anyone experience that? My doc is Dr. Almanza in Mexico.

Atkins is really taking the weight down for surgery. I am now down 16 of the 33 pounds I need to lose for surgery. I wonder if it's still going to be necessary for me to do 2 weeks of liquids when I have already lost so much...? I guess I better ask the doc.

Wow great job. Im on the Atkins plan too. I started Monday but I haven't seen the scale move either way. Im also juicing and drinking my protein shakes. Im concerned that I haven't lost any weight and I see my surgeon on Monday. Do you have any suggestions?

I hadn't thought about atkins. I am now. My dr. Wants me to loose 25# and do a 3 week liquid... i not a fan of the Protein shakes to start with do maybe i can drop a decent amount and only have to do 2 weeks. Hey a week less is a week less.

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Nina88, if you want to do Atkins, I would ask your doc just to be sure it's ok, but on Atkins you can't have juice of any kind. You eat meat, eggs, cheese, etc. NO fruits of any kind. You can have up to 15 grams of carbohydrates a day, but that's barely anything. It's best to not have any. Read labels or eat only whole foods (meat) and you will be ok. It takes some shopping ahead, some meal prep and some boredom with food, but you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. You basically eat when you are hungry, and ONLY protein. I don't think it's the healthiest option for a long period (I was on it for 2 years a few years ago and that was tough) but it works. Check your protein shakes - they are probably full of carbs. Best wishes!!

Nina88' date=' if you want to do Atkins, I would ask your doc just to be sure it's ok, but on Atkins you can't have juice of any kind. You eat meat, eggs, cheese, etc. NO fruits of any kind. You can have up to 15 grams of carbohydrates a day, but that's barely anything. It's best to not have any. Read labels or eat only whole foods (meat) and you will be ok. It takes some shopping ahead, some meal prep and some boredom with food, but you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. You basically eat when you are hungry, and ONLY Protein. I don't think it's the healthiest option for a long period (I was on it for 2 years a few years ago and that was tough) but it works. Check your protein shakes - they are probably full of carbs. Best wishes!![/quote']

Thanks that makes sense. I saw the doctor on Mon he wants me to lose 15 pounds before surgery. I'm starting a new protein and replacing 2 meals with it., and have protein meals. I hope I lose it soon, as of now my surgery is scheduled for 8/31.

That sounds good! I know you can do it!!

I did Atkins induction prior to surgery as per my surgeons instructions (2 weeks - with Clear Liquids the day before surgery) lost 14 lbs and surgeon said my liver was teeeny-tiny, which made me very happy. I was terrified that there would be issues with my big, fat liver lol - but the very low carb is very fast at reducing it. Atkins 72 is usually the most extreme, but most effective way to go.

This is from a low-carb msg board with info from the original Atkins diet - Atkins 1972

NOTE* This is from the book, Bantam edition / September 1972 paperback...

Not sixty grams of carbohydrate on this diet but zero grams

Here’s how this diet is significantly different. During the first week on this diet, you cut your intake of carbohydrates down to what is biologically zero.

This creates a unique chemical situation in the body, the one favorable to the fastest possible burning of your body’s stored fat. Ketones are excreted, and hunger disappears.

You see, the first fuel your body burns for energy comes from the carbohydrates you eat and drink. If any carbohydrate is available, your body burns this rather than stored fat-and maintains its old metabolic pathways. But carbohydrates, as such, are not stored in the body beyond forty-eight hours.

So when no carbohydrate is taken in, your body must draw upon the major reserve source of fuel-the stored fat.

It is forced to take a different metabolic pathway. In this process your body converts from being a carbohydrate-burning engine.

This is The Diet Revolution: the new chemical situation in which ketones are being thrown off-and so are those unwanted pounds, all without hunger.

A gradual addition of carbohydrate to keep your body burning it’s fat as fuel. We must maintain this chemical situation if you’re to continue to lose without hunger. And if we add carbohydrate very gradually in tiny amounts-we can do just this… keep your body converted into a fat-burning engine.

So that is just what we do. The second week you might add a few grams of carbohydrate to your diet. Every week thereafter a little more carbohydrate (around five grams) may be returned to the diet.

The Rules of Original Atkins

The Diet Revolution Rules (Level One)

1. Don’t count calories (so why are so many counting them?)

2. Eat as much of the allowed foods as you need to avoid hunger.(see, no limit)

3. Don’t eat when you are not hungry.

4. Don’t feel you must finish everything on your plate just because it is there.

5. Drink as much Water or calorie free beverages as thirst requires. Don’t restrict fluids… but it is not necessary to force them either.(It doesn't say anything about 1/2 your body weight in water)

6. Frequent small meals are preferable.

7. If weakness results from rapid weight loss, you may need salt.

8. Everyday take a high-strength Multivitamin pill.

9. Read the labels on “low-calorie” drinks, syrups, Desserts,. Only those with no carbohydrate content are allowed.

The First Life-Changing Week, eat nothing that is not on the list.

Meat: Steaks, Corned beef, Lamb chops, tongue, Hamburgers, Bacon, Any kind of meat in any quantity—except meat with fillers such as sausage, hot dogs, meatballs, most packaged “cold cuts”

Fowl: Duckling, Turkey, chicken, Anything with wings, No stuffing

Desserts: Gelatin with artificial sweeteners (e.g., D-Zerta )

Condiments: Salt, pepper, mustard, horseradish, vinegar, vanilla, and other extracts; artificial sweeteners; any dry powdered spice that contains no sugar

Drinks: Water, Mineral water, Vichy, Club soda; Beef or Chicken broth, bouillon; sugar free diet soda; coffee*, tea, decaffeinated coffee

---------*Special note on caffeine and Diet Cola. Because most heavy people have some hypoglycemia, coffee, which contains caffeine, should be limited to six servings a day (cups). If you know you have low blood sugar, better limit it to three.

Fish: All fish, including canned salmon, tuna; any kind of seafood, including oil-packed and smoked, except oysters, clams, muscles, scallops, and pickled fish

Eggs: Boiled, fried, scrambled, poached, omelet – any style and without limitations(another NO LIMIT)

Salads: Two small green salads a day (each less than one cupful, loosely packed) made only of leafy greens, celery, or cucumbers and radishes. Dressings with vinegar, oil, salt, dry spices, herbs, grated cheese, or anchovies. Or else a sour pickle in place of a salad. Plus… green olives.

Butter & Mayonnaise Fats: Butter, margarine (head New Diet Revolution & eat no margarine with trans fatty acids), oils, shortening (not such a great idea), lard & mayonnaise (fats have no carbohydrates).

Juice: juice of one lemon or lime

Cheese: Four ounces a day of any hard aged cheese. No cream cheese or cheese spreads.

Heavy Cream: Four teaspoons a day. (Cream has less carbohydrate than milk – so don’t use milk)

Diet Revolution Salad Material: Celery, Chicory, Chinese Cabbage, Chives, Cucumber, Endive, Escarole, Fennel, lettuce, Olives (Green or Black), Onions, Pickles (Sour or Dill), Parsley, Peppers, Radishes, Scallions, watercress.

What Happens After The First Week’s Diet. Most diets are fixed formulas and are therefore short-termed and self-limiting. This diet is fixed only for a week. After that – because it must be a lifetime diet, it is, as variable as are individual tastes.

I’ve labeled the additions of carbohydrate that follow’ second level’, ‘third level’, ‘fourth level’, ‘fifth level’, but in fact the additions are interchangeable and flexible. You can make any of these additions any week that you choose. I am so committed to making this a livable lifetime diet that I am letting you select your own variations, within the rules set up by your biological rulebook.

Put back what you’ve missed the most: The idea is simply to gradually return to your diet first what you missed most. Custom-tailor the diet to suit your carbohydrate additions to suit your lifestyle. All that matters is that you add back to your diet a little carbohydrate at a time, and that you stop adding carbohydrate when you reach your CCL.

How to know when to put back a little carbohydrate: Ask yourself: Are the keto-stix still turning purple? Am I still un-hungry? Have I stopped eating at night? Do I have more energy? Am I still losing weight or inches nicely? Remember, your tape measure is a lot better friend than your scale, not only more accurate, but better able to report on the actual fat (not just temporary water) losses this diet achieves.

The Second Level: Cheesecake for dessert? At each level, remember you add approximately five to eight grams of carbohydrate daily for a week and analyze the results. Most people agree the best way to handle the second level is to add cottage cheese…

The Diet Revolution Vegetables (not for level one): All of the above plus; Asparagus, Avocado, Bamboo Shoots, Bean Sprouts, Beet Greens, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chard, Chinese Cabbage, eggplant, Kale, Kohlrabi, Mushrooms, Okra, Onions, Peppers, Pumpkins, Rhubarb, Sauerkraut, Snow Pea Pods, Spinach, String Beans, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Turnips, Water Chestnuts, Wax Beans, Zucchini Squash

Sample menu, level one:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spicy ham, Diet revolution roll and butter, Bouillon, coffee, or tea

Lunch: Cold cuts sandwich on Diet revolution Roll w/ mayo or mustard, 1 cup of salad (loosely packed), oil & vinegar, or a dressing from the recipe list, Raspberry gelatin, Diet soda, coffee, or tea

Dinner: Chicken Soup with Matzoh Balls, Your favorite cut of steak, Caesar salad with Caesar Salad dressing, Gelatin, diet soda, coffee or tea

Snack: baken-ets, stuffed celery, diet soda.

Sample menu, level two:

Breakfast: Lox and stuffed onion omelet, caraway Diet revolution Roll with cream cheese, Bouillon, coffee, or tea

Lunch: Avocado stuffed with crabmeat, Tossed green salad with dressing from recipe list, diet soda, coffee, or tea

Dinner: Mixed grill with garlic Butter Sauce or Béarnaise Sauce, Tossed salad with French Dressing, Gelatin Parfait with whipped cream, diet soda, coffee, or tea

Snack: Assorted smoked fish, Hard cheese, Diet soda

Ok, there it is 'By The Book'

• FANTASTIC information! Thank you for posting that!! I have lost 16 pounds on Atkins so far, but I am really frustrated as I have hit a plateau and I haven't lost anymore. I am not taking in anymore than about 5-10 grams of carbs per day! I think I will take it back down to the basics again for a few days before starting the liquid diet to jump start myself again. I am being sleeved on 7/23 and I want a nice little liver!
  

By the way, Chimera, WAY TO GO on such a nice big weight loss! You are doing great!!!