Atkins
 

Honestly, I don't think I could do that. Maybe "sex with ____" or "sex on Tuesdays," but not sex in general. That's just silly.

Atkins
 

I could happily give up the healthy stuff, but alcohol is just plain mean. I see they're advertising "low carb" beer now which may be an alternative for Atkins folks--it may well taste like Bud Light though in which case it's better to ignore the plan entirely.

Atkins
 

Of course advice on dodging parts of the diet is premature, so just remember the rest of this at some point down the road.

It is really hard to stick pure Atkins for any length of time for most people. No pasta is what kills me, no sandwichs makes lunch tough, etc.

What is easier is changing your eating choices, ie usually avoiding pasta, not eating from the bread basket at restaurants, etc. , but occasionally breaking down and ordering pasta, bread etc.

And, for what its worth, I was able to drop weight without dropping caffiene or alcohol (I did stop drinking beer).

Atkins
 

I've had both Michelob Ultra and whatever the name for the Rolling Rock version is (pre-Atkins). Both are "good", though I like light beer and dislike what most people call "good" beer so YMMV.

I don't think I've gone two weeks (or hell, more than four days) without alcohol (or sex, for that matter) in eight years.

Atkins
 

Can't you replace the jerky with carrots or an apple? Surely Atkins doesn't shun simple carbs? If it does, good luck getting up in the morning...

Atkins & Other Diets
 

uh, doesn't that kind of run afoul of the no/low-carbs aspect of the atkins diet?

Atkins
 

Good news for you: bourbon, brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, and whiskey all have ZERO carbs. And beef jerky has more than you think: 3.1.

Details for all your favorites here:
http://atkins.com/global/carb-counter/

Atkins
 

Can have neither carrots nor an apple. As I was reading the book I noticed that practically everything in my house is Atkins-unfriendly and practically everything I can eat is the stuff I don't usually eat.

This is going to be a long two weeks.

Atkins
 

Cool website. They mention it in the book but I hadn't pulled it up yet. I am what the book refers to as "carbohydrate junkie." Whatever.

Atkins
 

I'm more of a meatetarian, myself. But even I couldn't stomach Atkins for very long. All that gin with no tonic...

Atkins
 

I still can't imagine why anyone would think that this "diet" is healthy...it may be a decent short-term solution, but sustaining a diet like this may be dangerous. Hello heart disease. It's unfortunate that this country doesn't really give us the option of eating foods with "good" carbohyrdates. Our breads and pastas have been so overprocessed that all of the health benefits have disappeared.

Angelina Jolie and Dating Tips for FB Men
 

Protecting his arm is probably not the first priority.

Atkins
 

I've been on a modified Atkins for years. I don't eat any bread unless its whole wheat, and even then, sparingly at most. I eat a small amount ot fruit, lots of vegetables and tons of fish and some red meat.

I drink loads of caffiene and liquor and wine, but minimal beer.

My one weakness is I eat frozen yogurt from time to time.

Bread is a useless food. Its really got no flavor when you think about it. Once you start eating extra protein in place of bread, you'll never crave bread again because the taste difference is so dramatic. That said, it is kind of strange when I order a salad and two plates of cherrystone clams as appetizers while evryone else munches the bread. I've also been accused of being rude when I refuse somebody's grandmother's prized lasanga.

Atkins
 

Hard-boiled eggs and cheese.

As for alcohol and caffeine, I found giving those up to be way too hard-core. I cut down a bit, for awhile -- a glass of wine at dinner, instead of half a bottle -- but that's it. I'd rather be fat and drunk on good wine than a skinny teetotaler.

Atkins
 

Try explaining no latkes to an in-law.

Atkins
 

The Berkeley Wellness Letter (not as crunchy as it sounds; a very good health info resource) calls bullshit on low-carb beer. It turns out the "reduction" in carbs from regular light beer is miniscule. To wit: "Don’t fall for the new 'low-carbohydrate' light beer, Michelob Ultra. All light beers are low in carbs— just 3.5 to 6 grams per can."

However, they're not real fans of Atkins to begin with, and they don't recommend that you buy anything sold or processed as "low carb."*

*Needless to say, you should also not sell anything bought or processed, or process anything bought or sold.

Atkins
 

Caffeome has carbs? Jiminy Crickets, its a good thing I dont believe in this diet. WHy not just give up sugar and white flour? That way you can have the good carbs but not the bad ones? And you can have booze.

What happens at ACL...
 

In the past, I always found that a quick sidestep, with a foot left in their path, takes care of these miscreants quickly enough. If you're standing just a couple of feet in front of a cinderblock wall, this technique works even better.

Atkins
 

Sort of like marketing "fat free pretzels."

Atkins
 

Coltrane, I totally concur but I think what people like about this diet is that it gives them easy rules and structure. Its a no brainer really. Plus I am guessing its easier to not binge on gray flab slices than on whole grain bread. So its less calories in than they might do with just a whole grains, veggies and fruit and olive oil diet which is proven to prevent cancer and heart disease. So long as it shrinks the fat asses I see around here and I forget about the animal slaughter toll, I say go for it.

Fuck Beer/Frat Guy Prozac
 

You needed Atkins to tell you its wiser to drink booze than beer? I love beer, but after first semester of college, I realized just what beer does to a person's appearance. I think beer drinkers actually age faster than wine and booze swillers. I don't know any wine fans who spill over the stools at bars or look like Chris Farley in their suits. The beer drinkers I know look like shit. I think its got something to do with the massive amount of calories they're intaking. I'll go out and have four or five galsses of the hard stuff or a bottle of champagne and maybe an Amstel, while these guys will suck down four or five Sierra Nevadas or 8 Budweisers. And beer offers no bang for the buck. You have to drink a gallon of the stuff to get a buzz, and the buzz is a lousy sloppy, lethargic feeling. It also makes you smell. If you have three or four drinks, you may have a slight odor of booze, but beer is like garlic - it gets in your pores and oozes out everywhere.

I notice a lot of beer drinkers are ex frat guys who use the stuff like prozac. It gets them neither high nor low and it tastes good with wings. They get fatter and get laid less and less and become "guy's guys." Thankfully, my libido never allowed me to join that slow death dirge.

Now of course, nothing beats a Samuel Smith's Chrsitmas Ale or a fresh Anchor steam from the tap. But they're like hot fudge sundaes. You can't have five or them...

and before I am misunderstood again
 

When I say Atkins is a no brainer, I am not calling its followers stupid. I am just saying its not something you need to count calories with or obsess over or measure portions or think about ingredients (the food is generally unprocessed I am assuming).

Atkins & Other Diets
 

No idea. But if this stupid diet is going to count sugar as a no-no, therefore interfering with my once-a-week truly exquisite cupcake indulgence, I think Dr. Atkins must've been one vicious s.o.b.

Fuck Beer/Frat Guy Prozac
 

I enjoy the less "bang for the buck" aspect. The process of drinking is just as enjoyable as the effect (IMO). You can just chug some Everclear if you want true efficiency. Plus, while I enjoy a martini, it's not going to quench my thirst. And Sequels only tells me I smell after I drink booze, but not beer.

Then again, I'm a runner and need quite a bit more calories and carbs than the average person, so I haven't paid for them (through weight gain) like the people you mention. There's a reason marathons offer you bagels and Sam Adams at the finish line...

Atkins
 

Okay, let's stop this before it starts. I have a couple of in-laws on the Adkins diet, and this drives me crazy.

Carbs are not a unit of measure. Servings of food contain grams of carbohydrates.

Saying something has 3.1 carbs per serving is like running fingernails over the chalkboard. Please, let's not start.

Atkins
 

I competely agree. It's a logical and easy short-term diet. I just don't think people should sustain it.

Plus, it's probably a lot cheaper than shopping at Whole Foods.

Fuck Beer/Frat Guy Prozac
 

Coltrane, you're the exception to the rule. Most beer addicts don't run. There's a reason Norm was such a recognizable stereotype.

Fuck Beer/Frat Guy Prozac
 

Dissent. Gin drinkers age faster than all others. That stuff is pure fucking poison. All the hardcore alkys who die young are straight gin drinkers. Organic gardeners use the same basic stuff as an herbicide. Why do you think a drunk's nose is called a gin blossom?

Atkins
 

Not when it is rye (with seeds) and you need somewhere to put a couple slices of Velveeta (mmm, processed cheese food) and some horseradish mustard while you drink your beer.


I don't know why everyone demonizes beer -- I am thin with quite a beer habit (and having a kid didn't help). If you start to feel that you are gaining a little weight just fast for a couple of days (still drink beer, of course) and get rid of it.

Atkins
 

I shop for my pseudo-Atkins at Whole Foods. They're the only joint in town with good lox, which is sad. The Jews in this town should be ashamed.

Atkins
 

Cutting out the middleman and just eating the money would be cheaper than shopping at Whole Foods. High in fiber, too. Which is, however, a carbohydrate. Oh, the humanity!

Atkins
 

If it's only for 2 weeks, you can probably stick with it. But what was the dare and what do you get if you "win?"

Fuck Beer/Frat Guy Prozac
 

There may be something to this. I've helped keep the Beam family in high end German sedans for years, and my nose is as white as my ass. I can swill scotch, vodka, bourbon and champagne, but for the life of me, I cannot even get near a glass of gin. I don't know why, but you may have just explained it.

Atkins
 

Yes, they desperately need some competition. I'll head this movement. There's definitely more room in the market. Anyone have a half-billion they want to invest?

Fuck Beer/Frat Guy Prozac
 

Because you have to be a truly committed alcoholic to be able to even tolerate the taste of gin. It's unbearable. And purposely adding quinine to it only magnifies the freakishness of the taste buds of these country-club drunks. Pass the whiskey, willya?

Atkins
 

How come no one mentions this? Most people aren't even aware of it. I mentioned cancer pervention to someone regarding this type of diet and he thought I was crazy. Isn't there a Harvard medical study I can cite?

Atkins
 

Central Market. Those widespread yet?

Hey look what I read
 

here

snippet:
High protein (high fat) diets are in vogue today and are heavily promoted. Unfortunately they are also dangerous. The popularity of these books is evidence that people are looking for a quick, effortless way to lose weight without having to curtail their dangerous love affair with rich, unhealthful foods. People are desperate to lose weight and these books preach what people want to hear; that you can still eat lots of cholesterol and saturated fat and still lose weight. This illicit romance can lead to tragic consequences, with some people literally dying to lose weight.

High protein diet gurus usually claim they know the truth and all other doctors and scientists are wrong. They promote the idea that their recommended diet is healthy. They would have their devotees believe there is a worldwide conspiracy, including more than 3500 scientific studies, involving more than 15,000 research scientists, reporting a relationship between the consumption of meats, poultry, eggs and dairy products, with heart disease, cancer, kidney failure, constipation, gallstones, diverticulosis, and hemorrhoids, just to name a few.

You can lose some weight on the Atkins’ Diet, but you will damage your health at the same time.

Following Atkins’ recommendations could more than double your risk of certain cancers, especially of meat-sensitive cancers3, such as epithelial cancers of the respiratory tract.4

Atkins
 

Over the holidays I was sort-of kidding about "getting in shape"* for this silly cruise my in-laws are taking us on and my brother-in-law** said I could do Atkins, but he doubted I could stick to it. Then it became "you cannot stick to it" and "I will give up Bacardi for two weeks if you can stick to Atkins for two weeks." I took the dare.

*I am neither overweight nor out of shape, though I am closer to Drew Barrymore than Lara Flynn Boyle. My dislike of butter and meat and basically everything else Atkins is well-known.

**My brother-in-law smokes a pack a day and drinks two family size bottles of Bacardi per non-celebratory week. I've seen him go through a family size Bacardi in an evening (starting around 4:30 p.m. and going until 5:30 a.m.).

Atkins
 

Sounds like you're doing him a favor - or his liver at least. He may go into shock.

If you stick to the broiled chicken and/or turkey and/or tofu and veggies you should be able to do 2 weeks standing on your head.