Atkins Diet - Losing Weight the Atkins Way

My husband and I went on the atkins diet several years ago. This is the first time my husband has done any dieting. I on the other hand have tried every diet know to mankind. Of course he dropped 10 pounds the first week, and could not understand why I am always saying that weight loss is difficult. I did lose 6 pounds the first week so I had to agree that the diet was working. The first two weeks were difficult to get used to eating only low carbohydrate foods. Once we got past that two week mark we found that it was an easy diet for us to follow.

On the atkins diet you eat mostly protein. My husband has always been a big meat eater so that part was easy. It was more difficult for him to give up the potatoes and bread that he ate along with his meat. We needed to find alternative foods that were allowed on the atkins diet.

Does Atkins diet work long term?

I bought the atkins diet book which not only outlines the diet but also has recipes. It is amazing how you can eat a lot of food on the atkins diet and still lose weight. The main challenge is getting some variety into your meals. When we first started the atkins diet the dinner meal was very easy to prepare. We would have some type of protein, fish, pork, chicken or beef and a large leafy salad with bleu cheese dressing. This was not that different than what we ate before it was just minus the potato and bread. After a few weeks the lack of variety started to bore us.

We were both losing weight, so that helped keep us motivated, but we were getting tired of the same meal each night. Then I discovered some of the recipes in the back of the atkins diet book. Our favorite is mashed cauliflower. It is the same texture as mashed potatoes. The atkins diet book also had a recipe for a salad that has all the same ingredients as potato salad, minus the potatoes. You substitute cooked cauliflower. I was skeptical at first, but it tastes wonderful.

Over the years we have added carbohydrates back into out diet. Initially we both gained some of the weight back, but now we have found the right balance for each of us. Long term with very low carbohydrates did not fit our life style, or taste buds, but the atkins diet was an effective way for us to take off pounds.

(please note that there's a lot of debate about the long term safety of the atkins diet - several doctors have expressed concerns about high-protein, Atkins-type diets.)

Article by S.R. Harrison an independent writer for Healthy Help Files on Weight Loss & Diet Issues.

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