Amy2838

Isn't this like the Atkins-style low carb diet? If not, just ignore this entire post...sorry.

If it is...I tried it and I felt great on it. The nay-sayers are ridiculing Atkins for making people have high cholesterol and saying it is unhealthy, but you DON"T eat tons of meat if you do it RIGHT. The thing is you're just not hungry at ALL because the carbs are what makes you hungry. So you just eat a little meat and veggies cooked in a little butter, etc. and you lose weight and/or it helps with your insulin problems. As long as you're not eating carbs, any fat that you eat gets burned for energy instead of stored in your body. (Normally the body burns carbs for energy and stores any unused carbs along with all the fat you ate as fat cells in your body)

The problem with low carb diets is that you basically can't eat OUT...ever. I mean, you could, but you have to order special or go through a lot of trouble. Hamburger, no bun please; Does your vinegarette have honey, sugar, or any kind of sweetener? Answer=yes; Just a minute while I pick all the breading off my fried shrimp because they didn't have grilled...etc.

And the homemade low-carb meals you make at home usually take a while to prepare which is no good for lunches or if you don't feel like cooking at night. No casseroles, because casseroles usually have some kind of carb filler. And a ham and cheese whole-wheat tortilla roll-up is good once in a while, but it gets REALLY old after about week 3.

After the 2-week "induction" phase of the diet, in which you "de-tox" yourself of all carbohydrates, you can slowly add small amounts of carbs back into your meal plans, which helps the monotony and your food choices, but since I was trying to lose weight, I never made it very far after that. I ate some ketchup, and a small serving of black-eyed peas, and I started gaining my weight back.

I do remember that I felt much better on this diet (after the withdrawals, that is, which I barley lived through! LOL) But that was before I was diagnosed with ADD. It did help my hypoglycemia (unstable blood sugar/poor insulin control) and I had fewer headaches, and had more energy. But I can't remember if it helped with my ADD symptoms because I didn't know they WERE symptoms at the time.

If it wasn't such a pain in the butt to do, I would still be on this diet, because I was never hungry, and the food was good, just hard to find and/or prepare. It beats all other diets as far as how it makes you feel. (I was NEVER grumpy on this diet, always satisfied, and I can NOT say that for Weight Watchers or Diet Center!) Not to mention you don't have to count anything, write anything down, or remember anything (great for ADD!) All you have to know is, if it has carbs (bread/sugar/starch) don't eat it. Simple. And eventually you CAN eat some carbs, then it's a bit like Sugar Busters but a little stricter. The thing is, the more carbs you eat, the hungrier you get. If you're trying to lose weight, or if your watching your cholesterol, you should try to be very strict. I would suggest going way down on the fat (butter, bacon grease, fatty meat) if you add back in more carbs or you will probably GAIN weight.

In Atkin's book, he says this diet is good for all sorts of illnesses, and being hypoglycemic, I can believe that. If he were still alive (ice skating accident, not heart attack!) he would probably have done research on the benefits of this diet on ADD sufferers. The first half of his book is a little like a self-congratulatory commercial on how great he is, but it is very informative. I think it's called the New Diet Revolution, and it's really easy to find right now, since it's so popular at the moment. I would suggest borrowing it though! LOL.

Anyway, maybe I will go back on it, just to see if it helps the ADD. I just hate to do all that special cooking, though. Sigh. We'll see.