low carb lifestyle

[Guest guest]

Kirsteen,

Thank you for taking the time to say the things that I'm tired of explaining.

I totally agree with you on the Atkins company. It's not C. Atkins and

it has nothing to do with his approach to weight loss and overall health. That

company is now about money and is doing horribly last I heard.

Kirsteen <kirsteen.falconsfan@...> wrote:

On 1/2/07, Sally <sally.hoffman@...> wrote:

>

> . carbs from fruit and veg are

> low carb, arn't they?

Hi - I know this wasn't addressed to me but can I jump in here. Atkins is so

often misquoted and taken out of context. Atkins himself knew everyone was

different. He openly admitted that his induction phase of very low carb

eating (mostly meats, fish, eggs, cheese etc plus a cup of green veg) was

unbalanced. that's why he recommended it for two weeks only.

His books were written for an American market. He felt that they typical

diet was far too unbalanced in favour of carbohydrates. He argued that

adding a balnced diet to a body totally out of balance would still leave it

unbalanced. therefore he recommended everyone start his induction phase and

then after two weeks start adding more carbs back into the diet gradually

till everyone found their own personal level. Some people can manage quite a

number and include whole grains, beans etc. Others, like myself, are

particularly insulin resistant and have to keep the level fairly low.

I'm not a saint - I don't always stick rigidly to what I should eat but,

if I don't, I suffer immediately. The carb count for fruit and veg varies

widely. Most fruits are very high in sugar as are some veg but there are

loads of low carb ones.

I eat a lot of salads with chicken or fish. I also eat a lot of stir frys

with meat and veg. Last night I had organic free range beef with stir fried

onions, green peppers and broccoli (in VCO of course :-). I buy organic

sausages, bacon and burgers from our local farmer's market. That way I know

exactly what's in them but I wouldn't say I eat them that often - maybe a

couple of times a week - if that. i make a lot of homemade soups (bacon and

peppers or broccoli and stilton are my two favourites). If I want to up the

protein content, I'll add chopped chicken or cheese. I don't eat much fruit

but do take raspberries, strawberries and my favourite, blueberries. I've

also become a great fan of the undenatured whey, Duncan recommends. I'll

have this with psyllium husks, inulin, VCO and a handful of berries.

There were a lot of stories circulating that Atkins died overweight. A

group, I think it might have been PETA but I'm not sure so don't wish to

slander anyone, illegally obtained and published a copy of his autopsy and

it was widely reported that a. he was overweight and b. died of a heart

attack. His doctors, not so widely reported, were at pains to point out that

he died from slipping on the ice and cracking his skull and that his weight

was normal when he was admitted to hospital but that the drips he was on

while unconscious had caused severe oedema and a substantial weight gain.

In saying all this, I have to add that I personally don't like the changes

in the Atkins corporation since he died. Atkins promoted mostly fresh foods

free from additives. Nowadays I feel the Atkins corporation spends all its

time promoting low carb substitutes made with many ingredients I wouldn't

dream of touching. Many people I know call stuff like this 'frankenfoods'.

I heard that the sale of these has drastically declined but that doesn't for

a minute mean that the number of people following a low carb diet more like

Atkin's original one has declined. There are loads of groups on the internet

that prove otherwise.

Kirsteen

Chaos, confusion, disorder - my work here is done