Jaydef03

hey guys, ive been on atkins for over 3 months. went from 225 to 197 (this morning). im 6-1" but muscular, so i would say this weight im at right now isnt too bad. i know i cant be on this diet forever, and im going abroad to Florence for the Fall starting late august and would like to enjoy Italian food without depriving myself on the Atkins.

i need pointers of what i should start allowing myself to eat so i dont gain a lot of the weight back (the rumor of coming off atkins). i would still like to enjoy pasta in italy, is this still possible with South Beach?

anyways, just looking for some tips on a transition back to a regular healthy diet without messing around with no carbs.

Whiskers

Congrats on the weight loss!!

I would eat small portions of whole wheat and low carb pasta at first. Eat a sweet potato instead of white and don't go back to white bread, it's the devil, eat whole grain or wheat.

Jaydef03

thanks. low carb pasta, eh?
if i keep my regular gym workout (reg musc. routine + 2 miles eliptical) 4x a week, will i still gain some weight back? i really fear it bc ive worked so hard to put it off. i feel like an anorexic person being introduced to food therefore making weight gain inevitable. bad analogy, but you get the idea.

RMATIC09

just introduce yourself into carbs slowly. carbs are not the enemy , its the kind of carbs you eat. stick with your low GI carbs, and slowly build them back up, if you do this, you dont have to worry about packing on any of that unwanted fat.

BEETROOT

Go for as much whole grain stuff as you can. But as long as you don't eat too many calories, you won't gain weight. So just eat small portions.


My brother just got back from Italy...he said the food sucked compared to American Italian.

Adam_Schwartz

Eat as many complex carbs as possible and, like others said, in smaller, more "usable" portions. Unless you become a total couch potato, then you should be able to burn off some pasta here and there. This is what I'd tell anyone in general, not just someone who did Atkins diet.

Jaydef03

ok, thanks for the advice. Yea, they dont mix any type of meat and pasta over there, which means no chicken parm, meatballs, lasagna, etc. but being 100% italian im sure im going to enjoy the food over there, im suprised its my frist time going to italy.

i feel like when i go back on, if i stay away from chips and pizza and have the occasional sadnwich and pasta, then it shouldnt be too bad. plus i wouldnt have to turn to eating like 800 calories worth of cheese and low carb peanut butter anymore. i could have healthier substitutes, even if it does contain carbs.

Jaydef03

so i was an idiot this weekend, had homefries some french fries, breaded chicken, and a peice of cheesecake. i just said screw it for a couple of days to see what would happen. i weighed 197 in the morning on thursday, and this morning i weighed 203.. interesting... both weigh-ins with boxers only.

this damn atkins... im going to go back on it for another month maybe. i know i spulged and when i get off it that i am NOT going to eat french fries and cake. i just felt like enjoying myself for memorial weekend if i was going to cheat anyway.

Jaydef03

splurged*

BEETROOT

Thats what Atkins does to you. You crave, then when you 'splurge' you go all out and just eat everything. Thats why I think a normal, healthy diet + exercise is 100X better than Atkins. Just eat normal healthy stuff minus the processed carbohydrates.

Jaydef03

can i get some points here? i mean fruit has carbs, should i slowly expose myself to fruit? and what kinds of fruit? should i not have corn or yogurt or milk?

and as far as bread i can only have whole grain? and NO potatos whatsoever? what about breaded chicken?

im not a nutritionist here, the advice im looking for would be of what actual, specific foods i should or shouldnt have

thanks

Whiskers

If you want to keep off the weight, you should look at a traditional diet such as Weight Watchers.

Jaydef03

its messed up that if i just eat normally, cutting out junk food that i would still naturally put back on the weight. its like my body is not suppossed to be 200 pounds, it is destined to stay at 225, where i was before. or am i sounding retarded?

i lost weight, please stay off!!!

BEETROOT

Fruit has carbs, but I wouldn't worry so much about that. Eat all the fruit you want. If possible, try to eat darker, richer colored fruits. Mangoes, papayas, strawberries....this isn't a carb thing but the more color = more nutrients.

As for grains and such, yeah only eat whole grain. I would stay away from potatoes while you are trying to lose weight, especially fried! Breaded chicken is fine, the breading is a relatively small amount, but if its fried I wouldn't eat it.

Try stuff like oatmeal (steel oats are awesome), wheat bread, brown rice, pita's, granola. For dinner have a grilled chicken breast, brown rice, and steamed broccoli or something along those lines.

If I were you I'd pick up a nutrition book... I just read this, it's very good: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...=UTF8&v=glance

Jaydef03

thanks... thats what im really looking for ^

i guess ill slowly start to emerge myself into that diet. i feel like if i jump right in after 3+ mo of atkins, i would either get sick or gain weight very quickly

Adam_Schwartz

Again, complex carbs as much as possible - this is a good general rule. Fruit has sugar in it and the body does not differentiate between sugar in fruit and sugar in soda. Fruit has redeeming qualities of course, like disease/illness fighting qualities so you don't need to completely remove fruit from your diet. Milk and some yogurt has a good amount of sugar in it too, so watch out for that. Sugar and flour based products are the two things to really limit if possible and eat them as treats.

Red and sweet taters are perefectly fine, so eat those all you want IMO. The key is to eat complex carbs and enjoy some pasta/bread here and there.

Jaydef03

fuck, i was in the process of finishing an apple while reading that

youngTL

Italy! One day I'm going to visit there with my dad to go to the town where he was born.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about your weight. What is concerning is body fat percentage. Try and get it measured. 12-14% is doing good, 7% is bodybuilderish, and 20% is kinda chunky. Don't forget also that if you're working out, muscle is 3x as dense as fat. Since I've been back to working out hardcore, I've gone from 144 to 156lbs in 2 months. And keep in mind your weight can fluctuate wildly the bigger you are due to water retention.

As for food:

1. Stay far FAR away from sugary beverages (no pop, kool-aid, juices high in sugar, milkshakes, etc). If you MUST eat fast food because nothing else is available, order the chicken instead of the "beef" patty, and get water or milk instead of pop. Don't eat fries. Substitute the salad or chili options instead if available.

2. Do NOT eat within 3-4 hours of going to bed. Supper should be one of your smaller meals and it should be higher in protein. Breakfast should be as high in complex carbohydrates as you can get (oatmeal, whole grain cereal, etc), and you should eat a massive breakfast. Lunch should be large as well.

3. Or, instead of eating only 3 times per day, you should eat once every couple hours, but smaller portions. This will keep you from binging and makes your digestion more efficient.

4. Refined foods are your enemy. Stay away from processed cheese (only eat real cheese...ie: buy cheddar cheese blocks instead of Kraft cheese slices or something). Like others said, stay away from white bread and white pasta if possible. Eat the healthier whole grain pasta and bread.

5. If you're snacking, eat brocolli, carrots, celery, and cauliflour instead of crackers or chips. These heavy veggies fill you up and are good for you.

BEETROOT

excellent advice

Jaydef03

that makes a lot of sense. i usually have about 3 diet pepsis everyday and a like 5 peice of string cheese. i guess those are both pretty bad for me.

i feel like ive hit a weight barrier. it doesnt seem like im losing anymore fat. i dont get it, i HAVE NOT had a cookie, sip of milk, fries (cept for one occasion), zero chocolate, not one bite of pizza or bread, OJ, any type of juice, OR nondiet soda, in close to 4 months!!!! and i work out and run 2 miles 4 times a week. and i cant lose anymore weight. i dont have a gut, but im bY no means thin.

WTF is this!? its really pissing me off. i have the worst metabolism in the world. how am i not losing weight anymore? ppl i know dont work out and eat fries, pizza and burgers constantly and could still lose weight. i havent had one cookie or chip in over 3 months and i cant lose weight. fucking bullshit. i want to strangle somebody.

sry for the rant...

Jaydef03

im stuck at 200, even though ive put on at least 5 pounds of muscle, i still cant get rid of fat around my waistline.

i run 2 miles on eliptical, do 200 crunches, and oblique work, on top of lifting. 4x a week..

does this make any sense to you? i look at every carb reading on everything i eat. i dont even have ketchup! im even concious on lite dressing and Equal sugar packets, even when it comes to buying pickles and peppers i refues to get something with 2 G of carb when i could search for zero carb stuff

Adam_Schwartz

Real fat loss is going to come with more cardio - 2 miles on the elliptical is not that much. You need to step it up to 40-45 min of high intensity cardio to really burn fat. When do you do cardio? If in the afternoon or evening, then try to do it in the AM on an empty gut. I had to do the same to lose fat.

Also bump up your meals to 7 per day. It will make a difference. Keep the calories the same as 5-6 meals/day and just break that into 7 meals/day. Also, if you have been eating the same amount of calories per day for many weeks, then your body can and will adapt. Body composition takes constant change and adaptation. It's amazing how well our bodies can adapt to given circumstances.

To lose fat you might want to slowly drop the calories and slowly up the cardio over an 8-12 week period. Go read my "progress after 10 weeks" thread and see what I did. It is a proven system and is worth a look. I dropped about 30 lbs in 12 weeks doing it and NEVER was able to lose fat beforehand. I am not saying it will 100% work, but it has for MANY people. It is nothing crazy, just a consistent program to drop fat.

Lastly, a break might be in order, depending on how long you have been exercising. A break every 10-12 weeks is highly recommended and by break I mean don't do anything. It just helps keep your body from adapting.

Key point here - change your routine, diet and exercise, as needed to get results. You won't be able to follow the exact same thing for weeks on end and expect results to happen, whether you are trying to lean out or bulk up.

P.S. Don't kill yourself over pickles with 2g of carbs versus those with none - that won't make or break your progress. I drink diet sodas for my sweet tooth and don't think they are necessarily a bad thing like normal soda or string chesse is.

Jaydef03

ok great, thanks for the advice. i need diet soda to keep up at work. i dont want to drink coffee all the time bc sometimes its could have up to 15g of carb in it, and i dont want to risk it. id rather have a slice of bread than a coffee, if i was going to do that.

ok, im about to go check this other thread later tonite... thanks for the tips.

spending 35 min on the elliptical is a bitch when im already lifting for over an hour... maybe ill just run two miles on treadmill instead. i keep getting comments that the elliptical doesnt really work too well and doesnt even compare to running / treadmill.

youngTL

The elliptical is great if you have bad knees like me. You can sustain a much longer workout on it without your knees giving in. It's VERY effective if you turn up the level high enough or go with enough vigor, or both.

Adam_Schwartz

Do what works - I won't run at all, but that is because it is murder on my knees. Like I said, I lost about 30 lbs and did my cardio exclusively on an elliptical. So it is not a bad way to go. And I hear you about it being a bitch - but you reap what you sow, so if you want to lose the fat then you need to put in the time. The results are more than worth it IMO. Best of luck!!