I fortunately do not have a weight problem. But I read today in the Paper that when Atkins died in 2003 he wieghed 258 pounds.
He was in a coma for 8 days and they feed him fliuds and that is why he weighed that much at his time of death.
He was 6 foot and normally weighed 195 which was stated that being not obese it is still considered fat.
They also stated he had a heart condition.
I was wondering if anyone out there has tried his diet and did they lose weight?
The supporters of his diet blame his weight gain on being in a coma for 8 days and given fluids. I can kind of see that but that is a gain of 63 pounds.
I thought when in a coma given fluids is not so much as a way to gain weight but to keep from dehrydrating and to be kept simply alive?
I know there are a few poeple in the forum who are medically employed and would like what their thoughts on this?
Was his diet really a diet? Did you lose weight if you were on it?

I have been on Atkins since sept 2003, started out at 280, now at 245, and will hit my goal wieght of 215-225 by spring if I keep this up. It has been a fantastic diet. It is essentially a diabetics diet. Sugars and carbs do "turn on" you hunger centers, and if you are an active sport type person like me, and just are always hungry, it is a super diet, because it turned off my hunger. I had no problem knocking down 8-10 thousand calories a day or more. I could finish a whole extra large pizza at lunch, a large several course meal for dinner ( I am a good cook) and waste a box of cereal for breakfast. I used to love to run long distances and pump iron, and had one of those sculpted athlete bodies, and wieghed between 215-225 from about 17 until 34 ( I am 6'2"), when my first kid was born, and I stopped exercising, but kept eating the same way, I loved pastas and breads. I wasn't a big sweets eater either, but I did carbo load!

So this diet has been a god send for me, and now that the youngest (9 months) is able to stay at the YMCA day care, me and my wife are able to work out alot, which is really dropping the pounds fast now. My wife went from a size 14 dress after her second child (she was a super athletic size six, only the neccesary body fat to make her womanly) now down to an 8, and she will be the same size as when she got pregnant the first time by spring at this rate!

Atkins died of a kind of congestive heart failure, and that is a type of water retention, and his wieght was very good for his age and hieght prior to his fall. 6 foot and 195 pounds on a build like his IS NOT fat! LOL

Water wieghs something like 8 pounds or more per gallon. I have seen water intoxifiers (poeple who get drunk by drinking too much water and washing the electrolytes out of thier system, a rare condition, but genetic predisposed to certain kinds of schizophrenia) gain over 25lbs in 20 minutes, no exageration. 63 pounds while in this kind of condition is not even unusual.

I was wondering if anyone out there has tried his diet and did they lose weight?

Link to full article about Dr. Atkins:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/02/10/atkins.widow/index.html




When I saw the above article reporting Dr. Atkins as "obese" at the time of his death, I didn't believe it because I had seen him "live" on the Larry King show promoting his newest book just one month before his death. At that time, he looked healthy and while he has never been thin, I never thought of him as fat because he is a big man with a rather large frame...and older. And, if you have read any of his books, he too has always had to monitor his weight...he eats what he teaches. I am a fan and have been for years!

To me, Dr. Atkins is the real trail blazer for more than 30 years and while making small changes throughout the years to the Atkins Diet, he has never backed down from his original claim.

I own one of the older book versions of the Atkins Diet, his newest book, and for those who enjoy cooking, I highly recommend the "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Cookbook" for good recipes that will add more variety to your Atkins' Diet regardless of which of the four stages of the diet you are in: Induction, Ongoing Weight-Loss, Premaintenance or the final stage-Maintenance Diet.

Also, if you haven't already...check out the Atkins' web site at: http://www.atkins.com for free membership and loads of support, recipes, and information.

FYI, one of the most common misconceptions of the Atkins' Diet by his critics (and what scares many dieters from even trying it) is "you can only eat 15-20 grams of carbohydrates per day." That simply is not true. After completing the first phase, The Induction Stage, you can gradually increase your carbohydrates intake in 5 grams increments until by the final stage of the diet, your daily carb intake may end up being 30, 45, 60 or whatever...depending on your individual metabolism, level of activity, etc. The barometer in determining what level your personal carb intake is determined by how many grams of carbs can you eat daily without gaining weight. He explains this vital point in the Atkins' literature and books...but it is important to know from the beginning that following the Atkins' Diet does not mean that you will eat only 15-20 grams of carbs per day everyday for the rest of your life.

All my life, I have been either skinny, thin, a little overweight and even obese. Like everyone else...I follow a diet, loose the weight, and do just fine for months and even years...then something changes in my life style and back I go into my old routine. I have been on the Atkins' Diet several times and have lost as much as 45 pounds....felt great and looked great. The fact that I regained my weight loss is not Dr. Atkins' fault or the fault of his diet. Pure and simple...to lose weight, one must alter his eating habits on a permanent basis, choose a diet that you can live with on a long term basis because if you revert back to your old eating habits, the weight will pile back on plus more than you lost.

Oh, the first two weeks, The Induction Stage, can be rough for some dieters-headaches and listlessness due to drop in sugar intake. Don't suffer for the first few days or the first week with feeling bad...simply add another small salad to your carb intake until the symptoms disappear within a few days. Once your body adjusts to the lower sugar intake...you will feel great, have more energy and won't feel hungry in the process. Will you miss the breads and junk food? Yes...but he tells you how to work around that or if you fall off the food wagon...how to get back on. Go for it!

Sorry this post is so long...but this is one thread I couldn't resist and have really enjoyed contributing my 2 cents worth.

P. S. Now that I have raved about the Atkins' Diet, let me suggest one other diet for those of you who are hesitant about the fat and beef intake. Try "The South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston, M. D. His diet is much like the Atkins' Diet but the restrictions are a little different in the carb department and also in the fat department...more low fat meat, etc.

I've heard from numerous women that the Atkins diet doesn't work as well for them (as a group; it works ok for some, but the results are a lot less than a guy on the same diet).

Instead of trying to get a diet from a book and product line, may I suggest to people who want to lose weight to visit a dietician? For $60, you can get an entire program designed specifically for your eating habits (what you like to eat), your activity level, your height and weight, etc.

For a blood-sugar problem I was having, I visited one at the end of October. I'm 5'10" and weighed 172. I don't gain and lose weight easily; normally I gain a small amount and plateau for several years at the new weight.

The dietician designed a program for me that mostly just required me to measure the carbs I was eating. I only had to reduce them for breakfast, the rest of my meals were fine.

Over the next 8 weeks, I lost 17 pounds. I'm down to the same weight I was 10 years ago and have plateaued there for the past 6 weeks, so I figure that's my real "fighting weight".

I have no problem eating desserts (the South Beach Diet book has a good tip about that; eat three fork/spoonfuls and then push the dessert away, because your tastebuds have what you were looking for at that point) and I get a filling snack in the middle of the afternoon. I've adjusted my life little, because that was one of the qualifications I told the dietician: if I had to change my eating habits too much, it wouldn't happen. She worked around that.

Basically, as DR pointed out, you have to change your eating habits. Atkins forces a radical change in eating habits (I remember watching a co-worker down a brick of cream cheese as an Atkins snack; YUCK!). A dietician can help you get there in a way that won't be so radical, so it'll have a greater chance of sticking with you.

I did the diet for a couple of months last year. I'm not massively fat but wanted to shed about a stone or so. Inside of the 3 weeks I'd lost 3/4 of a stone and lost just over a stone in total by the end of the two months. It certainly worked and I'd do it again to shift a bit of weight quickly but I'd never adopt it as a lifestyle. It just didn't feel particularly healthy to me.
It's not so much a low carb diet as a very low sugar diet as you ditch a lot of the sugars from complex carbohydrates. When you exercise you use up your bodies sugars as energy first an then fat. By dramatically reducing the level of sugar you tend to burn fat earlier and so lose weight.
This diets real trick though is that large amounts of protein acts as an appetite suppressant, so while they point to all the lovely food you can eat you're just not hungry enough to do it.

The real downsides for me were I found it quite a hard diet to maintain in terms of effort in concocting the right meals (unlike CR I'm not a good cook!)
I like fruit and I'm suspicious of any diet that reduces the amount of fruit you can eat.
In the first week I felt weak and light-headed and this didn't go away until I took vitamin supplements. I also got sick to death of the sight of meat and I felt like my tongue had a permanent coating of grease.

But I does work. That said losing weight is matter of preference, different diets for different people. In my experience it's straight maths - so long as you burn more calories than you take in you'll lose weight. It's that easy! yeah right...

Personally I think there is a smear campaign starting on Atkins now that he is dead and can't defend himself.
Atkins works for many people. Doesn't work for some. I am very active and can't live without carbs as i need abundant energy resources.
Atkins and others low carb diets have gotten many people to at the least stop the diet of Filth and Disease most Americans live with. Sugar and processed foods are very damaging to the body. The industries that supply them have been hurt economically and are desperatlt trying to find ways to put an end to the low carb mania.
Without exercise no human is going to be in good shape regardless of diet. The ever widening backside of the average American is actually at epidemic levels and as far as I am concerned any attempt to get people to live healthier is a good thing.


p.s Did you know that lobbyists actually got Soda (Sugar with bubbles) to be listed as a healthy food item? What a world.

The point is no matter what diet one chooses, make it one that you can learn to live with which leaves the fad diets out.

Another misconception of the Atkins' Diet is that you can eat buckets of bacon, beef, shrimp, etc. If you notice his recipes...he is talking about average portions and eating until you feel full...not stuffed.

Years ago, when he was on the talk show circuit, a caller gave Atkins a thumbs up because he lost over 70 pounds and he frequently ate a couple of buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken and didn't gain an ounce. Atkins' eyes rolled and he responded to the caller, "While I am glad that you like the Atkins' Diet and have lost an admirable amount of weight, may I remind you that fried chicken is on the list of foods to eat, but buckets of fried coated chicken is not. And, let me add that I find it astounding that you didn't gain weight during your binge on coated, fried chicken regardless of brand.!"

Just like the friend, mentioned in one of the posts, eating a block of cream cheese. ..that is not what the Atkins Diet is about. Read his books and look at his recipes...they give suggested measurements. And for the beef haters, there is always chicken, turkey, and fish.

Oh, the suggestion of going to a good nutritionist is excellent!

The Physician's Committee on Responsible Medicine(PCRM) that leaked Atkins's medical records to the papers is a group is basically a front for PETA, and they promote animal rights and vegetarianism via "responsible" medicine. Though apparently their ethics in obtaining someone else's medical records are not very "responsible".

Their website is www.pcrm.org

For more info on their background and the American Medical Association's opinion on PCRM, look here:

http://www.activistcash.com/org_detail.cfm?ORG_ID=23

Not that that changes any of the details, but the source has to be questioned.

Press Release Source: Veronica Atkins

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040209/nym255_1.html

Excerpt:

"But here is the truth: my husband's medical records have been reviewed by knowledgeable doctors and his medical condition discussed with cardiac specialists. It is clear that Dr. Atkins developed a condition called cardiomyopathy approximately three years prior to his death. It is also true that when Robert developed cardiomyopathy his coronary arteries showed only minimal and clinically insignificant signs of coronary artery disease, consistent with what would be expected in a 69-year old man. Cardiomyopathy is a serious and progressive condition and was, I have been told, in Robert's case, caused by a viral infection. Though this condition significantly weakened his heart, its cause was clearly related to an infection and not his diet."

For a statement from Atkins's doctor see:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040210/nytu110_1.html


I've lost 50lbs on Atkins since January of 2003. My cholesterol is 168, I have a lot more energy, and I haven't been sick in a year. I did a lot of reading on other low-carb plans and low-carb in general. Using that information I have since moderated my carb intake to a level that I find sustainable for my lifestyle, so I am not on strict Atkins any more, but it works for me.




If they were eating a brick of cream cheese, they were not following Atkins. The problem with many "Atkins" dieters is that they never bother to read the entire book, if they pick it up at all. Much of the time they listen to a news story on it, then ask a few friends about it, and then jump on the bandwagon. You have to read the book. Atkins does not advocate huge amounts of dairy products. Moderate, yes. A brick of cream cheese, no.

The biggest hurdle I found in doing low-carb was a mental one. You have to overcome the idea high-carb low-fat mantra that was pounded into your head for decades. This is why you have to read the book and understand the impact of simple carbs and excess insulin on your body. It makes it much easier to comprehend the "why" of why a low-carb diet works the way it does.

I tried the Atkins diet about 4 years ago. I lasted about 3 months and felt disgusting. My skin was oily and I always felt like I needed to brush my teeth and shower. I only lost about 4 pounds on it. So I gave up and did Weight Watchers. That I did very well on but I feel with Weight Watchers it doesn't control your carb intake. Since I tend to have blood sugar problems, which does run in my family, I am now trying the South Beach diet, which I started on Monday. The first 2 wks are like the Atkins diet except not as much fat. At least psychologically I feel better about that. I think, when I get to where I want to be, if I can combine the Weight Watchers philosophy and the South Beach method of controlling the carbs I might (hopefully) have good long term results. I don't really have a weight problem but I get frustrated when I gain those very unwanted 10 pounds. Usually that happens when I am not controlling my sweet tooth.

We are not all the same.. So no cookie cutter program will work for everyone.

What I am curious about is how did this man's medical records become public?

And why this sudden attempt to smear him?

There's no doubt in my mind that high-protein diets like Atkins and the Zone can help with weight loss -- I've know several people who it's worked for.

The question I'm concerned with are the probelms associated with high protein: possible osteoporosis, strain on the liver and kidneys, and possible heart problems.

My understanding of the success of diets such as Atkins has more to do with limiting calories that limiting carbs.

I believe that eating in moderation, eating foods closest to their natural forms (the less processed the better), and exercise are the key to healthy weight loss.

This is from an article by Phil Kaplan. Article

He gives a good summary of the cons of the Atkins diet, not as an attack really but to try and reveal the side of the story Atkins doesn't tell you. A few other items of info that might be useful:

- Your brain burns more calories than any other organ and uses glucose almost exclusively.

- All your muscles also use glucose as their primary energy source.

- Under conditions of ketosis (the target of the Atkins diet) your body uses branched amino acids to synthesize glucose. These amino acids come from either dietary protein or breakdown of muscle tissue.

Catch: If you eat a whole lot of protein calories, you prevent your body from going into ketosis and therefore breaking down adipose tissue because it manages to scrounge enough glucose from the protein that you eat. But under ketosis conditions, you break down your own muscle tissue.

That's not to mention the initial water weight loss that gets people all excited within the first week. Less glucose = less solute in your blood. THe solute concentration of your blood needs to stay the same so water leaves as glucose does.


Diets should never be sold on account of weight loss. They should be measured by lean body mass percentages.

Pheeler- I have GAINED muscle mass and lost fat percentage, big time, with less exercise than I used to do, certainly. Once I hit ketosis in the induction phase, I was dropping fat very quickly, not muscle tissue. I am very quickly redistrubiting my wieght right now!

I lost 35 pounds on the Atkins Diet back in 1978. The nice part about it was that I didn't feel hunger as I did with low calorie diets that had a higher carbohydrate intake. And I did feel more energetic. Muscle mass was gained, not lost.

One thing I was cautioned about by a registered dietitian was that high protein diets without adequate water intake can damage the kidneys.

As far as Dr. Atkins' weight gain in the hospital, if he developed congestive heart failure as a result of brain damage and a large intake of intravenous fluids he could gain far more than the 3-5 pounds usually attributed to them.

Dr. Atkins' genes may have predisposed him to coronary problems, who knows?

It's like seeing a person who has smoked for years and never gotten any lung problems. Then there's the person who smoked for 10 years and has developed a lung tumor, or emphysema, chronic bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Now that I am having problems with glucose tolerance, I've decided that the Atkins Diet is probably not a great thing to be on. The ketosis, which is the goal of Atkins Diet followers, is okay for non-diabetics as long as they have some carbohydrate intake so that the sugar can be used for heart and brain activity. That becomes more problematic with diabetics and pre-diabetics. They need those carbohydrates for proper heart and brain function, and it has to be readily available especially since there may not be enough insulin produced by the body or there is higher cellular resistance to getting the glucose molecules into the cells.

The fears of physicians about large amounts of protein are wrong. Strength Athletes and bodybuilders consume massive amounts of protein. It is recommended that active athletic people should consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to maintain muscle mass. I myself average 1.5 grams. For all the research done to discredit Atkins long term results show a significant increase in the dieters health. Something the Atkins people have been trumpeting loudly since the studies have started coming in.
I have used the Atkins diet successfully when I haven't got the time to regularly hit the gym and want to maintain the work I have done in my workouts. My bodyfat levels remained consistent. But because of the lack of carbs I have no energy and get tired fast.
For anyone contemplating a dietary change. The best way outside of getting a scale and weighing out your foods is this. Hold out your hand. Each portion of your balanced meal should fit in the palm of your hand OR instead of using the hubcap sized dinner plate use the size generally used for desserts. Your meal should fit nicely on that and it is the proper size. Put your large plates away.
People eat way too fast and way too much. I went out and bought those rectangle dishes sold for japanese food. One they look cool and are a nice change from the ubiquitous round plates and two being smaller I can not get too much food on them.

That's a great idea. I should try that.


When I was in college, I was on the lightweight rowing team, which for girls means you have to weigh in under 130lbs. My natural weight was more like 142. During the season, I was able to get down to 137 by eatting less calories, but after that I was usually losing 7lbs of water weight the 2 or 3 days before a weigh-in. It sucked. It was by far the hardest thing mentally that I ever had to do. Working out 20 hours a week dehydrated and underfed. I used to go into ketosis because we were doing heavy weight training but I wasn't eatting enough anything (not just protein) and my body started to metabolize muscle tissue. So now you have heavy lifting routine tearing down the muscle, and usually your body would use protein to rebuild the muscle stronger, but because there was no protein, I don't know what was happening. I can't pretend to be a nutritionist. All I know is I was taking final exams in a plastic bag and spitting in a bottle on the bus to Oak Ridge, TN - my breath was terrible (mom the nurse says it was a side efffect of ketosis) and I packed a gallon of mouthwash on the trips we'd take - didn't help. It can't be healthy - ketosis. Well, I suppose it can't be healthy if you don't have the fat to burn instead of muscle. I'm doing weight watchers now and it works great because it redefines your portion perception. (after last season I gained 20lbs because I was so happy to eat without worrying about coach kicking my *** at weigh ins). Now I'm steadily moving back down to comfortable weight.

Hi Momof3 I did the Atkins once and lost 11 pounds on it. As soon as I went off of it, I gained the weight back within weeks. I really have a hard time believing that this is a healthy way to eat. I am not a big meat eater anyways so maybe that why it was extra hard for me to follow.

I am a constant dieter. I'm not considered overweight according to all of the charts I've seen, but I definately carry any extra weight in my hips and thighs so if I dont stay slim, I look out of porportion. The only diet that has ever worked for me is the weight watcher diet (and exercise). I joined long enough to get the program basics and slider then quit and continued on my own. I definately reccommend it. The thing I like about it the most is that you can eat anything you want, including junk, so long as you keep the portions small. Its a good program, imo.

Weight Watchers has worked for my mom, as well.
It seems like the most sensible way for a person to
go about losing weight - portion control.

Exercise plays a huge roll in maintaining weight
control. (I run 65 miles a week, and I eat pretty much
whatever I feel like eating.) Exercise speeds up one's
metabolism, and helps the body burn fuel more efficiently.

The Atkin's Diet may be successful for losing weight
on a short-term basis, but how can it be successful in the
long-term? Nobody wants to lose 20 pounds, only to gain
it back a year later, when they have gone off the diet.

To lose weight, regardless of what diet you follow, you have to change your eating habits. Trouble is...when you revert back to your old eating habits, you gain the weight back and plus. Ask me how I know

The Atkins' Diet is in four stages...the fourth stage is the maintenance diet that you follow for the rest of your life. By this last stage, you have lost the desired amount of weight, determined your daily carbohydrates intake allowable without gaining weight, and pretty much have the whole concept of Atkins' down pat to where it is achievable and enjoyable.

This is not a diet for those who dislike meat and are hesitant about consuming high protein/high fat foods. And, one of the biggest misconceptions about this diet is that you can eat five plates of shrimp or ten eggs or as someone here said, "a bar of cream cheese." This is not true...and anyone who reads any one or all of his books knows it isn't. The principle is to eat until you feel satisfied but not stuffed.

Atkins' Diet is not for everyone...just as other diets aren't either. Try to choose a diet that you can follow beyond losing the excess weight.

Now if I could just follow my own advice!

I have found the maintenance diet almost ridulously easy to follow now that I have been on the diet for some time- the only time I ever go off the diet is at a family get together now and then- MAYBE once a month- though I haven't been off it again since new years, even for one meal. Now with all the low carb bars, we even have a desert now LOL

I have lost so much wieght now, and re-organized the wieght that I still have, that none of my clothes fit anymore. I was at work, and one of my super buff co-workers was teasing me, saying< "Dude, if you need clothes, maybe I have some stuff you could have, you look like you could hide a midget in those things" LOL

I am a bit of a cheapskate- if my clothes aren't broken, they ain't getting replaced LOL

Well, my wife is making me go shopping this week.

I have been super exercising lately in my bid to get back into the guard, I will be "taped" next monday it looks like (I am still overwieght by the chart, but my body fat is now around 19%)

I am a true convert to the atkins diet

oh- btw- two things others have mentioned- atkins is not a "eat three pounds of fat and anything else you want" diet- if you stick by it, you are just not hungry anymore, and your calorie intake goes through the floor, and you really shed the pounds.

I actually limit my fat intake now as far as the "bad fat" goes- my main protien is lean pork, Chicken, often without the skin, and fish, lots and lots of Alaskan fresh caught fish

I'm not a fan of any particular diet, beyond Jack LaLanne's three rules:

1) "Exercise is King."

2) "Nutrition is Queen."

3) "If Man made it, don't eat it."

Hey, anybody who's as old as he is, and as fit as he is (87 and still outrunning guys a third his age), must be doing something right.

But I do think Atkins was right that most of us eat too much carbs and especially too much sugar.

Congrats!!
I know how encouraging it is to see the numbers sliding back down - I've lost 10 pounds the last 3 weeks and now I'm losing at a more steady 2 to 3 pounds a week with Weight Watchers - and the surprising thing is - It really isn't that hard to stay on the diet! I was shocked. I thought it was gonna be the hardest thing I ever did. But it's not.


The interesting thing about a diet - your perspective is what makes or breaks it.

Good for you CruisingRam! You have inspired me to get back on the Atkins' Diet (I have been a fan of his for years)! And, yes....it's time to buy a new wardrobe...and you will then fully appreciate your efforts, determination, and persistence!

Another suggestion that I have for dieters that have a serious amount of weight to lose is to have a complete physical (blood sugar, good and bad carbohydrates, etc.) before you begin any diet (by law the diet gurus have to tell you this) and then follow-up physicals along the way. A good way to monitor and check the progress of any diet you are following and especially one such as Atkins' that has been controversial within the medical profession for more than 30 years.

Oh, and for those who have the desire, the money, but little time....you can purchase vitamins, books; low carb foods snacks, desserts, breads, pastas, shakes, etc. from your local grocery chains/health food stores (list of participating retailers in various states on the Atkins' web site) and directly from the Atkins' Store on his web site. Or buy one of his recipe books for some good recipes that can add variety to the Atkins' Diet.

Again...CruisingRam....