any former atkins dieters

[jiujitsugirl]

hey, having trouble transioning of meat myself, but i wanted to know if any of you are former atkins dieters and if so why did you go raw, did you have any complications that were healed with raw? thanks again

[daisyduke]

Hi jujitsugirl (spelling?) Yes, I did atkins for about 6 mos. When I worked out, I would get horrible leg pains and cramps. The Atkins book said to expect this, and that it was normal. I guess because no carbs in the muscles. Anyway, I could hardly workout anymore. I hated eating meat. Now that I'm 811 raw vegan I have no leg pains and tons more energy!

[Mysticalwoman]

Hi Jiujitsugirl first you have to excuse my bad spelling. I loved Atkins, and if eating a whole cow or pig would be healthy for me I would. But the bottom line is meat is not good for your health. I have finely found out what this saying meant. Do you live to eat? Or eat to live? Okay I never understood it, until I started becoming a crippled. I have severe arthritie in my knees, nods on my spine not sure what those are, gall stones, etc, on health problems. And what is sad, I truly love the fat of the meat, but meat doesn't love me. When I was on Atkins my gall stones acted up so bad, I thought I was having a heart attack. LOL I can laugh now, but than it was very pain full. Nobody destroyed my body but me, and I have to accept that fact. What is funny I never thought I was that fat at 311lb. I was kidding myself, for over 20 years thinking I was not that fat. I figured if I can still bicycle ride and clime a latter I am okay. But when my son had to stay home and take care of me and my mom, his grandmother for a week, I said no more. He is only 14, and I could not get out of bed because of my knees. So you have a choice here, health or meat. Although I love meat and the taste my health is more important to me. Now I have started enjoying the raw food lifestyle. On the raw food lifestyle, my arthirities in my knees is feeling better. I do not have the pain I usually do, I don't have to worry about my gall stones. And what is funny is I am alot happier. I think my depression is going away. In the last two weeks I have lost 17lb. Yes the raw food lifestyle takes time and effort, but what other choice to you have. I don't want some body helping me to the bath room, or getting my food. I won't give up living for meat, nor become a crippled. So I know you can make it Jiujitsugirl because think of your health, and your future. Anyway I hope I didn't sound so morbid, but the truth of the matter is raw brings life, your life . Anyway I hope that helps. Sincerely Mysticalwoman

[jiujitsugirl]

thanks guys, yea i was really feeling strange on that diet for awhile i thought maybe it was me,i was raw for 38 days now i cant seem to fall back into it...gonna try some more!

[Halo Aglow]

Before raw I did the Atkins thing. I'm actually grateful I did because reading an article in a low carb magazine actually introduced me more to raw food. Also, the diet weaned me off of bread and made me appreciate greens more. :D A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT.

Of course it would have been nice to just automatically go into raw but looking back on things, I see how my path was really laid out for me to come to this stage of my life.

I think I've always felt that vegan was the way to go. I mean, I hate handling raw meat, I hate the way it smells when cooking. I hate seeing veins and other weird stuff when eating it.

My menstruation was horrible to begin with but with Atkins it was even worse, so back then I just started drugging myself up again with Advil. So with Atkins, my menstruation was screaming NO!!!! Raw food has helped it tremendously, physically and mentally.

Now, one thing that I am still trying to figure out is that on Atkins, my hair curled and spiraled up even more so without really any hair products (conditioner, mousse). I would get stopped all the time asking if my hair was natural and how I got it to be that way. But now it takes a lot more planning for my hair to get and keep the curls. My hair is one big poof after washing and then a few days afterwards it'll START to spiral and curl with conditioner and mousse.

When I was on Atkins, I was thinking maybe it was all that fat I was eating that my hair was just loving and soaking up but now I am thinking it was all that protein (maybe it was a combo). I was doing all the protein shakes and stuff also. I may see about raw hemp powder to add in my smoothies.

If you are having a hard time transitioning off meat, you may want to try adding in those spices that you would use to spice up your meat into raw mock meat and mock refried bean recipes. Have you tried Raw Food Real World's taco's yet? The bean filling is so good! It uses spices like cumin, coriander and chili powder.

[Mysticalwoman]

Hi Jiujitsugirl keep trying. Try and do your meal planning and food preperation on your day off for the week that helps. The main thing is keep trying and come back to the boards for support. :-) P.S. I find crushed Almonds to helps as a substitute for meat.

[sungoddess]

I did Atkins and the South Beach Diet. Obviously I would still be on them if they were for me: but it has been hard to comsume a banana without feeling guilty after that! Let-alone 3 or 4 at a time! It has definitely shaded my view of fruits. I am GLAD to slowly be getting rid of that mentality!

[Irisha]

Hi jujitsugirl (spelling?) Yes, I did atkins for about 6 mos. When I worked out, I would get horrible leg pains and cramps. The Atkins book said to expect this, and that it was normal. I guess because no carbs in the muscles. Anyway, I could hardly workout anymore. I hated eating meat. Now that I'm 811 raw vegan I have no leg pains and tons more energy!

Whereas raw diet is extremely alkalizing=good for the body, the predominantly meat diet is acidic to the extreme. Blood type A people handle it better than other blood types since they function better in a more acidic environment, yet it's really bad for all. Eating meat produces lactic acid (same acid that triggers pain in cancer), exercise strangely does the same. So if you have already an acidic body full of lactic acid, then you throw in the exercise I imagine you'll have cramps and burns.

[AICgem]

I lost 60 lbs on Atkins a couple of years ago, was able to keep the weight off after stoping Atkins.
I am working on going 100% raw now to loose the rest of the weight.. another 30-40 lbs

[dreamrawalwz]

I suggest trying to absorb as much information about how meat is harmful and dangerous to your health. I don't remember what it was like for me to stop eating it, but just think about how yoru body deserves to be as healthy as it can be. Also, maybe stop buying it and not have any in the house may help.

Irisha - that's interesting b/c in the Blood Type diet book it says Type A's should NOT eat meat....I don't believe in that book, but that's just interesting how you say Type A does "well" on it...unless I'm missunderstanding something?

[livenraw]

Count me in as a former. I lost 64 lbs on it and then stalled. I started reading The Miracle of Fasting and that changed my way of life. Within a month, I lost another 12 lbs and later on went on to lose another 5 lbs. (I am 85% raw)

I still do not eat a lot of sweet fruit, though. I find I do much better with the higher intake of fats like avocados, nuts & olive oil. And a ton of veggies. A ton.

I tried doing the 8/1/1 before and found myself bloated and feeling irritable and craving sugar constantly. So I switched back over to my higher intake of fat.

[GlimR]

I did Atkins for a long time........it was the only woe that worked for me as far as losing weight went.,I lost 140 lbs. I felt great all the time.

But I have health concerns for the long haul and ethical issues with eating meat like that...humanitarian beliefs that don't go hand in hand with it anymore and am not able to justify it to myself like I once was...also enviromental issues as well...so...I have turned away from that and am embracing raw...I do believe with all I am that it's the way to go for ALL reasons. It is a hard transition from a meat based diet but if you keep focused and trying it will work out for you and be a godsend.

With knowledge comes responsibility to act on what you know. It's hard to ignore and push aside that information and live against it.

[asil]

Well, a few years ago I got really sick -- Graves Disease, very severe, which among other things caused my thyroid to go into overdrive. I lost quite a bit of weight, had heart palpitations, and other scary things. The endo told me my condition was an emergency, that I was in danger of thyroid storm which leads to heart attack. So I had my thyroid killed off with radiation. After that I gained about 15-20 pounds a month for six months even with thyroid hormone replacement.

I finally went on Atkins which was pretty hard since I've never really liked meat. I had to train myself to eat it. I can't say I felt any better or worse but I did lose weight at a slow steady pace -- 60 pounds in one year. I kept it off for over 2 years. I did the healthiest version I could -- all organic, lots ofr salads, no Atkins products or junk food. I did drink a lot of diet beverages though.

When I went raw I couldn't believe how great I felt and how great my skin looked. But, I have two problems I can't seem to get a handle on:

1. I'm gaining weight and my stomach and face look puffy and bloated. Clearly I'm retaining water, but I'm also getting fatter. Very frustrating. I've gained 15 pounds but the way it's settled on my body it looks more like 25.

2. I cheat all the time. It's funny, because I'm not really a junk food fan, and on Atkins it was easy to be very strict with myself. I never even had to think much about it, no cravings, except for fruit, which I managed. But on raw, even though I love the food, I have cravings for junk all the time. For the first time in over 8 years I find myself wanting and eating pizza, chips, and the like.

Wish I could figure this out. I guess it's obvious that the weight gain is from the junk food, but even when I manage to go a few weeks without cheating, I still see the scale inching upward, although at a slower rate.
?????

[JinxieKat]

asil,
Since you are having problems you may want to try out a food journal. Not so much for tracking calories, but to track how you feel after you eat something. This is a simple journal.. when you eat something you wright it down. A bit later you go back and log how you are feeling physically and mentally. Make sure you try a large variaty of foods and this way you can figure out what foods make you feel good and what ones make you feel bad. You may be reacting to salt, you may not be drinking enough water.. maybe your system is sensative to another food due to your past health crisis. I would post this in another thread and see if you can get Miss Linda to help. She is great with working through stuff like this.

Jinx

[livenraw]

Asil, you sound like you are in the same boat I was when I began just eating higher raw. At first, I started gaining weight (luckily, I caught it in time to not gain back too much of the weight lost - I think I gained back 5 lbs the first week) and couldn't figure it out. I wasn't even eating junk food! So I took out fruit (which seemed to have caused me to gain in the past as well) and lost those 5 lbs within no time. It was the dried fruits and higher sugar fruits like bananas that caused the weight gain. That's why now I limit myself to no more than 2 to 3 servings of fruit a day and the rest of the time, I am eating the higher fat raw foods. I guess you could say I am doing a low carb version of the raw vegan way of life? (my 15% cooked usually comes from beans) And it seems to be working well for me.

[Lay-Lay]

I am an ex-Atkins dieter. The diet almost killed me. I was on it for 1 1/2 years. I went from a size 16, 201 pounds, and healthy to size 2/4, 120 pounds, and unable to get out of my bed unassisted to use the bathroom.

I overcame the to numereous to mention side effects Atkins Diet caused me by raw & living foods.

[Morn]

I went on Atkins cause my husband and mother in law lost a ton of weight on it (but since have put it all back on plus more). I just knew eating tons of meat, cheese, ranch dressing, and all the other fatning stuff and no fruit just didn't seem healthy to me. I lost a little bit of weight but no where near the success that my husband and his mother had. For me I could have lost the weight on any diet. It just didn't seem to work so good for me. I think different blood types have better success on that diet is what I hear. I think before raw a more balanced diet like weight watchers (low fat, low sugar) seemed to work better for me and I had better results.

Also when I was on Atkins it made my sluggish digestive system even worse than it was before. I could go well over a week before going to the bathroom and that just isn't healthy. And when I did go it was so painful. It also did the same to my husband (not as bad as me though). Now on raw I easily go every day (for the first time in my life). My husband's cloestrol also was high while on this diet so while it was effective for him to lose weight it wasn't overall (for the long-term) healthy for him.

Also the raw diet is more cost effective than Atkins. Buying fruits and veggies is so much more reasonable than buying all the meat (and my food bill is less than half of my husband's when we go out to eat).

[Bingka]

I have until January 9th to get as alkaline as humanely possible.....

The reason is (besides health) it is my understanding that mosquitos don't like alkaline blood. I am going to the Phillipines for 5 weeks and don't want to use any bug repellent. Most of my life I have been a bug magnet.

The mosquitos there are the size of small birds. I hope being alkaline is a true bug repellent.

So any suggestions, advice, etc. will be very appreciated.

And what is the best way to test your acidity?

Thanks
Ken