Why You Should NEVER Do The Atkins Diet for Fat Loss (Blog)

[Mehdi]

Use this thread to discuss the next post from StrongLifts.com's blog:

Why You Should NEVER Do The Atkins Diet for Fat Losss

[Tmv]

That's funny, I lost 20lbs in 2 weeks on that diet and gained it all back after getting a taste of some of that delicious carls jr double six dollar burger. Fuck that diet it's depressing as shit to be on it.

[Mehdi]

I saw some recommendations for that diet on the forum here & there. Had to blog about it.

[itsbruce]

I'm glad you did. I saw those recommendations also. And it worries me; I think Atkins is unhealthy and dangerous even for people who aren't lifting weights. If people need a system and AD is too, something like the GI or GL diets are much more sensible (but even they aren't good for strength training unless you modify them to account for the extra need for fat and protein).

[webbm]

While I agree that the Atkins diet has plenty of issues, I disagree with a number of your reasons, particularly that lots of carbs are necessary to lift and that lots of carbs are need to gain muscle mass and lift.

I have been on a low-carb diet geared towards a state of ketosis for over a year now. When I started I was 141lb with around 14% body fat. I am now 159lb with 9% body fat and lifting much heavier than a year ago (I'm only 5'6").
This puts my lean mass increase at 23lbs over the course of a year.

The main difference from Atkins is that I do carb load over a 24 hr period each week to aid protein synthesis and also restore my glycogen stores.

If I look at my journal, my squat and deadlift are also more than double the weight that they were at a year ago.

[lovestolift]

The main difference from Atkins is that I do carb load over a 24 hr period each week to aid protein synthesis and also restore my glycogen stores.

Which means you are essentially doing the Anabolic Diet, which is an entirely different beast than Atkins. If for no other reason than the carb loading that occurs during the weekend.

[Mehdi]

@itsbruce
I agree with you, I also think Atkins is unhealthy.

@webbm
I'm not against low carb diets, I highly recommend it. 8 nutrition rules is a low carb diet. I'm against Atkins. As lovestolift said, you're not doing Atkins if you're loading carbs once a week.

[webbm]

@Mehdi Seems we are on the same page after all which wasn't entirely clear to me in your post and I do agree that Atkins has many issues, a few of which you do highlight.
And yeah, I know I'm not on Atkins, I am indeed using an anabolic strategy.

[Mehdi]

@webbm
No problem, we're cool. Which part made you think I was anti low-carb btw? Another reader seemed to be confused about this.

[tenkev]

The Atkins diet is not zero carbs and only the first few weeks are severely limited. I don't thinks Atkins and Stronglifts are mutually exclusive.

[lovestolift]

I don't thinks Atkins and Stronglifts are mutually exclusive.

I don't think so either. However, a cyclical ketogenic diet, like the AD, would be far better if you want to increase your lifts while losing weight.

[dylanamus]

I agree that a state of perpetual ketosis is unhealthy if sustained for long periods of time and will not work hand in hand with strength training and I also agree that the Atkins dieting mentality does not place enough (if any) emphasis of the role of protein in fat loss and muscle maintenance.

I imagine the diet's target audience is people who are close to or already obese. I agree that aiming to lose weight not fat is a misguided line of thinking, but anyone paying for dieting advice/meal plans would obviously benefit from a simplified delivery and presentation.

Occasionally there are some people who join the forum who express their goals and you can see that their priorities really revolve around fat loss and often trying to improve weight lifting numbers is simply not a logical path for them at that stage in time. In which case the Atkins diet CAN proove a fluid introduction to learning about food and dieting, while helping them experience some success at the same time.

I guess it is easy to criticise or even find the "dumbing down" of ketosis dieting a little offensive or folly, but there are individuals out there who can benefit from a diet like this, allebit as a transition.

I do still agree with the bottom line though. Even on the AD, I am struggling as is despite carb loading quite rigorously two days a week. I can't imagine I would be getting anywhere just by adding 5 or 10g carbs a day. That does not replinish msucle glycogen stores.

The Atkins team could learn a lot from the AD - being allowed to eat carbs on the weekend is almost like allowing a cheat day and would probably HELP newcomers to dieting...

[thefinalsql]

For the general masses, especially most power lifters I would agree. But everyone is an individual.

I can agree that Atkins should not be used for fat loss and I will not recommend it for fat loss to anyone else here.

But, there is a point in obesity, which fat Vs weight loss does not matter. I found this out last year when I had a heart attack. The Dr. told me to lose weight anyway I could. I chose Atkins and walking in addition to 6 weeks of cardiac rehab.

I have lost 50+ lbs, 40+ of which since heart attack and kept the weight off for 16 months. My LDL is down, freely admit my HDL has not changed much, but was on cholesterol medication for quite awhile, which I believe lowers hdl as well as ldl. Most impressively for me is dropping my triglycerides by over 200.

I have never stated my goals here. Here they are.

1. Don't have another heart attack
2. Lose weight. Muscle, water, fat, I don't care. I am still morbidly obese, 45%+ body fat, thought I was in the 30's, but I was wrong. I was super obese when I had a heart attack.
3. Lift at least 5 more pounds than I did the last time for each weigh lifting exercise. 1.5 BW anything is very far away for me.

[itsbruce]

Serious respect due to your motivation and discipline, there. But I think you'd probably have lost weight applying those to any diet that helped you cut calories (which is essentially all that Atkins does) - in much the same way that novice strength trainees gain even from poorly designed programs if they apply discipline and effort to them. I really don't think Atkins offers anybody a long-term solution, though, and you're more likely to maintain your gains in the long term by switching to a healthier diet.

[alanrlow]

I replied to your email when I got it but thought I'd reply here too:

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:42:55 +0800, StrongLifts.com <mehdi@stronglifts.com> wrote:

> StrongLifts.com
>
> ///////////////////////////////////////////
> Why You Should NEVER Do The Atkins Diet for Fat Loss

Well you have well and truly got this completely wrong! I respectfully ask you to do a lot more research on the subject, and in the meantime I will correct your errors below.


> Little Fat Loss. Carbs bind to water. Dropping your carb intake causes
> weight loss: water loss. Track your body fat using a fat caliper and
> youll see your weight loss isnt pure fat loss on the Atkins Diet.

Of course the first lost is water, but that's true of any diet. Stick to it for more than 3 or 4 weeks and you will see a lot of fat loss.

> Not for Lifters. Muscles use carbs for energy. Without carbs, youll lack
> energy during high intensity activities like weight lifting.

Correction, muscles use glucose for energy. This is quickly and easily supplied from ketone bodies coming from breaking down fat, called gluconeogenesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis
The fact is that FAT is the bodies preferred fuel source. Think about it, that is how it stores its extra reserves, as saturated fat which when needed can be easily converted back into fuel. This is how the body has evolved to operate. If you think that fat isn't the best fuel source then you are implying that the body evolved incorrectly and this is simply not so. The body can and does operate quite happily without ANY dietary carbohydrate. There is essential protein and essential fats but NO essential carbs.
There has not been one study that has shown ANY danger from being in ketosis for long periods. Some people have been for upwards of 40 years. I have been for over 4 years. Science is slowly coming to accept that ketosis is the preferred state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis

>The Atkins Diet can only work if youre sedentary.

Wrong. The body only stores about 1-2 hours of glucose for energy, which is why carb eaters crash and grab for more carbs after an hours exertion, but if you don't rely on carbohydrates and are a keto adapted fat burner even someone with 10% body fat has enough fat reserves for at least 60 days of energy expenditure, without eating anything!! And it's smooth even energy with no ups and downs either, your blood glucose stays exactly where it should be all the time. And most importantly insulin is kept at perfectly normal levels.
.
> Muscle Loss. Atkins doesnt mix with strength training. Without strength
> training, your metabolic rate will go down, youll lose muscle and youll
> have a harder time sticking to your diet.

Why can't you strength train on a carb free diet? I and thousands of others do. In fact ask Brad Pillon (Eat stop eat) about fasted workouts being some of the best you'll ever do.
The metabolism will definitely NOT slow down under these conditions and you won't lose muscle as long as you continue lifting. It's also far better that worrying about cycling carbs and worrying about whether it's before or after a workout and counting macro-nutrients and all the other stupid apportioning that goes on.

> Yo-Yo Diet. After the big weight loss — which is mainly water loss — the
> first 2 weeks on the Atkins Diet, progress gets slower. Often a plateau
> follows, which can make you quit and regain everything you lost.

Once keto adapted and rid of those pesky carbs the body operates much more smoothly on an even and steady supply of glucose from stored and dietary fat. No ups and downs, in fact hunger becomes a distant memory and fasting for 24-48 hours or only eating 1 meal a day is not a problem.


> Carbs Post Workout. Limiting starchy carbs to post workout increases fat
> loss while giving your muscles energy for strength training.
> Simple. You dont need to count macros with the 8 Nutrition Rules and
> there arent 4 phases. You just eat whole foods and limit carbs.

The fact is there is simply NO need for carbs in the diet before or after strength training. Meat and fat provide ALL the essential vitamins and minerals, in fact one could operate in very strenuous circumstances for long periods of time on nothing but fat.
Just make sure that 60% to 80% of calories come from fat and the rest is meat and you will be fine.

> The right way to go low-carb is to cycle your carb intake. You need carbs
> for strength training.

NO you don't!!! As I said above there is no need for carbs in the diet, if fact a lot of people shoot themselves in the foot eating too many. If you are prepared to eliminate refined processed carbohydrates why not go the next step and eliminate them all, and most importantly eliminate those poisonous grains.

Alan.