Healthy Diet at Home

This morning I was taking a stroll through some of the threads over at Low Carb Friends, and I ran into something that really disturbed me. A patient of Dr. Westman was there asking for help. She has been on the high-fat low-carb diet known as Nutritional Ketosis for 4 months now. She is eating 20 carbs or less, is losing about 1 to 2 pounds a week, but she feels horrible. For some reason, she is not adapting to the state of Ketosis. Despite a high salt intake, she's having excruciating foot and leg cramps, gets dizzy, and comes near to passing out during her gym activities. She says she has zero energy, so her gym routine has dropped from 5 days a week and 1 trainer session, to just the training. She is taking magnesium and potassium supplements, along with chicken broth every day, but nothing is helping. She's exhausted and feels horrible, and yet, they want her to continue with the regimen she's been on, even though it's not working for her. That doesn't make an

I’ve received a few questions lately asking me how I managed to make a low carb diet work so well for me. These questions are coming from individuals who have tried The Atkins Diet, as written, but have not found it to work as promised. With all of the various Atkins' diets to choose from – Atkins ‘72, Atkins ‘92, Atkins ’99, Atkins 2002, and the latest version called A New Atkins for a New You – which one did I use? Which version worked best for me? Other questions have asked how to make a low carb diet work, period. What can people do when Atkins stops working or when it doesn’t work to begin with? How can you tweak a low carb diet to achieve success? So this first post is going to be an introduction to that topic, and then future posts will go more into detail of how I actually lost over 100 pounds following a low carb diet. The Atkins Diet as written is an attempt to reach the greatest majority of individuals. It is a general guideline that works for most people, but it does no

Lately, I’ve had a few readers ask me, “What is Atkins 72?” Since I use that term quite often, I thought maybe more of you might have the same question. Most people think of the book, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution , whenever they talk about a low-carb diet. But that became quite confusing over the years because every new edition Dr. Atkins put out carried the same name, even though the diet had changed. The basic principles of the Atkins program stayed fairly consistent, but the Rules of Induction, food quantities and types, how you add carbohydrates back into your diet, and even the way you count carbohydrates changed – depending on which edition you were following. That made it difficult to help someone who didn’t understand how to do the Atkins Diet correctly, or to give advice when someone was stumbling or had stalled. To make it easier, the low-carb community began using the year the edition was published attached to Dr. Atkins’ name in order to distinguish one plan from anothe

The Atkins Induction phase of a low carb diet often symbolizes the beginning of a new lifestyle. Excitement is high, motivation is strong, and since most turn to carbohydrate restriction after attempting several different types of diets (and failing), hope has actually dared to poke its head out of the covers again. What happens during this initial dieting phase is crucial to our success; that’s why Dr. Atkins designed it as he did. But over the years as his program evolved, misunderstandings regarding metabolic resistance and the weight loss experienced during those first few weeks have left many individuals scratching their head, confused. What is Metabolic Resistance? In 1970 there was no chart to label us metabolic resistant if we didn’t lose a certain number of pounds during the first week. In fact, Dr. Atkins defined resistance to weight loss as those who follow an 800 or 900-calorie well-balanced diet and still can’t lose body fat. He didn’t flag metabolic issues by speed. We we

I’ve recently had a few readers ask me about the potential cardiovascular risks that might be associated with the Atkins Diet . Since that seems to be a common question among those who are new to low carbing or those who haven’t had cholesterol problems before, I thought I’d address some of the issues surrounding High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol that I didn’t talk about in my latest post on LDL Cholesterol and Blood Clots . If you haven’t read that post, you might want to do so. It discusses the coronary artery disease pathway, how getting your insulin levels under control can slow down the heart disease process, and how a low-carb diet can actually reverse plaque buildup in some individuals. In addition, blood clots and potential strokes have nothing to do with dietary fats, so you might want to check out that information too, especially if you have a family history of stroke or blood clots. Is the Atkins Diet Dangerous? For years, the prevailing view among medical authoriti

Confused About Atkins 20? This Guide will Clears Up your Misunderstandings! I was over at Low Carb Friends yesterday afternoon, and one of the members was seriously upset. She had just learned that Atkins Nutritionals Inc. has come out with a brand new set of Atkins diets. They have now dropped the New Atkins for a New You approach, and instead, they are offering two different versions of the Atkins diet plan: Atkins 20, which includes a modified Phase 1 Atkins 40, which is a more flexible, low-glycemic diet Atkins 20 is what many are calling the original Atkins diet. In reality, it is an spin off of what most of the low-carb community know as Atkins 2002, or DANDR. Since there are a lot of people over at Low Carb Friends who are very confused by this new diet being presented on the Atkins Nutritionals Inc. website, this post will clear up any misunderstandings you might have. For example, some people are under the impression that the new Phase 1 includes fruit, nuts, and whole grains.

There is a lot of confusion these days about metabolism. It seems to be a scapegoat that people like to blame when weight loss doesn’t happen easily. If they’re following a low carb diet and struggling to succeed, then they believe that all of those years of eating carbohydrates must have destroyed their metabolism and made them fat. On the other side of the argument are those who oppose low carb dieting. These people claim that carbohydrate restriction will permanently alter your metabolism, but what’s the truth? Will eating carbohydrates or following a low carb diet ruin your metabolism – or not? What is Metabolism? Low carb dieters generally do not like to hear about the energy equation. Dr. Atkins told us that we no longer need to worry about calories, so most people believe the energy equation isn’t applicable to them. Calories don’t matter, they say. Dr. Eades has tried to set the record straight, but far too many people still do not want to go outside and drag the equation bac

Make Low-Carb Lifestyle Changes One at a Time Low carb isn’t a diet – it’s a lifestyle. We hear that all the time. In fact, even the latest Weight Watchers commercials are saying exactly the same thing: this isn’t a diet; it’s a lifestyle. We love the idea of not dieting. We love the idea of being able to eat to satisfaction. Plus, going into carb restriction with the perception that it’s for life helps to eliminate the dieting mindset that so many low-carb dieters fall into. We truly believe we can eat this way for the rest of our lives with no problems. Who couldn’t? You get to eat fatty meats such as pork ribs and bacon, real butter and sour cream, put heavy whipping cream in your coffee or tea, and munch on mixed nuts, assorted cheeses, olives and deviled eggs – all without having to count the calories. There’s cheesecake for dessert, low-carb pancakes and muffins, jalapeno hot poppers and dozens of ways to enjoy chicken wings. But then your birthday or anniversary rolls around or

As GMO corn-containing feed prices continue to rise, ranchers are turning to new and innovative ways to fatten up their cattle. The mad search for alternatives isn’t all that surprising, because the rumors surrounding the potential cost to raise beef these days could result in meat tripling or more in price. That would be bad news for those of us who are on a low-carb diet. Rising Corn Prices Affect Low-Carb Diets (Photo by Don O'Brien ) However, the alternatives that have been publicized lately, such as candy bars, hot cocoa mix, marshmallows and other goodies, isn’t really new. Many ranchers have been doing that for decades, which is one reason why some low carbers have switched to eating grass-fed beef and organic dairy instead. With the drought last winter and the rising demand for ethanol, even dairy farmers are starting to participate in the practice. If you look closely at the following examples of what they’re feeding the cows: breakfast cereal trail mix dried cranberries o

Do you have nightshade sensitivity or allergy? How about an autoimmune disease? Arthritis? Fibromyalgia? If so, you might not be able to eat certain vegetables, fruits, and spices without suffering pain, inflammation, and other health complaints. You can even stall in your low-carb diet because inflammation can interfere with weight loss. I didn't realize that nightshades were so common among low-carb recipes and menus until I actually looked at which vegetables and spices are nightshades, and then at what most people eat on a low-carb diet. When I did that, I was literally shocked! Low-carb recipes and menus are chock full of nightshades. For that reason, even if you are not allergic to nightshades, you might want to pay attention to just how many you're eating and cut back on them a little bit -- especially if you're having problems losing weight. BASIC NIGHTSHADE PRIMER This is going to be a basic nightshade primer, which I'm hoping a lot of people will find helpful,